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Back The Counterfeit Candidate Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Prologue
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Epilogue
  59. Author’s Note
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author

Hembury was stunned by the news and for a few seconds neither man spoke. Then he walked across and held Vargas in a tight embrace. “Jesus, Nic, I’m so sorry. I remember you telling me how close you guys were and how much you loved her.”

Vargas cleared his throat and looked into his friend’s eyes. “It’s unbearable at times but then you get deeply involved in a case and you forget, until you return home to an empty apartment. Troy, I never told you, but she was Jewish. She used to tell me stories about how her grandparents fled Nazi Germany before the war and started a new life in Buenos Aires.”

“Christ, Nic, I had no idea. We really need to nail these bastards.”

Chapter Fifty

29 January 2012

San Francisco

Richard Franklin pushed the DVD into the machine and waited for the familiar image to appear on the TV screen. He was in his bedroom and Mucki was sprawled across the bed, happily snoring, dreaming about his next meal.

Franklin sat down gently next to him, careful not to disturb the giant Alsatian. When the image appeared, he pushed play on the remote control and waited for his favourite film to begin. A black-and-white caption filled the screen. It contained five words and a date, “Richard Franklin—Alaska bear hunt—2008”.

Franklin’s eyes widened as he watched the giant brown bear make its way towards the shaky handheld camera. The video cut to a wider angle that showed him in the foreground aiming his Winchester hunting rifle at the oncoming predator. The footage cut back to a shot of the bear as two bullets pierced its body. It let out a primeval roar and fell backwards, crashing into a large bush. Franklin then ran across to the stricken bear, who was wriggling on its back in agony. He emptied two more shots into its stomach and after that there was no more movement. The next image showed Franklin posing next to the dead animal, cradling its head against his body.

He hit the stop button and stared across the room at the same bear’s head, now mounted above the fireplace in his bedroom. Every time he watched the footage he’d paid two of his guides to film, he revelled in the same sensation of total pleasure and power he had felt when he first pulled the trigger four years earlier. He leaned back onto the bed and curled up next to Mucki, being ever so careful not to wake him.

* * *

Vargas ended his call and looked across at Hembury working in his open-plan kitchen, creating an avocado salad to accompany his pasta Bolognese.