Read Online The Rock by Robert Daws - Free Book Online Page B

back on the bed.
    ‘Oh, good. Where?’
    ‘Disco. Going to get a boyfriend.’
    ‘Ah. I thought you had a boyfriend at school? Nicky, isn’t it?’
    ‘Nah. He’s not a good one. I want a disco boyfriend. I’m going to love him.’
    Broderick sat on the bed next to his daughter and put his arm around her. ‘Well, that’s good. That’s good. But it is a Friday night, you know.’
    ‘Yeah. I know,’ Daisy replied.
    ‘I could put a DVD on in a minute if you like. Harry Potter maybe?’
    Her face lit up. ‘Yeah, Harry!’
    ‘I thought I’d get some fish and chips from Roy’s as well.’
    ‘Fish and chips.’
    ‘And a bottle of cream soda.’ Broderick added, relishing his daughter’s delight.
    ‘Yeah!’
    ‘Fancy that, Daisy?’
    ‘Yeah! Fish and riding whips!’
    ‘Yeah,’ Broderick smiled and kissed Daisy on her forehead. ‘Fish and riding whips.’
    *
    Sullivan and Calbot were still tucked away in a corner table of the Marina Bar. They had spent over an hour in each other’s company. There was nothing unusual in this. They worked together side by side on a daily basis. What was unusual was that it was out of ‘office hours’ and to her great surprise Sullivan had found herself enjoying her colleague’s company. Calbot’s infuriating cockiness had given way to a natural charm and ease that was usually absent in his dealings with her. So it came as something of a surprise to discover that the time was later than she had expected. After she turned down Calbot’s offer of another drink, they both stood and moved to the door, passing a fellow off-duty officer at the far end of the bar. PC Ferra was nursing a large brandy and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Calbot broke his colleague’s reverie as he placed a hand on the officer’s shoulder.
    ‘Ferra? I’m sorry about Bryant,’ Calbot said.
    ‘So am I. He was a good man.’
    ‘If you need anything...?’
    Ferra nodded as Calbot and Sullivan forced a smile and moved towards the door and out onto the street.
    ‘Thanks for the initiation ceremony,’ Sullivan said as they got outside.
    ‘You’re very welcome. Share a taxi home?’ Calbot offered.
    ‘Nah, I’ll walk. And so should you.’
    Calbot gave her a quizzical look.
    ‘Clear your head.’ Sullivan added.
    ‘Yeah. You know, it’s funny. Thought you’d be Irish, name like Sullivan.’
    ‘What makes you think I’m not? My dad was from Dublin.’
    ‘You’ve got a slight accent. Odd. Where’s it from?’
    ‘My mum’s from Chester, which is where I was brought up. So I’m a half Paddy.’
    ‘Wherever you’re from, you’re not what I thought you’d be.’
    ‘Meaning what, exactly?’ Sullivan challenged half heartedly.
    ‘Nothing....nothing really.’ Calbot attempted a change of topic. ‘I enjoyed that. You should be initiated more often.’
    The awkward pause that followed was broken by Sullivan. ‘Right. Well. Good night, Detective Constable.’
    ‘Night, then.’
    Calbot crossed the street towards the sports bars across the way. The night was obviously still young for him. Sullivan waited a moment. Had Calbot really given her the slight come on? Had she perhaps ever so slightly encouraged it? Had she not learnt by now how dangerous the after work drinks with fellow officers could prove? She shuddered a little inside and headed off in the other direction for home.
    *
    Ferra knew he shouldn’t drive – not after the amount he’d drunk – so it came as a relief to bump into some friends leaving the bar next door. They promptly offered him a lift. Ferra’s home – a boat - wasn’t far, but he needed sleep now and quickly. His mooring was half a mile away on the Kingsway Wharf. The ‘Ailsa’, a 1960’s built four berther, had been his home for three years now. It belonged to his great uncle, who had a long lease on the mooring at a ridiculously low – by Gib standards – annual rent. Ferra paid next to nothing for his lodgings in return for keeping the old