by JL Simpson
She put a hand over her mouth to hold back another scream. Eyes stared back at her. Blank, unseeing eyes. A body. She took a deep breath and looked closer. A freezer full of dead bodies. She slammed the lid shut, bent forward at the waist, and took slow measured breaths, in an effort to steady her stomach and stave off a full-blown panic attack.
Toby howled again, and she darted back to the door as footsteps pounded past her room. She pulled out Solomon’s gun and tossed her bag aside. Once she was in the corridor she ran as quietly as she could to door number four, which stood open, flooding the whole place with light. The key was right where Toby said it should be. She grabbed it before running back to the room where they were holding Solomon.
*
Solomon leapt to his feet. The howling sounded demonic. Were they torturing poor Toby? Maybe they’d worked out who he was and what he’d been doing when he cozied up to Jason and the charity.
Heavy footsteps passed the door to his room. He grabbed the door handle and rattled it, before thumping the heavy wood with his fist. Another set of footsteps, more tentative. They stopped outside his door. The key rattled in the lock.
He grabbed the bucket from the corner of the room and took up position. The door swung open and Solomon saw a gun turn in his direction. He threw the contents of the bucket over his attacker and she screamed. Shoving her aside, he made a dive for the door.
*
“Oh God. Piss.” She was covered in piss. Fuck. Toby must have been in on the whole scam. A body shoved her, and she turned and waved the gun, blindly pulling the trigger. The blast hurt her ears.
Someone shouted, “Fecking hell.” And then there was a loud thump.
“Solomon? Shit. Oh shit.”
Her eyes stung, and she wiped ineffectively at her face with her wet shirt cuff. Had any gone in her mouth? She was going to die from piss poisoning. She dropped the gun and blinked in an effort to get her sight back. Solomon was lying face down in the corridor. One hand clenched his right butt cheek, and blood seeped between his fingers.
The corridor echoed with the sound of footsteps.
“Drop your weapons. We’ve got you surrounded. There’s no way out. This is the police.”
Daisy sank to her hands and knees, and threw up the contents of her stomach.
Chapter Forty
Daisy had showered half a dozen times, but she wasn’t sure her skin would ever feel clean. Even the sharp disinfectant scent of the hospital corridor couldn’t remove the tang of piss from her nostrils. She took a deep breath and stopped outside Solomon’s room. She’d been grilled for hours before the police decided she had no involvement with the whole sick scheme. No one had told her what was going on, or thanked her for solving what was potentially a huge case. Dan had persuaded the bigwigs from London to forget about the gun, although it had been confiscated.
She shoved the door to Solomon’s hospital room open and stepped inside. He grimaced. “Have you come to shoot me in the other arse cheek?”
She crossed the room, leaned her hip against his hospital bed, and smiled. “I guess you and Paul are even now. Besides, you deserved it after throwing piss all over me.”
One corner of Solomon’s mouth turned up in a smile and then he became serious. “Where is Paul?”
“Still at my mam’s. I decided not to tell him about our little adventure yet.”
“Why the feck not? It’ll be in all the evening papers.”
“It would ruin Sherman’s trip to the football. Besides, I need to get it all clear in my head.”
“What’s to get clear? The charity was a front to launder money, but when the funds coming in slowed down Maroni came up with an idea to earn more income.”
“How do you know all that?”
“Dan came to see me. He tells me you found the bodies in the freezer.” Solomon reached out and took her hand in his.
She tugged it free. “Poor bastards. They thought they were getting involved in a scam to cover their gambling debts to Maroni and give money to charity. Instead of pretending to be dead, they were offed by Maroni. Why didn’t they just kill them in the first place?”
“Maybe the dead guys started to have second thoughts. Wanted to turn themselves in.”
Daisy frowned. “If their bodies are stuffed in the freezer who died in their place to begin with?”
“Apparently the bodies of the homeless men had something to do with it.”
Daisy walked across the room and looked out the window. “The charity owns a property and yacht in the Canary Islands. I guess it would be easy enough to get homeless men to say yes to a free holiday and then make it look like they were someone else when they were killed. Doesn’t explain why they were dumping bodies around here though.”
“They were all set to become decoys for other potential victims. They started killing them off and dumping them when the scheme started to unravel. John wasn’t involved, but he started to get suspicious when so many of the policies he’d sold resulted in large claims soon after they were signed up. If Jason had any sense he would have used more than one insurance company, but he thought John wouldn’t do anything because they’d been at school together. Adrian Maroni is singing like a canary, terrified to go to jail, and terrified to stay out and face the wrath of his father. He figured if the dead men were ever identified no one would care as they were homeless. He was the one who put the arm in your car.”
“Why?”
“A message for me. He knew the insurance company was investigating.”
“And the explosion?”
“Jason, worried about us wanting to talk to Maureen. Toby found the tracking device and accused Jason of keeping tabs on him. Jason figured it was me. He saw me at the pub when he met Zut, apparently.”
Daisy turned and looked at him. “The whole thing is horrible. I’m not sure Maureen will ever get over her uncle being murdered by her manager, or that her fiancé turned out to be an undercover cop and a missing lord.”
“At least she has Toby. I’m sure his money and title will help ease her pain once she gets used to the idea, and their baby has a father, thanks to you.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that.”
“About Toby being the father?”
Daisy shook her head. “I know who you are, Ronan Dunlop.”
Solomon stared at her and she waited.
“What did you say?”
“I know your real name is Ronan Dunlop. What I don’t know is why you befriended Paul, and if you’re related, or if it’s just a coincidence,”
Solomon covered his face with his arm. “Shite. You’ve been snooping?”
“So it’s true, then?”
“I can’t tell Paul.”
“Tell Paul what?”
Solomon dropped his arm and stared at her. “I wanted to hate his guts.”
“Why?”
“He’s my brother.”
“How?”
“You’ve got a kid. I’m sure you know how it works.”
Daisy crossed to his bed and glared down at him. “Don’t be a smart-arse. I mean how did Paul’s dad meet your mam?”
“He was a soldier serving during the troubles. Told her he loved her and they’d be married, but when his time was up he went back to England, and she never heard from him again.”
“Did she tell him she was pregnant? Did she try to contact him?”
Solomon shrugged. “He knew about me, but she refused to go after him when he up and left. She was a proud woman and didn’t want a man to stand by her because he felt like he should do the right thing.” He smiled. “You’d have liked her. She was feisty, stubborn, and pigheaded, with a heart big enough to love the world.”
Daisy smiled back, despite the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “I’m sure I would. What about Paul? You went out of your way to find him, didn’t you?”
“I researched my da. He’d married an English woman and had another son. I followed Paul into the army and did all I could to
get posted with him. I was going to tell him who I was, and what a faithless bastard his da was. I wanted him to lose the only son he ever acknowledged as his own.”
“But?”
“His parents came to camp and took us out to dinner after we’d been on a tour of duty to Belize. Paul loved them both, and his ma didn’t deserve to have her heart broken. Causing trouble for Paul’s family wouldn’t change my life. It would hurt Paul, and I can’t do that to him. I love the maggot.”
“Maybe Paul deserves to know the truth. He wouldn’t love you any less because you were his brother. Perhaps his dad had a reason?”
“The past is best left in the past. Provided you’ve no plans to keep us apart, I can live with having him as my best mate.”
Daisy sighed. “You can see Paul as often as you want, provided you agree to me working with you for a bit longer.”
“I thought you’d be running for the hills, or the nearest recruitment agency to find a new office job?”
“No way. I’m getting really good at this. A couple more weeks and I’ll be brilliant.”
“Did you get a bump on the head, Princess?”
“Arsehole.”
Solomon shifted on the bed and grimaced. “Did you not bring grapes? It’s traditional to bring fruit when you visit the sick and infirm.”
She reached into her bag and tossed a packet of chocolate chip cookies on the bedside table. “I figured you needed to eat some real food instead of that healthy shit if you want to get your strength back.”
“I guess cookies will have to do.” He reached out and took her hand. “If I agree to let you stay on will you be keeping what you know to yourself or will you be telling Paul my secret?”
Daisy smiled. “Not mine to tell. However, I think you’re making the wrong decision. But then you’ve been wrong before.”
“How’s that?”
“I told you principal Marlborough and Langdon College had something to do with Lord Toby going missing.”
“The school was renting out the basement and had no involvement.”
“So they say, but give it time, and your uptight pompous old boy’s club members will crack under the pressure of continued police questioning.”
He chuckled and shook his head.
“I should go and let you get some rest.” She leaned over the bed and kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome to the family. But be warned, you ever throw piss on me again, and I won’t be shooting at your arse. Paul always wanted a sister.”
“You’re not that good a shot.”
“True. Only a trained sniper with a magnifying glass could hit a target that small.”
*****
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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Now Available ~ Box Set of First 3 Books in the series. Save 1/3 on the price of buying Books 2 and 3 separately.
Lost & Found ~ Book 2
Hot on the success of her first case, British female sleuth Daisy Dunlop can count the offers of work on one finger. An empty bank account and the need to prove to her business partner, private investigator Solomon Liffey, that she is an asset not a liability, calls for drastic measures. Terror has to be overcome as she answers a plea to find the one thing that gives her night sweats and flashbacks. A dogl. A missing stud poodle to be exact.
Solomon’s amusement at Daisy’s new case is short lived when the arrest of his former girlfriend, Lisa, leaves him with the fulltime care of his young daughter, Molly. A dead man is discovered in Lisa’s bed. Now he needs to help find the killer before Molly’s safety is compromised.
When Daisy realizes the dead man is linked to her current case, Solomon and Daisy are forced to work together to rescue the dog and uncover the killer’s motives. Would the sexual prowess of a poodle really incite someone to murder, or is the real motive hidden somewhere in Solomon’s secret past?
Lost Property ~ Book 3
Despite her best efforts, heir hunter Daisy Dunlop is yet to trace anyone who is entitled to the assets left by the dearly departed. Bills are mounting, her husband is hinting that she should get a real job, and another heir hunter keeps stealing her cases. When she gets a call from a solicitor who wants to hire her to find the sister of a dead client, success appears to be at hand. It’s just too bad the solicitor hired her on the recommendation of her ex-partner, Solomon.
Solomon’s not used to being dumped, so when his girlfriend calls time on their relationship and disappears, he wants to know why. If she won’t talk to him, she will talk to her best friend, Daisy. So, despite having sacked her as a partner a few months ago, he now needs to win her back. Putting a case her way, and making himself indispensable is just the start.
Together, they set out to give Daisy her first success as an heir hunter. However, it soon becomes apparent the solicitor’s client was not who he claimed to be though, and every attempt to find his real identity leads to another dead body. Daisy becomes the police’s main suspect in their murder case Solomon gives up the one thing he swore never to lose. His freedom. When he disappears Daisy risks the only thing that truly matters, her husband, Paul.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diminutive English rose, JL Simpson, was stolen away by a giant nomad and replanted in a southern land filled with gum trees and kangaroos. She quickly adapted to her new life, learning the meaning of “G’day” and “mate” whilst steadfastly refusing all attempts to convert her to Vegemite.
A hunger for exploration awoken by her new surroundings, she traversed the land seeking knowledge and adventure. Despite the trials and tribulations along the way she stood fearless in the face of calamity and embarrassment. With a joyous laugh, and a boundless supply of scones with cream and jam, she stood tall, all fifty-eight inches of her, and shrugged off the humiliation of falling in a freezer and reversing into her own mailbox.
Her desire to experience the world led her to embrace a life of crime. Seeking the higher knowledge shared by the great minds of the detective world, she took to worshipping at the altars of the Crime and Investigation channel and Sherlock.
A dive into family history and heir hunting soon followed, where she discovered not every family has roots back to English nobility but they all have their fair share of ne’er-do-wells.
She loves sharing tales about the land of her birth along with the unexpected twists of fate that can befall all of us. Holding on to a steadfast belief every obstacle can be overcome, and that you can be more than you ever expected, she spends her moments of solitude creating adventures where mystery and mayhem collide.
Find me on Facebook or at my website https://www.jlsimpson.com
