Read A Slow Death (Max Drescher Book 1) for Free Online Page B

half-empty packet of HB, the Kriminalinspektor shook his head. At the moment, food was the last thing on his mind.
    ‘Nah, I’m fine.’
    Sarah’s smile took him back to the first time that he had ever seen her, sliding up and down a pole in the Green and Red Club, not far from the small apartment on Luckauerstrasse where he was sitting right now. Max and Michael had been looking for a low-life drug dealer called Hector Brunning. They had been trying unsuccessfully to extract some information from a surly bartender, when Sarah Gal took to the stage to begin her act. Five minutes later, completely naked, she blew a kiss to the two policemen who had by now installed themselves at a table by the front of the stage, all thoughts of Brunning completely forgotten, before proceeding to do things with a beer bottle that hadn’t been seen in Berlin since the glory days of the Weimar Republic.
    For Michael Rahn, it had been love at first sight.
    Max had been quite impressed too.
    Sarah and Michael had married in the Gedächtniskirche little more than a year later. A decade on, and two kids later, Sarah still looked fantastic. In the gloom, Max liked to imagine a resemblance to Stevie Nicks, all sweet curves and sad eyes. Right on cue, ‘Say You Love Me’ started playing in his head. Music was hardly a great passion of the Kriminalinspektor’s, but even he had to admit that Fleetwood Mac was a great band.
    ‘Are you sure?’ Sarah asked. ‘It’s not a problem. I can throw a couple of pizzas in the oven or something.’
    Max held up a hand. ‘No, thank you. I’m good.
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘A beer would be great, though.’
    ‘Sure.’ Sarah gestured towards the small back garden. ‘Why don’t you go out onto the patio and have a smoke.’ Stepping over to the fridge she pulled out a bottle of Beck’s bier and handed it to him. ‘There you go.’
    For a moment, Max was transported back to the Green and Red Club all those years ago. He smiled widely.
    Sarah studied at him quizzically. ‘What are you grinning at Max?’
    ‘Uh?’ The Kriminalinspektor felt himself blush ever so slightly. ‘Nothing.’
    Frowning, Sarah pointed at a drawer next to the sink. ‘There’s a bottle opener in there.’
    ‘Thanks.’ He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and fumbled for the lighter. ‘I’ll be outside.’
    Sitting in one of the white plastic chairs that were arranged around a white plastic table that stood under the kitchen window, it was simply impossible to get comfortable. Max spent a couple of minutes shifting uncomfortably in his seat before Michael finally appeared. The sergeant had a bottle of Beck’s in each hand and he placed each one carefully on the table before pulling up a chair of his own and sitting down. ‘I thought you might need another.’
    ‘Thanks.’ Max sucked down on his cigarette before draining the last of the beer that Sarah had given him. Letting out a small burp, he placed the empty bottle on the table and took the fresh one from his colleague.
    ‘These chairs are terrible.’
    ‘I know. Sarah got them from Woolworths.’
    ‘Ah,’ Max nodded, as if that explained it. He dropped the stub of his cigarette into the empty beer bottle and reached for a fresh one from the packet on the table. ‘How are the kids?  Gone to bed?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Michael smiled, ‘the little devils are becoming more and more of a handful with every passing day.’ Glancing up at the window, he lowered his voice. ‘I’d never say this to Sarah, but I wish we’d had at least one girl. I miss not having a daughter.’
    Sticking the unlit HB between his lips, Max thought of the couple of occasions when he had made a half-hearted attempt to play with Michael and Sarah’s boys, Paul, aged eight, and Dieter, six. Their non-stop energy had tired him out after less than five minutes. ‘It’s a case of swings and roundabouts,’ he remarked. ‘Boys might be harder work right now, but when they get to being teenagers and start