Death on the Lake
Page 26
‘Sure.’
He stood up and picked up her jacket, holding it for her to put on. This untypical, gentlemanly gesture comforted her a little. And anyway, it wasn’t just the thought of how close she’d come to dying, of how the only things that had kept her alive were Robert’s own lack of a killer instinct and the extraordinary instinctive courage of his PA, that worried her. ‘Have you told Becca about Ryan?’
‘No. I’ve left that for someone else. I don’t know who. Doddsy will end up doing it, I expect.’
‘You don’t want to do it yourself?’ She slipped his hand into his as they stepped out into the street.
‘Do you want the honest answer? I think I probably ought to but no, I don’t want to. Right now the less I have to do with Becca the better for everyone. I don’t imagine I can avoid her altogether, but I don’t feel I have to go out of my way to see her, either.’
Something told her this wasn’t a lie, but nor was it the whole truth. Jude still had feelings for Becca and he was good-mannered enough not to act on them, but somehow the fact that he felt the need to distance himself from an old friend warned her that time wasn’t the healer everyone promised it would be.
‘I wanted to help you,’ he said, out of the blue. ‘This morning. I wanted to tell you to stand aside and let him do what the hell he wanted, as long as he didn’t hurt you. But I couldn’t do that. You know?’
He was right, but somehow she couldn’t help seeing it as a betrayal. ‘If it had been Becca—’ she blurted out, before she could stop herself.
‘Yeah. I know. I’d have put her safety ahead of Miranda’s. But not because it’s her. Because she’s a member of the public and you aren’t. That’s all.’
Damn him. He was right. But she couldn’t help comparing him with Scott who, driven by some false, chivalrous impulse, would have been sure to fling himself at Robert and risked all for death or glory. The pragmatic approach was the right one, but surely everyone yearned for someone who put them first, even before life itself. ‘I understand.’
‘I don’t suppose it makes it any easier, but even if I did still care for her, it’s gone. Done.’
Becca had hurt him before, and now he must feel she’d hurt him again. Even though it was Adam who’d put in the complaint and Becca who’d withdrawn it, she could tell he still placed the blame at his ex-girlfriend’s door. Or his own. Jude was quite capable of blaming himself for not having been tougher on his wayward heart in the beginning, and that cut both ways. ‘I had a text from Scott this evening.’
They walked side by side from the wine bar towards the point where they’d have to decide. Did they go to the same house for the evening, or did they sleep alone? ‘Oh?’
‘He’s been offered Summer’s job, and he’s taken it. He texted me this morning but in the middle of everything I forgot to tell you.’
They walked another few steps in silence. ‘That’s going to make for an interesting summer.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be far too busy to see him, even if he wants to.’ Loving Scott was a fantasy and the reality was pain.
‘He will want to, won’t he? Isn’t the whole reason he’s coming because you’re here?’
‘The reason Scott’s coming is nothing to do with me. If he thinks I’m going to give up on the little free time I have with you, he can think again.’
They reached the Market Square. Jude’s route home lay ahead of them, Ashleigh’s to the left. ‘What do you really think of him?’
They were still holding hands, standing in front of the Musgrave Monument. ‘Now? I don’t know. He was the love of my life, I suppose, and I’m never going to fall in love like that again.’ Just as Jude, whether he admitted it or not, was never going to fall in love with anyone the way he had with Becca. ‘You know that. I’ve told you.’
‘Yes. That’s true.’ They’d always promised to be honest with one another, and somehow they’d kept to it. That was how you forged relationships, through fire. It was how you came out on the other side with something that was better than you had when you went in.
‘I’ll never get over the way he behaved, but I am moving on. You’re moving on, too. I’m in a relationship with you, now, not him. Don’t ever think anything else.’
Somehow they shuffled apart, though their fingers still touched. ‘Okay. That’s fair enough.’ He smiled. ‘I’d never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you today.’
‘But nothing did.’ She returned the smile, and thought they both meant it. ‘Let’s get home. My place or yours, then?’
‘Mine.’ And he tightened his fingers around hers and they set off together along the street.
* * *
THE END
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Death by Dark Waters
DCI Jude Satterthwaite #1
It's high summer, and the Lakes are in the midst of an unrelenting heatwave. Uncontrollable fell fires are breaking out across the moors faster than they can be extinguished. When firefighters uncover the body of a dead child at the heart of the latest blaze, Detective Chief Inspector Jude Satterthwaite's arson investigation turns to one of murder. Jude was born and bred in the Lake District. He knows everyone... and everyone knows him. Except his intriguing new Detective Sergeant, Ashleigh O'Halloran, who is running from a dangerous past and has secrets of her own to hide... Temperatures – and tensions – are increasing, and with the body count rising Jude and his team race against the clock to catch the killer before it's too late...
The first in the gripping, Lake District-set, DCI Jude Satterthwaite series.
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Death at Eden’s End
DCI Jude Satterthwaite #2
When one-hundred-year-old Violet Ross is found dead at Eden’s End, a luxury care home hidden in a secluded nook of Cumbria’s Eden Valley, it’ not unexpected. Except for the instantly recognisable look in her lifeless eyes…that of pure terror. DCI Jude Satterthwaite heads up the investigation, but as the deaths start to mount up it’s clear that he and DS Ashleigh O’Halloran need to uncover a long-buried secret before the killer strikes again…
The second in the unmissable, Lake District-set, DCI Jude Satterthwaite series.
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DCI Jude Satterthwaite doesn't get off to a great start with resentful Cody Wilder, who's visiting Grasmere to present her latest research on Wordsworth. With some of the villagers unhappy about her visit, it's up to DCI Satterthwaite to protect her – especially when her assistant is found hanging in the kitchen of their shared cottage.
With a constant flock of tourists and the local hippies welcoming in all who cross their paths, Jude's home in the Lake District isn't short of strangers. But with the ability to make enemies wherever she goes, the violence that follows in Cody's wake leads DCI Satterthwaite's investigation down the hidden paths of those he knows, and those he never knew even existed.
A third mystery for DCI Jude Satterthwaite to solve, in this gripping novel by best-seller Jo Allen.
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Death at Rainbow Cottage
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At the end of the rainbow, a man lies dead.
The apparently motiveless murder of a man outside the home of controversial equalities activist Claud Blackwell and his neurotic wife, Natalie, is shocking enough for a peaceful local community. When it’s followed by another apparently random killing immediately outside Claud’s office, DCI Jude Satterthwaite has his work cut out. Is Claud the killer, or the intended victim?
To add to Jude’s problems, the arrival of a hostile new boss causes complications at work, and when a threatening note arrives at the police headquarters, he has real cause to fear for the safety of his friends and colleagues…
A traditional British detective novel set in Cumbria.
Acknowledgments
There are too many people who have helped me with this book for me to name them individually:
I hope those I don’t mention will forgive me.
I have to thank my lovely beta readers – Amanda, Frances, Julie, Kate, Katey, Liz, Lorraine, Pauline, Sally and Sara – who not only read and commented but also produced support and suggestions throughout the process. I’d also like to thank Graham Bartlett, who kindly advised me on aspects of police procedure.
Finally, as before, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the eagle-eyed Keith Sutherland, for proofreading.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
More by Jo Allen
Acknowledgments