Out of Hand: A Chilling British Crime Thriller (A DC O'Connell Crime Thriller Book 3) by A L Fraine & Andrew Dobell

Author:A L Fraine & Andrew Dobell [Fraine, A L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“So, this is it, the book that these guys were after?” Damon walked over to where Nathan had placed the tome on the table in the Incident Room.

The book itself was huge, easily forty centimetres tall and thirty wide when closed. It was bound in badly worn leather with metal clasps and corners that were dinged and scratched. On the cover, a faded image of a circle sat in the centre. It had lines radiating out from it, leading to other, smaller circles all around it.

Here, in the modern décor of the Horsley Station, the book looked decidedly out of place, and its age felt even greater. Damon cooed over it, leaning in to get a closer look and gently running his fingers over the edges.

“This really is a thing of beauty,” he said without taking his eyes off of it. “You got it at Theadora’s?”

“Yeah. She didn’t want it anymore. She insisted we take it.”

“I’m not surprised, after what she went through,” Rachel said.

Kate nodded. “She was pretty badly beaten.”

“I heard you went all Wonder Woman?” Rachel asked her.

Kate laughed. “I guess you could say that. Tried chasing him down, but he was too fast with too much of a head start.”

“You’re sure it was him?” Zafar asked.

“Positive. It was the killer. The bald man. I’d recognise him anywhere.”

“Mind if I have a look inside?” Damon asked, pointing to the book.

“Just be careful with it,” Nathan said.

Damon nodded and returned to the book, where he gently levered open the cover, revealing cracked, coffee stain-coloured pages, covered in tight writing surrounding geometric symbols and sketches of demonic faces.

Kate found herself strangely drawn to the contents of the book and watched carefully as Damon slowly turned the pages one at a time, revealing ever more horrific imagery.

“Kate!”

“Huh?” She looked up to see Nathan, Dion, and Rachel all looking at her. “What? I’m right here.”

“We know, we called your name several times.”

“Oh, did you?” She felt confident she’d have heard them if they did. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Rachel replied. Kate turned to glance back at the book, only to find Nathan had stepped sideways and was now blocking her view of it.

Kate smiled at him.

He smiled back.

“I was just saying,” Dion said, “we have CCTV footage of the getaway car. I’ve pulled the plate, but it’s a stolen one. So probably a dead end.”

Kate nodded. “Okay, good. Thanks. See if you can trace it anyway, you never know your luck.”

“Will do.”

“The SOCO’s pulled a tyre track from the road too, so we might be able to cross-reference it. So keep an eye out for that. I’m sure they’ll send up whatever they have.”

Dion nodded.

“So, what did Theadora say this book was all about?” Damon asked.

“She said it contained detailed information about other realms or dimensions,” Nathan replied, sounding like an authority on the subject.

“I see,” Damon replied. “And did she speculate on why the Black Hand might want it?”

“She said they’d likely use it to try and summon something,” Nathan answered.

“Makes sense,” Damon replied.

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