Death's Cold Hand by J.E. Mayhew (good romance books to read txt) 📕

the sound of a car pulling up cut him short. He looked through the net curtains. A black BMW idled in the road outside.

“She’s here. Remember what I said. Get her to come round the back. I’ll be waiting.”

There was an old wooden shed in the garden, and Blake decided to hide behind it. He felt ridiculous but he didn’t want Laura to bolt at the first sight of him. He heard the back door open and then footsteps on the patio. They sounded heavy.

“You can come out now, Mr Blake,” a male voice said.

Blake peered round the edge of the shed and saw a tall, dark man dressed in jeans, a cream shirt and a bomber jacket standing with Jeff. He had a mane of black hair and a beard with a few flecks of silver in it. He smiled but his dark eyes smouldered with a suppressed anger.

“Laura couldn’t make it I’m afraid, or rather, didn’t want to.” He extended a hand. “My name’s Kyle Quinlan. You’ve probably heard of me.”

Blake narrowed his eyes, ignoring the hand. “What have you done with her?”

Kyle raised his eyebrows in a pantomime of surprise. “I haven’t done anything with her. She sent me to give you a message.” He pulled out a phone. “If you don’t believe me, you can call her if you like.”

Blake hesitated, not wanting to be part of Quinlan’s game but eventually, he took the phone and pressed the call button.

“Will, what the fuck are you playing at?” Laura’s voice was loud and Blake found himself colouring at the exasperation in it. It was like being told off by his mum.

“Hi Laura,” Will said. “More to the point, what the hell is going on?”

“Don’t try and wriggle off the hook like that. You tried to trick me into meeting you. Isn’t that stalking?”

“I’m worried about you. You could have called and told me you were around. What are you doing going back to him?” Blake had turned his back on Quinlan and paced down the garden.

“I could have called you but I didn’t. That’s my choice, Will. You know, I did a lot of thinking while I was away and it struck me that I was running away from the wrong person…”

“The man who beat you up? A criminal? He hasn’t changed, Laura, you wouldn’t have fled the Wirral when he arrived otherwise.”

“Maybe, but I’ve changed and he knows it.”

“But if you’ve changed then why be with him?”

“You’ll never understand, Will. Never. It wasn’t him I was running from, it was you.”

“Me? What? I never…”

“When we first met, you said you were like a ghost trapped in your mother’s house, remember? And I watched you break free, but you trapped me in your place. I’d hang around waiting for you to come home, prop you up when things got tough and slowly, I was being smothered and locked in that airless house. One thing the last six months has taught me is how to be myself.”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to…”

“No, Will you didn’t, but look at yourself now. You were trying to trick me into meeting you. Trying to force your agenda on me again. And think back to how you judged me when you discovered just a little of my past. Don’t try and deny it, I could see it in your eyes. The shame.”

“Laura I…”

“At least with Kyle, I can be myself and don’t have to keep apologising for my past and who I am now. So please stay away from me, Will. Goodbye.” The phone went dead.

Quinlan stood with his hands in his pockets, with an apologetic smile. “She’s a feisty woman,” he said, taking the phone back from Blake.

“What have you got over her Quinlan?” Blake snapped.

Quinlan held his hands up like a footballer accused of a foul. “Nothing,” he said, his voice rising an octave. “Listen, I didn’t want to come, she sent me. And if you hadn’t pulled such a dozy stunt in the first place, maybe she would have let you down a bit easier.”

“What are you up to?”

“Me? Nothing. I’m just a businessman, making my way in life, Mr Blake. As far as Laura goes, I’m just lucky I guess. Some you win, some you lose. You lost her. Get over it.”

Blake took a step forward. “I’m warning you, Quinlan, if you so much as put a foot wrong, I’ll be down on you like a ton of bricks…”

“Did you hear that, Jeffrey? DCI Blake here threatened me because his girlfriend left him for me. I’d call that a conflict of interest, wouldn’t you?”

Jeff looked pale and said nothing.

“And what makes you think you can trust her, Quinlan?”

“I can’t, Mr Blake. That’s the beauty of it as she explained to me in great detail. You see, life is great until you start to take it for granted. You get complacent and you lower your guard. Then it rushes up and bites you on the arse. Hard. Laura keeps me on my toes. And if I’m on my toes, then I’m playing my ‘A’ game. She could have come here tonight without me knowing but she told me that this would be a perfect chance for her to betray me. She’s straight with me. I can trust her because I can’t trust her, if that makes any sense…”

“No,” Blake said. “Not to me.”

“Yeah. Laura explained it better.” Quinlan gave Jeff a thoughtful look. “You’re writing that biography of Joshy Gambles, aren’t you?”

Jeff nodded. “I am.”

“He’s a funny fish, he is. The stories I could tell you. Maybe you should pop by my house some time and I’ll give you an inside scoop.”

“That would be great…” Jeff said, his voice dry and raspy as he glanced at Will.

“Good,” Quinlan said. “In the meantime, tell him Kyle says hi.”

“You can tell him yourself after I’ve arrested you and put you away,” Blake muttered.

“Is that so? And what are you going to arrest me for, exactly? I’m a legit businessman, straight as