You Are Dead (Roy Grace series) by James Peter

Author:James, Peter [James, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781447255758
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2015-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

56

Monday 15 December

Roy drove in silence, in the slow traffic behind the cortège, with Cleo at his side. The rain was falling harder, the sky as dark as their mood.

‘I’ve never been to a sadder funeral,’ she said, suddenly.

He nodded, too choked to speak at the moment.

‘Normally,’ she said, ‘you know – there’s something uplifting. Most of the funerals I’ve been to have been of elderly relatives. Lives lived. I went to one, a couple of years ago, of an old school friend who’d died at twenty-seven of cancer, but even that one, although desperately sad, didn’t affect me in the way this one has.’

‘I guess in the police we all know the dangers. Glenn was shot during that raid to try to free a kidnapped couple. Had the bullet gone a couple of inches either way, he’d have been killed or paralysed. And then EJ was inches from being crushed to death by a van she was trying to stop.’

‘And you, my darling? Honestly, how many risks have you taken, my love?’

‘A few,’ he said. ‘I suppose one of the closest was at Beachy Head last year, when I had to go over the edge of the cliff to save Pewe’s life. And I hated the bastard.’

‘With good reason. I’ll never forgive him for what he did.’

Grace thought back to Pewe’s humiliating attempt to prove he had murdered Sandy by having the garden at the home they’d shared scanned and excavated

‘He was determined to prove I had killed her. Then I put my life on the bloody line to save his. Now he’s my sodding boss. How great is that?’

‘Well, maybe he’ll now show his gratitude.’

Grace touched her thigh, gently. ‘You know, that’s one of the ten thousand things I love about you. You’re always looking for the good in people.’

‘And you’re always looking for the bad?’

‘That’s what twenty years of being a copper does for you.’

‘Don’t ever stop looking for the good, Roy. There is good in everyone. Sometimes you just have to drill down deep.’

‘I’d like to believe you. Especially when you look at someone like Bella, who was devoted to her job and equally devoted to looking after her elderly, sick mother, then you have a truly good person. I’ve encountered too many people who were totally dedicated to doing evil.’

‘How many of those ever had a chance in life? How many got warped in childhood by abusive parents, lack of education and no role models?’

‘Most of them. But does that excuse them? Hey, I’m awfully sorry, I just beat an old lady to death so I could burgle her house, but it’s all right because my mum used to get drunk and hit me.’ He drove in silence for some moments, then he said, ‘I’m sorry, darling, I don’t want to sound cynical. I don’t ever want to be a cynic. But Bella died a hero. A true hero. I’m not sure how many of the scrotes we have to deal with every day in this city would ever be capable of heroism.

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.