I'm woken by a vicious ringing sound. It's loud, piercing and shrill. It's still dark when I open my eyes. A quick glance at the alarm tells me that it's four fifty-seven in the morning.
Sh*t! I look around, half dazed, for the cause of the sound.
Georgia hides her head under the covers, muttering something about shutting the d*mn thing up.
It's my phone, I realise. Looking at the screen, I climb out of bed, pulling on clothes as I go.
"Yes?"
"We've got a suspected murder case, Sir." Mark Jackson says down the line.
"Text me the location," I say before hanging up.
I turn back to the sleeping lioness. I know that she'll want to come with me but I sort of want to leave her to sleep.
"Georgia, I've got to go." The use of her first name feels weird.
She rolls over to face me.
"The yard?"
"There's a new case," I tell her. "Sleep some more. I'll come back for you in a few hours."
Frowning, she checks the clock. "It's bad."