The Devil's Line by Marrisse Whittaker

Author:Marrisse Whittaker [Whittaker, Marrisse]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloodhound Books

19

MADMAN CRAZY BAD

‘That looks nasty.’ Max was entering the hospital, just as Billie was finally leaving, leading her to silently whistle ‘Hallelujah’. There must be a god after all.

‘Not as bad as it looks.’ Billie had lied. The nurse had likened her left hand to a tin of badly opened corned beef, swollen and burnt, with additional shards of glass from the floor of the pub, already starting to fester. ‘Nothing broken and I’ve been given piles of drugs. Everyone’s taking them these days, don’t you know?’ she quipped. Not that she would be taking any of the prescribed painkillers. She liked to be in control at all times.

Having waited an hour to be attended to, she’d popped her head in on Stan to assure him that Kat was being well cared for. It seemed ages since she had shared that slice of cake with Boo.

‘Fancy a cuppa?’ she asked Max, not only because she wanted to pick his professional brains.

‘Sorry, got a patient conference in five minutes.’ He smiled. ‘Anything pressing?’ I wish, Billie silently answered.

‘Just wanted a professional perspective on a specific sort of psycho I’m investigating.’ Billie didn’t want him getting ideas that she was making a play for him. She wasn’t, was she? Damn it, she really did need some advice, her inner angel argued with her inner devil. Max’s eyes lit up. As chat-up lines went, Billie mused, mention a psycho to a criminal psychologist and bingo, you were quids in.

‘You know I’m always here to help you, Billie.’ Max stretched out his hand and touched her arm. It felt like an electric shock, but she wasn’t planning to let him see the sparks.

‘Yeah, well, this time I’m not your psycho.’ She referred to their original meeting when she had been sent for counselling and had fought tooth and nail against his suggestions.

‘Got any expertise in stalkers at all?’ Billie asked. Max’s face darkened.

‘You’ve got a stalker mixed up in your murder investigations?’ he queried.

‘Inadvertently, I’m guessing. Probably not linked to the murders at all but targeting one of the investigating officers…’ Billie felt her face flush in annoyance.

‘You’re not the target?’ he asked, his brow furrowing in concern. Billie shrugged.

‘I’m told that my team nickname is Kevlar, so I’m pretty bulletproof. But any tips to help me catch the latest brand of crazy, would be appreciated,’ she answered.

‘There are many different types of stalkers, Billie, but they’re notoriously difficult to stop. Sometimes interventions work for a while and then the stalking flares up at times of stress. You don’t think that they were involved with the petrol bomb–’

‘Forget it. I’ll be fine.’ Billie cut him off mid-sentence. She didn’t like the look of absolute alarm on his face. Maybe he thought that she was too weak to handle such a challenge. Not like his still much loved and very dead wife who had hung around minefields in war zones, saving people. There was absolutely no competition with that, Billie reminded herself.

‘Wait!’ Max had speedily backtracked and was now blocking Billie’s exit route.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.