White Nights - Ann Cleeves [134]
‘I wasn’t going to tell you,’ he said suddenly. ‘But I’m changing jobs. I’ve been head-hunted.’ Taylor smiled his wolf-like grin. ‘Imagine that, eh? I’m going back to Liverpool to head up their Major Crimes Unit. I wasn’t going to take it. Too close to home, too many bad memories. But I never want to work in this place again. This weather, this light. Another case and I’d be as daft as the rest of you.’
He smiled again to show it was a joke, of a sort, then walked through the door. Through the long window they saw him cross the tarmac, but he didn’t look back or wave.
‘How do you fancy a bit of a walk?’ They were in Perez’s car on the way north. He’d been wondering how to ask her and the question sounded awkward, a bit abrupt.
‘Sure.’
‘I was thinking we could maybe call in to Biddista.’
‘Why would you want to do that?’ Fran said. ‘It’s over. Not your responsibility.’
‘It feels that it is.’
‘Do you really think they’ll want to see you?’
‘They’ll have questions,’ he said.
‘It’s a sort of arrogance, believing yourself indispensable.’ But she said it kindly and he assumed that meant she would go with him. He was grateful. He wouldn’t have wanted to do it alone.
They parked on the road by the Herring House and stood looking out on the beach for a while before going inside. There were no other customers in the café, but Martin and his mother sat at a table chatting quietly. Aggie saw them come in and stopped talking mid-sentence. Perez nodded to them.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘The way it all turned out.’
For a moment they just stared. He wondered if this was how it would be in Biddista, that no one would speak to him again.
‘I was just telling Martin,’ Aggie said. ‘I didn’t know what had happened to Lawrence. Not for certain. You know what it’s like here, Jimmy. Sometimes there are things you don’t want to know. It doesn’t stop me blaming myself for what’s gone on since.’
There was a brief pause, then Martin got up to take their order. Suddenly things were ordinary again. Like a freeze-frame film running once more at normal speed. They could have been two tourists who’d dropped in for coffee.
‘Ingirid and her man are going to move back into Skoles,’ Aggie said. ‘Keep Kenny company for a while. She’s expecting a baby, due any time. It’ll be good to have another child in Biddista.’ Perez could tell she was thinking of her new grandchild too.
‘Shame Willy won’t be around to get them out in a boat.’
‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But those old times weren’t so great.’ She smiled at him. ‘Get off home, Jimmy. A day like this, you’ll have better things to do. We don’t need you here.’
Fran slipped her arm into his. He felt the silky fabric of her sleeve against his bare skin. She turned and smiled at him.
‘Yes, come on home, Jimmy,’ she said. ‘We’ve got much better things to do.’
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five