DI Sean Corrigan Crime Series: 6-Book Collection: Cold Killing, Redemption of the Dead, The Keeper, The Network, The Toy Taker and The Jackdaw

Sorry about skipping off. I’m sure you understand. I had no intention of becoming a corpse for the media vultures to pick over. Your fault entirely. I haven’t forgotten.

Imagine Gibran thinking he could outwit me. I look forward to seeing him again. I’ll have a nice little surprise waiting for that jumped-up fucker.

How are my wife and children? Crying for my return, no doubt. They don’t know what they pray for. If they did, they wouldn’t.

I’m sure we’ll meet again. I feel I still owe you something.

Sean held the letter for a long time. He had hoped he’d heard the last of Stefan Korsakov, but in his heart he knew he hadn’t. Korsakov liked games too much.

His desk phone rang, making him jump. He tossed the letter aside and answered. It was Kate.

‘How you doing today?’ she asked. She had called him a lot more often these last two weeks. He used to seem so invulnerable. Now there was something tenuous about him. As if he might easily be snatched away.

‘I’m doing all right,’ he said, before she could continue. ‘Listen, I was thinking. Maybe we should get out of London.’

‘And move where?’ Kate asked.

‘Well,’ Sean answered, ‘I got an email the other day. The police in New Zealand are looking to recruit British cops. I can even do a direct transfer as a DI. We’d get full residency. The kids would love it.’

‘And me?’ Kate asked.

‘Come on, Kate,’ he reassured her. ‘You’re a doctor. There isn’t a country in the world doesn’t want more doctors.’

‘What brought this on?’ Kate asked cheerfully.

Sean looked at the letter on his desk. ‘Nothing,’ he lied, remembering how close he’d been to falling off the edge – remembering being alone in the toilet, staring into the mirror and seeing the swirling darkness of his nature. ‘I guess I’m just sick of the traffic.’

Free, I was a thing of nightmares. Now, in my cage, I have become the object of morbid fascination. You lock me away to lock your fears away. You view me from a safe distance. The newspapers and television your window into my cage. The gaps between the bars through which you peer.

And what is it that scares you most? Is it that there’s a little bit of me in all of you? That little bit of madness waiting to be let loose? When that person standing too close on the underground stamps on your foot, they apologize and you tell them it’s all right. It doesn’t matter, but really you want to stamp on their head until blood and brains cover your feet, but you swallow the violence down. Keep the madness deep inside.

As for me, I’m not finished yet. The British legal system will give me a chance. Anything is possible. The judge will call my arrest and prosecution a travesty. The police will be lambasted. The media will rally to my cause. I’ll be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman. I’ll walk free from the court. Will there be cheering crowds? So many other killers have been greeted by cheering crowds, why not me? I’ll raise my arms in victory as I walk towards the waiting photographers. I’ll call to them. ‘Innocent. Proven innocent.’

THE KEEPER

Luke Delaney

Copyright (#ulink_28e4f585-4d45-5a22-993a-fb6db899f9c5)

Harper

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2013

Copyright © Luke Delaney 2013

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2013

Cover photographs © Henry Steadman

Luke Delaney asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007486113

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2013 ISBN: 9780007486106

Version: 2015-09-16

DEDICATION (#ulink_53a4e088-760b-5cc7-adae-bdbad097bb67)

I don’t believe we’re all lucky enough to find our true soul mates in this life, but I have. I would love nothing more than to write her name in lights high above the world for everyone to see, but unfortunately because of my past life I cannot. So instead of a galactic firework display in her honour, I dedicate this book, The Keeper, to my incredible wife – LJ, whose love has done much to shape the man I am today.

At our wedding my Dad gave a little speech and described LJ and I as being a powerful force. It took me a few years to fully realize what he meant, but now the meaning of his words is crystal clear, as anyone who’s ever seen us together would understand. We drive each other, push each other forward, challenge each other when it’s needed, criticize each other when it’s warranted, but above all else we love and support each other. We can do all these things because we belong to each other – are safe and secure with each other – respect and adore each other.

So here’s to LJ – loving and dedicated mother, a fearless captain of her industry and inspirational leader both at work and at home – a young girl from a nowhere town who overcame all the significant disadvantages and hurdles life put in her way to reach the very top. And most importantly of all, and as a lesson to everyone, she achieved all this without ever telling a lie, without ever being deceitful, while always being kind and loyal, and with an unshakeable morality.

Without LJ, I could easily have lost my way – at the very least settled for less than I could have been. So for all she has given me I thank her and love her.

For LJ

Love,

LD x

Contents

Cover (#u69668b7c-9849-598f-92db-2b90b73e0c1f)

Title Page (#u4401977d-d703-53f2-a5fb-d63ed1908bbd)

Copyright (#u193e0491-c9bc-5efb-a88e-44f1b9ef0144)

Dedication (#u3b50c8ca-6032-5721-86a4-7b02fc29d18d)