Slash and Burn (37 page)

Kate’s passing was hard on us all. She’d died a hero, but she could never claim that accolade. Her death was put down to a random drive-by shooting that took an awful lot of setting up, but was managed by a man who’d always been in the business of covering the true nature of death. My old CIA contact, William Hayes Conrad IV, had been a great help in the past and he came through once again. I knew he would. When he helped me resolve the issue with the contract killer, Dantalion, he’d told me he couldn’t keep on condoning murder. But nothing of what we’d done was construed as such this time. The way things turned out, Walter made it known that a disagreement between factions of the criminal underworld had erupted into all-out war. Many suspected criminals had died in the process when enforcers from various syndicates started killing each other during a power struggle. The media had a ball with it, but as usual the news was only topical for a few days. We wouldn’t be earning any medals of commendation for our actions, but at least we were kept out of prison. Ruth Wicker, the enforcer who’d gone after and ultimately murdered Kate, was the only person who connected us to the war that was waged across Kentucky and Texas. But Walter covered that too. He sent in a clean-up crew that made Wicker disappear completely and her name – like Kate’s – was never added to the tally of the dead. Kate’s death was handled with more dignity, but it was still something that pained us all deeply. Sadly Kate would only be remembered as a statistic of a violent and senseless world, except in the hearts and minds of those who truly cared for her.

Imogen flew back to Maine to be near the Piers family plot where she could be close to Kate. I had failed to keep Kate safe, and now Imogen felt it was down to her to do that. She was still hurting from her loss, but she was buoyed by the knowledge that those responsible for murdering her lover and her sister were all dead.

With Rink and Harvey, I attended Kate’s funeral, standing barely six feet from where I had when we’d buried Jake. It was difficult letting her go, but what else could I do? I wondered what life could have been like if she’d survived. She had her career and I had mine, and it wasn’t something that could ever have worked. But I sure wished she was still around.

Thanks and Acknowledgements

There are many people who help writers to achieve their dreams of writing and publishing a book. I have so many to thank that it is inevitable I will forget to mention someone. You know who you are, so thanks to you all.

Special thanks go to the following:

Luigi Bonomi, Alison Bonomi, George Lucas, Sue Fletcher, David Highfill, all the team at ILA, Ajda Vucicevic, Jack Barclay, Swati Gamble, Gabe Robinson, Eleni Fostiropoulos, Sharyn Rosenblum, Kelly Edgson-Wright, Alice Wood, a support team beyond comparison.

Adrian Magson, Col Bury, Richard Gnosill, Sheila Quigley, Pauline Rowson, Pat Bertram, and all the gang at ITW debut authors; all writers who have helped in ways they may or may not know.

Jim, Dave, John, Raymond, Jacky, Val, Jordon, Bunny, Geoff, Mandy and last on the list, but first in my heart, Denise.

In loving memory of Megs and Izzy.