Read Online Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan Lewis
Ads: Link
that she so desperately missed. Maybe becoming a detective would go some way towards encouraging him to take an interest in life again.
To a small degree it had worked. Certainly he’d stopped passing the phone straight to her mother whenever she rang, and during her visits he would invariably sit quietly listening as she told Maureen about street situations she became embroiled in, or serious cases she was helping to solve. The biggest breakthrough came when she was seconded to CID during her second year in uniform. Her father began asking questions, even occasionally offered advice, though before long his conscience almost always seemed to suck him back into his shell, as though he could feel Penny watching with accusing eyes.
In spite of his inner torment he’d seemed proud when Andee had taken the detective’s course at Hendon and officially made it into CID. ‘Just don’t go getting yourself promoted out of policing into politicking,’ he’d cautioned. ‘It was what happened to me, and I always regretted it.’
‘Everyone says you were one of the best DCSs,’ she told him, truthfully.
Though he’d cocked a dubious eyebrow, he’d seemed pleased by the compliment, and as she settled into her new role as a DC she could tell that he was gradually bringing himself to enjoy a second career through her. And he continued to do so all through her twenties and into her thirties, approving or disapproving all the new techniques and procedures, or chuckling at the gossip about old colleagues, or puzzling over the complications of ongoing cases. It wasn’t that he was always on the phone, or urging her to come to Kesterly, he simply waited for her to contact him and when she did it was as though he had new air in his lungs, new blood running through his tired veins.
She never troubled him with the mispers. She handled them alone and always hoped, prayed, that one of them would somehow lead her to Penny.
They never had.
Her father’s greatest joy, her mother’s too, was without question her children when they came along. She’d given birth to Luke, her eldest, during her time on the beat, and Alayna, the darling of everyone’s heart, two years later. Her parents quite simply adored them and were never happier than when they came to stay for the summer, just as she, Penny and Frank used to stay with their grandparents when they were young.
It was at her father’s suggestion that Andee had taken her sergeant’s exam, a little over two years ago. Though she’d passed the board (he’d decided, jokingly, to take all the credit), there had been no positions available to apply for at the time unless she’d wanted to move out of London, which she hadn’t, then, so she’d had no choice but to continue as a DC.
She’d still been a DC eight months later when Martin, the father of her children and her partner of almost twenty years, since sixth-form college in fact, had decided he’d had enough and left.
Three months later her father suffered a massive coronary and didn’t survive.
He’d died without ever knowing what had happened to Penny.
This was a truth Andee had never been able to bear.
More than a year after his passing, Andee was still, in a very private sense, suffering terribly. It was hard to say who she missed most, him or Martin, though she guessed it had to be Martin, considering what a major role he’d always played in her and the children’s lives. In truth, he still did, at least in the children’s, since they saw him often, and during major family events it was as though they were all still a family. Whether he’d ever realised how painful she found those occasions she had no idea since she’d never told him, and he’d never asked. They simply went through the motions, as though they were friends used to being around one another, and when it came time to say goodbye they’d hug and promise to call soon. They always did, of course, since there was always something to discuss about the
To a small degree it had worked. Certainly he’d stopped passing the phone straight to her mother whenever she rang, and during her visits he would invariably sit quietly listening as she told Maureen about street situations she became embroiled in, or serious cases she was helping to solve. The biggest breakthrough came when she was seconded to CID during her second year in uniform. Her father began asking questions, even occasionally offered advice, though before long his conscience almost always seemed to suck him back into his shell, as though he could feel Penny watching with accusing eyes.
In spite of his inner torment he’d seemed proud when Andee had taken the detective’s course at Hendon and officially made it into CID. ‘Just don’t go getting yourself promoted out of policing into politicking,’ he’d cautioned. ‘It was what happened to me, and I always regretted it.’
‘Everyone says you were one of the best DCSs,’ she told him, truthfully.
Though he’d cocked a dubious eyebrow, he’d seemed pleased by the compliment, and as she settled into her new role as a DC she could tell that he was gradually bringing himself to enjoy a second career through her. And he continued to do so all through her twenties and into her thirties, approving or disapproving all the new techniques and procedures, or chuckling at the gossip about old colleagues, or puzzling over the complications of ongoing cases. It wasn’t that he was always on the phone, or urging her to come to Kesterly, he simply waited for her to contact him and when she did it was as though he had new air in his lungs, new blood running through his tired veins.
She never troubled him with the mispers. She handled them alone and always hoped, prayed, that one of them would somehow lead her to Penny.
They never had.
Her father’s greatest joy, her mother’s too, was without question her children when they came along. She’d given birth to Luke, her eldest, during her time on the beat, and Alayna, the darling of everyone’s heart, two years later. Her parents quite simply adored them and were never happier than when they came to stay for the summer, just as she, Penny and Frank used to stay with their grandparents when they were young.
It was at her father’s suggestion that Andee had taken her sergeant’s exam, a little over two years ago. Though she’d passed the board (he’d decided, jokingly, to take all the credit), there had been no positions available to apply for at the time unless she’d wanted to move out of London, which she hadn’t, then, so she’d had no choice but to continue as a DC.
She’d still been a DC eight months later when Martin, the father of her children and her partner of almost twenty years, since sixth-form college in fact, had decided he’d had enough and left.
Three months later her father suffered a massive coronary and didn’t survive.
He’d died without ever knowing what had happened to Penny.
This was a truth Andee had never been able to bear.
More than a year after his passing, Andee was still, in a very private sense, suffering terribly. It was hard to say who she missed most, him or Martin, though she guessed it had to be Martin, considering what a major role he’d always played in her and the children’s lives. In truth, he still did, at least in the children’s, since they saw him often, and during major family events it was as though they were all still a family. Whether he’d ever realised how painful she found those occasions she had no idea since she’d never told him, and he’d never asked. They simply went through the motions, as though they were friends used to being around one another, and when it came time to say goodbye they’d hug and promise to call soon. They always did, of course, since there was always something to discuss about the
Similar Books
