Read As The Crow Flies (The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series) Online
Authors: Damien Boyd
As The Crow Flies (The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series) (15 page)
They spent the rest of the day completing their witness statements. Dixon gave a detailed account of the use of Jake’s iPhone in setting up the meeting with Gorman but Jane’s made no mention of it. Otherwise, their statements were almost identical. They handed the statements to DCI Lewis just before 5.00pm and left the station together.
‘What about Jake?’ asked Jane.
‘We’ll worry about him next week, Jane. And Conrad bloody Benton.’
Jane nodded.
‘You shouldn’t be on your own. Is there anywhere you can go?’
‘No.’
‘Looks like it’s Monty and me on the sofa again. C’mon, let’s get a bottle of wine.’
Jane smiled. ‘How about two?’
DCI Lewis rang before they reached Brent Knoll.
‘I’ve read your statement, Nick.’
‘Yes, Sir.’
‘The end can sometimes justify the means. But we have procedures for a reason.’
‘Yes, Sir.’
‘We understand each other, I think, so we’ll say no more about it this time.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’
Dixon rang off, turned to Jane and smiled.
‘We’re off the hook…’
Late on the Sunday afternoon Dixon was walking on Burnham beach with Monty. They had parked at the end of Allandale Road and walked out to the lighthouse, which was silhouetted against the evening sky as they approached. The tide was out and seagulls were wandering up and down in the channels between the sand banks looking for worms. Monty was tearing up and down after his tennis ball, as usual.
Dixon had always loved the Burnham lighthouse. It was not a conventional lighthouse by any means. It was square for a start and stood in the middle of the beach on nine stilts. It had been a part of Dixon’s life since he had first used it for goalposts as a child. He stood at the foot of one of the stilts looking at the steel plates bolted to it and remembered challenging Jake to climb up to the door using the bolts for finger holds. Neither of them had got close to it but it had been fun trying.
Dixon heard the familiar soft ping of an email arriving.
He walked up the beach towards the dunes intending to sit on one of the concrete blocks that had once been part of sea defences long since smashed to pieces. He took out his phone and checked his email while he walked.
jakefayter [New Post] I’m Sorry – jakefayter posted
The subject line was enough to stop Dixon in his tracks. He recognised the familiar email alert for a new post on Jake’s blog. It would be interesting to know when Jake had written it but that could wait. Dixon sat on a concrete block and opened the email. He knew instinctively what was coming. He felt tears falling slowly down his cheeks.
I’m Sorry.
If you are reading this then I am already dead. A horrible cliché that, I know, but it’s true. I’ve re-scheduled this post twice already so if it’s live, I’m not.
I’ve done something that I cannot live with. I have tried. God knows, I’ve tried. But I just cannot see a way through what I have done. All I can say is sorry to everyone I have let down and everyone I have hurt.
I have been making a few quid selling ecstacy. This one time I was sold PMA. I didn’t know what it was. If I had done, things might have been different. Anyway, I sold it to Jenna and she died.
Sarah, please believe me that I am sorry. I had no idea what PMA is and I would never have sold it to Jenna had I known. Please believe me and please tell Tina that I am sorry.
I have let everyone down, including my parents. I love you both and am truly sorry for not being a better son.
Nick and I used to talk about soloing the north face of the Eiger in flip-flops when our time came. Better to die in a climbing accident than suicide. So, here’s what I am going to do. I’m going to tie my ropes in a loose granny knot and take my chances abseiling over High Rock. When my time comes I won’t know much about it and at least I won’t directly have taken my own life.
Maybe that’s my final act of cowardice. Who knows? I only ask your forgiveness, please, on all counts.
I love you all.
Jake
PS Tell Nick I changed my mind about Never Mind the Bollocks. They were the best of days, matey. I’ll see you on the other side. J.
OUT NOW
The discovery of a severed head in a bunker on Burnham and Berrow golf course triggers a frantic race to find a serial killer that brings the seaside town of Burnham-on-Sea to a standstill.
When the connection is made with a series of unsolved murders over thirty years before, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon finds himself chasing ghosts from the past in a race against time that takes him the length and breadth of the country.
The brutal killing of an elderly man in a flat on Burnham seafront raises the stakes and, as he closes in, Dixon begins to question whether he is chasing one serial killer or two.
A fast paced crime thriller and the second in the DI Nick Dixon Crime Series, Head In The Sand follows on from As The Crow Flies, which has been described as 'gripping'.
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FPXWBBS
Amazon US
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FPXWBBS
Amazon CA
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00FPXWBBS
The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series
First of all, a big thank you for reading this book. It’s a terrifying experience to publish your first novel and then truly humbling to find that people are actually reading it and liking it. A real rollercoaster.
I’d been carrying As The Crow Flies around in my head for a good few years before finally summoning up the courage to make a start in October 2012. Much of the climbing is semi-autobiographical, with perhaps a touch of exaggeration thrown in. I prefer to call it ‘poetic licence’! They really were happy days.
What about Burnham-on-Sea? It’s a seaside town in Somerset and my home for the first 32 years of my life. It’s a great place, with great people and some atmospheric scenery for setting a bit of crime fiction. I love it. If you’re ever passing by on the M5, drop in and have a bag of chips on the seafront.
I live in Devon with my wife and two dogs now but still regard Burnham-on-Sea as home. You can regularly find me on the beach with my dogs or wandering about with my dictaphone in hand doing a bit of research for my next book.
Finally, if you enjoyed As The Crow Flies, I’d be very grateful if you left a review on Amazon. They help readers decide to give my work a try and I appreciate each one very much.
Thanks again for reading.
Damien Boyd
Devon, UK. February 2014