Grooms and Graves by Nic Roberts

Author:Nic Roberts [Roberts, Nic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Seb and Ally sat on a bench on the beachfront, each with a pizza box open on their lap.

“This is so delicious,” Ally said and took a massive bite of her slice. She chewed and squeezed her eyes shut, savouring every bite.

“The best,” Seb agreed and swallowed. “I can’t get enough.”

They’d been gobbling for the past ten minutes, their hunger pangs broken by the pizza and accented by the tang of sea salt on the air.

“Oomph, if I eat another bite I’ll pop,” Ally said and shut her box. She placed it on the bench beside her, and Seb followed suit. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, wiping their fingers and mouths with paper napkins.

“Let’s walk it off,” Seb said at last. He got up and offered Ally his arm. “We’ll never get rid of all those, uh, calorie things, but it’s worth a shot. Nice night out, anyway.”

“Absolutely.” Ally took his arm, and those butterflies slammed back into place, their fluttering wings only slightly slowed by the cheesy pizza in her tummy. They kicked off their shoes before they reached the sand, and Seb picked up Ally’s as well as his own.

“Thanks,” she said.

He grinned at her.

“There’s something beautiful about the beach at night.”

“There really is,” she said and inhaled the sea scent. Not a breath of wind and a cloudless sky. The gibbous moon hung low on the horizon, casting pale shades across the water. Waves lapped the beach, susurrating with each contact.

The grains squelched between Ally’s toes.

“Thanks for this evening, Seb,” she said quietly, glancing up at him.

“It could’ve gone better,” he replied. “I try not to bring work into my personal life. Seeing the Bensons and their friends at the restaurant was an unhappy coincidence.”

Was it a coincidence? Or had Jake tracked down Seb, perhaps even followed them to the restaurant. No, that was her paranoia talking. Jake didn’t have a thing to do with the murder, did he?

“I’ve upset you,” Seb said. “I knew it.”

“No, no, you’re fine. I just didn’t expect to be thinking about what happened in Westford tonight, and now two things have happened which have brought it to the front of my mind.”

“Oh?”

“Lewis came to watch the B&B, and now this,” Ally said, and then stopped mid-stride.

Seb halted immediately. He turned to her and touched her arm with his free hand.

“I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Ally. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Do you really think Lewis killed Martin?” She couldn’t hold the question back any longer. She’d wondered it every day so far.

Seb rammed his lips together and didn’t answer, though he looked on the verge of saying something.

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s just me and you here. You can tell me what you think. I promise, I won’t get involved.” She probably shouldn’t have said the last part.

He sighed.

“Honestly? No, I don’t think Lewis killed Martin, but I have a lot of evidence linking him to the crime scene. Evidence I can’t discuss. Ally, you understand I have to follow the leads, and that means questioning people.

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