Craig Hunter Books 1-3
Page 85
Hunter let his breath out. ‘Feels like Oswald’s getting away with it.’
‘Well, there’s nobody left that can or will testify against him. His wife won’t. That Admir guy’s been fished out of the sea.’
‘I can’t figure out if he was lying and he’s behind it all.’
‘I don’t know, mate. That’s for the PF to progress. Way above our pay grade.’
‘And yours is way above mine.’
‘Speaking of which, you want to take me up on that offer?’
‘You really think I’m a sergeant?’
Cullen grinned. ‘You telling me you’re not?’
‘Fine, Scott, I’ll take it.’ Hunter let out a weary groan. ‘Look, I’ll be counting the costs for a while, though. Murray’s—’
‘Alive, Craig. Your brother’s alive.’
‘True.’
The far door opened and Chantal walked through. ‘Get off my case!’
Yvonne appeared next, holding out some paperwork. ‘You need to get this signed off and…’ They headed away, cutting off their voices.
Hunter shook his head at Cullen. ‘You should’ve told me about Yvonne, you dickhead.’
‘See, this is exactly why I didn’t. You can be a right twat at times.’ Cullen grinned, but it faded to a frown. ‘Are you upset?’
‘No, it’s just…’ Hunter fought hard against a yawn. The worst way to undermine your anger was to look like you needed a couple of days’ sleep. ‘Okay, I am. You ruined a perfectly good relationship. You shagged her behind my back.’
‘So did she.’
‘When the dick is hard, the mind is soft.’ Hunter scowled at him. ‘That’s not a good excuse. In fact, it makes you seem like a total prick.’
‘Craig, I’m sorry I upset you. Maybe one day you’ll get over it. You’ve got Chantal now and you seem happy for the first time since I’ve known you. You and Yvonne were never suited to each other.’
‘And you and her are?’
‘I think so. I mean, you were arguing all the time. At home, at work. You were fucking miserable.’
Hunter locked eyes with him and saw the truth, right there. He was miserable with Yvonne. Depressed. All those raging arguments, shouting matches going on into the middle of the night, screaming at each other, until neither could remember what it was even about. He was right, they weren’t suited. Too much alike, or too different. Either way, it wasn’t what he needed at the time, and it clearly wasn’t what she did. He smiled at Cullen. ‘I just wish you’d stop being such a twat.’
‘Never going to happen, and you know it.’ Cullen clapped him on the back. ‘Maybe one day we’ll remember what happened and you’ll feel better about it.’
35
Hunter got out of the car and yawned. ‘Jesus, I need my bed.’
‘You’re just up.’ Chantal looked across the car roof at him. ‘Maybe you need longer than three hours’ sleep?’
‘Right.’ Another yawn, felt like he was going to split his lips at the side. He shook his head violently and set off through the morning rain, half asleep.
Jock stood in the hospital entranceway, fiddling with his mobile phone.
Hunter stopped dead. ‘Oh god.’
‘You okay?’
‘Not really.’ Hunter glanced at Chantal. ‘My PTSD’s been bad. I forgot to take my meds and the flashbacks were back with a vengeance.’
‘Craig.’
‘I had this one I’d completely forgotten about. When my grandpa died, and Jock was hungover as fuck. That wasn’t long before he left for good. Well, left for the first time. Mum went to pieces, her old man dying like that. Heart attack. I didn’t remember it until now. It’s all coming back to me. And it’s also tough being with the old bastard, you know? He’s my dad, but he’s a total dick.’
She rubbed his arm. ‘You don’t have to have anything to do with him, you know that?’
‘I know. I just wish he’d say sorry, you know? For fucking me up. For fucking Murray up.’
‘That’s the last thing he’ll do.’
Jock looked up and seemed to groan. ‘Craig.’
‘How you doing?’
Jock’s turn to yawn. Maybe he’d caught it from his son. ‘I’m okay, I suppose. Can’t believe the state of my boy, though.’
‘Me neither.’ Hunter rubbed his forehead. ‘We’ll get Oswald for this.’
‘Sure about that?’
Hunter could only offer a shrug. ‘They fished the body of the gang leader out of the firth this morning. Admir.’
‘Son, I’m sorry about being such a dick about him being…’ Jock sighed. ‘About his sexuality. I’m fine with it.’ He rubbed a nascent tear from his eye. ‘I accept my boy for who he is.’
‘That’s brave of you.’
‘Aye. It’s a sair fecht, son.’ Jock grinned. ‘Maybe you’ll give me grandchildren, though.’
‘What?’ Chantal looked like she was going to lamp him one.
Hunter held her back. ‘That’s a horrible thing to say and, besides, you’re giving yourself your own grandchildren.’
‘What the hell’s that supposed to—’
‘Jock!’ A shrill voice from behind them. Then clacking footsteps, followed by a young woman throwing herself at Jock, landing with him holding her in a straddle. Red velour tracksuit, shiny dark ponytail, orange tan, giant hoop earrings and shiny white trainers. She snogged him, hard. ‘My god, it’s good to see you.’
‘And you.’ Jock kissed her back, then held her straddling him, holding her there. ‘Craig, this is Kirsten.’
He got a look of her face now. She looked like a schoolgirl, all soft features, but with the built muscle of a mature lapdancer. And clearly in love with his father. In a deeply creepy way. Hunter had seen daddy issues before but this was something else. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘And you.’ She hugged Jock tight, then got down to standing and looked up into his eyes from at least a foot below. ‘I need to speak to you.’
‘Okay.’ Jock winked at Hunter then set off through the car park.
‘How the hell…’ Hunter didn’t care. Couldn’t care anymore. ‘Come on.’ He entered the hospital and clocked the sign for intensive care. Not too far. Thankfully the Inverness hospital wasn’t on the scale of one in the lowlands, even Stirling or Dundee.
‘How do you feel about your new mum?’
Hunter turned to scowl at Chantal as they walked. ‘She’s not my mum. Christ.’
‘I’m just winding you up.’
‘Aye, no shit you are. Still, it’s not funny.’
‘She’s crazy about him.’
‘Then she’s crazy.’ Hunter turned the corner into another long corridor. ‘I mean, he’s made his bed but he’s fucked up two kids. Me and Murray. I don’t want to know what…’ A bitter taste filled his mouth as he reached the nurse’s station. ‘I mean, she’s pregnant with his kid. That’s fucked up.’
‘Completely.’ Chantal grinned at the nurse. ‘Here to see Murray Hunter.’
‘Right.’ She checked her computer. ‘Room six. Limit of three at a time, though.’
‘How many in just now?’
‘One.’
‘Thanks.’ Chantal led Hunter over to the room.
Murray lay on the bed, hooked up to more machines than a Transformer. His eye bags had puffed up, along with his face. Still had a dazed expression, but at least he recognised his brother. ‘Hey, Craig. Chantal.’
‘Muz.’ Hunter sat on the chair and beckoned for Chantal to join him in the other. ‘How you doing?’
‘Fucked, bro.’ He sighed. ‘I heard about Keith.’
Hunter nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Muz. I found his body. It was…’ He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry this happened to you.’
Murray smiled at Chantal. ‘We’d been going out longer than you two. I loved him.’
‘I’m so sorry. Really.’
‘Thanks.’ Murray stared up at the ceiling. ‘We were just dicking about. How… How could it come
to this?’
Hunter didn’t point out the dead man’s switch email contained a warning about the dangers of urbexing. He just held Murray’s hand.
‘I’ve been seeing a therapist for a bit. We’ve been talking about my need for adventure, to explore things, to rush in. He thinks it’s so I can make Grandpa come back to life.’
‘Grandpa?’
‘You remember?’
‘I do. I’ve been… I remember us finding Grandpa’s body.’
‘Still freaks me out. They should’ve given us counselling, Craig!’
‘Jock just gave us a hot toddy. I was seven. You were four.’
‘And I let that arsehole look after my hens. Not like I had a choice. They’re not even mine. They’re my ex’s but he moved to Glasgow. I barely get any eggs out of them, but I can’t just let them go. I’m going to have to let Keith go.’ Murray cried into his hands.
It broke Hunter’s heart to see him like that. He could get hammered with him, save him from fights, but he couldn’t fix him. ‘I’ll help you get better, bro.’
MORE CRAIG HUNTER?
“CITY OF THE DEAD”
Available now!
Craig Hunter features in the Cullen & Bain books. CITY OF THE DEAD is out now — keep reading to the end of this book for a sneak preview. You can get a copy at Amazon.
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About the Author
Ed James is the author of the bestselling DI Simon Fenchurch novels, Seattle-based FBI thrillers starring Max Carter, and the self-published Detective Scott Cullen series and its Craig Hunter spin-off books.
During his time in IT project management, Ed spent every moment he could writing and has now traded in his weekly commute to London in order to write full-time. He lives in the Scottish Borders with far too many rescued animals.
If you would like to be kept up to date with new releases from Ed James, please contact a contact form.
Connect with Ed online:
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Website
Other Books By Ed James
SCOTT CULLEN MYSTERIES SERIES
Eight novels featuring a detective eager to climb the career ladder, covering Edinburgh and its surrounding counties, and further across Scotland.
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
FIRE IN THE BLOOD
STAB IN THE DARK
COPS & ROBBERS
LIARS & THIEVES
COWBOYS & INDIANS
HEROES & VILLAINS
CULLEN & BAIN SERIES
Four novellas spinning off from the main Cullen series covering the events of the global pandemic in 2020.
CITY OF THE DEAD
WORLD’S END
HELL’S KITCHEN
GORE GLEN
CRAIG HUNTER SERIES
A spin-off series from the Cullen series, with Hunter first featuring in the fifth book, starring an ex-squaddie cop struggling with PTSD, investigating crimes in Scotland and further afield.
MISSING
HUNTED
THE BLACK ISLE
DS VICKY DODDS SERIES
Gritty crime novels set in Dundee and Tayside, featuring a DS juggling being a cop and a single mother.
BLOOD & GUTS
TOOTH & CLAW
FLESH & BLOOD
SKIN & BONE (coming 1st May 2021)
DI SIMON FENCHURCH SERIES
Set in East London, will Fenchurch ever find what happened to his daughter, missing for the last ten years?
THE HOPE THAT KILLS
WORTH KILLING FOR
WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU
IN FOR THE KILL
KILL WITH KINDNESS
KILL THE MESSENGER
DEAD MAN’S SHOES
Other Books
Other crime novels, with Senseless set in southern England, and the other three set in Seattle, Washington.
SENSELESS
TELL ME LIES
GONE IN SECONDS
BEFORE SHE WAKES