Read Online Final Justice (Lorne Simpkins thriller (Book Three)) by Mel Comley - Free Book Online

non?’
    ‘That’s a sore point. I had mine done up, but Pete … well his didn’t fit – he’d put on weight and his new one hadn’t arrived. It meant the fool went in unprotected. Anyway, The Unicorn took Pete out with a bullet to the stomach and another close to the heart. I tried to save him, but …’ Her words trailed off.
    ‘I understand, cherie.’
    His voice and what he’d said knocked her sideways for a minute or two, it was as though Jacques were in the room with her. She had to dig deep inside herself to continue her story. ‘No, I don’t think you do understand, you couldn’t. You see, Pete, died in my arms. It’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life, I get flashbacks every waking hour and I suffer nightmares every night, I can’t see that changing any day soon. That image and hearing the shots that killed Jacques will torment me forever.’
    ‘Maybe I used the wrong word, forgive me. I have never lost a partner.’
    She dismissed his lack of understanding with a shake of her head. ‘Not long after that we discovered Laura Crane, a member of my team, was feeding The Unicorn information.’ Michel gasped, she looked up at him and nodded, ‘Yes, a mole. That’s how he managed to stay ahead of us for so long.’
    ‘Why did he involve someone on your team?’ Michel surprised her by asking.
    ‘You don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself that same question. I have to admit I’ve yet to find a suitable answer. Anyway, The Unicorn became more brazen and made contact with me personally, goading me if you will. He threatened to blow up the Houses of Parliament unless a £20 million ransom was paid. My Superintendent refused to take the threat seriously. I had to though, because the bastard had abducted my daughter.’
    Michel’s face creased with concern, Lorne sucked in a breath and went on, ‘I’ll spare you the details of what he put my thirteen-year-old through, needless to say, she’s still seeing a therapist almost a year later. I digress, due to Charlie, my daughter being kidnapped, my DCI took over the case, until she was returned, he wanted to send me home but I begged him to let me remain involved. Even my father, an ex-DCI himself joined us. It’s a good job he did really as he pointed us in a different direction, urged us to think outside the box. It was then we discovered what The Unicorn was really up to.’ Lorne watched, slightly amused, as Michel crossed and uncrossed his legs at the ankles continuously with excitement.
    ‘Go on.’
    ‘Okay, well, remember I told you The Unicorn or Baldwin was holding the Houses of Parliament to ransom, he gave us a twenty-four hour deadline to meet. To make sure we took his threat seriously, he set off a small incendiary device next door to the proposed target, and as Big Ben struck twelve my daughter and three other girls were paraded in front of the Houses of Parliament on national TV wearing suicide vests. But that was just the start of our problems. He went on to kidnap the Prime Minister’s son, shot Charlie and another girl and the distraction aided Baldwin’s escape.’
    ‘What happened next, did he get away again?’
    ‘I’ve been talking for too long, to sum it up, he slipped the net and tried to escape on a yacht. The yacht exploded …’ Her head dropped as tears misted her vision.
    ‘Forgive me, but how did he escape?’
    ‘By submarine.’
    ‘By what?’
    ‘I’m sorry I don’t know how else to say it, a boat that travels underwater.’
    ‘Yes, yes, sorry I understand the meaning of the word I just could not believe it. That must have been some yacht.’ He let out a long whistle.
    ‘It was worth £250 million.’
    He whistled again. ‘You could feed a whole country on that. Sorry, please continue.’
    ‘The next day my whole world collapsed, and no, that is not an exaggeration. Pete was buried, my whole family was in hospital, I won’t go into detail there, and then I had to listen to my