Free Live Fire by Stephen Leather Page A

harm,’ said Shepherd. ‘And my house was three miles from school. You can walk to yours in twenty minutes.’
    ‘What about when it rains?’
    ‘You’ll get wet.’
    ‘It’s not safe for kids to walk to school.’
    ‘We live in Hereford, the home of the SAS. Kids can walk the streets safely, trust me.’
    Liam folded his arms sulkily. ‘There’s no point in talking to you sometimes.’
    ‘Liam, I like my car. I like driving it. I even like cleaning it when I get the chance. It cost me a lot of money and I don’t see why I shouldn’t get some pleasure from it now and to again. I certainly don’t see why some idiot in a corduroy jacket with patches on the elbows should tell me how to live my life.’
    Liam frowned. ‘How do you know Mr Walker wears a corduroy jacket?’
    ‘I guessed.’ Shepherd laughed. ‘Okay, we’re due to change the CRV soon anyway so why don’t we agree on this? You can decide on what we replace it with. But bear in mind that you’re the one who’s going to be driven to school in it every day. I’m sure your friends think the CRV is a pretty cool car, but if you’d rather turn up at school in a three-wheeler with a solar panel on the roof, that’s fine with me. Just make sure it’s got a boot big enough to hold the shopping for Katra.’
    ‘Are you serious?’
    ‘About the solar panel?’
    ‘About letting me choose the car.’
    ‘So long as you stop moaning about my X3, and providing it doesn’t cost more than the CRV, the world’s your lobster.’
    ‘Oyster,’ corrected Liam.
    ‘Joke,’ said Shepherd. He took his coffee through to the sitting room and dropped into one of the sofas. He picked up the remote and switched on the television. Liam sat on one of the armchairs. He was still holding his Xbox games. ‘I’ve got a football match on Saturday,’ he said.
    ‘That’s great,’ said Shepherd. ‘How’s it going?’
    ‘Mr Graham says I’ve got a great right foot but I need to work on my heading,’ said Liam, enthusiastically. ‘He says I mustn’t be afraid – you have to head it like you mean it.’
    ‘He’s right,’ said Shepherd. ‘Tell you what, after dinner we’ll go out and have a practice in the garden.’
    ‘Cool. And can you come to the match on Saturday?’
    ‘What time is it?’
    ‘One o’clock. It’s at the school so it’s not far.’
    Shepherd groaned. ‘I’m sorry, Liam, I’ve got a job. I’ve got to be at Heathrow by six.’
    ‘No worries.’ Liam took one of the video games out of the bag and began reading the cover.
    ‘Liam, really, I’m sorry. It’s a big job and I have to go.’
    Liam didn’t look up. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘Really. Katra’s been coming to my games and all my friends think she’s hot.’
    ‘But we can practise tonight. And tomorrow.’
    ‘Sure, if you want,’ said Liam, his voice a dull monotone.
    ‘So your friends think Katra’s hot, do they?’
    Liam looked up, smiling. ‘They think she’s my step-mum, which is crazy because she’s only twenty-five.’ The smile vanished. ‘Did she tell you she wants to go back to Slovenia?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Her dad’s not well so she wants to take care of him.’
    Shepherd’s heart sank. When he’d hired her, Katra had told him her mother had died and that she was one of six children, the only girl. She went back twice a year to visit her family but every time Shepherd had been left in no doubt as to how much he had come to rely on her. He dreaded having to replace her. ‘I’ll talk to her,’ he said.
    ‘What’s the job?’ asked Liam.
    ‘Thailand,’ said Shepherd. ‘Bank robbers.’
    ‘They’re robbing banks in Thailand?’
    ‘It’s complicated,’ said Shepherd.
    ‘How long will you be away?’
    ‘They never tell me. Until the job’s done, I guess. I promise you, after this job we’ll spend some time together. I’ll take some leave and we can have a holiday.’
    ‘You said that last time, Dad.’
    ‘This time I mean