ALEX BARCLAY
Agent Ren Bryce Thriller Series Books 1-4
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Copyright © Alex Barclay 2015
Cover design layout © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Alex Barclay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2015 ISBN: 9780008108687
Version 2015-07-10
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Blood Runs Cold
Time of Death
Blood Loss
Harms Reach
Coming Soon
About the Author
By Alex Barclay
About the Publisher
ALEX BARCLAY
Blood Runs Cold
Copyright
Harper An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2008
Copyright © Alex Barclay 2008
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2008
Cover photographs © Scott Yakiwchuk (house); K-PHOTOS / Alamy (footprints); John Terence Turner / Alamy (avalanche).
Alex Barclay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Ebook Edition © NOVEMBER 2008 ISBN:9780007287260
Lyrics to Kiss Me Im Shitfaced Used by Permission Dropkick Murphys/Boston Scally Punk © Dropkick Murphys 2003
Lyrics to Hello in There by John Prine © Waldon Music Inc. and Sour Grapes Music Inc. Used by permission from Alfred Publishing Inc.
The Author and Publishers are committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others and have made all reasonable efforts to trace the copyright owners of the poems reproduced on pages two and four hundred and fifty three, and to provide an appropriate ackowledgement in the book.
In the event that any of the untraceable copyright owners come forward after the publication of this book, the Author and the Publishers will use all reasonable endeavours to rectify the position accordingly.
For Sue Booth-Forbes
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Part Two
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Prologue
In the lights of the police cruisers, her face was a strobing image of pain and fear. But she was still, to the child in her arms, a haven. She ran as fast as her violated body would allow, pressing his head to her cheek, his hair soaking up their sweat, blood, spit, tears. A terrible, ruined stench rose from them in the damp heat.
She staggered on, flinching at the stones and branches underfoot, her shoes long lost, too beautiful for the night. The trees swayed toward them and away, and when they gave enough shelter, she stopped. She prised the tiny hands from around her neck, breaking the dead-mans grip of a seven-year-old boy. She tried to smile as she lowered him to the ground. Black pinpricks of gravel shone from her lips.
Do not make a sound, she said. Not a sound. Her voice was edged in nicotine.
The boy quickly clamped his arms around her legs. She shoved him sharply backwards, away from her wounds. He fell hard. She watched without feeling. He got up and moved toward her again, tears streaming down his face.
No, she hissed, shaking her head. No.
She crouched down. You have to hide, OK? She pointed to the scrub close by. Go. Ill be right here. She squeezed his hand as she released it.
He did as she said. She moved a few steps forward into a clearing, cracking the forest floor. Her face was in darkness. But in the faint glow of a flashlight, relief swept over her features; a picture, flashing like a warning.
The man walked from the trees. He looked at his wife bloodied and soiled, her hand gripping her ripped-open blouse in what dignity she could find. She slumped against him, the sounds she made raw and disturbing.
The little boy watched.
As I was walking up the stair
I met a man who wasnt there
He wasnt there again today
I wish, I wish hed stay away
Mira, Domenica, said the man. Look.
Domenica turned to where she had run from. Beyond the trees, a fire raged and smoke filled the sky. She was transfixed.
Hellfire, she said.