by Philip Cox
‘They had Dudley’s fancy attorney, and Dudley was pleading the fifth right from the start. But I told him Johansson had died in the fire and went down your did you know we have the death penalty in California? path.’
‘Didn’t his fancy attorney see through that?’
‘To begin with, but I started talking about Prop 66, and Dudley told his attorney to shut up and confessed. Confessed that he had not actually killed anyone, it all being carried out by Huth and Johansson.’
‘Nice guy. The loyal type.’
‘Aren’t they always? When I got to Huth, she had nowhere to run to.’
A nurse breezed into the room. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Quinn needs to rest now.’
Perez shook hands with everybody else, and left. Holly gave Quinn a long hug and kissed him goodbye. Julia reached up and kissed Leroy on the cheek. ‘I’ll call you,’ she said. Leroy nodded.
Leroy was at the back of the line as they all filed out of the room.
‘Sam?’ Quinn called out. Leroy turned and limped back to his partner’s bed.
‘Yes?’
‘Now everyone’s gone, I just wanted to say thanks. You saved my life, you know that?’
Leroy waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘You ran in for me in the first place. Anyway, you know it’s a pain in the ass breaking in a new partner.’
‘Mr Leroy,’ said the nurse, who had returned. ‘Back to your room, please.’
Leroy high-fived Quinn and limped back to his own room. He was tired, too.
Later that night, he was still awake. He tossed aside the Skiers Weekly magazine, and looked up at the clock. 11:25pm.
He pulled himself out of bed, and slipped on the hospital dressing gown. Using the cane, he limped out into the corridor. Seeing the coast was clear, he walked slowly down to room 319. Quietly opening the door, he peered in. Quinn was asleep.
Leroy stepped in and closed the door as quietly as he had opened it. He stepped over to the bed and stood for a moment watching his partner sleep.
Then sat himself down in the armchair by the bed.
He watched Quinn until his own eyes became heavy and he finally drifted off to sleep himself.
THE END
INTRODUCING SAM LEROY…
SOMETHING TO DIE FOR
Los Angeles, late September, and the hot Santa Ana winds are blowing, covering the city with a thin layer of dust from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
That night, there are three mysterious, unexplained deaths.
The official view is that they are all unrelated. The deceaseds had no connection, and all died in different parts of the city.
However, Police Detective Sam Leroy has other ideas, and begins to widen the investigation.
But he meets resistance from the most unexpected quarter, and when his life and that of his loved ones are threatened, he faces a choice: back off, or do what he knows he must do…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FNMWI28
www.amazon.com/dp/B00FNMWI28
SAM LEROY RETURNS IN…
WRONG TIME TO DIE
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much blood.’
Los Angeles, California
When LAPD Detective Sam Leroy is called to a murder scene, even he is taken aback by the ferocity and savagery of the crime.
Furthermore, there seems to be no motive, which means no obvious suspects.
Believing the two victims themselves hold the key to their own murder, Leroy begins his investigations there, and before long the trail leads him to the island of Catalina, where a terrible secret has remained undiscovered for almost thirty years…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VPKN4TI
www.amazon.com/dp/B00VPKN4TI
ALSO BY PHILIP COX
AFTER THE RAIN
Young, wealthy, handsome - Adam Williams is sitting in a bar in a small town in Florida.
Nobody has seen him since.
With the local police unable to trace Adam, his brother Craig and a workmate, Ben Rook, fly out to find him.
However, nothing could have prepared them for the bizarre cat-and-mouse game into which they are drawn as they seek to pick up Adam’s trail and discover what happened to him that night.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FZ0RAI
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005FZ0RAI
DARK EYES OF LONDON
When Tom Raymond receives a call from his ex-wife asking to meet him, he is both surprised and intrigued – maybe she wants a reconciliation?
However, his world is turned upside down when she falls under a tube train on her way to meet him.
Refusing to accept that Lisa jumped, Tom sets out to investigate what happened to her that evening.
Soon, he finds he must get to the truth before some very dangerous people get to him…
www.amazon.com/dp/B007JMWBM2
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007JMWBM2
SHE’S NOT COMING HOME
EVERY MORNING
At 8.30 Ruth Gibbons kisses her husband and son goodbye, and goes to work.
EVERY EVENING
At 5pm she finishes work, texts her husband leaving now, and begins her walk home.
EVERY NIGHT
At 5.40 she arrives home, kisses her husband and son, and has dinner with her family
EXCEPT TONIGHT
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009US94U0
www.amazon.com/dp/B009US94U0
DON’T GO OUT IN THE DARK
A WET AUTUMN NIGHT
Newspaper reporter Jack Richardson lends his coat and car to a friend
AN ACCIDENT
Within thirty minutes, Jack’s car lies in flames
The crash seems suspicious, and Jack wonders if it was an accident, or murder.
But if it was murder,
Who was the intended victim?
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LG005GM
www.amazon.com/dp/B00LG005GM
SHOULD HAVE LOOKED AWAY
It began on a Sunday. An ordinary Sunday, and a family trip to the mall.
Will Carter takes his five-year old daughter to the bathroom, and there he is witness to a fatal assault on an innocent stranger.
Over the next few days, Will tries to put the experience behind him, but when he sees one of the killers outside his home, he becomes more and more involved, soon passing the point of no return.
Becoming drawn deeper and deeper into something he does not understand, Will feels increasingly out of his depth and is soon asking where this is going and was the victim as innocent as he first thought…
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01C4VVWUY
www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4VVWUY
Philip Cox is married with two children and lives near London. A former Bank Manager, he pursued a career in banking and financial services until 2009, when he took a break to become a stay-at-home father. In between numerous school runs, Philip wrote After the Rain, which appeared in 2011. Dark Eyes of London and She’s Not Coming Home followed in 2012. Something to Die For, which introduced the maverick LAPD detective Sam Leroy, was published in 2013. Don’t Go Out in the Dark was published in 2014, and Wrong Time to Die, the second Sam Leroy story, was published in 2015. Should Have Looked Away followed in 2016. No Place to Die is the third in the Sam Leroy series.
Also by Philip Cox
After the Rain
Dark Eyes of London
She’s Not Coming Home
Something to Die For
Don’t Go Out in the Dark
Wrong Time to Die
Should Have Looked Away
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, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Copyright © Philip Cox 2017
Philip Cox has asserted his 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. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
www.philipcox.moonfruit.com
For Alison, Ella and Iona
Toujours mes bebes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All I did was write the book! Other people helped in the process. I want to thank: Anne Poole, Sagar Chauhan, the Los Angeles Convention Center, Delta Air Lines, and the Research Departments of the LAPD, NYPD and LAFD. Also to Keith Mulvihill from ThisOldHouse.com, for the insight on what really happens in a house fire.
Cover photographs by Chris-Havard Berge and Jason Ralston