Dangerous Promises

Текст добавлен: 6 октября 2016, 01:07

Текст книги "Dangerous Promises"

Автор книги: Roberta Kray

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Текущая страница: 31 (всего у книги 31 страниц)

Sadie closed her eyes and waited a moment before opening them again. She had to find a way to deal with it, to move on, or she wouldn’t have any kind of future at all. The first step, she decided, was to tie up the loose ends. Quickly she turned away from the window and pulled on her coat.

Outside the rain was coming down heavily, hammering on the pavement and running in fast streams along the gutters. She put up her umbrella, began to walk and then made a zigzag dash across the road when the cars slowed for the red traffic lights. As she went past the Fox, the door opened and she heard the clink of glasses, a snatch of laughter, before the door swung shut again.

Sadie hesitated, wondering if Velma was in there – she wasn’t in her room – but knew that now wasn’t the right time for a detour. Although she wasn’t looking forward to seeing Nathan Stone again, it was something that couldn’t be avoided. Living in Kellston, she was bound to run into him at some point and she preferred to get it over and done with.

However, as she rounded the corner and saw the blue neon sign for Ramones, her resolution began to fade. Did she really have to do this now? Maybe it could wait until tomorrow or the day after. There wasn’t a rush. It wasn’t as if he was going anywhere. But she was aware that if she put it off, she’d probably never do it, and it was better, surely, to have the meeting on her terms rather than his.

Sadie slowed as she drew closer to the bar. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling being beholden to someone you didn’t like. But sometimes, she thought, you just had to swallow your pride and get on with it. If it hadn’t been for Nathan Stone, she wouldn’t be here now, a free woman, if not a particularly happy one.

Before she could change her mind, Sadie pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was quiet apart from the soft strains of jazz playing in the background. There was only a handful of customers, early drinkers who’d come straight from work and were busy demolishing their first bottle of wine. The barman gave her a glance, but went back to polishing his glasses as she walked past and went to the rear of the bar.

A part of her had been hoping that Stone wouldn’t be around, but there he was, sitting at the same table, his grey head bent over what could have been the same set of books. She had one of those déjà vu moments, recalling how she’d hesitated the last time she’d come and wondering what would have happened if she’d just turned around that day and walked straight out. There would have been no need for the lies she’d gone on to tell Joel, no need to try and hide the truth.

Sensing her presence, Stone looked up. His cool grey eyes narrowed at the sight of her, his brows shifting up. If he was pleased to see her, he was doing a good job of hiding it. ‘Well, if it isn’t Sadie Wise.’

‘Hello,’ she said.

There was one of those awkward silences before he waved a hand towards the chair on the opposite side of the table. ‘Are you going to sit down?’

Sadie glanced at the chair, but then shook her head. ‘I’m not staying. I just… I just came to say thanks, you know, for helping me out and everything.’

‘Right,’ he said.

Sadie pulled a face, unsure what to say next. She shifted from one foot to the other. ‘So thanks,’ she finally managed to utter again. ‘I appreciate it.’

Stone sat back, folded his hands on the table and gazed at her. ‘And that’s it? Not even a drink for all my troubles?’

She looked back at him, trying to read his face but getting nowhere. Was he serious or just teasing? ‘I’m sorry,’ she said dryly. ‘My manners are atrocious. Would you care for a drink?’

‘I would. Trouble is, I don’t like drinking on my own. It’s a bad habit, don’t you think, and I’ve got enough of those already. Why don’t you stay and have one with me?’

‘I can’t. I’ve got things to do.’

‘What sort of things?’

Sadie thought of Oaklands and the long empty evening stretching out ahead. It wasn’t an appealing prospect. She may as well spend ten uncomfortable minutes with Nathan Stone as spend them staring at the four boring walls of her room. ‘I suppose they could wait.’

Stone smiled for the first time since she’d arrived. ‘In that case, thank you, I’ll have a Scotch.’

Sadie went over to the bar, ordered the drinks – a Scotch for him, a small red wine for herself – and took them back to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat down.

‘Cheers,’ he said, raising his glass. ‘Here’s to… what would you suggest?’

Sadie gave a shrug. There was, she thought, something artificially casual about him, as if she’d caught him off guard and he was trying hard to hide it. Perhaps it wasn’t just her that was feeling ill at ease. ‘Moving on?’ she suggested.

Stone chinked his glass lightly against hers. ‘Moving on,’ he echoed. He took a sip of the whisky and put the glass back down on the table. ‘I take it things went all right with the boys in blue?’

‘A picnic.’

‘Somehow I doubt that, but you’re still a free woman so you must have been reasonably convincing.’

‘Convincing might be too strong a word. But yes, as you see, they haven’t locked me up.’

‘That’s always a good sign. So what brings you back to Kellston?’ He inclined his head and grinned. ‘Other than the more obvious attractions.’

Sadie wrinkled her nose. ‘Oh, please. Anyway, I think the clue was in the toast.’

‘I take it things didn’t work out in the cold wasteland of the north, then?’

Something like that.’ Sadie took a few quick sips of wine, wondering what it was about him that always made her feel defensive. He got under her skin, but she couldn’t explain exactly why. The only time she’d felt any real connection was the night Mona Farrell had died, although then she’d been so exhausted she could barely think straight. ‘But it’s not a problem. I’ll be fine.’

‘So what’s the plan?’

‘Plan?’

‘What are you going to do next?’

Sadie lifted and dropped her shoulders again. ‘Start again. Get a job, get a life. You know, the usual.’

‘So you’ll have some time on your hands.’

Sadie wasn’t sure what he was getting at. ‘Will I?’

‘Until you get a job, I mean.’ He picked up his glass and swirled the Scotch around. ‘I’m taking Barry and his missus out for lunch on Thursday. Why don’t you come along? For some obscure reason, Cheryl seems to like you.’

Sadie gave him an incredulous look. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

‘Yeah, there’s no accounting for taste.’

‘Very funny. You know what I meant.’

Nathan grinned at her again. ‘Have a think about it.’

‘I don’t need to think about it.’ She waited for him to try and persuade her, to maybe even say that she owed him, and was surprised when he didn’t. ‘That’s what got me into trouble in the first place, remember?’

‘That wasn’t the mistake,’ he said.

‘No?’

‘No. The mistake was talking to a stranger on a train.’

Sadie lifted her glass and sighed into the wine. She thought of Mona Farrell walking along the carriage and sliding into the seat opposite to hers. Why hadn’t she kept her mouth shut about Eddie? Why hadn’t she put the file away? If only she could turn back time, but she couldn’t. ‘That may be true,’ she said, ‘but there’s still no such thing as a free lunch.’

‘No point in going hungry either. I take it you’re back at Oaklands? I’ll pick you up at twelve.’

Sadie gave him a long steady look. ‘I haven’t agreed to anything yet.’

‘Well, while you’re thinking about it, shall we have another drink?’

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