A Village Not So Green (John Harper Series Book 1)

by Edward Holmes

  John laughed, “What you get signal down here? I need to get on your service plan. For that matter so could the girl over there since we couldn’t track her. You’ve proved your point that you’re so much smarter than me and I’m sure that you’ll be able to convince everyone how I’m the bad guy in all of this but I have on quick question for you. Now if you know or if you can search for anything I’d like you to answer me.”

  “Try me.”

  John set himself, took a deep breath and asked, “What do you know about the distance of twenty one feet?”

  Lewis’s eyes narrowed and then widened as he went for the gun as John moved. Even with his injuries John closed the ground quickly, a clicking noise sounded, as he opened the small knife he carried and slashed at the gun hand as it was raised. He caught the back of Lewis’s hand, slicing deep into the flesh and drawing blood that sprayed upwards. They young man yelled, his hand dropping the gun, John punched him with a quick jab with his left hand, snapping Lewis’s head back. John spun with a roundhouse kick and knocked Lewis to the ground. Before he could stand John was on the boy, his knee in his back and cable ties in his hand restraining the young man. He tied his legs as well and checked him for anymore weapons, taking out a hunting knife and throwing it away into a puddle. Ripping Lewis’s shirt he used the fabric to stem the bleeding from the wound and then he picked up the pistol, putting it into his own waistband.

  John stood up happy with his handiwork and jogged over to Kirsty Mayer. Using his trusty knife to cut at her bonds and then holding her as she fell into his arms, he sank to the ground. The girl woke with a start and then started to weep as he gently brushed her hair out of the way, “It’s okay, he can’t hurt you anymore.”

  Chapter Fifty Three

  Two weeks had passed since the night in the caverns and John was once again at his desk. He ran his hands through his hair and stood up opening the drawer and taking out the ties he hoarded there and putting them in his bag.

  “Are you sure you want to leave John?” Tara Nagle asked from behind her desk, “Simon has even had to apologise after your heroics. I mean you managed to steal the spotlight away from his gang slaying with the arrest of a double killer, rescuing a young woman and helping another woman bury her long lost daughter. Shows you’ve still got it.”

  John looked at her and smiled, “I need some time away Tara. They’re letting me go off on stress and sweetheart I know it’s a copout but at the moment, I need the time away. Maybe I’ll come back, maybe I won’t but at the moment I need to get away.”

  “You do realise you’ve only just come back?”

  “Yeah and look what happened on my last vacation. Simon sent me somewhere away from my usual vices of drink and gambling and I ended up spending my time in a bookies and pubs. I need to go somewhere far away from it all.”

  Tara stood up and walked over to him sitting on the edge of his desk, “Dubai would be good for you, no alcohol and no gambling.”

  “Too much sand.”

  “How about Siberia?”

  “Vodka, come on Tara give it a rest. I’ll still come back and see you guys no matter what, especially if C squad need some help. Plus I’ve decided to go to Oktoberfest this year so I’ll need your expertise,” he said patting her on the shoulder.

  She hugged him, “Auf Wiedersehen John.”

  “Same to you. Oh and could you tell Simon he’s a dickhead or something along those lines, he’s been avoiding me ever since I left Hollingswood.”

  “Well you did drop a bombshell on that entire village; I doubt they’ll ever be the same. Someone so young and so close to that many people being a killer, it’s bound to have repercussions and since Simon grew up there it’s going to be difficult for him,” the female detective said, as always pragmatic.

  John just nodded. Some people were closer to him than others, “I still thought he would say goodbye to me though. Guess he’s just one of those fickle friends you get whilst you work.”

  “Most people are only colleagues John, it’s the rarity that become friends,” Tara put a hand on his.

  “Thanks,” John managed, surprised how choked up he was about leaving, “I guess I made at least one. I’ll see you soon.”

  John was halfway out of the office when Tara called out to him, “John there’s just one thing I need to know.”

  He turned and looking at the ground before he replied, “Nah I don’t think it would have between us sweetheart, you’re just a little too tall for my liking and far too authoritarian, not that it’s a bad thing but I like being on top sometimes.”

  The few people in the office who heard him laughed and he smiled with them as she stormed over, “Now I’m glad you’re leaving. What I wanted to ask was in your report you say something about asking Lewis Hart a question, that was enough to distract him before you moved in disarm. What did you ask him?”

  “Simple I asked him what was important about twenty one feet.”

  Tara stood there staring at him for close to half a minute, “And you’re going to make me ask what the answer is aren’t you?”

  “No my dear I won’t. Twenty one feet is the maximum distance calculated that a man armed with a knife can attack someone with a holstered weapon before the gunman can remove the weapon and fire. I let him talk so much that he didn’t notice me getting closer and closer, in fact he probably wanted me close to make sure he killed me. Problem is the boy never learnt that in his books, whereas I learnt it in America on shooting range at Quantico.”

  “You scare me sometimes John, good luck and I’ll see you soon.”

  “Yes, you will.”

  Epilogue

  Unfortunately if this message is being read then I’m either dead or incarcerated and someone is attempting to access my private files or I have not accessed them for a certain amount of time. Once this message is sent my hard drive will corrupt itself and all traces of this message will be gone, lost in the vastness of the internet. Hopefully this reaches the right people so that my work can continue in some form. You’ll probably read about me in the press soon enough. I just hope that it was a glorious end. I would hate it if something small brought me to my knees. The only person I feel who could have stopped me was Detective Inspector John Harper and if he has then it would have destroyed him to do so. If he is not dead then I would like to see him pushed to find his greatness; so I task you to find him and make him better.

  I am not saying that he should be targeted and killed but he should be pushed. They say that when a doctor goes bad that they are the most dangerous of killers; that they have the nerve and the brains. I would have to disagree; the homicide detective who decides to change his calling is much more dangerous. This man could be our insider; I might only be a young man but I see the same in him that people fear in me, in all of us.

  I am sorry I failed to complete my goal but maybe I can find some sort of solace in the infamy that I will now receive. May you all find fame in your own way either in a cell, stood on a firing line or simply by living knowing you have been better than the rest. Our lives are fleeting but those who cross us are shorter still.