Epilogue
Gina
It had been two weeks since Harry, her lovely colleague, had died, and Gina still felt hollow.
The night she’d told Mrs O, she’d broken down as soon as the call had ended.
The team would never be the same again. They’d all gone back to work, they had to.
Crime didn’t stop because they were grieving.
Edwin Hammond had been further charged with Harry’s murder. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Thinking about him was enough to bring tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
She sat up in bed, staring at the wall opposite as her cat, Ebony, snuggled up on her lap and stretched a paw out. It was as if she could feel Gina’s pain. She kissed Ebony’s soft head and stroked her head.
Then there were the other charges. Sharing all those intimate films online had brought forward ninety-seven victims so far with many more to still be identified and contacted.
Hammond had been charged under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Each charge separate but Gina knew those charges were the least of Hammond’s problems.
A huge bag of cash, along with a fake identity, were found in Hammond’s car. It had been handed in to evidence but Gina knew that nearly all of it would have been Carmen’s. At some point she’d get her money back through the official channels.
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs sent Ebony jumping on the windowsill, where she peered out at the field opposite in the same way she often did for hours on end.
Brodie nudged the door open with the tray.
The smell of toast soon filled the bedroom.
She peered up and saw two plates of poached eggs on toast and two coffees, black, just the way they both liked them.
‘Are you hungry? You must be hungry.’ Brodie placed the tray down on her chest of drawers. He’d been so lovely over the past couple of weeks, staying when he could and calling her to see if she was okay when he was back on duty. She’d kept telling him that she was okay but she wasn’t.
‘I’m not sure if I can manage the food. I’ll take the coffee for now. Thank you.’ She forced a smile, grateful for his kindness.
He passed her the coffee and got into bed next to her.
She placed it on her bedside table and lay next to him, looking into his eyes, taking in the creases around them, knowing that she had creases, too. Life was delicate, precious and over all too easily. She touched her nose to his and kissed him.
‘Do you know when the funeral is?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘Harry’s body hasn’t been released yet.’
He nodded. Not wanting to push her too much. It was still hard to talk about him and not cry when she did.
‘What happened to the kids, the ones whose aunt was killed?’
‘They, err…’ She frowned, trying to remember the details.
‘Their aunt left them her house and money and there was some money in trust from their parents. They’re staying in the house.
Brian, the brother, is eighteen and he’s looking after his sister.
I went to see them yesterday, to update them on how the case was coming along. ’
‘And?’
‘They’re grieving. Brian is suffering. Since those videos went live, he’s barely been out of the house. He said as soon as the estate is sorted, he’s going to have to sell it and they want to move. I can understand that.’
She thought of how Edwin had sent all those videos out into the world.
Spencer Grey had upped and left. The blood found in the motorhome turned out to be menstrual blood.
Spencer had done nothing but have an affair with Mindy.
Ursula was on her own now. Gina had been to see her and she’d been glad he’d left.
She’d also been shocked to hear that the man who was setting up a shop next to hers, a man who had become a friend, had been behind it all.
‘You know, the perp spoke more after his confession. He’d been absolutely smitten with Ursula.
When we searched his house, he’d got photos up of him and her in all kinds of exotic places – of course, none of them were real. He’d used AI to make them. Creepy.’
Brodie lay on his back. ‘I keep thinking about the case and the things you’ve told me. There’s a price to pay for unkindness in life, isn’t there? And people get caught in the crossfire, like poor Harry.’
There were those that on the surface seemed to deserve what they had coming to them.
If Edwin Hammond had been telling the truth about Dustin and Mindy being nasty to a woman they didn’t even know on social media, were their deaths any great loss?
Can people ever change? Had Claudia changed from the person she’d been at school?
Maybe some of the people who weren’t as directly involved had learned a lesson.
Would Abel be a better person, or Jackson and Curtis?
Would they be better people? She wondered if they’d also move out of the area soon, too.
She’d seen the for sale sign up outside their house.
The thing is, she knew there was nowhere to run.
They couldn’t hide from what was on the internet.
It would come back to haunt them forever, but she knew that’s exactly what OpenMeSmiler had originally been about.
Edwin had got his revenge and it couldn’t be reversed.
Once out of the bag, those videos were never going back in.
Abel was now well and on learning all that had happened, with his own video being released to the world, he’d broken down like a child. Lives had changed forever. Even the toughest of them were reduced to a life of fear and distrust when it came to future relationships.
Lives had come to an abrupt end. Lonnie Carson, brother to Mindy, was preparing his sister’s funeral. Mrs Fuller would have to be Dustin’s carer for life. He no longer even knew who he was. Two teenagers had not only lost their parents, but had lost the aunt who took them in.
Mrs O was going to have to carry on without the man she had always loved, a love that most people could only have ever dreamed of. Life was full of loss.
After leaving the hospital, Tabitha had pleaded with Gina to ask Garth if he’d seen any photos of her flying around after Operation Big Picture. Garth looked everywhere online and couldn’t find any. It looked like Edwin had deemed her innocent in all this and spared her.
‘Come here.’ Brodie turned back on his side and stroked her hair.
She touched his face and kissed him. When all felt like it was lost, there was still the future and love.
Love had to count for something and she was sure she loved Brodie.
She wanted to leave thoughts of the dark path behind, along with all the vengeance and hatred.
She had a future with an amazing man and that had to count for everything.
She had a chance to have a perfect relationship and the more she looked into his eyes, the more she knew that the chance she’d taken to open her heart to Brodie was the best decision she’d ever made.
When he smiled, she still saw that fun young rookie who she trained with.
As for the case, no one won in the end. She was going to grieve, she was going to get through this and she was going to be as strong as she could for her team and, most of all, when she had time to come up for air again, she had her own path to tread – a brand new path in life.
She let a tear slide down her cheeks. That path wouldn’t have Harry O’Connor in it, though, and what a great loss to them all.
* * *