The Good Son Read Online Free PDF Page B

like you.”
    â€œSure, the best games are the ones that leave you worrying how you’ll pay the electric bill at the end of the month.”
    â€œAlways with the fuckin’ smart mouth, aye? But this shite is best left to the professionals. You know, the ones the public trust to uphold the bloody law? You think you’re some kind of vigilante? Fuck that!”
    I stepped back. “You’re getting awful worked up over a simple suicide.”
    â€œI take my work seriously.”
    I remembered the satisfaction I felt cracking Lindsay’s nose.
    Real justice, I remember thinking.
    My fingers flexed as I resisted the urge just to smack him one all over again. It wouldn’t be worth it. No witnesses and he’d have me hauled down for assaulting an officer of the law.
    So instead of fists, I settled for words.
    â€œYou just came here to tell me what an arse I am. Face it, Lindsay, you get some kind of fucking perverse pleasure out of hassling me. I dunno, maybe I remind you of the kid who bullied you in school. Aye,the one you’ve been trying to get back at all your adult life.”
    â€œCheck out fuckin’ McFreud there.”
    â€œGet to business or get the fuck out. I’m working.”
    â€œListen to me, you prick. If you’re half as good as you think you are, you’ll have worked out that our wee dead friend wasn’t the nicest of men.”
    â€œThe police reports say a lot more than that.”
    â€œAnd what the fuck would you know about that?”
    I smiled. “Lucky guess.”
    â€œYou want me to search this place?”
    â€œGo ahead.”
    He seemed to consider this. I kept myself relaxed.
    Finally: “This isn’t the kind of thing where you want to be getting in people’s way. Let the professionals handle it.”
    â€œIt wasn’t a suicide.”
    â€œDon’t fuckin’ question that, McNee. The daft prick killed himself. No danger.” Lindsay stepped back. He pulled a cigarette from his jacket, made to spark up.
    I flicked it from his mouth.
    â€œThis is a place of business.”
    He stepped back. His eyes wide. The colour draining from his cheeks. “Aye, sure, for all the work that gets done.” He forced a smile. Too late, though, to fool me. “All I’m asking is that you take other people’s interests into consideration for once.”
    â€œJames Robertson came to me. Asked me to look into his brother’s life,” I said. “He needed closure. Something I could provide. Unlike you lot. You only gave him more grief.”
    Lindsay’s jawline pulsed. That false smile vanished. “Given the sensitivity of—”
    I steamrollered over his bullshit. “Which leads meto ask a few questions. Like whether there isn’t something else going on here. I know a little about who Daniel became. And you wouldn’t be round here beating your chest like an extra in
Planet of the Apes
without a very good fucking reason.”
    â€œHas anyone ever told you you’re smarter than you look?”
    â€œDaniel was good friends with Gordon Egg. The Met wouldn’t just ignore a man that close to the power centre of London’s gangland. His suicide’s bound to have raised some red flags. They’d have been on the phone to you the minute —”
    Lindsay stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at me like he’d found something amusing. “Don’t get cocky. Aye, the Met got their knickers in a twist when they found out the bastard was up here. Worse, he’d come back home without them having a bloody clue. Really pissed them off when they realised he’d topped himself.”
    â€œHe’s not the type,” I said.
    â€œRight enough, that’s what the big brains are saying. Which means you sniffing around like a drug-dog in a crack-house is causing no end of trouble. This isn’t just about you pissing on my feet. You’re soaking