No Reserve by Felix Francis

Author:Felix Francis
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

* * *

When I turned in behind Beaumont Court, I did so with the Audi’s lights already switched off, stopping in the driveway entrance so that I could see right down to the far end.

I remained there for several minutes, allowing my eyes to become accustomed to the darkness, searching for any movement in the shadows thrown by the meagre outside lighting.

There was nothing.

I turned the Audi’s headlights on again, but not a single thing was caught moving in the beams, not even a cat or a fox, let alone a would-be assassin.

Content that there was no one about, I drove down to the end and parked the car in the same free space as I’d used earlier.

Again, I sat in the dark for a minute or two, allowing my eyes to readjust.

I reached over into the back seat and picked up the large golf umbrella I had left in the car at the races, just in case the weather had taken a turn for the worse later. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing.

I slowly got out of the car, closing the door as quietly as I could.

Speed or stealth? I asked myself. Which was the best option?

In the end, I went for a combination of the two.

I moved slowly and silently as far as the four steps, negotiated them carefully so as not to aggravate my ankle, then I ran to the building entrance.

In my haste, I couldn’t get the key properly in my front-door lock, but I managed it eventually and let myself in, slamming the door shut behind me and locking it. I leaned against it, breathing heavily.

No one had been there.

Had I been overreacting?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Better to overreact than to be overcome, and end up dead.

My phone rang. The display showed Janis’s number.

“Hello,” I said answering it.

“Oh, thank God,” she said at a rush. “I’ve been worrying myself sick. You’ve been so long. Why didn’t you call me?”

She seemed quite cross.

“But I’ve only this second walked in. I’m still standing in the hall. I took it easy on the way, that’s all. Everything is fine. Everything.”

“Good.” I could hear her taking a few deep breaths to recover her composure. “Well, you certainly seem to have been a hit with my mother. She’s been going on about how you are such a well-mannered young man. In particular, she was quite taken by you coming round to open the car door for me when we got back.” She laughed. “Needless to say, I didn’t tell her why.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, she told me to ask if you’d like to come and have Sunday lunch with us here tomorrow. She said she would like that.”

“But would you like it?” I asked.

“Very much so. Although I don’t think we’d better do what we did this afternoon.” She giggled. “Not on our sitting room carpet anyway, not with the rest of my family watching.”

She giggled again, and I giggled with her.

“It was lovely,” I said. “Truly lovely.”

“Mmm, I agree.

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