Devil’s Way by Robert Bryndza

Author:Robert Bryndza [Bryndza, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781914547096
Published: 2023-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

31

It was late in the afternoon after they dropped Kate at the doctor’s surgery. Ade and Tristan went to The Blue Boar pub, which was nearby on Ashdean high street. They were starving, so they each ordered a curry and a pint of lager which they quickly demolished.

‘I feel like Kate is annoyed with me,’ said Tristan.

‘I think she’s still run down from her accident,’ said Ade, delicately wiping the last of his naan bread around the remnants of curry sauce. ‘She looked very peaky, poor thing. You have to be so careful about getting dehydrated.’

‘You weren’t there when we were on the moors. I was stupid.’

‘What did you do?’ said Ade.

‘I was jumping up and down on the bog land.’

‘Which is just what a stupid teenager would do. Have you seen how many people come a cropper on Dartmoor bog land? It’s dangerous.’

‘I stayed near the edge.’

‘Spoken like a true teenager.’

Tristan sighed and watched Ade, still wiping at the plate with the piece of naan.

‘You’re going to wipe the pattern off that plate. Why don’t you just order another curry?’

‘No. I can’t eat any more,’ said Ade, pushing the plate away.

‘I’ve just watched you eat all my naan bread as well as your own.’

‘I’m telling you, Tris. Prawn bhuna is my Kryptonite. I once ate four in one sitting. Saying that, there was barely enough to fill a gnat’s hat,’ he added, throwing a dirty look over to the bar, where Len, the perpetually miserable landlord, was polishing glasses.

Tristan stared moodily at the last of his lager.

‘We’re in business together. And I just feel like Kate’s shutting me out of things. She did all of this internet research the other day, and she was supposed to share it all with me, and she hasn’t.’ He picked up his phone. ‘And I said to her, text me when you’re done and if everything is okay. Nothing.’

‘She might still be at the doctor’s surgery, and she’s a complicated woman, Tris. Think of everything she’s been through in her life. She must have trust issues. Is she seeing anyone?’

‘I don’t know. Kate never talks about that side of her life. I don’t think she is.’

‘And it’s still early days with your business. You’re transitioning from being Kate’s research assistant at the university to being her equal partner in the agency. Think about it for a minute. You both went out today on the moors to try and retrace Charlie’s steps. This tiny little boy could have wandered out and got lost on the moors or strayed into the bog land. Did you really need to jump up and down on it like you were on a trampoline?’

‘No,’ said Tristan, feeling uncomfortable.

‘Exactly. That’s the thing to remember, you are private detectives. You’ve pledged to do your duty and right wrongs. And don’t forget, Kate was a police officer in London. She might have lost colleagues in the line of duty. She has probably seen colleagues die. I know I did.’

Tristan rubbed his face with his hands.

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