Hunter Hunted by Jack Gatland (best value ebook reader .TXT) 📗

wasn’t in that much of a bloody vengeance mood, and the constant moving was bringing on stabbing migraines because of the pressure still on his brain, causing him to almost black out frequently as they made their way out of the hospital and, placing him (with a small amount of fuss) into a black cab that specialised in wheelchairs, making their way into East London.

Now finally able to check her messages, Doctor Marcos quickly realised the severity of the immediate situation. Declan was apparently on the run, outed as the ‘terrorist handler’ that had worked with Kendis, Anjli was still on site at a bomb explosion and DCI Bullman had arrived at Temple Inn, proving to everyone that she was an utter nightmare to be around.

Which was precisely what Doctor Marcos had asked her to do.

‘Things aren’t looking good,’ she muttered to Monroe as he sat, half sprawled, on the taxi’s back seat. ‘Whoever’s done this, they’ve planned it with military precision.’

‘Can we find Declan?’ Monroe asked, his voice still rough. Doctor Marcos thought about this for a couple of seconds.

‘Not through legal means,’ she said.

‘And what does that mean?’ Monroe asked, finally realising that the taxi was even moving. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Just shut your eyes and leave that to me,’ Doctor Marcos placed a tender hand on his forehead, but it was just to check the temperature. Exhausted and too tired to argue, Monroe shut his eyes. Which was good, because it meant that he didn’t see that the taxi was driving into Globe Town, the home of Jackie and Johnny Lucas; otherwise known as The Twins.

At the Temple Inn offices, Anjli stared at the chaos in front of her.

Police cars were parked haphazardly around the entrance, officers were scattering out around Temple Inn and DCI Sutcliffe was standing at the base of the steps of the building, bellowing out orders to seemly anyone who was listening, which at the moment seemed to be only Billy and DI Frost, currently holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose.

‘What’s going on?’ Anjli asked as she approached. ‘Are we being attacked or something?’

‘More the or something,’ Billy replied. ‘Declan’s escaped.’

‘Escaped from where?’ Anjli looked around and saw DCI Bullman talking to some officers to the north. ‘And what’s she doing here? I was only away an hour!’

‘Your tardiness may have costs lives,’ Sutcliffe snapped. ‘Did you know Walsh was a terrorist sympathiser and handler?’

Anjli stood still, unable to reply to this. Sutcliffe took her silence as confusion, and so continued.

‘The man in the hat and glasses that’s currently on every news screen? Walsh. The man who attacked Monroe last night? Walsh. The man who killed the only surviving witness to link him to the terrorist Kendis Taylor? Walsh.’

‘We’re not completely sure that he attacked Monroe—‘ Billy stopped as Sutcliffe glared at him.

‘This can’t be right,’ Anjli looked around imploringly. ‘There’s no way he’s a terrorist!

‘It’s time to come back to the real world, Anj,’ Billy muttered. Anjli glared at him for a moment before replying.

‘Still the Judas, I see,’ she snapped. Billy looked at Frost, changing his handkerchief for a less bloody one before replying.

‘If being a Judas means working for the greater good, then yeah, call me that,’ he replied angrily. ‘Declan confessed. He said he’d seen Kendis, that he went to the cemetery, that he lied to us. And then, before we could formerly arrest him, he escaped custody.’

‘How?’ Anjli’s head was aching now.

‘Apparently he kicked the shit out of that guy there and disappeared into thin air,’ Bullman said, pointing at Frost as she walked over. ‘Either that or he’s still inside the building, hiding. They’re combing the floors as we speak. Hello, DS Kapoor.’

‘Ma’am,’ Anjli nodded. ‘May I ask what brings you to Temple Inn?’

‘Came to act as Walsh’s Federation Rep, but it seems like he wasn’t interested in going that route,’ Bullman shrugged.

‘And now she’ll be buggering off back to Birmingham,’ Sutcliffe sneered. Bullman, however, simply smiled at this.

‘I think I’ll be hanging round for a while longer,’ she said lightly, looking at her fellow DCI. ‘After all, when you eventually find him. I’m still his Federation Rep. And while you’re all running around in circles, someone needs to keep hunting DCI Monroe’s attacker.’

‘Dat was Walsh!’ Frost snapped, his nose still clogged. ‘He confessed do id!’

Bullman looked at the man with the rimless glasses.

‘First off, Detective Inspector Frost, as a superior rank you either refer to me by the terms ‘ma’am’, or ‘Guv’, or you use my rank if you can even say it properly right now. And second, as one of the four people in the room, I can state with some clarity that the one thing that Declan Walsh didn’t do was confess to that attack.’ She looked to Anjli.

‘Do you know who did it?’ she asked.

‘I have some thoughts,’ Anjli replied, looking at Frost as she spoke.

‘Excellent,’ Bullman patted Anjli on the back. ‘We can work the case together.’

‘Go wild,’ Sutcliffe muttered. ‘And while you’re at it, see if you can find the dopey bastard too, as he seems to have disappeared with his Doctor and DC Davey—‘

‘Sir? Did you need me?’ Davey, standing in a group of forensics officers to the side, wearing their PPE suits looked up. Sutcliffe almost did a double take.

‘How long have you been here?’ he asked. Davey shrugged.

‘Oh, I dunno, about an hour?’ she suggested. ‘I guess it’s hard to see us properly when the suits are on.’

Sutcliffe looked back to Bullman.

‘Are you still here?’ he snapped. ‘Well, go on then! Go solve this bloody case!’

With a final, withering look at Billy, Anjli and Bullman left the scene. Frost, watching this painfully blew his nose, staring down at the blood and mucus in the ruined handkerchief before turning to Billy.

‘She’s pissed at you,’ he mumbled. ‘I don’t dink you’re friends adymore.’

Billy shrugged.

‘I didn’t join the force to make friends,’ he said. ‘I joined to make a difference.’

Frost looked to Sutcliffe, who smiled.

‘You’re a good copper,