Read Online Killing Rachel by Anne Cassidy - Free Book Online Page B

Joshua’s study. He didn’t look much like his brother, Brendan. He was thinner in the face and had short cropped hair.
    ‘Does he know you’re looking for your dad?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘How come?’
    ‘He doesn’t really like to talk about Dad much. When I first went to live with him he was all sympathetic and tried to cheer me up but as time went on it was difficult to keep the conversation going. There’s only so many times you can ask someone what their childhood memories of their brother are. I’d say something like, When you and Dad were teenagers did you go out together? And he’d say, Me and Bren went out a few times . Or I might say, What was Dad like when he was my age? and he’d say. Our Bren was all right . Stu isn’t talkative. He’s the silent type. The truth is, if I’d stayed living with him, I wouldn’t be looking for Dad. It’s being with Skeggsie that made me properly look for Dad.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because I’m at a distance. Nothing I can do can hurt Stu’s feelings. And then there’s all the web stuff that I could never have done without Skeggs.’
    ‘How is he today?’
    ‘So, so. Coughing a lot. He’s taking the steroids. It’ll take a couple of days for those to kick in.’
    ‘Don’t. You’re making me feel sorry for Skeggsie and I don’t want to do that.’
    ‘You still don’t like him?’
    ‘Making my mind up.’
    ‘Maybe he’s a bit like you? Maybe that’s why you find it hard to get along with him.’
    ‘No!’ she said. ‘He’s nothing like me. Nothing at all!’
    ‘OK.’
    They drove on, the conversation stalling, following the signs for Cambridge. Joshua tried the radio, flicking between stations. Rose pulled a pile of CDs from the door pocket and began to look through them. She was pleasantly surprised. Skeggsie’s taste in music wasn’t as bad as she feared.
    ‘You know that restaurant owned by the son of Viktor Baranski? In South Kensington? I went to it.’
    ‘Yeah?’ she said.
    Even though Skeggsie was unwell Joshua had still gone.
    ‘It’s close to South Ken station on the way to the museums. It’s a street which is full of coffee bars and cafes. This restaurant is called Eastern Fare.’
    ‘Is it a Russian restaurant?’
    Joshua was heading off the motorway at a turning marked for Norwich.
    ‘Not really. It’s got Russian signs everywhere but it just serves coffee and sandwiches and hot lunches. It looks a bit run-down. We had a sandwich and coffee.’
    She frowned. ‘I thought you went on your own?’
    ‘No, someone from uni came with me. That girl you saw last week, Clara.’
    Rose stared straight ahead. Clara, the girl with the yellow hair.
    ‘I did get to talk to Lev Baranski! It was a lot easier than I expected. In the end I just asked him for a job.’
    ‘A job?’ she said quietly.
    ‘Yes. I saw this guy at a table at the back of the cafe working at a laptop so I just went up to him and I said, Excuse me, are you Mr Baranski? And he looked up and said, Who wants to know? I said, I’m looking for a job as a waiter and someone down the street said I should try here. He thought you might need help. I’m a student and I’m just looking for part-time work . There was this long silence and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His face was completely flat, no hint of expression. He was youngish but dressed old, in a suit and tie. He called this other guy over, Mikey. He said, This lad is looking for a job . Mikey said, in this heavy Russian accent, We don’t have jobs now . Lev then said, Leave your details with Mikey and we’ll let you know if anything comes up . So I left a fake name, then me and Clara left.’
    Rose had an image of Joshua and Clara leaving the restaurant. Joshua was holding the door open for Clara and she was laughing up at him, both of them thrilled with their little plan. Rose could see Clara’s hair snaking over her shoulders. In her mind it was longer and thicker than before, the kind of hair that could be