Dorset Crime Series Books 1-3 by Rachel McLean

Author:Rachel McLean [McLean, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ackroyd Publishing
Published: 2024-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Steve Haskins balled his fists in the small of his back and stretched as he looked out to sea. Today was promising to be a warm one. A faint breeze came off the water and the sun had burnt off the clouds from earlier this morning. It was ten am and already he was sweating.

He turned towards his wife Sukhi, who was pulling deckchairs out of the beach hut.

“Hang on, love. I’ll help with that.”

She put one down and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “I keep getting tangled up in them but I’ll get there. You keep an eye on Max.”

“It’s OK,” he replied. “I’ll do the deckchairs, you play with Max.”

She sighed. “I play with Max all day every day. It’s your turn.”

“Fine,” he said. He turned to see Max running along the beach. He was chasing a ball, giggling.

“Maxie!” Steve called.

His son ignored him. He swerved to one side and ran towards the other end of the beach huts. Steve took a step forward as his son disappeared past the huts.

Damn.

“Max!”

Steve heard a clatter behind him, Sukhi dropping a chair.

“What’s happened?” She’d caught the sharpness in his voice.

“Nothing, sweetie. He’s hiding round the back of the huts again.”

“I wish he wouldn’t do that.”

He turned to her. “I’ll get him.”

The space behind the back of the huts was tight, perfect for a three-year-old. Steve didn’t relish going in there after him, he still had the scratches from yesterday.

He strode past the row of beach huts. Sukhi was quiet now, watching him no doubt.

“Max!”

He heard a yelp from behind the huts. His heart lurched.

“Max! Where are you?”

Sukhi was behind him. “Did you hear that?”

Steve turned to her. “He’s messing. Don’t worry.”

Another yelp. Sukhi clutched his shoulder. “He’s that way.”

He raised a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

“Daddy!” came his son’s voice. Steve felt his muscles loosen. “He’s right over here. He’s fine.”

“I don’t like him going around there. Have you seen the rubbish?”

Steve had. It was filthy behind those beach huts, probably a public health risk. The company that had rented the hut to them claimed the area was cleaned regularly, but it was a natural collecting ground for rubbish. Behind the huts was a steep slope to the cliffs above. People would toss rubbish over from the top, dirty buggers. Steve had gone behind there yesterday, looking for Max’s ball. He’d spotted things he’d rather not think about.

“Max!” he called, his voice firm. “Come out now!”

“Daddy!”

Steve gritted his teeth. Max’s voice seemed to be coming from behind their own hut. There was a small gap between it and the next one along. Narrow enough for Max to get through, but not for Steve.

Why the hell did they leave gaps like that down the side of beach huts? Why didn’t they fence them off?

“I’ll go to the end,” he told Sukhi. “Work my way around.”

He ran past the row of beach huts and skidded around the far end. He inserted himself into the gap between the end beach hut and the grassy slope behind and started wading through the accumulated rubbish.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.