Skinner's ghosts

25

Pamela frowned at him across the kitchen, as she ladled soup into two shal ow white bowls. 'Is this how it's going to be? You nipping home at lunchtime to check up on me?' She handed him a bowl and a plate of thick-cut sandwiches, and gestured him towards the door.

'Don't be daft,' he protested, carrying his snack though to the big living area other top-floor flat, and sitting on the couch which faced the bigW-shaped window, draped with white muslin now, where once it had offered an uninterrupted view of the Water ofLeith as it coursed towards the sea.

'I'm here because I want to be. On top of that, I had that news for you about the phone cal.'

Unsmiling, Pam set about her lunch. 'Look,' she said, final y, 'how much longer do I have to stay here? I feel like a hostage. If I'm supposed to be on leave, can't I at least go out?'

'Yes,' said Skinner, 'if you take your escorts with you.'

'Oh really! This man won't come after me.'

In shirtsleeves, he shrugged his shoulders. 'If there's only one chance in a hundred of that,' he said, 'I'm stil not going to take it.

Whoever this guy is he certainly identifies with me. Maybe it's purely because I'm a high-profile police figure that he can thumb his nose at, but my publicised connection with wee Mark McGrath makes that unlikely.

'Against that background, in the light of the Spotlight story, you have to be protected.'

She looked at him, as he devoured his last sandwich. 'Should I really be scared, then?' she asked, quietly, when he was finished.

'Not while you're here, with protection outside. Not while I'm here. Women and kids are this man's size.'

She looked at him again, sulkily. 'But couldn't you protect me in the office? After all, I'm sure this leave I'm taking will come off my annual al owance… don't try and tell me different. I can see the Spotlight headline now: "Skinner's girlfriend gets extra holidays!" '

'It's because of Spotlight that we… okay, I… thought you'd be better away from the office for a few days.'

'What!' She sat bolt upright, sulking seriously now. 'I thought this was al about security. But you mean you and Andy decided I'd 91 be better kept out of the way for a while to save embarrassment.

Whose, in that case? Mine, or yours?'

His eyebrows came together in a single heavy line. 'I'm still there, remember,' he growled.

'Oh, so you are embarrassed!'

'No, I didn't say that. It's you that I'm concerned about.'

Her expression softened. 'Yes,' she said, 'I suppose you are. But, please, don't make decisions about me without involving me. Even if you are my commanding officer.' She hesitated. 'Let me come back, please. If people point fingers at me it'l be behind my back, and I can take that, I think. Let's do what we've done up to now, travel to and from work separately, and steer clear of each other in the office.'

She slid across beside him on the couch, and poked him in the ribs. 'Come on, I'l bet you need me, too. Don't tel me that the Head of CID isn't short-handed just now. It isn't right to keep me here, when I could be out helping you catch the man who murdered Mrs McGrath and stole her son.'

He laid his plate and bowl on the floor, and turned towards her, his hands gripping her upper arms, gently. 'Okay,' he said, smiling.

'I give up. You can come in tomorrow. But either we go in together or you get a lift from the protection people. Deal?'

'Deal.' She nodded, slipping free of his grasp, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. 'Now,' she whispered, 'since this is a one-off occasion, what say we take ful advantage of it?'

He disengaged himself, still grinning. 'One triumph per lunch hour's enough for you,' he said. 'I have to get back to the office.

There's a hot tape coming up from London. Meantime, you can spend the afternoon deciding whether you intend to sue the Spotlight for defaming your impeccable character.'