Текст книги "Wrong Place: A gripping serial killer crime thriller"
Автор книги: M. A. Comley
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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 13 страниц)
“No. I’ll be fine. Please, you go and find whoever did this.”
“We’ll call by Maddie’s mother’s house first. I don’t suppose you have an address for her?”
Confused, Liz’s eyes darted to certain areas of the room. “I’m trying to think where I jotted it down for emergencies.” She crossed the room to a bookshelf and pulled out a little red notebook. “Here you are.” She handed the slip of paper to Sally, who passed it on to Jack to transfer into his notebook.
“I don’t suppose Maddie gave you a key to her property?” Sally asked.
“Yes, how silly of me to forget that.”
The three adults and the child left the house by the back door and entered Maddie’s home. Sally glanced around and was surprised to see the home tidy. Not a plate or cup was out of place in the kitchen, and the lounge was immaculate, too. Liz crossed the room, hitched the baby in place on her hip, and searched the drawer in an oak cabinet along the back wall. “Here’s Maddie’s address book. Maybe this will help with your enquiries.”
Sally took the book and tucked it into her jacket pocket. “That’s excellent. We’ll work our way through it and see what we find. Thanks for all your help. My condolences once again.”
“Glad to be of help. Please catch the culprit soon.”
“We’ll do our very best, Liz.”
Jack followed Sally and Liz back through the house to the back door, which Liz locked after they left.
“I hate this part,” Jack complained the second they were seated and buckled up in the car.
“What part? Telling loved ones their relatives are dead?” The statement sounded blunter than Sally had intended it to come out.
“Yep.”
“It’s a good job the task always lands in my lap then, isn’t it? I can’t say I’m doing a bloody happy dance at the moment, either, Jack. Now we have to go and tell a grieving widow who is under the doctor that her daughter has been murdered. Shit happens, eh? Feel free to take over from me at any time during the next conversation, all right?”
“Your sarcasm can be so bloody caustic at times, boss. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Actually they had. But if her partner proceeded to aggravate her with daft comments, then surely she had every reason to be sardonic with her response.
They arrived at Mrs. Webster’s semi-detached house on the edge of the countryside, and after Sally introduced herself and her partner, a puzzled-looking Mrs. Webster welcomed them into her home.
“What can I do for you, Inspector?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Webster. I have some bad news regarding your daughter.”
“My daughter? Has she done something illegal?” She clutched a hand to her chest, and her face rapidly drained of colour.
Sally inhaled a large breath. “No. It’s nothing like that… there’s no easy way to say this but tell you outright. Your daughter’s body was found early this morning.”
“Her… body?” The woman let out an agonising cry and collapsed on the floor.
Jack sprang into action, dug out his mobile, and called for an ambulance.
Sally dropped to the floor alongside Mrs. Webster. She felt the woman’s neck for a pulse but couldn’t find one. Then with her limited first-aid knowledge, she proceeded to carry out CPR. Sally knew her efforts were a waste of time as she saw the woman’s lips turn blue, but still, she pumped away until help showed up. A full ten minutes passed before the paramedics arrived.
Sally’s hands shook as she relayed what had happened. “I tried my best to save her.”
The first paramedic knelt beside the woman and tested her neck for a pulse. He looked up at his colleague. “She’s gone.”
Sally covered her face with her hands and Jack threw a comforting arm around her shoulder. “You did your best, Sally.”
She shrugged his arm off. “But it wasn’t good enough, was it?”
“Did she have any health problems, do you know?” the paramedic kneeling next to Mrs. Webster’s body asked.
“Yes, she was under the doctor. I guess the news I delivered was just too much for her to take.”
“What news?” the other paramedic asked.
“I just told her that her daughter’s body was found this morning.”
“Christ!” the kneeling paramedic said. “Poor woman. The shock must have killed her.”
Sally and Jack left the house, and Jack lit up a cigarette then forced Sally to take a puff.
She immediately started choking. “What are you trying to do? Kill me?” she spat at him after recapturing her breath and filling her lungs with some clean air.
He cringed. “Believe it or not, I was trying to help. Guess I forgot you don’t smoke.”
“Thanks. If you have any further bright ideas like that, kindly keep them to yourself. My throat feels like I’ve swallowed a cheese grater.”
“Okay, no need to go on about it, boss. What do we do now?”
“You mean do we move on from here and see if we can kill another of Maddie’s relatives with the news of both deaths?”
“I wouldn’t quite put it like that myself, but we’re going to have to break the news of Maddie’s and her mother’s deaths to another member of the family soon, aren’t we? We can’t just walk away as if nothing has happened.”
Sally pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against and stood within a few inches of her partner. If he’d been a foot shorter, they would have been standing nose to nose. “Thanks, partner. I’m well aware of that. I’m going to contact the station, see if we can find another relative living in the area. In the meantime, we should set off and see if we can pick up any clues at the pub where Maddie worked. The Wellington Arms, wasn’t it?”
Glancing down at her, he nodded. “Yep. What about the boyfriend?”
“I’ll get the guys back at the station looking into his background while we’re at the Wellie.”
They made their way back to the car. Sally shuddered against a sudden breeze that arose just before they settled into the car. She rang the station, issued orders on what she expected from the team to DC Jordan Reid, and told him where they were en route to next. She hung up and stared ahead of her for a second or two.
Jack nudged her arm with his elbow. “Time’s getting on, boss. Do you want me to drive?”
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the image of Maddie’s dead mother lying in her lap. She fired up the car and slapped the steering wheel with her hand. “I’m fine, or I will be. Professional head on, and it’s off we go.”
The Wellington Arms public bar was relatively quiet when Sally and Jack walked in and announced they were there to speak to the manager. The pretty young barmaid went in search of her boss and returned with a man in his early fifties.
Sally and Jack produced their IDs for the confused man.
“Is there somewhere private we can chat, Mr. Locke?” Sally asked.
“My office. Come through.” He held open the bar for them and walked through to the back area of the building, away from the prying eyes and straining ears of the customers. “What’s this about, Inspector?”
“We’re here to inform you that one of your members of staff lost her life last night.”
“Lost her life? In an accident? Who?”
“No, it was no accident, Mr. Locke. Maddie Webster was found murdered in the early hours of this morning.”
He flung himself back in his chair. “What?”
“Not very pleasant. I’d rather not go into details about the crime. What I would like to know is if Maddie had any ‘admirers’ at the pub?”
“Admirers as in weird folk who would set out to end the poor girl’s life?” he asked coldly.
“If you want to put it that way, yes,” Sally agreed.
“No, not that I can think of. Everyone loved Maddie. She was my longest-serving barmaid.” He ran a hand through his greying hair. “Shit! Sorry, I just can’t believe someone would set out to intentionally kill that poor girl.”
“Can you tell me if she was friendlier than usual towards one of the customers last night, perhaps?”
He inhaled and exhaled a large breath. “It was my night off, the wife’s birthday actually. Damn, Maddie filled in for me. She gave up her one night off this week so I could share it with my wife, and now she’s dead. There’s just no rhyme or reason for that, is there?”
“No, there isn’t. We called at her address earlier and spoke to her neighbour, Liz, who mentioned that Maddie had recently split up from her fiancé. Did you know this?”
“Yes, everyone in the pub knew that. She was strong, though, always put her smile on at work so nobody would have been aware just how broken-hearted she was about ditching that scumbag. Some men just don’t know when they’re on to a good thing with a girl. I offered to go round there and see him, give him a piece of my mind, but Maddie insisted she was okay about the break-up. She wasn’t aware that I used to listen to her in the toilet, crying her eyes out.”
Sally frowned, thinking the man was some kind of voyeur.
He corrected himself, “Nothing sinister in it, Inspector. The ladies’ loo is right next door, and the walls to this office are paper thin so, unfortunately, I tend to hear everything that goes on in there. I assure you, at times, I wish that really wasn’t the case.”
“I’m sure. If you aren’t able to tell us what went on here last night, do you think another member of staff could fill us in?”
“No one is on duty until later on this evening, I’m afraid. I’m not a slave driver with my staff like other pub landlords. I like to give them a decent amount of time off between shifts. I find it keeps the staff and the customers happy.”
“So, Maddie filling in for you was a genuine one-off then?” Sally asked.
“Yes. Crap, I’m going to be riddled with guilt now for the rest of my days.”
Sally decided then not to tell the landlord about Maddie’s mum dying. She feared it would only leave an extra burden on Mr. Locke’s shoulders. “These things happen, Mr. Locke. There’s no point blaming yourself, no point whatsoever. Any chance we can question the staff on duty last night at home, or would you rather I send uniformed officers to take down statements when they show up for their shift later?”
“I’ll give you their addresses, if you don’t mind? There were only three other staff members on duty anyway last night. Monday is always a quiet day of the week for us.”
“That would be great. Do they live local?”
He stood and opened the top drawer of a metal filing cabinet. “I believe so. I’ll just check.” He returned, holding a sheet of paper with names and addresses typed on it.
Sally motioned for Jack to note down the addresses. The man pointed out the three relevant names, and her partner added them to his notebook.
“We’d better pay these folks a visit. If there’s nothing further you can add?”
“Not that I can think of. Will you be having a word with that dickhead of a boyfriend, Terry?”
“Yes, of course. One thing before we go.”
“What’s that, Inspector?”
Sally glanced around the office. “Do you have any form of security cameras on the premises?”
He sighed heavily. “The cameras outside are there as a deterrent only, I’m afraid. There’s nothing in the bar area at all. Never felt the need for it before. This is a quiet area, and trouble is virtually non-existent.”
“That’s a shame. Maybe you should consider it for the future.” Sally rose from her chair.
“Oh, I will. Don’t worry about that, Inspector, although it won’t help to bring back poor Maddie, will it?”
“Unfortunately not. Thanks for your time, Mr. Locke. Sorry to have spoilt your day.”
“Will I have to make contact with Maddie’s family about the funeral arrangements? Glynis idolised her daughter. This news is going to hit her very hard. She’s under the specialist for a bad heart, you know.”
Sally shook the man’s hand when they stepped back into the bar area. “I’m sure someone will be in touch with you from the family soon enough.”
“Crap! That was awkward,” Jack said once they were outside in the car park.
“It sure was. I didn’t have the heart to tell him about Glynis. The poor man felt guilty enough as it was. Let’s see what the staff have to say about last night. My gut feeling is that we’re going to draw another blank.”
“Yep, I’m inclined to agree with you.”
They set off for the council estate where the first member of staff lived. Jason Trent was still in bed when they rang the doorbell.
“Yeah, what is it? Can’t a man get any peace and quiet around here?”
Sally flashed her ID in his young face. He swept his long fringe out of his eyes and peered at her warrant card. “Coppers? What have I done wrong?”
“Nothing, we hope. Can we discuss this inside perhaps?”
“You’ll have to excuse the mess. A few of us had a bit of a party here last night after work.”
They followed the man into the messy living room, which looked as though a hundred five-year-olds had created havoc in it. A person was asleep on the sofa; Sally could just make out the top of a head but couldn’t tell if the occupant of the sleeping bag was male or female.
With nowhere to sit, Sally stood near the open galley kitchen but soon regretted her decision when the fumes of stale beer and garlicky remains of an Indian takeaway attacked her nostrils. “We’re here about a colleague of yours, Maddie Webster.”
The young man shrugged, and the person buried under the fraying sleeping bag stirred. “What about her?” Trent asked. “And no, she wasn’t here last night, although I did invite her.”
“Why didn’t she come?” Sally asked.
He shrugged again. “Not her scene. She didn’t really give us an excuse, and I didn’t push her on it.”
“I see. Okay, at the bar last night, did you notice Maddie speaking to anyone in particular?”
“Nope. Maddie’s a bit of a gas-bag. If someone’s got ears, then that’s Maddie’s kind of person.”
“Can you tell me if you know of anyone who could have been pestering her over the last few months?”
A frown wrinkled the young man’s brow. “What is this? Has something happened to her?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. I should’ve said when we arrived. We’re investigating Maddie’s murder.”
“Murder?” Trent shouted, his bloodshot eyes widening.
The man on the couch bolted upright at the sound of his friend’s raised voice. “What? Who?”
Trent collapsed onto the arm of the sofa next to his friend. “Maddie,” he whispered, clearly shocked by the news.
His friend looked up at him then at Sally and Jack. “Maddie! This is some kind of April Fools. It’s got to be.”
“No. That’s not the way we do things, sir. Sorry, I didn’t get your name?” Sally asked, unamused by the young man’s comment.
“Wayne Frobisher. I work at the same pub as Maddie. We both did.”
“Ah, you’re on our list of contacts. So you were both working at the pub alongside Maddie last night, is that right?”
The two dazed men nodded.
“Did you see Maddie talking to anyone in particular at the bar?”
“She’s a bloody barmaid! That’s kind of in the job description. Chat up the punters, flirt a little, and hopefully, get them to spend more,” Trent replied sharply.
“Really? I thought their main aim was to serve the customers—it was when I first started out. I used to work part-time behind the bar at my local when I was eighteen. Are you telling me that things have altered now?”
Trent shrugged. “The full-timers are encouraged to go the extra mile, if you like, while the rest of us serve and move on to the next one.”
That news totally surprised and appalled Sally. Is that the way every pub works? Uses its bar staff as some kind of prostitute? “Maddie was a full-timer then?”
“Yep. She was really nice, too. Why would anyone kill her?”
“We’re trying to ascertain that, but unless you guys can enlighten us about what went on last night, our job is going to be impossible. Please think—was there a stranger sitting at the bar, engaging in conversation with her?”
The two men looked at each other. “I didn’t notice. Did you?” Trent asked Wayne.
“Nope. We were too busy making arrangements for the party afterwards. She turned us down at the start of our shift, and we didn’t try to bug her into changing her mind.” Wayne ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.
“Great! We know there aren’t any cameras at the pub, which is a shame. Okay, let’s try another avenue. Have either of you noticed a stranger perhaps arriving at the bar and talking to Maddie on any other occasion, say in the last week or so?”
Both men shook their heads. Then Trent said, “We didn’t have any reason to be on the lookout for anyone. Why should we? Murders just don’t happen around here, do they?”
“Actually, a fair few do. They just never hit the headlines,” Sally said. “What about Maddie’s ex? Did he used to frequent the pub?”
Trent shrugged. “Maybe once or twice, when they first started going out, not so much lately. He took to dipping his end into some other pussy while she was working at the pub.”
Sally cringed at the man’s vulgar interpretation. “Thanks for putting that so eloquently. He’s on our list of people to question.”
Trent’s cheeks turned pink. “Sorry, just telling it how it is, lady.”
“Inspector!” Jack reminded Trent.
Sally smiled at her partner, thanking him for his gallant behaviour. He never let her down there. Thinking there was no point questioning the two men any longer, Sally decided to end the meeting swiftly. “Well, if nothing is coming to mind, then we’ll leave you guys in peace and get on. Here’s my card. If you think of anything, no matter how insignificant you think it might be, ring me, okay?”
“Will do. Hope you find the bastard who did it,” Trent said, showing Sally and Jack to the front door. “Can I ask how she was murdered?”
“No, you can’t. We don’t divulge details until after we’ve held a press conference. Does it matter?”
Trent shrugged. “Not really. I just hate the thought of her suffering.”
“I see. Well, that’s one thing we’ve yet to have confirmed by the pathologist. I can tell you this, though, her death wasn’t pretty, and we believe the crime might have been sexually motivated.”
“Shit! Poor Maddie. She didn’t deserve that.”
“No person does, Mr. Trent. Have a good think about the customers you saw at the pub last night and get back to me if anything crops up, okay?” Sally prompted the man for the last time before she left the house with her partner.
CHAPTER FIVE
The rest of the week turned out to be murder-free, nevertheless uber-frustrating for Sally and her enthusiastic team as they waited impatiently for the DNA results to come through from the pathology lab. They had managed to track down and question Maddie’s ex-fiancé, who seemed so genuinely traumatised by Maddie’s death that Sally had no alternative but to cross him off the suspect list. Returning to both pubs to question staff and numerous customers had been a fruitless exercise, too.
“Why don’t people take an interest in what goes on around them anymore?” Sally complained, shuffling papers in her office just before six o’clock struck.
“Too self-absorbed maybe. I don’t know. What have you got planned for the weekend? Still unpacking?” Jack asked.
“Nope, that’s all done now. Believe it or not, I’m going on the Broads with my parents. Over the last few months, Dad’s fixed up the cruiser, and this will be the first time it has been fit for use this year. Should be a relaxing weekend, I hope.”
Jack shook his head and shuddered. “Dry land for me all the way. Can’t be dealing with all that rocking on the ocean lark.”
Sally laughed. “Idiot. It’s as calm as a millpond on the Broads. The only dicey part is Braydon Water. Now that stretch of water can get really choppy if the weather is bad. You should try relaxing on the boats one day. The kids would love it.”
He stood up and placed his hands on the back of the chair. “My girls are into the three Ms.”
Sally narrowed her eyes. “Which are?”
“Music, make-up, and causing mayhem. Welcome to my world and what lies ahead of me this weekend.”
Sally chortled. Standing, she slipped on her jacket and reached for her handbag before following Jack out of the office. “And that, my dear friend, is why I don’t intend having children. My life is stressful enough during the week here without having to deal with teenage tantrums at the weekend, too.”
“Thankfully, Diane has a few years to go before she reaches thirteen. Teresa is certainly revelling in her role, though. I sometimes think life was far easier back in Afghanistan.” Jack tutted.
Sally punched the top of his arm. “Go on with you, Bullet. You don’t mean that really,” she said, playfully using the nickname his army colleagues had granted him. The Taliban had shot him on four separate occasions during his final mission.
“Seriously, give me a battle against the Taliban any day of the week, rather than thrashing it out with Teresa about some of the stupid outfits she tries to sneak out in.”
“Ah, the battle of wills. You should know by now that we girls will win every time on that one.”
“Yeah, you’d think I would’ve learned that by now, eh? And don’t even get me started on that boyfriend of hers!”
Sally laughed loudly. “I bet Donna’s parents felt the same way about you when you guys first started dating.”
He placed a hand to his chest and looked hurt. “What? I was the bloody model boyfriend right from day one.”
“Yeah, I bet you went rapidly downhill after that, though.”
Jack shook his head vehemently and grunted his disapproval of her insensitive comment. “No way. To this day, they still insist I was the best boyfriend to ever grace their front doorstep. And there were many, so I’ve been told, frequently!”
“Oh dear, not quite what you’d want to hear them say about your adoring wife, I’m sure.” Sally chuckled.
Jack held the door for Sally at the exit of the main building. “Hardly. Their intentions were good, I suppose. Have a great weekend. See you Monday.”
“I hope it doesn’t prove to be too traumatic for you, love.” Sally opened the car door and hopped in. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the overnight bag she had quickly packed the evening before was still sitting on the backseat. After placing a Rod Stewart CD in the player, she set off for her parents’ house. She sang along to the disc when We Are Sailing filled the interior.
Her mother was in the driveway of her parents’ terraced home when Sally arrived. “Hey, Mum. Are you almost ready to set off?”
“Hello, dear. Almost there. Your father is just securing the place now. You know what he’s like.”
Sally kissed her mother on the cheek. “Not erecting that roll of barbed wire along the back fence again, is he?”
Her mother laughed and ushered her daughter inside the house. “Go and see for yourself. He’s rigging up something out there, not sure what. It’s sure to be dangerous, knowing his past attempts at securing this place while we’re away.”
Nervously, Sally ventured into the small rear garden. “Dad! You can’t do that!” Dex the Labrador bounded towards her and almost knocked her off her feet. “Hello, gorgeous. Have you missed me?”
Her father, Christopher Tomlin, spun around to face her, still holding a wooden post in his hand. “Why can’t I? A man has every right to protect his property against those louts.”
Sally’s heart raced erratically. She observed his day’s work with discomfort. He’d placed ten six-foot wooden posts about a foot from the back fence, burying the rounded end in the earth, leaving the pointed end exposed. “What if someone gets impaled on one of those, Dad?” She shook her head in disbelief as a vile image filled her mind.
“That’s their problem, love, not mine. If people didn’t turn their hand to robbery, then there wouldn’t be any need for this. Have you seen the statistics of burglaries in this area over the past few months? Have you?”
“Yes, Dad. Compared to other areas in the country, this is still one of the safest areas to live in.”
“Oh, is that so? And tell me, what case are you working on at the moment, love?”
Sally sighed heavily. “You know full well what kind of case I’m involved in, Dad. Don’t try and justify your actions using that kind of information.”
“I’m not. All I’m doing is protecting my property—something the police around here seem reluctant to do since that mob moved in across the road from us. Your mother refuses to burden you, but our lives have been a living bloody hell for months now.”
Sally approached her father and rubbed his forearm. “I’m sorry, Dad. I had no idea.”
“No, because your mum wanted to keep it from you due to the stress that bastard of a husband has put you under. Well, we’ve been under a tonne of stress ourselves.”
She kissed her father on the cheek and hugged him. Tears pricked at her eyes as guilt surged through her veins. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own problems, I’ve neglected you two. I’ll make sure I have a word with the right people when I get back to work on Monday. How’s that?”
“I guess that will have to do. Thank you. I’ll just insert this one, and then we can head off. Although I doubt I’m going to be able to relax much during the weekend.”
“You will, Dad, once you’re out on the water. You know how relaxing it can be out there.”
“Usually, I’d agree with you, but…”
“You’re under orders. I’ll make a call and get a patrol car to keep an eye on the place during their shift. How’s that?”
“It’ll have to do for now. I’d like you to use your influence and get the shits moved out permanently. Can you do that?”
“Like I said, Dad, I’ll see what I can do on Monday. Now, come on. We should get a move on before it gets dark.”
“Nonsense, the clocks went forward last weekend. We have an extra hour to play with in the evenings. Give me two minutes here. You can help your mother finish packing the car if you would.”
“You win. Two minutes, right?”
He nodded and resumed rigging up his lethal security device, mumbling all sorts of derogatory remarks about the neighbours opposite.
She knew she’d been caught up in her own problems. She wondered how she could have missed what they’d been subjected to over the past few months. She would make sure she made amends for neglecting her parents after the weekend. People had a right, especially when they were close to retirement, to live a peaceful and stress-free existence.
“Any luck, love?” her mother asked, hope swimming in her pale-blue eyes.
“Nope. You know there’s no shifting him once he’s got something like this fixed in his mind, Mum. While we’re alone, how are you feeling? Are the hot flushes under control now you’ve started on the HRT?”
“Not yet, dear. I’d rather not pop any form of pills—you know me—but the doctor insisted that my life would be more bearable if I took them. I’ve yet to see any difference.”
“I suppose you’ll need to wait a few days before the drugs get into your system. Stick with it, Mum.” Sally gently hugged her.
“I will. You’ll have to excuse my tetchiness this weekend. I hate not being able to sleep properly.”
“No need to explain or excuse your moods, Mum. I totally understand. I’m sure Dad does, too. I need to make a quick call. I’ll be right back.” Sally went into the living room and rang the station to make the arrangements for a patrol vehicle to drive past her parents’ home during their absence. When she returned to the kitchen, her parents were both drinking tea. “We haven’t got time for that, you two. We should be getting on the road.”
“You’re right, of course, dear.” Her mother tipped her cup of steaming liquid down the sink. Her father, on the other hand, took the time to finish every last drop of his drink. Sally huffed and puffed, but her obstinate dad ignored her. In the end, she took it upon herself to load up the car, aware that her father would most likely come along a few minutes later and repack everything again. He was regimented in everything he did, which infuriated the hell out of Sally and her mother, especially when they were in a hurry to get somewhere.
Eventually, they set off on the half-hour journey to Reedham. In between her father’s constant complaining about the troublesome neighbours, Sally went over the weekend plans. They could dump their bags on the boat then go in search of a local pub to enjoy an evening meal before it grew too late, and pubs along the river tended to get crowded, even in the spring.
They excitedly walked up to the boat. “Here she is. A great paint job, even if I do say so myself,” her father boasted, his chest inflating with pride.
“I agree. An excellent job, Dad. Time to eat—I’m starving. We can admire your handiwork more tomorrow, when it’s lighter, eh?”
After placing Dex on board the boat, they drove back to a lovely pub they’d spotted on the way. Sally walked arm in arm with her parents towards the glass-fronted public house, which thankfully, didn’t appear to be too busy judging by the lack of cars in the car park.
“Looks like we’re in luck. There’s a table by the window,” her mother pointed out.
“You grab it, and I’ll order the drinks,” Sally said.
Her father glared at her. “This is on me, love. You put your money away.”
Sally leaned in and whispered, “I’m all right, Dad. We’re both tight for money at the moment. My wages are due to hit my bank next week. This is my treat.”
Her father sighed reluctantly. “Let’s go halves then. How’s that?”
She held out her hand for him to shake. “Deal. Let’s not worry about the trivial things in life this weekend. Agreed? Let’s ensure Mum has a good time.”
“Agreed. It’ll be nice to get away from the daily stresses for a few days.”
Sally ordered the drinks from the barman and threw an arm around her dad’s shoulders. “Are things really that bad?”
“We’ve just agreed not to talk about it, love.” Her father gave her a wink.
“Maybe it would have been wiser for me to have moved back home with you guys rather than take on that tiny flat. Financially, it would have helped all of us out, wouldn’t it?”
“Too late thinking like that now. I’m sure circumstances will change once the weather starts to improve, for me anyway.”
“Fingers crossed, Dad. It’s been a long winter for you this year. I’m sorry there are such shitty people in this world who always rip off the good guys.”
The barman appeared with their drinks, and Sally paid him in spite of her father’s protest. “It’s the world we live in, love. It certainly makes you wary going forward. Tough when you’re in business, though. Still, it’s something I need to try and get my head around if I want to trust further customers.”
“Tough indeed,” she agreed. At the table, with her parents sitting opposite her, Sally raised her glass. “To the future. May it be far brighter and hassle-free for us all.”
