Campbell Hart [Arbogast 01] Wilderness (epub)

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.He had been promoted to the Major Crime and Anti Terrorism Unit at Strathclyde Police.MCTU operated across the Strathclyde force area, which was by far the biggest in the country.He would join the ranks of around a dozen people who had been picked out to travel to hotspots across the area.For him though it was a prime chance to escape Glasgow’s murder merry-go-round and get his teeth into something more interesting.After 14 years on the force he needed something different.Lost in his thought he noticed Sandy standing beside him at the bar and pushed across the first pint of the night.***By the time they had gone through Newmains they were the only ones left on the bus and the weather had deteriorated badly.Kovan was happy enough playing games on her newly acquired phone, but Mary was starting to get worried.They had passed a large number of abandoned cars and the snow was lying deep by the side of the road.Mary had taken the time to ask the driver if he thought they would still get through to Harthill and he seemed confident they would make it, although he couldn’t say how long it would take.This wasn’t good.If they didn’t get home on time there would be a lot of questions to answer and a lot of unhappy people.They were all there for Kovan.The bus juddered after losing traction on the road and moved to the side, sliding as the brakes struggled to keep the vehicle from spinning out of control.Kovan screamed.Mary thought the coach might topple over like a scene from a bad disaster movie.She tried to look ahead, to figure out what was going on but as she faced forward the world spun round making her feel nauseous, terrified.After what seemed like an age the bus finally found the verge of the road and got lodged in drifting snow.The only sounds she heard were the gentle purring of the engine and her own breathing.Then from the bottom deck Mary heard the doors opening with the gentle swoosh announcing the arrival of winter into their air conditioned sanctuary.She watched as the driver went out in the road looking for damage before disappearing from sight.About ten minutes passed and with each passing second the coach became colder.Mary felt the coach lurch slightly to the left as someone came on board on the bottom deck.From below she heard a determined stamping as snow was shed from footwear.When the driver appeared Mary felt uneasy although she couldn’t say why and this was something Kovan seemed to sense too, her tiny hand gripping tightly around Mary’s.The driver, stooped to accommodate the low roof, rested an arm each on the top of the empty chairs on either side of the aisle in front of them.“There’s been a change of plan.”***John and Sandy had really gone to town.Pints had led to cocktails which led to shorts which in turn had led to bad behaviour.They had been demonstrating a now forgotten theory involving vertically stacked pint glasses to two young students when an almighty crash heralded an early exit from Rab’s, forcing them out into the billowing snowstorm which had wrapped itself around the city.“Where did all this come from Sandy? I could do without it that’s for sure – let’s not hang about for too long – where are we heading?”“Devil May Care?”“Sandy,” John protested, he knew where the conversation was going.“Go on JJ – just for one.”“I can’t – you know I can’t.”“Are you saying you won’t?”“I’m saying I shouldn’t,” John smiled and Sandy led the way.Devil May Care was the latest in a short line of ‘exotic’ bars which had opened up in the last ten years but it was by no means in the top tier.Fashioned into the ground floor of an otherwise derelict tenement block it had at one time been a thriving club but was now home to the less exclusive end of what was supposedly a luxury market.Every time Arbogast passed it he was reminded of a short-lived topless hairdressing salon which had opened amidst howls of protest.They said they weren’t sure if it was a backdoor brothel.It was and it had been his smiling face which had closed it down, his picture on the front page of all the papers, making him the butt of a thousand jokes.The picture in the papers was far from flattering and the copy painted the snippers as slappers with faces to match [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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