Tony Hill u Carol Jordan 08 - Cross and Burn

not sure friendship is one of my strengths.’
    ‘You’ll never find out if you carry on running away from everybody who cares about you. Now, are you going to let me in before I freeze my tits off?’
    Almost a smile. Carol opened the door and stepped back. She clicked her fingers and the dog lay down at her feet. ‘Come in.’
    The space Paula entered was a building site, a work in progress. A couple of industrial lamps in their metal cages lay on the floor, casting light and shadow in a complicated chiaroscuro, making it difficult to get a clear picture of what was going on. She clocked the sawhorses, a workbench, bare stonework and bundles of cable and wire sticking out at odd angles. ‘Funny,’ she said. ‘I never had you down as a DIY queen. Or are you just getting in touch with your inner butch?’
    ‘It’s therapeutic. I’m undoing the past and making a future.’
    She sounded like a cut-price version of Tony. ‘Is there anywhere to sit?’
    Carol gestured with her head for Paula to follow her. They went through a door and into another world. For a start, it was warm. The room resembled a small loft apartment. Bed, workspace, cooking area. No living area. Just a couple of office chairs in front of three computer monitors and a flat-screen TV.
    The light was brighter here too. Paula could see Carol clearly, and as she’d never seen her before. Her hair was thicker and cut more bluntly than previously. There was silver among the blonde, glinting as it caught the light. Either she’d given up dyeing her hair or the years had finally caught up with her. She wore no make-up and her hands were scarred and scabbed from the snags and scratches of physical labour. Even under the thick sweater and jeans that she wore, it was obvious her upper body was more solid, her thighs stronger. In spite of it all, Carol looked healthier than she had for years. And Paula couldn’t help remembering that she’d carried a torch for her former boss. Until Elinor had come along and reality had consigned fantasy to the dustbin.
    ‘What’s with the dog?’ Paula held out a hand to Flash, who sniffed it disdainfully then turned away and followed his mistress as she filled the kettle and set it to boil. Carol readied a cafètiere with ground coffee. ‘And where’s Nelson?’
    ‘I left him with my parents. He’s too old for all this. The dog is a misfit who’s here for the time being. We’re both on trial, I think.’ She turned to face Paula and leaned against the worktop. She pushed up her sleeves, revealing muscular forearms which she folded across her chest. ‘So have you come to warn me too?’
    ‘Warn you?’
    Carol shook her head, disappointment on her face. ‘Don’t try to kid a kidder, Paula. John Franklin told me you were Fielding’s bagman. Come to that, I saw you myself this morning at the crime scene. So let’s start again. Have you come to warn me too?’
    ‘Carol, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Has Franklin been here? Today?’ This wasn’t making any sense to Paula.
    ‘He stopped by this morning after Fielding handbagged him and took the case away.’
    ‘Pissed off, was he?’
    ‘Oddly enough, no.’ The kettle boiled and she poured hot water on the grounds. The smell was tantalising. One thing Carol and Tony still had in common; you always got a better than decent cup of coffee. ‘He said he was here to warn me.’
    ‘What? To keep your nose out?’
    ‘Warn me, not warn me off,’ Carol said impatiently. ‘He told me there’s a killer on the loose who seems to have a thing for women who look like me.’
    Paula was taken aback. ‘Well, women who look like you used to look. I’ll be honest, you don’t look like anybody’s potential victim these days. Not that you ever did,’ she added hastily, seeing the danger signs in Carol’s expression. ‘So, was that a surprise, Franklin showing up?’
    ‘Completely out of the blue.’ Carol smiled. ‘I was gobsmacked. I’d always thought if there was any chance of me being murdered, Franklin would be out there selling tickets.’
    ‘Only if it was happening well away from his patch.’
    ‘True. So if you’re not here to warn me to lock my doors and avoid the lonely graveyard at midnight, why are you here? I’m not naïve enough to think it’s because you missed me.’
    ‘But I do miss you. And not just because DCI Fielding is most emphatically not you.’ Paula accepted a cup of coffee and blew gently to cool it.