‘And I’d go back to the school there?’
‘It’s a good school, and you had friends there. What do you think?’
‘It’s up to you.’
‘No, it’s up to the two of us.’
‘And Katra.’
‘Sure.’
‘Can we get a dog?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘If we’re out of London, we can have a dog, can’t we?’
‘Maybe,’ said Shepherd.
‘Okay, then.’
Shepherd grinned. ‘Good.’
‘And we’ll get a dog.’
‘We’ll talk about that later.’
‘Can’t I watch the end of the game? Please?’
Shepherd ruffled his son’s hair. ‘How much more is there?’
‘Fifteen minutes.’
‘Okay. Fifteen minutes, then bed.’ Shepherd kissed the top of Liam’s head and went upstairs. He sat down on his bed, picked up the phone and dialled Tom and Moira’s number. Tom answered and they chatted for a while then Tom put his wife on the line.
‘Daniel, I’m so sorry you couldn’t make it,’ she said, and sounded as if she meant it.
‘Liam had a great time, Moira. Thanks.’
‘We’d like to see more of him, you know that.’
‘That’s sort of why I’m phoning,’ said Shepherd. ‘The problem is my job – I keep getting sent away at short notice. And it’s not as if you’re around the corner. Anyway, I’ve got a new job that’s going to change the way I work.’
‘Less travelling?’ asked Moira, hopefully.
‘Probably more, actually.’
‘You’ll still be a policeman, though?’
‘The job’s essentially the same,’ said Shepherd, ‘but because I won’t be working for the Met, there’s no real need for me to be based in London. I don’t see why Liam and I couldn’t live in Hereford.’ He waited for Moira to reply, but she didn’t say anything. ‘Moira, are you still there?’ he said.
‘I’m sorry, Daniel. I’m stunned. You’re serious?’
‘Sure. Over the last few days I’ve been up to Newcastle, over to France, down to Southampton. If anything, I think the travelling will get worse in the new job, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t make Hereford my base. That way you’d be able to see Liam whenever you wanted.’
‘I don’t know what to say, Daniel.’
‘I hoped you’d be pleased.’
‘I’m delighted – and I know Tom will be too. But what about his school?’
‘He liked the one he went to in Hereford, and it would mean less travelling for him.’
‘Daniel, I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Really, I can’t.’
‘It’ll be much better for me, too,’ said Shepherd.
‘I’ll talk to the headteacher,’ said Moira. ‘I’m sure they’ll find a place for him. Do you have any idea when you’ll move?’
‘Let me talk to an estate agent to see how easy it’ll be to sell this place. Then we’ll talk about it in detail.’
After he’d hung up, Shepherd lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. ‘I miss you, Sue,’ he whispered. ‘I will do until the day I die.’
The limousine was waiting for Madison a short walk from the hotel’s entrance. She climbed into the back and sighed. ‘I hate fucking Arabs,’ she said. ‘I mean, I hate Arabs. And I hate fucking them.’
‘Was it terrible?’ asked the American.
He’d told her he was Dick but he had a funny sense of humour and Madison wasn’t sure whether or not he was joking. He was forty-eight, forty-nine maybe, with short grey hair and lips that went really thin when he smiled. He was wearing a dark blue blazer, grey trousers and gleaming black shoes with tassels. When he’d first approached her she’d thought he was a banker or a property developer. He had the confidence that came from handling large amounts of money and knowing that people would always do what he wanted. She didn’t want to know what he did or whom he worked for – it would be dangerous. She would just take his money and run. ‘They always want to do anal, and I told him I didn’t. He kept nagging and nagging and offering me more money.’
‘I’m sorry, honey,’ said the American.
‘He paid me five thousand, so I had to do it, right? But I told him it was under protest. Now I’m bleeding.’
‘Was he enormous?’
Madison flashed him a humourless smile. ‘He was rough. Kept calling me a bitch, too.’
‘Poor baby,’ said the American. ‘But you have it, right? What I want?’
Madison sighed. ‘That’s the other thing about Arabs. They always want to do it bareback. He kept upping the ante-’
‘Madison,’ said the American, coldly, ‘please don’t tell me you didn’t use a condom.’
‘Don’t be stupid. For what you’re paying me, there was no way I wasn’t using one. Speaking of which…’
‘Your money?’ The American smiled coldly. ‘You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.’