Catch Read Online Free PDF Page B

supplies, but having to play dodge-the-log in the driveway was more than he could cope with at this early hour.
    Not for the first time this week he was running late and he'd promised to pick Danni up on the way.   Throwing the Audi into a right-hand bend, he was nonplussed at meeting banked-up traffic for what seemed like miles into the distance.   Anxiety rising in his stomach, he speed-dialed Danni.
    "Hey, it's me."
    "Morning, boss.   You sound as if you're talking from inside a rubbish bin."
    He cast his eyes around the inside of the car; she had no clue how close to the truth she was.   A valet service wouldn't go amiss, he thought.   "The traffic's hellish.   Didn't want you to worry I'd forgotten you."
    "Not a problem, Matthew.   The radio said there'd been some sort of pileup on the motorway.   I'll just wait for you at the top of the driveway.   You know where Mum's is?"
    "Presumably the same place it was the last time I picked you up."   Teasing Danni had become an occupational hazard.
    "Right.   So I'll see you in about five?"
    "Hours maybe.   It could be faster to walk in, you know.   Then you could have a nice long black waiting for me on my desk."
    "Ha-de-ha."
    This was no way to be starting the day, Matt thought as he disconnected.   He needed everything to go smoothly this morning - for some reason he felt riddled with anxiety about lunch with Tamsen.  
    A sudden surge came in the traffic, brake lights parting like the Red Sea. It seemed a good omen.   Saying a quiet thank you to God, Matt sped through the divided vehicles, grateful that for some reason everyone else seemed to be going in a different direction than his own.    
    Why so many problems with the road today? The weather was beautiful, one of those clear antipodean spring mornings.   The sort of morning he used to miss so much when he was working in London.  
    The big OE hadn't been at all to his liking.   Living in close quarters - damn near squatting in damp and dreary concrete apartments - and supposedly having the greatest time.   He couldn't get back to good old clean and green Aotearoa fast enough.
    Danni waved from the pavement. Pulling the Audi over, Matthew was immediately assailed by an irate motorist's horn blast.   Rush-hour traffic turned perfectly sane people into raging lunatics, he decided.
    "Moron."   Danni slammed the door and rearranged a beige pencil skirt around her shapely legs.  
    It was going to be one of those days; he alternated between loathing and loving that skirt.   It had an impossibly long split up the back, tempting his eyes all day to follow the curve of Danni's legs to areas off limits.
    "I see you're in fine spirits this morning."
    "Pardon?"   Danni looked puzzled.
    Matt took a moment to wave thanks to a kind woman for allowing him to rejoin the crawling mass of traffic. "Good morning, Matt, would have been preferable.   But if you think I'm a moron..."  
    "I was talking to the dick in the land cruiser who seemed to think just because he was driving a three-ton truck on a residential road we should all get out of his way."
    "Ah, four-wheel-drive issues then?"   Matt wasn't fond of them either.
    "Something like that.   My brain-dead brother-in-law's just bought one.   I mean, he lives in Ponsonby, for God's sake. You can hardly swing a cat down those streets."
    "Not much call for off-roading either, is there?"
    "I suppose parking on the sidewalk doesn't count?"
    Matthew laughed.   He'd grown to love Danni's quirky sense of humor.
    "How's your mum holding up?"
    "Not too bad - the doctor says she'll be right as rain in a couple of weeks. It's amazing how quickly she's recovered from a hip op.   I thought it'd be months."
    "So you'll be back home with Glen before he knows where he is?"
    "At the weekend, actually. My seven days are up and my sister, bless her little cotton socks, is coming up from the South Island to have a couple of weeks with Mum, so I'm off the hook."
    They turned