Something Wicked (34 page)

Jenny crossed the room and put a mug down in front of Andrew before heading to her own desk and rummaging in the bottom drawer. ‘Rich Tea?’

‘No thanks.’

‘Jaffa Cake?’

‘No.’

‘Toffee Pop?’

‘A what?’

Jenny held up something that was round with a caramel centre.

‘No.’

She dug out a biscuit for herself and started eating. ‘Did they tell you what happened to Stewart Deacon?’

‘He couldn’t cope with what he saw. After Nicholas told him to call the police, he didn’t move. When they interviewed him the next morning, he said he’d been there to
threaten me with the gun. They recovered it and confirmed it was fake but that’s not really the point. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been saved in the first place, so
maybe they’ll take that into account? Who knows? What a mess.’

Jenny double-dipped the Rich Tea into her drink, which proved that she wasn’t afraid of anything. Few would risk a back-to-back dunk when it came to Rich Teas. Miraculously, the biscuit
emerged unbroken and she sucked it down.

‘Jen.’

‘What?’

‘When Richard Carr kidnapped you, what happened?’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t really remember.’

‘Did he give you something?’

‘He was here and I made him a brew. I had to nip to the loo, so he could have done. One minute I was here, then I was in his car.’

That was a relief at least: Andrew found it hard to believe that she had no concern at all for herself. Who could be like that? If she’d been drugged, it would explain why she was so
pliable. He tried to tell himself that was true but there was still a tingle in the back of Andrew’s mind wondering if fearless was simply the way she was.

‘Do you remember being in the woods?’

‘Yes.’

‘Were you scared?’

She polished off the biscuit first, scooping up a stray soggy crumb with her thumb. ‘I don’t know. I knew I’d be okay.’

‘How?’

‘I just did.’

‘But Nicholas had no intention of saving you. He’d kept the knife hidden to save himself and then go after his father. The only reason we’re still here is because of Stewart
Deacon and his fake gun.’

‘It worked out, didn’t it?’

‘That’s what I’m trying to say. It did, but not because of either of us.’

‘Pfft. We’re fine.’

Andrew watched her as she blew on her tea, unable to tell what she was thinking. He could fire her and leave her to her own devices, or do what he really wanted and continue working with her.
Did she really care for herself? Or others? He wasn’t going to find out by sending her away.

She caught his eye and grinned, eyes wide, dimple set.

‘I’m fine!’

‘I know.’

That was what worried him.

‘What’s going to happen to us?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘With the office and everything?’

Andrew blew on his own tea. ‘I don’t know. The police will check our statements to make sure they match. They might decide we hampered their investigation but I really doubt it
considering everything that happened and the fact they spent nine months not finding someone. If Nicholas confesses to killing all those Circle members, then they’re going to look pretty
incompetent too, so we’ll be the least of their worries. Honestly? I don’t think anything will happen. A new client will knock on our door at some point today or tomorrow and life will
go on.’

Jenny’s eyes crinkled into a wider grin. ‘Promise?’

‘No.’

‘Good. I don’t like people who promise too much.’

She sipped her tea as someone rapped loudly on the door. They both turned at the same time to see a dusky silhouette beyond the rippled glass.

‘Do you want to do the honours?’ Andrew asked.

Jenny put her mug down. ‘Come innnnnnnn.’

The door swung inwards with a creak, allowing a gust of Manchester air to flood into the office. Standing in the open space was a woman with a blonde bob, bag over her shoulder, crumpled
business card in hand.

Keira glanced from Jenny to Andrew, smiling wearily like someone who had seen the news that morning. ‘Can we have a word?’

Jessica Daniel Book 1

They think they are safe at home. Someone knows better.

When a body is found in a locked house, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is left to not only find the killer but discover how they got in and out.

With little in the way of leads and a journalist that seems to know more about the case than she does, Jessica is already feeling the pressure – and that’s before a second body shows
up in identical circumstances to the first.

How can a murderer get to victims in seemingly impossible situations and what, if anything, links the bodies?

ISBN 978-1-4472-2564-5

Jessica Daniel Book 2

A killer behind bars is still killing . . .

Dead bodies are piling up for Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel.

Usually when a serial killer is on the loose, the pressure would be building to find the perpetrator but the victims are all hardened criminals themselves.

The national media can’t believe their luck with an apparent vigilante on the streets, while Jessica’s new boss seems grateful someone else is doing their job for them.

But things aren’t so straightforward when forensics matches blood from the apparent killer to a man already behind bars.

ISBN 978-1-4472-2566-9

Jessica Daniel Book 3

Severed body parts. A woman in shadows.

These are the only clues.

Someone has left a severed hand in the centre of Manchester and the only clue Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel has to go on is CCTV footage of a woman in a long black robe
placing it carefully on the ground.

With a lengthy missing persons list and frantic families wondering if the body part could belong to their absent loved ones, she has plenty to deal with – and that’s before a
detached finger arrives for her in the post.

By the time a second hand is found and a local MP’s wife goes missing, Jessica is left struggling to find out who the appendages belong to, how they are connected and just what the
mysterious woman in black has to do with it all.

ISBN 978-1-4472-2567-6

Jessica Daniel Book 4

One boy is dead. A killer is free. Who is next?

Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is first on the scene as a stolen car crashes on a misty, wet Manchester morning. The driver is dead, but the biggest shock awaits her when
she discovers the body of a child wrapped in plastic in the boot of the car.

As Jessica struggles to discover the identity of the driver, a thin trail leads her first to a set of clothes buried in the woods and then to a list of children’s names abandoned in an
allotment shed.

With the winter chill setting in and parents looking for answers, Jessica must find out who has been watching local children, and how this connects to a case that has been unsolved for fourteen
years.

ISBN 978-1-4472-2340-5

Jessica Daniel Book 5

Those who play with fire are going to get burned . . .

Seven years ago Martin Chadwick set fire to a building, not knowing a teenager was sleeping inside. With the media hyping the man’s impending release from prison and the
victim’s father hinting at revenge, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is given the task of keeping an eye on the former prisoner.

Graffitied threats are just the start of what seems to be an escalating campaign of intimidation as the apparently remorseful man is left fearing for his life. At first the culprit seems obvious
– but with Martin’s son connected to the death of a young girl and a private investigator making a nuisance of himself, Jessica is caught squarely in the middle. Meanwhile, someone in
her midst seems intent on burning everything to the ground . . .

ISBN 978-1-4472-2341-2

Jessica Daniel Book 6

When Cameron and Eleanor Sexton arrive home to find their babysitter missing but their child and property otherwise untouched, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is sent on
what she thinks is a fool’s errand to find out what happened.

But Jessica is left confused as the teenager’s body turns up in the bath of a different house, seemingly at random – a puzzle which only deepens when a journalist points out that
someone placed an obituary for him days before he went missing.

With one colleague leaving while another returns, plus a local businessman taking an unhealthy interest in her, Jessica turns to home to find the one person she can rely on. But is that trust
misplaced?

ISBN 978-1-4472-2342-9

Jessica Daniel Book 7

Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel has barely left her house in months, isolated away from friends and colleagues. She may have given up on herself but one man is sure she
still has something to offer.

DCI Jack Cole gives her a chance at redemption: an opportunity to help a neighbouring force by discovering what is going on with a reclusive community living in a stately home in the middle of
nowhere.

People are going missing, turning up dead with only a vague link back to the house. But can Jessica beat her own demons in time to find out exactly what’s going on behind closed doors?

ISBN 978-1-4472-4785-2

Jessica Daniel Book 8

Nitric acid, baseball bats and HIV-filled syringes: people are being attacked publicly by a masked figure in the centre of Manchester, and Jessica Daniel doesn’t know
how to catch the person responsible.

Not that she’ll get much help from the media – it’s been twenty-five years since the notorious Stretford Slasher was caught, and those who can remember are feeling
nostalgic.

With the city held in a wintry grip, Jessica has a caseload stacking up and an old friend to look after – and all while she’s wilting under the shadow of secrets a
quarter-of-a-century old.

ISBN 978-1-4472-4787-6

The Silver Blackthorn series Book 1

One girl. One reckoning. One destiny.

In the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This coming-of-age test not
only decides her place in society – Elite, Member, Inter or Trog – but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.

But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the
walls of the castle have something to hide?

Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she
must find a way out . . .

ISBN 978-1-4472-3530-9

Kerry Wilkinson’s debut,
Locked In,
the first title in the Detective Jessica Daniel series, was written as a challenge to himself and became a UK Number One Kindle
bestseller within three months of release.

His three initial Jessica Daniel books made him Amazon UK’s top-selling author for the final quarter of 2011. When
Think of the Children
followed in 2013, he became the first
formerly self-published British author to have an ebook Number One and reach the top 20 of the UK paperback chart.
Playing with Fire, Thicker Than Water
and
Behind Closed Doors
continue the series – and there are still more books to come!

Something Wicked
is the first book in the Andrew Hunter series. Andrew Hunter appeared as a private investigator in
Playing with Fire
and Kerry liked him enough to create a new
series.

Kerry has a degree in journalism, plays cricket badly and complains about the weather a lot. He was born in Somerset but now lives in Lancashire, thus explaining the climate gripes.

For more information about Kerry and his books visit:
www.kerrywilkinson.com or www.panmacmillan.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrywk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessicaDanielBooks
Or you can email Kerry at [email protected]

Also by Kerry Wilkinson

The Jessica Daniel series

LOCKED IN

VIGILANTE

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

PLAYING WITH FIRE

THICKER THAN WATER

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

The Silver Blackthorn Trilogy

RECKONING