The Bad Place
Chapters (72)
Cover
THE BAD PLACE
M. K. HILL
Contents
Welcome Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1: The Thirteenth Day…
Chapter 2: Twenty-Six Years Later
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5: The First Day…
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: The Second Day…
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27: The Fifth Day…
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37: The Fifth Day…
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42: The Ninth Day…
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56: The Twelfth Day…
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59: The Thirteenth Day…
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Acknowledgements
About the author
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2019 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © M. K. Hill, 2019
The moral right of M. K. Hill to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A catalogue record for this book is available fromthe British Library.
ISBN (HB): 9781788548267
ISBN (XTPB): 9781788548274
ISBN (E): 9781788548298
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Cover design: kid-ethic
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Author photo: Tom Watkins
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Dedication
For all the Hills and Herods
Epigraph
‘Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.’
—PLAUTUS
1
The Thirteenth Day…
Peter Carrington already had a steaming headache when he got the call that those missing kids had been found safe and sound.
‘And we’ve got an address,’ one of his detectives said, and hesitated.
‘Go on, out with it.’
‘It’s Jerry Swann’s place, guv.’
It took a couple of moments for the name to register above the din of the pub. Carrington wearily pressed his fingers into his eyes. ‘Are we sure it’s him?’
‘There’s no question, they all identified Swann as the abductor.’
The detective inspector cursed under his breath. The timing of those kids turning up couldn’t have been any worse. Carrington had been on the lash all night. What had been intended to be a single drink after work, just one for the road, had turned into a massive sesh with some of the lads from the station.