Page 39 of Deep Down
“Stop!” She giggled. “I thought we’d buried that name.”
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean for it to come out.” Alex snorted as he tried to calm himself. “Anyway, how are things with you?”
“Good. I’ve never felt better. I’m hoping it will last.” She rifled through the bag at her side before producing a sippy cup for Danny and passing it to him.
“You didn’t have any problems with Danny. Hopefully, you’ll be fine.” Alex knew it wasn’t always the case, every pregnancy was different after all.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, and no doubt you haven’t spoken to Mum and Dad lately…” She raised her eyebrows in question to which he shook his head. “They want a second honeymoon in Italy.”
It was Alex’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Why?”
“Erm, how about because they’ve been married for nearly forty years!” Ella sighed and rolled her eyes at him, exasperation clear in her sarcasm.
“Okay, okay! So, they’re planning a trip, are they?”
“Yeah, they’re researching it. I think we should pay for it as an anniversary gift. What do you think?” She placed an open box of raisins in front of Danny, who had started whinging and throwing his toys to the floor. Alex was always overwhelmingly impressed when Ella automatically did things like that, seemingly without thought. Whenever he had babysat the bugaboo, Alex had to have a list so he knew what he could and couldn’t do or give to him, despite being a doctor. He assumed knowledge came with parenthood.
“I don’t mind paying, no.”
“I think if we pay for the flights and the hotel—and a spa treatment or something—they can use their money for trips and excursions or whatever they want to do when they get there.”
“Sounds good. If you can sort it and let me know how much I need to pay, then I’ll get it to you.”
“Yeah, I know your working hours are crazy.” She glanced at him with a smirk in place. “And besides, you wouldn’t have a clue about a nice place to stay.”
“Hey! I know what I like.” He threw a wadded-up napkin towards her with a chuckle. “I don’t know what other people like.”
Their lunch was over quicker than he would have liked, and he tickled Danny, kissed Ella and headed home. Alex couldn’t settle down. He ended up wearing a hole in the carpet while he waited for news from Logan.
When his phone finally rang, he scrambled over to the table to reach it before it clicked over to voicemail.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.” Logan’s voice had Alex’s nerves on edge. “Everything is fine. Craig has been informed and appeared to be okay with the situation. I managed to get a bit more information out of him regarding Darren, which will help us with the investigation. It will also allow us to keep him in remand until the court hearing.”
“I thought he would be kept there anyway, with what he had done?”
“Yes, but there was always the chance we would be overruled, and Darren let out. Now, we will be able to keep him in.”
“Was it bad?”
“No, it wasn’t. But it’s shown us he is a danger to Craig, which is the most important thing in this situation.”
“Alright. Thanks, Logan.”
“No problem. But remember, I shouldn’t be giving you this information, Alex. I’m doing it because I know you have his best interests at heart. If you speak to Craig, pretend you don’t know any of it.”
“Of course. Sorry for putting you in this position.”
“It’s fine. Anyway, I have to go, duty calls and all.”
“Sure. Thanks again.”
They rang off, and Alex flopped onto the sofa with a sigh of relief. At least Craig has one less thing to worry about now.
