Read Something in the Blood (A Honey Driver Murder Mystery) for Free Online

There’s more to yer old step-daddy than meets the eye. And you want more money, don’t you? You’re always wanting my money.’
    Loretta suddenly felt scared. ‘Let me out of the car!’
    He opened his mouth and a cackle came out, like the sound dead men are supposed to make before they die. She wished that Mervyn Herbert were already dead. Better men than him were dead. But that was it. Mervyn was too mean to die, too nasty to end up in consecrated ground.
    His hands were back on the wheel. She thought of opening the door and jumping out, but they were travelling too fast. Her tights were new. Her knees would be scratched.
    Perhaps out of habit, or some vestige of memory, the old fear returned.
    ‘Please, Mervyn. I’ll do anything, anything …’
    He grinned, his creased face a yellow gargoyle in the flashing glow of the streetlights.
    ‘Yes,’ he said, pausing to slick his tongue over his lips. ‘Of course you will.’
    The man who’d been hiding in the shadows for the right moment cursed the weather, the car and that bloody little tart. The stupid cow had got into a car, and not just any car, HIS bloody car! Bloody Mervyn Herbert.
    The night was black and empty. Everyone was disappearing fast.
    Fortunately he managed to flag down what must have been the only available taxi left in Bath.
    ‘Follow that car!’
    The driver, a young Asian with white teeth and wearing a white shirt and tie with a black leather jacket, beamed with disbelief. ‘You’re joking!’
    Fingers thick as sausages grabbed his collar. ‘No! I ain’t!’
    The driver stabbed on the gas too fiercely; the car skidded on the water-covered tarmac, careering from side to side as the driver fought to regain control.
    Sweat broke out on the glossy forehead. He’d seen this kind of thing happen in the movies. Exciting to watch; in reality too bloody scary for his taste.
    The light-coloured Ford was now three cars ahead.
    His passenger was impatient, leaning through the partition. He could feel his fingers digging through the sleeve of his leather jacket.
    ‘Overtake! Overtake!’ His tone was vicious.
    Scared out of his wits, the taxi driver shook his head emphatically. ‘I cannot! I cannot! It is far too narrow here! There are many parked cars!’
    His passenger leaned further forward and tried to grab the wheel. A car travelling in the other direction blew its horn as they swerved into the centre of the road.
    ‘Please,’ the driver shouted; his hands clammy though he gripped the wheel tightly. ‘We cannot overtake. It is dangerous!’
    Muttering an oath under his breath, the passenger slumped back in his seat. Ahead of them two cars went through a green traffic light. The next went through amber. The traffic light turned red. The brakes squealed as the taxi came to a juddering halt.
    The driver eyed his passenger from the comparative safety of the rear-view mirror.
    ‘Where to now?’ he asked, unable to control the trembling in his voice.
    ‘Ferny Down Guest House. That’s where they should be heading. It’s on the Lower Bristol Road . Do you know it?’
    ‘Yes. Yes. I do.’
    The driver’s eyes flickered nervously between the traffic light and the rear-view mirror. Late night passengers troubled him, this one more than most.
    The lights changed. The taxi moved forwards across the river and right towards the Lower Bristol Road .
    Robert Howard Davies, lately of Horfield Prison, Bristol, made himself comfortable. He knew the taxi driver’s eyes were studying him, no doubt wondering whether he’d get his fare or not.
    That depends, thought Robert, disgruntled because he’d got so close to reacquainting himself with his daughter. Still, no harm in going to see the wife; and God help Mervyn Herbert if he wasn’t there when he arrived. There’d be some explaining to do, and he wasn’t in the market for accepting excuses. Never had been. Never would be.

Chapter Five
    One day, one whole twenty-four hours had passed and Elmer Maxted