A Coffin For Two

3

‘Okay, Miguel. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll see you at the church.’

He nodded and I turned away from the wall. I was alone on the terrace. Prim’s lounger was empty, although a bisected crescent in the cushion marked the spot where she had been sitting.

I stepped from the sunlight into the cool darkness of the living room. She was leaning against the bedroom door. I looked at her big brown eyes. The lasers had been switched off, and normal sparkling conditions restored, with perhaps an added hint of contrition.

As I came up to her she reached out for the towel around my waist, unfastening it and using it to pull me towards her. I felt two hard nipples warm against my chest, as her mouth reached up for mine. I kissed her, a bit warily still.

‘I’m sorry, love,’ she whispered, ‘sounding off like that. But I really do want it to work for us. Can we give it a try?’

I looked down at her.

‘Please?’ she said, very quietly.

My conversation with Miguel had already done something for my lethargy level. That wide-eyed look was enough to do the rest. ‘Okay, partner. Let’s try it out. But it’s Blackstone and Phillips, mind, not the other way around.’

Primavera beamed up at me. ‘Tell you what,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s call ourselves Blackstone Spanish Investigations. My mother doesn’t expect me to live in sin forever, you know.’

I gulped. Marriage, for us, was a bit like death. Probably on the agenda, only we weren’t sure when.

She let go of the towel and grasped my bum in both hands. ‘And now, since we’ve nothing better to do before dinner …’

I disengaged her. ‘Ah but I have,’ I said. ‘I have to meet Miguel, now. You draw up the ads. We can fax them to Jan tonight and ask her to place them.’

She nodded. ‘Okay. What did Miguel want, anyway? I couldn’t hear.’

‘It was about young Jordi. He’s found a body.’

‘Oh,’ said Prim. ‘I see.’