by Candice Fox
Eden sat on the edge of my desk as I opened my plastic tub and began sorting my stuff into drawers. She cleared her throat once and looked around uncomfortably, avoiding my glance.
‘Married?’ she asked.
‘Twice.’
‘Kids?’
‘Ha!’
She glanced at me, turning the silver watch on her wrist round and round. I sat down in Doyle’s chair. It had been warmed by the morning sun pouring in through the windows high above us. I knew this and yet my skin crawled with the idea that he might have been sitting here, moments earlier, talking on the phone or checking his emails.
‘Why’d you take this job?’
I could smell her as I bent down and lifted my backpack from the floor. She smelt expensive. Flash leather boots hugging her calves, boutique perfume on her throat. I told myself she was probably late twenties and that women that age looked for guys a bit older – and the ten years or so I had on her didn’t necessarily make me a creep. I told myself she wouldn’t notice the grey coming in from my temples.
‘I lost a partner too. Been alone for six months now.’
‘Sorry.’ Again that flatness in her voice. ‘On the job?’
‘No. Suicide.’
A man approached us, circled the desk and then sat down beside Eden, one leg up on the desktop, facing me. There was a large ugly scar the length of his right temple running into his hairline like white lightning. It pulled up the corner of his eye. Eden looked at him with that embarrassed half-smile.
‘Frankie, right?’ he grinned, flashing white canines.
‘Frank.’
‘Eric.’ He gripped my hand and pumped it. ‘This one gets too much for you to handle, you just let me know, uh?’ He elbowed Eden hard in the ribs. Obnoxious. She smirked.
‘I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
I began to pack my things away faster. Eric reached into the tub beside him and pulled out a folder.
‘This your service record?’
I reached for the manila folder he was holding. He tugged it away.
‘Yeah, thanks, I’ll have it back.’ I felt my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. Eden sat watching. Eric stood back and flicked through the papers.
‘Oh, look at this. North Sydney Homicide. Asian gangs. You speak Korean? Mandarin? Says here under disciplinary history you got a serious DUI on the way to work.’ He laughed. ‘On the way to work, Frankie. You got a problem with that? You like to drink?’
I snatched the folder from him. His wide hand thundered on my shoulder.
‘I’m just giving you a hard time.’
I ignored him and he wandered back to the group of owls. He jerked his thumb towards me and said something and the owls stared. Eden was watching my face. I scratched my neck as the heat crept down my chest.
‘Fucking jerk.’ I shook my head.
‘Yeah.’ She smiled, a full-size, bright white flash. ‘He’s good at that.’
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT …
HADES
OUT 21 SEPTEMBER 2017
AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Some people think that writers sit alone in quiet, private offices coming up with ideas that rush seamlessly from the brain to the computer keys, perfect waves of words ready to be packaged for consumption. Maybe there’s a writer out there somewhere for whom this is true, but I can tell you one thing for sure – it isn’t me.
Long before I got to that quiet private office, I studied under some very skilled creative writing teachers, Dr Ros Petelin, Dr Kim Wilkins, Dr Camilla Nelson, Dr Gary Crew, Dr Ross Watkins and James Forsyth among them. Working with the hilarious and warm-hearted James Patterson has been a crash course in fast-paced crime, and I’m so grateful to him for it.
Gaby Naher took a collection of the certainly less than perfect words I’d produced and decided she’d fight for their space in the world, and Bev Cousins soon joined her. Without these two courageous women, my stories would never have left the room.
The meticulous Kathryn Knight edits my work, and the tenacious Jess Malpass finds opportunities for me to talk to people about it. The world over, more people put my work in the hands of readers with love and support I could never have hoped for. Thomas Wörtche in Germany, Selina Walker and Susan Sandon in the UK, and Lisa Gallagher, Michaela Hamilton and Kristin Sevick in the US are among them.
And just beyond the office door is my wonderful husband, who’s always there when the words won’t come. Tim, you are a delight in my life. I’m so lucky I found you.
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Epub ISBN: 9781473539761
Version 1.0
Published by Arrow Books 2017
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Copyright © Candice Fox 2017
Extract from Hades first published in Australia in 2014 by Bantam
Copyright © Candice Fox 2014
Cover design: Blacksheep Design
Photograph © Depositphotos
Candice Fox has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Arrow Books
(First published in Australia by Bantam in 2017)
Arrow Books
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781784758066