The Yorkshire Dipper

by Maria Frankland

  I hear voices and try once again to make some noise. I can’t move.

  “I didn’t think you were going to pick up. You let it bloody ring out three times. I gave you that phone so I could get hold of you.”

  “I couldn’t answer straight away. I was arguing with the wife.”

  “Good job you did. Answer, I mean. If you think I’d go down without taking you with me.”

  “I see my brother’s done a good number on you. You had it coming. You’ve gone too far. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

  “We’ve no time for that now. Just get me away from here, or we’re both finished.”

  “You can’t prove my involvement in anything.”

  Both voices sound familiar, but I can’t make them out. I’m too exhausted.

  “I could have wrecked your whole precious career Ingham, and you know it.”

  Ingham. It’s Ingham!

  “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have had a career in the first place Potts.” He’s out of breath but now there’s no mistaking whose voice that is. But who is Potts?

  “You owed me. You killed Dean. You killed my brother.”

  Mark’s surname is Potts. But that’s not his voice. And the only brother he’s got is Will in the traffic division.

  “My wife killed your brother. Not me.”

  “You were with her. You let her drive in that state.” It is Will Potts.

  “I didn’t realise. I wasn’t well at the time.” DCI Ingham sounds as cold as me. His teeth are chattering as he speaks. “And I don’t feel well now. I need to get warm and dry, and get away from here.”

  “Like hell. She killed Dean. She was wrecked. You both left us there. My brother dead, and I could have been too for all you cared. You ruined our lives Ingham.”

  “It would have finished me if the truth had come out. My job was all I had. Why couldn’t you have just been happy with having the chance to catch drunk drivers in your work?”

  “Whilst you and your wife got away with it? All these years, you’ve been sitting pretty as a Detective Chief Inspector. Whilst I haven’t gone any further than Sergeant.”

  “You wouldn’t have even got there without me. You needed me. As much as I needed you to keep your bloody mouth shut.”

  “You had the chance to inform on me many times. Instead, you became some sort of psychopath.”

  “That’s rich, coming from you, Will.”

  “Anyway, you were more use to me in other ways than just a promotion.”

  “I think I’ve more than repaid you, Will. Since I’ve known it was you, like you say, I’ve kept quiet. I’ve let you get on with it. To be honest, after the first two I started to agree with what you were doing. Ridding the world of out of control drunken women. Did you know my mother was a rotten drunk?”

  “Spare me the psychological crap Ingham. Who else knows it was me?”

  “No one. I actually admired your guts for doing what you were doing.”

  “How can I believe you? After what you did to Lauren? When did I agree to that?”

  “She was taking us down, you idiot. Can’t you see that? Another half an hour and she’d have known everything about me and you. And we both know what a mouth she had on her. Taking her out was actually easier than I thought it would be. And that Denise too - friends with Pat. Another dangerous one. She was on her way to Pat’s house. It was a surprise to find I enjoyed ending her. Do you find it exciting Will?”

  “Shut it.”

  “Why Will? You do. You do enjoy it, don’t deny it, Will. You wouldn’t keep doing it if you didn’t.” His teeth chatter between his words.

  “What about Claire, my sister? She’s not a drunk.”

  “Now, that wasn’t planned. More that the opportunity presented itself. But she was sticking her nose into our business too, wasn’t she?” I hear a smile in Ingham’s voice. “Maybe you and I are more alike than we think, eh Will? Now are you going to help me get away from here, or…”

  “Help,” I finally manage to croak. As soon as the sound leaves my mouth, I know it’s not my wisest move. Maybe I should have just laid here until they went away. Especially after what I’ve just heard. I try to stay positive, maybe they won’t leave me here to die. I’m a copper, like them. They know I’ve got kids.

  The helicopter flashes its beam, but at the other side of the river, further up. With all I have left, I try to wave to catch someone’s attention - it will only be a matter of time. But just before the beam comes over us, it sweeps to the opposite bank of the river again. I could weep if I had the energy. “Help,” I call out, louder this time.

  “What the hell are you doing there? How much have you heard?” Will shouts through the darkness.

  “Help me.” I don’t feel the cold anymore. I don’t feel anything. But I can hear the helicopter, which sounds like it could be coming closer louder again. Please. Please. Please.

  Ingham and Potts are shouting at each other. I can no longer hear what they’re saying above the noise of the helicopter. At any moment, I am sure the infrared will pick us up. I am not a religious man but say offer a silent prayer into the darkness.

  I become aware of some tussling and scuffling going on next to me. I cry out as one of them lands on my legs. Only for whoever it is to be hauled straight back up again. I hear what sounds like a fist connecting with a face. Again and again. My confusion is replaced with fear as a scream is followed by a splash. The fear drives me on and I manage to crawl up the bank away from the water.

  Too late. I’m being dragged along the ground. I flail around, trying to muster up some fight. “No,” I yell into the near darkness, looking up into the grinning face of Will Potts. I’m at the water’s edge. “Please. Will. I won’t say a word. I promise. Not to anyone.” I am so cold that my voice does not sound like my own.

  “That’s not good enough, I’m afraid.”

  “Will. I’m begging you. Just run for it. The helicopter’s over there. You’ve time to get away before it picks us up.”

  “Sorry mate. No can do. Wrong place. Wrong time and all that.”

  With every bit of strength I have left, I try to roll away from the edge of the water.

  “It’s nothing personal.”

  I cry out as I feel his boot dig into my side, shoving me over the edge of the banking. As I slide back into the water, I scrape at the riverbank’s edge with my fingernails. I will not die. Not now. I will go under and he will think I have gone. He will run for it then. As I fill my lungs with air, Will Pott’s boot slams onto my face. And everything goes black.

  The End

  Before you go…

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  I’d love to know what you thought of The Yorkshire Dipper, and always welcome feedback, both positive and not-so-positive! The easiest way to do this is by leaving a review, and you can leave one by revisiting the Amazon product page.

  It’s great to know what you want more of, or not, as the case may be! Without readers, an author is nothing, therefore your opinion is everything. It only needs to be a line or three, and it also helps other readers find the book.

  Thank you!

  If you want to read another of my psychological thrillers, follow this link to find out more about Hit and Run.

  Book Discussion Group Questions

  Discuss the disparity that existed between Mark’s job as a police sergeant and Lauren’s as a press journalist?

  What do you know about the role of a Detective Chief Inspector in the police force?

  Which character did you care most about?

  What do you think of Mark’s decision to continue to work after Lauren’s death?

  How does making funeral arrangements assist, or not, with the grieving process?

  Imagine the outcome if Ing
ham had not intercepted his ex-wife’s phone call to Lauren?

  Describe the process that Will has gone through – from being a victim of a drink driver to becoming a serial killer.

  Why might Ingham have attacked Claire?

  What might have tipped Will from ridding the roads of drink drivers to throwing his first victim into the river?

  To what extent can people hide who they really are from others?

  How might each character’s lives continue after this?

  Why might people have thought Ingham was the serial killer.

  How could Will have been stopped? Why might he not have been challenged?

  By the Same Author

  Psychological Thrillers

  Left Hanging: What price would you pay to save your marriage?

  The Man Behind Closed Doors: The other side of domestic bliss

  The Last Cuckoo: When ghosts live on in stepfamilies

  Hit and Run: He was dead before she really knew him

  Memoir

  Don’t Call me Mum! A mother’s story about being pushed to the brink

  Poetry

  Poetry for the Newly Married 40 Something: How to get from Tinder to altar

  How-to Books for Writers

  Write your Life Story in a Year

  Write a Novel in a Year

  Write a Collection of Poetry in a Year

  Write a Collection of Short Stories in a Year

  All available on Amazon

  Win a Yorkshire ‘Goody Bag’

  To win a fabulous Yorkshire-themed reader goody bag, click here to answer the question given below before midnight (gmt) Friday 19th February. I will do the prize draw on the 20th.

  What is Mark’s sister called?

  If you are reading this in paperback, send a message to maria@mariafrankland.co.uk.

  Hit and Run - Prologue

  (The next psychological thriller - find out more on Amazon)

  All couples have issues, don’t they? Everyone has their ups and downs. That’s life. I’ll get through this. But how?

  A bike ride usually calms me down. As I ride out of Otley towards Ilkley, I don’t feel the hill that normally challenges me. Today I’m at the top before I notice that my breathing is laboured.

  On any other day, I would enjoy the freewheel down the other side, the summer air whooshing in my ears, impressive scenery as far as the eye can see. I’m always grateful that I live around here. But today I don’t feel grateful for anything. The demons that have been chasing me have finally caught up.

  I pedal faster, as though trying to escape them, glancing over my shoulder to see how far away the approaching vehicle is. I’ve got time to get around the downhill, but narrow bend onto a straight and wider run. Give it room to get past me. I know this stretch well and enjoy getting my speed up.

  My tracker normally clocks me at forty miles an hour here. As I take the corner, I glance around again to the roar of the engine, now right behind me, the sound feeling as though it’s vibrating through my chest. The driver is not slowing and is not going around me.

  I don’t know whether the sickening crunch is caused at the point of impact or as my body lands. Agony shoots through me and the world turns black.

  Available at Amazon

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to say a huge thank you to my husband, Michael. Although my stories are born out of my dark imagination, he is the wind beneath my wings and helps me run my author business. Plus, his editing expertise is second to none. I am also grateful to my family and friends for continuing to support my author career.

  Next, another thank you to my talented book cover designer Darran Holmes, who always manages to capture the design I have in my head from a simple cover brief, and also to Sue Coates, the photographer who took my ‘author photo.’

  A special acknowledgement goes to my two beta readers, Joan Emmerson and Andrew MacDonald for early feedback on the story and to my wonderful eagle-eyed Advance Reader Team for their later stage feedback.

  I am forever grateful to Leeds Trinity University and my MA in Creative Writing Tutors there, Martyn, Amina and Oz. Without graduating from the Masters degree in 2015, I’m not sure I would have ever made the transition from an aspiring to a professional writer.

  And finally, to you, the reader. Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I really hope you enjoyed it.

  About the Author

  The domestic thrillers I write shine a light into the darkness that can exist within marital and family relationships. I have been no stranger to turbulent times myself, and this has provided some of the raw material for my novels. I have a sign on my wall saying ‘careful or you’ll end up in my novel’ and this is definitely true!

  I am a born ‘n’ bred Yorkshirewoman, and a mum of two grown up sons. I can offer living proof that life begins at the age of forty, as this is when I decided to escape my unhappy marriage. Shortly afterwards, I graduated from Leeds Trinity University with an MA in Creative Writing. Recently I have married again and have been able to find my own ‘happy ever after.’

  This is not something you will find in my novels though! I think that we thriller writers are amongst the nicest people you could meet because we pour all our darkness into our books – it’s the romance writers you’ve got to watch…

  I plan to release four novels per year and if you’d like to be kept in the loop about new books and special offers, join my ‘keep in touch list’ or visit www.autonomypress.co.uk. You will receive a free book as a thank you for joining!

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