DI Lorne Simpkins 08 - Hostile Justice Read online

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Other Books by MA Comley

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Note to the Reader

  Other Works

  Excerpt from Torn Apart

  Excerpt from Sole Intention

  Copyright Page

  HOSTILE JUSTICE

  By New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

  M A Comley

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  M A COMLEY

  Cruel Justice

  Impeding Justice

  Final Justice

  Foul Justice

  Guaranteed Justice

  Ultimate Justice

  Virtual Justice

  Torn Apart (Hero Series)

  End Result (Hero Series #2 due out April 2014)

  Sole Intention

  Grave Intention

  A Time To Heal

  A Time For Change

  It’s A Dog’s Life

  High Spirits

  A Twist in The Tale

  Merry Widow

  If you fancy something a little saucy why not pick up one of the short erotic stories I have written under the name of Tiffany Towers http://tiffanytowers1.blogspot.fr/

  Keep in touch with the author at:

  Facebook

  http://melcomley.blogspot.com

  http://melcomleyromances.blogspot.com

  Subscribe to newsletter

  This book is dedicated to my rock, Jean, whose love and devotion is my guiding light.

  Special thanks to my wonderful editor Jan and her team. Thanks also to Joseph my superb proof reader.

  And finally thanks to Karri Klawiter for the wonderful cover as always, you’re a very talented lady.

  PROLOGUE

  The boys headed across the park towards the area where their parents had forbidden them to play. Johnny took the younger boys under his wing, acting the big ‘I am,’ as they approached the huge derelict buildings through a gap in the chain-link fence.

  “Do ya think we should, Johnny? You know Dad said he’d tan the life out of us if we ever stepped foot in that place. He’ll be livid if he finds out,” Simon, Johnny’s eight-year-old brother, said, terrified.

  Johnny knew Simon had a point—both of them had received several thrashings at the hand of their father in the past—yet the temptation to venture into the building was like a magnet to him. The boys knew they had two options: either they went with Johnny, or they waited outside the building, scared shitless because he wasn’t there to hold their hands.

  “Do you guys wanna take a vote on this?” Johnny sniffed and wiped the drip hanging off the end of his nose on the back of his hand.

  The three younger lads, aged eight, nine and ten, all threw worrying glances at each other. Trevor hurried them up by putting his fist in the centre of the group. It was the gang’s sign that a pact was about to be sealed. The rest of the group butted their fists against Trevor’s. “All for one,” they shouted in unison.

  Johnny picked his way gingerly through the rubble—all the corroding metal items people had dumped over the years—to the entrance. The large steel door showed significant signs of being tampered with over the years, and it swung in the breeze on a single hinge, adding to the boys heightening fear. “This is your last chance to chicken out, boys.”

  The three small humans standing in front of him shook their heads and gulped noisily. “Come on, Johnny, don’t keep asking us. Let’s get in there.”

  Johnny shrugged and turned to ease the door back, holding it away from the building so the other boys could follow behind him. He was at least a foot taller than the rest of the gang and much stronger than the others. Once they were all through the door, each step they took was more tentative than the last. Every noise they heard in the distance had the younger boys gripping each other’s jackets. “It’s a few stray cats. Stop being idiots.”

  A high-pitch squeak sounded off to the right, and they saw a black figure scurry into the building. “What was that?” Trevor asked, clinging to Brad, his best mate.

  Johnny tutted and looked him in the eye. “It was a rat. What do you think it was?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I asked. This place gives me the creeps.” Trevor’s head swivelled, constantly on the lookout for more creepy crawlies.

  “I gave you the chance to stay outside, remember? Stop whining.” Johnny sighed. His patience was running out fast. He was dying to explore the vast area and could do without stopping every few seconds to answer dumb questions.

  “All right, stop having a go. I was just saying,” Trevor mumbled, not appreciating Johnny’s reprimand in the slightest.

  They walked another fifty odd yards into the building lacking further incident, stepping carefully over the debris-strewn concrete floor. Looking up, Johnny noticed a few gaps in the floor above—not surprising in a building of this age and in such disrepair. He weighed up the situation…‌did they risk going up the stairs over in the corner to see what was on the next level or not?

  Brad cursed under his breath as another rat made a noise and scurried past them. Johnny wanted to snigger, but he knew the boy would be in a mood for days if he thought any of them were taking the piss and laughing at him.

  “Wanna go see what’s upstairs?” Johnny turned to look at the others. One by one the three other boys nodded, if a little hesitantly. When they reached the bottom of the concrete stairs, Johnny surged ahead without glancing back at the others. Fearless, that’s what he needed to be, despite feeling anything but. The others were relying on him to watch out for them, not to put them in unnecessary danger. If that was the case, why were they there? Johnny wasn’t sure; he just knew that he was drawn to this place.

  It wasn’t long before they’d made it up to the next level. The stairs, crumbling in places, hadn’t hampered their ability in the least. Johnny had helped the other boys hop over the trickier parts, which their smaller legs had trouble climbing past. When all four had made it to the top, they all put their knuckles together and grinned at their accomplishment.

  “Onwards, men,” Johnny called out. His raised voice sent several more furry creatures to actively seek new pastures.

  He hopped over the block wall that had collapsed, and held his hand out to pull the other boys over the rubble to join him before they continued their investigation of the upper level. This was a far more interesting area to explore. They encountered several more crumbling walls. Johnny thought the walls had been joined in a previous life, maybe to section off the building into offices.

  Scrambling over two more mounds of concrete wall, the group ventured towards an area which appeared to be lit by the lack of roof above. Coming from the partial darkness, Johnny’s eyes were quick to adjust. He gasped and staggered back into the other boys. Scared, they used him as a shield and poked their heads around his body to see what had caused their leader’s reaction.

  “What the—?” Simon began before he heard his brother gulp and felt Johnny’s arms wrap around him.

  “What is it?” Brad asked, displaying les
s fear than the others.

  Until Trevor whispered back, “It’s a p…‌person.”

  One by one, the boys started to back away from the scene, stumbling over the debris as their eyes remained fixed on the body. Johnny knew, but he kept shtum, not wanting to scare the others. He ordered them to turn and make their way back downstairs.

  “We can’t just leave him there, Johnny,” his brother said.

  Brad stopped walking and joined in, “Yeah, what if he needs our help?”

  Johnny looked over at Trevor, who shrugged. Johnny knew that there was no point trying to help the person because the person was now a corpse.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lorne snuggled up to Tony for one final cuddle. Lying on her side, she watched the digital clock click over to five minutes to seven and groaned. “Better get up, I suppose.”

  “Yep. You don’t want to be late for work,” Tony said, laughing, as he pushed her out of the bed.

  On legs heavy like lead, she made her way into the en suite to have her morning shower and contemplate what was ahead of her that day—the day she’d return to the Met for the third time. Did people really return to pastures old that many times? Apparently so. Since Tony, Sean Roberts, and she had sat down at the kitchen table a month ago to discuss the possibility of Lorne’s return, her stomach had been tied up in knots.

  The conversation had gone along these lines:

  “Come in, Sean. To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?” Lorne asked, eyeing her former boss with curiosity. The three of them sat around the table—a shame her psychic friend Carol wasn’t there; she could have conducted a séance. Lorne’s glance wandered over to her husband Tony, noticing the glint in his eye. She’d suspected he was up to something for days, but she couldn’t pinpoint what exactly what…‌until now.

  Sean cleared his throat before he set free his well-oiled speech, “Well, the three of us…”

  Lorne raised her hand to halt him. “Three? Three as in who?”

  Sean’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling, making Lorne stifle a chuckle. “Tony, Katy, and me.”

  “Oh right, so we have another collaborator in all of this, do we? I might have known you two men couldn’t come up with a plan between you. Sorry, do carry on, Sean.” She gave him her sweetest smile, which was laced with sarcastic powers.

  “As I was saying before you saw fit to rudely interrupt me, Lorne, I think it’s high time you came back to the Met.”

  Lorne flung herself back in the chair and folded her arms. “Oh you do, do you? And what, pray tell me, am I supposed to do with this place? Or had you forgotten that I have a thriving business of my own to attend to?”

  “Charlie and Tony can run it between them. Oh, and there’s always your weird psychic friend who you could call upon to lend a hand.”

  Lorne shook her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Smartarse, you think you have this all worked out? Like rallying together and, going behind my back will solve the problem of coming right out and asking me to come back?”

  “I wouldn’t put it quite that way myself; however, that sums the situation up nicely.” Sean smirked, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Still as gutless as ever, I see, Sean.” The dig was said light-heartedly, and they all laughed, two of them out of relief. She continued, “And where does Katy fit in to all of this?”

  “Actually, she was the instigator. She claims she won’t be able to function in her role as DI without you by her side,” Sean said with a deadly serious face.

  “Ha! That’s crap. You know it, she knows it, and I certainly know it.”

  “Give Sean a break, Lorne. Let’s face it…‌it must have been tough for him to come out here to say this, given the track record between you two.” Embarrassment etched everyone’s faces. “Er…‌I meant, the way you left the force, twice, vowing never to return.”

  Lorne had brushed aside her embarrassment quicker than her ex-boss. The fact that Lorne had been romantically involved with Sean before her marriage to her first husband, and Charlie’s father, Tom, may have been grounds for some of Sean’s discomfort. Lorne suspected that Tony had forgotten about that side of things, focusing on her quitting the Met as the scenario to justify his statement. Her husband now had no reason whatsoever to be jealous of what had gone on in Lorne’s and Sean’s past—that had fizzled out some twenty years back. Anyway, they were both extremely happy with their respective partners now. Sean had an added excitement to look forward to in the coming weeks, as he was about to become a dad for the first time in his life, or so Katy had informed her.

  Lorne blew out a het-up breath. “I wish you guys would learn that it’s pointless ganging up on me like this. You know I’ll only dig my heels in deeper.” Sean rose from his chair, getting ready to leave. Lorne shot him an “I’m not finished yet” look, and he sat down heavily in his seat. “What’s in it for me if I decide to come back?”

  Sean’s brow furrowed. “How can you ask such a thing? You’ll have the privilege of working under me, of course. What further incentive do you need?”

  Both men laughed loudly until she dished out another evil glare.

  “What about Superintendent Greenfall? Have you run this past him?”

  Shaking his head, Sean said, “Nope.”

  Lorne’s mouth gaped open momentarily before she recovered and asked, “What? Are you crazy?”

  “I must be.” His expression was one of concern, but his eyes were sparkling with laughter.

  “What?” she asked, knowing he was up to no good.

  “He’s retiring at the end of this week. Does that make a difference to what response you give me?”

  “Should it?” she asked, toying with him, the way a cat plays with a mouse before it savages the tiny creature.

  Tony kicked her foot under the table. “Stop teasing the poor man.”

  Lorne placed a hand against her chest and fluttered her eyelashes. “Moi? Would I do such a thing? Who’s replacing Greenfall?”

  “Ann Winter. She’s been up in Manchester for over ten years. She wants to return to London to be near her folks, apparently. When the vacancy cropped up, she pounced on it. Do you know her?”

  “The name rings a bell. I can’t put a face to the name just yet.” Lorne contemplated adding that she didn’t tend to get on with women superiors, but stopped herself as the statement would have sounded ridiculous, mostly because she hadn’t really bonded with her male superiors either. Even when Sean had returned to be her former DCI, it had been touch and go at the beginning whether or not they could maintain a successful working relationship.

  That had all changed when together they’d hunted down Baldwin, the Unicorn. The man who had tried his hardest to rip her family apart by kidnapping her teenage daughter, Charlie, and killing her partner, DS Pete Childs. Even now she had nightmares of Pete dying in her arms in that alley. She still felt comfort knowing that his presence was around her when trouble struck. Carol had informed Lorne that his spirit would watch over her for many years to come, and so far, it had been true. Lorne had felt him in the back of a van when she was abducted about eighteen months ago by some people-trafficking scum. She’d not really sensed him around for a while; maybe that was due to her life being more settled and not in jeopardy as such. Still, she felt he was lurking on the outskirts, ever the protector.

  “Lorne?” Tony’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts.

  “I’m sorry.” She wiped away the stray tear that had dropped onto her cheek.

  “You still think about Pete, I see,” Sean said softly.

  She nodded and reached out to hold Tony’s hand. “It’s hard not to. He was more like a brother to me than a mere friend and partner. Can you give me a few days to consider this, Sean?”

  Sean stood up to leave and hesitated upon reaching the back door. He turned around to face them. “Of course. One more thing to ponder while you contemplate your answer…”

  “What’s that?” Lorne asked, perplexed.
<
br />   “Whether Sam would think it a good idea for you to return to the force. He always said you were one of the best coppers around, Lorne.”

  She scowled at the mention of her father. “That was cruel, Sean, and you know it.”

  He held his arms out to the side, acting all innocent. “Moi? Cruel? Never. Ring me in a few days. Discuss it with Katy if you have to. Maybe she can twist your arm more than I can.”

  After Sean left, Lorne and Tony discussed her concerns for hours. Every time they thought they were getting somewhere, another seed of doubt entered Lorne’s mind. The largest issue bugging her was that she would be returning as a detective sergeant, effectively going back ten years or so. The one bonus that outweighed her ‘demotion’ would be that she knew Katy, now a detective inspector, would do her best to treat Lorne as an equal. At least, she hoped that would turn out to be the case. Finally, after discussing several lingering concerns with Katy over the phone that evening, Lorne hung up and demanded that Tony open a bottle of wine to celebrate her decision, their joint decision.

  She looked at her husband of three years. “I’ll have to run it past Charlie first, before I officially accept the position. Are you positive you and she can run this place together?”

  “Certain. A thousand-percent certain. She’s got her driver’s licence now. The only slight doubt would be if Charlie is capable of carrying out proper home checks for suitable homes for the dogs. You could give her a checklist to work from, couldn’t you?”

  “Yep, I’m sure I can show her the ropes there. Actually, little Benji is wanted by that nice couple with the Collie; Charlie could accompany me on the home visit. More to the point, she could do the visit while I observe how she gets on. I’m sure she’ll thrive on the added responsibility.” Her eyes misted up as she reminisced about the major hurdles her daughter had conquered in her young life. It was no mean feat to go from an angst-filled teenager to a flourishing businesswoman in three short years. Her heart swelled with pride every time she looked at her daughter.