Gatecrasher (36 page)

‘Pleased with yourself Daniel? Filled with self-righteous pride? The good guy? You’ve
taken us all down and
put money in the pockets of G
resham and Slater
instead
. Violent criminals, guys that kidnapped you and beat you up, threatened your friends and family.’

‘Well at least they were honest about it. At least with them I knew what I was dealing with Sarah.’

‘Oh Daniel. The heart weeps,’ she said, making no effort to mask her contempt.

They looked at each other in silence then. Long moments passed without words as he looked at her, seeing the pretty, smiling woman he had met in
Griffin
’s offices, seeing
her expression
when she’d seen his own bruised and swollen face, the nervous edgy person unpacking groceries in the kitchen like a schoolgirl with a crush. None of them was really Sarah. Sarah didn’t really exist.

‘Get out,’ he said finally.

Her lips were pressed thin and her eyes narrowed. With a final poisonous look she turned slowly, picked her coat up from the end of the sofa and walked out of his flat, the door closing loud and hard behind her.

For a long time after she’d left,
Campbell
stared at the space in the room that she had been standing. He noticed that the chair he sat in had been the one where he’d sat and held her only days before, her arms around him and drawing him into her.

He stood and walked into the kitchen, staring at the clean floor, the pristine surfaces, the small gap beneath the oven. In the glass of a cupboard door he caught his reflection. The swelling around his eye was going down now and the black lines on his cheek and lip where he had been cut were smaller and not so obvious. He hoisted his t-shirt up to see the bruising on his chest and ribs was softening into lighter shades of green and red. Walking back into the living room and stretching out on the sofa
Campbell
closed his eyes and listened to the silence.

© Robert Young 2012

Robert Young has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or
publicly
performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the author, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Cover image © Chris Fertnig
www.istockphoto.com/chrisfertig

Cover design, Elizabeth Young, 2012.

Thanks are due to several people for help and support, chief among them the following: My wonderful wife, who not only did the hard yards of formatting this beast, but designed the brilliant cover and who puts up with me. Michelle Mortimer, whose direct and honest criticisms of the early draft were invaluable. Simon Salter has also been quite handy to know too. Jules, Paul, Kelli and Mum all did their bit too! Thanks.

The three ‘issues’ I’ve touched on in the book came from various bits of reading.

Graham Hancock’s book ‘Lords of Poverty’ was one of the few University study texts I actually read properly. It might well be a little dated now, but is fascinating all the same.

As an extension, the stuff about the dam in
Malaysia
was the result of some web searches.

Finally, the book ‘Unscathed’ by Phil Ashby is an incredible true-life story but provided much info on
Sierra Leone
and conflict diamonds.

Any errors in the text with regard to these issues are my own, either through artistic licence, or some straightforward ignorance.