Something Hidden: A totally unputdownable murder mystery novel (Andrew Hunter Book 2)

by Kerry Wilkinson

‘Was it you who did it?’

  ‘Did what?’

  ‘Kevin Leonard.’

  ‘Never heard of him.’

  ‘I want to speak to Braithwaite.’

  ‘That’s Mr Braithwaite – and nobody comes around here making demands. Nobody. Now piss off before I come out there and make you.’

  ‘Come on then.’

  Iwan grinned, scratching his head where there was still a hint of a scrape from where Jenny had sent him sprawling into the gutter. ‘Are you being serious? You don’t even have your girlfriend around to save you this time.’

  ‘So what’s stopping you then? Open the gate – I’m right here.’ Iwan glanced over his shoulder towards the house. ‘Come on,’ Andrew added. ‘You don’t need to ask his permission for everything. “Please, sir, can I take a piss?”, “Please, sir, can I shine your shoes?”’

  The hulk of a man twisted back to the gate, mind made up. He pressed something in his pocket and the gates started to hum, opening slowly. Andrew stepped back until he was on the edge of the kerb, standing in the glow of the moon, waiting.

  Iwan didn’t move until the gates were all the way open. He walked slowly, hunched forward, grinning and cracking his knuckles.

  Andrew’s heart was thundering but that was something he was becoming used to. He waited until Iwan was close enough, reached into the back of his jeans and then pulled out the tyre iron that had been in his boot. Iwan had no chance: he tried to avoid the swinging clump of metal but even the glancing blow sent him slumping to the pavement in a pool of his own blood. Andrew took a moment to check the other man’s prone form, making sure his chest was still rising and falling. All those times, he’d allowed himself to be beaten because he’d played fair but Keira’s father had taught him that only fools abided by the rules. Iwan had turned up to a fight with just his fists – more fool him.

  Andrew wiped the weapon on Iwan’s shirt jacket and slipped it into the back of his jeans, hoping he wouldn’t have to use it again.

  Braithwaite answered the front door a moment before Andrew got there, face creased into a frown as he peered past Andrew towards the open gates. ‘Where’s—’

  ‘Your monkey’s going to be fine, he’ll just have a headache in the morning.’

  Braithwaite pulled the door closed behind him, stepping onto the driveway, still looking towards the gate. ‘I’m having dinner with my family, Mr Hunter, and don’t like being interrupted. What do you want?’

  ‘Was it you?’

  ‘Was what me?’

  ‘Kevin Leonard. That’s why you wanted his name – it was nothing to do with blacklisting him as an electrician so he never worked for you, it was because you were going to do… this.’

  Braithwaite scratched his chin. His eyes were even bluer in the moonlight, more dangerous. ‘Oh, Mr Hunter, what’s it like in that apartment of yours? Good views? What’s your office like? Your assistant? What did you think was going to happen when you came to me?’

  ‘That was about dealing with Steyn and Sampson.’

  ‘Exactly, so you should consider Leonard a favour.’

  ‘A favour? I didn’t want this.’

  ‘You said he was a cowboy, that he could have set your aunt’s flat on fire.’

  ‘That’s not a reason to burn his house down with him inside.’

  ‘If that were true, then why give me his name?’

  Andrew was shouting. ‘Because you asked!’

  Braithwaite remained perfectly calm. ‘Come now, Mr Hunter, you knew what you were doing in the same way you knew what the score was when you told me there was a professor involved. I was only interested in Sampson.’

  Andrew tried to reply but there were no words. He rocked onto his heels and screamed at the sky, snorting through his nose as he faced Braithwaite, one hand reaching for the back of his trousers. The other man noticed, eyes darting to Andrew’s side and back again.

  ‘Don’t be silly, Mr Hunter. Some things cannot be taken back.’

  ‘Like house fires.’

  ‘Precisely. I did you a favour. If you changed your mind about what you wanted, that can’t be blamed on me. I helped you and you owe me one.’

  ‘I don’t owe you anything.’ Braithwaite continued to smile narrowly. ‘What do you want?’ Andrew asked.

  Braithwaite pursed his lips together. ‘I’m not sure yet. You’ll be the first to know when I do.’

  Andrew’s fingers looped around the tyre iron. ‘What if I don’t do what you want?’

  Braithwaite’s eyes twinkled in the light. ‘We’re all friends – why wouldn’t you? I’ll have a word with Iwan. I’m sure he’s not the type to hold grudges. Now, why don’t you let go of whatever you have in the back of your trousers, return to your car, and head home to that lovely flat of yours.’

  Andrew’s grasp tightened. It wasn’t Thomas Braithwaite standing in front of him, it was his former father-in-law. He must have been lying when he’d been talking to Fiona about hate. It was only now he realised it.

  ‘Mr Hunter.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s amazing what a person can leave behind. Look at you, all riled up, ready to fight. There’ll be sweat dripping from you right now. Hairs that were stuck to your clothes falling onto the floor. Imagine what you left around my kitchen: hairs, fingerprints, all sorts. Imagine what might happen if they ended up at the scene of a house fire…’

  The air was cold, biting Andrew’s throat. ‘You haven’t…’

  It took an age for Braithwaite to shake his head. ‘No, I haven’t. As I said, we’re all friends here. I’d far rather we kept it that way.’

  Andrew’s grip finally loosened. He was locked into a stare-off with Braithwaite again and there was no way he could win.

  ‘Was it you that Sampson called?’

  ‘When?’

  ‘When he realised the movie premiere necklace was coming in, he needed someone who could work quickly. It was the Evans brothers who ended up raiding the shop but I’ve not found a single thing that shows he knew them.’

  Braithwaite showed off his teeth. ‘Why didn’t you ask me that in the first place?’

  Andrew shrugged, defeated.

  ‘Of course it was me he called. Who else was it going to be?’

  ‘So if you were in it with Sampson – if you sorted out the robbery between you – why were you so happy to tell me who he was?’

  ‘Don’t you remember my cooking lesson? I don’t like mavericks who go off and do their own thing. Those poor kids in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Mr Sampson wanted to do something about it, he should have made a phone call first.’ Braithwaite glanced back to the house. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m eating dinner with my family and I’d like to be left alone.’ He put one foot on the doorstep, before twisting back. ‘Mr Hunter.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Are you familiar with the work of Friedrich Nietzsche?’

  Andrew was ready to leave, wanting out of the conversation. ‘Not really.’

  Braithwaite nodded. ‘Well… “battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster”.’ He paused for a moment, letting it sink in, one hand on the door. ‘It’s interesting with whom you choose to spend your time.’

  ‘Who are you talking about?’

  ‘Your assistant…’ He clicked his fingers three times in quick succession. ‘She has an interesting past, you could say.’

  Andrew felt fixed to the spot, not knowing to what Braithwaite was referring.

  I’m not a psycho.

  He opened his mouth, ready to ask, but he could see Braithwaite willing him on, wanting him to be interested. He stopped himself before the words could come out: if he was going to ask anyone, it should be Jenny.

  Braithwaite spotted the change, eyes narrowing as he grinned more widely. ‘Now, have a good evening, Mr Hunter. In the meantime, look after yourself.’

  The front door closed with a solid click and Andrew turned to walk back to his car, the wind suddenly whipping u
p, fizzing through the trees and sending a chill along his coatless back.

  Brrr.

  Bloody February.

  If you were gripped by Something Hidden, why not read Something Buried – another unputdownable murder mystery novel featuring Andrew Hunter. Get it here!

  Something Buried

  Your daughter drowned. You know it wasn’t an accident.

  Anna Applegate’s daughter, Michelle, drowned after a night out with a friend. Anna’s convinced Michelle’s death was deliberate, and that her boyfriend, sports star Jack Marsh, killed her.

  As Investigator Andrew Hunter begins to dig into the case, he quickly discovers Jack has a history of violence. And, with only his teammate for an alibi, Andrew is convinced Jack’s lying about where he was the night Michelle died.

  But Andrew has more to worry about than just finding out the truth about Michelle’s death, because a former case is back to haunt him—someone willing to put Andrew’s loved ones in terrible danger to get what he wants…

  An unputdownable thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Fans of L.J. Ross, Mark Edwards and Rachel Caine won’t want to miss Something Buried.

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  Also by Kerry Wilkinson

  Standalone novels

  Ten Birthdays

  Two Sisters

  The Girl Who Came Back

  The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker

  Last Night

  The Wife’s Secret

  The Jessica Daniel series

  The Killer Inside

  Vigilante

  The Woman in Black

  Think of the Children

  Playing with Fire

  The Missing Dead

  Behind Closed Doors

  Crossing the Line

  Scarred for Life

  For Richer, For Poorer

  Nothing But Trouble

  Eye for an Eye

  The Jessica Daniel Short Stories

  January

  February

  March

  April

  The Andrew Hunter Series

  Something Wicked

  Something Hidden

  Something Buried

  Silver Blackthorn

  Reckoning

  Renegade

  Resurgence

  Other

  Down Among the Dead Men

  No Place Like Home

  Watched

  Something Wicked

  Your son walked out of the house one night. He never came back.

  Nine months ago Elaine Carr’s only son, Nicholas, disappeared in the dark woods near his home. He hasn’t been seen since, and she’s falling apart.

  Investigator Andrew Hunter suspects Nicholas is alive, but in grave danger. He wants to know how no one in the small town of Prestwich has any answers. Why the teenager’s girlfriend is so cagey, and to get a proper look at the tattoo on her wrist. And as he follows the trail of an unsettling clue found in the boy’s bedroom, he begins to wonder if Nicholas’s disappearance is connected to a chilling case buried in the past.

  Can Andrew find Nicholas alive, or is he already too late to save him?

  A gripping thriller full of shocking twists that will have you hooked! If you like L.J. Ross, Mark Edwards or Rachel Caine, you’ll love Something Wicked!

  Get it here.

  The Girl Who Came Back

  Thirteen years ago Olivia Adams went missing. Now she’s back… or is she?

  When six-year-old Olivia Adams disappeared from her back garden, the small community of Stoneridge was thrown into turmoil. How could a child vanish in the middle of a cosy English village?

  Thirteen years on and Olivia is back. Her mother is convinced it’s her but not everyone is sure. If this is the missing girl, then where has she been - and what happened to her on that sunny afternoon?

  If she's an imposter, then who would be bold enough to try to fool a child’s own mother – and why?

  Then there are those who would rather Olivia stayed missing. The past is the past and some secrets must remain buried.

  An absorbing and gripping psychological thriller that will have you holding your breath until the final page.

  Order now!

  The Wife’s Secret

  Charley Willis was thirteen years old when her parents were killed in their family home and she was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs.

  Fifteen years later, Charley is marrying Seth Chambers. It should be the happiest day of their lives, a chance for Charley to put her past behind her, but just hours after the ceremony, she is missing.

  No one saw her leave. No one knows where she is.

  One thing is for certain…Seth is about to discover he doesn’t really know the woman he just married. And his nightmare is only just beginning.

  A totally gripping psychological thriller that will keep you reading until the very last jaw-dropping twist.

  Get it here!

  Last Night

  An absolutely gripping psychological thriller with a brilliant twist

  Order here!

  It’s the early hours of the morning and Rose Denton wakes up behind the steering wheel of her car. She’s off the road, through a hedge and in a field.

  There’s blood on the windscreen and bonnet – but it’s not hers and there’s no sign of anything or anyone she might have hit. The last thing she remembers is being in a hotel on a business trip but now she’s miles away.

  Back home and her daughter’s boyfriend is missing. The last thing he did was argue with Rose over money. He left no note, no text, no clue as to his whereabouts.

  The police have questions – and so does Rose’s family. But those are little compared to the ones she has for herself.

  What happened last night? And, perhaps more importantly, does she really want to know the answer?

  A totally addictive psychological thriller which will keep you turning the pages until the final dramatic twist.

  Order here!

  Two Sisters

  A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist

  They told us he had been missing for nearly two days, that he probably drowned. They told us a lie.

  Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff.

  A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.

  Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason.

  Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.

  ‘Z’ is all it read.

  Z for Zac.

  A totally gripping psychological thriller that will have fans of Louise Jensen, Sue Fortin and The Silent Child absolutely hooked.

  Get it here!

  The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker

  ‘I will never forget the night I drowned…’

  Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air…

  Her brother’s girlfriend was drowned in the same river the summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer.

  Determined to unlock the mystery of what really happened that night, Eleanor can't escape the feeling that something terrible links her to the previous summer's murder. But will she discover the shocking truth, before it’s too late?

  A gripping and extr
aordinary coming of age novel that will keep you guessing until the very end.

  Get it here.

  Published by Bookouture in 2018

  An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  www.bookouture.com

  Copyright © Kerry Wilkinson, 2018