Flesh and Blood (A DI Amy Winter Thriller) by Caroline Mitchell (best love novels of all time .TXT) 📗

PRAISE FOR CAROLINE MITCHELL

‘For me, this book had everything – an excellent police procedural with tension, pace and a compelling storyline. With the added psychological element, there was nothing more I could have asked for.’

—Angela Marsons

‘Fast-paced, twisty, and chilled me to the bone . . . I loved every minute of it!’

—Robert Bryndza

‘The writer’s conflicted heroine and twisted villain are superb characters.’

—The Sunday Express magazine

‘Heart-thumping moments that left me desperate to read more.’

—The Book Review Café

‘The very definition of a page-turner.’

—John Marrs

‘The tension built up and up . . . I devoured every page.’

—Mel Sherratt

‘With her police officer experience, Caroline Mitchell is a thriller writer who knows how to deliver on plot, character, and most importantly, emotion in any book she writes. I can’t wait to read more.’

—My Weekly magazine

ALSO BY CAROLINE MITCHELL

The DI Amy Winter Series

Truth and Lies

The Secret Child

Left for Dead

Individual Works

Paranormal Intruder

Witness

Silent Victim

The Perfect Mother

The DC Jennifer Knight Series

Don’t Turn Around

Time to Die

The Silent Twin

The Ruby Preston Series

Death Note

Sleep Tight

Murder Game

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2021 by Caroline Mitchell

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Thomas & Mercer, Seattle

www.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Thomas & Mercer are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781542023412

ISBN-10: 1542023416

Cover design by Tom Sanderson

I dedicate this book to the true heroes and lifesavers of the world – our amazing NHS.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

CHAPTER FIFTY

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PROLOGUE

CARLA

Thursday 22 July

Curled up on the sofa, Carla stared longingly at the television as the fly-on-the-wall police documentary played. Seeing Donovan’s face on-screen breathed life into all the old emotions she had buried when he left her team. She cast a side-eye in her husband’s direction. He had barely moved off the sofa all evening and the crumbs of his chocolate digestives were still resting on his tatty sweatshirt. She quietly sighed to herself. Comparing him to Donovan was completely unfair. Shaun deserved some downtime, and it wasn’t as if she’d stand up next to the brooding Amy Winter, should the tables be turned. Her eyes tracked Donovan’s movements as the camera crew followed them into the briefing room. For a moment she slipped into imagining herself in Amy Winter’s place. But she was jolted from her fantasy as her husband rested his feet on her lap.

‘Bit of a busman’s holiday for you, isn’t it?’ Shaun nodded towards the television. ‘I can turn it over if you like.’

‘No, leave it on,’ Carla said as he picked up the TV remote control. Perhaps watching her old colleague would help because at the moment, she had exhausted every avenue and didn’t know where to turn. It had been lovely, spending the evening with her daughters, but it was because of her girls that she had become so wrapped up in work. Now they were safely tucked up in bed, their teenage years looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. One day they would resent her monitoring their every move. She envied her husband’s ignorance. Used car salesmen were unlikely to come into contact with rapists and murderers in their line of work.

‘You all right?’ he said, watching her intently as the programme progressed.

Nodding, Carla pushed down the fear that had formed as a tight band around her chest. Sometimes it was hard to breathe, knowing what she knew.

‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said, gently placing her husband’s feet to one side. It was late, gone half ten, but she couldn’t go to bed just yet. She was hoping to receive a very important call.

Carla clicked on the kettle and dropped a teabag in a mug. The lilt of canned laughter filtered through from the living room. Shaun had switched the channel before she had walked through the door. He wasn’t interested in policing. He didn’t get her obsession with her job. Some people had affairs in order to feel alive; Carla immersed herself in work. It had been hard, passing up the chance of promotion to raise her family. But now it was her turn to prove her worth.

Her thoughts returned to Donovan and his sidekick, DI Winter. Or was it the other way around? Rank did not seem to come into it, as they treated each other with mutual respect. To think that it could have been her. It made her burn with jealousy to watch their on-screen chemistry. It was hardly any wonder viewers couldn’t get enough of them. Donovan had improved with age. His gangliness had been replaced by lean muscle, his cockiness by maturity. All these years she had held a torch for him, and he had never known. What she would give to work on his team. She wasn’t fooling herself; she knew he’d never look at someone like her. Nor did she want him to. She loved her husband, as you did a steady life companion who would be there to weather any storm.

Just to be near Donovan, though . . . to work with a real sense of purpose. But Donovan never saw her, not like he saw DI Winter. It was obvious