Finders Keepers by Edie Baylis (epub ebook reader txt) 📕

under his collar, Robert looked back towards his mother, now once again chatting happily to that Darren Harding man and decided he had to get out of here for a while.

Slamming his wine glass down onto the nearest table, Robert ignored the curious glances his actions brought and stormed from the hotel’s function room. To his horror as he rounded the corner of the corridor, he came face to face with Teagan as she stepped out of the Ladies cloakroom. Glowering, he made to walk straight past.

‘Robert? Are you alright?’

Swinging around, Robert noticed Teagan’s eyes were pink, like she’d been crying again. His hand moved, drawn to pull her against him, but instead hastily diverted it.

Teagan lightly touched Robert’s arm. ‘What’s the matter? Is Dulcie alright?’

Stiffening, Robert shrugged her arm away, his eyes narrowing. ‘Why wouldn’t she be? It’s her daughter’s funeral, so I expect she’s having a wonderful time!’ Despite his sarcasm, considering what he’d read in that notebook he wondered if that were actually true.

Teagan blinked in surprise. ‘I-I didn’t mean it to sound like th...’

‘If you’ll excuse me.’ Robert shoved his hands back in his pockets and turning on his heels, continued walking down the corridor.

‘I think we need to talk...’ Teagan rushed after Robert, placing her hand on his arm.

Swinging around, Robert cornered Teagan. ‘What about?’ he growled.

Teagan stared up at Robert. He wasn’t even close, but his big frame dwarfed her. ‘Since the other day, you know... well, I feel things have become difficult between us and I don’t want them to be.’ She swallowed nervously. ‘I felt we were getting on well before and I don’t want anything to spoil that. Also, you never said whether you spoke to Dulcie about your father. Is it that what’s upset you?’

Robert stared at Dulcie incredulously. ‘What gives you the right to question my personal business?’ Unable to stop himself, he raked his fingers through his hair, messing up his neatly slicked-back look. ‘Listen, I think the lines have become blurred. I made it clear the other day about that, so please don’t feel you can question me like this. You shouldn’t have been party to any of this knowledge in the first place, so don’t act like you have the right.’

Teagan dug her teeth into her lip – anything to soften the ice-cold stare Robert was giving her. ‘What? I...’

‘Teagan,’ Robert snapped, his voice hard. ‘I do not need your concern, nor your attention. I suggest you divert your time to your boyfriend, rather than me.’

‘Darren isn’t my boyfriend. He’s...’

‘It is of no consequence to me who he is, so you don’t need to justify or explain yourself.’ Robert’s irritation with himself and everyone else – especially Teagan, grew exponentially. His jaw clenched, a nerve twitching. ‘Let me explain something simple. I’m not a twenty year old lad, I am forty, Teagan. That’s point one. Point two is if you cannot remember that some lines should not be crossed, then the most sensible thing for you to do is move on.’

Teagan felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. ‘You want me to leave? But you... W-What about Dulcie?’

Robert scowled. ‘What about her? I’ll make sure she is well looked after. I think it’s the best thing to do under the circumstances.’

Indignation flooded Teagan and she grabbed Robert’s arm. ‘What? So you can shout and scream at me? Blame me for not running to you about who your father is and something your mother told me in confidence? You know, your mother - who I happen to care about very much? And then after I offer to come and help you clear up a murder scene, which, I might add, is not part of my job description, you accuse me of blurring the lines?’

Robert stared at Teagan in horror. ‘Shut the fuck up!’ he hissed, glancing around. ‘You can’t shout that out!’

Teagan folded her arms, her eyes angry. This man was the bloody limit! ‘I can’t shout what?’ She ignored the woman walking past the bottom of the corridor who did a double take. She also ignored the rage in Robert’s face. He wasn’t the only one who could get angry.

Robert gripped Teagan’s wrist. ‘I’m warning you, keep your voice down. This is a funeral, you disrespectful bitch!’

‘I’m disrespectful? You’ve spoken to me like a piece of shit since I first met you. I’m sorry about what happened with your father, I really am, but that doesn’t mean we have to allow it to change anything. Now you’re saying you want me to leave because you aren’t big enough to live with that?’

Pulling her wrist away from Robert’s grip, Teagan turned on her heels leaving Robert to stalk off in the opposite direction.

SAUL FLICKED YET ANOTHER CIGARETTE butt out of the car window. The way he was going there would be a whole twenty pack’s worth of nub ends on the floor.

He glanced at his mobile, seeing a missed call from Gwen. What did she want now? He’d told her yesterday that he’d put things straight with Jonah as soon as possible and he’d also said he’d deal with Lena, but she had to give him fucking chance! As much as he had more respect for Gwen than he did for most people, he didn’t need her harping on.

His eyes fixed on the large back room visible from the side car park that, from his enquiries, he knew to be The Temple Hotel’s function room. ‘Palladian. Nice...’

‘What?’ Keith spluttered, a lump of half-chewed Twix shooting from his mouth to stick on the dashboard.

Saul nodded towards the long arched windows of the hotel. ‘Those windows. They’re ‘palladian’. It’s a style from the Georgian period.’

Keith raised an eyebrow and smirked. ‘Oh, right...’

Saul grinned. Keith could think what he liked, but he didn’t care. He liked buildings and this one had splendid features. Not that he was big into architecture or anything, but thanks to a book from the prison library which had helped while away