Fifty Fifty (Detective Harriet Blue #2)(65)

‘We didn’t kill anybody.’ Frank Scullen shook his head, glared at me. ‘This is bullshit. I’m not wearing a fucking murder charge.’

‘Which one of you wrote the diary?’ My voice was quivering. ‘You wrote the diary to distract us, didn’t you?’

‘We didn’t kill nobody, and we didn’t write no fuckin’ diary!’ John Stieg snapped.

‘Then why the secrecy?’ I looked at the gold on the ground by Kash’s foot.

The men glanced at each other, all but Jace, whose eyes were locked on me.

‘Whose land is this?’ Kash asked. ‘Whose land are we on?’

No one answered. Kash pointed at the ground.

‘If this land isn’t yours, and it isn’t public, then this gold is being stolen,’ he said. ‘Are we on someone’s land right now?’

I heard a click right beside my ear. The unmistakable sound of a hammer drawing back on a revolver.





Chapter 100


REGAN GAVE THE corner of the kitchen a wide berth, walked around through the living room and looked in. There was a man standing there, leaning against the counter, his arms folded and his eyes following Regan as he stepped into view. This man looked disordered, crooked, roughed-up somehow. Like the survivor of some kind of natural disaster, emerging from the forest with windswept hair and hard features, dirty clothes, a starved look. He was big. Muscular. Enormous boots. This had indeed been a very big mistake on Regan’s part. Who was this man? Was he Harriet’s boyfriend? What else didn’t he know about Sam’s sister? Once again, his plans were being foiled. The game was changing. Regan felt exhilaration rush through him.

‘I really hoped you’d come,’ Tox said.

Regan tried to make sense of the words. He glanced towards the door. Was this a trap? No, of course not. He’d have been knocked to the ground by now, windows bursting in, SWAT teams thumping up the stairs. This man was alone. His black pistol lay on the counter, turned away.

The man in the kitchen looked Regan over, sniffed.

‘So you’re him,’ Tox said, eyes roving. ‘I’ve seen pictures of you. Seen the imprint of your hand on the bodies of your victims. Your punches. I guess I thought I knew what you’d look like. But you’re different.’

‘Different how?’ Regan asked.

The man in the leather jacket shrugged his folded arms.

‘I guess I hoped you’d be bigger,’ he said.

‘Bigger?’ Regan almost laughed.

‘Mmm,’ Tox said. He sighed. ‘Stronger.’ Tox’s eyes wandered up Regan’s body. ‘See, I don’t like men who hurt women and girls. I really, really don’t like ’em. So I hoped that when I finally caught up to you, I’d be able to hurt you for a good while before having to hand you over to police. I’ve been looking forward to hurting you.’

Regan laughed. Oh, what an unexpected gift this was.

‘I’m sure I can live up to expectations,’ Regan said.

The man in the kitchen unfolded his arms, stood poised, his big hands loose by his sides.

‘You ready?’ Tox asked.

‘Oh yes.’ Regan smiled. ‘More than ready.’





Chapter 101


OF COURSE THERE were others. How had I thought something like this might be limited to five men? Theo Campbell, Jace Robit, Frank Scullen, John Stieg and Damien Ponch. Of course it had spread. Small towns aren’t equipped for secrets like this, life-changing secrets. Last Chance Valley was an all-consuming hole in the Earth. Everyone wanted to escape. A few men had found a way, and the others had been able to smell it on them. Their secret hope. I turned my head slightly and the barrel of the man’s gun touched the back of my ear. I caught a glimpse of a fat, bearded man. The bartender from Last Chance. Mick the Prick. I smelled body odour and bourbon.

‘Drop it. You too.’

Kash and I dropped our guns. Jace’s eyes had lost their fierceness now. The man was incredulous, mortified, all his plans crumbling before him.

‘Mick,’ he snapped at the man behind me. ‘What the fuck!’

‘Yeah, exactly,’ Mick the bartender said, smiling. ‘What the fuck. You lot find a fortune and you think you can just pick up and leave with it? You don’t think about sharing it around? What a bunch of selfish fucking pricks.’

‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ I murmured, my hands out by my sides. ‘We can all walk out of here if everybody just stays calm.’

He ignored me. ‘I wondered what you shitheads were up to,’ Mick sneered, pushing me forwards. I walked slowly towards Kash, turned, trying not to make any sudden movements. Mick kicked the two men nearest to him until they lay on their stomachs on the sand. ‘I seen you at the pub snickering and whispering like a bunch of old bitches. Knew you had something on the go, so I followed you out here. What a surprise. I thought I’d wait, let you do all the hard work for me. But then I seen these coppers were onto you. I had to swoop in before you got yourselves arrested.’ He gestured to Kash and me. ‘You two. On your knees.’

We knelt in the dirt. The sweat was rolling down my sides now. Mick went to Kash’s back and tugged the second gun out of his jeans, kicked him onto his stomach with the rest of the men.