Justice stares at Sue. ‘You peachy?’
‘Bruised and branded,’ says Sue. ‘But I’ll live.’
Justice turns to me. ‘See you on the flip side, private eye.’
‘The pleasure’s all mine.’ I give him a nod and he ambles off towards the clucking ninja chicken hordes that make up his clan.
I turn to Sue. ‘Got any plans?’
‘I need a drink,’ she says.
I pull a small whisky bottle from my coat and throw it over. ‘Indulge yourself.’
She smiles and takes a hit, then throws it back. ‘That was some trick with the watch.’
‘Let’s hope I’m right.’
She looks at me for a second, then—‘You’re one tough cookie.’
‘I know.’
She smiles, and we walk off through the wreckage and fire.
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
I’m sitting in the office with Sue when the door opens and Chicago walks in.
‘It’s been a while,’ he says, taking a seat. ‘Thought you might want to know the news.’
‘What have you got?’
‘You were right about Kieran,’ says Chicago. ‘Caught in time, frozen in Hell. My boys took him apart as soon as he appeared. Took seconds.’
‘And the watch?’
‘Shattered,’ says Chicago. ‘Useless. And the end of an era.’
‘That’s good to know.’ I nod and settle back. ‘Anything else I can do for you?’
Chicago shifts uncomfortably. ‘Well, there is a small problem in Hell at the moment. It’s a bit of a delicate matter. I was wondering if you can help.’
‘That’s what I’m here for,’ I say, and we start the ball rolling again.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, love, admiration and thanks to Hazel Maria Humphreys for all her hard work, help, dedication, belief and suffrage in the lifespan of this book and beyond, amongst many other things.
Thanks to Dan Lacey for years of friendship and beers. But mainly the beers.
Thanks to Rob Franklin and Charlotte Batten for their help, Rob Dwyer and Steve Hampton and the Old Boy’s Network for giving me an opportunity to film with them, Tina Severe for the logo, Ed Jordan for his camerawork, Will Franklin for his fantastic acting, Aaron Harding for his bald spot, Martyn Threader for being so short, Georgina Martin for hiring me as editor, Jon and Amanda, Trev and Mel, Steve and Gail and Leigh and Jane, Jacko for the name ‘Ironballs’, Marsha for kicking my arse on Soul Calibur, Steve Hammal, Glen Maney, Rick and Joe Barbs and many others too numerous to mention—if I missed you out blame someone else.
Table of Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY ONE
TWENTY TWO
TWENTY THREE
TWENTY FOUR
TWENTY FIVE
TWENTY SIX
TWENTY SEVEN
TWENTY EIGHT
TWENTY NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY ONE
THIRTY TWO
THIRTY THREE
THIRTY FOUR
THIRTY FIVE
THIRTY SIX
THIRTY SEVEN
THIRTY EIGHT
THIRTY NINE
FORTY
FORTY ONE
FORTY TWO
FORTY THREE
FORTY FOUR
FORTY FIVE
FORTY SIX
FORTY SEVEN
FORTY EIGHT
FORTY NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY ONE
FIFTY TWO
FIFTY THREE
FIFTY FOUR
FIFTY FIVE
FIFTY SIX
FIFTY SEVEN
FIFTY EIGHT
FIFTY NINE
SIXTY
SIXTY ONE
SIXTY TWO
SIXTY THREE
SIXTY FOUR
SIXTY FIVE
SIXTY SIX
SIXTY SEVEN
SIXTY EIGHT
SIXTY NINE
SEVENTY
SEVENTY ONE
SEVENTY TWO
SEVENTY THREE
SEVENTY FOUR
SEVENTY FIVE
SEVENTY SIX
SEVENTY SEVEN
SEVENTY EIGHT
SEVENTY NINE
EIGHTY
EIGHTY ONE
EIGHTY TWO
EIGHTY THREE
EIGHTY FOUR
EIGHTY FIVE
EIGHTY SIX
EIGHTY SEVEN
EIGHTY EIGHT
EIGHTY NINE
NINETY
NINETY ONE
NINETY TWO
NINETY THREE
NINETY FOUR
NINETY FIVE
NINETY SIX
NINETY SEVEN
NINETY EIGHT
NINETY NINE
ONE HUNDRED
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE
ONE HUNDRED AND TWO
ONE HUNDRED AND THREE
ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR
ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE
ONE HUNDRED AND SIX
ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN
ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
ONE HUNDRED AND NINE
ONE HUNDRED AND TEN
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN
ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN
ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Joe Fury and the Hard Death Page 17