The Wilderness Murders: DI Giles Book 16 (DI Giles Suspense Thriller Series)

by Anna-Marie Morgan

It seemed an age before he replied. “No.”

  “Did you have your suspicions?”

  “How do you know about Sarah?”

  “Your parents were worried about you. They reported you missing. I saw the magazine articles in your room. I know you were close as children, and I know she was like a sister to you, and your best friend.”

  “They cut her up.”

  “Who cut her up?”

  “She was on holiday with her family, and she was sliced up.”

  “I’m sorry…” Yvonne cleared her throat. “... they didn’t find out who killed her, Eifion?”

  “They never do.” He spat onto the ground next to him. “It was a cowboy enquiry… They suspected a backpacker, but no-one was ever charged or convicted.”

  “Do you still feel angry about that?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Why don’t you let these people go? They have a daughter who is desperate to hear from them, and who wants them to return safely to her, the way you would have liked Sarah to return to you.”

  “But she didn’t, did she?”

  “These two people, Sheila and Trevor, were not responsible for your cousin’s death, Eifion. You have been hurting people who wouldn’t have harmed a hair on her head. I think you know, deep down, that you’ve taken things too far. It’s not too late to turn this around.”

  “You say that, when you know that’s not true. How do I come back from this?”

  “You’re young, Eifion, you’ll figure this out. You will have people around you who will help you navigate your way through this.”

  “When I’m in prison…”

  She paused, taking a deep breath. “The people who hurt Sarah have had to live with themselves since that day. I’ll bet they’ve had many sleepless nights about it and, if they were never caught, they probably still worry that there’ll be a knock on the door, or a hand on their shoulder. You don’t want to live like that. And I think, deep down, you don’t want to hurt anyone else. Trevor and Sheila are here on holiday with their daughter, just like Sarah was on holiday with her parents. You don’t have to give this family the same nightmare that Sarah’s family… and you… had to live with all these years.”

  Eifion fell silent, still holding onto Sheila.

  The DCI’s voice came over the radio. “Yvonne, Eifion’s parents are here. Derek and Caroline Evans are in the forest. Over.”

  The DI acknowledged, turning her attention back to the desperate young man before her. “Eifion, your parents are here. They’re worried about you.”

  “I bet they hate me.”

  If she had, at any point, lost sight of the fact he was a mere seventeen years old, she was reminded of it now. “They don’t hate you, Eifion. They could never hate you. You are their son. You will always come first with them. They want what’s best for you. Why don’t you put the gun down and let Sheila and Trevor go? You’ll feel so much better.”

  The DI caught movement in the corner of her eye.

  Trevor Hopkins had worked free of his bonds, and was creeping up behind the man holding his wife.

  She held her breath.

  Eifion twisted, firing his gun wildly in Trevor’s direction. The latter dropped to the floor.

  Sheila took her chance, rolling away from Evans, who swung his weapon back towards the DI.

  “Don’t shoot,” Yvonne called into the radio. “Please, hold your fire.”

  Evans kept his gun trained on her. “So, this is it. This is where I go out.” He lowered his weapon.

  Yvonne took a pace forward, her eyes briefly checking Trevor Hopkins, who was lying still. He did not appear to be bleeding. “This isn’t the wild West, Eifion, and you are not some cornered outlaw going out in a blaze of glory. You’re a confused, and hurting young man who needs help to sort out what is going on in your head. No-one here is looking to hurt you. You’ve done some bad things, and you will have to answer for them, but I know you can move forward from here, and accept the help you will be offered. But please, please, please, don’t hurt anybody else. It’s not what anyone here wants, it’s not what your parents want, and I know it’s not what Sarah would want. You have your whole life ahead, and you will recover from this. I’m not pretending it will be quick, or easy, but I believe you can do it.”

  Eifion’s face dropped, his arms going limp. He looked as though he was about to cry.

  “Let me have the gun, Eifion.”

  He didn’t move; the shotgun held loosely in his hand.

  She kept her voice as calm as possible. “I’m going to come towards you now, Eifion. I will not harm you. I’m going to take your gun, okay?”

  He didn’t reply, but remained staring at the ground.

  She swallowed past the painful lump in her throat, heart pumping hard in her chest, and began slow, steady steps towards the teen.

  She had come within three paces of Eifion when he raised his head, his eyes meeting hers.

  He raised the gun.

  “No…”

  He turned it round, the barrel under his chin.

  “No!” She ran, slapping the gun hard, knocking it sideways as the ear-splitting shot rang out.

  Eifion fell back, his cheek bleeding.

  The DI grabbed the gun, throwing it behind her, for an advancing tactical support officer.

  She ran to Eifion, who was groaning on the ground. His wound appeared superficial. “You’ll live,” she said to him, before allowing those coming behind to arrest him.

  Dewi attended Sheila Hopkins, untying her, while Yvonne checked on Trevor, untying him, and leading him back to his wife. He complained of pain in his right side, where he had been kicked, and was having difficulty breathing.

  The DI called for paramedics to move in.

  Late the following day, back at the station, Yvonne had her head down, finishing the writing up of statements and her report.

  Although the bulk of their evidence would form part of the prosecution, and be given to the CPS, she would ensure that Evans’ defence knew of any mitigating circumstances.

  The case wasn’t straightforward, they rarely were, but this one had been particularly messy.

  Evans’ backpack was found to contain items belonging to both Kyle Davies and Brianna Horton.

  “I don’t get it.” Dewi looked up from his statement writing. “If Evans was murdering as some crazed revenge for his cousin’s murder, why did he kill Kyle and Brianna?”

  Yvonne shook her head. “He’s refusing to talk about their murders. I think that’s because they were personal. I felt, when I interviewed him, that he had intense feelings for Brianna. What might have started out as some warped campaign of revenge, morphed into something else. He won’t be released for decades, if ever, and only after intense rehabilitation programmes. Without them, he will remain a danger to society.”

  “Trevor Hopkins is still in hospital, but doing well.” Dewi regarded her over his brew. “Evans broke two of his ribs when he kicked him.”

  She nodded. “Their dog is recovering well, too. At least, that family were happily reunited.”

  “You must be shattered,” Dewi said, looking at the clock. “I think it’s about time we went home.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “I’m going straight to bed.”

  Dewi nodded. “Amen to that.”

  Back at home, Yvonne sat on the sofa with a cocoa, after her shower, her partner at her side. “You were right, Tasha…”

  “About what?” The psychologist raised her brows.

  “Your profile of the murderer. You were spot on with quite a lot of what you said… Anyone would think you were experienced.”

  Tasha laughed, spilling some of her cocoa down the front of her pyjamas. “You think?”

  THE END

  Afterword

  Mailing list: You can join my emailing list here : Anna-marieMorgan.com

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  You might also like to read the other books in the series:

&n
bsp; Book 1: Death Master:

  After months of mental and physical therapy, Yvonne Giles, an Oxford DI, is back at work and that's just how she likes it. So when she's asked to hunt the serial killer responsible for taking apart young women, the DI jumps at the chance but hides the fact she is suffering debilitating flashbacks. She is told to work with Tasha Phillips, an in-her-face, criminal psychologist. The DI is not enamoured with the idea. Tasha has a lot to prove. Yvonne has a lot to get over. A tentative link with a 20 year-old cold case brings them closer to the truth but events then take a horrifyingly personal turn.

  Book 2: You Will Die

  After apprehending an Oxford Serial Killer, and almost losing her life in the process, DI Yvonne Giles has left England for a quieter life in rural Wales.Her peace is shattered when she is asked to hunt a priest-killing psychopath, who taunts the police with messages inscribed on the corpses.Yvonne requests the help of Dr. Tasha Phillips, a psychologist and friend, to aid in the hunt. But the killer is one step ahead and the ultimatum, he sets them, could leave everyone devastated.

  Book 3: Total Wipeout

  A whole family is wiped out with a shotgun. At first glance, it's an open-and-shut case. The dad did it, then killed himself. The deaths follow at least two similar family wipeouts – attributed to the financial crash.

  So why doesn't that sit right with Detective Inspector Yvonne Giles? And why has a rape occurred in the area, in the weeks preceding each family's demise? Her seniors do not believe there are questions to answer. DI Giles must therefore risk everything, in a high-stakes investigation ofa mysterious masonic ring and players in high finance.

  Can she find the answers, before the next innocent family is wiped out?

  Book 4: Deep Cut

  In a tiny hamlet in North Wales, a female recruit is murdered whilst on Christmas home leave. Detective Inspector Yvonne Giles is asked to cut short her own leave, to investigate. Why was the young soldier killed? And is her death related to several alleged suicides at her army base? DI Giles this it is, and that someone powerful has a dark secret they will do anything to hide.

  Book 5: The Pusher

  Young men are turning up dead on the banks of the River Severn. Some of them have been missing for days or even weeks. The only thing the police can be sure of, is that the men have drowned. Rumours abound that a mythical serial killer has turned his attention from the Manchester canal to the waterways of Mid-Wales. And now one of CID's own is missing. A brand new recruit with everything to live for. DI Giles must find him before it's too late.

  Book 6: Gone

  Children are going missing. They are not heard from again until sinister requests for cryptocurrency go viral. The public must pay or the children die. For lead detective Yvonne Giles, the case is complicated enough. And then the unthinkable happens...

  Book 7: Bone Dancer

  A serial killer is murdering women, threading their bones back together, and leaving them for police to find. Detective Inspector Yvonne Giles must find him before more innocent victims die. Problem is, the killer wants her and will do anything he can to get her. Unaware that she, herself, is is a target, DI Giles risks everything to catch him.

  Book 8: Blood Lost

  A young man comes home to find his whole family missing. Half-eaten breakfasts and blood spatter on the lounge wall are the only clues to what happened...

  Book 9: Angel of Death

  He is watching. Biding his time. Preparing himself for a torturous kill. Soaring above; lord of all. His journey, direct through the lives of the unsuspecting.

  The Angel of Death is nigh.

  The peace of the Mid-Wales countryside is shattered, when a female eco-warrior is found crucified in a public wood. At first, it would appear a simple case of finding which of the woman's enemies had had her killed. But DI Yvonne Giles has no idea how bad things are going to get. As the body count rises, she will need all of her instincts, and the skills of those closest to her, to stop the murderous rampage of the Angel of Death.

  Book 10: Death in the Air

  Several fatal air collisions have occurred within a few months in rural Wales. According to the local Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) inspector, it's a coincidence. Clusters happen. Except, this cluster is different. DI Yvonne Giles suspects it when she hears some of the witness statements but, when an AAIB inspector is found dead under a bridge, she knows it.

  Something is way off. Yvonne is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but exactly how far down the treacherous rabbit hole is she prepared to go?

  Book 11: Death in the Mist

  The morning after a viscous sea-mist covers the seaside town of Aberystwyth, a young student lies brutalised within one hundred yards of the castle ruins.

  DI Yvonne Giles' reputation precedes her. Having successfully captured more serial killers than some detectives have caught colds, she is seconded to head the murder investigation team, and hunt down the young woman's killer.

  What she doesn't know, is this is only the beginning...

  Book 12: Death under Hypnosis

  When the secretive and mysterious Sheila Winters approaches Yvonne Giles and tells her that she murdered someone thirty years before, she has the DI's immediate attention.

  Things get even more strange when Sheila states:

  She doesn't know who.

  She doesn't know where.

  She doesn't know why.

  Book 13: Fatal Turn

  A seasoned hiker goes missing from the Dolfor Moors after recording a social media video describing a narrow cave he intends to explore. A tragic accident? Nothing to see here, until a team of cavers disappear on a coastal potholing expedition, setting off a string of events that has DI Giles tearing her hair out. What, or who is the thread that ties this series of disappearances together?

  A serial killer, thriller murder-mystery set in Wales.

  Book 14: The Edinburgh Murders

  A newly-retired detective from the Met is murdered in a murky alley in Edinburgh, a sinister calling card left with the body.

  The dead man had been a close friend of psychologist Tasha Phillips, giving her her first gig with the Met decades before.

  Tasha begs DI Yvonne Giles to aid the Scottish police in solving the case.

  In unfamiliar territory, and with a ruthless killer haunting the streets, the DI plunges herself into one of the darkest, most terrifying cases of her career. Who exactly is The Poet?

  Book 15: A Picture of Murder

  Men are being thrown to their deaths in rural Wales.

  At first glance, the murders appear unconnected until DI Giles uncovers potential links with a cold case from the turn of the Millennium.

  Someone is eliminating the witnesses to a double murder.

  DI Giles and her team must find the perpetrator before all the witnesses are dead.

  Book 16: The Wilderness Murders

  People are disappearing from remote locations.

  Abandoned cars, neatly piled belongings, and bizarre last photographs, are the only clues for what happened to them.

  Did they run away? Or, as DI Giles suspects, have they fallen prey to a serial killer who is taunting police with the heinous pieces of a puzzle they must solve if they are to stop the wilderness murderer.

  Remember to watch out for Book 17, coming soon…