Killing Mum_Kindle (10 page)

He'd just felt ... different. Like he was dreaming, even though he knew he was awake. He dreamed he'd shot Jordan. He dreamed he'd burned his hand. He had burned it. The dream was so vivid it made it happen in the real world. Maybe Jordan was dead too.

Carlos got out of bed and walked through to the en-suite and threw up in the sink. This time he didn't hold it back.

***

He must have gone back to bed and fallen asleep because he was jolted awake by a scream. He fumbled around for the light, scrambled out of bed, flung on a dressing gown, opened the door. The babysitter was standing in the doorway of the spare bedroom.

"
Is
problemo
?
" Carlos said.

She stood there, her head jiggling and her teeth chattering.

"What?" he said, after a
bit.

"On the bed," she said, pointing.

Carlos sighed, padded over to her,
peered
inside the room. His mother was lying there, fully clothed,
sprawled
out, on top of the quilt. She didn't look cold or anything, just a little unladylike. "Let her sleep," he said. "She's tired."

"But..." the girl said
. "
But she's..."

"How much do I owe you?" Carlos said.

"Where's Maggie?"

"She's still asleep."

"Maggie," the girl said, quietly. Then when Maggie didn't appear, she shouted her name.

"How much?"
Carlos said.

"I'm getting the fuck out of here." She sprinted for the door, not even bothering to put her shoes on.

Carlos watched her go. Then he went through to the kitchen to get Sofia's feed ready. He'd let Maggie sleep on a bit. It was still early and she'd be tired too. It had been a long night for everyone.

###

Allan Guthrie is an award-winning Scottish crime writer. He was born in Orkney, but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. His debut novel,
Two-Way Split
, was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger award and went on to win the Theakston's Crime Novel
Of The
Year in 2007. He is the author of four other novels,
Kiss Her Goodbye
,
Hard Man
,
Savage Night
and
Slammer
; and three novellas,
Kill Clock,
Killing Mum
and
Bye
Bye
Baby
.

Visit Allan at
http://www.allanguthrie.co.uk

Or follow him on twitter at
http://twitter.com/allanguthrie