Deadline

by Simon Kernick

  It might not be enough to put him away for years, or even months, but at least she'd done something to disrupt his business and pay him back for the ordeal he'd put her through two days earlier, and a search of the flat would probably mean freedom for the girl he'd abused as well, which had to be a good thing. He would probably work out who'd been behind it, and might even want to extract some kind of revenge when he was back on the street, but she doubted he'd risk killing a SOCA agent. Whatever he might like to claim, Daroyce was a bully, and bullies tended to be cowards when it came down to it.

  She knew what her former lover, John Gallan, would have thought of her actions. He'd have disapproved, not only because what she'd done was potentially so dangerous, but also because he'd always believed in the absolute sanctity of the law he'd been paid to uphold. But as Tina and countless many others had found to their cost down the years, the law didn't always punish the bad, just like it didn't always protect the good. Sometimes you just had to bend the rules, even if that did mean planting evidence.

  Somewhere deep inside, the realization of what she'd done and the huge risk she'd taken worried her. But nowhere near enough to regret it, and there was even something of a spring in her step as she walked down the quiet, litter-strewn street and heard the first of the sirens converging on Leon Daroyce.

  Epilogue: Two

  Days Later

  It was a cool, drizzly day, very different to the Indian summer of the past ten days or so, and Mike Bolt and Andrea Devern were standing on Hampstead Heath, looking up in the direction of Kenwood House.

  Andrea looked good. She was dressed in a three-quarter-length raincoat, her long auburn hair flowing over the collar. Her eyes were bright and alive in a way Bolt hadn't seen since their affair all those years ago.

  'I really didn't want to do it,' she was saying to him now. 'It's no consolation, I know, but I was under huge amounts of pressure. Will you forgive me?'

  Bolt looked at her. Andrea Devern had put him through hell, there was no doubt about it, but she'd also had one of the best reasons going for doing so. The safety of her daughter. Not his, unfortunately, he knew that now, but he could still sympathize. Today was the first time the two of them had seen each other since the chaotic aftermath of the ransom drop, but what should perhaps have been an awkward meeting felt anything but.

  But then, Bolt thought ruefully, Andrea has always had a way of making me feel good.

  He smiled. 'Sure, I forgive you. Maybe I'd have done the same in your position.'

  'No, you wouldn't. You're not like that. You're a good man, Mike. You've got too much integrity.'

  He shrugged. 'Maybe. But we all do desperate things sometimes. I'd like to see Emma at some point, too. I know she's not mine, but it would be nice to see how she's getting on.'

  'I'll get her to call you when she's feeling better. She's been sleeping most of the past few days.'

  'But she's OK?'

  'Yeah, she's doing well. She's a fighter, just like me. She's upset about Pat. She liked him.'

  'How do you feel about it?'

  'I've shed my tears. He wasn't such a bad bloke, and I'm glad he didn't betray either me or Emma. That's a comfort.'

  'Good.'

  'And what about your colleague, Turner? The one who was at my place. How's he getting on?'

  'He's out of intensive care and they say he should make a full recovery, but he's going to be in hospital for a while yet.'

  'I hope he's all right. He seemed a nice guy.'

  Neither of them mentioned Jack Doyle. He was still in a bad way in hospital but Bolt had little doubt he'd survive. Jack wasn't the kind to give up. He'd always been too bloody-minded for that, although he had little to look forward to when and if he did finally make it.

  'And how about you, Mike?' asked Andrea. 'How are you managing? What's going to happen about your suspension?'

  'I don't know yet. I'm still waiting to hear what action they're planning to take against me.'

  'They shouldn't take any. You were a bloody hero. If it wasn't for you . . .'

  There was no need for her to finish the sentence. They both knew what she meant.

  He wasn't sure that he had been a hero, though. More likely he'd been a fool, and it was foolishness that still might cost him his job. But he didn't regret his actions, had even stopped worrying about the whole thing these past couple of days. What would happen would happen anyway, so it was easier just to think about something else.

  They were silent for a moment, each watching the other. Conscious that there was still something there. Finally, Bolt spoke again.

  'The reason I wanted to meet you today was because I had a question.'

  Andrea looked wary. 'OK . . .'

  'That day we met in the West End all those years ago, when we went back to your hotel. That wasn't, you know . . .'

  'What?'

  He suddenly felt embarrassed to bring it up.

  'It was genuine coincidence, right? You didn't know I was going to be there?'

  'You asked me that before. A long time ago.'

  'And now I'm asking it again.'

  Andrea smiled a little sadly. 'Have I been that bad to you that you could believe it wasn't?'

  'I just wanted to hear it from your own lips again. Now that this is all over.'

  'It was genuine coincidence, Mike. I promise.'

  She'd lied to him before, but he chose to believe her this time. Perhaps it was easier that way.

  'So, what now?' she asked, and there was an element of invitation in her hazel eyes.

  He'd thought a lot about this these past couple of days, and hadn't known the answer until he'd arrived here today and seen Andrea as she should have been – happy, attractive and spirited.

  'Well?'

  'We do the same thing we did fifteen years ago, Andrea.' He looked her in the eyes and smiled. 'We part company.'

  Her expression didn't change. 'Are you sure? I thought maybe there was still something there between us. Something that might be worth exploring.'

  He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, lingering just a second over her scent, wanting to hold her but not knowing where it would end if he did, before moving away.

  'Good luck, Andrea,' he said.

  The invitation remained in her eyes for another second, then faded as she accepted the inevitable.

  'And to you, Mike, and to you.'

  He turned and left her there, striding away purposefully, wishing perhaps that things could have been different – that Emma was his daughter, that Andrea genuinely loved him, that they could end up as the kind of happy family he and Mikaela had never had the chance to create. But knowing too that he'd made the right decision. It was time to make a clean break with the past, start looking towards the future.

  And where better to start than with a twenty-eight year-old artist from St Ives with raven hair and a dirty laugh.

  As he walked out on to Spaniards Road, he took out his mobile and called Jenny Byfleet, hoping that she was in a forgiving mood.

  THE END

  RELENTLESS

  Tom Meron finds himself on the run,

  pursued by enemies he never knew he had. . .

  3 o'clock. It's a normal Saturday afternoon. You're with the kids in the garden when the phone rings.

  It's your best friend from school, the best man at your wedding. Someone you haven't seen for a few years.

  It should be a friendly call making arrangements to see each other again, catching up on old times.

  But it's not. This call is different. Your friend is speaking quickly, panting with fear, his breaths coming in tortured, ragged gasps. It is clear that someone is inflicting terrible pain on him.

  He cries out and then utters six words that will change your life forever...the first two lines of your address.

  What do you do? Do you run or do you hide?

  'The pace is breakneck, the plot twists like a hooked eel. . .The sort of book that forces you to read so fast you st
umble over the words'

  Evening Standard

  'Simon Kernick writes with his foot pressed hard on the pedal. Hang on tight!' Harlan Coben

  SEVERED

  One night stand.

  One dead girl.

  One bad day.

  You wake up in a strange room on a bed covered in blood. And you have no idea how you got there.

  Beside you is a dead girl. Your girlfriend.

  The phone rings, and a voice tells you to press play on the room's DVD machine.

  The film shows you killing your girlfriend. Then you're told to go to an address in East London where you're to deliver a briefcase and await further instructions.

  There's no way out. If you're to survive the next 24 hours, you must find out who killed your girlfriend, and why.

  Before they come for you too. . .

  'Great plots, great characters, great action'

  Lee Child

  'For those who like their thrillers breathless, as well as bloody, this will be just the ticket' The Times

  THE BUSINESS OF DYING

  Featuring DS Dennis Milne: full-time cop, part-time assassin.

  It's a cold November night and DS Dennis Milne is waiting to kill three unarmed men.

  Cynical and jaded, Milne earns money on the side by doing what he does best: punishing the bad guys.

  But he's been set up. This time, instead of shooting drug dealers, he kills two customs officers and an accountant.

  The hunter has become the hunted. With his colleagues and his enemies closing in on him, Milne must use all his skills just to stay alive.

  The explosive first novel by the bestselling author of Relentless.

  'Caught me with its gut-wrenching reality. A compelling début'

  Gerald Seymour

  'A remarkable dé but...Pace, twists and a savage sense of place make this a guilty pleasure' Guardian