There were few people Dixon would trust with his dog, but Rod was one of them. Said it all, really.
Sue was sitting next to Rod, holding his other hand. ‘It was a mild one, mercifully,’ she said. ‘He’d been overdoing it in the garden. The doctor reckons he’s been very lucky.’
Jane was sitting on the end of the bed, her eyes fixed on the screen.
‘You shouldn’t have bothered coming, Nick,’ said Rod, holding his mask away from his mouth. ‘I’m sure there are other places you need to be. I’ll be fine. These two will see to it.’
Dixon stepped forward, clasping Rod’s right hand in his, careful not to dislodge the sensor on his fingertip. ‘You need to tell her, Rod. And you need to tell her now.’
It was definitely a Land Rover coming along the lane; Dixon recognised the headlights. They’d swapped car keys so he could bring Monty home in Jane’s car. It could be her, he thought. Either that or someone out lamping. He’d heard several shotgun blasts as he’d wandered along the lane, following Monty’s white coat in the moonlight.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ would be her first question, and he was ready for that one. There’d be some tears too, but no chance of a medicinal gin and tonic.
Pub was closed anyway.
The Land Rover stopped and Jane got out, leaving the engine running. She ran over to the farm gateway where Dixon was waiting with Monty and put her arms around his neck, hugging him tight, her chest heaving as she sobbed.
‘How is he?’ he asked, rubbing her back with the palms of his hands. He’d been doing a lot of that lately; carrying a baby was back-breaking work, it seemed.
‘They’re keeping him in for a few days, but he’s going to be all right, I think. I was there when the consultant came round; low risk of another one, apparently.’ Jane was rubbing her eyes. ‘He was digging in the garden – a vegetable patch, would you believe it? The silly sod never knows when to stop.’
‘Have you eaten?’
‘Oh no, you don’t get out of it that easily.’ She leaned back, Dixon’s arms still tight around her waist. ‘How long have you known?’
‘He told me when I went to see him about the wedding.’
‘You didn’t go to see him about the wedding; you went to ask his permission to marry me.’
‘I’m old-fashioned, so shoot me. And he appreciated the gesture.’
‘He did, but that was months ago and you never said anything.’
‘It wasn’t my place. He wanted to tell you on your wedding day; it’s a father and daughter thing. I did say I’d tell you if they left it too late.’
‘All these years I thought they only adopted me because they couldn’t have children of their own.’
‘And all the time they could, but chose you instead. That’s quite something when you think about it.’
‘Yeah, it is.’ Jane reached down to stroke Monty, who was jumping up at her. ‘It’ll take me a while to get my head round it.’
‘Take as long as you want. You’re entitled to compassionate leave.’
‘You crafty—’ She thought better of it, catching herself mid-sentence. ‘I said I’d visit him in the evening, after work. They understand only too well what we’ve got going on, even if you don’t.’
‘I’m not sure I do – yet, anyway.’ Dixon opened the back door of the Land Rover, allowing Monty to jump in. ‘I thought about Valentine’s Day. Will he be well enough to walk you down the aisle by then?’
‘You just try and stop him.’ Jane grinned. ‘I’ll ring Jonathan in the morning, see if he can squeeze us in. He did say he’d do his best when we had to cancel last time.’
‘The function room at the Red Cow is free,’ said Dixon. ‘I checked. Managed to catch last orders too.’
‘I bet you haven’t eaten. And you’ve got an early start in the morning. You’re due at Torquay Police Station at nine.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘It’s a building site.’
‘A very big building site,’ replied Dixon. He was standing with Louise on the pavement outside what had once been the Palace Hotel.
‘I came here yonks ago with my parents,’ she said. ‘I must have been nine or ten, maybe. There was some family “do” on – you know how it is. The leisure centre was over there.’
A service road cut through the middle of the site, houses under construction on the far side.
‘It was lovely; a big pool, squash courts. We had a great time.’
The main site had been hidden behind green-painted wooden panels covered in a multitude of signs and stickers: the name of the builders, hard hats must be worn, no admittance beyond this point – the usual stuff. The circus was in town too, the posters faded and torn at the edges, so probably dated from last summer.
Dixon ducked under the barrier and stood at the top of what had once been the drive, presumably, the road sweeping down in a gentle curve to the grand entrance, the edge marked by red and white interlocking crash barriers and wire fencing.
‘This is what it used to look like,’ said Louise, holding her phone in front of Dixon, the screen filled by the huge hotel, painted a similar shade of green to the wooden panels now hiding the desolate scene from the locals.
Vast piles of rubble were all that was left of it.
Some grey, some red.
Four men wearing hi-vis jackets and yellow hard hats were standing at the bottom of the access road, smoking. They glanced at Dixon and turned away, gawpers a familiar sight, probably.
