Restless Dead (Harry Grimm Book 5) by David Gatward (english reading book TXT) 📗

At this, Ruth wasn’t sure what to say, and as she followed the woman and her dad back to the house, where James found a book for Beverly, she remained quiet.

‘So, when would suit you for me to come back?’ Beverly asked. ‘Evenings are best really, but it doesn’t have to be.’

‘No, evenings are good,’ James said, ‘Aren’t they, Ruthy?’

Ruth had said, ‘Yes, fine, not a problem at all,’ before she’d even had a chance to think.

‘Then how about you decide when would best suit, then give me a call?’

A few minutes later, Beverly was gone and Ruth was alone with her dad once more.

‘You’re sure about this?’ she asked. ‘I mean, it does seem a little bit, well, not really you, if you know what I mean, Dad. And I don’t mean that to sound bad or anything. It’s just, well, you’ve never been one for church or anything spiritual, have you?’

James smiled and Ruth saw within it the need the man had to be allowed to do what he was doing, to at least search for some answers in his pain.

‘Yes, I’m sure,’ he said, and that, very clearly, was that.

Back next door, in the cottage, Ruth called up to her son Anthony. There was no answer, so she called again. Still nothing. Probably on that computer of his, she thought, plugged into an imaginary world, and she headed upstairs to check in on him.

Outside Anthony’s bedroom door, Ruth leaned in but could hear nothing, though he was probably wearing his earphones, because he knew full well that the sound of all that violence wasn’t what she wanted to hear echoing around the house.

Knocking at the door, Ruth waited a moment, then pushed on through.

‘Hi, Love,’ she said, ‘just thought I’d pop in to see if you wanted anything?’

Except her words fell into dead air and darkness and Ruth was staring at an empty room. Anthony was gone. Again.

Ruth closed the door and headed back downstairs. In the kitchen, which was night-dark and quiet, she opened her fridge and allowed the glow from inside to flood out across the floor. She pulled out a new bottle of Pinot Grigio and a moment later had a large glass of the stuff in her hand. She then headed through to the lounge, sat down on the sofa, scooching up into it and under a blanket, before flicking on the television.

As she sipped the wine, Ruth stared at the screen, not really aware of what was on, not really caring. Her mind felt so pummelled by the week’s events, that taking in any more information right now was impossible. And to add to it all, she had Anthony’s disappearing act to deal with once again, just like earlier in the week, when the police had been around. She knew where he went, knew he was safe, that it was his way of escaping, getting a little bit of peace, but it was still a worry. And even more so now, with Pat and Dan around, because Pat was the kind of person to ask questions, then jump to conclusions. But he would be back later, like he always was, slinking in through the silence, taking himself to his room, and tomorrow they wouldn’t talk about it, but they would hug, and that would be enough. Soon though, Ruth thought, it wouldn’t be, would it? And they’d have to deal with it.

So, with what was left of the day to herself, and doing her best to not worry about everything all at once, Ruth opened the book that she’d taken from where her dad had pulled the one he had given to Beverly and started to read.

Chapter Ten

Harry knew that really, with it being a Sunday and all, that he should have been taking the time off, not least because the force owed him probably a fair few months’ worth over the years. But with Ben pulling in some overtime down at the garage, he’d had the choice of sitting on his own watching snooker—which had been very tempting indeed—or heading through Hawes to see how things were down at the community office.

He knew that Jadyn was on duty. Matt, too, if his memory served him right. And it would be good to have a natter if nothing else. And the company of other people was a good way to avoid thinking about that thing Firbank and Swift were now starting to pester him about. He’d promised he would call Firbank at some point in the following week with a decision, not that the decision was in any way a finality. He would still have an interview to go through, and there would be other people up for the same role, and really, did he want the hassle? He knew that the answer was yes, because it wasn’t just about him anymore, but he still needed just a little longer to think it over.

Walking down through the marketplace, Harry was pleased to be just out for a stroll. Rain had managed to gate crash every day over the past week, but today was bright and cool, so considerably more pleasant. Rain in the dales had the capacity to come down not so much like stair rods, as he had been informed, but drill bits, with the power to give you a headache if you were daft enough to stay out in it for too long.

Outside the office, Harry found Jadyn updating a community noticeboard with various bits of information and advice on staying safe, reporting crime, and somewhat incongruously, a cake sale for charity.

‘Any word from Jim?’ Harry asked. Since the theft, Harry had given Jim the time and space to make sure things were okay back home with his dad and the farm. Whenever he had managed to catch up with Jim, Harry had sensed the brooding anger the lad clearly felt about what had happened and about