Requiem for a Dealer by Jo Bannister Read Free Book Online

didn’t agree.’
    She considered for a moment. ‘Well, I knew Stanley Barker better than his daughter did. We were business partners for ten years; for some of that time we were partners in every sense. He was a good man, a kind man, but he wasn’t a strong man. And then, he was a lot older than me. I think he couldn’t face losing the business and having to start over.’
    Her eyes shadowed with the memory. After three months it had begun to settle into the background, to lose its edge and inch towards history. Having to explain these events brought them back into the forefront of her mind. ‘It takes a lot of work, a lot of energy, a lot of self-belief to build something from scratch. In your thirties, even in your forties, you know it’ll be worth it – you have time to get where you want to be and then sit back and enjoy it. When you’re pushing sixty the figures stack up differently. I think he was too tired and disspirited to do it all again, and too ashamed to take the easy way and go bankrupt. Maybe it was an accident, but it’s my belief that he sat on the log over the water and drank himself insensible, knowing there was every chance he’d never wake up.’
    There was a thread of anger underlying her voice that Daniel wasn’t sure she was aware of. They’d been partners, they’d faced hard times, and he’d left her to deal with it alone. And she’d succeeded: she’d saved the business. But it would have been easier, less traumatic, to have done it together. She hadn’t forgiven him for running out on her.
    They had reached The Promenade. Daniel indicated the netting-shed on the beach. ‘This is where I live.’
    Mary Walbrook stopped the Land Rover and regarded the
stubby black tower rising out of the shingle shore. ‘Of course it is.’
    â€˜Will you come in for a coffee?’
    She shook her head. ‘I’d better get back. I’ve a shipment due in from France this afternoon. I need to be there when they arrive.’
    â€˜Thanks for the lift. And …’
    â€˜Mm?’
    â€˜If Alison’s feeling better next time you see her, wish her well for me.’
    â€˜Will she know your name?’
    â€˜No,’ he said.
    â€˜Will she remember you at all?’
    Daniel smiled. ‘Probably not. Do it anyway.’

Chapter Five
    All he had to do was leave it alone. It was none of his business: everyone was agreed on that. He’d had a reasonable explanation of Alison Barker’s state of mind from someone close enough to her to know. He’d been told the police had investigated her allegations and found nothing to suggest she was genuinely in danger.
    At that point a wise man would have backed away gracefully, maybe sent some flowers and a Get Well card, been sorry for her unhappiness but glad it wasn’t his fault. Perhaps he would have taken some guilty comfort from knowing he wasn’t the most screwed-up person on the south coast after all, but after that he would have forgotten her.
    Daniel wanted to help her. He asked Brodie what she thought.
    â€˜I think you’re insane,’ she said frankly.
    â€˜No, really,’ he said with a ghost of a smile. ‘Don’t be polite, tell me what you really think.’
    Brodie gave a little snort that was half exasperation, half affection. ‘Look, Daniel – I know what’s going on here. I know where this is leading. You’re going to do what you always do. You’re going to get involved in somebody’s troubles – offer her a shoulder to cry on and an ear to rabbit into – and you’re going to get dumped on. Again. There’s a reason why some people have no friends and no luck – they’re bad news. They are the authors of their own misfortune. They can’t – won’t, even – be helped. I don’t doubt that people who know Alison Barker better than you do and owe her more