“What do you want, Gary? This is a bad time.”
Gary grinned, his face close to the glass, his eyes looked her up and down. “From where I’m standing it looks like an excellent time.”
“Dan will be back soon. What is it? You’re bothering me, Gary. We used to be friends,” said Eva.
“Used to. That hurts, Eva. Used to. I thought you’d like to know… Adam Grother confessed. He says he and Chauncey murdered Laura Gosling. Apparently the boy had a penchant for blondes while the old man preferred foreign brunettes.”
Eva nodded. Dan would be pleased to finally have justice and closure. Rowntree stared at her through the glass. She wanted him gone.
“You changed things between us, Gary. Not me, remember.”
“That’s not how I see it at all. You only ever showed me one side of your personality, the two dimensional do-good workaholic stiff. You were always a gorgeous girl… stunning even, but still all sugar and no spice.”
“It’s time you left.”
“Hang on a minute. I’ll leave,” he whacked his hand on the doorframe to make sure she listened. Eva lingered. “I used to think you were special, Eva. I put you on a pedestal, but you really didn’t ever deserve it. You still think that you’re better than me, but you’re not. You are at least as bad as me, maybe worse even. Look how many times you break the law just to get the job done.”
“You don’t know anything, Gary. You’re blagging, trying to intimidate me.”
“Sweetheart, I would never try to intimidate you. But I’m not blagging. People died, didn’t they Eva? In Wakering and elsewhere, but you didn’t say a dickie bird.”
Eva’s eyes froze unblinking.
“And it used to be Dan fabricating evidence, but these days you’ll do just about anything, won’t you?”
“Whose side are you on, Gary? Why did you get in the way when Balfour told us about his Mr Big? And why did Chauncey think he was protected, Gary? Was it because he thought you were his protection? The trouble is the evidence against Joss Chauncey was just too strong, wasn’t it? No one can protect a serial killer, not even you.”
Gary Rowntree broke into a big charmless grin.
“I need to know Gary. Are you the sort of man who helps killers get away with murder?”
Gary didn’t say a word.
“Or, worse, are you the sort of man who kills? Why would you do it, Gary? I thought you were a good man, once…”
“I am a good man, Eva. You’re the one blagging now. You don’t know anything, do you? And I know what’s really going on. The world is not as black and white as we’d all like it to be.”
“Who is pulling your strings?”
“Look, no strings,” said Gary, waving his arms. “Enough with the silly questions, Eva. I just came round to give you a reminder. I could have had you nicked and sentenced by now with all the crap you’ve been up to lately, but I didn’t, did I?”
“Why?”
Gary’s eyes roved down her body. His eyes were hungry and suggestive. “Because I like you too much. But let’s be clear. You owe me big time, Eva. I could ruin you and Bradley, but I don’t want to. But we need to come to an understanding… now.”
Eva bristled and folded her arms. She wanted him to tell her directly what he meant, though she knew very well. She wanted him to say it.
“What do you want from me, Gary?”
Gary Rowntree smiled wider and winked. “I’ll let you know.” He turned and walked away into the night, leaving Eva feeling tarnished by his darkness. She walked upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed and looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She needed time to think this through. Dan didn’t deserve this kind of trouble. And it had only happened because she’d agreed to work for the wrong client. This mess was all her fault and therefore it was her responsibility to fix it. Eva gulped her wine in one to still her nerves, shook her head and picked up a stocking…
To be continued…
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading The Dirty Game, book nine of the Long Time Dying series.
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-Solomon
The Long Time Dying Series
by Solomon Carter
Thrilling adventures featuring Eva Roberts & Dan Bradley, private detectives
The Long Time Dying series
by Solomon Carter
Thrilling adventures featuring Eva Roberts & Dan Bradley, private detectives
Series list - in reading order
Out With A Bang
One Mile Deep
Long Time Dying
Never Back Down
Crossing The Line
Divide and Rule
Better The Devil
On Borrowed Time
The Dirty Game
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The Dirty Game Page 19
