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being talked about in hushed tones, but by the same token, the girls concerned were not about to publicise their involvement in any way. Even though Danielle’s death was horrendous, it still wasn’t enough to make any of them step out of the shadows. Their whole lives were lived by a code of secrecy and they all had far too much to lose.
     
    ‘Are you going back in then?’
    Kate nodded. She had showered and changed after her meal, and she was dressed in what Pat had always laughingly referred to as her work clothes. White shirt, tailored trousers, and a well-cut, expensive black jacket, the only light relief was the jacket’s purple silk lining. She looked good, though. If he was honest, her understated dress sense had always been a big part of her draw for him. But she was looking her age and they both knew it. He wasn’t a spring chicken any more either, but as a man that was not really an issue. For women, however, it was different. Pat had the money and the reputation for women to see him as a viable option, young women as well as the older, more experienced women. His preference had always been for the more mature, sophisticated type of female. But as he looked at Kate’s troubled countenance he had to admit that she was looking older these days, and this murder had really hit her hard.
    She was already miles away from him, was already gearing herself up for the hunt. It had been her sheer determination that had attracted him all those years ago. Now he was seeing it again and it was frightening him. He knew she was going to find out things that she would not want to believe, and those things concerned him and his business ventures. He could cut Peter’s nuts off and laugh while he was doing it, but he knew that would be a fruitless exercise.
     
    ‘Why are you so sure this ain’t a one-off, Kate?’
    She shrugged, her eyes already had the haunted look of someone who knows they’re about to experience a lengthy and protracted time of difficulty and heartbreak. She was preparing herself for it once more. Pat knew she worked on instinct, and her instincts were telling her that this was the start of something big, something horrendous and tragic. Pat knew that that something could possibly be the cause of them parting company. It was, after all, what Kate did, find out people’s secrets. He had to try and sort it all out, and sort it out soon.
     
    ‘I mean, it could have been a customer she tried to have over or something. You know, as well as I do, how these things can escalate.’
    Kate shook her head dismissively. ‘Not in a million years, Pat. Whoever did this was well prepared, it was a vicious and bloody act. It was planned, and executed, with precision. Whoever killed Danielle Crosby has been thinking about it for a long time. I wish these girls would understand the danger they place themselves in every time they entertain some sad fuck. It’s a waste, such a waste of a life.’ She paused then and looked at him, concerned. ‘Are you all right, Pat? You look awful.’ She went to him and placed her arms around him. His blue eyes looked tired and he looked old suddenly, it was as if he had aged in a few hours. ‘Is this bringing it all back, are you thinking about Mandy?’
    Pat’s daughter had been brutally murdered and it was the investigation into her murder that had originally brought them together. It pleased them both that something good had come out of George Markham’s reign of terror. Pat didn’t answer, just held her tightly and enjoyed the smell of her hair with the cyy, the feel of her body. The familiarity of her was enough to break his heart. He knew she was too good for him on so many levels but, until now, until this moment, he had not really understood just how much he needed her in his life.
    ‘Get yourself off, Kate, I’ll be fine.’
    ‘Are you sure, Pat?’
    He smiled sadly. ‘Go on, I’m fine. Like you say, this is a bit too close to home.’
     
     
    Annie Carr was