Trio - [68]
She went out to the front and sat on the wall, the tranny beside her. The hopscotch she’d drawn had faded, so she got some chalk and did it again. The flagstones by her gate had the lines in all the right places for hopscotch. She searched by the drive for a stone, a flat one that wouldn’t roll.
Belinda from down the road came out and Susie and they played for a bit but it was hot so they changed to Jacks. Belinda always beat her at Jacks. Her fingers must have been longer, because she could scoop up ‘tennies’ even when they were scattered far apart and still catch the ball.
Dominic came back but he wouldn’t play Jacks. He said he’d play picture cards. Everyone got theirs. Theresa had forty-five. Nearly all from Typhoo. Some she’d won at school.
They propped a card up against the garage door and took turns trying to knock it down with theirs. Dominic won twice and gathered all the cards from the floor.
‘Ask your Mum if we can have the paddling pool,’ Belinda said.
‘Yeah!’ Susie hated cards.
Theresa went in. Mummy looked tired just at the thought of it but Theresa promised to do all the blowing-up and the filling it and she said all right but get changed. Theresa had her loon pants on, bright-red, and a calico smock. Belinda had hot pants but she said she was allowed to get them wet.
The twins went bonkers once it was all ready, until Mum came out and shouted at them. They gave each other showers later, using the watering can, and Theresa sang ‘Raindrops Are Falling On My Head’, and then they played Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, coming out of the tent like it was the building and all the Mexicans firing at them.
‘Let’s play Dying,’ said Theresa.
‘I’m not,’ said Dominic.
‘You can be first on.’
‘It’s best at the bank,’ Susie said.
‘Get dressed, be there in five minutes,’ said Theresa.
The bank was at the top of the avenue, a big slope of green, quite steep. Dominic stood at the bottom and the others lined up at the top.
‘Martin!’ Dominic called out.
‘Deadly snake,’ Martin chose.
Dominic pretended to throw a deadly snake at his brother who squawked and fell down and rolled to the bottom of the hill.
‘Michael.’
‘Deadly snake.’
‘Pick something else,’ Theresa yelled. They were so dumb sometimes.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Have a gun.’
‘A gun.’
Dominic levelled his arm, forefinger pointing, and shot Michael. Michael clutched at his stomach and rolled down the hill.
‘Belinda.’
‘Machine gun.’
Dominic rat-tat-tatted and Belinda jerked loads and tumbled her way down.
‘Susie.’
‘Electric shock.’
Dominic pointed and she twitched and jumped and rolled down the hill.
‘Theresa.’
‘Drinking acid.’
She mimed the drink, then gasped and staggered, began to claw at her chest and stomach, pulled herself down the slope and died at the bottom.
‘Martin 4 points, Michael 7, Belinda 6, Susie 6, Theresa 6. Michael wins.’
‘You can’t pick him, he was rubbish!’ Theresa rounded on him.
‘I can.’
‘I wasn’t.’
‘I’m not playing,’ Dominic said.
‘Don’t then, see if I care.’
He stalked off.
‘You’re on,’ she said to Martin.
‘Yippee!’ he said.
‘You’ve got to pick the best. The best acting.’
‘Yeah,’ he nodded.
They climbed the hill.
‘Michael!’ Martin pointed to his twin and grinned.
‘Dunno.’
Theresa sighed and looked across at Susie and Belinda. ‘Shall we go down the Tarzan swing instead?’
Caroline
Paul never found the right time to ask her about it. When she first came home he knew that the most important thing was making her feel safe and happy, helping her to feel confident about looking after Davey while he held the business together.
The months passed. Caroline gave up smoking and put on weight. She was happier, though he always had the sense that he didn’t really know her, not all of her, because of the secret she had kept from him and her natural reserve. He loved her quiet intensity. He watched her now as she examined the new mother plants with the nurseryman. She didn’t say much but everything counted: a gentle joke and a fleeting smile that made her eyes shine nut-brown, a shrewd word about delivery dates. When Davey toddled up she simply put her hand down and he took hers and accompanied her while she worked. If he fussed she’d pass him stones or leaves to examine, a trowel to play among the furrows with, or she’d point out a butterfly or show him how to make a Snapdragon snap.
Deep, she was. She kept things to herself. He knew she needed her time away, she’d go off on one of her walks and come back more settled. He was fearful that if he dared to mention about the baby she’d had, he’d precipitate another depression; see her withdraw again back into the land of the demons. So he said nothing.
He surveyed the nursery grounds. They’d rented extra land for an arboretum and taken on another worker. It was touch and go, but you couldn’t run a business without taking risks. He’d plans for an indoor-plants section. It was becoming fashionable for offices and banks to brighten their foyers with a splash of greenery. Bit like Victorian times, when an aspidistra or some parlour ferns were common in the shopping arcades and hotels and clubs. And if things went the American way, with purpose built shopping malls, then with his ideas and her green fingers…
"A painfully honest exploration of an ordinary family under stress… A stunning piece of work." – Ann CleevesFour bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time. Witnesses to the shocking shooting of a teenage boy. A moment that changes their lives forever. Fiona, a midwife, is plagued by panic attacks and unable to work. Has she the strength to testify? Mike, a delivery driver and family man, faces an impossible decision when his frightened wife forces him to choose – us or the court case. Cheryl, a single-mother, doesn't want her child to grow up in the same climate of fear.
Single mother and private eye, Sal Kilkenny, has two very frightened clients on her hands. One, young mother Debbie Gosforth, is a victim; the other, Luke Wallace, is afraid he is a murderer. While Sal tries to protect Debbie from a stalker, she has to investigate the murder of Luke's best friend.
The fourth Blue Murder novel written by the creator of the hit ITV police drama starring Caroline Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis.A well-respected family GP is found shot dead outside his surgery; who could possibly want to kill him? As DCI Janine Lewis and her team investigate they uncover stories of loyalty, love, deception, betrayal and revenge.Praise for the Blue Murder books'Complex and satisfying in its handling of Lewis's agonised attempts to be both a good cop and a good mother.' The Sunday Times'Uncluttered and finely detailed prose.' Birmingham Post'Beautifully realised little snapshots of the different characters' lives… Compelling stuff.' Sherlock Magazine'A swift, satisfying read.' City Life'Precise and detailed delineation of contemporary family relationships.' Tangled Web'Lewis seems set to become another very popular string to Staincliffe's bow as one of the leading English murder writers.' Manchester Metro'Pace and plenty of human interest.' Publishing News'Blending the warmth of family life with the demands of a police investigation.'Manchester Evening News'Juggling work and family is a challenge of modern life and encountering realistically portrayed women with family responsibilities is a pleasure.
Your husband, your family, your freedom. What would you sacrifice for love? A love story, a modern nightmare and an honest and incisive portrayal of a woman who honours her husband's wish to die and finds herself in the dock for murder.When Deborah reluctantly helps her beloved husband Neil end his life and conceals the truth, she is charged with murder. As the trial unfolds and her daughter Sophie testifies against her, Deborah, still reeling with grief, fights to defend her actions. Twelve jurors hold her fate in their hands, if found guilty she will serve a life sentence.
From the author of LOOKING FOR TROUBLE, a further crime novel featuring private investigator Sal Kilkenny. When a man is distraught at his wife's apparent infidelity, he enlists the help of Sal to confirm his suspicions, only to find himself a widower soon afterwards. From there Sal's other case also begins to take a disturbing and violent turn.
When private eye Sal Kilkenny is asked to discover the whereabouts of Jennifer Pickering, disinherited by her family twenty years ago, it seems that Jennifer does not want to be found. Despite her initial reservations, as the events of the past gradually unfold, single-mum Sal finds that she is becoming engrossed in the case. There are dark secrets waiting to be uncovered but can Sal break the conspiracy of silence that surrounds this mystery? As she spends her days tracing Jennifer, Sal's nights become shattered by an emotional and often dangerous assignment with the Neighbour Nuisance Unit on one of Manchester's toughest housing estates.
Предать жену и детей ради любовницы, конечно, несложно. Проблема заключается в том, как жить дальше? Да и можно ли дальнейшее существование назвать полноценной, нормальной жизнью?…
Будущее Джимми Кьюсака, талантливого молодого финансиста и основателя преуспевающего хедж-фонда «Кьюсак Кэпитал», рисовалось безоблачным. Однако грянул финансовый кризис 2008 года, и его дело потерпело крах. Дошло до того, что Джимми нечем стало выплачивать ипотеку за свою нью-йоркскую квартиру. Чтобы вылезти из долговой ямы и обеспечить более-менее приличную жизнь своей семье, Кьюсак пошел на работу в хедж-фонд «ЛиУэлл Кэпитал». Поговаривали, что благодаря финансовому гению его управляющего клиенты фонда «никогда не теряют свои деньги».
Очнувшись на полу в луже крови, Роузи Руссо из Бронкса никак не могла вспомнить — как она оказалась на полу номера мотеля в Нью-Джерси в обнимку с мертвецом?
Действие романа происходит в нулевых или конце девяностых годов. В книге рассказывается о расследовании убийства известного московского ювелира и его жены. В связи с вступлением наследника в права наследства активизируются люди, считающие себя обделенными. Совершено еще два убийства. В центре всех событий каким-то образом оказывается соседка покойных – молодой врач Наталья Голицына. Расследование всех убийств – дело чести майора Пронина, который считает Наталью не причастной к преступлению. Параллельно в романе прослеживается несколько линий – быт отделения реанимации, ювелирное дело, воспоминания о прошедших годах и, конечно, любовь.
Егор Кремнев — специальный агент российской разведки. Во время секретного боевого задания в Аргентине, которое обещало быть простым и безопасным, он потерял всех своих товарищей.Но в его руках оказался секретарь беглого олигарха Соркина — Михаил Шеринг. У Шеринга есть секретные бумаги, за которыми охотится не только российская разведка, но и могущественный преступный синдикат Запада. Теперь Кремневу предстоит сложная задача — доставить Шеринга в Россию. Он намерен сделать это в одиночку, не прибегая к помощи коллег.
Опорск вырос на берегу полноводной реки, по синему руслу которой во время оно ходили купеческие ладьи с восточным товаром к западным и северным торжищам и возвращались опять на Восток. Историки утверждали, что название городу дала древняя порубежная застава, небольшая крепость, именованная Опорой. В злую годину она первой встречала вражьи рати со стороны степи. Во дни же затишья принимала застава за дубовые стены торговых гостей с их товарами, дабы могли спокойно передохнуть они на своих долгих и опасных путях.