Hot Blood (Bloodwords Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

case.’
    The woman’s confidence surprised Preston. ‘Not
necessarily’ he replied. ‘Without either a witness or an admission of guilt
it’s your word against theirs. It doesn’t take much to twist that around to
suggest that if somebody bore such a huge grudge against your husband then
there must have been a reason. So if you take that argument a bit further,
perhaps Mike was also the bad boy in the family feud as well.’
    Mike was incensed. ‘It was him. There’s no
doubt.’
    ‘So you say, but your brother-in-law was seen
elsewhere at the time you were attacked. We are walking on eggshells here and
simply cannot go making accusations unless we have hard proof. We would be
laughed out of court and it would cost you dearly. Believe me, you need to talk
and settle.’ Resting his elbows on the desk and tenting his fingers, Preston
gave them a quizzical look. Bending his head to rest his chin on his thumbs, he
squinted at them over his glasses with what he hoped would be translated as
‘you are in the shit, now be a good girl and boy and let me get you out of it.’
He could see that with a little bit of luck their feud might develop into a
good little earner for his practice – and he would do everything in his
power to make it so.
    The atmosphere remained fractious. Looking down
at his toes as he flexed them up and down, Mike grimaced with the effort and
pain. Though having taken a severe beating, most external cues had gone. Nasty
swollen bruises had lost their purple hue but inside he was raw and far from
being as good as new. The healing capabilities of the human body were indeed
marvellous, but a month on and although outwardly he looked almost back to
normal, inside he was hurting. Not just physically, but mentally. Joan knew his
hurt. Shared it even. After all, wasn’t this her own brother they were talking
about?
    How could his brother-in-law have carried out
such a brutal attack? There had never been much love lost between them but
surely, family feuds didn’t go to the extent of such violence? The police had
not been able to establish any connection. Dear brother-in-law had been seen
elsewhere. Well the little shit wasn’t elsewhere. Just the one word had given
the game away. Shit. Only four letters but even that was enough when you knew
the voice that uttered them. There was no doubt about it. He was the only
person that hated his guts so much. The little shit that had caused him so much
trouble, almost killed his business – and now almost killed him. It was
his voice and no matter what the police said, it was him. And that hurt as
well.
    Preston leaned back in his chair, folding his
arms and waited for a response. Sitting there in front of the solicitor’s huge
desk, the man looked forlorn and downtrodden. Who would have thought that this
was the local celebrity whose picture had regularly graced the pages of the Visiter , Champion or Gazette, adored by his faithful
following, the prince of local art?
    Like a little boy that had just protested his
innocence and needed to bolster his claim, coming out of his reverie the man
looked whistfully at Preston, ‘Like I said, I
recognised his voice.’
    ‘Come on Mike, you had just received a beating.
The mind plays tricks. Perhaps you wanted it to have been him. But the reality
is that it wasn’t.’
    Painfully, Mike sat more upright in his chair.
Some of the old spark was there as he responded to the solicitor. ‘Don’t humour
me David. I need a lawyer that gives of his best because he believes me, not
somebody that plays a round of golf with me, takes my money and does nothing.’
Most of the colour had drained from Mike’s face, making the remaining bruises
prominent again. The man might be a good golf partner but this was getting
serious. ‘Whatever the police say, whatever your theory of why he is trying to
steal our land, our house and Joan’s money, I definitely recognised the little
shit’s voice. He’s the one that worked me over. And