Who Took Eden Mulligan? by Sharon Dempsey

Author:Sharon Dempsey [Dempsey, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-12-25T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

Rose wasn’t expecting anyone but when the buzzer went, she was sure it could only be Danny.

‘Whiskey?’ she said, raising her eyebrows at the sight of him carrying a litre bottle of Bushmills. ‘It’s that kind of night, is it?’

Danny said nothing and followed her into the apartment.

‘What is it with these places? They all look out at nothingness. A blank expanse of stagnant water. Soulless living at its best.’ He gestured towards the window, his reflection looking back at him like a distorted fairground mirror.

‘Somebody’s in a bad mood. What’s up?’ Rose asked, retrieving two glasses from a cupboard in the kitchenette area.

‘Nothing. Everything. I just wanted company. Someone to talk shop to.’

Rose sat on the little sofa beside him. He was leaning forward with his hands raking through his hair. She could tell he had already been drinking. The rosiness of his cheeks gave him away – that, and the scent of smoke. She knew he used to smoke when he was drunk. A habit he had blamed her on. A bad influence he had called her, on more than one night out.

‘So, what’s going on? Is the case getting to you?’ Rose knew that pressure had been building for the team to get a result. She knew enough of policing to know that the job got under your skin. You couldn’t help taking home the stench of death and the only way to find peace was in doing a job well and seeing the culprits put away. But that pressure, that need to see justice done, was like a boulder chasing you down a hill, ever present and ever threatening. That was part of the reason she had never pursued a career in the police in the first place.

Danny threw himself back on the sofa and placed his long legs up onto the glass coffee table. ‘Make yourself at home, why don’t you?’ Rose said, not annoyed, just concerned. He seemed out of control. Not like his usual careful, considered self. She could see the exhaustion on his face. The shadows of lost sleep and the strain of a complex murder case. Occupational hazards. He passed a hand over his hair again, which Rose noticed was beginning to thin a bit on top. She’d have to slag him about that when he was in better form. She was used to Danny being the one to pick her up, to keep the mood light. Tonight, he gave the impression of a man ready to cry, or to punch someone’s lights out for no particular reason. Either would be the release he looked like he needed.

Rose leaned back beside him, handing him the glass with a measure of whiskey. ‘Talk me through what’s bothering you.’

‘My wife has instructed a solicitor to oversee our separation. I suppose this makes me a free man.’ His words sounded bitter.

Rose waited. She had always been the one with a reluctance to let him in, and Danny respected this. But Danny, well, he was usually an open book.

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