Death's Cold Hand J.E. Mayhew (best romantic novels to read TXT) 📖

that, you have a little rest and a think, there. Would you like a brew Mrs Vickers?”

Harley’s mum looked slightly startled. “Oh, yes…”

“Yes please,” Harley muttered. Kath smirked.

“Yes please,” his mum said, giving him a sidelong glance.

Kath nipped out of the office and phoned down to Madge to find someone to do the honours. Back in the interview room, Harley looked more relaxed already.

“Right, that’s organised. You aren’t in a hurry are you Mrs Vickers? Good. You gave your mum a fright, Harley, running off like that. Were you okay last night?”

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have my bed to go home to. Did you find somewhere dry to sleep?”

“Yeah. I… I found this pill box… you know like the concrete gun places.”

“Wow,” Kath said, glancing at mum. “And it was okay, was it? Nobody else there?”

Harley shook his head. “No, it was okay. A bit smelly, like a toilet but it was dry. There were no druggies in there or nothing.”

Kath smiled. “Sorry, Harley. In my line of work, I come across all kinds of horror stories about kids running away from home. Sounds like you were lucky. Best not to put your mum through something like that again, though, eh?”

“You listen to the Inspector, Harley. You could’ve been killed,” Harley’s mum snapped.

Kath winced as Harley closed up again. “It’s all right, Mrs Vickers, Harley strikes me as quite a streetwise young man. Is that true, Harley? You got a lot of common sense?”

Harley slouched in his seat. “I suppose so. Anyway, most people on the street are harmless. They’ve got more problems than me.”

“I knew you were a kind lad, Harley,” Kath said, smiling. “I don’t think you’d hurt anyone on purpose would you?”

Harley shook his head. “No way.”

“Good lad,” Kath said as the door opened and Madge came in with a tray of tea and biscuits. “The burger is on its way, Ma’am,” she said, placing the tray on the table.

“Thanks Madge,” Kath said, pleased at the cosy feeling Madge generated just by lifting the lid of the pot and giving it a stir. “Want a biscuit while you’re waiting for the burger, Harley? Jammy Dodger, great choice.”

Harley gave a fleeting smile, changing for a second to a little kid rather than a defensive teenager. “They’re my fave.”

“So, Harley, can I ask you, what happened in school yesterday? I promise you aren’t in any trouble.”

Harley glanced from right to left for a second as though he was searching for an escape route. He swallowed the biscuit. “I saw Bobby Price outside school, and someone said he was after me.”

“Why would he be after you?”

Harley’s face darkened and he stared at the tabletop again. Kath held her breath, fearing she might lose him and then the door swung open again and the smell of burgers and chips filled the room. They sat in silence watching the teenager demolish the burger in a matter of seconds.

“Blimey,” Kath said. “You were hungry, weren’t you?”

Harley nodded and took a huge slurp of coke. He looked up from his cup and caught Kath’s eye. “He thinks I grassed him up, but it wasn’t me it was Alfie Lewis.”

Kath nodded. “And what did Alfie Lewis grass him up about?”

“About the old man…” Harley bit back on the next words, realising he’d said too much.

“Alfie has already grassed Bobby up, Harley. We’ll pick him up. In fact I think another team may well have picked up Bobby Price already. You may as well tell us everything you know and get it off your chest. You’ll feel better for it, I promise…”

Harley looked at his mum and then at Kath. “I stopped hanging round with them. Bobby’s a psycho. He hit that old man with a baseball bat just cos he gave us some lip about litter.” Harley paused. “And Bobby said he’d killed that other bloke. The one on the war memorial. Bobby said he’d done it…”

“He actually told you that?” Kath said.

“He kind of hinted at it. Said something about the soldier fella getting what he deserved or something. Anyway, I ran away when he hurt that old man. I’d had enough.” He looked up at Kath. “I never hurt anyone. Really, I didn’t. Will I go to prison?”

“I very much doubt it, Harley,” Kath said, catching Jane Vicker’s eye. “Listen, you’ve been very helpful. Could you just wait outside while I have a chat with your mum?”

Harley looked puzzled. “What for?”

“Never you mind that,” Jane Vickers said, giving him a gentle push. “Go and wait outside before Inspector Cryer changes her mind about prison.”

Harley didn’t need telling twice and hurried for the door. He sat on a plastic chair outside the interview room. He felt as though everyone who passed him was judging him. Even those who gave him a smile and a wink seemed as though they were laughing at him. Why was his mum in there with that policewoman? The sudden conviction that he should never have come along gripped Harley. His heart thumped as he thought about what they were saying in the room. He could imagine his mum begging the inspector to be kind and not send him to prison, but he’d been part of it, really hadn’t he? He’d stood and watched while Bobby knocked that man down. What if the old man had died? It would be murder and he’d be part of it. Harley sprang to his feet. He wanted to run but he didn’t want to upset his mum. He didn’t want to wait until she came out, though.

And then, suddenly, Harley was flying across the corridor as Bobby Price appeared from nowhere, howling abuse at him and slamming his fists into his stomach and face.

Chapter 20

To describe George Owens, the remaining director of Pro-Vets as angry would have been an understatement. Detective Constable Ian Ollerthwaite thought the man was going to explode. For a while, Owens opened and closed his mouth like a landed carp, then he made