Read Online Double Dealing (Detective Sergeant Catherine Bishop Series Book Two) by Lisa Hartley - Free Book Online

every day, which would make it awkward if he dumped her – and he would.’
      ‘You never know, maybe he just hasn’t met the right person.’
      ‘I doubt it. He’s lovely, he just needs to grow up a bit.’
    Ellie swallowed the last of her lager.
      ‘Good luck to them, I say.’
     
     
      They said their goodbyes on the pavement outside the restaurant. Thomas and Anna were heading off for a ‘nightcap’ as he told his sister with a smile. A genuine, beaming smile Catherine couldn’t help but notice, not borrowed from his collection of knowing grins or lascivious winks. Maybe Ellie would be proved right, but Catherine doubted it. Knight had already headed home, offering to dro p off Dave Lancaster and the two female PCs on his way. Chris Rogers grinned at Ellie and Catherine.
      ‘I’ve phoned for a taxi, he said five minutes, so you’ve not got long.’ He gave a tipsy giggle and Faye nudged him, then took his arm.
      ‘We’ll give you some privacy,’ she said, smiling as if she were doing them a huge favour.
    Catherine rolled her eyes as Faye and Chris moved down the road a little.
      ‘Subtle as a brick through your living room window, as always.’  Ellie winced. ‘I’m sorry about all this, Catherine.’
      ‘It’s okay, it’s not your fault.’ Catherine shuffled nervously. ‘It’s been good to meet you, however much you were forced into it.’
    Ellie laughed. ‘Thanks. I’m glad I came, believe it or not.’
    They looked at each other, smiles uncertain.
    Catherine said, ‘It would be good to . . .’ just as Ellie began, ‘I’d like to . . .’
    They laughed, the tension broken.
      ‘It would be good to meet again, I was going to say.’ Catherine made herself voice the words. ‘If you want to, I mean. Maybe a coffee?’
      ‘I’d like that. I don’t have many friends in the area, so . . .’
    Catherine nodded.
      ‘Goodnight then.’
    There was a second of confusion as they dithered over whether to hug or shake hands, then Catherine found herself pressed against Ellie for a second. Cold skin against her cheek, fruity shampoo, a tiny note of perfume. She walked away, raising a hand to Chris and Faye in farewell.
     
      In her car, she shoved the keys into the ignition and gripped the steering wheel. Who was she trying to kid? Ellie wasn’t Claire. She felt an irrational fury that Faye and Chris had forced herself and Ellie into the position they’d been in tonight. It had been a mistake to go, the whole evening seeming like an elaborate sham, a farce that she and Ellie had been caught up in. Just because they were both single, it had been assumed that they’d be irresistibly drawn to each other like magnets. She thumped the steering wheel, furious. It was all Thomas’ fault; he’d only arranged the meal so he could see Anna again. Back in Northolme for a couple of days and he was already turning her life upside down. She felt as though she should phone Ellie to apologise, but then why should she? It wasn’t her fault. She gave a bitter laugh. Ellie hadn’t passed on her mobile number, so she couldn’t have rung if she’d wanted to.
     
      At home she slammed the door, tempted to leave the keys in the lock so Thomas wouldn’t be able to get in. She didn’t, of course. Thomas wouldn’t change and both he and Anna were adults; what they did was up to them. A tiny voice asked her if her anger stemmed from a touch of jealousy, but she ignored it. That the person she’d thought she was falling in love with had deceived her was irrelevant.
      Catherine climbed into bed, snapped off the light and glared out into the dark. The truth was that the person she was really angry with was Claire. She should have been there tonight, sitting beside her, laughing and joking, chatting - loving. Instead, Claire was dead and gone, buried without ceremony in the corner of the cemetery on the other side of town. Catherine and Jonathan Knight had been the only people at her