Page 39 of M for Murder

The reservation at Angelo’s was for eight thirty. The four of them arrived fifteen minutes late. As they entered the restaurant Kylan heard Lawrie apologising to Vic, muttering something about women and timekeeping. She gave him a sharp poke in the ribs, and he turned and smiled at her.

‘Watch it, Mr Parker,’ she warned, a teasing glint in her eye.

Lawrie put an arm across her shoulder and pulled her close. ‘Whatever you say, Mrs Parker.’

Vic snorted and raised his eyebrows at Jill.

‘Young love, eh? I give all this mushy stuff another year, tops.’

‘Cynic,’ Kylan told him and the four of them laughed.

Jill Boleyn, Vic’s date, seemed nice. A similar age to Kylan, she had a bubbly personality and didn’t seem to take Vic too seriously, which was probably for the best. She was pretty and very much his type, with tawny brown hair that hung in ringlets around her face and deep blue eyes. She was tall too, probably not far off six foot, and had a wide grin that surfaced every few seconds.

Kylan was surprised to discover she was a doctor at the local hospital. With the exception of Tania, all of Vic’s previous wives and girlfriends had seemed somewhat intellectually challenged. Maybe he was setting his sights a little higher these days.

The evening went well. Vic and Lawrie, although chalk and cheese, got on well, and after dinner they went to a nearby bar, one which Vic frequented so knew a lot of people there. The whole time they were there, a stream of people, mainly fellow cops, kept stopping by to slap him on the back. Kylan had always known Vic was popular with women but was surprised to find out he was popular with guys too. Maybe they saw him as some kind of stud. At thirty-four he was living the high life whilst most of his colleagues were married off with kids and mortgages. Maybe they envied his lifestyle.

Did Lawrie envy his single life?

Although he never gave any hint that he was unhappy being married, Kylan knew only too well that overall appearances could be deceiving. Deceiving, misleading and ultimately dangerous.

‘You still with us, Kylan?’ Vic’s deep voice broke through her thoughts.

She smiled at him and took the glass of white wine that he offered. ‘I’m here, just my mind wandering.’

‘I see. Our company not interesting enough for you?’ Vic teased, giving Jill a knowing wink. Kylan laughed. ‘Vic, you lead the most colourful life I know. How could I possibly not find you interesting?’

Her comment brought smiles to the faces of Lawrie and Jill. Vic also looked pleased, evidently taking her words as a compliment. ‘You know, you guys will have to come ride with me and my partner, Angell, when we’re out on patrol one day. See what it’s like to be a cop.’

Kylan glanced at Lawrie and pulled a face. Apparently she was wrong, and he had misconstrued her comment, applying it to his professional rather than personal life. The idea of riding around the city all day with Vic wasn’t really her idea of fun and she struggled for a polite way to refuse his invite, glad when Lawrie stepped in with an excuse.

‘It sounds fun, Vic. We’ll have to take a rain check though. We’re both pretty busy with work at the moment.’

Vic nodded. ‘No problem. You just give me a call when you have some free time.’

‘We’ll do that.’

‘Of course, I’ll probably run into you on campus a few times over the next couple of weeks anyway.’

Kylan raised a brow. ‘You will?’

Jill also looked interested. ‘Thinking about furthering your education, Vic?’

Vic snorted. ‘Hardly! We have got that dead student thing, though.’

His eyes met Kylan’s as he spoke, and she glanced uneasily down at her napkin. She hoped the subject would be dropped as quickly as it was raised.

Jill seemed keen for more details. ‘Yeah, I read about that in the paper. Some football player was killed, right?’

‘Scott Jagger,’ Vic told her. ‘You know it was me and Angell who found his body.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘No, the guy was toes up in the sewer. I found the second guy as well.’

The second guy?

As far as Kylan was aware, Scott Jagger had been the only one found. A sick feeling welled in the pit of her stomach. She glanced at Lawrie who, like her, had bowed out of the conversation. He appeared to be listening intently to what Vic had to say while absent-mindedly swirling the ice around in his vodka glass.