‘UK plc doesn’t need that sort of bad PR,’ Philips had told him even before he’d had a chance to change into dry clothes. ‘And God knows the White House doesn’t want the world to know how easy it is to get to the President. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for your OBE, mate, but we might be able to keep your job open.’
‘Still with the covert operations squad?’ The President has lowered his voice so that only Joesbury can hear what he’s saying.
Joesbury lets his shoulders rise and fall. ‘We’re still talking about it, Sir. Might be time for me to take a desk job.’
The President pats him on the shoulder. ‘Those guys give you any trouble, you let me know. There’s always a job for you in Washington.’ His eyes slide to the left. ‘Great place to raise a family.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind, Mr President.’
The line is moving on and Joesbury finds himself looking directly into the eyes of a beautiful woman in an aquamarine silk dress. The First Lady offers her hand and steps out of the line, closer to him. She stretches up, kisses him on one cheek, then the other, and smiles gently as she releases his hand.
‘You’re welcome,’ he says.
The usher is looking edgy. The President is still talking to Lacey and behind her the line is backing up. Joesbury can’t exactly blame the guy. In a borrowed chiffon dress and high heels, Lacey looks like a princess. Finally, when Joesbury is beginning to think that, Leader of the Free World or not, he’s going to have to step in, Lacey is released. She shakes the First Lady’s hand and the formalities are over.
The garden behind Number Ten is large by London standards and surrounded by high brick walls. Tonight it is filled with the scent of English flowers and excited voices. Joesbury and Lacey pause at the top of the steps.
Joesbury keeps his eyes fixed on the table of champagne flutes on the edge of the lawn and tells himself the rapid beating of his heart will not go on for long. Just enough time for her to utter one short, simple word.
‘Flint,’ he says. ‘Will you marry me?’
About the Author
Sharon Bolton (previously S. J. Bolton) is the critically acclaimed author of some of the most bone-chilling crime books ever written. She has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2014 she won the CWA Dagger in the Library for her whole body of work.
Sharon lives near Oxford with her husband and young son.
Visit www.sharonbolton.com for more information, or join Sharon on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SJBoltonCrime or on Twitter @authorsjbolton.
HAVE YOU READ THEM ALL?
Sharon’s novels featuring Lacey Flint are:
Now You See Me
She can’t stop shivering. But this isn’t cold. This is terror.
A savage murder on London’s streets, 120 years to the day since Jack the Ripper claimed his first victim. A crime with all the hallmarks of a copycat killer.
Detective Constable Lacey Flint has never worked a murder case, until now. When another mutilated victim is found she agrees to be the bait to lure out the monster.
But this killer is one step ahead, and already fixated on Lacey . . .
‘Really special’
LEE CHILD
Dead Scared
A series of suicides. Each one a female university student. Each one more horrifying than the last.
The police know it cannot be coincidence. But they can’t prove it.
They need someone to go undercover. A young policewoman, as vulnerable as the others. As unprepared for the nightmare that will greet her.
Watch your back, Lacey Flint . . .
‘Mesmerising’
The Times
Like This, For Ever
Twelve-year-old Barney Roberts is obsessed with a series of murders.
He knows the victims are all boys, just like him.
He knows the bodies were found on river banks.
And he’s sure the killer will strike again soon.
But there’s something else, a secret he’d rather not know, a secret he is too scared to share . . .
And who would believe a twelve-year-old boy anyway?
‘Nail-biting!’
TESS GERRITSEN
A Dark and Twisted Tide
Police sergeant Lacey Flint thinks she’s safe.
She thinks her new job with the river police, and her new life on a house boat, will keep her away from danger. But she’s wrong.
When Lacey discovers a body in the water, and sinister offerings appear in her home, she fears someone is trying to expose her darkest secret.
And the river is the last place she should be.
‘Bolton is a gripping storyteller, with fine, haunted characters’
PETER JAMES
Sharon’s standalone novels are:
Sacrifice
Consultant surgeon Tora Hamilton has moved to remote Shetland to be with her husband. To have a family. Not for this . . .
In the peat soil near her new home she uncovers a perfectly preserved woman’s body.
Runic symbols are carved into her skin. Her heart has been cut out.
But as Tora begins to ask questions around the island, she receives her first threat . . .
‘One of the best thrillers ever’
SOPHIE HANNAH
Awakening
You know that feeling? The one that makes you want to glance over your shoulder?
All Clara Benning wants is a peaceful life as a wildlife vet, and to hide her disfigurement from the world.
But now she doesn’t have a choice.
Because a man has died from a suspicious snake bite, and Clara’s concern leads her to the abandoned house at the end of the lane, and an unspeakable tragedy that occurred half a century ago.
‘A cracking story’
Guardian
Blood Harvest
Sometimes I wish that she’d just leave me in peace . . .
Psychologist Evi is worried about one of her patients – a woman who is convinced her little girl is still alive. Two years after the fire that burnt their house down.
Meanwhile, the new vicar in town is feeling strangely unwelcome. Disturbing events seem designed to scare him away.
And a young boy keeps seeing a strange, solitary girl playing in the churchyard. Who is she and what is she trying to tell him?
‘Spine-tingling suspense’
LISA GARDNER
Read the next novel by Sharon Bolton
Coming soon …
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
www.transworldbooks.co.uk
Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Transworld Digital
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Sharon Bolton 2015
Sharon Bolton has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781473540477
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of
this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
About the Author
Also by Sharon Bolton
Copyright
Here Be Dragons: A Short Story Page 7