LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter 9

      Tina smiled as Dimitri danced in and out of the shade of the sycamore trees, the late afternoon sun stretching the shadows into long, narrow strips, which spread over the pavement and climbed the garden walls.

      ‘The crocodiles can’t get me when I’m on the black bits,’ said Dimitri, as he hopped from one shaded patch to another.

      The light breeze that tripped through the trees threw the edges of the shadows from side to side, making the jumping across the sea of crocodiles quite precarious.

      ‘Ah! Your foot landed in the water,’ said Tina as Dimitri performed a rather optimistic leap from one shadow to another. She chased after him, snapping her hands together. ‘Snap! Snap! Snap! Here comes the crocodile!’

      He squealed and laughed as he darted to the shade of another tree and leaned against the trunk. ‘Not quick enough, Mr Crocodile.’

      Dimitri looked on further down the avenue, assessing his next death-defying leap across crocodile-infested waters. He raised himself from the tree trunk and peered more closely at something ahead of him.

      ‘There’s a man outside our house,’ he said.

      Tina followed his gaze. Standing outside her front gate was John Nightingale. She was surprised to see him and found herself subconsciously running her hand across her hair, which was tied back in a ponytail. A fleeting thought, that she wished she had her hair loose today, whizzed through her mind. Swiftly followed by another that she was in her work uniform. However, these were soon overtaken by the idea that something might be wrong. She hadn’t been expecting to see the police again, unless there had been some developments.

      ‘Hello, Tina,’ said John as she neared him.

      ‘Hello,’ said Tina. ‘Is everything all right?’ An uneasy sensation pitched up in her stomach and instinctively she took Dimitri by the hand, drawing him into her.

      ‘Everything is fine,’ replied John, he looked down at Dimitri and smiled. ‘Hello, I’m John. You must be Dimitri.’

      Dimitri turned into Tina’s legs. ‘Say hello to John,’ she said. John crouched down and held out his hand.

      ‘Hello,’ said Dimitri. He looked at John’s hand for a moment and then solemnly shook it.

      ‘I wondered if we could have a word,’ said John standing up.

      ‘We?’

      John motioned with his head to the other side of the road. Another man Tina didn’t recognise lounged against the side of a black BMW. ‘Martin, he’s my partner.’

      ‘Two of you. That sounds to me like everything is not fine.’

      She watched John’s face for any sign that she might be right. It was impassive. ‘Can we come in?’ he said after a moment.

      ‘I suppose you had better.’

      Tina hoped that the air of calm she was desperately trying to project was working. She didn’t want to alarm Dimitri any more than he had already been the past few weeks. She was very much aware he was picking up on her anxieties. He had started having upsetting dreams about hearing footsteps in the night and being watched. A couple of nights ago, his whimpering had woken her, the result of a nightmare that someone was in his room.

      Once inside she busied herself making tea for the adults and poured a glass of milk for her son. ‘Why don’t you pop the TV on?’ she said to Dimitri as she took the drink and a biscuit through to the living room.

      ‘TV? Now?’ said Dimitri excitedly. ‘I can watch it now?’

      ‘Yes, just this once I’ll make an exception to no TV immediately you get in. You can do your reading and writing later instead.’

      Martin followed her into the living room. ‘I’ll watch TV with you, if you want. Haven’t seen Tom and Jerry in years.’

      ‘Tom and Jerry,’ said Dimitri. ‘I don’t watch that, it’s for babies. No, I’m going to watch Ben 10.’

      ‘Ben what?’

      ‘Sit down and you’ll find out,’ said Tina. She was grateful that Martin was acting as a distraction for Dimitri but, at the same time, apprehensive as to what John was about to spring on her.

      ‘How’s everything?’ John asked her as she came back into the kitchen.

      ‘Okay. Nothing I can really put my finger on,’ said Tina, motioning towards the table. She took the two cups over. ‘I’ve still got that being watched feeling, which I can’t seem to shake off. I used to always leave the curtains and blinds open when it was dark, but I don’t any more. I find myself double-checking doors are locked. That sort of thing.’

      ‘You can call me if you’re worried about anything,’ said John.

      ‘Thank you but I don’t really think you want me to call you at every bump in the night.’ She took a sip of her drink. ‘Last night, I was lying in bed and I was sure I could hear floorboards creaking every now and then.’

      ‘Really?’

      She gave a small laugh at the look of concern on his face. ‘You know what these old houses are like. I was just dropping off to sleep, so I wasn’t really sure what it was. Probably the wind or something.’

      ‘You weren’t frightened?’

      Tina dropped her eyes. She felt foolish, although at the time she had woken with a start and her heart had raced liked an F1 car off the starting grid. ‘Just a bit unnerved. What with what’s been going on recently. I think I’ve been overreacting. Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?’

      ‘I don’t want to alarm you any more, but things have moved on with our investigation and we know Pavel came into the country over a couple of weeks ago.’

      Tina slowly put her cup of the table. ‘Do you think it was him I saw in the garden?’

      John shrugged. ‘Honestly, I can’t say. We don’t know why he’s here. Has he been in touch with you at all?’

      ‘No. No, he hasn’t. I don’t really know what to make of it. What exactly do you think Pavel is involved in? Why do you need to speak to him?’

      She watched John take a sip of his tea, clearly stalling for time as he weighed up her question and formulated his response. His eyes met hers. The evening light bounced off the flecks of gold that laced his green eyes. Troubled eyes. She braced herself for his response.

      ‘And before you say “to help us with our enquiries” you need to come up with a better reason than that.’ She felt agitated now. John was definitely holding back.

      ‘I’d love to tell you everything, but at this stage in the investigation …’

      She held up her hand to stop him continuing. ‘Police bullshit. Waffle. Call it what you like, but it’s not answering the question.’ She saw the corners

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