The Devil Among Us by Ramsay Sinclair (easy books to read txt) 📗

my knees below my chin and making myself as compact and unrecognisable as possible, I desperately pressed the try again button. I couldn’t have done all of this in vain.

Why did I have to be so stubborn and deny backup? Was it some sort of heroic narcissism that I couldn’t help, a type of self-obsessive hubris I’d inherited from our family? Or was it a will for revenge of my own, to prove myself?

Whichever it was, McCall was right. Ironically, I’d jumped the gun.

I doubted they’d let me go if they found me. How could they? I was like Flynn Jones, an expendable person who knew far too much about them. I’d seen their faces, heard their voices and knew their plan.

“I’ll take this room,” I heard David Roy whisper. “Mick, you’re on the left. Ron, take the front.”

That front room being referred to was mine. It didn’t take long for reluctant footsteps to plod across the stone flooring in a pair of clunky boots. Scarcely daring to breathe, I pinned myself against the pillar. This Ron guy would have to march the entire circumference of the bare room to reveal my location. I hoped he’d get bored before that happened or convince himself that they were being paranoid.

A trickle of sweat ran down my brow bone, and I felt my heart jumping at every step Ron took. Surely, he could hear the thunder of my heart if not my muted inhales.

Ron’s muttering was closer now than I’d expected, and the clicks of his gun were intimidating. To be shot by a police weapon from our own storage, one that both McCall and I had marvelled at and touched, made the prospect that much more personal.

From the corner of my eye, his legs came into view. Any minute now, he’d spot my quivering self. Ron stepped forward and hoisted the gun ready in his arms. I saw his trembling fingers latch themselves onto the trigger and he precariously stepped closer.

A horn blared outside, startling Ron as much as it had me. Despite panicking, I’d managed to stay still as the commotion arose outside. A series of urgent shouts bellowed from David Roy.

“That’s the signal. Go, Go!” The fear was evident in his voice, and I could hear them all start to flee. Ron barely cared to continue the search and spotted the broken window as a means of escape. Exactly as I’d done to come in, Ron swung his legs over the ground-floor window and escaped into the Scotch mist.

Headlights from the white van changed position as the van started to zoom away from Seafield house with exigency and I spotted the three criminals chasing after it. David Roy and the smaller guy hopped in the back whilst on the move. Ron ran along behind whilst yelling at the driver to slow down and wait for him to get in. David Roy outstretched a hand to help their associate clamber up into the back end.

What had gotten them spooked?

Their van gradually retreated along the dirt track, revving their engine to prevent them from sinking too much as I had done. Letting out the throbbing breath I’d held, I gratefully thanked fate for whatever had happened to make the criminals leave. Perhaps it wasn’t my time yet. Perhaps I still had achievements left to find and new places in the world to discover.

“I knew you’d try something stupid, Cooper,” a strict voice said from behind. “Those boys could have killed you. They’re trigger happy.” DCI Reid stepped out from the adjoining room, bathing in the dusk.

I hauled myself up from the stone, both eyes narrowing in hatred. “You’d know that better than anyone else. Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Our deal is over. They’re on their own now,” he revealed and stopped in his tracks whilst leaning against the masonry doorway that connected our rooms together. “You came in through the window, I presume?” He nodded at where the dreadful breeze was howling and the rain poured in.

“So what if I did?” I hissed defensively.

DCI Reid chuckled but the hairs on my arms prickled from the harsh tone. “You’re lucky you’re skinny. A guy like me would get stuck halfway through.” This wasn’t a time for jokes. “That’s why I used the doorway.” He surveyed my closed-off body language. “Because I was invited, unlike you.”

The game was up. I didn’t have to pretend anymore.

“You were invited here to finish the job,” I spat in distaste, blood boiling at the way he was still acting innocent.

DCI Reid played with his tie. “Ah, you read my diary then,” His greying hair was in a state like mine, dripping and unruly. “I’d rather hoped you would. Invisible ink isn’t really my style, but I hoped you’d enjoy the fun little chase. It made it worthwhile.” Giant stains of water covered his front, whilst sweat stains coated my armpits.

“What?” I whispered.

“Oh, come on, Cooper. I’d put you down as smarter than that. Dropping my wallet at your feet? Leaving my office door wide open, as well as the diary? It was all a bit too easy.” He chortled in a stuffy manner, knowing something I didn’t. “I’m always two steps ahead, Cooper. It’s a chess player’s habit.”

The window had no glass, yet the air in here was stifling. “You were listening to our conversation. What did you do, bug my home?”

“What are you talking about, Cooper?” DCI Reid furrowed his low hanging brows.

“You bugged my house. You’ve been listening in on us. We said exactly the same thing about cards and chess and--”

“And you’re a wee bit paranoid, Cooper,” DCI Reid straightened up intimidatingly. “Merely coincidence, that’s all.” His plastered smile was unsettling, buttons still ready to burst open.

“You gave the criminals our evidence guns?” I spat combatively, stepping towards him. He stood his ground with a sort of unspoken power I couldn’t imitate if I tried. “And suspended McCall on purpose?”

“Yes,” DCI Reid answered me point-blank. I was blown away by his openness.

“Why?” I