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‘What by cops?’ she said.
‘No. It looks like someone else did it. A sniper.’
‘Oh my God!’ Her eyes flared wide with alarm.
‘Aye, I know. It’s all hands to the pump, and I bloody warned them. I told them that there was no way Hardie would cooperate with cops,’ Max said, continuing to jam things in his rucksack.
‘Do you have to go now? What can you achieve?’ Katie suddenly looked sad.
‘Janie’s on her way to fetch me. You know how it is.’ He looked up at his lovely wife, whose eyes were damp with emotion and just a touch of fear.
‘I thought you were having a week off,’ she said, sitting on the bed with a sigh.
‘Things change, babe. This is a big deal, and we warned them that Hardie was planning something, but we didn’t expect this.’ Max reached out to touch her hand, but she withdrew it, her face blank and unfathomable, her eyes flinty as she stared at him.
‘Katie, what’s up?’ said Max, trying to join the dots in his head. She usually accepted his absences stoically, but this seemed different.
‘It’s this fucking job, Max. It’s always the fucking job. You left London to try to gain some balance, and I followed you here, but it’s as bad as ever, in fact it’s bloody worse. You’re always at work.’
‘But this is urgent …’
‘It’s always fucking urgent, Max. It’s always the next big urgentjob that takes you away from us, and I have to stay here, wondering if my husband is going to come home at all.’ Katie’s tone was hard, and her jaw was set tight.
‘But …’
‘But nothing, Max. When will your lot understand that when everything’s urgent, nothing is fucking urgent? It’s just so unfair. I want my bloody husband back, just sometimes. I want us to spend time together, do stuff together that isn’t about you being a bloody cop.’ She folded her arms defensively, pink spots dappling her smooth cheeks.
Max paused for a heartbeat, searching for the right words, the silence between them almost solid. She turned to look at him, a solitary tear spilling from her eye and running down her cheek.
‘Katie, love …’ Max began, but then stopped when he realised that he didn’t have the words.
Katie held out what at first Max thought was a blue-and-white pen, her eyes wet with tears. ‘I’m pregnant, Max.’
27
MAX, JANIE, ROSSand Barney were all standing in the White Loch car park where a police control vehicle had been established.
There were cops everywhere, all competing to have their say and to contribute. A police helicopter hovered overhead, police dogs barked excitedly and white-suited crime scene staff were all being briefed by the control vehicle. A panicky-looking inspector was talking to a middle-aged officer in a badly fitting suit, his face red and flushed.
‘I reckon “clusterfuck” is the best descriptor for this scene, what do you reckon?’ said Ross, swigging from a bottle of mineral water. His face was haggard, and his blue suit badly needed a press.
‘Looks like it to me. You reckon we can get a look at the scene?’ said Max, shaking his head to try to clear the fog that was swirling. The baby news was huge, but he still had a job to do.
‘We can try, they’re down there filming and photographing. At the very least I reckon I can swing a look at the images and footage, once Miles has got here. He’s gonna need to eat some humble pie, after giving me shit about our involvement, the fud.’
Max just stared towards the tent and the clutch of crime scene investigators beavering away, but he really wasn’t taking it all in. His mind was on the bombshell that Katie had delivered just a short while ago. A baby. He was going to be a father. He’d hardly been able to speak when she’d shown him the positive test; he’d just sat there on the bed, open-mouthed, his brain acting like a cog had been removed. He’d lost his parents many years ago, and so he was now fullof self-doubt. Could he be a good dad? How would it work with this stupid bloody job? He felt his insides churning at the whole concept, but despite this, he felt a smile begin to spread across his face.
He was going to be a dad. He desperately wanted to speak to Katie. He wanted to tell her that he was happy.
‘Max, fucking tune in and wipe that daft-arse smile off your face. What do you think?’ Ross’s brusque voice pierced Max’s reverie.
He looked up, and nodded. ‘I want to see the scene. I can’t tell where the sniper would have fired from here.’
‘Were you a sniper in the Forty Twa?’ said Ross.
‘Aye.’
‘Sorry, “Forty Twa”?’ said Janie, confusion across her face.
