Saffina Desforges' ROSE RED crime thriller box set
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Chapter 8.
Chapter 9.
Chapter 10.
Chapter 11.
Chapter 12.
Chapter 13.
Chapter 14.
Chapter 15.
Chapter 16.
Chapter 17.
Chapter 18.
Chapter 19.
Chapter 20.
Chapter 21.
Chapter 22.
Chapter 23.
Chapter 24.
Chapter 25.
Chapter 26.
Chapter 27.
Chapter 28.
Chapter 29.
Chapter 30.
Chapter 31.
Chapter 32.
Chapter 33.
Chapter 34.
Chapter 35.
Chapter 36.
Chapter 37.
Chapter 38.
Chapter 39.
Chapter 40.
Chapter 41.
Chapter 42.
Chapter 43.
Chapter 44.
Chapter 45.
Chapter 46.
Chapter 47.
Chapter 48.
Chapter 49.
Chapter 50.
Chapter 51.
Chapter 52.
Chapter 53.
Chapter 54.
Chapter 55.
Chapter 56.
Chapter 57.
Chapter 58.
Chapter 59.
Chapter 60.
Chapter 61.
Chapter 62.
Chapter 63.
Chapter 64.
Chapter 65.
Chapter 66.
Chapter 67.
Chapter 68.
Chapter 69.
Chapter 70.
Chapter 71.
Chapter 72.
Chapter 73.
Chapter 74.
Chapter 75.
Chapter 76.
Chapter 77.
Chapter 78.
Chapter 79.
Chapter 80.
Chapter 81.
Chapter 82.
Chapter 83.
Chapter 84.
Chapter 85.
Chapter 86.
Chapter 87.
Chapter 88.
Chapter 89.
Chapter 90.
Chapter 91.
Chapter 92.
Chapter 93.
Chapter 94.
Chapter 95.
Chapter 96.
Chapter 97.
Chapter 98.
Chapter 99.
Chapter 100.
Chapter 101.
Chapter 102.
Chapter 103.
Chapter 104.
Chapter 105.
Chapter 106.
Chapter 107.
Chapter 108.
Chapter 109.
Chapter 110.
Chapter 111.
Chapter 112.
Chapter 113.
Chapter 114.
Chapter 115.
Chapter 116.
Chapter 117.
Chapter 118.
Chapter 119.
Chapter 120.
Chapter 121.
Prologue
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Chapter 8.
Chapter 9.
Chapter 10.
Chapter 11.
Chapter 12.
Chapter 13.
Chapter 14.
Chapter 15.
Chapter 16.
Chapter 17.
Chapter 18.
Chapter 19.
Chapter 20.
Chapter 21.
Chapter 22.
Chapter 23.
Chapter 24.
Chapter 25.
Chapter 26.
Chapter 27.
Chapter 28.
Chapter 29.
Chapter 31.
Chapter 32.
Chapter 33.
Chapter 34.
Chapter 35.
Chapter 36.
Chapter 37.
Chapter 38.
Chapter 39.
Chapter 40.
Chapter 41.
Chapter 42.
Chapter 43.
Chapter 44.
Chapter 45.
Chapter 46.
Chapter 47.
Chapter 48.
Chapter 49.
Chapter 50.
Chapter 51.
Chapter 52.
Chapter 53.
Chapter 54.
Chapter 55.
Chapter 56.
Chapter 57.
Chapter 58.
Chapter 59.
Chapter 60.
Chapter 61.
Chapter 62.
Chapter 63.
Chapter 64.
Chapter 65.
Chapter 66.
Chapter 67.
Chapter 68.
Chapter 69.
Chapter 70.
Chapter 71.
Chapter 72.
Chapter 73.
Chapter 74.
Chapter 75.
Chapter 76.
Chapter 77.
Chapter 78.
Chapter 79.
Chapter 80.
Chapter 81.
Chapter 82.
Chapter 83.
Chapter 84.
Chapter 85.
Chapter 86.
Chapter 87.
Chapter 88.
Chapter 89.
Chapter 90.
Chapter 91.
Chapter 92.
Chapter 93.
Chapter 94.
Chapter 95.
Chapter 96.
Chapter 97.
Chapter 98.
Chapter 99.
Chapter 100.
Chapter 101.
Chapter 102.
Chapter 103.
Chapter 104.
Chapter 105.
Chapter 106.
Chapter 107.
Chapter 108.
Chapter 109.
Chapter 110.
Chapter 111.
Chapter 112.
Chapter 113.
Chapter 114.
Chapter 115.
Chapter 116.
Chapter 117.
Chapter 118.
Chapter 119.
Chapter 120.
Chapter 121.
Chapter 122.
Chapter 123.
Chapter 124.
Chapter 125.
Chapter 126.
Chapter 127.
Chapter 128.
Chapter 129.
Chapter 130.
Chapter 131.
Chapter 132.
Chapter 133.
Chapter 134.
Chapter 135.
Chapter 136.
Chapter 137.
Chapter 138.
Chapter 139.
Chapter 140.
Chapter 141.
Chapter 142.
Chapter 143.
Chapter 144.
Chapter 145.
Chapter 146.
Chapter 147.
Chapter 148.
Chapter 149.
Chapter 150.<
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Chapter 151.
Chapter 152.
Chapter 153.
Chapter 154.
Chapter 155.
Chapter 156.
Chapter 157.
Chapter 158.
Chapter 159.
Chapter 160.
Chapter 161.
Chapter 162.
Chapter 163.
Chapter 164.
Chapter 165.
Chapter 166.
Chapter 167.
Chapter 168.
Chapter 169.
Chapter 170.
Chapter 171.
Chapter 172.
Chapter 173.
Chapter 174.
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Chapter 8.
Chapter 9.
Chapter 10.
Chapter 11.
Chapter 12.
Chapter 13.
Chapter 14.
Chapter 15.
Chapter 16.
Chapter 17.
Chapter 18.
Chapter 19.
Chapter 20.
Chapter 21.
Chapter 22.
Chapter 23.
Chapter 24.
Chapter 25.
Chapter 26.
Chapter 27.
Chapter 28.
Chapter 29.
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7.
Chapter 8.
Chapter 9.
Chapter 10.
Chapter 11
Chapter 12.
Chapter 13.
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16.
Chapter 17.
Chapter 18.
Chapter 19.
The Rose Red
Crime Thriller Box Set
Snow White (Book 1)
Rapunzel (Book 2)
Ring-A-Ring O’Roses (short story)
The Night Before Christmas (short story)
by
Saffina Desforges
© Saffina Desforges 2011-2012.
All rights reserved.
This story is a work of fiction. The resemblance of any characters to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-908961-30-3
Published by Mark Williams international Digital Publishing.
For Pauline Rose.
Snow White
Book 1 of the Rose Red crime thriller series
by
Saffina Desforges
Prologue
“Another wild goose chase.” Detective Chief Inspector Bill Andrews threw his keys onto the desk, the red velvet gift-box resting on papers in his in tray catching his eye. “Ay up, what have we here then?”
“Guv?”
“It’s for you.” Andrews read the address label. “For attention of DI Cassandra ‘Red’ Rose. Hand delivered. No postmark.” A smile played on his lips. “Secret admirer, Cass. Barry Taylor, maybe?”
Red edged herself around the desk. “Very funny.”
Andrews handed her the package. The perfectly formed, hand-written script stood sinister against the gloss-white label. The box meticulously wrapped, taunting Red. Daring her to open it. She turned it over in her hands, feeling its weight, intrigued.
“Can’t be Taylor, Guv. Handwriting’s too neat. He wouldn’t dare, anyway.” Red slid a finger beneath a fold, tearing the paper slightly.
Andrews looked on in silence, embers of unease beginning to smolder in his gut. The crimson box sat in Red’s hands, a gold padlock swinging from its clasp.
“Maybe we should have someone give it the once-over first, Cass?”
“Get real, Guv. Can’t imagine Al Qaeda have got me in their sights. You’re right. It’s probably Taylor and his cronies playing some kind of prank.” Red shot a sideways glance at her boss, uncertainty gathering momentum. She grabbed a letter opener.
The lock pinged against the desk as she prized it open, the lid bouncing up to reveal a transparent zip-lock bag.
Red lifted it out cautiously, dropping it instantly as it met the light, her hand flying to her mouth.
“It’s a heart! Oh God, some sick bastard’s sent me a heart!”
Andrews fished out a blood-stained card with the tips of his fingers, instinctively shielding her from the sight of the package.
“Easy, Cass. Easy. It’s not human. Not this time, anyway.”
Red felt the colour return to her cheeks. “This time?”
Andrews turned the card towards Red as he read it out loud.
“Oink! Oink! – Next time it will be one of yours. The Huntsman.”
Chapter 1.
“No, not like that. Read it properly!” Ruby sat forward in bed, tugging at Red’s sleeve, the child’s freshly-washed hair falling around her shoulders.
“I am reading it properly, sugar.” Red tried not to let her frustration show.
“Read it like Deimante reads it,” Ruby persisted.
Red thought, Deimante can barely speak English, let alone read it. “Okay, gorgeous. Here goes. Ready?” She held the book in front of her face so Ruby wouldn’t see the resigned expression. What was the point of having a bloody au pair that goes home of an evening?
Not that she didn’t love reading to little Rubes, of course. Just, not tonight.
This evening, of all evenings, Red wasn’t up to reading Snow bloody White for the thousandth time in succession. But how do you explain that to an adorable four year old?
“Cassie!” Ruby pulled Red back to reality with a slap on the wrist and a severe stare.
“Ow! That hurt, honey!” The pained expression and trembling bottom lip were fooling no-one. Ruby saw right through her.
“Snow White! Snow White!” she chanted. “Come on, Cassie. I’m waiting.”
“Yes, come on, Cass. Ruby Tuesday is waiting.”
Red looked up to see Ella propped in the doorway, still in her school uniform. How short was that skirt?
“You don’t fancy it, El’, do you?” Red turned on the pleading eyes. “You know how much Rubes loves you reading to her.”
“Top of the class in English, dude!” Ella flounced in, sitting on the opposite side of the bed, taking her little sister’s hand. “Do you want me to read to you, Tues?”
Ruby’s eyes lit up. “Snow White! Snow White!”
“Giz.” Ella reached to take the book from Red.
Red held it tight. “Done your homework, madam?”
The book was snatched from her grip, a monosyllabic teenage grunt in response. Not that Ella is quite a teenager yet. A while to go. But she’d easily pass as a frustrated fourteen year old to anyone not in the know.
Red sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes, then, shall I? Just in case anyone asks?”
Ella looked up long enough to manage another grunt, then with a beaming smile at her sister launched into an animated and moving rendition of the Snow White story, Ruby hanging on her every word.
Ella could be so eloquent when she wanted to.
Just, not with Red.
Chapter 2.
“I would remind you that you are under oath, Inspector.”
Red clutched the brass rail of the witness stand in Court Five, ice-blue eyes glaring at Defence Counsel.
The bitch.
“And I would remind you,” Red heard her own voice rise an octave, “that these people are thugs.” She watched the blood disappear from her knuckles before loosening her grip, letting out a slow breath. “Lousy, scheming thugs, preying on helpless old people.”
Defence Counsel smiled coldly. “That’s what we’re here to determine, Inspector. The jury will make that decision, not you.”
“If they’ve got the bottle.” Red turned a glaci
al stare on the jury. “Well, have you?”
Defence Counsel was almost leaping across the bench to grab the Judge’s attention. “Your Honour, that remark is completely un –”
“Thank you, Ms. Crichton-Ward.” The Judge gestured for Defence Counsel to retake her seat. He shifted his attention to the witness stand, peering over half-rimmed glasses at Red. “Inspector Rose, need I remind you that you address the Court, not the jury?”
“I’m sorry, your Honour. This case is an exceptionally emotive one for me.”
“For us all, I’m sure. However, that does not alter the defendant’s right to a fair trial.”
“Fair trial? Those bastards tortured an old —”
“Inspector Rose,” the Judge earnestly leaned forward. “I am making every allowance for your conduct. Especially so today. But while you are here, you will observe due decorum. Do I make myself clear?”
Red sucked a deep breath. “Perfectly, Your Honour. I apologise to the Court.”
The Judge nodded his gracious acceptance. “Pray, continue, Ms. Crichton-Ward.”
Defence Counsel smiled sweetly. “So, Inspector... Let’s be absolutely clear on this. You say you know for certain that it was the defendants who attacked Mrs. Henshaw, because you say CCTV footage shows it. Yet this footage has somehow gone missing?”
“That’s correct.”
“From within the Police Station.”
Red swapped her weight onto her other foot, avoiding Counsel’s stare. A reluctant nod of the head.
“I didn’t quite catch that, Inspector.”
Without looking up, “Yes.”
“So this CCTV footage, the only piece of evidence that puts the defendants at the scene of the crime, at the right time, has quite conveniently been, how can I put it, misplaced?”
“You can put it how you like. I know what I saw.”
“So we only have your word that the defendants were in any way involved.”
“You only have their word they weren’t.”
“The burden of proof is on the prosecution, as you well know.” Defence Counsel looked directly at the Jury as she addressed Red. “How many times have you arrested the defendants, Inspector?”
Red dropped her eyes to the floor. “Three.”
“And how many times have you secured a conviction?”
Red studied her fingernails, biting her lip. Bitch.
“I’m sorry, Inspector. I didn’t quite catch that.”
“You know damn well how many.”
“But the Jury doesn’t, Inspector.”
An interesting stain on the ceiling caught Red’s attention.
Saffina Desforges' ROSE RED Crime Thriller Boxed Set Page 1
