Free Nothing but Trouble by Roberta Kray Page A

It was over a decade since his last assignment, and had he been given the choice he would not have come out of retirement,
     but a favour had been called in, and it was the kind of favour that couldn’t be refused.
    What if something went wrong? Past mistakes
–
made more notable by their rarity
–
rose into his mind. He felt a shifting in his chest, a spasm of anxiety. But no, he had learned by those mistakes. They would
     not happen again.
    He took slow deep breaths, trying to free his mind of all the niggling doubts. Clarity was what he needed now, clarity, discipline
     and focus. As he breathed in, he caught a subtle hint of perfume from the girl sitting beside him. The smell, redolent of
     blowsy
old-fashioned roses, triggered something in his subconscious, a disturbing reminder of the past. He quickly turned his head
     away.
    The journey felt like a long one, but eventually they arrived at
Victoria. He got off the train, strolled along the platform and
entered the busy main forecourt. Here he bent down by his suitcase,
unzipping a side pocket while he surreptitiously took stock of the
faces around him. Did he have company? He didn’t think so.
    There was a café to his right, and he considered getting a coffee, but decided to push on. He had to find the offices of the
     car rental company, and then make his way to the East End. For the first time in years he was going back to where he’d been
     born. He felt a shiver of revulsion roll down his spine. Would it have changed much? On the surface perhaps, but not underneath.
     It had been rotten when he lived there and would still be rotten now.

8
    Jess answered the phone and smiled broadly as Harry Lind gave her the news. ‘That’s great,’ she said. ‘You’re a star. So what
     shall we do first?’
    There was a short hesitation. ‘What’s with the
we
?’
    ‘Well, there’s no point in us working separately. We may as well pool our resources. Sam’s absolutely fine about it, so you
     don’t have to worry about client confidentiality.’
    ‘Maybe that’s not what I’m worried about.’
    She snorted. ‘Oh, charming as always. Are you trying to say that I’m difficult to work with?’
    ‘As if,’ he murmured.
    ‘So what’s the problem?’ She didn’t give him time to answer before pleading her case. ‘Look, I’ve already got a file on this,
     a heap of papers. Why don’t I just bring them round? Or even better, why don’t we meet at the market. Paige Fielding has a
     stall there. Perhaps we can find out what made her change her mind about talking to me.’
    ‘You mean right now?’
    ‘Sorry, are you busy?’
    There was another brief hesitation. ‘No, but—’
    ‘Okay,’ she said, before he could think of something he’d rather be doing. ‘That’s good. Let’s meet by the monument in half
     an hour. See you in a bit.’ She hung up quickly, reached for her jacket and pulled it on.
    Neil was lying on the sofa, drinking from a can and watching the TV. On it two teams of burly rugby players were throwing
     a ball around. He looked over at her. ‘I take it you’re deserting me, then?’
    She walked across the room and bent down to kiss the top of his head. ‘Sorry, hun. There’s something I’ve got to do. It’s
     important. But I won’t be long, only a couple of hours.’
    ‘And I’m
not
important?’
    Jess grinned, knowing that he wasn’t being serious. One of the things she liked about Neil was that he never complained when
     her job took priority. She didn’t work nine to five, five days a week, but had to chase her stories whenever and wherever
     they arose. ‘Of course you are. Your importance goes beyond mere words.’
    ‘Prove it,’ he said, reaching up and pulling her down so he could kiss her on the lips.
    ‘I will,’ she replied as she reluctantly broke away from his embrace. ‘Later.’
    ‘Promises, promises.’ He lay back, gazing into her eyes. ‘So what’s the emergency? What’s so pressing that you have to