And Your Enemies Closer: A heart-stopping crime thriller by Rob Parker

Author:Rob Parker [Parker, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Dog Press/Bloodhound Books
Published: 2023-01-16T13:00:00+00:00

32

Salt breeze licked Harvey’s forehead, as he listened to the surf. He’d worked hard for this view, this chance to sit on an expensive deck at the back of a seafront mansion. His seafront mansion. The glass of the balcony was streaked with that briny wind, but the decking was crisp and clean and drenched in sunshine. Whatever happened anywhere else, whatever he heard on the news—a bit like the news of a bloody shooting at a fast food restaurant over in Leigh, that just ripped through the Sky News morning programming—he could always sit here and let everything wash away.

It was half twelve, and he sipped from a glass tumbler, half-full of amber. He knew that putting the word out would create waves, just as he knew the price offered would add bait to the water. But wild bloodshed at a restaurant? At lunchtime, no less? That was as unexpected as it was ill-advised, and he didn’t even know who was behind it.

He took narcissistic comfort from the fact that this had happened only because of the Culpepper name’s power, reach and reputation. Of course, when Harvey Culpepper said jump, his underlings always wanted to outreach each other, impress him. They all knew that if Harvey Culpepper promised something—like a million quid, for example—he’d deliver it.

And that was why he was here now.

His phone rang in his pocket and he scrambled to pull it out. Dorian. He answered immediately. ‘Is he dead?’

‘No,’ said his right-hand man. ‘Two others are, though. Three more injured. One of them an innocent.’

Culpepper wasn’t squeamish about collateral. But this was still bad for business.

‘Who were they?’

‘Still waiting to find out. But one of them was a hit squad from Preston.’

‘Jesus.’ His reward had obviously got out quick and was attracting serious underground attention.

‘You said to put the word out, gaffer—’

Harvey hung up before anything else could be said.

Had his rage caused a spiral? People would say his ego had taken over, but he knew that a winner always backed their own horse—end of story. If that was ego, then so be it. People didn’t get far because they wondered if they could—the top dogs just went and did.

‘Dad?’

Harvey turned to find Mikey stood on the veranda. ‘Yeah?’ His only son was bang on twenty—shirtless, built like an athlete. An amateur boxer with aspirations of going pro, Harvey had done everything he could to make that dream become real. That had included giving him the means to devote his life to training. He’d never even had a job, much less anything that Harvey himself had had to do.

Lucky sod.

‘Can I get a ride to the gym?’

Mikey was serving a twelve-month driving ban for motoring pissed up.

‘Is your mum about?’ he asked.

Mikey ran his hand through his hair. ‘I’ll have a look,’ he said reluctantly.

‘Mum is about,’ said Charlotte, emerging onto the veranda in her gym clobber. Harvey noticed a fire in her eyes, and imagined it could only be because she’d heard about the reward too, and had an opinion on it.

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