Hard Cases (A Ryan Kyd Omnibus) by Hurn Roger

Author:Hurn, Roger [Hurn, Roger]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press Ltd.
Published: 2013-12-09T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Even in the dim light of the cave I could see that Carly was in shock. The colour was leached from her face and she was shaking slightly.

‘That bastard Azrael killed Zander.’ Her voice was flat and she kept picking at her nails.

I gave Zander’s body a quick once over to make sure he really was dead. He was, but then the knife sticking out of his chest made any other outcome highly unlikely. It had gone straight up into his heart so either Azrael had got lucky or he knew what he was doing.

I put my arms round Carly, but it was like holding a plank of wood. Her skin was cold and clammy. I wasn’t surprised. I was guessing that, despite her “screw the world” attitude, this was the first time she’d ever come face-to-face with violent death. It was always sickening, but I needed to get her back with me and fast.

‘Okay, kid, tell me what happened.’

Her eyes suddenly came back into focus. ‘Zander told me that Alec Carmichael was going to kill me just like he killed Angie.’

My brain did a mental somersault. This was a bit too much information for it to process in one hit. But there was more.

‘He’s a fucking psycho, Ryan. He gets his kicks from offing girls.’

I held her by the shoulders and stared at her.

‘Whoa, slow down, honey. Are you really saying that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the guy who’s in line to be the next prime minister, is a murderer?’

She stared back at me like I was an idiot. ‘Yeah, I just said so didn’t I?’

I swallowed hard. This was some really serious shit we were in.

‘So why did Azrael kill Zander?’

Carly’s eyes flashed and she scowled. ‘’Cos Zander was trying to sneak me outta here through some secret tunnel.’ She frowned. ‘I guess that’s how you must’ve got in here, right?’

I nodded.

‘Right, but when we sneaked down into the cavern, Azrael was already here. I dunno what he was doing, but he wasn’t pleased to see me and Zander. Anyway, they had a spat and Zander said no way was he gonna let anybody harm me. And that we were leaving the Church. Azrael said that so wasn’t gonna happen and then he picked up a knife from the altar and just stabbed him.’

She stopped talking and I could tell that she was reliving the incident in her head. I squeezed her arms gently. ‘And then what happened?’

She breathed in sharply through her nose and swallowed before saying. ‘He ran off.’

I quickly looked around. ‘Okay. Where did he go?’

Carly was suddenly furious with me. ‘How the fuck should I know? I was trying to help Zander!’

She shook herself free of me and folded her arms across her chest. ‘Zander really cared for me and it’s doing my head in ‘cos it got him killed.’

I didn’t know what to say. I was just relieved it was Zander who’d been murdered and not Carly, but I didn’t think this was the time to say so.

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