Dead Silent by Neil White

Author:Neil White
Language: es
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780007371723
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2010-02-12T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty

Mike Dobson’s hands were tight around the steering wheel and he could feel the tension in his jaw as he ground his teeth.

He glanced towards the glove box and felt a rush of excitement. It made his foot press a little harder on the pedal and so he had to slow down, worried about the speed cameras.

It wasn’t rush hour, and the streets of Blackley weren’t busy with cars. He wondered whether he should wait until later, but the tightness of his chest and the warmth in his cheeks told him that it had to be now. The police were looking out for punters, it was true, but they would be looking for the late-night crawlers, the ones who were easy to spot. It was early for the girls to be working, but the warm weather made it easier for them to hang around.

The brightness of the town centre petered out into the grubby fronts of tyre-fitters and plumbers’ merchants, and then he slowed down as he swung his car into the circuit of derelict terraces. He opened both windows and crawled along, checking in every direction for her, looking for that flick of dark hair and those skinny legs, his eyes flitting around constantly, checking the rearview mirror, always alert for the black uniforms hiding behind the unmarked car windscreen.

He did two circuits and he couldn’t see her. He knew he was attracting attention, the car always did that, and so he pulled into the side of the road and kept watch instead. He was in a street that was dimly lit in winter, located near to an old scout hut surrounded by razor wire and an old basketball court that formed a magnet for young men doing street-level drug deals in the dark. But this was summer time, and so the days were long. The dealers operated indoors in summer, where indiscreet handovers would be less obvious.

He stayed there for over an hour, just watching the street trade. There was a steady flow of taxi drivers talking to pale-faced young women in miniskirts, but still there was no sign of her.

He was about to head back to his empty house, feeling like she was never going to show, when finally he saw her, emerging from a doorway along a street filled with boarded-up buildings, wiping her hand. There was a taxi parked on the road, a green Nissan Bluebird, and the driver drove off quickly; Mike guessed that the ride hadn’t cost her hard cash.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think of that. He wanted the afternoon to be special, he had waited a long time for it, and didn’t want the remnants of another man with them.

He started his engine and moved his car slowly towards her. As he got closer, she looked at him and he saw a spark of recognition, although her vision looked unfocused. He leant across the passenger seat and she bent down to the open window. The smell of cheap booze drifted into the car.

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