Cruel Comfort (Evan Buckley Thrillers Book 1) Read Free Page B

out.'
    He must have known it was you who
was going to be investigating .
    Ryder and his partner, who hadn't
said a word the whole time, turned to go. But Ryder just couldn't let it go. He
hesitated at the door.
    'I just can't understand why anyone
would want to spend their lives doing this shit.’ He made a sweeping arm
gesture taking in the whole room. ‘Helping people ruin their lives day in day
out. Why don't you do something to help people for a change? Find missing kids
or something worthwhile like that.'
    Something snapped inside Evan. A
sudden surge of heat flushed through his body and he felt a rush of blood to his
head making it feel like it was going to explode. Ryder had touched a raw nerve
and he couldn't stop himself. He jumped up from the chair and lunged at the fat
detective, screaming into his face.
    'You sanctimonious bastard. You have
no idea what you're talking about. You know absolutely nothing about me.'
    Ryder's partner stepped between them
and put his hand on Evan's chest. It was a big hand and he was a big man, broad
in the shoulders, narrow in the waist. His eyes held Evan’s. 'That's enough.
Calm down now.'
    'Calm down! I've had to listen to
this holier-than-thou, fat prick insult me from the moment he walked in and now
he tells me I should spend my life doing something useful. He wouldn't know
what useful was if it bit him in the ass.'
    'I don't know what you're getting so
riled up about,' Ryder said from behind his partner. 'You do what you do, you
gotta expect people to hate you.'
    'Do either of you two idiots know
the first thing about me? My name doesn't ring any bells? Come on, you're the
great detectives.'
    'I don't know what you're talking
about,' Ryder said again. 'Why the hell would we know anything about a lowlife
like you.'
    Evan lunged again, but Ryder's
partner pushed him back. 'Five years ago. Sarah Buckley. My wife. Disappeared
off the face of the planet. Ring any bells yet?'
    Ryder looked at him like he was
talking gibberish. There was a faint glimmer of recognition in his partner's
eyes. 'I seem to remember something about that,' he said.
    'Well, allow me to refresh your
memories a little. One day, out of the blue, she disappeared without trace. I
reported her missing. You lot were about as much use as a one-legged man in an
ass kicking contest. What was worse was you didn't give a damn either. Back
then I had a proper job, but I couldn't stand just sitting around waiting for
lazy idiots like him,' Evan said, jabbing a finger at Ryder, 'with their heads
up their fat asses doing sweet F.A.'
    'You better watch your mouth,
Buckley,' Ryder said. But Evan was too far gone to stop now.
    'Or what, you fat bastard? Or what?‘
He was almost screaming now, a red mist engulfing him. ‘I packed in my real job
so that I could start doing yours. And no, I didn't find her, but at least I
tried, which is more than you did. And I'm still trying, and I'll keep on
trying.'
    He paused to gulp some air into his
heaving lungs. He could feel himself shaking against the other detective’s
hand. 'So when some useless tub of lard comes in here and spends ten minutes
being abusive before he tells me to do something useful with my life, I get a
little uptight.' He spat the last word into Ryder's face over his partner's
shoulder, and pushed harder into the hand on his chest.
    'On top of all that I still have to
pay the bills, and that means I have to do whatever my clients pay me to
do, however distasteful the sainted Detective Ryder might find it. It's called
the real world, and you should go there some time. See how you get on without a
badge to hide behind.'
    He sagged visibly; the outburst had
drained him completely. Ryder's partner could see the fury had gone and he
dropped his hand from Evan's chest.
    'Okay, okay, we're going to leave
now. If you can think of anything that might be useful, or you just want to
talk, give me a call. The name's Guillory.' He gave Evan his card and they left.
     
    After