The Collared Collection by Kay Jaybee, K. D. Grace Read Free Book Online

on and said he’d return the following day … maybe. Sally stayed, of course – she took over from PC Johnson with very bad grace, when David took him back to the station to park him safely at a desk for the rest of his shift. Callie thought an oxygen tent might be more appropriate.
    She mulled over the bizarre series of events – less than a week ago, she’d lived in an ordinary house, in an ordinary street, next door to an ordinary married couple with ordinary kids. Now those kids were orphans. Her heart went out to Sarah and Thomas – how could any child (or adult, even) cope with that degree of sudden loss, she wondered? She couldn’t even begin to work that one out.
    And now she knew for sure Dee’s death was not suicide – Giles didn’t clobber himself over the head in the garden. What she couldn’t fathom was why these two people should be eliminated like that; she was pretty sure there was nothing iffy about the lives the Symonds led. To the casual observer at least, they were Mr and Mrs Average, to the point of being boring. While Dee was a housewife and mother extraordinaire, leading light of worthwhile causes and admirable deeds, Callie realised she didn’t know exactly what Giles did for a living – he travelled a lot, so perhaps he was some sort of salesman, or rep.
    The Symonds owned a lovely house, bigger than Callie’s and detached, whereas hers was a semi. Theirs was tastefully furnished and in contrast to her own rent-a-wreck, they had two late model expensive cars glinting in the driveway. At least once a year – usually more often – all four of them jetted off on an exotic holiday, so presumably the man of the house brought home lots of moolah to pay for all that stuff, as Dee wasn’t in any form of paid occupation. Apart from a couple of kids each, that was about the only thing Dee and Callie had in common – neither of them had worked since they married at a ridiculously young age, fresh out of university. At least, that was what Dee had told her and there had been no reason for doubt.
    Sally scoffed a huge helping of beans on toast with Alex and Sam at teatime and returned for seconds. She looked like a gal who enjoyed her food. Callie noticed the boys didn’t offer to help her in the kitchen (though would concede she was hardly preparing a banquet) and she privately acknowledged that David had something she didn’t, even if it was only testosterone. He was not much more than a stranger to the boys, yet had struck up an excellent rapport with them – which made her feel unreasonably jealous.
    He’d promised to be back around eight and she was counting the minutes – not only because she was very much looking forward to having him there (OK, especially overnight), but also because she wanted to nail him for details of the investigation into Dee’s death, including the pathologist’s report, assuming she’d finally made her way to the head of the corpse queue. So far he’d jigged around the issue, using dumb excuses, and refused point blank to discuss police business with a mere civilian. No more! She was going to get every sordid detail out of him, no matter how low she had to sink to achieve that end.
    When she heard the spare key turn in the lock, she rushed into the hallway. She’d spent some time on her appearance, but knew she hadn’t got anywhere near making herself look gorgeous, because miracles take a little longer …
    She went up to him, put her arms around his waist. ‘David, I’m really glad you’re back … it’s so awful about Giles.’
    His smile faded, ‘I know; those poor kids.’
    On impulse, she reached her hand up around his neck and pulled his face down so she could kiss him on the lips.
    He was obviously surprised – pleasantly, she hoped, ‘Hey, that’s what I call a welcome! I’ve missed you too.’ He looked over her head at the two faces peering around the living room door, ‘Hi, Sam, hi, Alex – just let me get a cuppa and we’ll have