by Anne Coates
Rory was beaming. He had arrived a little late, having put the finishing touches to the front page and leaving it in the hands of Terry Cornhill who would join them later when he’d put the first edition to bed.
There was the tinkling of a spoon on a glass. Lord Gyles smiled at the Maitre d’.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to honour…”
Hannah didn’t hear any more. She had moved away and was standing by the window, staring at the river-side view. The Thames looked murky and hostile. She felt an arm around her shoulder and turned towards Tom. He was there. Alive and smiling but looking tired.
“I had no idea I was still on their hit list. Thank God, MI5 were prepared.”
When the shots had been fired they had both fallen to the ground. Hannah wasn’t sure if Tom had been hit. But seconds later they were being escorted into the building and stayed there until the all clear was given.
“The explosion in the café wasn’t a terrorist attack. It was retribution from a branch of the Mafia which had been involved in the trafficking racket in the US. That’s what I had been investigating. I couldn’t tell you anything for fear of putting you more at risk.”
“I don’t understand how that marksman managed to infiltrate a military airport and…”
“There will be a full enquiry. But it won’t all be public. That assassination attempt had been set up just before the remaining Mafia had been rounded up in New York. He had not been deactivated. At least our security services were on the ball.”
The sound of applause made them turn back into the room. Lord Gyles had apparently finished his speech.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner walked over to them. “I have to leave now but I’ll see you in a few weeks’ time, Tom. The Home Office will want to discuss your next appointment.”
“Yes sir. Thank you.”
As the commissioner moved away, Tom looked at Hannah.
“Don’t answer now, but how do you feel about leaving London?”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing of Songs of Innocence owes much to all those who have supported me with the previous two Hannah Weybridge thrillers, especially Matthew Smith and the Urbane team. It is a privilege to be published by such a dedicated publisher.
My family and close friends are fabulous at keeping me positive when the self-doubt that all writers seem to be afflicted by looms large. And it is, as always, a joy to celebrate with them when the finished article is on the bookshelves.
My thanks are also due to the network of book bloggers who have allowed me to feature in their Q&As and contribute guest posts. And everyone who tweets, reads and reviews – you are indispensable and much appreciated.
Once again, I am indebted to Dr Geoff Lockwood for help with medical facts and Christine Mayle who answered all my questions about schools. Any inaccuracies are mine alone. A special thank you to fellow author Lesley Lodge who read the manuscript before submission – and was complimentary.
And thank you, the reader, for investing your time in Hannah’s world. I hope you have enjoyed the adventure as much as I have creating it.
For most of her working life in publishing, Anne has had a foot in both camps as a writer and an editor, moving from book publishing to magazines and then freelancing in both. Having edited both fiction and narrative non-fiction, Anne has also had short stories published in a variety of magazines including Bella and Candis and is the author of seven non-fiction books. Telling stories is Anne’s first love and nearly all her short fiction as well as Dancers in The Wind and Death’s Silent Judgement began with a real event followed by a ‘what if …’ That is also the case with the two prize-winning 99Fiction. net stories: Codewords and Eternal Love. Songs of Innocence is her third thriller starring investigative journalist Hannah Weybridge.
HAVE YOU DISCOVERED THE OTHER
HANNAH WEYBRIDGE THRILLERS?
She is hunting for the truth, but who is hunting her?
Freelance journalist and single mother Hannah Weybridge is commissioned by a national newspaper to write an investigative article on the notorious red light district in Kings Cross. There she meets prostitute Princess, and police inspector in the vice squad, Tom Jordan. When Princess later arrives on her doorstep beaten up so badly she is barely recognisable, Hannah has to make some tough decisions and is drawn ever deeper into the world of deceit and violence.
Three sex workers are murdered, their deaths covered up in a media blackout, and Hannah herself is under threat. As she comes to realise that the taste for vice reaches into the higher echelons of the great and the good, Hannah understands she must do everything in her power to expose the truth … and stay alive.
DEATH’S SILENT JUDGEMENT is the thrilling sequel to Dancers in the Wind, and continues the gripping series starring London-based investigative journalist Hannah Weybridge.
Following the deadly events of Dancers in the Wind, freelance journalist and single mother Hannah Weybridge is thrown into the heart of a horrific murder investigation when a friend, Liz Rayman, is found with her throat slashed at her dental practice.
With few clues to the apparently motiveless crime Hannah throws herself into discovering the reason for her friend’s brutal murder and is determined to unmask the killer. But before long Hannah’s investigations place her in mortal danger, her hunt for the truth placing her in the path of a remorseless killer…
The series is very much in the best traditions of British women crime writers such as Lynda La Plante and Martina Cole.
Urbane Publications is dedicated to developing new author voices, and publishing fiction and non-fiction that challenges, thrills and fascinates.
From page-turning novels to innovative reference books, our goal is to publish what YOU want to read.
Find out more at
urbanepublications.com
