Free A Darker Shade of Blue by John Harvey

even than Kiley, who knew the stats, had thought, and wore a dark blue warm-up suit, name monogrammed neatly along the sleeve with something close to style. Sports bag slung over one shoulder, hair still damp from the shower and tied back, the only signs of distress were in the hollows of her eyes, the suggestion of a tremor when she shook Kiley’s hand.
    â€˜You want something?’ Costain asked. ‘Mineral water? Juice?’
    She shook her head. Standing there devoid of make-up, she almost looked what she was: nineteen.
    The envelope lay on the table between two unfinished drinks. ‘I don’t want to talk about this here,’ Victoria said.
    â€˜I thought just—’ Costain began.
    â€˜Not here.’ The voice wasn’t petulant, but firm.
    Costain shrugged and, with a glance at Kiley, downed his gin and led the way towards the door.
    Costain owned a flat in a mansion block close to the Thames – in fact, he owned several between there and the Cromwell Road – and for the past several months it had been Victoria’s home. Near enough to Queen’s for her to hit every day.
    â€˜You’ll have to excuse the mess,’ she said.
    Kiley moved an armful of discarded clothing and a paperback copy of Navratilova’s life story. The room resembled a cross between a Conran window and the left luggage department at Euston station.
    Victoria left them to each other’s company and re-emerged some minutes later in a pale cotton top and faded jeans, hair brushed out and a little make-up around the eyes.
    Sitting in an easy chair opposite Kiley, she tucked as much of her long legs beneath her as she could. ‘Can you help?’ She had a way of looking directly at you when she spoke.
    â€˜It depends.’
    â€˜On what?’
    Kiley shook his head. ‘Timing. Luck. You. The truth.’
    Only for an instant did she lower her eyes, fingers of one hand sliding between those of the other then out again. ‘Adrian,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘Get me some water, would you? There’s some in the fridge in …’ But Costain had already gone to do her bidding.
    â€˜I had Alicia – Alicia, that’s her name – when I was fifteen. Fifteen years and ten months. The year before I’d been runner-up in the National Under-Sixteens at Hove. I was on the fringes of the county team. I thought if I can get through to the last eight of the Junior Championships this next Wimbledon, I’m on my way. And then there was this lump that wouldn’t go away.’
    She paused to judge the effect of what she’d just said.
    Costain placed a tumbler of still mineral water in her hand and then retreated back across the room.
    â€˜Why didn’t you have an abortion?’ Kiley asked.
    She looked back at him evenly. ‘I’d already made one bad mistake.’
    â€˜So you asked your sister – that is your sister, isn’t it? In the photo?’ Victoria bobbed her head. ‘You asked your sister to look after her … No, more than that. To say Alicia was hers; bring her up as her own.’
    â€˜Yes.’ In the wide, high-ceilinged room, Victoria’s voice was suddenly very small.
    â€˜And she didn’t mind?’
    A shadow passed across Victoria’s eyes. ‘You have to understand. Cathy, that’s my sister, I mean, she’s wonderful, she’s lovely with Alicia, really, but she just isn’t … Well, we’re different, chalk and cheese, she isn’t like me at all, she doesn’t…’ Victoria drank from her glass and went back to balancing it on her knee. ‘All she’s ever wanted was to settle down, have kids, a place of her own. She didn’t want to …’ Victoria sighed. ‘… do anything. She and Trevor, they’d been going steady since she was fifteen; they were saving up to get married anyway. Mum chipped in, help them get started. Trevor, he was