The Pleasures of Spring Read Online Free PDF Page B

he had remembered and her belly distended with. Fuck. He still had to drop that particular bombshell.
    ‘And she’s pregnant,’ he finished his report and waited.
    The silence on the other end of the line was more telling than a dozen expletives. ‘She’s what?’ Niall sounded stunned. ‘But who’s the …? And how did she manage that?’
    Andy grinned. ‘The usual way, I imagine.’
    It was none of his business, Andy decided. He might have kissed her in a moment of madness, but that didn’t mean that he liked her.
    Niall cleared his throat. ‘Find her, Andy. Call in whatever resources you need. A whole team if necessary, but I want her found within twenty-four hours.’
    ‘Any particular reason?’ There was something up with the big guy and it was more than discovering that his sister-in-law was knocked up.
    ‘Because that’s how long I have until my wife gets back from Castletownberehaven. She went to tell Granny O’Sullivan the good news. Sinead is pregnant too.’
    Reeling from the news, Andy put the phone back on the hook. He now had another call to make, which would be about as much fun as the last one.
    Reluctantly, he rang his office and reported the theft ofhis wallet and phone, the one with all his numbers and contacts.
    ‘You were rolled?’ Reilly didn’t bother to hide her mirth. ‘Mr I’m-too-sexy-for-my-own-good finally got a taste of his own medicine? Wait ’til I tell the guys.’
    ‘Tara baby, don’t.’
    ‘Not a chance. And don’t try that baby stuff on me. I’m immune, remember? I’ll put a trace on the phone, but I wouldn’t hold out much hope. I’ll work on getting you a replacement.’
    Andy sighed. The petite operative was the fantasy girl for half the team, but she didn’t mix business with pleasure. ‘How long will it be?’
    ‘With all the stuff you keep on it? At least an hour. Sit tight in your hotel until then.’ Still laughing at his predicament, she hung up.
    He would have to do this the hard way. Over the next hour, Andy rang every maternity hospital within a ten mile radius. No one answering Roz’s description had been brought in and he was fed up pretending to be an anxious boyfriend or husband.
    Idly, he flicked the channels on the TV, but there were few further updates about the robbery. The tangos were in hospital and Lewisham shopping centre was open for business again.
    ‘Doh.’ He tapped his forehead. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? During the shooting, Roz had been in a moneylender’s shop. If she was borrowing from them, they must have a record of her. He pulled on his jacket and hurried to the lobby, taking the stairs two at a time.
    As he passed by the front desk, the concierge motioned to him. ‘Delivery for you, sir.’
    Andy tore the packet open and pulled out his replacement phone. ‘God bless you, Reilly.’
    He was back in business.
    The shattered glass had been swept away and a gang of gawking teenagers were hanging around outside the jewellery store, jeering the police working inside. Andy stepped into Sunny Money, where it was business as usual. He waited while a middle-aged woman spoke quietly to the man behind the counter. Her son owed money to drug dealers and she needed to pay them off.
    The hopeless set of her shoulders and the trembling of her veined hand as she signed for the notes told him it wasn’t the first time. Clutching her battered handbag under her arm, she left, head bowed.
    The assistant looked up. ‘It’s you,’ he stammered, ‘with the knives and …’
    ‘Aye,’ Andy agreed.
    The assistant swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down nervously.
    Andy glanced at the name badge pinned to his chest. ‘Dave, isn’t it?’
    ‘Yes, sir,’ Dave agreed, anxious to please.
    ‘I’m looking for the woman who was here when the shooting started. She’s a customer of yours, I understand.’
    ‘I’m not sure if I can –’
    ‘I’d like to send her some flowers,’ Andy cut across him. ‘Make sure