Nothing but Meat: A dark, heart-stopping British crime thriller by Adrian Kendrew Page A

onto the case.’
    ‘What’s it got to do with you? You’re just plod nothing more
than a bobby.’
    ‘I’m working on the case too.’ It was hard not to keep the
pride out of her voice and he noticed, he snorted at her sarcastically. She
said, ‘I have to get ready, I’m getting picked up.’
    ‘I thought you were making more of an effort in the old
make-up and hair department.’
    ‘I don’t have much choice, look at my face.’
    ‘I have, and what a state it is too,’ he said. ‘Fucking
punchy faced bitch.’ He laughed nastily and climbed out of bed. His eyes were
bloodshot, his mouth a twisted snarl. ‘Punchy and Smokey, strutting around town
like fucking Starsky and Hutch.’ She watched his paunch and flaccid penis
wobble as he spoke. He pointed at her. ‘It’s pathetic.’
    She looked him up and down. ‘My thoughts exactly,’ she said
and hopped into the bathroom before he could respond. She knew he wouldn’t
touch her this morning no matter how angry he was. He was too hung-over to make
the effort and she was about to go to work, fresh bruises, blood and tears
would be an all too obvious sign of domestic abuse.
    Martin was downstairs when she came out of the bathroom. She
dressed quickly and then watched out of the bedroom window for Nathan to
arrive. When his car pulled up she went downstairs, gathered her keys and bag
and walked straight out of the front door without saying goodbye to Martin.
    In the car she wondered if she would pay for the argument
later, her home life was quickly falling apart and yet she couldn’t find one
aspect worth fighting for. She sighed to herself and tried to put it to the
back of her mind and concentrate on the day ahead.
    Simone looked out of the side window as they drove and
silently summoned the effort to enquire, she said, ‘Tell me about the woman.’
    West ignored the question and used the broken silence as a
way of explaining his actions. ‘I got your numbers from the station; home and
mobile and I rang your mobile first but got no answer so I rang the home
phone.’
    She didn’t look at him. ‘My mobile was downstairs in my bag.
I didn’t hear it go off.’
    ‘Are you okay?’
    ‘I’ll live.’
    ‘You hadn’t told him I was back had you?’
    ‘I didn’t get round to it.’ She was lying to both of them now
and the realisation that she had put herself between her husband and the man
she loved hit home, it was a road she was unprepared to travel. Nathan wanted
to help but he didn’t want to pry. She still felt shaken from the argument with
Martin and not yet in tune with the day but soon it would be time for honesty;
and she was kidding herself if she thought Nathan hadn’t noticed she was
unhappy. If she was going to confide in anyone Nathan was the one she could to
talk to. Her marriage had eroded her self-esteem and she had lost confidence in
others as well as herself. She didn’t feel close enough to anyone to trust them
with her burden until Nathan walked back into her life like a beacon in the
darkness.
    She knew Nathan’s secrets; she had kept them with her for
years. He trusted her and she knew she could trust him; maybe it was time to
ease the weight. Not now but soon, the right time would come.
    He said, ‘I know I’m not exactly his favourite person but I
had no choice, it was the only way to get in touch with you.’
    ‘It’s fine. He had to find out you were back sometime.’
    ‘It was that or just come straight round and knock on your door,
and I thought that would go down like a ton of bricks.’
    ‘You did the right thing – if you need to contact me
then contact me. Martin hates you and we both know it.’ For some reason it felt
strange to use his name in front of Nathan. ‘I didn’t tell him you were back
because I couldn’t be bothered with being on the receiving end of another one
of his jealous rages, but now he knows you’re here and he’s going to have to
deal with it.’ As she spoke it felt like a weight