by John Barlow
‘Trending on Twitter!’ Rita said, before launching herself into her pint.
‘I wish Granddad could’ve seen it.’
His phone rang. He frowned as he looked at the number.
‘Hello?… Oui?… Ah, oui! Claudette, ça va?’
He stood and moved away from the table, talking fast.
‘He speaks French,’ Rita explained, as they watched him move across the room, animated, nodding and waving his arm as he spoke. ‘How’s it going with victim support?’
‘Y’know, what you’d expect.’
‘It helps.’
‘Does it? How would you know, love? Lost a son, have you?
‘Brother.’
‘Right… You wanna talk about it?’
Rita studied her pint for a moment.
‘Yeah. Do you like curry?’
‘As it goes. Know a place?’
‘Yeah. It’s not in friggin’ Leeds, though.’
‘What about him?’
They looked across the room. Joe was still deep in conversation.
‘I think he’s gonna be busy.’
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Acknowledgements
For assorted advice and expert information, thanks to Dr Chris Burke, Naz Afrin Waseem, Adrian Tudor, Amalendu Misra, Nicolas Beord and Fernando Domènech. Also, I am indebted to the real Joe Romano for lending me his name, although in fact I didn’t ask first. A huge thanks to everyone at HQ, particularly Dominic Wakeford for his enthusiasm and encouragement, to Jon Appleton for valued help and suggestions along the way, and above all to Cicely Aspinall for editing the book with such precision, style and commitment in very difficult circumstances. To my agent Nicola Barr equally large amounts of gratitude for her patience, her unflinching honesty, and for being a fabulous guiding hand. Finally, to Susana, Nico and Stef; as always, without you three there wouldn’t be much point.
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