He nodded. ‘The boy detective lives on, eh. That’s right; I just thought I’d pay you a call before we all get together, to get a few things out of the way.’
I sighed. ‘If you really want to have a go, Ricky, try it. That window’s toughened glass; you won’t go through it, but I promise you this, you’ll hit it bloody hard.’
Ross gave me that loaded grin again. ‘No. If I was going to do you, son, it’d have happened by now, and I wouldn’t have got my own hands dirty, either. I just wanted to say there’s no hard feelings, about what happened back then. I’ve got a good chunk of pension, and I’m making more in private security work than I did on the force. In a way, I’ve got you to thank for that.
‘I still think you or your bird, or her sister, did that murder, but I’m past caring.’
‘Well you’re wrong,’ I told him. ‘Yes, I know who did it, but he’s dead. He was killed in an accident not long afterwards.’
He stared at me; I hadn’t expected to take him by surprise. I thought he’d have worked it out by now. ‘Yet you still let them charge Linda?’
‘Too right. Did you know about a certain attempted hit-and-run incident, up in Auchterarder?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘It happened. Linda Kane was the driver, in a hired car; she bloody near got all three of us too. It was you who told her where we were, Ricky. We both know that, don’t we?’
He grimaced. ‘I never thought she’d do that, though. First I’ve heard of it too. Did you make a complaint?’
‘No. I told Mike Dylan about it, but that was all. Are you still porking her, by the way?’
‘That’ll be right. After they dropped the charges, she was going to bloody do for me. No, I steer well clear of Mrs Kane. You’d be well advised to do the same.’
He frowned. ‘Mike Dylan, eh. A shame, what happened to him. I saw in the papers that you’ve moved in on his ex.’
Actually, he had it the wrong way round, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. ‘Susie and I have both had our bereavements,’ I said. ‘It suits us, the way we are.’
Ross actually looked sympathetic. ‘Aye, I heard about yours. That was a damn shame too. That was some girl you wound up marrying. Mind that time I was following her thinking she was you? She led me a real dance.’
I never thought that he and I would share a laugh about that day, but we did.
‘Before I forget, Ricky,’ I said, ‘and in case you do. My bird’s sister, as you called her, is now Mrs Miles Grayson. I don’t think Miles connects you with all that stuff, or he wouldn’t have hired you. Best let it stay in the past.’
‘Point taken.’ He glanced back at me. ‘I heard a story you were there when Dylan got it. Is that true?’
‘All too true.’
‘What happened?’
‘We tracked the guy we were after to Amsterdam; Mike was with him. Apparently he’d been his accomplice all along. The guy made a move and the Dutch policeman shot them both.’
Ross heaved a sigh. ‘Aye, that’s what I heard, only the bloke wasn’t a policeman. He was Dutch Special Forces, and he had his orders.’ I had suspected that, although no one had ever admitted as much. ‘Was it quick?’
‘He said something to me, then died; that’s how quick it was.’
‘Ahhhhh, that Michael. He was always getting in over his head, was that boy. I knew when they let him into Special Branch that something bad would happen.’
‘But not that bad. Mike and I became good friends, you know. I was gutted when it all went wrong.’
‘Weren’t we all, son. But it was his choice; remember that.’
‘I’ll never forget it; that made it even harder for Susie to deal with.’ I paused and glanced at my watch. ‘Speaking of whom, I’ve a train to Glasgow to catch.’
‘Aye, I’ll let you get on. See you on Thursday, then. By the way, if Grayson does remember it was me he was complaining about that time he phoned the chief. .’
‘I’ll tell him it’s sorted, don’t worry. Just behave yourself around Dawn, and whatever you do, don’t mention her sister.’
He threw me a wicked smile, with traces of his old nastiness. ‘I heard about that too.’ Then he laughed. ‘This is going to be some job; taking a bunch of actors and chancers and trying to make them behave like real coppers.’
‘Is that what you were, Ricky?’
‘Most of the time, son.’ He headed for the door. ‘Most of the time.’
Chapter 17
Ethel Reid opened the door when I arrived at Susie’s with my travel bag slung over my shoulder. She eyed me up and down, with no pretence of subtlety.
‘So you’re Daddy, are you?’
‘That’s me,’ I admitted, as she opened the door. ‘What do you think of my daughter so far?’
She beamed at me like an auntie, and won me over there and then. ‘She’s an absolute wee treasure is baby Janet.’
‘Takes after her mother, then.’
‘Mmm,’ Ethel murmured. ‘I can see how you get on in the pictures and such.’ I’d been called a smarmy bastard before, but never in such a pleasant way.
Susie was at her desk when I went into the living room, working on a pile of folders. The sight made my stomach twitch for a second or two. Jan and I had kept our desks in exactly the same place, looking down on the city.
‘Pick it out, then,’ I said to her, as I kissed her hello.
‘What?’
‘The restaurant; the place I’m taking you.’
‘You’d have trouble seeing it from here. We’re going to Rogano’s; I’ve booked for seven thirty. . in my name, not yours. Gantry still gets a better table in Glasgow than Blackstone.’
‘Enjoy it while you can,’ I told her. ‘My fame grows by the second. Plus. .’ I hesitated; she looked up at me, curious.
‘What?’
‘I just had a meeting with Greg; Prim’s signed the divorce settlement and so have I. All we need to do is go through the petitioning process itself; we can do that in Scotland, right now. We don’t have to wait for a year or anything like that. I’ll be a free man in a few weeks.’
‘And?’
‘And all things will be possible.’
She held me at arm’s length. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I never know what I’m saying,’ I replied, defensively. It was true; I really wasn’t sure. I hadn’t planned any of this; the words were just falling out of my mouth like pebbles into a pond, and I had no idea how far the ripples would go. Until my meeting with Greg, I’d had no idea that the ties between Prim and me could be severed so quickly.
‘Well, when you do know, tell me,’ she said.
‘You’d be interested in hearing, then?’
‘Yes. Now if we’ve finished sparring; drop the subject until you actually are divorced.’
I felt myself grinning at her like an idiot; I couldn’t help it. For the first time since Jan had died I could see real happiness stretching into the future. She laughed at me, then kissed me again. ‘What do you think of Ethel, then?’
‘Magic. Where did you find her?’
‘My father. . Joe, that is. . knew someone whose daughter had her until her kid was ready for school. She gave me references going back twenty-five years, and was happy for me to speak to her last employer.’
‘Wee Jan’s in good hands; and so are you, for now.’
I went off to see the baby; she was awake and content so I did the Daddy thing for a while, carrying her around, showing her the view across the city from the windows. ‘One day, kid,’ I promised her, ‘all this will be yours.’
Eventually, she became restless; maybe I was boring her, but I think she was hungry. I handed her back to Susie; she plugged her in for a while, then I burped her. I’d had plenty of recent practice with Bruce, but I still couldn’t stop her barfing down my shirt.
Luckily, I had another. When the taxi turned up at seven-twenty, I looked not bad at all. Susie looked much better than that; she wore a blue sequinned dress which clung to her in a way that made the driver’s eyes pop out like organ stops. I couldn’t object; I’d just shoved mine back in.