by Ed James
"Thanks, sir." Cullen leaned against the meeting room window, nodding slowly. "It's not been easy but we've got there."
"I think you should all be proud of yourselves." Methven reached into a Tesco carrier bag, producing a bottle of Likely Laddie, a cheap brand of whisky, and plonking it on the table. "Most of us will be driving, but I wondered if you might like a drink while you're typing up reports. Chantal?"
"Not whisky."
"Angela? Oh, of course."
Cullen raised a hand. "I'm off the booze for now."
"Of course, of course." Methven smiled.
Jain grinned. "I'm sure Buxton'll help you out when he gets back with that suicide note."
"Indeed." Methven put the bottle back in the bag and beamed. "Have you heard from him?"
Cullen patted his mobile, sitting in front of him. "He's got the note. Reckons it looks like Lyle wrote it. Same handwriting, same smudging."
"That's a relief. I was beginning to wonder whether Ms Quigley was spinning us a line."
Cullen nodded. "I think she's telling the truth for once, sir."
"Had to be a first time. Anyway, I was on the phone to the NCA as I went across the road. They believe they can use Ms Quigley's testimony to mount some sort of operation on Mr Vardy's loan sharking business."
"Excellent." Angela grimaced. "Do you mind if I get off home, sir? I'm aching all over."
"No problem, Angela. You've done a stellar job."
"Thanks, sir." Angela got to her feet and waddled off. "See you all tomorrow."
Methven chuckled as he watched her walk down the corridor outside the meeting room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at Cullen and Jain. "What do you think of Nelson and Parker, eh? What a pair of plonkers."
"Going through all those cases is going to be a nightmare sir."
"It will but this is a big thing. Not a bad effort for such a small team. Not bad at all." Methven shook his head. "I can't believe they were so bloody stupid."
"It's the arrogance of it more than anything." Jain shrugged. "They did well hiding it for so long."
"Indeed they did."
Cullen slumped on a chair. "I hate coincidences."
"How do you mean?" Methven was scowling.
"We've only caught them because two clients decided to kill on the same night."
Methven brushed his eyebrows. "We'd have caught them eventually."
Cullen stretched out and yawned. "True."
"Besides, you heard what Nelson said - they don't have enough alibis to go around. This was bound to happen sooner or later. They were adding clients at a rate of knots but the alibi providers were still somewhat scarce."
"You're right." Cullen frowned, staring out of the window. "Bloody hell, is that Bain?"
Jain squinted through the glass. "Fuck me, it is. What's he doing here?"
Methven cleared his throat. "I sincerely hope the sodding rumours aren't true."
Cullen flushed red. "What rumours would those be?"
"Him coming back through here under my command." Methven scowled. "That would be a complete nightmare for all concerned. Would be just my rotten luck, as well."
Cullen watched Bain, loitering in the open-plan office space beyond, now deserted. "What the hell is he doing?"
"Waiting for someone by the looks of things." Methven jangled his keys.
There was a knock, a hairy hand waving through the frosted glass. Detective Superintendent Jim Turnbull put his head around the door, eyes bouncing between the three officers in the room. "Can I have a word in private?"
"Certainly, sir." Methven got to his feet, beaming at him.
"Not you, Colin." Turnbull stared at Cullen. "With DC Cullen."
"Of course." Methven waited until Turnbull was in the room before leaving, taking Jain with him.
Cullen sat at the end of the table, his eyes peering at Bain through the glass. Shite - reporting into Bain again. "Sir."
Turnbull sat next to him. "How was your holiday, Scott?"
"A distant memory, sir."
"As they all are after a couple of days back." Turnbull smoothed down his tie. "How's Sharon doing out west?"
"Fine." Cullen's mouth had gone dry. His heart was thudding at a Dutch trance tempo. "Think she'll enjoy it, sir."
"Oh, aye, of course." Turnbull fiddled with the tie pin. "There's something I need to brief you on."
Cullen closed his eyes for a second. "Okay..."
"I see you've already got some idea what this is about."
Cullen nodded, staring at the wall above the superior officer's head. "I've got some idea."
"Which is?"
"That I'm reporting to DI Bain again."
Turnbull smiled. "Interesting how the jungle drums in this place work, isn't it?"
"That's one way of putting it, sir." Cullen sighed. "So it's true then?"
"Over the last week or so, I've been contesting a bit of a war of attrition with my superiors regarding Brian Bain."
Cullen was losing patience with the delaying tactics. "Okay."
"When we arranged that Acting DI post for Sharon, DCS Soutar ordered me to give the ensuing DS position to Bain, following his return from long-term illness."
"So I'm right then?"
Turnbull reached over and play punched Cullen's shoulder. "Believe me, the last thing I want is to have him back here, pissing in the shallow end." He peered through the glass at Bain. "I've managed to do a little charm offensive of my own. Acting DS Damian McCrea of the Glasgow South MIT has been demoted to DC again."
"Eh?" Cullen frowned. "I thought he was a full DS?"
"No. A lot of officers are very keen to pretend they're something they're not." Turnbull grinned. "That's one of the things I like about you, Cullen. You're honest. I mean, I know you have your more colourful moments, of course, but you're straight down the middle. You don't pretend you're something you're not. It'll hold you back getting to a DI position, obviously, but it's something we all admire about you."
Cullen felt a vein throbbing in his temple. A DI position? "I'm not sure what you mean?"
"I mean we like officers who appreciate their position in the hierarchy. Over the last couple of years, you've certainly demonstrated that. Colin informs me you've stopped drinking?"
"That's correct, yes."
"Why's that?"
"I want to focus on my career, sir."
"I see." Turnbull's smile quickly turned to a frown. "DI Bain's through here because Superintendent Graham is skiing in France. I've been asked to break the news to Brian of his demotion to DS. I'm keeping him waiting on purpose."
"Should you be telling me this?"
"I can trust you."
"He told Jimmy Deeley he's going to be working here again."
"That remains to be seen." Turnbull made a steeple with his fingers. "Scott, we're making you a DS."
Cullen swallowed, his pulse hammering. "Acting?"
"No. Full Detective Sergeant."
"Seriously?"
"Aye. You've got Colin to thank."
"Excuse me?"
"It was DI Methven who pushed for your promotion." Turnbull got a sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolding it before dumping it on the table. "Here you go. Your new employment contract. Detective Sergeant Scott Cullen."
SCOTT CULLEN WILL RETURN IN
"COWBOYS & INDIANS"
(Scott Cullen Book 7)
Available early 2015
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Afterword
There. That's it done.
First, sincere thanks to the hundreds who pre-ordered this book - this has been my day job since January so being in profit before it's out is a seriously good thing. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'm nothing without you guys.
Thanks this time go to Kitty for the cover, the alpha reading and the harsh criticism, and to Rhona for alpha reading, structural editing, copy editing and
proofing.
Been a bit of a tricky bugger this book - it started out as a wee stopgap short story, then I remembered about another idea I had kicking around somewhere, something I'd seeded in GHOST and DEVIL but then got waylaid with other stuff. Then it grew into a novella length thing, with the second part split between Cullen and Sharon's point of view. That didn't work (I'll send out one of the Sharon scenes in the next newsletter; email me if you're at all interested in it). Then it went through a structural edit and the second story was a bit undercooked. Then the first one paled in comparison. Those fixed, the connections between the two stories grew and I knew where I wanted all the pieces on the board for the next book, COWBOYS & INDIANS.
So. It's not been easy to write but I'm pleased with it and where it's got Cullen to. It's let me do some stuff with my writing style I've never done before and it's let me do some stupid stuff too (apologies if you were offended by the sink incident...).
2014 has been a mental year for me, Cullen-wise. While I've only written two new novels, I've severely edited the first four (DYED took a monster kicking, losing 28,000 words it didn't need) and Cullen has been infecting my brain a bit too much. Got to love the guy.
2015 will most likely have two more Cullen novels; I'll get round to starting COWBOYS & INDIANS in a couple of months. The other one will probably be called REARGUARD and will probably be based back out in East Lothian. Might even do a wee short story or two, you never know.
But there will be lots of other stuff -
"SNARED", the first DS Dodds novel will be published by a proper publisher (deal signed but not announced) early next year (February to May time).
In the next couple of months, I'm going to actually write "CRASH INTO MY ARMS", the first DI Fenchurch book (publication TBC) - no vampires at all now.
Also, there's BLOOD WILL OUT, a collaboration with Allan Guthrie (one of my favourite authors who became my agent), release TBC.
I'm also writing a sci-fi novella just now, "FUTURE SHOCK" the first in the "SOLAR" series, which will have a lot of crime in it but hardly any spaceships or robots.
There might even be time for sorting out the SUPERNATURE series.
My newsletter (link below) is the best place to keep on top of this stuff.
One final note, if you could find time to leave a review where you bought this, I'd really appreciate it - a critical mass of reviews is a huge benefit to indie authors like myself.
-- Ed James
East Lothian, October 2014
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OTHER BOOKS BY ED JAMES
THE SCOTT CULLEN SERIES
1GHOST IN THE MACHINE
2DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
3FIRE IN THE BLOOD
4DYED IN THE WOOL
5BOTTLENECK
6WINDCHILL
Writing as Edwin James -
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART, a standalone supernatural thriller
About Ed James
Ed James lives in the East Lothian countryside with his girlfriend, six rescue moggies, two retired greyhounds and a flock of ex-battery chickens and rescue ducks.
GHOST IN THE MACHINE, his first novel, has been downloaded over 210,000 times and has been followed by another five books in the SCOTT CULLEN series.
