Page 152 of Too Close To Home

“Nothing linking him to Emily,” Harrison said carefully.

Jake nodded once, though it did little to ease the tension sitting across his shoulders. His eyes drifted to the desk before lifting again.

“And…” He hesitated. “Did you… clear me? From what Andy said?”

Harrison knew what he was really asking.

Not whether they’d proved his alibi.

Whether Harrison had been the one forced to prove it.

“We did.” Harrison smoothed down his tie. “We’d already tracked down and manage to speak to the man you’d been with when Emily disappeared. He confirmed your whereabouts. The timings matched.”

He left it there.

Jake didn’t.

Colour crept into his face as he looked away. “Right.”

Harrison had interviewed witnesses hundreds of times. Victims. Suspects. Families. He’d asked people about the worst moments of their lives without letting it become personal.

That had been different.

Asking another man to account for a night with Jake Whitton had felt less like taking a statement and more like trespassing somewhere he had no business being.

Jake rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, the silence stretching long enough for them both to feel it.

Harrison watched him for a moment. Then, “Did you want to know his name?”

Jake looked up. Held his gaze. “No.”

Harrison nodded.

Jake stood, setting the whole conversation aside with a visible effort. “Did you find anything to do with Robyn at Andy’s?”

Harrison’s inhalation made his chest crackle. Telling Jake what he’d found in Andy’s flat would risk information being leaked before it was ready. Before Harrison had had a chance to re-interview him.

But he couldn’t lie either.

“Jake… let me do my job.”

Jake kept his eyes fixed on him, as if trying to read past the words. Then, finally, he nodded. And Harrison moved to the door, opening it, stepping aside enough to let him pass. And as he did, he could smell the scent of aftershave, of soap and grit underneath Jake’s skin. Heady and intoxicating. So different from Chris, yet it made Harrison’s gut clench in all the same ways. Made him want to kiss him again, to let him know that yes, he felt all this too.

However inappropriate. However ill timed. However unwanted.

He felt it.

“Good luck, detective.” Jake gave him a small smile.

Harrison nodded. Then watched him disappear down the corridor before turning back to the office.

“Calder,” he called across the room. “I want a background on Brodie—the bar manager at the King’s Arms. Full work-up. Associations, finances, previous addresses, the lot.”

Calder looked up sharply. “Sir?”

“Now.”

“Yes, sir.”