Skinner's Round by Quintin Jardine Read Free Book Online Page A

list.'
    Ì appreciate your confidence, Sir James, but I am really serious. ACC Skinner said I should consider my future career, and that's what I've done.'
    `Look Andy, most of us say things in the heat of the moment, then back off from them when the temperature goes down. Bob spoke to me yesterday, after our Tuesday meeting with the Police Board. He told me that he'd surprised Alex at your place last Friday morning, first thing.
    `He said that he'd exploded and that there'd been a huge barney on your doorstep.'
    `That's a pretty accurate summary of our last meeting.' Martin's voice was heavy with irony.
    Sir James Proud looked at him, kindly. He had seen the younger man through one or two bad times, but could not recall him ever being so downcast.
    ÒK, but there's more. He said that when he got home, Sarah had given him a going over, and had made him calm down a bit. He sees now that maybe he did go over the top. I wouldn't say he's completely happy. He really feels you both let him down.
    `But all the same, I think that if you went to see him and talked it through . . . Maybe, as a gesture, if you apologised, even.' He angled his great silver head, looking tentatively at Martin. The younger man's green eyes flashed.
    Sir James went on quickly. 'What I don't understand is that you and Alex are supposed to be away on holiday. Bob told me you flew to Florida on Friday. So why are you sat here, now?'
    Martin smiled for the first time, but without humour. 'That's the nub of it, sir. The ACC
    doesn't know the damage he's done. You tell me to talk it through with him. I tried to do that last Friday morning, and Alex accused me of taking his side, to protect my career! So I had an even bigger fight with her than the one with Bob, and she packed up and left. I went through to Glasgow after her, but she wasn't there. Eventually I cancelled the flights and told Henry Wills, up at the University, that we wouldn't be using his place after all. I called her number all weekend, but no reply. It wasn't till Monday, when her flatmate came back from a weekend at home that I found out where she'd gone. Remember that band she sang with last year, after the Festival show? Square Peg, they're called.'
    `Vaguely. Square Pegs and the like are beyond me.'
    `Well, Alex had told me that they're going on a tour of Europe and that they'd asked her if she would be one of their backing singers. She'd turned them down, but she called their manager last Friday morning and asked if the job was still open. It was. She left her flatmate a note telling her that we'd had a bust-up and that she was off, there and then, to join the band for rehearsals in Dublin.'
    His jaw tightened. 'So, sir, I don't see me apologising to the ACC. I've spent the last two days thinking about this. He told me that I'd betrayed him. All I can see is that he's broken up the best relationship I've ever had in my life. You know, I was hoping that Alex would come back from Florida with a ring on her finger. Then Bob steps in and we don't even make it to the airport.
    The last thing that he said to me was that I had no future under his command. So I've taken him at his word. I've considered my career path, and I've come to the conclusion that it has to lead me away from him, and right now.'

    Sir James pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the window. He looked out across the playing field, seeming to be lost in thought, as a tense silence hung over the room. After almost a minute, he seemed to nod slightly. Then he turned back to face Martin. 'Look son, I'm not going to take anyone's part in this. You are all my friends and I will always be available to every one of you. All I'd say to you is that Bob and Alex have always been closer than any father and daughter I've ever known. Now they've blown up at each other, out of the blue. As for you and Bob, you've been the best of friends for years. This conflict between the three of you . . . it's so sudden and unexpected that none of