Miss No One Mark Ayre (children's books read aloud TXT) 📖

"I cannot imagine how hard it must be for a sociable but honest person to go undercover and investigate other police officers. You're surrounded by colleagues, most of whom are friendly, but you feel you're betraying them. You struggle to make friends because you don't believe friendship should be based on a lie, but you can't tell them the truth. You must feel so isolated, so alone, and I can only commend the strength of character it must take to persevere. It's no wonder you want to spill all to Ana and me, and you shouldn't feel guilty. It's your first chance to be truly honest with people who might understand for Lord knows how long. Anyone would get that."

Christine met Abbie's eye. The detective's glistened with tears, but she found the strength to shake her head.

"You're suspected of assaulting one police officer and shooting another. I can't be talking to you. Whenever I get the chance, I phone my boyfriend or my parents, and we talk. I tell them everything. They're my outlet."

"And do they understand?" asked Abbie. "Or do they watch Line of Duty and think this all must be terribly exciting for you. Do they get the pain, the loneliness? Can they?"

A tear trailed down Christine's cheek. Raising a hand, she wiped it away. Once again, she looked into her empty tumbler.

"They do their best."

"I know they do," said Abbie. "And you're lucky to have them, but that doesn't make you a bad person for thinking they don't quite understand your plight. Because they don't."

"And you do, do you?" said Christine, her tone bitter. "You, the cop killer."

"Last I heard, Kilman wasn't dead," said Abbie. "Also, I didn't shoot him. I did punch Ndidi, but he deserved it. He was attacking Gary."

Christine shrugged a sulky teenager's shrug. "If you say so."

But the detective didn't honestly believe Abbie had shot Kilman. If she did, she wouldn't have held off phoning the police. She would have run screaming from the building if that was what it took to get Abbie locked up.

Abbie took a breath. Christine had bared her soul. Maybe it was Abbie's turn.

"Right now, back home, I have a boyfriend waiting for me, just like you. Our relationship is in its early days. We don't live together, per se, but I think there's every chance he loves me. Stranger still, I think I might be falling in love with him."

A cough overcame Abbie, and she picked up her water, took a long swig. Okay, this was going to be more challenging than she thought.

"At midnight last night, I told this guy a young girl might be in trouble. I had to try to save her. He didn't like it, because he worries, but he knew what I did when we started seeing each other. He'd already told me he'd be okay with it, though this was his first test. So, although he was worried, he bit his tongue. Rather than begging me to stay with him so he could be sure I wasn't in danger, he told me to be safe and to come back to him. I couldn't promise either, but I did anyway because loves makes us weak, and occasionally it makes us liars."

Love makes us weak. That was a phrase straight from the teachings of Ben. No one in love could be an effective soldier or saviour. Heroes had to be alone because once they let people into their heart, they could no longer put their lives on the line to protect the innocent.

That's what he believed. Abbie would prove him wrong.

"I left my boyfriend to come here," said Abbie. "I rushed to this town where no one knows who I am, where I'm alone, where I knew I would face only mistrust and dislike. I did that not because I wanted to; what I want is to be spending the day with my man. I did it because there's a child in danger, and duty, my duty, comes before my happiness."

Christine was enraptured by this story. Abbie was still struggling to tell it. It still hurt to think about it. And Bobby's smile shone brighter in her mind than ever before.

"Most people won't understand how you feel, but I do," said Abbie. "I've spent years putting duty before happiness. I've cut myself off from society. I save lives, but I've been isolated, alone when I'm not protecting the innocent. My only allies are people like Ariana," Abbie waved a hand to the lawyer. "A woman who only a month ago almost drowned trying to murder me."

"That's true," said Ana.

"I know how you feel," said Abbie. "I know how much it sucks. I..." she paused, struggled to find the right words. "Duty is the chain around your neck. You were pushed into this job, and that isn't fair. I wish I could do something to help you. I only hope that in saving Isabella, we can root out the remaining corrupt officers in your local station, so you can go home."

Abbie finished her water. Wanted another but left the glass where it was rather than give Christine an excuse to request another vodka.

"I pray you'll find a way to trust Ariana and me because I think, if we work together, we can uncover what Orion Becker's up to. We can stop him and the officers he has on the payroll, and we can do the most important thing of all: we can save Isabella."

Abbie looked to Ariana, the woman she had turned away, told to go home because she could barely stand to look at her, knowing what Alice's daughter had done.

"You're on board, aren't you, Ana? You'll do what it takes to save Isabella?"

"Hell yeah," said Ana. No hesitation or reservation.

Abbie returned to Christine.

"What about you?" she said. "You still have your phone, I guess, so now's the time to decide. Do we work together to stop Becker? Do we put all our cards on the table to untangle what's going