Murder Ring (A DI Geraldine Steel Mystery) by Leigh Russell Read Free Book Online Page B

bullied by some stupid git next door. Where the hell was Theo supposed to kick his ball? There was no way she could let him go outside. The kids on the estate would beat the crap out of him.
    ‘He’s not right in the head, that son of yours,’ the neighbour yelled.
    ‘He’s more right than what you are, you arsehole!’
    Theo needed somewhere to let off steam. She hoped the exercise would develop some muscle in him, making him stronger and better able to defend himself. Right now he looked like he could be snapped in two, like a dead twig.Someone banged so violently on the front door of the flat that the flimsy wooden frame shivered. She knew who it was. There was no way she was going to open the door to him. Apart from the fact that she didn’t want to see her neighbour’s ugly mug glaring at her, whenever she unlocked the front door Theo tried to run off and it wasn’t safe for him to go out alone.
    ‘Oy!’ her neighbour shouted through the door. ‘I told you to shut it! I’m trying to get some kip here. That crazy kid of yours needs to be locked away in a padded cell.’
    ‘Fuck off, you old git!’ she yelled back. ‘You got no right telling us what to do in our own home. He can play all he wants.’ She turned to Theo. ‘Don’t stop.’
    ‘Don’t stop,’ he repeated in his high monotone.
    ‘I’m trying to sleep!’
    ‘I hope you have nightmares!’ she called out. ‘Have nightmares and die in your sleep!’
    ‘Fuck you!’
    ‘Fuck you!’
    ‘Fuck you!’ Theo piped up, still kicking his ball.
    She turned away from the door and smiled at him. For all his spindly frame he wasn’t such a pushover any more. He was a sweet boy, but when his temper was roused he could bite and kick and scratch like a wild cat. She had been worried about him when he was younger, he had always been so puny, but he was shaping up well. Playing with his football helped.
    ‘Don’t you stop kicking that ball,’ she told him. ‘I’ll make us some tea. Jack brought cakes home yesterday. Do you want some cake?’
    Theo didn’t answer. He carried on kicking the ball. As she walked past she heard him singing softly under his breath. She tried to make out the words but it sounded like a foreign language.
    She had just reached the kitchen when there was a sudden crash as the front door was kicked open.

10
    S AM DROVE THEM to the block of flats in Haringey where Lenny lived with his girlfriend. The exterior brickwork of the building was crumbling in places, the window frames were old fashioned and looked draughty, the paintwork was cracked, and the short path leading to the front door was pitted with broken stone.
    ‘Watch where you put your feet,’ Sam called out as she avoided stepping on a dog turd. ‘Nice.’
    She rang the bell to number seven and shuffled sideways to position herself right in the doorway. While they waited, a gust of wind whipped past them, making Geraldine shiver in her thin jacket. She thrust her hands deeper into her pockets.
    ‘Come on,’ Sam muttered, jigging impatiently from foot to foot.
    Geraldine watched her colleague out of the corner of her eye. Sam appeared to have fully recovered from a recent ankle injury that had prevented her from working for a couple of months. Now she looked even more robust than Geraldine remembered her. Solidly built and good tempered, impatient to crack on with the job, she didn’t seem to mind the cold. There was something earthy and grounded about her that was very reassuring.
    ‘I missed you –’ Geraldine’s words were carried away by another gust of wind.
    Before she could speak again, the door opened a crack. A woman peered out and demanded to know their business.
    ‘Who the hell are you? What you selling?’
    As she spoke, the door was already closing. Sam darted forward, put her foot over the threshold, and pushed the door open with her shoulder. The scrawny woman inside had no chance against the force of Sam’s muscle. Barely thirty, Gina could