Life or Death (2014) by Michael Robotham

Author:Michael Robotham [Robotham, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Crime, Fiction, Suspense, UK, Thrillers, General
ISBN: 9780316252058
Google: VTJOAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00HP4HABG
Barnesnoble: B00HP4HABG
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Having fallen asleep at dawn, it is almost midday when Audie wakes. He wants to be outside feeling the sun on his skin and breathing in freedom while it lasts. Leaving the theatre, he walks the streets trying to clear his head. When he left prison he had a plan, but now he’s starting to question if the price is too high. Two more innocents dead – how can any end justify those means?

He imagines that people are staring at him, pointing fingers, whispering behind their hands. He passes a man in a dressing gown and a young tattooed woman, brittle with fury, bawling beneath an upstairs window, telling someone to ‘open the damn door’. He passes a burnt-out car, an abandoned fridge, discount stores, showrooms and a convoy of motorcyclists.

At some point he looks up and notices a church with a sign out front: IF YOU REALLY LOVE GOD, SHOW HIM YOUR MONEY. On the opposite corner is a small liquor store with a bright neon sign bolted above the door. Bottle after bottle stand upright on the shelves; spirits and liqueurs and fermented fruits that he has never tasted or heard of, yet he contemplates how easy it would be to drink himself to oblivion.

A bell jangles above his head. The aisles are empty. The store has a camera filming the entrance. Audie can see himself on a screen. He nods to the man behind the counter.

There is a pay phone. Audie thinks about calling his mother but instead asks directory assistance for a phone number and listens to it ringing. A receptionist answers.

‘I need to talk to Special Agent Furness,’ he says.

‘Who’s calling?’

‘I’ve got information for her.’

‘You need to give me your name.’

‘Audie Palmer.’

The receiver is put down on a hard surface. Audie can hear muffled voices and people shouting down corridors. He looks at the cashier. Nods. Turns his back.

A woman answers.

‘Is that Special Agent Furness?’

‘It is.’

‘I’m Audie Palmer. We’ve met before.’

‘Yes, I remember.’

‘I read those books you recommended. It took a while for the library to get hold of them, but I enjoyed them very much.’

‘You didn’t call me for a book club meeting.’

‘No.’

‘You know we’re looking for you, Audie.’

‘I figured as much.’

‘Give yourself up.’

‘I can’t do that.’

‘Why?’

‘I still got some stuff I have to do, but you need to know that I didn’t shoot Cassie and Scarlett. You have my word of honour. On my mother’s life and my father’s grave, it wasn’t me.’

‘Why don’t you come in and explain it to me?’

Audie can feel perspiration dripping from his armpits. He holds the receiver away from his head and wipes his ear with his shoulder.

‘Are you still there?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Why did you escape, Audie? You only had one more day.’

‘I didn’t steal that money.’

‘You fessed up to the robbery.’

‘I had my reasons.’

‘Why?’

‘I can’t tell you that.’

Special Agent Furness unpicks the silence. ‘I appreciate that you might have taken the fall for your brother or someone else, Audie, but in the eyes of the law everyone

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