Free Dark Side by Margaret Duffy

Carrick’s place – now. That was Joanna. James is about to detonate as Mallory’s parked nearby this time and although he got the crew of an area car to ask him to leave a while ago, which he did for a while, he’s back.’

FIVE
    J ames and Joanna live only a few miles from us in a farmhouse they restored from a semi-derelict condition. After leaving the main road at the top of Hinton Littlemoor the Somerset lanes we had to use to reach it are twisting and narrow, with passing places, and there is no room for error. Patrick drove the Range Rover as fast as he dared with me acting as look-out on the tight right-handed bends. We met a tractor but luckily were near the entrance to a house and Patrick swung the car into the open gateway to enable it to pass.
    Nearing our destination, he slowed as we did not want Mallory to think us anything but ordinary visitors. With this in mind I had made a quick detour to the kitchen on the way out and grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack, placing it in a small carrier bag containing a pair of sandals I had bought that afternoon, tipping them out unceremoniously on to the worktop. Poor Vicky had fared little better, dumped, with apologies, in her grandmother’s arms just as she was about to serve their, and Matthew and Katie’s, dinner.
    We drove into the farmhouse drive, not looking again at the same black hatchback we had seen outside Cooper’s house parked close by. Acting all jolly, we got out of the vehicle and Patrick secured it while I headed for the front door. Joanna opened it before I got there.
    â€˜Lovely that you could come!’ she cried, arms wide.
    We hugged. Then Patrick hugged her amid cries of ‘Darling!’ and lots of ‘Mwaa! Mwaa!’ sound effects, he playing the complete idiot.
    Once inside, the door shut, Patrick stood with his back firmly against it, Carrick having just emerged from one of the two large living rooms. One did not have to be very clever to realize that he had been hitting the single malt.
    â€˜What’s this then?’ he queried.
    â€˜I invited them round,’ Joanna said.
    â€˜I see,’ he replied, adding, ‘good,’ unconvincingly.
    â€˜To dinner,’ his wife added. ‘Sort of a last-minute decision.’
    To Patrick, James said, ‘Now you’re here, I’d like you to help me get rid of Mallory. He’s outside this time.’
    â€˜That’s why I asked them to dinner,’ Joanna went on. ‘To stop you getting rid of Mallory.’
    The DCI was still looking at Patrick.
    â€˜No,’ said Patrick.
    â€˜Then I’ll go and speak to him myself.’
    â€˜You won’t because he’ll be all ready to wind you up. You must get the area car crew back to talk to him more forcefully.’
    â€˜But—’
    â€˜All they have to do is tell him that there have been a spate of rural burglaries lately, which I happen to know is true, and that behaving in suspicious fashion is not in his best interests. They’ll need to remind him that he has a criminal record.’
    Carrick made no response to this.
    â€˜James, I do
not
want Cooper or Mallory to know I’m with the law,’ Patrick continued. ‘Not yet. Not only that, I’m in a position to prevent you from causing a breach of the peace which would be highly damaging to your career if you were to lose your temper and assault him.’
    â€˜How the hell are you, other than by not permitting me to exit through my own front door by sheer physical force?’ Carrick snorted. ‘There are two back ways out of here, you know.’
    â€˜I do know and it’s quite simple. I shall arrest you.’
    There was quite a long silence.
    â€˜You can’t handle much more of this, can you?’ Patrick whispered. ‘Not with all the other pressures at work as well.’
    â€˜No,’ Carrick acknowledged, no louder.
    â€˜If I promise to do everything in my