Chapters (67)
- Cover
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
‘He says he’s done with women.’
‘Oh, I’ve said that.’
‘You? Really?’
Cat dodged the piece of potato peel heading her way as Kieron opened the front door.
They ate, cleared up, Kieron went into the den to watch the news. The sounds of decorating stopped but Sam did not come down, and when asked about supper, shouted that he’d get something himself later.
‘Leave him be. I’ll bring coffee in. Ask K if he wants one.’
‘He won’t. He says he’s been having too much caffeine, so his mint tea is in the top cupboard.’
She knew the expression on Simon’s face, even with her back turned.
Kieron came into the sitting room for half an hour, and they kept to their understanding that except in emergencies police talk was forbidden at home. Cat sent in a couple of patient reports from her iPad, Wookie spread out beside her, hoping to have his tummy scratched. Sam was silent upstairs.
Calm, Simon thought, calm and contented, quiet, peaceful. A family evening. Was this his family? Yes. No. Felix slipped in to report homework done and request time on his Xbox.
Family.
How the Wang family would have been – supper, homework, television, a bit of squabbling. Bed.
He banged his hand down on the table beside him, making the lamp flicker off and on again. Cat looked up.
Kieron said, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll throw everything at it, so will the others. We’ll have their heads on bloody plates, Simon.’
Cat glanced up as he went out. ‘You going to get me a glass of wine, honey?’
‘Anything for you Simon? Then I’m off for Line of Duty.’
The ban on police conversation at home did not extend to the Chief’s favourite cop shows.
‘Should I go and say hello to Sam?’
‘I wouldn’t. He’s got to have his own trudge through the slough of despond. Aren’t you going to watch exciting police action?’
‘I get enough of that. It’s all right for Kieron. What they don’t show you is chief constables sitting in their offices all day, apart from being chauffeur-driven to the occasional meeting.’
‘Bitter.’
‘Sorry . . . don’t you ever hate your job?’
‘Not really. I get weary of admin, I get upset by things I can’t make any better. I don’t think I’ve ever hated medicine itself though. Come on, bro, think about it – that’s exactly what you dislike, not the actual job.’
Kieron brought in their drinks and vanished into the den with his own.
‘Right now, bloody drugs are my version of things I can’t make any better. They’re beating us, and sometimes I think they always will. But you’ve got to chip away.’ He got up. ‘Now, we’re changing the subject.’