In Plain Sight

Chapter 4

4

Wendy Knight smiled as she watched Xav snoring open-mouthed beside her. Falling asleep in front of the TV was one of those quirks and foibles she loved about him, but which no-one in their right mind would list as facets of their ideal man. That certainly didn’t stop her finding them incredibly endearing, though.

Xav hadn’t officially moved in, but he was doing a pretty good impression of it. He’d recently decided to put his own house on the market and move in with Wendy, although he hadn’t yet managed to find a buyer. Wendy thought that was a bit odd, especially as she’d had to push him to list the house in the first place, but she didn’t see any point in questioning it just yet. At worst, he was just another commitment-phobic man.

She didn’t hold it against him, though. He’d been incredibly supportive towards her and had urged her to take her inspector’s exams — something she’d been considering but avoiding for some time. She’d given herself all the excuses under the sun, but when it came down to it she realised that deep down she felt uncomfortable at the prospect of matching – and potentially exceeding — the rank her own father had achieved before his untimely death.

She knew, too, that Xav had been hurt in the past and he’d need to take things at his own pace. Neither of them had come into this relationship without baggage, and as far as Wendy was concerned it was great just to have someone who she could connect with, without the worry that something was going to go horribly wrong. To many other women, Xavier Moreno might have come across as a bit of a wet blanket, but to Wendy he was safe. And safety was the most important thing in her life.

Balancing her private life and her career had proven difficult — as any police officer would easily attest — but Xav knew the score. He’d been part of civilian police staff for a few years, working in computer forensics, and had recently decided to take the next step on his own career ladder. He’d decided he wanted to become a police officer, specialising in the same field but giving him a direct police role with greater responsibility and the opportunity to get involved in spearheading the fight against cyber crime.

Wendy didn’t pretend to know anything about computers or cyber crime, which is precisely why she’d had to call on Xav so often and the two had eventually become close.

It was the first time in many years she’d let someone else into her life. The last time that had happened, she’d fallen hard and fast and it had ended in tragedy. That was the sort of heartbreak she just couldn’t go through again.

Before then, the only real man in her life had been her father, Detective Inspector Bill Knight. He’d been her hero when she was a child, and her family had been devastated by his early and untimely death.

Sometimes, she wondered whether her reticence in allowing Xav into her life had been because she somehow felt guilty at replacing her father as the man who always had her heart. With her last lover, Robert Ludford, she’d barely had time to sit back and think about such things, but since then she’d grown older and far more philosophical.

She looked again at Xav, his throat wobbling slightly as he snored. She knew if she woke him up now he’d claim he’d been watching TV all along and hadn’t fallen asleep — not even for a second. She didn’t know why he did it, but it made her laugh. It was just another harmless foible which amused her and endeared him to her.

Tomorrow was Saturday. Although she had to work, Xav was a little more fortunate in his working hours and tended to stick to a solid Monday to Friday, nine til five. There was overtime available, and he often took it if he knew Wendy would be working anyway, but tomorrow was a day off for him.

She leaned over, kissed him on the head and switched off the light. At some point, he’d wake up and make his way quietly upstairs, slipping into bed beside her. She wouldn’t notice. But in the morning she’d wake up and he’d be there, asleep again, allowing her to kiss him on the head once more before she left for work.

That suited her perfectly. That suited her very well indeed.