by LJ Ross
Phillips was incensed, but eager for more details of who’d thrown what punch, and when.
“Did he go for the body, or give the bloke a few jabs to the head?”
MacKenzie added a splash of milk to their tea, and rolled her eyes heavenward.
“Frank, I’m not a sports commentator,” she said. “How should I know where he hit him? All I can say is, he did a thorough job, and you’d have been proud.”
Phillips leaned back against the sofa and nodded, like a proud uncle.
“Aye, well, I taught the lad all he knows, o’ course,” he said, modestly.
“Mm hmm,” she said, settling herself beside him.
“You might not be able to look the other way, when you take that DCS job,” Phillips said, suddenly. “Would you dish out a disciplinary?”
MacKenzie took a sip of her tea, then cupped it in her hands.
“Perhaps, if I took the job,” she said. “But I’m not going to.”
He looked at her, his face a comical mask of surprise.
“Eh? Why ever not? There’s nobody who could do that job better than you.”
She smiled, and gave him a peck on the cheek, for that.
“Thanks, love, but it’s not that. Working on this case the past few days, I realised something Ryan must have realised a long time ago,” she said. “I don’t want to sit behind a desk. I don’t want to miss moments like that, tonight—”
“Oh, go on, rub it in,” he grumbled.
“You know what I mean,” she said. “I’d have to be satisfied with reading a report, or hearing the news second hand. I’d never be the one to witness the busts, or to see a mother’s joy at being reunited with her daughter.”
That was a memory she knew would remain with her, for many years to come.
“I’m not ready to give up those moments, Frank. Not for any amount of money or prestige.”
Phillips took her hand in his, and raised it to his lips.
“You know that, if you’d wanted it, I’d have done everything I could to help,” he said. “I’d have been cheering you on, every step of the way.”
“I know, Frank, and I love you for it.”
“And, in the interests of full disclosure, you know a little part of me would’ve got a thrill out of being with the boss lady.”
MacKenzie jabbed a finger against his chest.
“I’ve got news for you, Frank Phillips. You’re already with the boss lady.”
The smile he gave her was pure mischief. “Fancy some hot chocolate?”
She gave him a long-suffering look.
“I may be many things, but I’m not bloody superwoman. I’m gonna need a bacon sarnie and a foot rub, before I’m ready for any hot chocolate.”
* * *
Jack and Mel were curled up on the sofa with the cat at their feet, unwinding after a long day, when there came a knock at the front door.
“Wonder who that is?” Jack said, noting the time was almost nine o’clock.
When he opened the door, he found Ryan standing there.
“Ryan! Come on in,” he said, stepping back to allow his friend to enter. “Did I forget something at the office?”
Ryan shook his head, and wondered whether he should have called ahead. He thought the news he had to impart was best given in person but, now it came to it, he hoped he’d made the right call.
“Jack, something important’s come up—”
There was no time to issue a warning before Mel stuck her head around the living room door, and smiled.
“Hello! D’you fancy a cuppa?”
“No, thanks Mel. I won’t stay long.”
“Anything wrong?” she asked, growing concerned at the odd expression on his face.
It was…
It was the kind of expression he used when he was speaking to the families of victims, she realised.
A chill ran up her spine, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
“What’s this all about?” Jack said.
But, it was to Mel that Ryan addressed himself.
“I received an e-mail alert, as I was on my way home,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think this was something that could wait until the morning, so I turned around and came here. I hope I’ve done the right thing.”
“You’re scaring us now, mate,” Lowerson said, with a forced laugh. “What did the e-mail say.”
Ryan cleared his throat.
“When Lawana was brought into the hospital, I asked the hospital not to clean her hands or feet, because I wanted her body swabbed for DNA,” he said. “The results of those swabs came back, along with a single match to another DNA record we already have on file.”
A dull ringing began in her ears, and Mel put a hand on the wall, to brace herself.
“Tell me.”
“The DNA we extracted from the blood sample recovered from Lawana’s body is a 98.6% match to the DNA sample found in the hair follicle recovered from your sister’s body.”
She’d waited so long, Mel thought. So long.
“Do you have a name?”
Ryan shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “The sample is unidentified. But, Mel, this time, we have a witness. She’s cooperative, and she might be able to help us.”
He was right, she thought. It was more than they’d ever had before.
“I hope I did the right thing, in telling you.”
Mel’s eyes glistened, and she simply nodded.
“You don’t—you couldn’t understand what this means to me.”
“I think I do,” Ryan said softly, remembering his own sibling. “You’ve waited a long time to bring your sister’s killer to justice, and now, you might be one step closer.”
“It may lead to nothing,” she said.
Ryan shook his head.
“Never give up, Mel. There’s always hope, in everything.”
With that, he left them to it, and made his way back to his own family, a more humble man than when he’d left them, that morning.
DCI Ryan will return
later in 2021
If you would like to be kept up to date with new releases from LJ Ross, please complete an e-mail contact form
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Rock is my eighteenth DCI Ryan novel and, though my books have covered difficult subject matter in the past, I found this was one of the hardest to write and release upon the world—not least because we suffered a bereavement on the cusp of the book’s original publication date. Nonetheless, trafficking of women is something I have wanted to incorporate into one of my storylines for a long time, and it was merely a case of waiting for the right inspiration to come along. It is a complex subject matter to distil into a single novel but, ultimately, the purpose of my story is to celebrate the tenacity of the human spirit; as in all my books, there is darkness and light. As we all know, happy endings do not always happen in real life, but there are people working hard every day to be good people and good neighbours. It is to them that this book is dedicated, because they are the glue that holds all else together, and inspire the rest of us.
LJ ROSS
February 2021
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LJ Ross is an international bestselling author, best known for creating atmospheric mystery and thriller novels, including the DCI Ryan series of Northumbrian murder mysteries which have sold over five million copies worldwide.
Her debut, Holy Island, was released in January 2015 and reached number one in the UK and Australian charts. Since then, she has released a further twenty novels, all of which have been top three global bestsellers and fifteen of which have been UK #1 bestsellers. Louise has garnered an army of loyal readers through her storytelling and, thanks to them, several of her books reached the coveted #1 spot whilst only available to pre-order ahead of release.
Louise was born in Northumberland, England. She studied undergraduate and postgraduate Law at King’s College, University of London and then abroad in Paris and Florence. She s
pent much of her working life in London, where she was a lawyer for a number of years until taking the decision to change career and pursue her dream to write. Now, she writes full time and lives with her husband and son in Northumberland. She enjoys reading all manner of books, travelling and spending time with family and friends.
If you enjoyed The Rock, please consider leaving a review online:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
If you would like to be kept up to date with new releases from LJ Ross, please complete an e-mail contact form on her Facebook page or website, www.ljrossauthor.com
