DEAD & BURIED a gripping crime thriller full of twists by Helen H. Durrant Page A

was obviously asking too much. Where Harvey Evans was concerned, the girl was blind.
    Jade simply didn’t understand how important her mother’s work was. Eliza was a single parent and it was her work that fed and clothed them all. She’d had her daughters young. She was thirty-eight years old but looked much younger. All she asked was that Jade meet her halfway and do as Eliza asked when it mattered.
    “When are you coming home?”
    “I won’t be back until the weekend. Becca, you can’t stay in the house on your own. If Jade doesn’t come home within the next hour, get Alison to stay over.” Alison was the daughter of a neighbour and Becca’s friend. “I’ll ring Jade and see what she’s playing at. If I don’t get anywhere with her, you’ll have to go to Auntie Sarah’s. I’m sorry, love. You shouldn’t have to cope with this on top of the exams.”
    “It’s okay, Mum. But Jade’s turning into a right problem. Earlier, well, she was like before — you know, when she was ill. She was all edgy and pale, a real bag of nerves. She seemed to calm down when he rang.”
    And Eliza knew exactly why that was, although she didn’t want to discuss it with Becca. She had enough on her plate with the exams. Jade was weak. She’d fought one battle with drug addiction and come through it. But now she was falling into the abyss again. Becca would be devastated if her big sister put them through all that again.
    “I’ve got some work to do but I’ll ring before you go to bed. Lock up tight and don’t forget to feed the cat.”
    Eliza rang Jade straight away. When the girl eventually answered her speech was so slurred Eliza could barely understand her. “Where the hell are you? You are supposed to be at home with Becca!”
    “Keep your hair on.” Jade giggled drunkenly. “Me and Harvey are out. We’re having a good time. Something you could do with having yourself!”
    “Mind your tongue. Control yourself. You promised me, Jade. You said you could do this.” Eliza knew she was wasting her time. The girl was off her head. “Why him? Why put us all through that again? You know he’s no good. All he wants is to get you hooked on that stuff. Why don’t you see what he is?”
    “Because I like him!” Jade was shouting down the phone. “You always try to spoil things. Becca’s a big girl now. She can look after herself. She’s not daft.”
    “She’s sixteen! What if something happens? I take it you’re not planning on going home tonight.”
    “For fuck’s sake, Mother. Cut the umbilical cord! Me and Harvey are going back to his. I don’t know when I’ll be back — if ever! If you’re so concerned about the kid, you shouldn’t go working away. Should you?” And she rang off.
    In a fit of rage, Eliza hurled the phone onto the bed. Jade had gone too far. She’d taken advantage of her mother’s absence and there was nothing she could do about it.
    Jade had been hit hard when Eliza had split with her dad three years ago. But it didn’t help to know the reason why her eldest daughter behaved the way she did. Life chasing criminals was difficult enough without the aggro she got at home. Eliza had worked hard to get help for the girl. She even paid for her to go into rehab, but it made no difference. Within a month she was back on the drugs. And all because of Harvey Evans. He was her supplier. The bastard had been on her case right away. The problem was, his hold on Jade was now affecting her and Becca.
    Her mobile rang again.
    “We’ve lost contact with the target, ma’am,” said a male voice. It was Dominic Shevlin, her sergeant. “We texted yesterday but suddenly he’s dropped off the radar. The mobile we gave him and his own phone are both switched off.”
    “Damn! Do we have anyone watching him?”
    “No. He’s not been a problem up until now. He was just a phone call away, as arranged.”
    “He got scared. He could have been threatened.”
    “I don’t see how, ma’am. We’ve