Beyond Reach by Graham Hurley

happens. Que sera …’
    They’d arrived at the stable block. Esme told Winter to sort out some feed while she got rid of the saddle and the rest of the tack. Kate had turned up by now, a plaster on her knee, and she led Winter to the empty stall where the oats were kept. Winter had seen a lot of the kids over the last couple of years. Esme brought them to his apartment in Gunwharf sometimes and he let them raid the fridge for Coke and banana smoothies. He liked their spirit and the way they all looked out for each other.
    The horse stabled and fed, Esme called Evzenie on her mobile and asked her to take Kate back to the house. There was a pile of hay bales against one corner of the stable block and Esme made herself comfortable in the warm sunshine. The earlier hostility had gone. She’d decided to treat Winter as an ally.
    ‘I think I’m in love,’ she said. ‘Does that make up for anything?’
    ‘No.’ Winter shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not. Baz could probably wear the odd shag or two. It’s who you’re doing it with that matters. ’
    She nodded, reflective, and plucked a straw from the nearby bale. ‘Do you know Perry at all?’
    ‘Not well.’
    ‘He’s sweet. Really sweet. I know he’s unpopular because he’s told me, but you know something? Guys like him are often misunderstood. You blokes are always so macho. Perry’s got a real feminine side, believe it or not.’
    ‘Sure. If you know where to look.’
    ‘That’s cheap, Paul. I’m serious. Do you think I’d go through all this for any guy that happened along? He’s got to be special. He’s got to want to understand me. He’s got to need me, trust me, become part of me. Perry does all that, has done from the start. That makes me lucky, doesn’t it?’
    ‘ Lucky? ’ Winter gazed at her. ‘You fuck off over to that hotel twice a week, you shag his brains out, you have a great time, all that I can understand. But why complicate it with all this lucky shit? Sex is one thing, love. Never complicate it by falling in love.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because you’ll hurt people. And one of them, in the end, will be you.’
    ‘You believe that?’
    ‘I do.’
    She sucked at the straw a moment, then wound it round her little finger.
    ‘You sound like my mum,’ she said at last.
    ‘You’ve talked to her about all this?’
    ‘This morning, on the phone. I think she sussed what you must have told Dad. She thinks I’m bonkers.’
    ‘That’s because you are.’
    ‘No, Paul.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not. I just told you. Perry does it for me. Big time. Every time. More and more. How can I turn my back on that? He knows who I am, Paul. He knows who I am inside.’
    ‘Because you tell him?’
    ‘Because he’s clever, intuitive, just the way you are. Maybe it’s a police thing, a CID thing, maybe it comes with the job. He’s just brilliant at getting inside my head, inside my heart, getting me to open up, getting me to be myself. ’
    ‘So you tell him stuff?’
    ‘Of course, all the time. No secrets, Paul. No hidey-hidey. That’s not our style.’
    ‘Right …’ Winter looked away. This was much, much worse than he’d imagined. Madison, true to form, had opened her up and helped himself. This was no longer a fishing expedition. This was damage limitation.
    ‘I’m going to be blunt, love. Your dad is appalled at what you’ve done.’
    ‘Because Perry’s a copper.’
    ‘Yeah. And that means you’re sleeping with the enemy. Like I said, he probably wouldn’t begrudge you the odd screw but this is way out of line.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because people like Madison, people like I used to be, have an agenda. They can’t help themselves. It’s in their blood. It’s what they do.’
    ‘I’m not with you, Paul.’
    ‘Think about it. Think about your dad. Think about how he made his money. Think about what paid for all this.’ He nodded at the stables, at the pool, at the house, at the meadow. ‘Perry Madison, like it or not,