Dead of Night

by Deborah Lucy

  He’d so wanted to get China the help she obviously needed, she’d been through so much, but instead she’d run into Tarek Sulaj. If only he hadn’t been left on the ground for Brian Porten to find, he felt certain China would still be alive. But then he wouldn’t have discovered Porten’s evil and twisted actions at the abattoir, which would have left Porten free to continue killing. It was a bitter payoff. The press had wanted to interview Temple, they wanted to declare him ‘the hero cop’ for stopping Porten in his tracks, but he knew he was no such thing. Given a choice, he’d rather have saved China Lewis and left Porten for another day.

  * * *

  It was a beautiful scene. A horseshoe-shaped bay with endless golden sand and turquoise waters. Ko Sukorn was idyllic. He especially liked the sunsets. There was something about watching the sun go down here that really settled a sense of peace on him. It was like watching a phenomenon. This was a place where he could leave the other world behind him. He looked out to sea and felt the sand beneath his feet. A soft, warm breeze off the lapping shore welcomed him back. After the long journey, he was home.

  Barefoot in the sand, he turned away from the sea and into the vegetation of the tall palm trees. He found the familiar track and made his way towards a typical wooden house, albeit it was larger than most. He wondered how near he could get before they would see him.

  He loved Thailand. It gave him his freedom. This time, it had given him his life. For this he had to thank Bangkok. He loved its chaos, its vibrancy, the noise, the smell. Most of all, he loved its street life. The food sellers, leather sellers, gold sellers, the sex sellers. If you knew where to look, as he did, it would cater for your every need. But after being there a while, he found out there was more it could offer. He discovered that there was a street in Bangkok where you could enter as one person and by the time you’d walked to the other end, you were someone entirely different. At least, that’s what your passport said. When you know these things, a whole new world opens up.

  As a consequence, he could move about as Edward Read, John Herriott, Robert Cardman or Simon Dew. He had passports for all these names and identities. Luckily, they had been safely hidden to enable a quick getaway. He had managed to order his ticket with EVA Air on his phone in the back of the car when he was with Temple. When he left the hospital, he was in a taxi to Heathrow within the hour. He was in the air before they even knew he was missing. Sweet.

  He always knew it would come: a time when he would be unlucky. He had hoped he could last out a few more years, rake in a few extra grand, but it didn’t matter. His freedom was far more important. He could always make more money. The trick was knowing when to get out. And having a plan for that eventuality.

  ‘Ah, Mr Edward, you’re back!’

  Sloper walked towards the open arms of a tiny Thai woman. He easily morphed from Simon Sloper into Edward Read – until he got tired of being him. That’s what he loved about this place.

  * * *

  Prayer Taylor lay on her bed. She couldn’t help but go over events, even though over a week had passed. She could do this in the confines of her bedroom without being watched over by her parents. To them she had to appear as normal as possible; she didn’t want them to know anything untoward had happened to her. As far as they were concerned, she had met her biological mother and they could now move forward.

  She hadn’t told them anything of what had really happened. She hadn’t told them of the night that men in grotesque Halloween masks had burst into Gemma’s flat and abducted her. How they had driven her to a flat and taken her to an upstairs room and pushed her inside. She hadn’t confided to anyone how terrified she’d been on that journey, how she knew that she had to keep her wits about her in order to survive. Something had kicked in that night, something she hadn’t known existed within her.

  They’d told her to undress or they would do it for her. It was then she knew she had to do something to save herself. And that had worked. But now she felt the need to go over the events again and again. From when he’d found her. Rescued her. Her biological father. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Thinking about them, her real parents. They weren’t real, the people she lived with. She felt she no longer belonged to them.

  Chapter 54

  Temple pulled up outside the lychgate. His mobile buzzed as he locked the car, but he ignored it. He wanted to go inside the tiny cottage where he could see the welcoming lights and spend some time with Ben before he went out for the evening. As soon as he crossed the threshold, Ana was waiting for him.

  ‘I’ve been trying to get through to you. I rang and texted you. There was a message from Richard here when I got back this afternoon. On a piece of paper through the letterbox – he must have called by. Now where have I put it?’

  As Ana looked around, Temple looked for Ben, distracted by the need to spend time with him. He had to get Richard a phone and show him how to send texts.

  ‘OK, I’ll look at it later.’ He found Ben, took him for his bath and read him a story before showering and changing to go out with Callie.

  As he drove back to Huish, his thoughts were full of her. They’d spent last night together. After the last few days, what with finding China and Sulaj being arrested, being with her was just what he’d needed. Every murder investigation he encountered seemed to take something from him, something he never quite recovered. Every time he altered a little. That was certainly the case in respect of China, but being with Callie last night had made all the difference to how he’d felt today.

  And he was becoming more and more enamoured of her. She’d made a big impression on him in a short space of time. He couldn’t understand why she was still single, but he was glad she was and glad their paths had crossed. He had started to tell her about his mother, about Leigh and Daisy. She knew about Ben of course, but not all the circumstances.

  Over dinner tonight, he planned to tell her about that and about Prayer. He’d made so many decisions recently and was feeling much more positive about the future. He didn’t want to hide his past from Callie and felt it was only fair to tell her everything – that way, whatever the outcome, she would have had it all.

  If she felt she didn’t want a relationship with him once she knew, then at least he’d know where he stood. He felt confident though; she seemed to take the news of Leigh’s pregnancy in her stride. It hadn’t seemed to faze her at all. The sooner she knew everything the better. And if she knocked him back – well, he’d deserve it.

  He was also pleased that he’d made the decision to step back from Op Acre. He was sure it was the right thing for him to do. In fact, he knew it was – ever since he’d made the decision, he’d felt as if an enormous weight had lifted from him. His life felt lighter. It started to make sense. Things had to change, and when he looked back, the murder of his mother had impacted in one way or another on most of his life and on Daisy. Well, no more.

  He would tell Richard that they should stop the quest the next time he saw him. The peace of mind he had found since making his decision and coming to terms with the fact he would not know the identity of the killer was a peace worth having after all these years. He was no longer going to let a killer control him or impact on the people in his life. The collateral damage was too great. He’d make a point of seeing Richard in the next few days and agree with him to put an end to it, for both of them.

  The car rumbled over the cattle grid and he pulled up at the front of the house. He heard his mobile sound an incoming text. Temple pressed the horn and Callie waved from a window, indicating she’d be out. As he waited, Temple looked at his phone: there was the text that Ana had sent him earlier to tell him of the message Richard had left him and another now from DC Paul Wright. He had forgotten to read Richard’s message before he came out, not wanting to be late for his date with Callie.

  He looked at Wright’s text. Clicking on it, he saw that there was a photo attachment. He wondered at first what it was on the screen. He tilted his phone on its side for a bett
er view. The screen showed an image with four lines of numbers contained inside symbols arranged like a series of spikes, like bleeps on a heart monitor. The spikes were of varying heights. Then he realised what he was looking at.

  It was the DNA sequence from the blue T-shirt. He’d almost forgotten he’d asked Paul Wright to see if he could get it for him. After all this time, there it was. He now had the DNA profile from the blue T-shirt. He recalled the words on his mother’s death certificate: ‘Unlawful Killing. Killed by person or persons unknown.’ He was holding the killer in his hands. Temple felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle.

  Looking up, he saw Callie heading towards him. He closed the message and quickly opened the previous text from Ana, relaying the content of the note left by Richard.

  ‘Hoped to catch you in. Need to see you urgently. New development.’

  Callie sat next to him in the car and he kissed her. ‘Change of plan,’ he said to her. ‘There’s something I need to do.’

  THE END

  DI TEMPLE BOOKS

  Book 1: WATCH HER DIE

  Book 2: DEAD OF NIGHT

  Please join our mailing list for free kindle crime thriller, detective, mystery, and romance books and new releases.

  http://www.joffebooks.com/contact/

  Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed it please leave feedback on Amazon, and if there is anything we missed or you have a question about then please get in touch. The author and publishing team appreciate your feedback and time reading this book.

  Please join our mailing list for free kindle crime thriller, detective, mystery, and romance books and new releases.

  http://www.joffebooks.com/contact/

  Our email is office@joffebooks.com

  http://joffebooks.com

  We hate typos but sometimes they slip through. Please send any errors you find to corrections@joffebooks.com

  We’ll get them fixed ASAP. We’re very grateful to eagle-eyed readers who take the time to contact us.

  A SELECTION OF BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY

  THE MURDERER'S SON

  By JOY ELLIS

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDERERS-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01LWY0PUJ

  https://www.amazon.com/MURDERERS-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01LWY0PUJ

  What if your mother was a serial killer?

  A BLOODY KILLER SEEMS TO HAVE RETURNED TO THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS

  A gripping crime thriller by the best-selling author of the Nikki Galena series. Twenty years ago: a farmer and his wife are cut to pieces by a ruthless serial killer. Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes.

  Then a man called Daniel Kinder walks into Saltern police station and confesses to the murder.

  But DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans of the Fenland police soon discover that there is a lot more to Daniel than meets the eye. He has no memory of the first five years of his life and is obsessed with who his real mother is.

  With no evidence to hold him, Jackman and Evans are forced to let him go, and in a matter of days the lonely Lincolnshire Fens become the stage for more killings and Daniel has disappeared.

  In a breathtaking finale, the truth about Daniel’s mother comes to light and DI Jackman and DS Evans race against time to stop more lives being destroyed.

  Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the shocking ending.

  MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL

  BY FAITH MARTIN

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-OXFORD-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B0763RXLRV

  https://www.amazon.com/MURDER-OXFORD-gripping-mystery-twists-ebook/dp/B0763RXLRV

  DISCOVER THE MILLION-SELLING SERIES NOW.

  MEET DI HILLARY GREENE, A POLICE WOMAN FIGHTING TO SAVE HER CAREER.

  Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption.

  Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death.

  Can Hillary clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the water?

  This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from beginning to end.

  MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL is the first in a series of page-turning crime thrillers set in Oxfordshire.

  HE IS WATCHING YOU

  BY CHARLIE GALLAGHER

  https://www.amazon.co.uk/WATCHING-absolutely-gripping-thriller-massive-ebook/dp/B07KKK5N7W

  https://www.amazon.com/WATCHING-absolutely-gripping-thriller-massive-ebook/dp/B07KKK5N7W

  DISCOVER AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING RACE-AGAINST-TIME THRILLER FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHOR CHARLIE GALLAGHER.

  MEET DETECTIVE MADDIE IVES IN THIS NEW SERIES THAT WILL HAVE YOU GRIPPED FROM THE EXPLOSIVE START.

  A young woman’s body is left in a metal container in a remote location. The killer is careful to position her under a camera that links to his smartphone. He likes to look back at his work.

  HE IS WATCHING HER. BUT SHE ISN’T DEAD.

  So he will return to finish the job.

  Detective Maddie Ives is new to the area. She is handed a missing person report: a young woman with a drink problem who’s been reported missing fifteen times. It looks like a waste of time. But DS Ives has a bad feeling about the woman’s disappearance.

  DI Harry Blaker is called to a hit and run of an elderly man left to die on a quiet country road. There is no motive and it looks like a tragic accident. But he’s been working Major Crime long enough to know that something isn’t quite right. The two officers find their investigations intertwine and they will need to work together.

  BUT THEY MUST WORK FAST. TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR THE WOMAN IN THE CONTAINER.

  GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH SLANG FOR US READERS

  A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital

  Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression

  Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets

  Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers

  Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)

  Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings

  A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18

  Auld Reekie: Edinburgh

  Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.

  Barm: bread roll

  Barney: argument

  Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids

  Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle

  Benefits: social security

  Bent: corrupt

  Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

  Biscuit: cookie

  Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in seaside town

  Bloke: guy

  Blow: cocaine

  Blower: telephone

  Blues and twos: emergency vehicles

  Bob: money

  Bobby: policeman

  Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)

  Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead

  Bun: small cake

  Bunk: do a bunk means escape

  Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant

  Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

  Charity Shop: thrift store

  Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket

  Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for

  Car park: parking lot

  CBeebies: kids TV

  Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

  Chemist: pharmacy

  Chinwag: conversation

  Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food

  Chips: French fries but thicker

  CID: Criminal Investigation Department
<
br />   Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)

  Clock: punch

  Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake

  Cockney: a native of East London

  Common: an area of park land/ or lower class

  Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school

  Cop hold of: grab

  Copper: police officer

  Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit

  CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

  Childminder: someone who looks after children for money

  Council: local government

  Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic

  DC: detective constable

  Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

  Deck: hit (verb)

  Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character

  DI: detective inspector

  Digestive biscuit: plain cookie

  Digs: student lodgings

  Do a runner: disappear

  Do one: go away

  Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

  Donkey’s years: long time

  Drum: house

  DS: detective sergeant

  ED: accident and emergency department of hospital

  Eagle: boys’ comic

  Early dart: to leave work early

  Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg

  Enforcer: police battering ram

  Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

  Estate agent: realtor (US)

  Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982

  Fag: cigarette

  Father Christmas: Santa Claus

  Filth: police (insulting)

  Forces: army, navy, and air force

  FMO: force medical officer

  Fried slice: fried bread

  Fuzz: police

  Garda: Irish police