Dead Before You Die: by John Carson

Author:John Carson [Carson, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-30T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

It wasn’t too late when Harry got home. Jimmy Dunbar had gone up to his room while Dan went out to catch a bus home. Harry stood in the bus shelter waiting with him where they’d exchanged a few anecdotes and promised to keep in touch so they could have another drink sometime.

He put the kettle on and thought about knocking on Alex’s door to see if she wanted a cuppa, but didn’t bother. She might be sleeping.

But what if she’s gone?

She was neither, he discovered when she came into the kitchen. ‘A nice cuppa would go down a treat,’ she said.

‘Decaf?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’ he said turning to look at her.

‘Whether I’m staying or not. I might need the caffeine to keep me going when I’m hauling my stuff downstairs.’

‘Listen, you don’t have to go anywhere. I know this business with Ian has you rattled, but there’s no need for you to move out. I like having you here. I mean, you’re a cheeky wee besom at times, but the alternative is getting a parrot. And they swear.’

‘More than me?’

‘Not more than you, no, but I would have to clean its cage out.’

She smiled and stepped closer to him. ‘I’m going to say something here that might just blow our relationship out of the water, both personally and professionally, but I don’t care. Staying silent would be remiss.’

‘Look, if it’s about you paying rent, I said you don’t have to…’

‘Shut up, Harry.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ He made the tea and coffee and they went through to the settee where they put their mugs on the coffee table.

‘When I first met you last summer, I told you the truth about me having no friends. I did have of course, but they dwindled when I became a police officer, then when you tell them you’re in CID, they drift off. I sort of put my whole social life into Ian’s and we would drink with his friends. It was good until we split. Then I was just going to work and having a drink with some colleagues. When you came into the cold case unit, I don’t know, it’s… we just made a connection. I felt something inside. Like we’d known each other forever. Does that make sense?’

‘It does actually. I tried explaining that to Vanessa, that we were good friends, but she didn’t want to hear about it.’

‘You let me stay here after that guy was in my flat, and again when the decorators were in. There’s no reason for me to be here anymore, but I’m comfortable. You make me feel safe, and you’re a true friend. And that’s where the problem lies.’

He sipped his coffee. ‘Go on.’

‘You’ve been a perfect gentleman. I know guys who would have tried it on a long time ago, but you respected me, and that’s not common these days. So I’m going to throw this out there, and I know this is a fork in the road for me; I’ve decided to hand in my resignation first thing Monday morning.

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