A Fatal Pact by H.J. Reed

Author:H.J. Reed [Reed, HJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

21

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that unconditional love tends to have conditions attached – except in one instance. Bluebell almost knocks me over in her joyful attempts to lick my face and stick her tongue in my ear. The fact that I abandoned her for almost two days is already, in her head, forgiven and forgotten. I wish I could forgive myself so easily. Once the mayhem has died down, and Blue is happy to alternate between chasing her tail and tangling herself in my legs, I make it to the kitchen, where Rosie is putting out plates of fish fingers and chips – cooked in an air fryer, she tells me as she gives me a hug, presumably to forestall any grumpy comments I might make about what Larson is letting her feed to my grandchildren.

‘John told me what you found in Wales,’ she says, sitting with us while we eat. ‘It must have been awful.’

I throw Larson a glance, and he shrugs. I know how he feels. Being able to offload after the kind of experiences a murder squad detective gets confronted with is pretty much essential if you want to survive. Chrissie did her best, but was never able to take it in her stride. Rosie, on the other hand, is an altogether different proposition.

‘Not the best,’ I agree, managing to push down the feelings of envy and regret and giving her a smile. ‘But we managed.’

Larson finishes his last mouthful. ‘I’d better go and check in with Ollie, see how he’s getting on,’ he says, getting up and squeezing Rosie’s shoulder as he makes his way out and up to his office room. Ollie White probably got his head down an hour ago. My son-in-law just wants to give me and Rosie some father-daughter time.

‘I’ll bring you some coffee,’ she says, and once he’s gone, she turns to me. ‘I’m worried about him, Dad. Is he really doing okay?’

‘Better than I thought he would,’ I reply, for once unable to give anything but an honest opinion of my son-in-law. ‘What we saw in that tank got to more than one experienced officer, and I can’t say he didn’t turn a hair or two, but he stood his ground. He’s got some balls, that husband of yours.’

She laughs. ‘You should know that by now.’ She gives me an appraising look. ‘Why can’t you admit you actually like him? It wouldn’t kill you, you know.’

‘Maybe not,’ I say, ‘but it might kill him. Right now, I’m not just his father-in-law, I’m also his boss, and I need him on his toes. There’s a dangerous man out there. We can’t afford distractions.’

She sighs and makes to get up, but I put a hand on her arm, and she sinks back into her chair. ‘Listen, Rosie,’ I say. ‘This is John’s first experience of a case like this, and it’s going to hit him at some point. My guess is he’s not sleeping much, burying

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