Dead And Buried

Ninety

‘I’m looking forward to spending Christmas in Italy with your mum,’ said Paula Viareggio. ‘Not just because I enjoy it there, but because it means she’s accepted the way things are between you and me. I know she liked Maggie: she blamed me for the break-up for a while.’

‘You’re imagining that,’ Mario protested. ‘Mum’s always had a soft spot for you.’

‘It didn’t stop her from giving me a few frosty looks when it all happened.’

‘Babe, that’s nothing to what she gave me at first. We can both thank Maggie for going to see her and telling her that our marriage had run its course, on both sides. She even told her that I’ll never be one of nature’s husbands, and that you and I are carved from the same stone.’

‘How is Maggie?’

‘Happier than I ever thought she’d be. I’m dead chuffed for her.’ He headed the discussion in another direction. ‘What do you want to do tonight? Movies?’

‘Sure, there’s a new Hugh Grant film on along at Ocean Terminal.’

‘Will it be much different from any other Hugh Grant movie?’

‘Probably not, but they’re funny, as a rule.’

‘Okay, let’s try it. Pizza first?’

She laughed. ‘You and your bloody pizzas; you don’t have to prove to me that you’re Italian.’

‘I have to prove myself to you every day.’

She slid herself along the couch and pressed herself against him. ‘Forget about the days,’ she murmured. ‘Concentrate on the nights.’

He grinned. ‘I do. . as hard as I can.’ He kissed her softly, tenderly, feeling her flick his teeth with her tongue.

‘Beats old Hugh any day,’ she whispered, as they broke off. ‘Maybe we’ll just watch a DVD.’

‘That’s not a bad. .’ The phone rang, insistently. ‘Fuck!’ he swore, as Paula picked it up. ‘That is one of nature’s bloody laws.’

‘And another,’ she said, holding it out, ‘is that it’s always for you. It’s Neil.’

‘Hi,’ Mario grunted into the mouthpiece.

‘Bad time?’

‘Almost.’

‘Sorry, but it’s important.’

‘Everything’s important these days.’

‘This is interesting too. I’ve just had a call from Alex Skinner: she wants to meet the two of us tonight, soon as possible, in a police office.’

‘Why?’

‘She didn’t go into detail, but she said that it has a bearing on a live investigation.’

‘I thought we’d sorted all her problems.’

‘So did I, but this didn’t sound like one of them. She told me that she was calling as a solicitor, not a pal. I’ve told her to be at Fettes in half an hour. Can you make it?’

‘I’m afraid so. See you there.’ He made his best ‘sorry’ face for Paula, as he handed the phone back.

‘Don’t worry,’ she told him, ‘it’ll keep. Bring in the pizzas when you get back.’