High Moor 2: Moonstruck Read Online Free PDF Page B

team checked and loaded their weapons. Only then did they move to investigate the dark patch in the road.
    Olivia crouched down and examined the mark. She’d been praying that it was just an oil patch, but once she got close there was no mistaking it − dried blood, dotted with small chunks of meat, and smeared where something had been dragged through it. A small glimmer of white caught her eye, reflecting the beam from the headlights amid the dried gore. She looked closer and, for a moment, couldn’t work out what it was; then she made the connection, a wave of nausea washing over her. It was a severed human thumb.
    Rick put his arm on her shoulder, but she brushed him away. “I’m fine, Rick. Really.”
    He nodded and withdrew his hand, then turned to Mark. “Talk to Paul. We’re going to need a forensics team here, and we’re going to need some backup. Get the area sealed off, and tell Franks that we’re going to need that warrant yesterday. Then, we’re going to take a little walk and see what’s been going on at that house.”
    ***
    15th November 2008. Seven Bells Hotel, Durham City. 19.04.
    Marie floated in warmth and darkness. Images played across the theatre of her mind: a jumbled subconscious narrative that followed no real logic, but nevertheless made perfect sense somehow. She could hear voices, muted as if a radio was on in the next room. The voices became louder, clearer. Awareness began to leak into her protective cocoon, but instead of opening her eyes she remained still, regulating her breathing to feign sleep until she could work out where she was, and who the voices belonged to.
    “What part of ‘no killing’ was I not clear on?” said a man’s voice, deep with a thick eastern European accent and clearly angry.
    “What the hell did ye expect me to do? They had her blood under a microscope. Ah only just got there before the lab tech called his sodding boss.” A woman, this time, with a Scottish accent and an indignant tone.
    “So your solution was to break the lab tech’s neck and then burn the fucking hospital down?”
    “Ah, the hospital’s fine. Only the basement labs and the morgue were damaged. By the time they figure out that it was started deliberately we’ll be far away from this shit hole.”
    Both speakers sounded familiar, but Marie struggled to place who they were. Realisation dawned slowly, eliciting a groan: Gregorz and Connie. Michael must have sent a team to retrieve her. Marie opened her eyes and attempted to sit up. “Do you two mind keeping it down. How the fuck is anyone supposed to sleep with that almighty racket.”
    Connie, to her credit, managed to keep her snarl in check. “Ah see Sleeping Beauty’s finally woken up.”
    Gregorz got up from the chair and walked to the bedside, then took her hand. “How are you feeling?”
    “Like shit. My head feels like it’s wrapped in cotton wool, while the rest of me appears to have been run over by a truck. Other than that and a dry mouth, I’m fine.”
    Gregorz picked up a glass of water from the bedside cabinet and passed it to her. “Can you remember what happened? What did the moonstruck do to you?”
    She shook her head. “There wasn’t any moonstruck. I got silver−shot.”
    Connie walked across the room and stood at the end of the bed. ““What in Christ’s name happened here, Marie? This was supposed to be a simple recruitment. How could ye fuck things up so badly?”
    Marie felt a familiar anger bubble up, but forced it back down. “There were other factors. Steven fucking Wilkinson for one. He’s the bastard that shot me.”
    Connie’s face turned purple. “Wilkinson? Here? Where is he now?”
    Marie propped herself up on her elbow and fought through the wave of nausea that hit her. “How the fuck should I know? He almost cut me in half with a Mac−10. If it makes you feel any better, by the time I got there, Malcolm had made a nasty mess of the bastard. I’d be amazed if he was still