Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Craig’s heart was thumping, which was crazy. This wasn’t some stake-out on a dodgy estate where things could go badly if he made the wrong move. So why was he worried? He should just march over, collar the girl and make people aware that this kind of crime could happen, even somewhere as carefree as Everdene. That might make them take more care of their valuables.

Something was stopping him, though. He’d felt drawn to the girl the moment he had bumped into her in the cafe. He wanted to know why she was doing this. Instinct told him this wasn’t her usual behaviour. She didn’t have the air of a hardened pickpocket, and the way she had taken food out of the cool box told him she was hungry. Although being hungry didn’t excuse what she was doing, far from it.

Craig knew that if his mates were here they wouldn’t give her a chance, and that they’d call him soft. Well, maybe he was soft, softer than he admitted even to himself. In fact, he had to face up to it now. He’d lost his killer instinct. He’d been dragged over the coals, and even though he’d been cleared of blame, the experience had soured him. Where once he had felt it was his duty to see justice done, now he was asking himself questions. And a good cop shouldn’t hesitate.

He sighed, put down his binoculars and got out of his deckchair. He could see her without them now, weaving her way among the holidaymakers back to her towel. He paused for a moment, and watched as she sat down, then put her head in her hands. He could see by her body language that she felt guilty. Her shoulders were hunched and she moved slowly as she started gathering her things up ready to leave. Smart move, thought Craig, because it was about time she moved on. That last family looked as if they would cause a fuss, and it would be better for her if she wasn’t around when they raised the alarm.

He watched as she stuffed the last of her things in her bag and stood up. He walked down the last few feet of the bank and made his way towards her as she moved off. He fell into step beside her and put a hand on her arm.

‘Hey,’ he said, not loudly, as he didn’t want to cause alarm. She stopped.

‘What?’ She looked straight at him. There was a moment of confusion, then she recognised him. ‘You were in the cafe.’

‘I saw what you did,’ he told her.

‘What?’ she repeated, frowning this time, and he saw that her eyes were amber speckled with gold. ‘Spilled my tea, you mean?’

For a moment, in the heat of the sun, he doubted himself again. He felt awkward. This was far more difficult than an arrest, when he was in uniform. He wasn’t quite sure what to say.

‘No. I saw you nick that wallet out of the cool box. And take that purse out of that woman’s handbag earlier.’ He pointed back down the beach.

She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

She moved away and carried on walking. He walked beside her.

‘I’ve got photos.’

She hesitated for a moment. ‘Of what?’

‘Good enough evidence for a court of law.’

She turned on him. ‘Go and hassle someone else, will you? You’re being weird.’

‘I should have you arrested.’

‘I should have you arrested. You’ve been following me since this morning, taking pictures. That’s stalking.’

He was impressed by the way she stood her ground. On the surface, she seemed defiant. A passer-by would believe her innocence, but Craig had been trained to read body language. Her fists were clenched, and she refused to make eye contact. He was going to have to be more forceful to get her to admit her guilt. Yet somehow his heart wasn’t in it.

Maybe he should just let her go and be done with it. Thinking she had been caught would probably put her off doing it again, and this was supposed to be his week off. He just wanted to chill and get things straight in his head. This was like being back at work, if not worse. All he really wanted to do was sit back down and have a beer and maybe fall asleep again.

Craig nearly gave up and let her go, but something inside him wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know why she was on the beach nicking money. He never had time, when he arrested people, to go into the whys and wherefores, and he was interested.

‘I don’t want to make a big scene,’ he told her. ‘But I can’t just let you walk off with all that money.’

She spread her hands, laughing. ‘There is no money. I haven’t even got enough for an ice cream.’

He held her gaze.

‘Open your bag. Let me have a look.’

‘Leave me alone. Or I’m going to call for help.’

He looked around and then took his wallet out of his shorts. ‘You better take a look at this.’

He flipped it open and showed her his police identification.

She stared at it for a good five seconds before she finally dropped her eyes to the ground. She sighed and turned away.

‘I didn’t have any choice,’ she said, her voice tight with tears.

‘We all have a choice,’ he replied. ‘I’ve got a choice right now. I can take you into the nearest station. Or we can talk about it.’

‘What are you, my counsellor, all of a sudden?’ she asked, crossly.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Normal girls of your age don’t come to the beach on their own and spend the day nicking money.’

‘You think I don’t know that?’ She raised her voice, and he realised that people were looking.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘I’m a cop. By rights it’s my duty to turn you in. But I’m on holiday. I don’t want a load of hassle.’ He looked at her. She was staring down at the sand. The fight seemed to have gone out of her. ‘And I bet you don’t either.’

She looked up and put her hands on her hips. ‘So what are you going to do? Give me some big lecture? It’s not as if I don’t know it’s wrong.’

‘So why did you do it?’

She stared at him. Her eyes were huge in her face. He reached out a hand and touched her arm. ‘Come on. Come inside and have a drink. We can talk about it.’

Jenna stood there. She didn’t know what to do. All she knew was that the heat was suddenly unbearable and she felt sick. She wasn’t scared. She didn’t feel like running away. In fact, she almost felt a sense of relief. Her future was now going to be out of her hands. Someone else was going to be in control.

She looked up at the bloke again. He was going to decide her fate. She didn’t have to make the decisions any more. She couldn’t read the expression in his silver-grey eyes. She’d expected harshness and accusation but they seemed almost understanding.

‘Come on,’ said the man, nodding his head up towards the faded blue beach hut behind him. ‘We don’t want to have this discussion in public.’

For a moment Jenna was tempted to run. She was wearing flip-flops, which were impossible to run in, but she could kick them off. How far would she get? Not far, she knew. And he looked fit.

She followed him obediently up the slope towards the beach hut. He had broad shoulders tapering down to a slender waist. He was wearing red surfing shorts decorated with flowers although there was nothing girly about him. He was lightly tanned, and his skin glistened where he’d put on sun cream. Despite her heart thumping, she managed a smile to herself. Nice work, Jenna - you’ve been caught red-handed by the hottest cop you’ve ever seen.