Faraday 01 The Gigabyte Detective by Michael Hillier Read Free Book Online

would be welcome to stay on or go back with him - whichever I chose. But the holiday would have been finished either way.”
    “What a strange man,” he said. “He could have anything he wanted in the world. Yet all he does is work.”
    “That is your top businessman, for you. All he ever wants to do is work.” She shook her head.” I didn’t understand that when I married him.”
    She stepped back from the wall and they resumed their walk towards the end of the pier. For a while they were both silent. She was wondering why she had so exposed her thoughts to this man who she had known for less than half an hour. Was it just because she had upset him with her thoughtless questions about his wife? Or was it because of her suddenly recognized loneliness?
    “I’m sorry to have prattled on like that,” she said. “I hope you’ll forget it.”
    “I found it very interesting.” She saw that he was looking straight at her, observing her closely. “I feel as though I’ve seen into a corner of a world that I had never seen before. It’s easy for we everyday working types to envy the comfort and leisure of those who don’t need to work. I can see it’s not necessarily all fun.”
    At that moment he walked into a large concrete bollard. She actually heard the impact, it was so violent. He let out a grunt and began to hop around clutching his damaged right knee and cursing under his breath. She could tell he had seriously hurt himself but he was so suddenly incapacitated that Susannah found it rather amusing.
    “Come and sit down,” she said, trying not to laugh. She led him to a seat beside the wall.
    He sat with her and rubbed his damaged joint. “What a daft thing to do.” He chuckled painfully. “At least it testifies to my interest in your story.”
    She grinned at him. “I expect you’ve got the message that I’m a dangerous woman to tangle with.”
    “That’s right,” he quipped. “You probably ought to carry a government health warning?”
    It was the rueful look on his face which amused her the most. She couldn’t prevent herself from laughing out loud and he pulled on a look of injured innocence as she rocked with mirth.
    “Well. That’s great, isn’t it,” he complained. “I injure myself in the cause of listening to your problems, and this is all the sympathy I get.” He got to his feet and hobbled round, flexing his leg.
    “Oh dear,” laughed Susannah, “I’m sorry. It looks as though you’ve really hurt yourself. We’d better get you back to your hotel and you can rest it and rub in some liniment or something. Here.” She offered her shoulder. “Support yourself on me until we get back to the road. Where have you left your car?”
    “It’s back at the bed and breakfast in Paignton. It was such a nice morning that I decided to walk over.”
    He accepted her offer and looped his arm about her shoulders and they set off back along the pier. Susannah had to admit that she enjoyed the experience. She allowed herself to inhale the pleasant odour of a man. There were no added perfumes - just clean, well-washed maleness. And she could feel the hard, fit muscles of an active man - so different from the sagging overweight of the inactive Stephen. That thought made her wonder how she would be able to explain her actions to her husband if she ever needed to. And what would she do if they suddenly bumped into one of her friends? She shrugged mentally. Well, they would just have to accept that she was helping a fellow human in trouble, no matter that it was out of character for her.
    Neither of them spoke much as they struggled back to the promenade. He was concentrating on keeping moving. It was clear he was in quite a lot of pain.
    “Do you think you ought to go and see a doctor?” she asked. “You might have broken something.”
    He shook his head. “No. I’m sure it’s only bruised. I can move it and flex it, you see. I can even put my weight on it. It’s just painful when I