‘But you lied to me. That’s why we’re sat on the bench and I had a white coffee waiting and you forgot the sugar?’
Harry tutted. He dug around in his jacket pocket and threw two brown sachets onto Maddie’s lap. ‘I watched a man die. The first priority of any police officer: protect life and limb. I didn’t. I walked away.’
‘And does that bother you?’
‘No. But I wanted to tell you, I wanted you to know that it’s okay for it to bother you.’
‘Thanks for your permission, I mean, it doesn’t. He was a piece of shit.’
‘We don’t get to choose.’
‘You did.’
Harry sighed. ‘I have to live with that. I’ve been distracted. Wootan . . . my daughter . . . Jarod Logan . . . I couldn’t juggle it all. I’ve not been sleeping well. But that’s been for a while.’
‘Do you think it will be easier now?’
‘I don’t know. He’s dead. I know that. I thought it would make it instantly better — easier. It didn’t.’
‘Of course it didn’t, Harry. There’s a big hole in your life, in all your lives. You can’t fill a hole by taking something else away.’
‘I know you’re right.’ He paused and shook his head. ‘You know, I stopped using the automatic car the job gave me from the moment I heard Wootan was coming out. My arm still aches — it gives me jip all the time, but I didn’t want for him to be out and me still suffering physically from what he did. I just pretended like I wasn’t. My arm was aching any time I was in a car. I can’t explain why I did that. You think you’re someone rational, sensible even. Seems I’m not at all.’
‘I can see the logic. It’s not irrational, it’s defiance. And if there’s one thing you’re good at . . .’
Harry sighed. ‘But the thing that’s eating at me the most is how I treated you. I’m going to talk with someone. Not through the job — some bloke my daughter recommends. Some trauma bloke. Maybe I need that.’ He shrugged.
Maddie sat back, focussed on the sound of the moving water. A duck eyed them closely as if it was waiting for something to be discarded. ‘I’ve never felt like that before. It was like I suddenly lost all confidence in myself, I could barely think straight. You stepped up though, Harry. Despite all you’ve had going on, you stepped up and you led us all through it. I look around at who else there is and there’s not enough good leaders out there. This thing will blow over. We’ll get Rhiannon stitched up and looked after and we can all get back to doing what we do best.’
Harry smacked his lips. His attention seemed to be on the same duck. ‘A good leader doesn’t smash the confidence of his finest asset just to demonstrate that he can pick up the pieces. I learnt a lesson. That’s all I wanted to say.’
‘So this is it, then?’ Maddie said.
‘It?’
‘Lack of sleep, a man dragged to his death, a self-harming daughter, a massive injustice, and wearing the blood of your colleague. This is what it takes for you to realise that we all need a little help sometimes? Jesus, Harry, you’re not a robot. Stuff like that affects you — how you work, how you deal with other people.’
‘Seems you’re right.’
‘You should know that by now. And you know this is going on the list, right?’
‘List?’
‘Things I know about Harry. This is number four . . . What it takes to make him crack up.’
‘I’m not cracking up!’ Harry’s face was stern, but it broke almost instantly into a wide smile with a chuckling accompaniment. ‘And if this bloke tells me I am, I just won’t go back.’
Maddie laughed harder. ‘Classic copper coping mechanism! Bury your head! I’ll have to start calling you Mallard.’
Harry turned to her, confused. She gestured out towards the river. He followed her gaze, to where the duck now had its head forced under the water, its soaking bottom pointed towards them.
Harry Blaker got the reference instantly. And Maddie reckoned this was the first time she had heard him belly laugh.
THE END
OTHER BOOKS BY CHARLIE GALLAGHER
MADDIE IVES
Book 1: HE IS WATCHING YOU
Book 2: HE WILL KILL YOU
Book 3: HE WILL FIND YOU
LANGTHORNE POLICE SERIES
Book 1: BODILY HARM
Book 2: PANIC BUTTON
Book 3: BLOOD MONEY
Book 4: END GAME
STANDALONES
MISSING
THEN SHE RAN
HER LAST BREATH
RUTHLESS
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Book 1: BODILY HARM
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BODILY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01MR94IP5/
https://www.amazon.com/BODILY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01MR94IP5/
An edge-of-your-seat crime thriller starts with a vicious stabbing of a pretty teenage girl and her boyfriend on a local bus. She happens to be the mayor’s niece. It’s the final straw for the community. The police are desperate to get results and decide on a risky course of action involving undercover infiltration of the notorious Effingell Estate.
Detective George Elms knows this hellish place extremely well, and his sharp investigative mind is put to work to solve the crime. The police are under immense media pressure and conveniently a local lowlife confesses to the attack. But George is not convinced. There are many layers of criminal and police motivation, and few people are what they seem.
BOOK 2: PANIC BUTTON
https://www.amazon.co.uk/PANIC-BUTTON-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01N4WATRV/
https://www.amazon.com/PANIC-BUTTON-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01N4WATRV/
Someone is killing the officers of the Langthorne Police one by one. And in a sadistic twist he makes each victim push their radio panic button before they die, thus broadcasting their last moments to the entire force.
Book 3: BLOOD MONEY
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLOOD-MONEY-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B06XYNY624/
https://www.amazon.com/BLOOD-MONEY-gripping-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B06XYNY624/
What would you do to save your dying son? Imagine the doctors told you there was a cure, but only if you had the money. What would you do to get the money to save your son’s life?
FROM CHARLIE GALLAGHER
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VOCABULARY
A & E: accident and emergency department in a hospital
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Aggro: violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Belt and braces: using two means to the same end, i.e. thorough
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Board: as part of the promotion process in the police you will face a ‘board’ or an interview panel.
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Breach of Licence: in a lot of cases, UK pris
oners can be released early — sometimes having served only half their sentence. In this case the person released is on licence for the time he/she still has to serve and this will have good behaviour conditions. If these conditions are not met then the licence is breached and the person will be returned to prison to serve the rest of their sentence
Brickie: a bricklayer
Brown: street name for heroin. Usually the complete reference would be a ‘bag of brown.’
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bung: bribe
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
Call sign: characters used to identify who’s broadcasting on police radio
Cannon: slang for a firearm of any sort
Car park: parking lot
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Charity Shop: thrift store
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
Choring: theft, usually when referring to stealing from shops/shoplifting
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvies: civilians who work for the police
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Cling film: plastic wrap for food
Clock: punch
Clutch: a pedal that needs to be pushed in order to change gear in a manual car
Cock and bull: made up, nonsense
Cock up: mess up, make a mistake
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): high school
Co-op: UK supermarket chain
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Cough it: a police term for someone admitting an offence in interview.
Council: local government
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Dabs: fingerprints
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
Deck: hit (verb)
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Disability benefit: in the UK, persons deemed illegible to seek or take on employment due to ill health are given an additional monthly payment called a ‘disability benefit.’
Disqual driver: in the UK you can be disqualified from driving if you accrue twelve points or more (four offences where you receive three points for a simple speeding offence for example). There are also other ways to be disqual, such as being convicted for a drunk-drive offence.
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Dooby: slang for a rolled-up cigarette containing marijuana
Doc Martens: heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Dog van: food truck usually found in industrial estates, large hardware store carparks or laybys to busy roads, these are mobile vans or trailers that serve fast food to passing customers.
Donkey’s years: long time
DS: detective sergeant
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Early turn: early shift
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Effing: euphemism for fucking.
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Fag: cigarette
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Filth: police (insulting)
FMO: force medical officer
Forces: army, navy, and air force
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gavver: a popular slang word in some parts of the UK for a police officer. Especially among the gypsy community
GBH: one of the most serious types of assault — stands for Grievous Bodily Harm.
Geordie: from Newcastle
Gob: mouth; can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
H: slang for the class A drug ‘Heroin’
Habdabs: extreme anxiety
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
Hate crime: a hate crime is a crime committed against someone because of their race, nationality, religious beliefs or sexuality — this list is not exhaustive
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HMP: Her Majesty's Prisons
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
IPCC: the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The commission that investigates potential wrong-doing by individual officers or police forces in the UK
Mare: short for nightmare. e.g. ‘that bloke was a right mare in interview.’
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Job (in police sense): if you respond to a 999 call as a UK police officer you may well refer to it as ‘going to a job’
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Luftwaffe: German air force
Milk float: these are becoming rarer in the UK. They are effectively electric flatbed vans used to deliver milk to homes in the early hours of the morning
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie
Mobile phone: cell phone
MOD: ministry of defence
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
Naff: lame, not good
Nan: grandmother
National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Number ones: all UK police officers are issued a dress uniform which is then used for formal occasions throughout their career. Internally these are known as number ones
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
Nutter: insane person
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
Online: houses and persons in the UK who sell drugs often notify their potential customers by sending out text messages. They will announce themselves as ‘online.’ This means they are open for business and there are drugs on the premises
On the blink: broken
Owt: anything
P&O: ferry/shipping company
Pants: underwear (noun); bad/rubbish
/terrible (adjective)
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
PCSO: Police Community Support Officer. Uniform officers who are not police officers but do some of the tasks that would otherwise be completed by officers
Petrol: gasoline
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Piss-take: a mocking act
Pistol: an armed officer
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Plimsolls: a type of rubber-soled trainer (or sneaker)
PNC: police national computer
Po: slang term for the police. More often used by inner-city gangs of youths
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Prat: silly idiot
Premier League: top English soccer division
PSD: Professional Standards Department
PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland
Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
Pushchair: stroller
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Raghead: offensive term for people thought to be of Middle Eastern origin
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Recce: reconnaissance
Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
Resus: resuscitation room
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
HE WILL FIND YOU an absolutely gripping crime thriller with a massive twist Page 35
