Twisted Justice: A combined investigation. DI Lorne Warner and DI Sally Parker (Justice series Book 13) Read online

  Table of Contents

  TWISTED JUSTICE | M. A. COMLEY

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  EPILOGUE

  TWISTED JUSTICE

  M. A. COMLEY

  This book is dedicated to the one person who has stood by me through thick and thin throughout my life, my beautiful Mother, Jean.

  Thank you to the wonderful support of all The Book Club members and to those who allowed me to use their names in this book.

  Special thanks as always go to my talented editor Stefanie Spangler Buswell and to Karri Klawiter for her cover design expertise.

  My heartfelt thanks go to my wonderful proofreaders Joseph and Tara, for spotting all the lingering nits.

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author M A Comley

  Published by Jeamel Publishing limited

  Copyright © 2015 M A Comley

  Digital Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the site and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  M A COMLEY

  Blind Justice

  Cruel Justice

  Impeding Justice

  Final Justice

  Foul Justice

  Guaranteed Justice

  Ultimate Justice

  Virtual Justice

  Hostile Justice

  Tortured Justice

  Rough Justice

  Dubious Justice

  Calculated Justice

  Forever Watching You (DI Miranda Carr thriller)

  Wrong Place (DI Sally Parker thriller)

  No Hiding Place (DI Sally Parker thriller)

  Web of Deceit (DI Sally Parker Novella with Tara Lyons) due Jan 2016

  Evil In Disguise – a novel based on True events

  Deadly Act (Hero series novella)

  Torn Apart (Hero Series #1)

  End Result (Hero Series #2)

  Sole Intention (Intention Series #1)

  Grave Intention (Intention Series #2)

  Merry Widow (A Lorne Simpkins short story)

  It’s A Dog’s Life (A Lorne Simpkins short story)

  A Time To Heal (A Sweet Romance)

  A Time For Change (A Sweet Romance)

  High Spirits

  The Temptation Series (Romantic Suspense/New Adult Novellas)

  Past Temptation (available now)

  Lost Temptation (available now)

  Keep in touch with the author at

  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mel-Comley/264745836884860

  http://melcomley.blogspot.com

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  TWISTED JUSTICE

  PROLOGUE

  Ferocious fire raging beneath her surface, Claire Knight cast a distinctive look over her family, who stood nervously before her. They awaited her instructions with fear and trepidation etched on their faces. She ruled over them like a general commanding a squad of able and willing soldiers. Sometimes, however, her family needed gentle persuasion to remind them that she really did know best.

  Claire Knight was the type of woman who, when rattled, could put an erupting Mount Vesuvius to shame. She scanned the worried faces of her three beautiful offspring. Mostly, she felt pride for the women, even if they weren’t as smart as she was at times. Inwardly, she accepted their tiny flaws, aware they would need to be exceptional to match her abilities in this life, but outwardly, she had no trouble displaying how much her children annoyed her when they had the audacity to bombard her with dumb questions after the years she’d spent moulding them into near replicas of herself.

  “And Lucy is all right with this, Mum?” Olga asked, swiping at her twitching nose after the drugs she’d just snorted.

  Olga was referring to the only daughter absent from the meeting. Claire had felt it best not to involve her at this stage, if at all, in the plan, after the fresh round of doubts Lucy had issued only last week concerning certain aspects of her mother’s full-on life.

  “Of course she is,” Claire lied, flashing a smile. “It’s time you were setting off. Take the old car, not the new one. Leave it in the car park and grab a taxi if you’re at all worried, or if someone sees you arriving back to shore.” Teagan and Helen frowned at each other.

  “Don’t bloody start having doubts now. It’s too late for that,” she shouted, making them jump.

  “No doubts, Mother, just a little apprehensive about what Lucy will say when she finds out.” Teagan swept her curly, chestnut-coloured hair over her right shoulder.

  Teagan was the one who most resembled Claire, in looks and spirit. The pair had shared more arguments over the years than the rest of the family put together. “Follow the instructions to the letter—that’s all you have to do—and leave Lucy to me. She’ll know this is for the best, come the end. What’s with the look, Teagan? Don’t you trust me on this?”

  Teagan sighed heavily. “Yes, Mum. You know best. I’m sorry to question you,” she replied, repeating the same dictum she’d been forced to say since she was six years old, since her life of crime had commenced under her mother’s demonstrative leadership.

  Throughout their childhood, all the kids had been desperate to feel their mother’s love, so much so that they had been willing to regularly break the law and to even, when necessary, kill for Claire Knight...

  CHAPTER ONE

  Teagan and Helen set off towards the marina at Leigh-on-Sea. The slow-moving traffic agitated Teagan as she drove the two-hour journey accompanied by a selection of number-one hits from 2015 on the CD she’d purchased at the weekend.

  With the marina just ahead of them, Teagan turned down the car stereo and looked at her sister. “Are you okay? You look green around the gills already, and we ain’t even aboard the boat yet, sis.”

  Helen pulled in a long breath and let it escape slowly through her lips. “Would you hate me if I said I wanted to back out?”

  “Nope. I feel the same way. However, if we don’t do this, we’ll feel the wrath of our dear mother.”

  “Yeah, we’re buggered either way. If we get caught, we’ll spend years behind bars, and if we don’t go through with it, the old dear will probably ostracise us.”

  Teagan laughed. “I can’t see her doing that, hon. We’re too damn valuable to her, but I get your drift. If we follow Mum’s instructions to the letter, there’s no r
eason why we should get caught.”

  “Yeah, okay. It’s what happens afterwards that’s bugging me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to face Lucy again after we carry out the deed. Why does it have to be Ryan we go after?”

  Teagan shrugged. “At the end of the day, sis, we’re just doing as we’re told, like the soldiers of war she’s instilled into us. Maybe one day we’ll find a way of getting out from under her spell. Have you managed to squirrel away any money yet?”

  “Nope, every time I manage to store away some cash, a major bill crops up.”

  “Ah, the beauty of living in the capital, eh?” Teagan parked the car at the back of the gravelled car park. She slapped her sister’s bare thigh peeking out beneath her denim miniskirt. “It’s show-time, sis. Time to flaunt our goods.”

  “Okay, just give me a couple of minutes to prepare myself.”

  “Not going to happen, sweet cheeks. You’ve had the two-hour trip over here to prepare yourself. Let’s get this over with before we both get cold feet.”

  The two women got out of the car. Teagan tucked her arm through her sister’s and felt the vibrations of her trembling body. “Hey, we’re gonna be fine. You worry too much.”

  Helen shook her head. “I don’t worry enough, you mean. If I worried too much, I wouldn’t be in this shit now, and I would’ve left the restraints of our mother effing years ago.”

  “Stop whining. We’re here now, and there’s no turning back. Now, where’s that award-winning smile of yours?” Helen turned to face her, fluttered her eyelashes, and smiled broadly. “Er... would you mind toning that down a bit? Make it more welcoming, perhaps?”

  Helen exhaled another weary breath. “I was joking, Tea. Where’s your bloody sense of humour gone?”

  “Sorry. I’m just as wound up about this as you are. Come on, let’s knock him dead. We have a big fish to reel in.”

  The pair supported each other as they tottered on their four-inch stilettos towards the dock where they’d arranged to meet their brother-in-law. Teagan hitched up her miniskirt even higher as she approached the boat, and Ryan held out a hand to help her aboard. A wolf whistle sounded from the boat tied up alongside. Seething inside, Teagan threw the lecherous sailor a ‘you couldn’t afford this bag of shit’ kind of look. Her choice of clothing for the day was supposed to attract only one man’s attention. Her mother would be furious if she knew Helen and Teagan were attracting a crowd of onlookers.

  “You both look stunning... umm... the thing is, ladies, I’m going to have to ask you to remove your shoes.”

  Teagan tickled her brother-in-law under the chin. “And I don’t want to hear about your foot fetish, sweets, if that’s okay with you. You can practise that kind of thing on Lucy when you get home.”

  Ryan tutted. “Ever the joker, aren’t you, Tea? It’s for safety reasons, I can assure you. Want me to fetch a pair of Lucy’s deck shoes for both of you?”

  Both women cringed and screwed up their noses in unison.

  He laughed. “I get the hint. She’s new anyway, so there really shouldn’t be any splinters anywhere. Just be extra careful.”

  “This is stunning, Ryan. It must have set you back a packet?” Teagan asked, her gaze admiring the glistening wood under the warming sun’s rays.

  “Let’s just say I had to be a tad economical with the truth when Lucy asked how much I paid for the boat.”

  “Go on, let us in on the secret?” She made the sign of the cross on her chest. “Promise not to tell Lucy.”

  He shook his head, and a smile stretched his full lips, revealing his pearly whites. “If you plucked the figure of forty grand out of the air, you’d not be far off the mark.”

  Teagan’s eyes widened. “What? You’re teasing me, right? Lucy wouldn’t allow you to spend that much on a crummy boat. Umm... granted this is a super-nice crummy boat.”

  “Let’s just say that the transaction occurred after some very nifty personal accounting on my part.”

  “You were always good at that, according to Mum,” Helen grumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

  He roared with laughter. “Call it perks of the trade.”

  “Yeah, I’ve never met an honest solicitor yet.” Teagan laughed riotously.

  Ryan’s eyebrows raised alternatively—a little party trick of his that apparently only he found amusing—as his eyes swept over Teagan’s heaving breasts. She played up to him and thrust her boobs out farther. Helen jabbed her in the back and groaned disapprovingly under her breath.

  Teagan’s shoulders slumped again, and she took a few steps towards Ryan. “What are we waiting for? You said you’d show us how fast this baby can go.”

  “Love it when I’m dealing with eager ladies.” He chortled. “Who’s up for helping me out?”

  “What do you need us to do? I have to warn you, I’ve never been good on boats.” Helen swallowed noisily.

  “Why don’t I give you a guided tour first, and then we’ll cast off. I should make you aware where everything is, just in case we run into any trouble.”

  Helen’s hand flew up to her chest, and she gasped. “Trouble? What kind of bloody trouble? Did you hear me when I said I’m not good on boats?”

  “As my old scoutmaster used to say: ‘It’s always better to be prepared.’ In my book, his advice has always been invaluable.”

  “Right you are, then. Where first?” Teagan asked, shooting her sister a warning glance.

  Ryan turned his back and led the way through to the cabin.

  “What did I do?” Helen mouthed innocently at her sister.

  “Behave yourself. Go with the flow and don’t raise his suspicions.”

  Helen huffed out a breath and mumbled, “Whatever.” Then she followed Ryan into the cabin.

  He pushed open a cabin that was laid out as a seating area. “This converts into a double bed and is where all the action takes place once we’re out at sea, tied up, bobbing around on the waves.” He leaned in and said conspiratorially, “Not a word to the boat builders. This particular Viking is supposed to be for the inland waterways only, but I just had to bring her down here to show her off to you girls.”

  The thought of bedding the man, if that was what he was implying, caused bile to emerge in Teagan’s throat. On more than one occasion over the past few years, she’d pictured Lucy and him getting it on, and the repulsive pictures danced around her mind again. Ryan wasn’t exactly ugly—in fact the total opposite was true—but he had never really appealed to her sexually. Other men could eat her up with their eyes, and she would fall into bed with them after a few drinks, but Ryan creeped her out for some reason. What Lucy found attractive in this man bewildered her at times. Each to their own, I suppose! Some people liked the tanned blond, Paul Newman kind of look. She happened to be one of those who didn’t.

  She preferred her men burly and scarred up as if they’d truly lived life to the full and not been afraid to get stuck in when the going got tough—like her ex, Frank. Deep down, she regretted the way their relationship had ended. She shook her head, dislodging the vile image of Frank’s demise. “Where do you drive the thing, Ryan? I’m not interested in where you sleep or do other things.”

  “I pilot the damn thing upstairs. Come on, I can see how impatient you are to get going, Teagan. Not so sure about Helen, though. Maybe you should stay behind on the dock if you feel that queasy, babe?”

  Helen waved a hand at him. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure you point out where the rubber dinghy is in case I need to make a quick getaway.”

  Ryan squeezed past the girls, ensuring his crotch brushed back and forth a few times against their thighs in the confined space. Teagan suppressed a laugh at her sister’s horrified face. She thought Helen was going to projectile vomit over Ryan there and then.

  Once he was out of earshot, Helen whispered, “Gross, he thinks he’s bloody David Beckham.”

  “Just smile. Don’t let him see that he’s getting to you. Did you spy all the food and champers he�
��s bought? I have a feeling he believes we’re here to indulge in more than taking a tour around his new acquisition.”

  Helen shuddered. “Eww... I feel even sicker now than when I arrived.”

  “Come on, let’s catch him up. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

  They stepped back on the deck and found Ryan waiting for them. He motioned to the three steps leading up to the cockpit. The cramped area contained a bench seat at the back with a single helm seat for the pilot. “Cosy, eh?” Ryan asked, shoulders pulled back, beaming with pride for his new acquisition.

  “Cramped, I’d call it, but then we’re used to the luxury of living in mansions. I have to say forty grand seems a bit excessive, or did you exaggerate that sum?” Teagan winked at him, aware that all men tended to embellish the truth about their expenditure when trying to impress the opposite sex.

  Ryan’s smile slipped. Teagan’s remark had obviously offended her brother-in-law.

  “It’s always good to work up to managing one of the big boys. I’ll get used to this one over the coming months then trade her in when more funds become available. Our place has taken over two hundred grand to renovate. We have to draw the line somewhere. This will do for now.”

  “Good, Lucy deserves the best after the year she’s had.”

  “Yep, losing the baby at ten weeks was hard on both of us. That will be rectified soon enough, if you know what I mean?” He chuckled at his own inane joke.

  Teagan clapped her hands together. “Enough chatting. How about you show us what this baby can do out in the open sea?”

  “Well, I’m warning you, I’m not going to push her. She’s new, and you need to take care of the engine for the first few months or so. Plus, like I said earlier, she’s not really a sea-faring vessel.”

  Helen tutted. “Then why the hell did you buy her?”

  Teagan shot her sister another warning glance. “Now, now, sis, there’s no need for you to get touchy about this. We know you’re not really looking forward to the trip.”

  “If you’re gonna gripe about things all the time, Helen, maybe it would be better if you and your foul mood remained here, while I show Teagan a good time out at sea.”