Authors: Allan Guthrie
Kiss Her Goodbye (30 page)
Adam said, "Gemma knew who her father was. You ought to know who your daughter was."
Joe's vision was blurry.
Come on
. All he had to do was squeeze. Exert a little pressure. Bang.
"Gemma was your daughter," Tina said. "Whatever the result of a DNA test."
Joe's cheeks were wet. The gun rattled against Cooper's teeth. His daughter? Was she?
Cooper's eyes were blinking rapidly. Blood trickled out the side of his mouth. He was shivering like a naked man in the snow.
"Panic flicker," Joe said. "Think you can be still, Cooper? Stop that shaking? Think you can deal with it?"
Adam said, "Take the gun out of his mouth, Joe."
Joe looked at Ronald and the lawyer nodded.
"One," Joe said. Cooper let out a pitiful moan. "Two," Joe said. A putrid smell hit his nostrils. Cooper's left hand clawed at his trousers. "What's the matter Cooper? You want to say something? No, I think we've heard enough from you already." Cooper screwed his eyes shut. "I promise you, Cooper, it won't hurt at all."
Joe thought how easy it would be to pull the trigger. It wouldn't be like killing somebody. This grovelling, stinking thing at his feet wasn't fit to be called human. Pulling the trigger would be doing the world a favor. Joe's hand trembled. His finger twitched.
He eased the gun out of Cooper's mouth. The barrel was covered in spit and blood. Cooper collapsed in a heap, spitting out bits of teeth. Joe said, "Where have you been, Ronald? Adam needs an ambulance."
FORTY-TWO
An attractive young woman was sitting by Adam's bedside, holding his hand. Joe guessed she was Dotty. Adam had mentioned her often enough when they were waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
She was a little bit shy, he'd said. Would Joe tell her he loved her?
"Tell her yourself," Joe had said.
Joe turned and headed back down the corridor. He didn't want to embarrass her.
Adam had pulled through. Lost a lot of blood, but he was going to be okay. Joe had wanted to stop by and say thanks, that was all. He wanted to thank Adam for saving his life. If Adam hadn't taken a bullet there might be no Joe Hope.
But for the grace of God and a fat bloke from Orkney...
Outside, he sauntered over to Ronald Brewer's car.
"How is he?" the lawyer asked.
"Seems okay."
After Ronald had stormed into the church last night, a handful of policemen arrived. Two of them Joe already knew. Adjusting his glasses, Grove wandered in as if he was about to attend Sunday service. Monkman was right behind, tugging the sleeves of his jacket.
Joe said to Ronald, "You knew all along, didn't you?"
"I spoke to Grove about it. He'd admitted off the record that he didn't think you were guilty."
"He knew about Monkman's involvement?"
"All done with Grove's full support." Ronald turned to face Joe. "Monkman isn't even a member of the local police force. No way would he have been able to get hold of a bodywire at such short notice. Grove trusted you'd come up with the goods. They were after a confession and we thought you'd get it."
"But you didn't know I wasn't going to turn up."
"I was sitting in Grove's car, listening to the conversation between Tina and Cooper. When the sound went dead, I realized we had a problem. Grove had had the foresight to park in the same street as Cooper, so when Cooper appeared with Tina, we tucked in behind their car and relayed their whereabouts to Monkman. We tailed Cooper to the church. Parked some distance away. Gave them a few minutes to get inside, then followed. We hunkered down outside, beneath the church's broken windows and listened to what was happening inside.
"Park's arrival caught us by surprise. He must have driven up very quietly and was heading for the church before any of us knew he was there. Monkman saw him coming up the path and we flung ourselves flat on the ground. He didn't see us, but it must have been pretty close. When the gun went off, Grove immediately radioed for the armed response unit. But by the time they arrived, it was all over."
"A very stupid thing you did, running in like that," Joe said. "You could have been killed."
"I trusted you."
"You're a young fool, then."
"Maybe I just know who to trust."
"Best not to trust anyone."
"You're not a killer, Joe."
Joe said, "That's something I may spend the rest of my life regretting."
"Cooper's not worth it," Ronald said. "Concentrate on what's important to you."
"I need to buy some clothes," Joe said, after a moment. A black outfit for tomorrow. He'd finally get to say goodbye to his daughter.
***
About the author
Allan Guthrie is an award-winning Scottish crime writer and co-founder of digital publisher,
Blasted Heath
. His debut novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger award and went on to win the Theakston's Crime Novel Of The Year. He is the author of four other novels: KISS HER GOODBYE (nominated for an Edgar), HARD MAN, SAVAGE NIGHT and SLAMMER and three novellas: KILL CLOCK , KILLING MUM and BYE BYE BABY, a Top Ten Kindle Bestseller. When he's not writing and publishing, he's a literary agent with Jenny Brown Associates.
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