Just Keep Breathing Page 23

  “She’s smarter than that,” Kidd said. “If she wants to get away with it, she’ll get away with it. Everything will have been done verbally if at all.” He sighed and took another sip of water. Never in his life had he enjoyed a glass of water so much. He downed the rest of it and leaned over to pour another. His body ached, but it was his face that hurt more than anything else. Chris Harper had really done a number on him.

  “Anything else to report?” Kidd asked as the door to the ward opened. He looked to see John McAdams walking in, looking a little bit lost. He was carrying a bunch of flowers and had a little brown paper bag in his other hand. He scanned the room, looking from bed to bed until he clocked Benjamin, a smile spreading across his face.

  “Just this guy,” she said.

  “What about him?”

  “He called the station this morning because he’d shown up at your house, apparently you were meant to have a date—”

  “Shit.”

  “He got worried something had happened and when you weren’t answering your phone, he spoke to Diane.”

  “Diane!”

  “She’s a very lovely woman,” John said as he got to the foot of Ben’s bed. He smiled at him, his eyebrows knitted together in concern. Kidd didn’t want to know how banged up his face looked, but based on the way that John was looking at him, all puppy dog eyes and worry, he imagined it didn’t look good. Hey, at least he still wanted to look at him. “She told me that you’d been taken into hospital. I didn’t know if I should come.”

  “I told him it was the right thing to do,” Zoe said. “Which it was, right?”

  “Oh God, absolutely,” Kidd said. He smiled at John. “Are those for me?”

  “I know we’ve not done gifts or anything like that yet, but flowers felt like the right thing,” he said seeming so unsure of himself. It wasn’t exactly a romantic milestone that he was coming to visit Ben in hospital after he’d had his head kicked in, but there was something romantic in the fact that he was there at all.

  “No, it’s great,” Kidd said. “I’m sure the nurse can get a vase or—”

  “I’ll go check,” Zoe said.

  “Zoe, you don’t have to—” John began.

  “No, no, you two talk,” she said, a knowing smile on her face. “I’ll find a vase and then head back to the station. There’s paperwork to do, all sorts. I can keep myself plenty busy, I’m sure.”

  She hopped up from her chair and walked towards the door, making suggestive faces at Kidd as she left. They were enough to bring some colour to his cheeks, colour that he hoped John wouldn’t notice being surrounded by all the cuts and bruises.

  John put the flowers down on the end of the bed and sat down in the chair Zoe had been sitting in. He didn’t take his eyes off Kidd once he sat down.

  “You’re out of your mind in this job, you know that?” John said.

  “Oh, I know,” he replied. “This is an occupational hazard.”

  “Christ, the worst that could happen to me is getting a fucking paper cut, you had someone punching you,” John said. “I’ve not taken a punch since high school.”

  “Count yourself lucky,” Kidd said. “I don’t recommend it.”

  John reached over and took hold of Ben’s hand as it rested on top of the blanket. Kidd flinched at first. He wasn’t used to it, the affection, at least not so publicly. He looked at the other beds, wondering if anyone was watching, but they weren’t. They were focused on their own lives. So he relaxed into it, squeezing John’s hand a little tighter and let out a heavy breath.

  “You must be exhausted,” John said. “I can go if you want. I don’t want to disturb you.”

  “You’re not disturbing me,” Kidd said with a lazy smile. “I don’t want you to go anywhere at all.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Once the Doctors had established that Kidd hadn’t suffered any major head trauma—something that Zoe disputed, albeit jokingly—he was discharged and sent home with strict orders from DCI Weaver not to come to work until he was a hundred percent better. He’d barely set foot in the door of his house before Zoe texted him to say there was a pool on how long it would take for him to come back, and she had six days, so if he could wait that long, she could really use the money.

  John stayed over for a couple of days, making sure that Kidd was alright and not overexerting himself. On the second day, he’d tried to go for a run, and John had all but barricaded the door to stop him from going.

  “If you hurt yourself, it’s on my watch, and I don’t think Zoe will be all that forgiving,” he had said as he put his body between Kidd and the door. It was sweet that he was looking after him like that, not that it was really needed. He’d suffered worse in his life. It was some cuts and bruises to his face, and they were fading pretty quickly.

  His arm still ached a little from where Alexandra Kaye had whacked him with that wooden board, and if he moved wrong the bruise on his stomach where Chris Harper had hit him sent a shock of pain through him, but he was getting better, steadily. As the days passed, he felt more like himself and looked less like Quasimodo when he looked in the mirror.

  He was going to head back into work tomorrow, making it a full six days since he’d last been in the office, earning Zoe her sweepstakes money and possibly him a pint, if he played his cards right. John had spent a lot of time at Kidd’s house over the past few days, working from his kitchen table or heading home in the afternoons to have zoom meetings, but it wasn’t necessary.

  “You can go home,” Kidd said on Wednesday morning. “I know you have work to do, I won’t be offended. All I’m going to be doing is watching TV and reading.”

  “You’re not going to go running?”

  “I’m not going to go running,” he said with a laugh. “I might take a walk, but it will be a slow walk, glacial. So slow the old guy from next door could beat me.”

  John smiled and left Kidd to his own devices for the day.

  He sat down with some scrambled eggs on toast and switched on some morning TV. He’d gotten into something of a routine, one he really hoped he’d easily lose once it came time to go back to work. It was surprisingly addictive once you got used to the fact that everything after BBC Breakfast was pretty much garbage.

  But he hadn’t been expecting the next guest. He stopped eating mid-mouthful.

  Laura Harper walked out onto the set, all smiles, her hair freshly coiffed, her smile as pearly white as it had been in all of those Instagram and Facebook videos he’d been subjected to. She took a seat with the hosts and Kidd could hardly believe what he was hearing.

  “It’s been a tough time, yeah,” she said, brushing her hair out of her face. “But I’m starting afresh, starting anew without my husband. My followers know I’ve been on such a journey through all this. It has changed me. I lost my…I lost my daughter,” she wiped her eyes, her voice cracking a little, but Kidd could see there wasn’t a tear in sight. “And I thought it would break me. But I galvanised myself. I got myself back out there, I used my following to help find her, and even though it ended tragically, with my fans by my side, I know I’ll be okay.”

  The hosts praised her, talking about what an inspiration she was and taking it all in like she really truly believed it. Kidd felt sick as he watched Laura smiling away on morning television. He was sure that she was only smiling because she’d gotten away with it.

  She started talking about how her followers had helped her reach new heights and she was working on a book about her life and freeing herself from the toxicity of her soon-to-be ex-husband, which was enough to make Kidd change the channel.

  He picked up his phone with the intention of messaging Zoe about what he’d seen but saw there was already a message there waiting for him. From Andrea Peyton.

  His breath caught in his chest. It had only been a week or so ago that he’d decided to let it all go, to put his past behind him, and leave Craig Peyton in it. He could see there was an attachment to the message. Surely she’d
not found something else.

  His curiosity got the better of him and he opened the message.

  Hello Ben,

  I hope you’re doing well. I’m sure you weren’t expecting to hear from me so soon, but I have developments and I couldn’t wait to share them with you. The attached photo is from two months ago. You might recognise the place. You holidayed there together I think. Southeast coast I believe.

  Anyway, he’s looking well, isn’t he?

  Speak soon.

  Andrea

  And there he was. He really did look well, exactly the same as Ben remembered him. Maybe a few more creases on the forehead, a crinkle or two more around the eyes, but it was definitely him. It was another CCTV shot, but it must have been a good system because the quality was impeccable.

  He was sitting in a cafe that Kidd recognised, one that was in Essex, one they had been to together when they’d stayed in a caravan by the sea early on in their relationship. He didn’t know what to do, but his heart was afire as he looked at the photo, and the certainty that he was still out there.

  Craig might not want to be found but Kidd could feel himself making a silent vow that he would find him, and he would find out what happened to him. He had to. Now that he’d seen him again, now that he knew where he’d been, he needed to.

  He fired a reply to Andrea, one with his phone number in it so they could chat properly, maybe get together and make a plan. He was going to find Craig. He was going to find out why he’d left. And if he was in trouble, even if it killed him, Benjamin Kidd would save him.

  DI BENJAMIN KIDD WILL RETURN IN

  YOUR BEST SHOT

  Coming June 2021

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  It feels very strange to be doing this again so soon after having written the acknowledgements for book one, but here we are. Once again I need to thank the people in the group who have helped to make this possible. The advice, the insight, these books would not exist without you.

  Thank you to my wonderful editor Hanna for all of your edits and insight on this one. So many very good spots that I didn't find myself and so many great suggestions on how to fix the issues. You are brilliant. And thanks again goes to Meg for this stunning cover!

  To my marvellous partner who has listened to me bellyache about this one more than its predecessor. You are a gem. Truly.

  And to all of you who have read and enjoyed the first book, and who have joined me and Benjamin Kidd for another adventure, I appreciate you so much. If you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review, it really helps me out. Hopefully I will see you for the next one. Until then...

  GS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  GS Rhodes has been writing for as long as he can remember, scribbling stories on spare bits of paper and hoping to one day share those stories with the world. The DI Benjamin Kidd series is GS Rhodes first foray into crime writing, combining a love of where he has lived for a lot of his life with his love of a good mystery. For more information and updates on GS Rhodes, you can follow him on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Or, to stay updated with blog posts and more, visit www.gsrhodes.co.uk