“Thank you, dear,” Bill’s mother said as he placed the two bags of shopping on the countertop with a grunt of effort.
“That’s okay, Mum,” he said and started pulling the various groceries out of the bag and setting them on the side.
“Oh, you don’t need to do that, dear.”
“It’s fine, Mum. I don’t mind. Let me help you,” Bill insisted.
She silently relented but started to busy herself by grabbing some of the items and moving them to the cupboard or fridge, as needed.
Bill let her do it, there was no need to argue with her, and if she wanted to help, that was fine. He didn’t mind doing their shopping for them, although he kept meaning to do it online but forgetting. Besides, even if he did do that, he’d probably need to be there to help them pack it all away.
His parents needed help, and that was fine. It did occasionally get in the way of his work, which was annoying, but it could be worse.
He’d finish up here and then get himself over to the Lodge. He wanted an update from Vincent, but so far, the man was ignoring his texts. He’d taken a huge risk by bringing Kane in, and he wondered if he might have made a colossal mistake. Hopefully not.
“So, have you been out with any nice young ladies recently?” his mother probed.
Bill sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about this, but his mum meant well and only wanted to see him happy. “Not really, Mum, no. I’ve been a little busy with work, so.”
“Bill. You need to make sure you have a life outside of work. You need to take care of yourself more. I’m not getting any younger, and I’d love to see you settle down with someone.”
“But, I’m happy, Mother. I’m quite settled.”
“You know what I mean, William.”
Bill sighed, annoyed at his mother’s use of his full name. “Yes, I know. You want to see me married, right? With kids?”
His mum’s eyes lit up as she smiled at him. “Oh Bill, that would be so lovely. I can just see you in a nice suit, getting married to a lovely woman. You’d make an old lady very happy.”
“I know, Mum. I know.” To a certain degree, she was right, and he wondered how much she could read between the lines with him. He did want those things. He’d like to find someone he could spend time with and maybe marry. He most certainly didn’t want to end up like Rob Loxley, a life-long bachelor living alone in some flat somewhere. He’d just been preoccupied with his work and had neglected that side of his life. Maybe he needed to take some personal time and get back into the dating game…
His phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw Kane’s name on the caller ID.
“I need to take this, Mum,” he said.
“Oh, don’t mind me, dear, you carry on.” She continued putting the groceries away and paid him no attention.
Bill answered, “Kane. I was wondering when you’d call.”
“I’m guessing you want an update, judging by all those texts this morning?”
“Yeah, I do.” Bill walked out of the kitchen and into the empty front room.
“They found a body to go with the head that they discovered. Not much to say about that, really. It all looked pretty routine. Rob recognised me, though.”
Bill grumbled. “Thought he might.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know, is it?” Bill threw the question back at him.
“Nah, I don’t think so. Anyway, more interestingly, I followed Rob and his team last night. They went to talk to some of the local prossies up Mansfield Road. I’ve got some photos of him chatting up a couple of hookers. I thought they might make for a nice story, you know? Local detective seen with prostitute. Has a ring to it, don’t you think?”
“No,” Bill snapped, annoyed. “Absolutely not. I have no interest in a smear campaign based on lies. If you run that, we’re done. That’s not what I want at all. I want proof, actual proof that Loxley is crooked, okay? Got that?”
“Sure, I got it,” Kane replied dejectedly. “You want to do things the boring way. Fine. But a headline like this will sell papers though, and might well get him suspended. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“It might also bring us some unwanted attention, which I do not want. So, no. We do this right, or not at all.”
“Okay, fine, if that’s what you want. I can do that.”
“Good. Keep me updated.” Bill ended the call before Kane could answer. He sighed to himself, annoyed with himself. He was starting to regret bringing Kane in now. He was a liability.
“Nice to hear that you have some integrity.”
Bill turned to see his father at the door, watching him. “Oh… Did you…”
“Yeah, I heard enough to read between the lines. Who’s this Loxley bloke?”
Bill hesitated, but only for a moment. “A detective. He’s… aaah. He’s got some links to organised crime.”
His father’s eyebrows rose up his forehead. “That’s a hell of an accusation.”
“It’s true. It’s his family, who he claims he’s estranged from.”
“I take it he passed vetting if he’s a serving officer.”
“Yeah,” Bill answered. “Look, don’t worry about it, okay?”
“You’re not being nosey, are you Graham?” his mother called out from the kitchen. Talking to his dad. “Leave the poor boy alone, will you? He’s got enough to deal with.”
She wasn’t wrong.