by M A Comley
Lorne nodded. “Do your best. Promise whatever you have to promise, and we’ll try our utmost to adhere to that. It depends on how Will and Nathan react once they’re confronted, of course. I really want to wait until the two of them are up on stage, receiving the award, if indeed they win it. That way, we’ll attack when they’re least expecting it,” Lorne said, jotting down a few notes on a serviette.
“What if they see us and twig why we’re there?” Katy asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
“We’ll do our best to avoid them seeing us. Maybe we can get behind the scenes at the stage area, if that’s possible.”
“Sounds like a great plan to me,” Tony added. “The four of you can be behind the scenes while Sean, Joe and I watch the proceedings amongst the attendees.”
Lorne looked at the other members of her team. “Sounds like a good idea. Right, guys?”
Karen, Graham and Katy all either raised their cups or nodded their acceptance.
“Okay. Time is getting on. We should take up our positions at the venue. Good luck, everyone.”
Chapter 18
By eight o’clock, everyone was in position. Lorne was astounded by the volume of people in attendance at such a function. It proved to her the mind-boggling amount of money that was invested in the trade.
The award ceremony began at eight fifteen. Mayor Timothy Saunders began racing through the awards. It was a long and laborious process for Lorne to have to listen to. She hated attending mindless award ceremonies, even when she was personally involved in them. Around nine o’clock, Timothy Saunders announced the firms up for the most prestigious award of the evening. “The nominees for Housebuilder of the Year award are… Tyler Homes, Brentwood Homes, Sutherland Homes and Donald Windsor Homes.”
Lorne peeped through the curtains on stage and scoured the audience. She spotted Will and Nathan sitting at the large table directly in front of the stage. They were busy nudging each other and looking pretty confident they were about to be announced as the winners. Lorne sent Tony a text message:
Are you ready?
Yep, we’re set to go. Good luck.
Lorne gave the thumbs-up to the rest of the team standing alongside her. “We’ll wait to see who the winners are first and then make our move.”
“In fourth place is… Brentwood Homes. Third place goes to… Tyler Homes. And the winner of the category is… joint first place goes to Sutherland Homes and Donald Windsor Homes. Gentlemen, if you’d like to come up and receive your awards,” Saunders said to a rapturous applause.
Watching Will and Nathan approach the stage, Lorne noticed the euphoria they had exuded moments before seemed to have dulled a little.
“That’s pissed them off coming joint first,” Lorne whispered to Katy.
“Too right. Shall we take them now or wait until after their speech?”
“Leave it a few more minutes. I’m glad Sutherland Homes won. Gerry was a nice man and didn’t deserve to die at the hands of these bastards.”
“It’s an honour to present you men with this award,” Mayor Saunders said, handing Will the ten-inch-high trophy in the shape of a tower block.
“Please, step forward, Mrs. Sutherland. I want to pass on my condolences on your husband’s death. Such a tragedy. I hope this award and the posthumous notoriety he has earnt will go towards easing your pain a little at this sad time.”
Lorne watched Nathan’s and Will’s eyes narrow as the woman accepted the award on behalf of her dead husband. She wiped the tears from her cheek and gulped loudly when the mic was placed in front of her. “Gerry would have been super proud to have won this amazing accolade to his work. I’m bowled over with gratitude for the kindness the community has shown me in recent weeks. Thank you.”
“Did you want to say anything, gentlemen?” Saunders asked Will and Nathan, offering Will the microphone.
Will cleared his throat before he spoke. “I’d like to say thank you to my assistant manager, for going the extra mile in helping me obtain such an awesome tribute to the hard work we put in daily on-site.”
Lorne gave the go-ahead for the team to show themselves. With her Taser in hand, Lorne emerged from behind the curtain. The audience gasped, causing Nathan and Will to turn their way. Nathan took off. He didn’t get very far before Sean cut him off by standing in his way at the base of the stage. Graham caught up with Nathan and fastened the cuffs on his wrists.
Will was flustered, and he looked hesitant about running. In the end, as Lorne, Katy and Karen surrounded him, he looked down at the pregnant woman he had been seated alongside all evening. “I’m sorry, Gillian. I did it all for you.”
Appalled, the woman rose calmly from her chair and let another woman from the same table escort her from the room. Lorne presumed the second woman was Nathan’s wife because she looked equally shocked by the events that had unfolded.
“Gillian, please. Don’t turn your back on me when I need you the most.”
“Did she know she was married to a monster, Will?” Lorne demanded as Katy slapped on the cuffs.
Will vehemently shook his head. “She’s not. I didn’t do anything. It was all Nathan. He killed those men.”
“Like hell it was. You were in on it up to your neck, you bag of shit,” Nathan yelled.
“Don’t worry. Both of you are going down for this. You’ll be behind bars for the rest of your lives, with no hope of getting out again on parole—not if I have my way. Is this truly what those men’s lives were worth? A piddly little award like that?” Lorne’s anger was hard to contain.
Will’s head dropped in shame. “I regret my actions. Nathan forced me to do those unspeakable things. He’s the one with the past record. You have to believe me.”
“You make me sick. To rob those men of their lives in order for the briefest spell of notoriety for yourselves.” Will’s head dropped further onto his chest. “Get him out of my damn sight.”
Katy and Karen followed Nathan and Sean out of the room. Lorne watched Tony and Joe join them at the entrance.
Lorne grabbed the microphone and spoke to the room. “I’m sorry to have to interrupt the evening’s merriments. I’m DI Lorne Warner of the Met’s Murder Squad. The two men we arrested this evening are suspected of killing off their competitors and other tradesmen to obtain their notorious award. I’m pleading with the panel to reconsider their decision and to declare Sutherland Homes be the outright winner of such a prestigious award.”
A man standing alongside the Mayor of London stepped forward. “Consider it done. Let me shake your hand, Inspector, on a job well done. We have enough problems to deal with in our industry without being associated with such atrocious crimes as these.”
“Thank you, sir.” Lorne took a few paces toward Mrs. Sutherland. “Your husband was a lovely man, Mrs. Sutherland. I’m sorry that his success proved to be in vain.”
With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Sutherland shook Lorne’s hand. “Thank you for solving his murder in a timely manner.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lorne walked off the stage to cheers and the loudest applause she’d ever received in her life. Her heart swelled with pride on her valiant team’s behalf.
Epilogue
During the interviews, it didn’t take long to figure out who was lying and who was telling the truth. Nathan was the first to be questioned. He blamed everything on Will until Lorne shot his accusations down in flames. She had to remember that he was the one with the prison record, not Will. He’d been the one ringing Lorne, making all the threats, not Will. Under a heavy bombardment of questions, he finally broke down and admitted that he’d paid Larry Watson to go to the other sites and cause mayhem, and when Larry had outlived his usefulness, Nathan had been the one to kill him.
Will on the other hand was full of remorse. When Lorne asked why he’d allowed himself to be drawn into a world of darkness and crime. He admitted that he had already won two awards in the past, but the third award was proving to be elusive to achieve
. No one in the trade had ever obtained three awards. He’d disclosed this to Nathan, and that was when he’d come up with the plan to cause chaos on the other sites.
When asked why he let things get out of hand, Will merely shrugged and said they were in too deep to back out. The closer the award ceremony came, the more willing he became to listen to what Nathan had planned.
In the end, Lorne put forward to the CPS that in her eyes, the men were equally guilty of the crimes and they should both go down for a long spell.
A few days later, Lorne heard from the hospital that there had been a cancellation, and her nose was reset in an operation lasting a few hours. She was left with two very bruised black eyes, and once the swelling went down, her nose appeared to look in far better shape than it had before Nathan had smacked her in the face. She was happy anyway.
Jade was called in to undergo her surgery a few weeks later. Lorne was there to support her, as promised. The surgeon removed a small lump no bigger than the size of a peanut. She was put on hormone therapy instead of chemo, to everyone’s relief. The oncologist called her in for a further MRI scan, which proved that she was clear of cancer and that there was no reason for her to suspect it would return in the future. Jade had been given instructions to keep a watchful eye on things, all the same, through self-examination. She passed this nugget of advice on to Lorne and Charlie and advised them to do the same.
As promised, Sundays had become family days, in spite of all the trips to hospital both sisters had endured over the past few weeks. They were determined never to let each other down again in the future. A family bond was something both Jade and Lorne craved now that they were both getting older. Jade’s cancer scare had taught them all a lesson in the end.
Life really is too short and should be lived to the fullest extent whenever possible.
THE END
Note To The Reader
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed this somewhat gruesome adventure with Lorne and the team. Surprising ending, yes? The building trade is full of corrupt individuals I suspect.
But wait… there’s one more final case for Lorne to solve in the Justice series, you’re going to need a box of tissues handy when you read the next book.
Lorne and her tenacious team are about to embark on their most heart-wrenching case to date.
Find out more by downloading your copy of TOXIC JUSTICE today.
Thank you for all your continued support for my work.
M.A. Comley
By the way, it would be wonderful if you’d spend 5–10 minutes of your valuable time letting me know what you thought of Lorne’s latest adventure in the form of a review. I read every last one of them religiously and regard them as valuable feedback for my work.
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About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M A Comley is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of crime fiction. To date (December 2018) she has over 82 titles published.
Her books have reached the top of the charts on all platforms in ebook format, Top 20 on Amazon, Top 5 on iTunes, number 2 on Barnes and Noble and Top 5 on KOBO. She has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide.
In her spare time, she doesn’t tend to get much, she enjoys spending time walking her dog, Dex in rural Herefordshire, UK.
Her love of reading and specifically the devious minds of killers is what led her to pen her first book in the genre she adores.
Look out for more books coming in the future in the cozy mystery genre.
