by Mark Sennen
‘Charlotte,’ Savage said. ‘I’m not on duty, I was just passing.’
‘Passing?’ Larry clambered out into the cockpit. He gazed across the water to Plymouth. ‘Out for a swim, was you?’
‘No, I came by yacht and by dinghy. I—’
‘Never mind.’ Larry picked up a rag from the floor and wiped his hands. ‘You’re here now. What do you want? I thought you got the man who killed Jason?’
‘Yes we did. Both of them.’
Larry raised an eyebrow. ‘Both of them?’ He spat into the rag. ‘How’s that then?’
Savage explained as best she could. She told Larry about Brenden Parker and his deluded mission to reveal what went on at Woodland Heights. How he’d killed Liam Clough and Jason Hobb and sought revenge on those he held responsible for allowing the historical abuse at the home to continue. Then she moved on to tell of how Frank Parker had tried to cover things up by killing Jason Caldwell down on the beach and making his son believe that he was responsible.
‘I guess I wanted to thank you for your help,’ Savage said. ‘And to fill you in on what happened.’
‘And why would you want to do that?’
‘I thought you’d want to know.’ Savage stared at Larry and held his gaze. It was obvious now that beneath the weather-worn face and hidden under the beard was a much younger man. ‘Liam.’
‘Liam?’ Larry chuckled and shook his head. He used the hand with five digits to wipe the other hand, smearing grease from the knuckle where the thumb had been. ‘No, the name’s Larry now. Liam’s long gone. Better forgotten. Way past the time to move on.’
‘But you were out there, I saw your pot boat when I was at Soar Mill Cove. I didn’t twig at the time.’
‘When I read about that raft at Jennycliff and heard about them boys going missing, I knew something was keel up. I kept searching the coast looking for answers. I nearly found them up the Erme estuary but the guy ran off. I had my suspicions, but I never twigged it were Brenden until I heard on the news that you lot were looking for him. By then it was too late. Too late for Jason Hobb anyway.’
‘You tried. We all did.’ Savage half turned towards the shore, remembering the night Jason had gone missing. She said nothing for a moment and then turned back and gestured at Larry’s hand. ‘You told me you lost that at sea on a fishing boat.’
‘Well, I was at sea.’ Larry’s beard parted in a smile. ‘Just.’
‘Brenden cut it off, didn’t he? As he tried to prevent you from sailing off, you struggled and he lashed out.’
‘Well, Parker’s dead now and I did sail off. And as I said, I’ve moved on.’
‘And are you going to again?’ Savage ran her eyes along the lines of the wooden yacht. ‘Lovely boat.’
‘Aye. She is. She was chocked up ashore for years, but now there’s just a few more things to fix and then I’m off.’
‘Where?’
‘I’ll cross the Channel and head south. Hole up in a Spanish ría for the winter. Potter round to the Med in the spring.’
‘Why now?’
‘I’ll not get any younger, so I thought I’d take a year or two off. I’ve sold my pot boat and I’ve got a bit stashed away. I don’t need much to survive on. Never have.’
‘Can I ask you something, Larry?’
‘Sure. But I might not answer.’
‘Why did you stay hidden all these years? You’d done nothing wrong. You could have come forward. Certainly when you were eighteen.’
‘They’d have thought of something to keep me quiet. Look what happened to Jason. When the minister popped his clogs I considered telling my story, but by then I was in the Merchant Navy. Excuse the pun, but I didn’t want to make waves.’
‘But what about your parents? Wouldn’t they want closure?’
‘They got closure when they abandoned me to the care system. I owe them nothing. After I left the home, I had to fend for myself. For the first few years, I was begging and thieving and up to all sorts. Later, appropriately, I turned to the sea for answers. Got a berth on a deep-sea fishing boat. Discovered I loved it out there.’ Larry paused and then turned to look over his shoulder. A few hundred metres away, Puffin was circling in deeper water, Pete at the helm, Jamie and Samantha waving from the bow. ‘They’re waiting for you. Your family.’
‘You’ll be OK?’
‘Of course. Why wouldn’t I?’
‘Look me up when you get back from the Med.’ Savage gestured at Larry’s yacht. ‘I’d like a sail in her. She’s a fine boat.’
‘I might do that. If I come back.’
Savage walked back along the gangway to where the dinghy now bobbed at the end of its painter. She climbed aboard, started the engine and manoeuvred round the houseboat. Larry stood watching her from the stern of his yacht.
‘Good luck,’ Savage shouted as she passed.
‘Luck?’ Larry shook his head. He raised a hand to the sky and pointed at the high cirrus clouds. ‘There’s no such thing. Just the wind and the waves.’ He laughed. ‘And the tides of course. Don’t forget the tides.’
Savage gunned the outboard and the dinghy rose on to the plane. She headed for Pete and the kids. When she arrived at Puffin, Pete tied the dinghy on and helped her aboard.
‘All right?’ Pete said as he engaged the engine and they began to move off.
‘Fine.’
She walked forward and stood at the bow with Jamie and Samantha as Pete steered them through the Narrows and turned for home. Out in the Sound a lone yacht slipped towards the breakwater, the genoa full with the northerly wind. She wondered where the boat was headed. A late afternoon sail around the bay, or perhaps, like Larry, bound for somewhere farther afield?
MISSED THE FIRST BOOKS IN THE DI CHARLOTTE SAVAGE SERIES?
‘Harry likes pretty things. He likes to look at them. Sometimes that isn’t enough. He wants to get closer. Naughty Harry.’
Introducing DI Charlotte Savage: woman, mother and crime fighter.
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‘We’re going to find them, sort them, pay them back …’
DI Charlotte Savage is back chasing a killer with a very personal grudge …
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‘He could be out there right now. Passing you on the street. You’d never know …’
DI Charlotte Savage is back, chasing a killer who was last at large ten years ago, a killer they presumed dead … Now he’s back and more dangerous than ever.
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‘Four murders in not much more than a week. Was that acceptable?’
DI Charlotte Savage is back. And this might just be her toughest case yet …
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Acknowledgements
Two Evils was a bit of a monster to write. Many-headed and with a vicious sting in the tail. Thanks must go to Katy Loftus for being the first to attack the beast I had created. She was followed by two other fearless souls prepared to go into combat in the name of narrative cohesion, namely Natasha Harding and Polly Lyall Grant. Last, but definitely not least, my editor Caroline Kirkpatrick, oversaw the whole battle from the first cut to the coup de grâce and managed to keep a smile on her face amid the carnage. Thank you!
Enough with the metaphors.
I’m grateful to everyone else at Avon/HarperCollins who worked on the book. There are dozens of people behind the scenes who never get a mention but without whom the pages in front of you would be blank. They too deserve a shout out.
My agent, Claire Roberts, ensures I can afford the occasional dollop of pickle to go with my working lunch of cheese sandwiches. Thanks, Claire!
Finally, thank you, as always, to my wife and daughters for their love and support. Without them Charlotte Savage would never have got past the front doors of the police station.
About the Author
Mark Sennen was born in Epsom, Surrey, and later spent his teenage years on a smallholding in Shropshire. He read Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. Mark has had a n
umber of occupations, including being a farmer, drummer and programmer. Now his hi-tech web developer’s suite, otherwise known as a shed in the garden, has been converted to a writer’s den and he writes almost full-time.
About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Praise
Dedication
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Keep Reading
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Publisher