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...
Waverly didn’t take the hint. ‘How did you stand it? I don’t think I could... you know, if this...’
‘You need to stop thinking like that.’ It came out harsher than Jonah intended, but this wasn’t helping either of them. ‘And maybe ease up on the whisky, as well.’
‘Yes, you’re right.’ Waverly nodded. He set his glass down again. ‘I did try, you know. To get the rest of the money.’
‘I’m sure you did.’
‘Do you think it’ll be enough?’
‘It’s a lot of money,’ Jonah said, ducking the question.
Waverly nodded, as though trying to reassure himself. ‘But what if it isn’t? What will you do if he tries anything, or takes the money but doesn’t... you know...’
Jonah did. ‘Like I say, try not to think about that.’
‘But have you got some sort of contingency plan if he doesn’t make the exchange? God knows, I’m grateful you’re doing this, but...’ He gave Jonah’s crutches a fearful, almost furtive look. ‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’
It was a little late for him to ask that, but Jonah could understand why. Until now Waverly had been focused on raising the ransom money, blocking out any thoughts beyond that. Now there was nothing to keep them at bay.
‘I’m not going to lie to you about the risks,’ Jonah told him. ‘But I’m not stupid enough to just walk in there and hope for the best. Trust me.’
‘I do, but... well, perhaps I should come with you?’
That was the last thing Jonah wanted. He’d been wondering how much to tell them. The less they knew the less trouble they’d be in afterwards, especially if things went wrong. But if the situations were reversed, Jonah knew he wouldn’t want to be kept in the dark.
‘I’ve arranged for someone to back me up,’ he said. ‘An ex-police officer who knows how to look after himself. He’s going to stay in the background unless he’s needed, but he’ll be there if Stokes tries anything.’
‘Right. Good, that’s... that’s...’ Waverly nodded but his thoughts were still running ahead. ‘Will that be enough, though? What if Stokes is armed?’
Jonah had hoped he wouldn’t have to get into this. But they’d a right to know when it was their children’s lives at stake. Even so, the admission weighed heavily on him.
‘I’ll be armed as well.’
He’d thought Waverly looked pale before. Now the other man’s face turned bone white. His hand went to his mouth.
‘You mean you’re taking a gun? Oh, Jesus...’
‘It’s just a precaution. I probably won’t need it.’ Jonah spoke with a confidence he didn’t feel.
‘But a gun!’ Waverly looked as though he might throw up. He shook his head. ‘No, I can’t... I mean, this isn’t—’
‘Good!’
Jonah hadn’t heard Chrissie come back downstairs. She’d showered and was wearing a thick white bathrobe, her still-wet hair brushed straight back as she walked into the kitchen. Waverly had half risen to his feet, looking shell-shocked.
‘Chrissie, we can’t—’
‘Shoot him,’ she told Jonah, as though her husband wasn’t there. She stopped in front of him, her eyes bright and hard. ‘I don’t care if he begs for his life, I want the bastard dead.’
‘I’m not going to shoot anyone, if I can help it.’
‘Why the fuck not? You think he won’t do the same to you? Look what happened to Gavin!’ Chrissie grabbed the front of Jonah’s jacket in her fists. ‘I know you, Jonah, I know what you’re thinking! You want Stokes alive in case he knows something about Theo. But this isn’t about him anymore. This is about Harry and Abigail, so the first chance you get I want you to put a bullet in that bastard’s head! You hear me?’
Tears were rolling down her face. Jonah took hold of Chrissie’s knotted hands, rubbing them before gently disengaging them from his jacket. Waverly had gone to her as well. He laid his hands on his wife’s shoulders, trying to ease her away.
‘He’ll get them back,’ he told her. ‘Won’t you, Jonah?’
‘I will. I promise,’ Jonah heard himself say.
It was only then he remembered how Gavin had once said the same thing to him.
The journey to the quayside felt unreal. The lights from the other cars seemed more dazzling than usual, the darkness more absolute. He’d put the laptop case in the passenger seat footwell, unwilling to have it out of his sight even while he drove. It was more money than he’d ever had in his life, and he found himself constantly glancing at it as he drove, reassuring a subliminal fear that it might somehow have vanished.
But he knew that was only a symptom of his tension, not its cause. The thought of where he was heading, what he was about to do, made his hands clammy on the steering wheel. In all his years as a firearms officer, Jonah had never shot anyone. He’d hoped to keep it that way, and now here he was. On his way to collect an illegal weapon, with a good chance he’d need to use it in the next couple of hours.
Yet as he neared the quayside Jonah felt his nerves begin to quieten. The confrontation with Stokes was no longer something abstract, still hours in the future. It was happening now, and in accepting that a sense of clarity came over Jonah. He hadn’t been able to save Theo, but history didn’t have to repeat itself. Questions of morals and legality, all his doubts, fell away. It was simple, really.
He would either save Chrissie’s twins or die trying.
As he pulled onto the waste ground at Slaughter Quay, a glance at the dashboard clock told him it was just after eleven. He was early. He couldn’t see Wilkes’s car at first, but after he’d switched off his headlights he made out the dark shape of an unlit vehicle at the far side. Good. If he had to look for it there was less chance of Stokes seeing it either.
Climbing out of his car, Jonah slung the laptop bag’s strap over his shoulder and made his way over. It was slow-going on the uneven ground. The night was cloudy and he didn’t want to switch on his torch, so he had to be careful where he put his crutches. It was only when he was a couple of metres away that he was able to recognise the ex-detective’s old Vauxhall. There was no cabin light showing, and as he went to the passenger side Jonah hoped Wilkes had thought to switch it off so it wouldn’t come on when the door was opened.
As he approached the dark car he could make out the bulky figure behind the wheel. With a last glance around the waste ground, Jonah gave a light rap on the window before opening the passenger door and climbing in.
‘Did you get it?’ he asked, keeping his voice down. ‘What did you...?’
His voice failed. Wilkes was slumped in the driving seat. He might have been sleeping, except that there was something on his head. Under the transparent film of a plastic bag Jonah saw the blank eyes and gaping mouth, and then there was movement behind him. He twisted round, already starting to react as a pale, shaved head rose into view from the back seat. Then he caught sight of an impossible, familiar face and shock wiped all thought from his mind.
Something crashed into his head and the world turned black.
Chapter 33
His head hurt. That was his first awareness, but other pains and discomforts quickly made themselves known. He felt sick and ached all over. He was lying on something hard and bristly. Carpet, brown and tufted. Not his. It seemed to move under him with a queasy, rolling motion that made his nausea worse. His arms were twisted behind him, and when he tried to move something thin and hard cut into his wrists. His ankles were bound as well.
Nylon ties.