Think of the Children (37 page)

Did you wear trainers to your wedding?

A very quick bit of explanation here. I’m from Frome and, although I don’t know Suzanne, we must know people in common. Anyway, yes, I did wear trainers to my
wedding and the line where Jessica scolds Hugo for doing just that in
The Woman in Black
– ‘What kind of idiot wears trainers to a wedding?’ – is indeed a massive
in-joke at my own expense.

COMING SOON

PLAYING WITH FIRE

Jessica Daniel Book 5

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 …

This is Book 5 in the Jessica Daniel series, following on from
Locked In
,
Vigilante
,
The Woman in Black
and
Think of the Children
.

An extract follows here
…

ISBN 978-1-4472-2341-2

Extract from
Playing with Fire

Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel glanced up from her plate to face the man sitting opposite. She put the metal fork on the table, loudly enough to ensure he knew she wanted
his attention.

‘So, Garry,’ Jessica began. ‘Who the hell is Sebastian Lowe?’

She watched Garry Ashford squirm. Despite the fact she had known the journalist for a few years, she knew he was still that little bit afraid of her.

Garry looked up from his breakfast, where a congealed fried egg yolk had blended into the leftover baked-bean juice. All that was left of his breakfast was a final piece of black pudding, which
he was chewing on while swirling his hand in the air, as if pointing out to Jessica that he would answer when he had finished. She had purposely picked her moment to ask the question, so that he
was at his most uncomfortable. Jessica fixed Garry with a steady stare, telling him with her eyes that she was waiting for the answer.

The journalist swallowed and started to speak before spluttering and gulping the final mouthful of tea from his mug.

‘Sorry,’ he coughed. ‘I was just finishing off.’ He smiled apologetically but Jessica didn’t relax her glare. ‘Sebastian’s newish,’ he went on.
‘He’s been working for me for around six months. I hired him but he’s just been bumped up to senior news reporter.’

‘When did you start hiring people?’ Jessica replied, failing to hide her surprise.

‘Since I was promoted to news editor.’

Jessica weighed up his response, not overly satisfied with it. ‘What’s he like? A bit of a troublemaker?’

Garry shook his head. ‘Sebastian? No, he’s a bit like I was. He gets by story to story, although he seems to come up with better stuff than I did.’

Jessica looked sideways at the man, flicking her long dark-blonde hair away from her face and wishing she had tied it back. When she had invited Garry for breakfast, she hadn’t known if
she wanted to play on the fact he was scared of her, or that she was pretty sure he still fancied her – despite apparently having a girlfriend. Torn between the two, she opted for a bit of
both and left her hair down.

As they waited for their food to arrive in the cafe around the corner from his newspaper’s office, Jessica hadn’t said too much. She allowed the tension to build, watching him devour
a full English and deciding she would definitely be going down the ‘scare’ route. She quickly finished her sausage sandwich, wondering if the large breakfast was a usual thing for him,
or if he had ordered it because she was paying.

‘Does he have better dress sense than you?’ Jessica asked.

Garry peered down at his brown corduroy trousers, before realising what he was doing. In fairness, Jessica had to admit he was looking as smart as she had ever seen him. His previously long
scruffy hair had been cut short and was tidily shaped, with the goatee on his chin looking as if it was there by design, as opposed to because he hadn’t bothered to shave. His cord trousers
were perhaps a little outdated but, for as long as she had known him, that seemed to be his style.

‘Why do you want to know about Seb?’ Garry asked, not taking the bait.

Jessica reached into the bag under her seat and scooped out a copy of the previous day’s
Manchester Morning Herald
. She pushed a ketchup bottle to one side and unfolded the paper
before turning it around so Garry could see the front page, pointing at Sebastian’s byline on the lead story.

‘Did you have anything to do with this?’ she asked.

The headline read ‘FLAMING HELL’ with ‘Killer Out This Month’ underneath.

Garry must have known what was coming but he still fidgeted awkwardly. ‘I didn’t write the headline but I knew about Seb’s story.’

Jessica pushed the paper away. ‘Didn’t anyone think about the implications? What if this guy gets hurt when they let him out of prison?’

The journalist sank into his seat and Jessica began to feel a little sorry for him. ‘That’s exactly what I said,’ Garry insisted. ‘I told my editor that. I told Seb that.
I said we should be careful if we were going to run it.’

From her earlier dealings with Garry, Jessica knew he had a pretty good grasp of what was right and wrong. Or, more specifically, what she considered to be right or wrong. She wasn’t as
prejudiced against the media as some at the station but, as with all professions, she knew there were good guys and bad guys. Garry was one of the better ones. He had certainly helped her in the
past, although she was loath to admit it – especially to him.

‘I’ve been assigned to keep an eye on Martin when he comes out of prison,’ Jessica said. ‘It’s not even our job but after this,’ she pointed to the paper
again, ‘we don’t have much choice.’

Garry looked a little apologetic, his eyes slightly wider than before. ‘You have to admit it’s a good story.’

Jessica knew it was and had made that exact point in the staff briefing the previous day. It was probably that which prompted Detective Chief Inspector Jack Cole to give her the job of escorting
Martin Chadwick when he left prison in a few days’ time. Unknown to Garry – she hoped – everything had been moved forward by a day in an attempt to avoid any further
publicity.

‘Where did Sebastian get the story from?’ Jessica asked, fully aware Garry would never give her the answer. She was curious because the day of a prisoner’s release wasn’t
the type of information that should have been freely available. All they had managed to come up with in the briefing was that the second subject of the article – who would have been told by
the prison service that Martin was due to be released – had taken it to the media.

Garry shook his head. ‘You know I won’t tell you that.’

‘Was it Anthony Thompson?’ Jessica asked, hoping Garry’s body language would give him away. As he had grown older, the man had clearly learned his lessons from dealing with
her. He sat impassively, refusing to answer. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Jessica added. ‘I know Anthony might have every reason to want to hurt Martin – but flagging it up
for the world to see isn’t going to do anyone any good.’

Garry nodded slowly and Jessica could see he agreed with her, although the congealed egg yolk on his chin did detract slightly from the serious conversation she was trying to cultivate. She
leant across the table and wiped the yellow liquid from Garry’s face as he writhed away from her. ‘You’re not my mum,’ he said with a smile.

Jessica grinned back, the atmosphere lost. ‘Believe it or not, I didn’t invite you to breakfast to simply bollock you. Whoever this Sebastian is should do his homework. There are
mistakes in the piece and, although it’s not my job to clean up after you, my boss and I thought it would be much better if we gave you some proper facts for next time.’

‘On the record?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘You give me your source and I’ll give you something on the record.’ Garry smiled back but didn’t answer.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Off the record it is. Have you got a pen?’

The journalist stacked his empty plate on top of Jessica’s and moved them into the middle of the table, before fumbling in a shoulder bag hanging over the back of his chair and taking out
a notepad and pen.

When it was clear he was ready, Jessica began. ‘You got most of it right. Martin Chadwick is due out of prison but you know I can’t confirm exactly when that’s going to happen.
Up until seven years ago, he was a bit of a pest with sporadic criminal offences, none of which was very serious. Then he set fire to a pub he thought was empty. Unfortunately, a
twenty-one-year-old man named Alfie Thompson was sleeping inside.’

Garry was making notes, although Jessica hadn’t yet told him anything he wouldn’t already know. She paused to let him catch up, continuing when his pen scratched to a halt.
‘Martin was so drunk, he was picked up sleeping on a bench less than a hundred yards away from the pub. The lighter and empty bottle of vodka he used to start the fire were still in his
possession. He didn’t exactly confess, largely because he said he couldn’t remember doing it. With the CCTV footage and forensic evidence, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received
his prison sentence.’

The journalist looked up from his pad. ‘We know this …’

Jessica interrupted. ‘What you don’t know is that Martin had an eleven-year-old son who was taken into care when his father went into prison. He is now eighteen and, apparently,
he’s been in regular contact with his dad. I don’t know much about his mother but the son is called Ryan. Although I’ve not met him yet, strictly unofficially we would rather you
be careful of mentioning him. He doesn’t have anything to do with this and I am only telling you because I know you will find it out at some point anyway.’

She let her words hang. Garry hadn’t written down any of the last pieces of information. ‘All I can do is ask,’ he said.

Jessica nodded. ‘Obviously you know about Anthony Thompson. It was his son killed in the fire. I’m assuming he was your source about Martin’s release because he was informed.
We don’t know that much about Anthony, except for what you printed.’

She picked the paper back up and began to read. ‘“There’s no bringing back my Alfie but everyone has to pay for what they’ve done”.’

She looked up to see Garry wince. ‘I know it’s ambiguous,’ he said.

‘Deliberately so?’ Jessica asked. She fell silent as a waitress came close to their table and picked up the plates.

‘Can I get you anything else?’ she asked sweetly, although the twang of her local accent made it sound as if she was offering them a fight. The woman was somewhere in her early
twenties, with bleached hair tied neatly in a bun on top of her head. Jessica watched Garry eye the waitress up and down, before stopping himself when he realised she was observing him.

Jessica giggled slightly, shaking her head. ‘No thanks, just the bill.’

When the woman had moved away, she raised her eyebrows. ‘Are you really a ladies’ man now?’

Garry offered an apologetic ‘No’ but Jessica already knew he was far from the type. He might have wandering eyes, as did most men she knew, but the journalist lacked the social grace
to be discreet.

Jessica lowered her voice. ‘From what Anthony says, I don’t know if he’s referring to the jail sentence as Martin “paying” for what he’s done, or if
there’s a veiled threat there.’

Garry spoke slowly and cautiously. ‘I don’t know. Sebastian did the interview. I know you can read it both ways. I said we should take it out.’

Jessica returned the paper to her bag. ‘I don’t think any of us want something stupid happening when Martin comes out. Whatever you think of the guy, or the punishment, he’s
done his time.’

Garry put down his pen and nervously wiped his chin with a napkin from the table.

‘How are things anyway?’ Jessica asked in a lighter tone.

He stopped dabbing his face and smiled. ‘Are you actually being nice to me?’

Jessica grinned. ‘Hey, I left my hair down for this impromptu bollocking. I’m not all bad.’

Garry shrugged. ‘I’m doing okay. I’ve been promoted and I’ve moved in with my girlfriend.’

‘Is she the blind one?’

The journalist snorted gently and shook his head. ‘I thought you were being nice?’

‘This is me being nice,’ Jessica replied with a wink.

‘What about you?’ Garry asked. ‘I heard you were loved-up, engaged and all that?’

Jessica tried not to fidget but couldn’t stop herself. Instead of answering his question, she shunted her chair backwards and picked up her jacket, before crouching to retrieve her bag.
‘I’ve gotta go,’ she said.

Garry laughed. ‘Thanks for the breakfast.’

‘Judging by the amount you left on your chin and shirt, it certainly looked like you enjoyed it.’ He glanced down at his clean shirt before looking back up at a smiling Jessica.
‘Gotcha,’ she said.

The journalist put his coat on while Jessica paid at the counter. As she turned, he looped his bag over his shoulder and stretched out his hand for her to shake. ‘It was good seeing you
again, Jess,’ he said.

Jessica rolled her eyes but shook his hand anyway. ‘Can you deliver a message for me?’

‘What?’

‘Tell this “Sebastian” that I will kick his arse if anything happens to Martin.’

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Kerry Wilkinson
is something of an accidental author. His debut,
Locked In
, the first title in the detective Jessica Daniel series, was written as a
challenge to himself but, after self-publishing, it became a UK Number One bestseller within three months of release. Kerry then went on to have more success with the second and third titles in the
series,
Vigilante
and
The Woman in Black
. The next book in the series, following
Think of the Children
, is
Playing with Fire
. This title will be published very
soon and an extract is available at the end of this book.