Cut to the Bone by Alex Caan

stayed at the primary location, running surveillance on the cell member left behind.’
    They were at Borough Market now, and Zain found the street they were looking for. He parked his Audi outside the building Dan Grant lived in. It had a glass turnstile front door, with an access code and a security camera. Higher up were huge windows, giving the residents views out across the city.
    ‘What happened?’ said Kate.
    It was a whisper, her breath warm with coffee as she spoke.
    ‘It was a trap. I was ambushed, dragged from the stakeout van. The cell we had been monitoring, they were just a decoy. The rest . . . well, you’ve read my file.’
    The sun was almost blinding him through the windscreen, warming his face, creating a bright glow in the car. It wasn’t the day to delve into the darkness of his past.
    ‘How do we play this?’ he said, ending their conversation.
    ‘Sympathetic,’ she said, taking the hint. ‘Let me see what Daniel Grant’s about. I want to see his reaction when we talk about Millie.’
    Something moved inside Zain as he watched Kate get out of his car. She pushed her hair over one ear, the dark brown flecked with auburn and copper as it caught the sunlight. Her eyes were bright as she looked out across the street, waiting for him to move.
    Zain took his time, trying to shake off the feelings running through him.
    She dulls my senses like wine, and stirs them like a storm. Was that Rumi? It should be.
    ‘Let’s see what the boyfriend has to say,’ she said, as they buzzed his flat.
    There was no answer.
    ‘Maybe he’s not home,’ she said.
    ‘He’s home, or in the area,’ said Zain. ‘His mobile is, anyway.’
    Kate gave him a look that said: Who authorised that?
    ‘Did we get a trace on Ruby’s?’ she said instead.
    ‘Yes. It pretty much stopped transmitting close to home at seven thirty-nine last night. Someone removed the battery, I think.’
    ‘Yo? Who are you?’ said a voice from the intercom.
    ‘Mr Grant? This is Detective Chief Inspector Riley and my colleague Detective Sergeant Harris. We need to speak to you about a friend of yours, Ruby Day?’
    The door buzzed open.

Chapter Seventeen
    A security guard at reception watched them walk through the foyer. Zain asked him if he could get hold of the last twenty-four hours of CCTV from the entrance. The security guard said it was digitised; he could email the recording over, if they wanted.
    ‘Do you know Daniel Grant, lives in flat 115? You know where he was yesterday?’ Zain asked.
    The guard claimed ignorance. Kate saw astrophysics textbooks on his desk. Foreign student making extra cash, not wanting to get involved with the police.
    The flat was on the fifteenth floor. As they exited the lift, they had to pass through a second security door, which someone had propped open with a box. It had a picture of a gaming control on it.
    The corridor in front of them was carpeted in blue. It felt like a student hall of residence. Flat 115 was the second door on the right. The door was open, but Kate knocked anyway. A voice from inside shouted for them to come in.
    Kate’s shoes, heeled, were noisy on the wooden floors of the entranceway. A hall led off to the other rooms in the flat, and immediately to the right was an open-plan kitchen/lounge. A young man, presumably Daniel Grant, was seated on a brown ergonomic sofa. The room was sparsely furnished, with just the sofa plus one other leather La-Z-Boy chair, and a glass table in the centre of the room.
    Against one wall was a unit on which sat a TV, similar in size to the one the Days had. From it ran numerous cables into every gaming device Kate had ever seen.
    ‘All right?’ said Dan.
    He was casual, dressed in shorts and a grey T-shirt, the sort of stuff you’d wear to bed. He looked dozy, yawned, scratched himself.
    ‘Mr Grant?’ said Kate.
    ‘Obviously, this is my place. Thought detectives were meant to be bright,’ he said.
    Zain bristled, tension bouncing off