In the Dark by Mark Billingham Read Free Book Online

into the air.
    â€˜That me and Javine?’ Theo asked.
    â€˜You can hang it over his cot,’ Angela said.
    Their mother put on her glasses and came over to look at the picture again. ‘A real talent,’ she said.
    Theo’s phone rang and he got to it a second before his sister.
    â€˜Yeah?’
    â€˜You need to keep tomorrow night free,’ Easy said.
    â€˜Might be tricky, man. I got Halle Berry coming round.’ Angela pulled a face and Theo grinned. ‘She’s been begging me for weeks, you know?’
    â€˜I’ll pick you up about nine, yeah?
    â€˜I don’t know.’
    â€˜You can drive if you want. I know you been looking at my whip, man.’
    â€˜What’s up? Where we driving?’
    â€˜Just a favour.’
    Angela was still staring at Theo. ‘Let me think, all right. Call you later.’
    â€˜I’m the one doing you the favour, T, you get me? It’s a nice bit of business. Just a couple of hours.’
    Theo stood up and moved to the far side of the room; lowered his voice a little. ‘What business? How comes you always pull this mystery shit, man?’ He glanced back to see his mother turning away, stepping into the kitchen, and he knew that it wasn’t about respecting his privacy. She didn’t want to know was all; never wanted to know.
    â€˜About nine,’ Easy said.
    Â 
‘What a twat,’ Paul said. He threw his jacket at the back of a kitchen chair and missed; opened the door to the fridge and stood staring into it, like he was unsure what he was looking at. ‘Major, major . . . twat.’
    Helen rushed straight through to the toilet, bursting, and talked through the open door as she relieved herself.
    â€˜You made me laugh tonight, Hopwood,’ she said.
    Paul closed the fridge and walked out of the kitchen. Looked, grinning, along the corridor at Helen on the toilet. ‘What?’
    â€˜Taking the piss out of Graham.’
    â€˜Wasn’t difficult.’
    She stood up, wiped and flushed. ‘When you said that talking to him was probably the closest you were ever going to get to a serial killer, and Katie laughed, I really thought I was going to wet myself.’
    They’d settled on an Italian around the corner from the pub, and despite the awkwardness earlier on, the evening had gone pretty well. Helen had enjoyed herself as much as she had in a long while and she thought that Paul had as well. He was certainly drunk, but she thought it was a good sign. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d let his hair down. He’d been singing in the car as she’d driven them back.
    He leaned against the wall and started to giggle; said ‘twat’ again, which set Helen off.
    She led him back to the fridge and poured out two large glasses of water. As she was screwing the top back on the bottle, she felt his arms move around her waist; his cock pressing into the back of her.
    â€˜Hello,’ she said. She could feel him humming against her neck.
    In bed, they tried to find a position that worked, but she was too heavy and he was too drunk and rough. He started to swear and slap his hand against the mattress.
    She reached for him and told him to shush. ‘Let me,’ she said, stroking him harder as the moan rose up in his throat; faster, until he pushed her hand away suddenly and rushed, heaving, for the toilet.
    Helen stumbled after him, wrapping a dressing gown around herself. She stood in the corridor and watched him on the toilet floor, knowing that he wouldn’t want her too close. When he’d finally finished throwing up he looked round at her. He pulled his knees up to his chest and cupped a hand around his genitals. Stayed looking at her as he leaned over the bowl again, spitting and spitting.

FIVE
    â€˜Your destination is just ahead on the left-hand side.’
    Paul pulled over behind a skip. Took the sat-nav from the windscreen and pushed it into the glove