“Where is he now?” said the man, looking round the living room.
“At work. But don’t worry. He said he won’t be home until late tonight. He said he’s got a tough case on.”
“You enjoy playing with fire, don’t you Ali?” said the man with a smile.
Ali shrugged. “It’s worked so far, and I think it could work a good while yet.”
“So long as you don’t mess me around again. You’ve got your priorities right this time, haven’t you, Ali?”
“Of course. That was just a blip. I was confused for a while. It was nothing.” Ali stiffened under his gaze and gave him a strained smile. He looked around the room with disdain.
“I don’t like it,” he said.
The visitor looked at her with hard eyes, before he dropped down into his seat. Hogarth’s seat. Finally, she could relax.
“Now,” said Ali. “What have you got for me?”
The man’s lip curled into a lop-sided smile. He stuck a hand into his coat and brought out a small pillow-shaped parcel and dumped it on the coffee table. Ali leaned forward, her hand stretching across for the package. But the visitor covered the parcel with his hand.
“First, what have you got for me?”
Ali took a moment to compose herself. But she knew exactly what to do. She stood up and walked towards him, her moves flowing, suggestive and yet full of poise. Beautiful. Elegant. Just as she always had been. She knew what she wanted, and, she knew exactly how to get it. As soon as she was close enough, she offered her hand, and the visitor snatched it to his lips. He kissed her fingers and pulled her to him. He ravished her hand, and Ali wrapped an arm over his shoulder. When he could no longer see her face, the smile faded from her lips. She stared at it blankly, while the visitor’s kisses grew ever more rabid. He broke his kisses and looked at her.
“I don’t want this,” he said.
“What?” she said, aware of the parcel on the coffee table.
“I don’t want to do this here.”
“Then where?” she said.
“Somewhere without the smell of that cop everywhere. Somewhere more fitting.”
Ali nodded, hoping he didn’t have anything bad in mind. But she only saw need in his eyes. Like he saw in hers. She nodded slowly.
“Okay. But I’ll need to get back.”
“Of course you do,” he said, with a smile. “When I say you can go,” he said. “I’ll take this for now.” He raised the parcel in front of her and tucked it back in his jacket. Sullen, Ali grabbed her jacket and followed the man out of the house. She took the door key Joe had left her and closed the door. Because he insisted, she held the man’s hand. They walked close together, in silence as they walked down the street, her eyes flicking around the street in quiet panic. Ali Hartigan and the man in the grey raincoat. And not far away, the DLSR camera didn’t stop clicking until Ali and the man in the grey raincoat were far out of sight.
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THE DARKEST DEED
DI Hogarth Darkest Series Book 3
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Great Leap
Copyright © Solomon Carter 2018
Solomon Carter has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this e-book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review, without the prior written permission of the author.
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