Chapter 2
They had taken the train down to Cornwall and were now settled in the local pub were they would be staying. They were walking down the wooden staircase behind the reception with Barbara in the lead, "what do we know so far, Winnie?" she asked wile looking over her shoulder on the man behind her, he walked with his nose in the manila folder the Cornwall-Devon police had sent to them and didn't look up when he answered. "Well not much if truth is to be told, they know it's a woman around the age of 30 they know the COD…" "Drowning, yea" Havers cut in "… but they haven't got an positive ID yet, that's were we comes in, and no suspect" he said with a smile as he snapped shut the folder and they sat down in a free boot, Havers facing the door and Nkata sitting opposite of her. When the waitress came they both ordering in the daily special and a pint each. They sat in comfortable silence until their meals were brought to them, chicken whit boiled potatoes and peas. Always a culinary disaster, this pub food, Havers thought.
It was Havers who first brought up the subject "So… why in the world does Webberly send us down here?" she asked though she had already guessed the answer. Nkata thought for a moment while he finished his chicken before answering "I think it has to do whit the fact that we both have worked with the guv in the past and he thinks it would be a smoother collaboration if they had some form of connection to those who were sent down here, well that's what I think". "Your probably right Winnie…" she stopped in mid sentence when the door opened and a tall fair-haired man in well-tailored clothes came in. Nkata could she how Havers shrunk lower into her chair trying desperately to hide and he glanced curiously over his shoulder only to see the subject of their discussion enter the small pub and sitting down by some other men, police officers no doubt, judged by their discussion and their newest participant.
Nkata opened his mouth to speak but Havers held up her hand to stop him at the same time as she rose from her chair and sauntered over to the table were Lynley and the other officers sat.
"Couldn't solve a case without me?" Havers said with a smile placing a hand on Lynley's shoulder. "DS Havers" he said, pretending not to know of her recent promotion, knowing she would be proud to tell him herself, "actually," she said with a proud voice "it's Detective Inspector" pronouncing each word of her new title with care, she smiled and Lynley could feel his heart warm. "Well congratulations Barbara, I believe an introduction is in place, this is DS Arthur Donowan" he said pointing to a short sort of squared shaped man with sandy hair, who held up his pint in a toast, "and that is DI Eric Johansson" a tall, thin man with dark locks smiled at her "he's from Sweden, I think he met a woman and followed her here and the last one is Coroner David Harper".
Barbara shakes hands with every one and then introduced Nkata who had come over to join them. "So, you're the Met officers that are gonna take over were we left it?" asks Johansson with a faint accent, Barbara answers him "not take over, Inspector, merely lend a hand, this is your territory not ours we don't know the people or the locations we're gonna need your help too".
The conversation continued around Lynley but he blocked it all out sinking deeper into his thoughts. Havers had clearly changed her manners to the better and her people skills had become drastically better, and her odd sense of dressing, well it was still odd but now he would call it charming. He looked at her trough the corner of his eye, following the thin lines that formed around her mouth when she talked, saw the dimples when she laughed. He groaned inside him self, why do I have to fall in love with Havers of all people.
Havers saw him looking at her, at first it was so subtle she thought she must have mistaken her, but then she saw it again a bit more obvious this time. She couldn't believe it. She had always felt something for the other inspector and she could admit, hand on her heart, that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. But was she in love with him, she was not sure, she did felt betrayed when he left, but she always assumed she had come to work with him because she was no threat to the investigation, put it bluntly, he wouldn't sleep with her. But what if that had changed? She most certainly had, is it possible he had? Yes a small voice inside of her said, he had married a woman and he had grieved that woman when she died. I think I love him, Haves thought, but has he grieved Helen long enough, is he ready to move on, I better let him take the first move if there is one to be taken.
One by one people started to drop out of the pub and home to their wives, husbands and children. Those two who stayed the longest was Lynley and Havers.
Havers stood stretched her arms above her head and said: "well I better go and hit the sheets", she took her bag from the floor next to her chair, when she stood up again Lynley had moved a lot closer. Havers could feel her breath get caught in her troth when she looked up on him.
Nkata had left the folder down at the table, he had tried to knock on Havers' door to she if she had taken it with her up but when there was no answer so he simply walked down the stairs to the pub below but he stopped in the middle of the staircase, were he was still shadowed from the occupants of the pub, and looked slightly surprised but nonetheless happy at the scene before him. The guv was standing close to Havers, who in turned looked up at his face, a faint smile on her lips before the guv took a final step closer and kissed her, his arms went around her waist. Nkata felt like an intruder and decided the folder could wait, the dead was dead tomorrow as well but tonight were for the living.
Seccond chapter up! though I'm not sure people acctually read this I'm going to continue updating. My next update, however, might take a while as I'm in quite the writers block now.