Free Ghost in the Machine by Ed James Page A

ruddy face almost glowing. "Those bastards were trying to use some Jock rules - two shots carry, bollocks like that."
    "I'm just off to the bar," said Cullen, "can I get you a drink?"
    "Stella."
    Cullen went to the bar and ordered. He checked his watch - he could really do with pissing off soon. He needed to go back to the station and change before he met his flatmates. He had half a mind to just leave and get an early pint on his own somewhere else, especially now Wilkinson had joined them.
    "Having a good time there?"
    McNeill.  
    Cullen shrugged. "Not exactly. You've managed to get out of it pretty easily."
    "Chantal's just broken up with her boyfriend. Needs to get a lot off her chest."
    "A likely tale."
    The barmaid gave Cullen his change.  
    McNeill ordered two glasses of rosé. "How's it going with the stag party?"
    Cullen shrugged. "I could think of a million places I'd rather be."
    "I'd invite you over but I wouldn't want to break my own cover," said McNeill.
    Cullen smiled. "Catch you later." He picked up the tray of pints and headed back to the table full of idiots.

seventeen

    Cullen walked along Rose Street, finding his flatmates outside the Slippery Chopper. Johnny and Tom sat at an outside table with Johnny's girlfriend, Dawn, an array of empty glasses in front of them. The sun was out, in total contrast to the rest of the day.  
    Tom raised his empty glass. Cullen nodded and Tom went inside.
    Cullen nodded at the glasses. "Been here a while I see."  
    "It's a nice night, like." Johnny was skinny and almost as short as Dawn. "You been out with work?"
    "Sadly," said Cullen. "Just an hour of bollocks and three pints."
    Dawn laughed. "Your boss still giving you hassle?"
    "Not just me," said Cullen.
    Tom returned clutching two pints in his giant hands. "Here you are." He handed Cullen a Stella and sat his bulk down.
    Cullen took a big drink. "Cheers."
    "Should be a good night tonight," said Tom.
    "Yeah, should be good." In truth, Cullen's head was still with Caroline Adamson and her disappearance. Sitting with Bain, Miller and Wilkinson had only heightened his sense of frustration.
    "How's your new t-shirt?" said Tom.
    "I like it." Cullen had changed out of his suit back at the station. He opened his jacket to show it to the others, a DJ scratching a record, wearing a policeman's helmet, On the Beat emblazoned in large letters.  
    Dawn laughed and looked over at Tom. "How's that going?"
    Tom looked bashful. "Going all right. Those t-shirts pretty much keep me in beer money."
    "And you drink like a fish," said Cullen.
    Dawn laughed. "How's your flat-hunting going?"
    Cullen took another drink. "Can't say it's really going anywhere."
    "Don't see why you want to move out," said Tom.
    "Not all of us are lucky enough to inherit money from our gran and get a staff mortgage at Alba Bank," said Cullen.
    "My flat's tripled in value since I bought it," said Tom.
    "Precisely," said Cullen.
    "Fancy going for a look on Sunday?" said Dawn. "We're going."
    "Maybe." Cullen didn't know if he could be arsed with flat hunting. "You getting any joy?"
    "None at all," said Dawn. "The market's totally dead."
    "It's depressing." Cullen drank some more. "Who are we meeting tonight?"
    "Becky," said Dawn. "It's her birthday."
    Cullen got worried. "Katie's not going to be there, is she?"
    "I don't know." Dawn shared a look with Johnny.
    Katie was the reason Cullen moved in to Tom's flat four years previously. He'd gone out with her all the way through university but they started to drift apart after he joined the police and eventually split up, mostly at her insistence.
    Cullen sunk the last of his pint and stood up. "I'm off to the bar."
    He went inside, deciding the last thing he needed tonight was to see Katie.

    ***

    Hours later in the Liquid Room, Cullen waited at the counter while the staff flirted with each other. He looked across the bar and locked eyes with Katie. She came over. He looked away.  
    "Hi Scott," she said, all