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head and nodded at Strong. Then she turned back and said, ‘We’ll need to keep it as evidence, but you’ll get it back.’
    They hit the stairs. ‘What’s your name?’’
    ‘Nicola Bell. But everyone calls me Nikki.’ Her voice was quiet and tight.
    Bell. Probably the daughter that Morrell mentioned.
    ‘How old are you?’
    ‘Sixteen.’
    ‘Well, Nikki, we’re going to get you out of here . . .’
    ‘I’m thirsty. The other cop . . . I mean policeman—’ A girl with manners, Rio liked that. She didn’t meet many kids in her line of work that put politeness at the top of their how-to behaviour list.
    ‘We’ll get you some water.’
    As soon as they hit the hallway downstairs Rio guided Nikki towards the kitchen.
    ‘DI . . .’ Strong’s voice was strident and urgent behind her.
    Rio twisted her head to the side and only when she caught his gaze did she realise what he was trying to warn her about. But it was too late; they were already on the threshold of the kitchen. Rio tried to grab Nikki’s head, but the girl had already seen what they didn’t want her to.
    Nikki’s gaze was transfixed by the blood and body in the corner with its cut throat. She let out a horrified, choked scream as she slumped back in Rio’s arms.

four
    10:40 a.m.
     
    ‘I will only permit you to question her for a short period of time,’ the doctor warned Rio. ‘She’s traumatised and needs rest.’
    Rio stood with Doctor Melissa Green in the corridor of a ward on the second floor of Mission Hill Hospital. Rio had decided to take Nikki Bell to a hospital in London rather than one near the Bells’ home in Surrey. The sixteen-year-old could break this case wide open, so Rio needed to keep her close.
    ‘I’ve got an investigation to pursue and this girl is a key witness. I’m sure that you can understand Doctor Green how important it is that I speak to her now.’
    The doctor’s beeper went. As she pulled it out she replied, ‘DI Wray, I know how you can get sometimes in your eagerness to find the truth. Just take this one gently.’ She checked her beeper and started moving down the corridor, then looked back at Rio. ‘I’ve got to go. Five minutes, that’s all.’
    Then, as Rio turned to the protection officer stationed at the door of Nikki Bell’s room, the doctor paused for a second, flipped her head to the side and called out, ‘Don’t forget the match on Saturday. We’re going to annihilate you.’
    Rio responded with a cocky, raised eyebrow. She’d known Melissa Green for a good three years, through dealing with victims in the hospital. Two years ago Doctor Green and Rio had organised a netball match between the female medical staff and some of the female officers back at The Fort to raise money for the hospital’s children’s unit. The match had been a success, so every six months Rio ‘Goal Attack’ Wray faced Mel ‘Goal Defence’ Green on the field. Both teams were competitive and aggressive in their pursuit of winning, but The Fort Tigers were still leading in the ‘we’re whipping your ass’ league table.
    Rio put thoughts of the coming match from her mind as she approached the protection officer. Her superior, DSI Newman, had whinged on about restricted resources when Rio had made the urgent call requesting a protection duty of two officers. But Rio had played the high profile case card and if anything happened to their witness the heat was going to come licking back at his door. He’d eventually agreed, but when only a lone protection officer had appeared she’d felt mad enough to call her DS and pull a strip off him over the phone. But, of course, she hadn’t done that. Rio was known for sticking by the book; she’d work too hard and long to let emotions get in the way of her ultimate goal – climbing the Metropolitan Police Service ladder as far as she could go. No way was she going to be booted out – not like disgraced, former cop Calum Burns.
    Calum Burns, Jack Strong.