Dark Souls by J.S. Cook

Author:J.S. Cook [Cook, J.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery/suspense
ISBN: 978-1-64108-366-9
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2022-05-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

THE IMPENDING weather Danny had been concerned about was now a full-on blizzard, with everything the meteorological office had predicted and then some. The view outside his office window was non-existent, and even when he squinted he could see nothing but an impenetrable wall of white, blown about by howling winds out of the northeast. Kevin Carbage had radioed to say he was at Carbonear General with a young woman he’d found wandering on the barrens and would shelter there until the weather cleared. Danny had stayed too late at the station to make it home and so elected to remain where he was. Cillian Riley, June Carbage, and Bobbi Lambert, as well as the two constables, had left early enough to beat the storm and were now safe in their own houses. That left just Danny and the blizzard. He didn’t anticipate any criminal activity, but someone needed to man the phones and stay on top of things, just in case something arose that required police intervention—not that he’d be able to go anywhere. He’d need a snowplough to get through the drifts, and the last time he’d passed by the front door, it was covered in snow three-quarters of the way up. But he still had electricity, and in the event that the storm knocked out the power, the station could operate on its own generator, a feature Tadhg had insisted on adding when his subcontractors had wired the building.

The thought of Tadhg was painful, especially since they had parted on bad terms. In typical Tadhg fashion, he’d endured the betrayal and loss in silence, and it wasn’t until Danny practically interrogated him that he’d opened up about the matter.

“Subcontractor ripped me off. Fella by the name of Phelan.” They were sitting in Danny’s rented house in Kildevil Cove, sipping whiskey after supper one evening, when Tadhg finally told him the truth. “Bastard cleaned me out.” He wouldn’t look Danny in the eye. “I should have seen it coming, but obviously I’m stupid now as well as broke.”

“I’ll get on to the RCMP,” Danny said, “see if they can’t—”

“No.” Tadhg flicked a glance at him, then looked away. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

Danny stared at him. “You’re not going to let this go, are ye?”

“I am.”

Many times over the course of their friendship, Tadhg had done strange things, made decisions Danny couldn’t agree with, but this had to be the worst. In order to satisfy his creditors, he’d had to sell all his assets, including the house on Eigus and even the island itself. When the dust settled, Tadhg was left with nothing except the clothes on his back. That was when he decided to go looking for Phelan. “I have to put an end to this,” he’d said, “and anyway, I’m cleaned out. There’s nothing left.”

There’s me, Danny wanted to say. I’m still here. But he knew it was futile. Tadhg’s mind was made up, and Danny didn’t even come into it. What he said instead was “How long will you be gone?”

“As long as it takes.

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.