Games People Play (PI Charlie Cameron #1) by Owen Mullen
Genre: Crime thriller
Read: 11th April 2021
Published: 20th April 2021
DESCRIPTION:
When a baby is stolen from a Scottish beach, private investigator Charlie Cameron reluctantly agrees to take the case.
While her parents are just yards away, thirteen-month-old Lily Hamilton is abducted from Ayr beach in Scotland. Three days later, her distraught father turns up at private investigator Charlie Cameron’s office. Mark Hamilton believes he knows who has taken his daughter. And why.
Against his better judgment, Charlie takes the case—and when bodies are discovered, he suspects this may not be an isolated crime. Is there a serial killer whose work has gone undetected for decades? Is baby Lily his latest victim? Charlie won’t be able to give up on this case. Memories and guilt from his childhood won’t let him…
Owen Mullen is a best-selling author of psychological and gangland thrillers. His fast-paced, twist-aplenty stories are perfect for all fans of Robert Galbraith, Ian Rankin and Ann Cleeves.
EXTRACT:
The footsteps came after him, racing
as he raced; slapping the sand, crunching shingle, beating against rock. Grass
beneath his bare feet meant he was almost home. Almost safe. Then the crunching
became a heavy pad. Gaining. He ran faster.
His chest burned. Heavy legs refused to carry
him; he couldn’t go on. He fell, panting and terrified.
The
footsteps stopped.
For
a long time he lay, too afraid to move, expecting a hand to touch his shoulder.
But
no hand came.
He
gathered his courage and looked behind him.
There
was no one there.
Ayr, 35 miles from Glasgow
They walked along the beach and stopped not far from an old rowing boat with a hole in the bottom. Mark carried the folded push chair and his daughter. The sun fell towards the horizon. It had been a great day, a scorcher, but the best of it was behind them. Noisy gulls scavenged, soaring and diving and calling to each other. Lily pressed her face against her father's chest, too tired to be interested in the birds.
"We ought to get back," Mark said. "Lily's tired. She should be in bed."
Jennifer didn't reply. He knew what she was thinking.
"Surely not?"
"Last one? Five minutes?"
Mark glanced at his watch - ten past seven - and limited his concern to a sigh. The last thing he wanted was to spoil things with a quarrel; there had been enough of those.Red flags fluttered in the evening air. He pointed to them.
"Be careful, Jen. The waves are getting bigger. Don't go far."
She dropped the bag with their towels and the baby's things at his feet.
"I will. In and out. Promise."
The water was cold; colder than in the afternoon. When it was waist high she kicked her legs and headed out. Jennifer caught a glimpse of Mark and Lily standing on the sand: her whole universe. She loved them so much. That thought almost made her turn back. Instead she took a deep breath and dived.
It happened so fast. One minute she was swimming, the next the current was dragging her to the bottom. Seawater flooded her mouth. She fought, thrashed to the surface and tried to shout; a hoarse whisper was all that came. Her head went under and stayed under. Her lungs were on fire. With no warming it released her and she saw blue sky. Jennifer gulped shallow ragged breaths, shocked and scared, and started towards her family. She would never leave them again. But the decision was no longer hers. The force drew her back into a world without light or oxygen and this time it didn't let go. Her arm broke free in a desperate attempt to escape. Tongues of spray pulled it down and Jennifer knew she was going to drown.
She'd dreamed of watching her daughter grow into a woman. That would never be. And Mark, poor Mark. How unfair to leave him. Her body rolled beneath the waves. She stopped struggling, closed her eyes and disappeared from sight.
Seconds passed before mark realised something wasn't right. "Where's mummy? Where's your mummy?" The baby sucked her thumb. "Where is she, Lily?"
At first he couldn't move. Cold fear consumed him. A hundred yards away a group of boys played footballl; apart from them the beach was deserted. He yelled. They didn't hear him. He threw the push--chair to the sand, yanked it open and sat Lily in it. His hands were shaking. The damned straps wouldn't fasten. He spoke to himself. "Please god, no. Please god, no" and raced into the sea.
The water was freezing. What the hell had Jen been thinking? This was Scotland, for Christ's sake. He swam to where he'd last seen her and went under. Mark was a good swimmer but it was dark. His frantic fingers searched until the pressure in his chest forced him to the surface. He took in as much air as he could and went back. Something bumped against him; he grabbed hold and dragged it up. Two boys ran into the water to help: the footballers. They hauled her body the last few yards and Mark fell to his knees. Jennifer wasn't breathing. People appeared on the beach, silent witnesses to the nightmare the day had become. Where had they been when he needed them? He shouted, half in anger half in desperation.
"Somebody call an ambulance!"
The crowd kept s respectful distance, believing what he believed, that he's lost her. Jennifer's face was white. Mark covered her mouth with his and breathed into her. His hands pressed against her chest demanding she come back to him.
One of the boys took over with no better luck. Mark tried again, refusing to let her go. He pumped her heart, whimpering like a child, sobbing for himself as well as his wife. Jennifer's eyes fluttered; she retched and vomited water. Mark turned her on her side and rubbed her back, whispering reassurance, blinded by tears, aware his prayers had been answered. It was going to be all right. She was safe. The would be together again.
The three of them.
He raised his head and saw ambulance men racing towards him across the sand. mark jumped to his feet. They must have drifted...except the boat was there. His voice rose from a cry to a scream.
"Lily. Lily!"
He spoke to the group who had offered nothing.
"I left a baby here, somebody must have seen her."
They stared, no idea what he was talking about.
A new terror seized him. He ran a few steps up and down the beach, lost and afraid. They bag lay where Jennifer dropped it. But no push chair. No sign of his daughter had ever been there.
Lily was gone.
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