Definitely Dead by Kate Bendelow (howl and other poems TXT) 📕

and a sweep of his arm towards a bar stool. ‘You’ll have to bear with me though, as you can see, I’m rushed off my feet.’

He gestured towards the bar area where a young couple were sat nestled into each other, oblivious to the rest of the world, and an old bloke who was sat alone with his newspaper, nursing a pint of mild and a whisky chaser.

Maya grinned as she climbed on the bar stool.

‘What’s your poison?’

‘Glass of Pinot, please.’

‘Small or large?’

‘Large, definitely, definitely large.’ Spence gave her a saucy wink as he fetched her drink, setting it carefully down in front of her.

‘Been busy then?’

She hesitated, wondering how much to tell him about Ryan. She couldn’t divulge any details about the case, and although his name had been released in a press statement by the police, she wondered how much Spence knew about the demise of his old school friend. She wondered if he would know enough to provide any clues as to whether he was involved with the likes of Gorman and Celeste Warren.

‘Yeah, it’s been busy,’ she said hesitantly. She couldn’t meet his eye. ‘I’ve been working on a murder.’

He leant towards her and lowered his voice. ‘I know you probably can’t tell me anything and I wouldn’t dream of asking anything too inappropriate, but did it involve Ryan Johnson? I saw something on the news.’

‘Yes. I’m sorry. I know he was a friend of yours. It must have been a shock to hear about it.’

‘Yeah, it was. It’s such a shame.’

‘I remember you saying you’d known each other for years. What kind of man was he? Tell me about him.’

‘I think I told you before, we’d lost contact years ago other than through Facebook. I didn’t know anything about what he was up to these days. We knocked about a bit as kids, but that was it. His family were a bit rough, so Mum didn’t encourage me to hang around too much.’

‘But he must have posted things on his Facebook account about what he was up to, who his friends were and stuff.’

‘I only really paid attention if he posted family stuff. He had a little sister. Ryan adored her; she was a cute, skinny little thing. Always had nits though, another reason Mum didn’t encourage the friendship. I caught them once and passed them on to our Tania. You’ve never known pain until you’ve had your scalp scarified with a nit comb.’

Maya’s husky laugh echoed across the quiet pub, earning her a scowl from the old man with the newspaper. ‘Is there anything else you can think of though? Anything at all he may have posted recently that could have indicated who or what he was involved with these days. Particularly in the last few weeks.’ Maya was craning towards Spence, eager for some piece of information that would allow all the pieces to fall into place.

‘Woah, I thought you were a SOCO, not a detective,’ he said, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden intensity of her questions. ‘What’s with the third degree?’

She laughed nervously. ‘Third degree?’ She shook her head. ‘Not at all. I’ve been working my arse off at his flat, that’s all. Guess I’m just overcurious as well as overtired. Sorry. I’m being tactless.’

He held his phone towards her. ‘Feel free to look through his Facebook profile for yourself if you like. If it satisfies your curiosity. Although I’m guessing your colleagues would already have done that. For what it’s worth, all you’ll see is a load of messages of condolence and banter about MUFC.’

Maya knew she had gone too far grilling Spence. He clearly didn’t know enough about Ryan Johnson to support her sudden death theory. It had been a mistake coming here. Not only had she wasted her time, but she had also clearly managed to alienate Spence at the same time. She regretted that, as she had found that despite her initial reservations, she had grown more than fond of him.

‘Hey, forget it. Let’s talk about something else other than work. I clearly need a break.’ She took a large sip of wine. ‘How’s the flat hunting going then?’

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. ‘Not great. Let’s just say that my expectations and my budget are currently poles apart. Still, I’m an optimist, something will turn up.’ He flashed her one of his wide smiles, which she found nearly as intoxicating as the wine.

‘So why the sudden urge to move on? Are things not good at your sister’s?’

‘I just feel like I’m overstaying my welcome. Bella, my niece, has been acting up a bit. She keeps saying she can see a man watching her through the window and it’s been giving her nightmares.’

‘Surely that’s just a natural childhood phase?’ Maya said.

‘I dunno. I can’t help thinking I’ve upset her routine. She’s only little, it doesn’t take much at her age. It’s their family home after all and it can’t be easy having me dump myself on them. I just need to find something in my price range which is slightly larger than a cornflake box. Another drink?’

Maya was surprised to find her glass empty. The first drink hadn’t touched the sides.

‘Yes, please. I fancy something a bit different this time. Are you any good at making cocktails?’

He rolled his eyes playfully and gave her a grin. ‘I can see you’re going to be a high-maintenance customer. I might be able to scrape together a porn star Martini if you don’t mind substituting the passion fruit for a glacé cherry?’

‘Sounds perfect,’ Maya said, smiling at him.

She settled back and watched him as he moved behind the bar. His muscles rippled beneath his shirt. The outline of the tattoo on his bicep peeked out beneath the fabric and she wondered, not for the first time, what the rest of it looked like. What the rest of him looked like underneath that shirt, too.

She was glad she’d decided to call in, despite being no further to satisfying her curiosity