by James Hilton
Clay jostled her playfully. “Oh I don’t know; you could stand to carry a little more junk in the trunk.”
Danny turned to talk to Julie but she had walked away from the club with Jacks. The dog looked back at the club, balanced on his three good legs, then waddled after Julie. Danny puffed out his cheeks.
“She’ll be okay,” said Pamela.
Danny knew there was nothing else to say.
Clay shared an embrace with both Larry and Pamela. “We better be going. We ship out first thing in the morning. I just need to go and settle up our hotel bill. I’ll keep in touch.”
“Make sure that you do,” said Larry.
“Hey, you two stay out of trouble,” said Danny.
The Dukes smiled back at him. Larry tapped his boot with a crutch. “That should be easy, you killed all the troublemakers in a fifty-mile radius.”
Clay nodded in agreement. “Ay-men to that.”
On the roof of the Woo Hoo Club, a crow with feathers the same colour as the charred building squawked once. The two sharp taps of its beak upon the tiles were unnoticed by the people below. Seemingly satisfied, the carrion bird launched itself into the air and after another squawk flew out to sea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A big thank you as always to my wife Wendy. Writing is so much more than just hammering out words on a laptop. It also takes much narrowing of eyes and rubbing of chin. Wendy endures both on a regular basis.
Thank you also to Team Titan. My tireless editor Miranda Jewess who takes my words and makes them better. Philippa Ward and Lydia Gittins too for their help and support.
My respect goes out to all of our servicemen and women, of land, air and sea, past and present, who wore the uniform and stood when it counted most.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Hilton is the author of Search and Destroy, the first novel in the Gunn Brothers series. He is a 4th Dan Blackbelt in Shotokan Karate, and has worked as a martial arts instructor, which has been invaluable in crafting his fight scenes. He is currently planning a YA series. He lives in Carlisle. His brother is bestselling thriller author Matt Hilton.
