The Devil's Due: A Cooper and McCall Scottish Crime Thriller by Ramsay Sinclair (good inspirational books .TXT) 📗

Of course, I’d completely forgotten about it. She had left the ball in my court, and I left her hanging first. Even though I forgot to call her, she still pursued me today. That’s a real woman. It took all of my restraint to be discreet when checking her out. Her walking figure hypnotized me. I’d never seen it from the back before. Very… nice.

Various officers milled about the parking area. One of them wolf-whistled at Abbey when she passed them. Instead of rising to the challenge, she turned back to shake her head in my direction at the cheek of it. I recognised the constable as a guy from our office department. He stomped over, smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke into my face, heavenly smoke. No matter how much I tried to stop smoking, my mind wasn’t up for the challenge of depriving myself so much.

“Sorry boss. Didn’t know she was your bird.” His accent sounded cockney, and I vaguely recollected a bunch of CID teasing him for it when he first arrived. He always popped out for a quick fag break whenever he wanted, purely a way to wriggle out of the tough work.

“Yeah, well,” I shrugged evasively, “give me one of them, and call it even.” That gained a stick of tobacco. “Light?” I requested and leaned forward to light my cigarette on the flame he held up. “Cheers.”

I puffed out a long line of charcoal ash and noticed the tight band in my lungs releasing. Oh heaven. After such a heart-pounding inducing run-in with Abbey Aston, a guy needed a smoke or two just to settle their heart rate back down.

“Oh no,” McCall leaned out of the open car door when I arrived. “You’re not bringing that in here. It’ll stink the interior out. The seats are fabric, and I’m not driving around a smoky, fried bacon smelling car for the rest of the week.” She brushed her curly fringe out of her eyes, and before she had a chance to kick me out, I clambered into the passenger seat and wound the window down. I stuck my head out of the window and puffed from there.

“Sorted.”

“You look like a dog. You smell like one too.” McCall turned her nose, then shook her head as we drove. “So, Abbey Aston. She gave you a fright and a half. Not many people see that side of you Finlay. I’m surprised you let a girl of her… nature in.” She struggled to place her words correctly, and my spine tingled unpleasantly.

“What nature?”

“You know?” she began. No, I didn’t know. “A renowned flirt. A tendency for… older guys.” McCall hated to break the news to me but clearly felt the issue was important.

“Are you calling me old?” My precious cigarette nearly dropped to the road with indignance.

McCall heaved a large sigh. “No, that’s not what I meant.” Her tone was filled with sounds of tiredness. “Finlay, be careful. Abbey could be after something else. You never know…”

“That’s exactly what I need. A girl to keep me on my toes,” I gripped the cigarette intensely as a serious demeanour washed over me. My tone changed to a softer and brutally honest one. “I want to feel… alive. She does that for me.” I dropped the cigarette outside and observed my fingers. They had a slight yellow tinge to them.

McCall mulled my words over quietly, digesting them.

“And I swear, if you tell anyone about that, I’ll personally kick you off the team,” I mock-threatened.

We curved a pathway into a tiny parade of shops. Random little shops which catered everything someone could need. A takeaway of both Indian food and Chinese, laundrettes and a charity shop displayed themselves proudly, shining through their grime. Another smaller shop backed onto it, full of hippy nonsense and decorative statues. Witchy pagan decorations hung up inside, reminding me of Halloween during winter.

“Never, sir.” She saluted in mockery and glanced over her shoulder at the plastic bag which contained the ring. “Right, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Wait for me.” I huffed and jogged over to catch up with the determined woman. Pieces of loose gravel came unstuck a few times, and McCall tripped due to her frankly inappropriate shoes for the occasion.

“Sometimes I really want to hit you. Can you stop being a control freak?” she moaned and heaved her shoe from a tiny hole in the ground. “I bet you were one of those sports captains at school, micromanaging everyone.”

“I played rugby,” I admitted for good measure.

“I bet you did.” McCall checked out my broad shoulders and nudged me comically. It brought a sliver of a smile to my face.

“McCall.” I stopped her from going further. “In here.”

The shop’s door lacked a bell, I realized as I led us inside. A strong smell smacked us in the face, hippy aromas and flowered scents. They shouldn’t mix but surprisingly complemented each other nicely. It made my brain feel fuzzy.

The shop attendant scanned us both up and down. We were not the type of people to shop there usually and stuck out like a sore thumb. The attendant’s piercings contrasted my entire being, mine drab and dreary compared to her colourful choices. The lighting consisted of lanterns only, which gave an atmospheric appeal to their shop.

“I love these places,” McCall gushed, touching everything ornate in sight.

I sniffed again, recognising their burning scent immediately. The shopkeeper, surprised at my sudden appearance at her till, kept her cool.

“What’s that smell?” I sniffed again, transported back to Laura’s house. That’s where I last smelled the strong scent.

“The incense?” the shopkeeper wondered, misconstrued as to what smell I was talking about.

“I don’t know.” I was clueless about that sort of thing. “Whatever’s burning now.”

“Yeah, incense. We have to burn it in the shop to entice customers into buying some. Want a box?” Her dark eyes glittered in hope.

“No, thanks.”

“Hm, you’re not the only one. Since stocking them, only a few people have brought some boxes.