Missing (The Cass Lehman Series Book 3) by Melanie Casey Page A

Fairfield, the case, Cass, her lunch with Crackers. He wished he’d told Cass about Sorenson’s job offer and Grace’s cancer, but he hadn’t had a chance.
    He ground his fingers into his eyes, trying to banish the feeling that someone had chucked a handful of sand in them, and opened the door to the meeting room.
    Bruno stood to full alert and grumbled low in his throat as Ed walked in.
    ‘Bruno, drop.’ Maria barked the order and the dog immediately hit the floor, giving her a look of total subservience.

    ‘Good morning, Maria. Thanks for coming over. Morning, Bruno.’ He thought about patting the dog but changed his mind when he saw the look the Shepherd was giving him.
    ‘Glad you could make it,’ Maria said, firing a glance at the clock on the wall. She hadn’t changed at all. Short and stocky with dark hair cropped close to her skull, she was dressed in navy cargo pants and a plain khaki sweatshirt. Her only jewellery was an impressive array of piercings that ran the full length of each ear.
    ‘Sorry I’m late. I had a few issues at home this morning,’ Ed said.
    ‘You look like something the cat dragged in.’
    Ed gave her a crooked smile. He’d forgotten how blunt she could be. ‘That’s a pretty accurate description. Dave’ll be joining us in about half an hour, then we’ll head down to the crime scene. It’s about forty-five clicks from the city.’ He spent the next twenty minutes outlining the case. Janice interrupted them when she brought in his coffee. They were back at Ed’s desk reviewing satellite pictures of the dump on Google Earth when Dave strolled over.
    ‘Morning.’ He smiled at Maria, but the greeting lacked its usual wattage. Dave had failed miserably to charm her the last time they’d worked together. His knowledge of dogs was rudimentary at best and that was the only topic of conversation Maria liked to engage in.
    She nodded in Dave’s general direction. ‘We’re ready to go. Bruno’ll need to pee before we drive off.’
    ‘Right, er, there’s a park just across the road,’ Dave said.

    ‘That’ll do. I’ll be back in five. Bruno, come.’ She barrelled off towards the lift with the dog trotting at her side.
    ‘Do you reckon she likes the men in her life to be just as subservient?’
    ‘I don’t think there are men in her life, Dave, at least not in the way you’re thinking.’
    Dave snorted. He slid behind his desk and began checking his messages. Ed stood up. He needed to follow Bruno’s example before the long drive. He was halfway across the floor when Crackers stuck his head out of the fishbowl and called him over.
    ‘Dyson, my office.’
    Ed groaned and changed course. A few rounds with Crackers was just what he needed to make his morning complete.
    ‘Sit.’ Crackers gestured to the chair opposite his desk and squeezed his bulk into his own groaning leather chair.
    ‘Did Miss Lehman tell you?’ Crackers asked.
    A range of sarcastic answers flitted through Ed’s mind but he decided it wasn’t worth the grief. ‘She did.’
    Crackers tucked his hands behind his head. ‘Before yesterday I thought all psychics were full of shit.’
    Ed sat back in his chair and tried to make his shoulders relax. The topic of Cass made him want to rip Crackers’ head off. Crackers was exploiting her and he didn’t like it, but he needed to let Cass make her own decisions, as much as it killed him.
    Crackers studied Ed, his eyes partly buried by a heavy brow and fleshy cheeks, giving him a porcine appearance. Ed forced himself to wait, refusing to fill the silence.

    Crackers eventually leant back in his chair. ‘I just got a call from DCI Sorenson.’
    Ed worked to keep his face neutral while his gut clenched. Had Natalia agreed to release him to MCIB just when he wasn’t sure if that was what he wanted?
    ‘She got a call from the Chief Warden at James Nash House. Your boy in there’s done a runner. Injured a couple of guards and stole a car. It’s going to