DS Jessica Daniel series: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water – Books 4–6 (96 page)

As Adam emerged from the building with his bag over his shoulder a couple of minutes later, Jessica felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, a sense that something was about to go horribly wrong
but that she was simply a bystander, unable or unwilling to step in. Jessica noticed he had on different clothes than he had been in that morning. He always wore similar things to work, dark
trousers with a shirt, over which he would wear a lab coat. He was now wearing a pair of smart jeans with a casual shirt he usually only wore on a night out, along with his best jacket.

After he got into the car, Jessica watched him talking into his mobile phone, smiling and laughing. She tried to think of an innocent explanation of who it might be. Although he didn’t
have any family, that didn’t mean he might not be meeting up with someone he used to know from school, or someone he went to university with, or perhaps even a work colleague.

None of that would explain why he had told her he was working late though.

He hung up and switched on the headlights. Jessica turned the key of Izzy’s car, feeling the power roar through it. She slid down into her seat as Adam drove past, waiting a few moments
before slipping into the traffic behind him.

Although rush hour was over, there were still plenty of people trying to get home or to whatever theatre or concert was on that night. Or just driving around in circles specifically to annoy
her. Jessica had never really done much in the way of vehicle surveillance, and now relied instead on what she had seen on television shows by staying two car lengths behind. She followed Adam
along Oxford Road onto Deansgate, with no idea where he was heading as he kept driving north. The traffic was stop–start until they reached the outskirts, with all the signs pointing towards
either Prestwich or the motorway ring road.

Just as she thought he was going to join the M60, Adam indicated, turning left off the main road. Jessica was so surprised, she almost missed the turn herself, swerving late as the person in the
car behind beeped their horn.

It took her a few moments to realise where she had turned into. The road branched off into two, the left lane leading to a Tesco, the right twisting around on itself before ending up in a car
park for a restaurant and hotel. She hoped Adam would turn left into the supermarket, as if he had somehow come this far out of his way to pick up some groceries. Instead, he stayed on the road
that led to the hotel.

Jessica eased off the accelerator and stopped, checking her rear-view mirror to see with a small amount of relief that no one was behind her. She crept the vehicle forward, watching as Adam
drove his car front-first into a space opposite the entrance of the restaurant. It was an American-style one with a black-and-red awning hanging over the door and branding everywhere, just in case
you walked in the front door and forgot where you were. Jessica waited as Adam switched off the headlights. In the moment of darkness, she pressed the accelerator, powering around the corner past
where Adam had stopped into the middle part of the car park, where she reversed into a space.

As she peered up, Jessica saw Adam hurrying across the tarmac into the restaurant. There were around a dozen seats at the front of the diner and perhaps half-a-dozen slightly further back. She
picked up her phone, wondering whether she should call him, when a blonde woman stepped out of the car she had parked next to. As she had reversed, Jessica hadn’t even noticed her but the
woman was holding her phone in one hand and a bag in the other. Her hair was bright and bleached, curled into a short bob, and she was wearing tight-fitting jeans with a matching jacket.

The woman tottered into the restaurant wearing heels Jessica wouldn’t have even attempted to try on and, for a minute or two, everything seemed to slow down. Jessica wondered if she would
have to get out of the car and go in herself to see what was happening, or if there was a completely innocent explanation and that Adam had popped out for a bite to eat, with the woman nothing to
do with him.

The car was beginning to steam up and Jessica balled her sleeve to wipe the window. She was halfway through clearing the windscreen when she felt her heart jump. A waiter was strolling along the
front window with Adam and the blonde behind him. When they reached the table at the end, Adam and the female slid onto opposite sides, the server handing them menus and writing down what she
presumed were drinks orders.

They were smiling and laughing. All of them.

Jessica swore at the condensation, before giving up and getting out of the car, leaning against the driver’s side door in the darkness and shivering as the breeze zipped across her. She
folded her arms but it wasn’t the wind that was making her tremble. The blonde with the stupid curly bob reached across with her stupid tanned hand and touched Adam on his stupid arm.

Jessica could feel her throat tightening, the sickness that had been crippling her stomach so often recently ripping through the rest of her body. She pressed herself against the vehicle, using
it to hold herself up. Somehow, she forced herself not to cry, fighting every instinct she had, trying to think of an innocent explanation for why he could be in a restaurant miles from their house
with an attractive blonde after telling her he was working late.

Could it be because she was always working herself? Early mornings, late nights and everything in between? Perhaps it was because he was annoyed at her for not helping with the decision about
where they should live? Maybe he was simply bored?

Perhaps it was because of what had happened in America?

Jessica bit her lip, remembering what he was like when they first met; always apologising, stammering over his words, clumsy, awkward, socially inexperienced. She watched him through the window
laughing as the waiter passed them drinks and they raised their glasses in an unknown toast. Suddenly she was angry, furious that she had helped him become the person he now was and that he was
using it against her, taking the confidence to chat up curly-haired blonde tarts.

She stared through the darkness as the lights from inside the restaurant illuminated the area in front of her. Even from a distance, when Jessica looked properly, she could see the woman was a
bit older than her, which only made things worse. If Adam was going to dump her for some slutty student with a push-up bra, that was one thing, but it would be a humiliation too far if it was for
someone born before her. Someone who spent half her life getting her hair dyed and curled instead of doing a proper job.

Jessica could feel the edges of her phone digging into her palm as she squeezed it tightly. She looked at the screen, unlocking it and scrolling through to Adam’s name on her contact list.
Pressing the button to call him, Jessica watched as he broke off mid-conversation and reached into his pocket. He took out his mobile phone and glanced at the screen, presumably seeing her name and
then pressed a button. Jessica was ready to start speaking, thinking he had accepted the call, but instead her phone beeped and went silent. The words ‘call failed’ appeared as Adam put
his phone back into his pocket.

Jessica stared at the now-blank screen wondering what she should do next. In the moment it took her to breathe in, the rain started as suddenly as it had done when she had been watching the
schoolchildren play lacrosse earlier in the day. She found it hard to believe that so much had happened in such a short period of time. That morning, she had been a different person, wondering how
she could play a part in bringing down Nicholas Long. Now he was dead, one of her best friends was in love with her, Adam was copping off with some other woman, and Moss Side was seemingly on the
brink of a riot.

And she was getting wet.

Jessica pocketed her phone and stood still, watching Adam and the blonde from across the car park, the rain dribbling down her face. She closed her eyes and breathed in the cool air, allowing
her body to shiver as the freezing rain ran down her back.

By the time she looked up, the waiter was back at the table with two plates of food. The one he placed in front of Adam seemed to consist mainly of meat and chips; the woman’s was a big
bowl of salad which made Jessica hate her even more. At least if someone was going to steal him away from her, they should have the good grace to get fat in the process.

Jessica ran her hands through her hair, pulling it away from her face and apologising silently to Izzy for getting the interior of her car wet as she opened the door and climbed back inside. She
watched as Adam and the woman ate their meals, chatting, smiling and laughing the whole way through. Jessica continued staring, not knowing why she didn’t march into the restaurant and demand
to know what was going on. The rain continued to rattle off the metal of the car, deafening her until, finally, they finished eating and stood.

There was a tiny inkling of solace as Jessica realised neither the woman nor Adam had brought a proper coat but even that was ruined as she watched him handing the blonde his jacket. The final
straw came as they dashed side by side to the hotel next door, clattering through the front door to get out of the rain.

Jessica couldn’t describe how she felt, any anger she expected to have cancelled out by a feeling in her stomach of wanting to be sick. She continued to stare at the hotel but there was no
movement.

Her throat was so swollen that it was hard to breathe but Jessica composed herself to turn the key just as the rain began to ease off.

The radio jumped into life halfway through the newsreader’s sentence but his message was as clear as it could be – the threats of the teenage protestors that morning that they would
‘smash the place up’ were in the process of coming true.

Moss Side was separated from Longsight by the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. With the high number of battles between youths from estates belonging to the two
communities, that meant the medical facility was in the perfect location a few years back. When Jessica worked in uniform, every officer knew Whitworth Park at the back of the hospital was the
place where the gangs of Moss Side would square up against their rivals from Longsight every few weeks.

Since then, much of the gang warfare had died down, or at the least the lower-scale trouble. But while stabbings, drug charges and public disorder figures had decreased, firearms offences were
up.

There were specialist teams in Greater Manchester’s Police service trained to deal with gang-related crime but neither they, uniform, or anyone else had been prepared for what happened on
the night of Nicholas Long’s death.

After arriving back at the flat, Jessica watched the news on the television in the bedroom, before turning it off, rolling over and pretending to be asleep the moment she heard Adam’s key
in the lock. He whispered an apology for being late and she struggled not to tense as he kissed the back of her head.

The following morning, Jessica headed straight to Moss Side, where smoke was still rising. Police had cordoned off the roads heading in and were checking each car attempting to enter and exit,
leading to long queues in the surrounding district. Jessica parked Izzy’s car a short distance away and walked. She struggled not to shiver, her decision to stand in the rain the previous
evening returning to haunt her. Her hair was still matted and knotty, despite the fact she’d had a shower.

The morning itself was dry and bright, although the air smelled of burning as one of the uniformed officers waved her through and told her where the rest of the team were.

Jessica saw the initial burned-out car at the end of the road – the first of half-a-dozen. There was a host of officers crowded around, with a fire engine parked on either side blocking
the roads. Stones and broken glass littered the tarmac as Jessica tried to step around the debris.

She realised quickly that the only reason Cole had asked her to attend was to keep up appearances. The chief superintendent was strolling around the scene with two news cameras in tow and there
were officers massed throughout. She could guess the way things had happened that morning, with the high-ups requesting every district from across the city send an officer or two to at least make
it appear as if they were reacting to what had gone on the previous evening.

A man in a suit Jessica recognised as a detective sergeant from their neighbouring North division caught her eye and she weaved her way around one of the vehicles, making sure she stayed out of
the camera’s view.

‘You got the short straw too then?’ he asked. He was at least fifteen years older than Jessica with curly grey hair and a slouch that made it look like he’d long since given
up.

‘I’m thinking of changing my middle name to “shat upon”,’ she replied with a weak smile.

The man laughed. ‘If nothing else, it will get you funny looks at the airport.’

‘What are we even doing here?’ Jessica asked.

‘Just follow me and look busy.’ He turned and walked away from the cars. ‘I’m Geoff,’ he said, offering his hand.

‘Jessica,’ she replied, shaking it.

Geoff began pointing at rocks as they walked. ‘If we stay together and walk around pointing at rocks and bottles like this, anyone watching from a distance might think we’re
gathering vital evidence, rather than simply making up the numbers in a show of force.’

Jessica copied him, pointing at a broken piece of glass. ‘Haven’t we got specialist teams to go through scenes like this?’

He crouched, picking up a rock and showing it to Jessica, then holding it up to the light as if he had noticed something important. ‘They’ve already got most of them in custody,
it’s just kids, teenagers and young blokes who fancied a tear-up. We’re only around because the cameras are here – people will want to see lots of officers on the news this
evening and in the papers tomorrow.’

Geoff stood again, walking back towards the cars with Jessica by his side.

‘How long do you think we’ll have to hang around?’ she asked.