Wildfire by Nick Oldham

Author:Nick Oldham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448303861
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2019-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

There had been plenty of times in Henry’s past as a detective when he’d spent countless hours on the go, fuelled by coffee, adrenaline and the hunt for a killer, but that was no longer his domain.

Not only did he have a busy country house hotel and pub to run, but he was now exhausted and wanted to get some sleep. His desire for a pie, beer and bourbon had gone, but he still needed a mug of tea and probably a bacon sandwich just to tide him over.

He could also see that Daniels was flagging and she needed both sustenance and rest, so he made a suggestion.

‘Take me back to The Tawny Owl. Let’s have a brew and some food, get Rik Dean to come and join us – if he can. We can talk and then crash out for a few hours.’

‘Crash out? How do you mean?’

‘I’ll give you a room and you can get your head down before returning to the fray. How does that sound? And you can keep an eye on me, see I don’t leave the country.’

‘It sounds good – but I don’t have a change of clothes and that is something I desperately need because I’m sweaty and beginning to reek a bit. I know,’ she said off Henry’s look, ‘women don’t reek.’

‘I didn’t want to be indiscreet,’ Henry grinned and feigned a duck just in case she slapped him. ‘If you can’t do it, just drop me off and we’ll meet later. If I recall, you live in Preston, don’t you? Bit inconvenient just to nip and grab some clothes.’

‘We really haven’t spoken for a while, have we? I have a flat in Lancaster now – which is in nippable distance. I could grab a few things, then we could head over to Kendleton.’

Henry yawned like a very big, lazy cat. ‘Let’s do it.’

Daniels called Rik Dean on the journey back to Lancaster. Her phone was connected to Bluetooth and the conversation was on loudspeaker for Henry to listen in, something Dean was initially unaware of.

‘Do not let him go home,’ he said firmly to Daniels. ‘We need to pin him down and get everything he knows on paper and tape with regard to these toe-rags. This is a hot investigation and we need to push forward with it, give it momentum and, clearly, what he knows is vital.’

‘I think he just wants to go to bed.’

‘Silly old fuckwit – don’t let him. Bring him to Lancaster nick, arrest him if you need to, and let me speak to him even if I have to shake him awake.’

Daniels grimaced at Henry.

There was a slight pause before Dean said, ‘He can hear me, can’t he?’ Then quickly added, ‘I’ll come and see him.’

The wind had changed direction. By the time Henry and Daniels returned to Kendleton, dawn was well on course, the sun rising slowly through a cloudy haze. Much of the smoke from the fires had blown away, the air was fresh for a change and it was a proper daybreak, the sort Henry had grown to love and appreciate.

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