The Hero's Fall (DCI Cook Thriller Series Book 14) by Phillip Strang (best classic romance novels txt) 📗

‘I had to let the dog out; incontinent, never know when he’s going to leave a calling card on the carpet. One day, sooner than later, I’ll have to do the right thing by him; not today, not tomorrow, never if I could.’

‘You’re fond of the animal?’ Larry asked.

‘You know what they say – if you want a friend, get a dog.’

‘We do,’ Wendy said.

‘I’ve not had much success with friends, let you down, but not with Buster. He’s always there for me, rain or shine. You can’t say that about people.’

Bitter, almost as if she was feeling sorry for herself. Larry noticed the signs, not sure if there was more behind that exterior: a vulnerability, a history of abuse, events recessed in the depths of her mind.

‘Mike’s your brother; you’re close. Doesn’t that make him a friend?’

‘I love the man dearly, but when he was making a name for himself, he was arrogant, and now, damaged goods after Angus let him fall. He’s a miserable so-and-so. One I could deal with, tell him to shut up and act normal, and the other, I can’t take, or only in short doses.’

‘Don’t you think Kate feels the same way?’

‘I’m not begrudging her finding another man, not now. Mike’s abrogated his responsibility. He used to be the more positive of the two of us, but now, sitting there, blaming everyone, especially Angus, what’s the point?’

‘You’ve forgiven Simmons?’

‘No, but life goes on. If Jock weren’t such a dolt, I’d marry him and have a couple of kids, unsure if I can. No point complaining.’

‘Medical?’ Wendy asked.

‘Self-induced. Not that I mean a dodgy backyard abortion. A biker’s moll, and sometimes the men can be rough, see a woman as no more than a piece of meat.’

‘The man you were with?’

‘Died, duelling with another biker, me as the prize. He came around a corner too fast, skidded on oil and slammed straight into a tree. It took them two hours to peel him off.’

‘The other man won?’

‘By default. I wasn’t too keen on being traded in the first place. The next day, after I had smashed a fist into the other man, I shaved my hair, got myself a motorbike, told the gang they could either accept me as I was or they could shove it.’

‘What did they do?’

‘They accepted me after I had gone through their rite of passage, initiation into the tribe, silly and childish.’

‘What did you do?’ Larry asked.

‘Don’t ask,’ Deb said. ‘You don’t want to know.’

Larry did, but he wasn’t willing to pursue it.

‘I rode that bike for two years, getting tattoos and speeding tickets along the way. Then one day, I pulled up at the side of the road, saw the sign for this place. I drove down the track, stopped at the front door, got off my bike, scared the people living here witless and asked how much.’

‘What did they say?’

‘After they figured that I wasn’t stuffing around, they gave me a price. Three weeks later, I moved in. I gave them cash, my parents’ inheritance. Mike wasn’t the only one with money.’

‘Could Mike have killed Angus?’ Larry asked.

‘In his condition, not a chance.’

‘Deborah Hampton?’ Larry asked.

‘It needs to be asked,’ Wendy said. ‘Could you have killed Simmons?’

‘When I first heard about the accident, but not now. I’d have Mike down here if he weren’t such a pain; the fresh air would do him good. He could feed the chickens, help out around the place, but he won’t come.’

‘We believe that Angus wasn’t having an affair with Kate when they went to Patagonia. We’ve got that from two sources now, but that Kate, in anger, mentioned Angus, knowing that Mike would be distraught that his wife was cheating with his best friend.’

‘If that’s true, it doesn’t affect the outcome. Mike’s sitting in that miserable house while she’s out doing whatever and whoever, and Angus is dead.’

‘We need to understand the background to solve the murder,’ Wendy said.

‘Talk to Justin Skinner. He’s handy with a gun.’

‘You’ve been?’

‘Mike had. Kate’s a bitch, but she’s no murderer. I could be, but Angus wasn’t worth the effort,’ Deb said.

Chapter 14

After meeting with the police, the one night in the hotel had stretched into two, a friend covering for her if Mike phoned, not that he would, Kate Hampton knew that much.

She had loved Mike back when they first met. A man with determination, an easy manner about him, considerate.

It was Mike who she still preferred, although since the accident, even before, he had been burdensome, impossible at times, and Justin Skinner had become an irresistible diversion.

The truth of the accident she didn’t know, only that she had never known Angus to be angry, whereas Mike blew hot and cold, forgot soon after, but she had told him she was sleeping with his best friend.

It was her fault that Angus had died and why Mike was unable to fend for himself, the reason why she had spent two nights in a hotel room in Hammersmith with a man who would maltreat her, a man who would be unfaithful and uncaring.

Even when her husband was away climbing, he’d attempt to phone once a day.

As Skinner slept, Kate Hampton dressed, picked up her handbag and the travelling case she had come with, and left the room, closing the door quietly.

She felt dirty, the dirt that comes from sin. She knew that Justin Skinner, once he saw her gone, would continue to pursue her.

To make it work with Mike, Skinner’s persistence couldn’t be tolerated, a diversion that she didn’t want to or couldn’t deal with.

Confused, she got into her car and headed west. There was only one