Free Two Wrongs (Detective Inspector Ross Reed Book 1) by Nathan Sayer Page B

I’ll be calling you to do the mouth to mouth.”
     
     
    Reed was having lunch with Kate at 1.30pm. He had booked a table at the White Hart pub in Attleborough. He didn’t know if he needed to book but it wasn’t worth the risk of turning up and there being no tables available.
    Waiting in the car park he was pretty sure there hadn’t been any need to book. There were only four other cars there and some of those must have been staff. Kate had phoned to say she was running a little late. He would give her five minutes before going in alone. It was a lovely day and the sun was shining. There was a gentle breeze blowing in through the windows of the car and he was in no hurry to go indoors.
    After lunch he had planned to visit Butler’s garage again to check if his car was done. David Jones had told him that it would be ready by the end of today if he could get the alternator in for the morning. Reed had warned Tyler that she might need to get a lift out here so she could drive his borrowed car back to headquarters. So that he could crowbar her help into the category of work, she was to look over Nic Anderson’s file and the speed camera data, and fill him in when she arrived.
    Kate drove into the car park a little too quickly for his liking before swinging her 4x4 into the space next to him. She looked thinner just recently; she needed to slow down a little and eat more so he was pleased she had accepted his invitation. He pecked her on the cheek and asked her if she fancied eating alfresco. When she agreed, they picked an outside table that was situated under the shadow of a tree. After a couple of minutes of Kate scanning the menu inbetween text messages she was reading and typing, he went inside to order the food. Despite the lack of trade he still had to wait for a couple who couldn’t actually decide what they wanted. Rather than be polite and step aside, they took a good ten minutes to pick before paying by card; trying to pay by card that is, finally getting the pin number correct on the second attempt, with the second card.
    Reed ordered rump steak as he always did when they ate out; his excuse being that they never seemed to have it home. Kate argued they never had it at home because he always had it when they were out. His wife had chosen pasta and salad but of more concern was the rose wine options and he wasn’t to just order the cheapest. When he returned with their drinks, they spoke about their days so far: Reed had been buoyed by the news about the bleach. Kate was complaining about the farmer next to her stables who had positioned his bird scarer as close as he could to the horse’s paddocks causing even the level headed ones to spook.
    Reed left part of his steak after images of Carmella’s autopsy had flickered through his head. It had been a long time since they last ate out, just the two of them, and he was confused as to why he had arranged this for today of all days. There was no anniversary or birthday to celebrate; he just wanted to buy his wife lunch. He had enjoyed watching her as she had eaten. The weather was lovely and the birds were singing so he was a little disappointed when she looked up from her phone and said, “I’ll have to shoot off, I’ve got a stack of payments that need chasing, all the horses are on edge and with all things taken into account, so far today I’ve achieved bugger all!”
    “I can’t tempt you into having a pudding?”
    “No, I’d better not; I don’t have the time, or the figure.”
    It annoyed Reed when she said things like that. She was a size six for Christ’s sake. She had always loved any kind of pudding up until recently, normally the more calories the better.
    “I thought you might like the double chocolate cake?”
    “Oh I’d love it. I just don’t have the time; you know what it’s like at the stables. It was lovely though.” Kate gathered her bag and phone before she kissed him on the cheek. “See you later.”
    “Yep, see you