The Bad Things: A gripping crime thriller full of twists and turns. Mary-Jane Riley

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      She turned on the cold tap and splashed her face, remembering too late the make-up she had put on earlier that morning. Bloody hell, she’d have panda eyes now. Opening up the cupboard again she took out her make-up remover wipes and began to clean her face so she could redo her mask.

      ‘Is that you Kate?’

      A door slammed as Chris’s voice floated up the stairs. Her hand stopped its cleaning. Damn. What was he doing home? She thought he’d gone to source more wood for the table and chairs he was making.

      ‘Kate?’

      She put down the make-up remover wipes and gripped the basin, head bowed. Then she dragged in a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face. If she made herself smile, it would sound in her voice.

      ‘Hallo sweetie,’ she said, emerging from the bathroom and going downstairs. ‘I thought you’d be out for most of the day.’

      Chris enveloped her in a hug. With her nose pressed into his thick woollen jumper she breathed in the familiar smells of freshly-cut wood and linseed oil. There was a prickling in the back of her nose. ‘Hah. So your secret lover could come and go with impunity.’

      ‘Something like that,’ she mumbled, not wanting to think about the visit to the doctor. ‘What about the wood?’

      ‘Bloke I needed to see won’t be back until this afternoon. Bit of a wasted journey.’

      She lifted her head up. ‘Didn’t you check he was going to be there?’

      ‘No. I had some other stuff to do and I fancied a drive so took a chance.’ He smiled down at her, his cornflower blue eyes wrinkling at the corners. ‘Is that okay?’

      ‘’Course it is.’

      Typical of Chris. Freewheeling; not worried about what other people thought; always able to go with the flow. Which was probably why she married him – a good contrast to her tendency to be uptight.

      ‘Anyway, what are you doing home?’

      ‘Meeting my lover, what else?’ She laughed lightly. ‘Have you had anything to eat? Do you fancy some toast?’

      He grabbed her by the shoulders and planted a kiss on her lips. ‘Toast sounds good. Unless you fancy something else…’ He looked up the stairs and then back at her. Cocked his head to one side.

      She thought of the pills she had got from the doctor and the pill she took every day, both shoved in the back of the cupboard, and felt guilty and irritated at the same time. She pushed him away. ‘No time for that. I must eat and get going. So, toast?’ She tried to make her voice sound bright.

      Chris held up his hands. ‘Whoa. Sorry. Just a thought. Toast would be great.’

      Kate kept her head down – she couldn’t bear to see the hurt look on his face. Instead, she went to the bread bin and took the loaf out, trying to undo the red plastic tape. ‘Bugger, bugger, why do they wrap bloody bread like this.’ She took a knife out of the drawer and started to hack at the tape.

      ‘Careful, don’t hurt yourself.’

      ‘I won’t,’ she snapped, taking a couple of slices from the now open packet. ‘See? It’s done. But the sodding bread’s mouldy.’

      Chris was beside her, taking the bread out of her hands. ‘It’s only a bit of green along the edges. It’ll be fine when I’ve got peanut butter and jam on the top.’

      ‘Up to you.’ Kate reached up into a cupboard and took down the pack of muesli, shaking some into a bowl, looking crossly at the dried fruit, seeds, and oats. ‘Urgh, why can’t I like this stuff?’

      ‘Because it’s rabbit food.’

      ‘That’s lettuce.’

      ‘Well, some animal that eats oats and fruit and enjoys it.’

      ‘Good for me though.’ She poured milk out of the bottle onto it.

      ‘Sometimes it’s good to have things you enjoy.’

      Kate looked at him sharply, then caught her breath at the sadness of his expression. She put down her bowl and went over to him, putting her arms around his solid waist. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m just a bit twitchy.’

      ‘Any particular reason?’

      The toast popped up and Chris began to slather it with butter. Kate’s irritation flared up again. ‘You’ll give yourself a heart attack if you’re not careful.’

      ‘At least I will have enjoyed myself,’ he said mildly.

      ‘What are you saying?’

      ‘Nothing. Nothing at all.’ Out came the peanut butter and jam. He sighed. ‘I don’t know what’s eating you this morning. I’m beginning to think I did disturb you and your lover.’

      All the fight went out of Kate and she sat down. What the fuck was she doing, trying to pick a fight with him? ‘I’m sorry, Chris. It was something I heard on the news today that’s made me feel a bit out of sorts.’ Understatement of the year.

      ‘Oh?’

      ‘A woman called Jackie Wood has been released from prison. Her sentence was quashed—’

      ‘I heard about that on the radio. While I was driving. Put away for – what was it – conspiracy to murder or something? Her and some guy called Martin Jessop had murdered two little kids, is that right? I was abroad at the time so don’t remember it really. But why has that made you so—’

      ‘Bad-tempered? Irritable?’

      He grinned. ‘If you put it like that, yes.’

      She sighed. How much to say? She had never told him about finding little Harry, about eventually holding him in her arms after the photographs, the examination of his little body, the forensics that had been carried out, and about the sheer and utter helplessness she had felt. She had never wanted to feel his pity. ‘I was involved in that case.’

      ‘Oh?’ Chris began to eat his toast.

      ‘Worked on it. Had to give evidence in court. It was a bit…’ She hesitated. ‘Upsetting.’

      ‘But it was, what? Sixteen years ago?’

      ‘Fifteen.’

      ‘Right. Not your case now.’

      ‘No. But I feel for the family. They must be pretty upset to see her coming out like that.’

      ‘I’m sure. But it’s not for you to get involved, is it? I mean, not personally.’

      She shrugged. ‘I just keep wondering what they’re feeling, thinking. I wonder if I ought to go and see them.’

      ‘Because you were on the case all that time ago? You were only a PC then, weren’t you?’

      Kate didn’t СКАЧАТЬ