Thank you to HMbookqueen, Serenbex and Guest for your lovely reviews!
As 'Guest' has asked about a sequel, I think there's no better time to ask if you guys would like a sequel, although I do understand if you haven't made up your mind yet. Anyway, leave me a little 'Yes' or 'No' in the comments if you have.
Enjoy! ;)
"Lauren," Harriet placed the laptop down on the table and smiled at the two women. "I wanted to speak to you about going through WADS to identify your attacker."
"I don't want to see him again, I really don't." The blonde sighed wearily and held her head in her hands.
"I understand that, Lauren, but the description is very vague." The woman's face fell and Harriet immediately cursed herself for her terrible choice of words. "What I mean is that if he's on WADS we'll immediately be able to find him."
Lauren took a deep breath and nodded reluctantly, almost as if she was fighting an internal battle. "Fine."
Chewing her lip, Harriet opened the lid of the laptop and loaded up the first page of images. Lauren slowly took in the faces on the screen before shaking her head, as she did for the second page. As she flicked to the third page, Harriet swore that the woman's eyes had flickered when she looked at the second picture on the screen. Making a mental note to look up the man in the photo later on, she returned her attention to the blonde who was staring at the wall. Harriet took that this meant she didn't recognise anyone and closed the laptop lid quietly.
"Thank you." She clasped her hands together and fixed her gaze on the chair arm, preparing herself for a possible backlash against her probing. "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm an estate agent." She wrapped her cardigan around her tightly.
"Where'd you work?"
"Canley Properties on the high street."
"How long you worked there?"
"Two years." She shrugged. "Why'd you care?"
"I just want to get to know you a little bit better, that's all." Harriet tapped her foot against the table quietly. "You in a relationship?"
The blonde froze and then shook her head, glancing sideways at the Sergeant. "We broke up four months ago." Harriet frowned at the look on the woman's face and narrowed her eyes.
"Any particular reason why?"
The woman swivelled so she was facing her properly and her expression cracked, her face flooding with hope. Harriet instinctively leant forward slightly. "He was possessive… he never let me go out, see my friends and so I… I cheated on him. He found out and we broke up."
Harriet froze at the woman's words. She almost didn't want to believe what she was hearing but yet she was certain, deep down, that Lauren's attacker was her ex-boyfriend. He'd been possessive and controlling and Lauren had cheated on him, meaning he was no longer in control of the situation. During the rape the attacker would have been in control at all times and this violent aggression was an exaggerated show of control.
Returning her focus to the woman beside her, she smiled softly. "What did he do for a living your ex-boyfriend?"
"He was a security guard at the casino just off the High Street." Harriet caught the woman's gaze and Harriet knew that she was pleading with her to put the pieces together. Lauren was too scared to out rightly name who her attacker was but she was dropping enough hints for Harriet to do the rest for her.
The Sergeant nodded at the silent plea, squeezing Lauren's hand tightly, and stood up. "Come on, I'll go find PC Stamp to take you for a coffee in the canteen." Heading out and leaving the woman and her sister with the man, the brunette headed to the office and quickly loaded up the database. Finding the man who she was certain Lauren Peters had recognised, she grabbed his details from the printer and headed up to find Sam. She burst through the doors and almost hurled herself towards the DI and Max who were stood next to the filing cabinet.
"Ma'am," The two detectives frowned at the uniform Sergeant but the brunette ignored their confused looks and thrust the sheet of paper towards the woman. "I think I know who the attacker is; Mason Cotton."
Max and Sam gaped at her for a moment before they both launched into an attack of questions. She told them everything she could before Sam immediately launched into Inspector mode and started handing out orders to various officers to get everything organised for the search at the casino and Mason's home address. Rachel appeared with Callum and a group of uniformed officers to help with the searches but when Harriet asked to be let off station duties and allowed out to help, the Inspector firmly ordered her to return to work on the custody desk. Callum half smirked to himself as he watched her stomp away, swearing furiously under her breath as she went.
Instead of heading back to custody, she made a diversion by the canteen to let Lauren know what was happening and the brunette found herself emerged into a conversation with the woman and her sister. By the time she was making her way back to where she was supposed to be, the searches had been completed and the team were returning with an incensed Mason Cotton in tow.
Harriet bumped into Rachel in the corridor and was angrily informed that disobeying an order wasn't acceptable and as a result she wasn't going to let her in on the interview. The Sergeant had argued fiercely with the woman, stressing how she'd gathered most of the information in the case and deserved the chance to interview the suspect but Rachel had ignored her and firmly told her to get back to where was supposed to be otherwise she'd be sent home. Returning to the desk, she glared angrily at Mason as she booked him in before handing him over to Jack and Sam for questioning. Moving back to the desk to bag up the man's possessions, she smiled weakly at Callum who was leaning against the desk looking unimpressed at the flirting going on between Nate and Beth.
Rolling her eyes at the man, she tutted and dropped the plastic bag into a tray behind her. "What?" Callum asked gruffly, turning to face the brunette.
"You." She shook her head and a strand of hair fell over her face. "Beth and Nate are younger than us, remember? They do flirt with each other." The man made a noise of annoyance in his throat but Harriet ignored him and smiled softly at the two PC's who were heading out again.
"Good day, then?" It was Harriet's turn to make a noise of annoyance and she shook her head. "Rachel's new to the job, remember?" He emphasised the word and Harriet poked her tongue out in mild annoyance.
"If your gonna say give her a break then you may as well save your breath, because if one more person defends that woman, I will punch them in the face."
"You wouldn't dare." Callum teased as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Wanna bet?" She jerked her arm out across the desk and Callum grabbed it tightly, twisting it slightly. She pretended to be hurt and the man let go with a soft laugh. Instinctively, Harriet reached up and ruffled his hair so it was sticking up haphazardly. "Whoops."
Callum gently smacked her hand away and growled in annoyance. Harriet grinned at him and shook her head as she twirled away. Callum caught her eye and narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked almost quizzically at her. She swallowed thickly and felt the familiar flip in the pit of her stomach. "You got plans for the evening?"
"No." Harriet replied quietly. She attempted to drag her gaze away from the man's but found she couldn't quite achieve it. "Why?"
"I wondered if you wanted to grab a drink, that's all."
"Out?"
"That new bar in town, I wondered if you'd like to go. I mean... it has been a stressful couple of days and-." Callum muttered, his cheeks blushing as he spoke.
"I'd love to, Callum." Harriet nodded and smiled weakly. "Meet you there at seven?" Callum nodded and smiled at the woman before turning and heading away up the corridor.
Letting out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding, Harriet clutched the desk tightly. Callum hadn't even said it or indicated it was anything more than a friendly drink between colleagues but Harriet was almost certain that Callum had asked her out on a date. Or some form of a date, at least
