Read Online Resolutions by Jane A. Adams - Free Book Online Page B

why I kept going back to them. Most architects are so tied in to their so-called visions that they don’t see the practical snags until it’s too late. Marstons like to iron out the problems early on and Peel had a good eye. I admit, I requested him after the first job they did for me. I knew we were on the same wavelength where the building work was concerned.’
    â€˜And on other matters?’
    â€˜I don’t recall that we discussed any other matters,’ Marlow said coldly. ‘He was there to do a job.’
    â€˜And you don’t waste time in small talk with the hired help,’ Alec suggested.
    â€˜I wouldn’t have phrased it like that, but no, I don’t. If Peel disliked my attitude, he never gave any indication. It was nothing personal. I’m just a very busy man.’ Stating that seemed to remind Marlow that he might be wasting time at that very moment. He got up – an indication that the interview was at an end. ‘I’ve really nothing more to say,’ he said. ‘And I have to say that this is coming very close to harassment.’
    Alec rose, but Mac waited for a moment. ‘Mr Marlow,’ he said quietly, ‘I think that you and Peel have something in common after all – both busy people, both direct and to the point – but remember, Mr Marlow, the last time Thomas Peel wanted to make a point, he killed a child. He didn’t have to kill her – he could have released her unharmed, even injured her but left her alive. He knew that it was just one man between him and freedom, that backup was a long way off arriving and that, whatever he did, that man would run to the child first instead of chasing after him. Peel could have simply left the scene, left Cara Evans standing on the beach. The outcome for Peel would have been the same, but, instead, he decided to make a point, to tell the world that here was a man who did not go in for half measures or incomplete actions, and so he killed that child.’
    Marlow’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re the one, are you? The one that let him get away?’
    â€˜He read me right,’ Mac said quietly, unable totally to keep the bitterness from his voice. ‘He read me right. He knew that Cara Evans would be my priority, not him. He knew he didn’t have to kill her or harm her; he could still have run away and I’d still have gone to the child first. Yes, I’m the one that let him get away and I let him run because I still had that tiny, ridiculous little fragment of hope that I might be able to stop her bleeding to death. I’ve got my excuse, my reason for letting him get away. It may not be a good one, but it’s there. What do you have, Mr Marlow? How will you feel when Thomas Peel kills again?’
    Silence. Mac was suddenly aware of the ticking of a clock, of Alec’s feet shifting against the thick pile of the carpet.
    â€˜I’m not afraid of much,’ Richard Marlow said at last. ‘I’d certainly never had any reason to fear the likes of Thomas Peel, not before – I’d not even taken notice of the man, truth to be told. He did his job; I didn’t even think of him unless he was there, doing it. But that day, there he was, sitting on a stool in my bar, drinking gin and tonic, large as life and making no attempt to hide himself. I knew he’d come because I was there. Most of the regulars would expect me to be there on a Wednesday lunchtime, so it would have been no great stretch to assume I’d be there that Wednesday.’
    â€˜Was he a regular?’
    â€˜Had been, yes. He’d call in for a drink and lunch one day a week. I never gave it a thought. Suddenly, he was there again and he was bold, blatant. The bar staff didn’t know him – they were both new to the job – but I don’t think he’d have cared anyway. He said I owed him – more than a refund for the drink – and I asked him what