Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
In truth, I hadn’t been fast enough, and Daniel knew that. But that had been years ago, before I’d even come to Manchester, before I’d broken down the box that labelled me as a looked after child and started to decide who Mia McAllister was.
Today she was frustrated because there had been no more leads. The searches through missing persons hadn’t come up with anything yet, although in all likelihood, she’d only been missing around twenty-four hours or so, and maybe no one had noticed yet that she was missing.
Nate had confirmed further the similarities between the three victims. Janine Doe died from exsanguination due to renal artery trauma, bleeding out from the first stab wound.
Again, the lungs contained minimal water; she’d entered the water postmortem, and there was no sign of sexual assault, just like the others.
I stood outside the address Nate had texted me, a three-storey semi-detached in Chorlton, a trendy urban area of Manchester, full of hipsters and artists and bakeries that would’ve meant I’d need an extra ten miles each week just to stave off the effects of the bread.
It was close to Didsbury, so I’d grabbed a taxi, still standing there holding a bottle of decent fizz long after the taxi driver had hurried off for his next fare.
Permanence. This was what it looked like to have decided to lay roots, to say this is it for now.
No more moving. No more changing lanes. The whole process of getting a mortgage and going through the purgatory of buying a house wasn’t worth it for just a few years, not for a house like this, which was probably five bedrooms.
I rang the bell, more nervous than I knew what to do with.
Nate answered, thick rimmed glasses making him look exactly like the science geek he was. He was casual, for him, light brown chinos and a neatly pressed shirt, a tank top over it that somehow didn’t make him look like my computing teacher from when I was at school.
He had the same dark features as I did, dark brown hair, chocolate-coloured eyes, high cheekbones and strong bone structure. We were unmistakably siblings until we spoke, and our accents couldn’t differ more.
Nate had gone to private school, then to study at University College, London, somehow ending up at Stanford, then back over here.
I’d been state school all the way, and I wouldn’t have swapped it, although there had been an offer from Stan to pay for private and even boarding school. I hadn’t wanted his money; not until my foster mum persuaded me to not cut my nose off to spite my face.
“Like it?” He looked up at the red brick archway.
“I do. Needs a decent paint job.” The paint on the wooden sash windows was peeling, the front door probably the original and in need of some TLC.
“It’s a project. It’s been empty for about six years.
The owner was an elderly lady who went to live with her sister but didn’t want to sell this place.
She didn’t maintain it, her health declined and her children wanted a quick sale after she died.
I’ve benefitted.” He gave it an appraising look. “Lots to do, but I like a project.”
“How’ve you afforded it?” It really was none of my business, but I asked anyway, half-dreading the answer.
“A bond matured that was in my name. I didn’t ask any more questions.”
I followed him inside. The hallway was decorated in eighties floral chic, the flooring worn carpet, dusty and frayed, possibly nibbled by mice. “You’re going to need another bond to do it up.”
He laughed, maybe one of the first ten times I’d heard him do so. “I suspect you’ll get a bond too. Mine came at thirty-four for some reason.”
I didn’t say anything, peering into an empty living room with a big open fire that needed cleaning out, and no furniture whatsoever.
“Mia, when it comes through, take it.”
It was as if he could read my mind.
“It’s money from criminal games.”
“Not quite. This was from the legitimate part of the business. We both get a salary because of criminality.”
“Legally earned.”
“He owes it to you. And you won’t get into trouble from taking it.
” He opened the door into the kitchen, which was surprisingly modern with a single storey extension creating a place to entertain or watch kids play while you were cooking.
“They had this done before they sold it. I think one of the kids was planning on moving in here and managed to get his mother to cough up to have it done. There’s no sense to it; the house needs a new roof rather than a kitchen extension, but I’m not complaining. ”
I put the bottle down on the kitchen island, the scent of something good cooking making me feel suddenly hungry.
“Why’ve you moved here, Nate?” I sat down on one of the stools, which definitely did not match the modern kitchen. That must’ve been something the son hadn’t gotten round to.
He opened a bottle of fizz from the fridge and replaced it with the one I’d brought, taking his time to answer.
“A few reasons. I’ve done moving around. I’m thirty-five and I want to be based somewhere.”
“Why not near your gran?” She was the woman who’d brought him up, a proud peacock over her only grandchild, and a woman who’d succeeded when everyone had told her that her grandson was doomed to be a criminal like his father.
He poured the glasses, then sat down opposite me.
“Cheers.” He clinked his glass to mine. “I take it you’ve heard the rumours?”
“You’re seeing Jenna Osei?”
“Those.”
I waited for him to carry on, not needing to hurry the details.
“We met in North Carolina at a conference where I was a keynote speaker. The forensics world isn’t that small, as you know.
We talked about you. She knows about Stan – you need to know that, but you don’t because she won’t ever talk about it.
We’ve kept in touch the last few months and we wanted to see how it went if I lived closer to her.
” He put his glass down. “I’ve avoided Manchester all my life because of Stan, but if I don’t get over that, then Jenna and I won’t last because she won’t move from here. ”
“Okay.” I got it. I was envious of it though, which I shouldn’t be.
I hated that word. Should, or any of its derivatives.
“And we get to hang out. There’s no one else in the world that knows what it’s like to be Stan Garrity’s kid and working on the opposite side of the law.” He named it, getting it out there.
Which begged another question. “Have you tracked them all down now? The rest of the half-sibs?”
“The ones I know about. Do you want to know more?”
“No. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” This was a repeat of one of our last conversations four years ago.
I didn’t want to know what the other humans I shared DNA with were doing.
I had my family and my team, and that was enough.
I didn’t need to be curious here; they were not a case. “What’s for dinner?”
“A beef casserole. It’s usually good. And we’ve got strawberries for dessert, with ice cream. So what’ve you been up to since I last saw you? I heard about the promotion.”
I filled him in on what little of it there was. Work, the occasional boyfriend, a house move, a new boyfriend. Running. Fighting. More running. Just to stay still in my case.
“I also heard about the case you solved. The missing kids.”
I nodded, but didn’t say anything. It had been a big case, a child murdered, then a second went missing. I’d followed my gut, pursuing a hunch even though Wrigley hadn’t thought much of it, but it’d been right.
I’d found the boy in a bad way, chained up, tortured, but alive. We’d brought him home and a small detail that’d gotten under my skin had saved his life. A random person I’d spoken to who’d mentioned the vaguest butterfly of a detail that he shouldn’t have known.
The boy had been in the care system too, living in a children’s home. Easy pickings for a predator who made friends with him, sold him trust like it was sweets from a discount shop. Been interested in him.
It shouldn’t have happened but it did, and it wouldn’t be the last time.
“Jenna never said anything. About you.”
He looked sullen for a second. “I asked her not to. I wanted to tell you first but we were seen last night by one of the techs and you know how they talk.”
“It’s okay. Jenna’s nice. I can see why you like her. Is it serious then? I mean, it must be if you’ve moved to Manchester to be with her.” I could hear a touch of sharpness in my voice.
I hoped he wasn’t cut by it.
“It might be serious. We need to spend more time together, see what the bad days are like. But I came here because it’s part of my identity too, Mia. You’re here, and maybe it’s because I’ve finally grown up a bit, but I want more ties and you’re one.”
I nodded, understanding but not wanting to admit it. “So what are the plans for the house?”
“I’ve got a team of builders starting Monday.
The kitchen and main bathroom are fine and don’t need anything.
All the other rooms are relics from the seventies and eighties.
The top floor has two bedrooms and a bathroom, so I might rent them out, have a housemate if someone from the lab needs somewhere to stay.
Or I might rattle round here by myself while I see how things go with Jenna.
” He looked around the room until he got to the oven. “Dinner should be ready. Hungry?”
“Famished.”
The easiest thing for us to discuss without saying anything was work, the other detectives on the case, and the rest of the team.
I caught Nate up on the drama between Vinny and Dr Miz, and what the potential fallouts might be when Dr Miz returned.
The food was good – I’d forgotten that Nate was a decent cook – and the kitchen was cosy even if the rest of the house could’ve been a museum for the last century.
It was quiet here, but a sort of peace you could snuggle into and I understood why Nate had bought the house.