Bad Sons (Booker & Cash Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

to fill the void I said, ‘So am I.’
    We passed the community football pitches, the municipal swimming pool and the tennis courts. She navigated the vehicle confidently through the quiet narrow back roads until we were once again on the A259 heading out of Hythe.
    ‘When was the last time you were home?’
    ‘Christmas.’
    ‘And the last time you spoke to either of them?’
    ‘We Skyped last week. Most of our communication is done by email.’
    She was thinking a lot and I didn’t like to interrupt her.
    Her mobile rang. She answered it. So much for setting an example.
    After a brief conversation she terminated the call. ‘No one of your uncle’s description has been admitted to either of the nearest hospitals.’
    We drove alongside the Army ranges towards Redoubt.
    ‘Were your relatives in the habit of going for walks on the beach and the sea wall?’
    ‘Yes. It’s one of the things they cherished most about living where they did.’
    ‘What was your aunt wearing this morning?’
    I thought about it. I thought hard. The zip had only been lowered enough for me to see her face. I tried to remember if there had been a suggestion of a coat or scarf. I explained to Cash why I couldn’t answer that and she accepted that I couldn’t say.
    She made a phone call and asked for that information to be quickly found out and advised. She dropped her speed to match the signs as we came up on the New Beach holiday park. 
    ‘You should prepare yourself for the worst.’
    She didn’t say what the worst was, but it didn’t take much guessing.
     
    ***
     
     
    6
     
    I directed her through the Dymchurch Parish Council car park where my relatives had a vehicular right of way to the rear of their premises. We bounced and jolted the length of it as she made a poor fist of negotiating a course through the potholes. It was not nicely and expensively surfaced like the Shepway Council car park opposite. 
    We pulled up in the pea beach behind my uncle’s car.
    ‘Whose is that?’
    I told her. She grunted. We got out and I fished under the flowerpot for the key.
    Detective Cash tutted. ‘Not very original and not very secure.’
    I let us in and led the way upstairs to the flat. I didn’t expect to see my uncle materialise but I more than half hoped he would. The longer I went without word of him now the bleaker it would look. Apart from us two, the place was empty and quiet as a deep thought.
    ‘Where do you want to look?’
    ‘Mind if I just poke about a bit on my own for a minute?’
    ‘Help yourself. You’ll need more than a minute though if you’re going to look the whole place over. It’s a confusing warren, I’ll warn you.’
    ‘If I get lost, I’ll give you a shout.’
    ‘I’m going to make tea, would you like one?’
    She smiled nicely. ‘Go on then. No sugar, just a dash of milk.’
     
    *
     
    The kettle had boiled, I’d immersed the tea bags, added milk, taken the tea bags out and was leaning against the kitchen counter sipping mine and wondering what the hell was going on before she reappeared.
    ‘I see what you mean. What a place. And the books.’
    She accepted the tea with a thank you and a nod. We sipped in quiet contemplation.
    ‘What were you looking for?’
    ‘Something that didn’t look right.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘Nothing stands out. Mind me asking where you slept last night?’
    ‘The sofa.’
    She looked out of the window at the builder’s yard. ‘What’s that place?’
    I told her. She asked who owned it. I told her that too.
    ‘Have you got the keys to the shop downstairs?’
    I hooked them off the wall.
    ‘Let’s take a look then, shall we?’
    Before we got to the top of the stairs her phone rang again. After a brief conversation she put it back in her pocket.
    ‘Your aunt wasn’t wearing a coat or a jacket when they pulled her out of the sea. Just a pullover. It’s possible it could have come off in the water, I suppose, if she had been wearing one. She had nothing on her