Winterland

Winterland by Alan Glynn Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: Winterland by Alan Glynn Read Free Book Online
Authors: Alan Glynn
Tags: 03 Thriller/Mystery
to headbutt him?
    ‘Yeah, it’s clear,’ he said, holding up his free hand, ‘it’s clear.’ He wanted to add ‘take it easy’ or ‘back off, pal’, or something even stronger – but nothing came out.
    ‘The envelope,’ the man said. ‘It’s all there in the bleedin’ envelope.’
    He then turned and walked away.
    Up in his office, at his desk, Flynn opened the envelope and looked inside.
    His heart has been pounding ever since.
    He lifts the briefcase open now and takes another look. Earlier, in his office, he emptied the contents of the envelope into the briefcase – so there it all is, right in front of him: the sheet of paper with the two Polaroids taped to it and the solid bricks of cash.
    Given how thick each brick is, and the fact that they’re in fifties – he reckons there’s probably about a hundred thousand euro here.
    But of course that’s not why his heart is pounding.
    He lifts up the sheet of paper with the Polaroids on it.
    The top one shows Orla. She’s coming out the main gate of St Teresa’s. She’s in her green and grey uniform and is carrying her school bag. There are other kids in the background. The second photo shows Niamh, also in uniform, but she’s alone, walking – skipping – along what looks like Ashleaf Avenue.
    Flynn takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly.
     
    He stares at what is written on the white border below the photographs. It is a spidery scrawl, done in black ink – the same three letters on each.
    R.I.P.

 
    Two

1
    After twenty minutes on the treadmill, flicking between Sky News and CNN, Mark Griffin decides he’s had enough and heads into the bathroom. He takes a shower and shaves. Back in the bedroom he chooses the charcoal grey suit, the pale blue tie and a white shirt. He gets dressed, occasionally glancing over at the bed. He goes down to the kitchen. He puts on coffee, stands at the breakfast bar and slices a grapefruit into neat segments. To the right, his laptop is open. He looks through his schedule for the day.
    Mark runs a small company, Tesoro, that imports handmade stone and ceramic tiles from Italy. It started out as an excuse to make regular trips to places such as Brescia, Gubbio and Pesaro, but it soon took on a life of its own. As recession in Ireland gave way to boom, so linoleum and thick shag gave way to travertine and terra-cotta, and it wasn’t long before Mark found himself supplying high-end product to the high end of the residential property market.
    After secondary school, and mainly at the insistence of his uncle Des, Mark did a business degree at Trinity College. The prospect of becoming an executive or an entrepreneur was always something he’d viewed with dread, but running Tesoro has never really felt like that, like a business. How could it? He travels to Italy and watches dedicated artisans at work. He deals in the aesthetics of tone, in the endless harmonies of colour, form and design.
    Behind him, he hears Susan coming into the kitchen.
    ‘Morning,’ she says, in her sleepy drawl.
    ‘Hi. There’ll be coffee in a minute.’
    He doesn’t turn around. After a moment, Susan appears behind the breakfast bar. As she passes on her way to the fridge, she swipes a segment of his grapefruit, upsetting the formation he’s made on the plate. Then she goes to the fridge and stands there, holding the door open, staring into the light, humming.
    He looks at her and smiles. She’s wearing one of his shirts.
    Reaching into the fridge, Susan disappears from view.
    Mark pops a segment of grapefruit into his mouth. He rearranges what’s left on the plate and turns his attention back to the laptop. He has to swing by the showrooms in Ranelagh to pick something up, and after that he’s going out to the warehouse, where he’ll be for the rest of the morning. Then at two o’clock he’s got an appointment in town. He’s chasing a tiling contract from a builder who’s just put up a new five-star hotel with 120

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