The Lost
- Автор: Бекетт Саймон
- Серия: Jonah Colley #1
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Orion/Trapeze
- ISBN: 978-1-398-70690-3
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «The Lost». Краткое содержание книги:
Ten years ago, the disappearance of firearms police officer Jonah Colley’s young son almost destroyed him.
A GRUESOME DISCOVERY
A plea for help from an old friend leads Jonah to Slaughter Quay, and the discovery of four bodies. Brutally attacked and left for dead, he is the only survivor.
A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
Under suspicion himself, he uncovers a network of secrets and lies about the people he thought he knew — forcing him to question what really happened all those years ago...
‘No. There’s no way Gavin was working with Stokes. No way.’ Jonah shook his head, wanting to dislodge the thought before it took root. ‘Stokes must have realised he was being watched and followed Gavin back to his flat. If this shows anything it’s that the warehouse was probably a set-up. Stokes could have led him there deliberately.’
‘That’s one possibility.’
Something in Fletcher’s voice stifled Jonah’s protest. He watched as the DI took another photograph from the folder. It was from a street camera again, also taken at night. Stokes was the only subject in this as well, carrying a large holdall slung over one shoulder. But it was a different location, and Jonah stiffened when he recognised the modern houses in the middle-class street.
‘This is the road where Marie and Gavin live, but I don’t...’
He trailed off, a cold shock running through him when he saw the time and date stamp.
The previous afternoon.
‘It was taken around the same time as the house was burgled.’ Fletcher said. ‘Which probably explains the holdall he’s carrying. Although somehow I can’t see him going all that way just to nick a teenager’s laptop and games console.’
Jonah felt as though his mind had stalled. ‘Then what was he after?’
‘You tell me.’ Fletcher rocked his chair backwards, balancing it on two legs as he regarded Jonah.
‘How am I supposed to know?’
The chair banged down onto all four feet as Fletcher suddenly leaned forward. ‘Because you’re holding something back, Colley, it’s written all over you. Whatever McKinney was doing at that warehouse, whatever was going on with him and Owen Stokes, I don’t believe he’d have left you out of it until the last minute. Something happened you’re not telling me about.’
‘You’ve examined my phone, if I’d been in contact with—’
‘Stop pissing me about. First off we find out Owen Stokes was at the warehouse, and now it turns out he broke into McKinney’s house yesterday, looking for God knows what. And then there’s you, batting your eyes and pleading ignorance. So I’ll ask you one last time. What aren’t you telling me?’
The kitchen door opened as Bennet came back from her call. She glanced at them, registering the tension, but gave no other sign. Giving a minute shake of her head in answer to Fletcher’s questioning look, she resumed her place. The DI’s almost lipless mouth tightened, making Jonah think that whatever message had just passed between them, it couldn’t have been good news.
‘You’ve come just in time,’ Fletcher said to her. ‘I was explaining to Sergeant Colley how last chances work. And he was about to tell me what it is he’s been withholding from us all this time.’
‘Whatever it is, you need to ask yourself if it’s worse than multiple homicide,’ Bennet said, surprising him. ‘Because that’s what you’re implicated in. Your call, but if you don’t cooperate, you can say goodbye to your career. And that’s the best you can hope for.’
‘Then maybe I should get a lawyer,’ Jonah shot back, trying not to show the alarm he felt at her words. ‘And I’m sure the Police Federation would love to know one of their members was being threatened.’
‘No one’s threatening you, we’re just pointing out the alternatives. But I think you already know that.’
The policewoman’s relaxed assurance was more unsettling than her superior’s hostility, but Fletcher didn’t give Jonah a chance to respond.
‘You want to hide behind someone’s skirts, fine.’ The DI’s grin was hard, stretching the taut skin of his face. ‘Make a complaint, see where it gets you. Get someone to sit in and hold your hand if you like. You’re hiding something, Colley, so you can either tell us what it is voluntarily, or carry on like you are doing. And you’ve been on the job long enough that I shouldn’t have to spell out how that’s going to end.’
He didn’t. And although the DI’s attitude rankled, Jonah knew Fletcher was right. He was hiding something.
Just not what they thought.
‘OK, I didn’t just lose touch with Gavin McKinney,’ he told them, forcing out the words. ‘There’s a reason I hadn’t spoken to him for so long, but it’s nothing to do with any of this.’
Fletcher crossed his arms. ‘Go on.’
Even after ten years, Jonah still felt the old reluctance. Not that it mattered anymore, even to him. But silence could become a habit. Say it.
‘He slept with my wife.’
Chapter 14
Ten years ago
The house looked the same as ever as Jonah walked up the path to the front door. That seemed wrong somehow. It should be ramshackle and falling down, not untouched by what had happened. Keys in hand, he looked at the step where Theo had once fallen, the tears from a grazed knee replaced by laughter as Jonah had picked him up and swung him round. You’ve broken the path! Theo’s harder than concrete!
Tearing his eyes away, he unlocked the door and went in.
He’d phoned Chrissie to tell her he was going to collect the last of his things, but it had gone straight to voicemail. They’d had hardly any contact with each other in weeks. At some point Jonah knew they’d have to sit down and talk about the divorce, but he didn’t have any appetite for that. He hadn’t even got around to consulting a solicitor yet, even though he was sure Chrissie wouldn’t have wasted any time. One of the advantages of being a PA to the senior partner at a law firm instead of a police officer on compassionate leave. No doubt Neil Waverly would have been there to offer advice and a sympathetic shoulder. And the rest. Jonah had always suspected they’d been sleeping together even before... Well, before. But it didn’t seem to matter now. Good luck to her, Jonah thought. And God help the poor bastard. Now it didn’t seem to matter.
The empty hallway greeted him; no toys littering the floor, no small shoes or clothes on the coat hooks. It hit him afresh, robbing him of breath and weakening his legs, so that it was a few seconds before he became aware of hearing the shower running upstairs.
Oh great, Jonah thought. Chrissie must be home. He contemplated turning around and leaving. But then he’d only have to come back again later. Squaring his shoulders, he started up the stairs.
‘Chrissie?’ he called, pushing open the bedroom door. ‘I left you a message, I’ve come for—’
He stopped. Gavin was by the bed, caught in the process of fastening his jeans. He was shirtless. Behind him the quilt lay in a rumpled heap.
The smell of sex thickened the air, subtly different to the scent Jonah associated with the room. With him and Chrissie.
‘Fuck,’ Gavin said. He straightened. ‘I know how this—’
Jonah hit him in the mouth. Gavin stumbled and toppled backwards as his legs struck the edge of the bed. Jonah threw himself on top of him, straddling his chest and swinging punches. Gavin was yelling, trying to block the blows with his forearms and struggle free, but then one caught him flush on the jaw. It sent a shock all the way up to Jonah’s shoulder and Gavin’s eyes blanked. Barely noticing the pain from his knuckles, Jonah raised his arm to hit him again, and there was a burst of light as something crashed against the back of his head.
Dazed, he could hear angry voices through the ringing in his skull, and then Gavin was pushing free from under him. The room lurched dizzyingly as Jonah tried to get up, but there was no strength in his arms. Gavin was on top now, pinioning his arms with his knees as he pounded Jonah’s unprotected face. Jonah felt his nose burst, then everything seemed to tilt as he fell off the bed onto the floor.