Fade to Silence by David Bradwell

Author:David Bradwell [Bradwell, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Calibre
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

25

“ARE you going to invite me in?”

“No,” said Danny, standing his ground.

“That’s a shame, I’m coming anyway.” He pushed past and then approached me on the sofa.

“Ah, lovely Anna. What a delight it is to see you. And what a beautiful place you have. The fashion world treating you well, is it?”

I didn’t know what to say, so stayed silent.

“That said, it’s not that much of a safe house, is it?” he said, turning back to Danny. “Your muse is losing what I like to call her touch.”

“Fuck off, Graham.”

“Oh, you do disappoint me. That’s an arrestable offence right there. Abusive behaviour. And do I detect the aroma of alcohol? Drunk and disorderly as well, while I’m at it. You’re making this too easy for me.”

He walked around the room, taking everything in, then ran his finger across the top of the TV, presumably testing for dust. The place was spotless. He looked at his finger, then shrugged.

“A little bird tells me you’ve been suspended, Danny. On full pay, which is unfortunate, but we can’t have it all. Of course they won’t find anything but I expect it’ll make things very uncomfortable. Mud sticks, Danny, you know that. Luckily I’ve managed to wipe out the worst of your slurs by what I like to call exemplary policing, but I don’t hold out much hope for your career. But you know, you can’t say you weren’t warned. Poke your nose in where it’s not welcome and you’re going to get into a lot of trouble.”

“Why are you here?” asked Danny, refusing to be goaded.

“Just checking to see how you are. It’s a dangerous world out there, you know. It’s the sort of place where an innocent businessman settles down to watch the x-rated movies on his hotel TV, and then bang! Somebody shoots him. Cruel business. I’m telling you, you need to be careful.”

“Are you here to arrest me?”

“Arrest you? I hate to disappoint, but good Lord, no, I’m having far too much fun. No, I’m not arresting you. Not yet anyway. I’ll let you run for a bit and then when the moment is right, and the accolades are at their highest, I’ll pick you up like a piece of litter. In the meantime, I just thought I’d come to see you.’

“Well, you’ve seen us, so can you now fuck off?”

“So hostile!” He walked back towards the door. “Actually, I’m sad to say I must be on my way. Criminals to catch and all of that. The murder rate seems to be going through the roof just lately. Goodbye, Anna. And if you’d like to see what a date is like with a real man, you know where to find me.”

And with that he turned and walked back to the door, letting himself out. I don’t think he saw my two-fingered gesture.

I expected Danny to be shaken, but he was standing there, legs slightly apart, looking the most grounded and strongest I’ve ever seen him. His expression had hardened, and he looked fearless and adorably resolute.

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