Page 102 of In Too Deep

Jake pulled his hard hat off and scrubbed a forearm across his forehead. He smiled. Harrison didn’t. Instead, he slid his sunglasses back on, shutting any expression away entirely.

“Don’t keep him too long, eh?” Levenson pointed up to the roof. “Need this section watertight by six.”

Harrison gave a curt nod. “I’ll keep it brief.”

Something about that sat badly in Jake’s chest. Brief. Clinical. As if this were business. So he shoved his T-shirt back over his head, shaking his damp hair loose through the collar before following Harrison across the site.

The further they got from the others, the more obvious the tension became.

Harrison stopped beside a stack of pallet-wrapped insulation boards near the rear compound fencing. Lorries rumbled somewhere beyond the units. Nail guns echoed from another roofline further down the estate. Then he spun to face him. And God, his jaw looked locked solid. Chest rising sharply beneath the shirt and tie. As if he’d been holding this in all day.

Jake tried to cut through it first, lowering his voice as he stepped closer. “You alright?”

Harrison heaved a large breath. “Did you go to Hull?”

Jake blinked.

Ah.

Shit. Fuck.

“How the hell did that get back to you?”

“Doesn’t matter how. Is it true?”

Jake rubbed his mouth. “Uh… aye.”

Harrison looked away, bracing one hand on his hip as he inhaled hard through his nose. As if he physically needed a second not to lose his temper. When he looked back, the anger was there properly.

“How,” he asked through clenched teeth, “did you end up in Hull?”

Jake transferred his weight. “I followed a lead.”

“A lead?” Harrison glanced around the yard, checking who might overhear before stepping closer. “You don’t have leads, Jake. You’re not a civilian adviser. You’re not a witness liaison. You are not the fucking police.”

“Jesus, alright, calm down. I barely got owt.”

Harrison widened his eyes. “Jake, you approached a potential witness connected to an active murder investigation. A vulnerable witness. Off record. With information you should never have had access to in the first place.”

Jake felt the sting of that immediately.

Harrison dragged a hand down his tie then lowered his voice further. “I gave you certain details in confidence because I trusted you. Because of…” He stopped himself, taking a breath. “Whatever this is between us. And now your name has appeared in an official note linked to my investigation again. Do you have any idea how bad that looks for me?”

Jake opened his mouth, but Harrison steamrolled straight over him.

“If Professional Standards ask why a civilian with personal ties to me had knowledge of victim movements and witness information, what exactly do you think happens next?” Harrison raised his eyebrows beneath his sunglasses, much like Jake’s maths teacher used to when he’d never got the answers right. Though Jake presumed Harrison’s question was rhetorical. He confirmed that when he carried on, “I’m under enough scrutiny as it is being brand new to this force. One complaint. One suggestion that I’m leaking information outside the enquiry, and they’ll pull me from the case entirely. Do you know what that means?”

“It means I fucked up.” Jake rubbed his brow. “I get it. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not sure you do get it.” Harrison shook his head. “This isn’t just a bollocking from a superior officer. This is my career. The case. Victim integrity. Disclosure. Defence briefs would tear through this if it ever came out.”

Jake dragged a hand through his hair, frustration flaring hot now. “I weren’t trying to screw your case over.”

“But you did.”

Silence slammed between them.

Jake looked away first.