Blood Family by Graeme Hampton

Author:Graeme Hampton [Hampton, Graeme]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Molly was sifting through some emails when her mobile rang later that day. She didn’t recognise the number on the screen and was momentarily taken aback to hear Simon Galloway’s voice when she answered it. Then she remembered she’d given Natalya her card with her phone number on it.

‘Can we meet?’ he asked ‘I want to talk, off the record.’

He gave her an address and she agreed to meet him after work

The address turned out to be a small hotel in Ebury Street, not far from Victoria Station. Molly gave her name to a bored-looking receptionist, and told him she’d wait for Simon in the bar just off the reception area. The hotel had been converted from a couple of former townhouses knocked into one, and had a slightly down-on-its-luck feel about it, as though the designer had aimed for shabby chic, but had forgotten to add the chic.

She had only been waiting for a couple of minutes when Simon appeared. He looked tired; the heavy bags under his eyes hinting at a lack of sleep. But even in a tired state he still looked handsome.

‘DS Fisher.’ He smiled at her. A warm, boyish smile that showed even white teeth. She could see why Natalya had fallen for him. He had an easy charm. She suspected some of that charm was about to be used on her.

A voice in the back of her head whispered caution.

‘Are you staying here?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘For now.’

‘Why?’

They sat at a table beside the window. The metal shutter in front of the bar telling them there was no possibility of a drink. Perhaps this was just as well.

‘Let’s just say, I want to keep a low profile.’

She remembered Dan Hudson’s wrecked flat. Whoever was responsible hadn’t been messing about. If Simon was next on their list then keeping a low profile was probably a wise move.

‘What’s going on, Simon?’

He toyed with a beer mat, turning it over and over in his hand like a card trick. ‘Your DI seems to think I topped my family.’

‘Did you…?’

He smiled at her again, slightly less endearing than before, but still with a hint of the previous charm. ‘Is that what you think?’

She wasn’t sure. A part of her wanted to believe he was really the victim in this and not the perpetrator. But the cold, logical part of her brain said it would be dangerous to trust him. As Dave Kinsella had so acutely pointed out, he had a lot to gain from his family’s death. ‘OK. Maybe I’m willing to accept you didn’t do it. But I think you have a good idea who did, and for some reason, you’re refusing to say.’

‘And can you blame me?’ He twisted his face as he looked at her. ‘Whoever killed my family is probably going to come after me next. That’s if they can find me. As long as I’m lying low I have a good chance of remaining alive, especially after you lot went public and told the world it was Dan who died in that fire and not me.

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