The Keeper of Secrets: A stunning crime thriller with a twist you won't see coming (Detective Arla Baker Series Book 2)

by M. L Rose

  She drew blood and bit harder. James screamed and his hands let go. Arla rolled away before he could reach for her again, and stood up rapidly. James was now silhouetted against the horizon, huddled and staring at her.

  “Let it go, James,” Arla said. “Hand yourself in.” She spat out the blood in her mouth and wiped her sleeve. He moved, and she realised he was trying to circle around her. She stood her ground. If she circled, then she would be on the edge. James came closer, and lunged for her suddenly.

  All those months of running and yoga came in handy. James was bigger but Arla was supple. She twisted out of his reach even as his fingers brushed past her. She bent an elbow, and sent it crashing into his left temple as he stumbled, trying to grab her. He grunted and fell to the floor. He got up and staggered back. He was right on the edge all of a sudden.

  “James, stop!” Arla shouted. She heard footsteps running up behind her. She would have recognised the lanky man who emerged from the darkness, his tailcoat flapping in the wind, anywhere. Tears of relief streamed down her face. It was Harry.

  She turned her attention back towards James. She couldn’t see his face, but Harry’s arrival seemed to have changed his attitude. He stood tottering on the edge, not attacking her.

  Arla stepped towards him, a pain searing her chest. “James. Come back. Please, come back.”

  Tears blinded her vision. Without knowing what she was doing, she stretched her arms out. “I couldn’t save Nicole. Let me help you. Please.”

  She stepped closer to him, but couldn’t see the evil grin that was spreading across James’ face.

  “Arla!” Harry’s voice shouted behind her.

  She was a metre away from James. The wind was pulling clouds and waves in its wake, the distant moon shuddering in an unforgiving sky. Arla felt heavy like a rock, weighed down.

  “Come to me, Aunty,” James said softly, stepping further back. From the heels of his feet, chunks of earth fell over the edge, blowing out into nothingness.

  Arla reached out a hand, and so did James. She felt his warm touch, whispering against her skin, of past regrets and dead dreams, of wounds that would never heal. His hands unfurled to grasp her hand tightly.

  CHAPTER 76

  Arla felt a colossal weight crash against her from behind and wrestle her to the floor. Breath left her chest, and as Harry tumbled her to the ground, she looked up to see James with his hand outstretched at the sides, rotating madly as he tried to keep his balance.

  “No!” Arla screamed.

  He looked at Arla, his face calm all of a sudden, a cocky grin on his face, his eyes burning. Arla reached out an arm, sobbing.

  James lost his balance, and the grin vanished from his face.

  He struggled one last time, then vanished from sight, as if the air had swallowed him up.

  Arla was dimly aware of Harry getting up and sprinting to the edge. He stood over, looking down. Three more figures ran up from behind her, and then she saw headlights strobe towards them, lighting up Harry and the others at the edge.

  Harry came back to her just as she was sitting up. She wiped the dirt and tears from her face.

  “He’s gone,” Harry said quietly. “It’s over.”

  One of the firearms officers said, “There’s an old man in the barn. He’s injured, but alive. We’re going to take him on the chopper to the nearest hospital.”

  Arla stood up. “That’s my father. Can I come with you?”

  “Sure, no problem. We picked up a woman lying unconscious on the ground here as well.”

  Harry said, “She’s an accomplice of the killer. Her name’s Cindy Muller, and she needs to be arrested.”

  “Roger that,” the firearms officer said, and moved away.

  The wail of sirens filled the air behind them, heard faintly as the wind scattered the sound. Arla shivered. Harry took his coat off, and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him, grateful.

  “Guess you have your uses, DI Mehta.”

  “At your service, DCI Baker. Anytime.”

  Arla suppressed a tired grin, and followed them to the waiting helicopter.

  THE END

  WANT TO READ MORE?

  Have you read the first book in the Arla Baker series?

  Click here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GKXDF2P

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  FROM THE AUTHOR

  If you’ve read this far, I’m hoping you enjoyed this book. I am a self-published author, and I don’t have the marketing budget that big publishing houses possess. But I do have you, the person who has read this book.

  If you could please leave a review on Amazon, it would make my day. Reviews take two minutes of your time, but inform other readers forever.

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  Many thanks

  ML Rose.