Stuart James - Apartment 6

Meagan and Phil worked convincingly together: he’d ring the buzzer when she spoke on the phone with Oliver, or provide a voice out in the communal hall, thumping on the front door, stomping around outside while Meagan pretended she was worried about gloved-man’s partner.

The only problem they hit was when Meagan went over to Oliver’s apartment. She brought some rope and placed it around her neck. She’d planned to make a racket in the communal hall, then stand on the side rail, pretending she was about to jump. As Oliver came out, she got more into the character. As she stood on the handrail, ready for his pity, her leg slipped and she fell, almost breaking her neck.

Rob was easy to deal with. Meagan had contacts, people who dealt in everything from a dodgy passport to heroin. She had bags of cocaine delivered to the club, paying for everything on Rob’s credit card. She made a copy of Rob’s key, giving the delivery driver the code to disarm the security system.

Once the shipment had been planted in a storeroom out the back, Meagan made a call to the police. It would be enough to see Rob arrested and the club closed down for good.

The final piece of the puzzle was working out how to force Oliver into a corner. They’d planned on staging a kidnap, with Meagan tied up, bound and gagged. But Meagan had seen Oliver the previous night with Claire, and they worried he may not come to Meagan’s aid. So they decided to take Claire.

It was the tipping point, and Oliver made the transfer.

As soon as the money appeared in their account, they ran.

Phil made out he’d beaten Meagan to a pulp at the basement door, with a large pole that he whacked against the mud bank.

Meagan hadn’t planned on making love with Oliver, but the passion and excitement was too much. She saw the wheels turning and the pound signs were so close. At that moment when they had sex, it was real, and it meant something. Meagan was attracted to him, that much she’d admit: no one said she wasn’t human.

Phil parked his beaten-up truck in the car park of Stansted Airport, dumping it with the keys in the ignition. A few hours later, they were drinking cocktails in Paris.

Gabriel Thomas stood on the platform, wiping the rain from his coat. It was a drizzly Thursday morning in Paris and the Metro rush hour was in full swing.

The train pulled into the station, the driver eyeing him, looking bored.

Gabriel turned, stepping back from the platform, waiting for the train to stop, the wind from the tunnel tossing his hair forward. He was dressed impeccably, wearing a long brown coat, smart black trousers and a white shirt. He gripped a briefcase tightly in his right hand.

As the passengers pushed off the train, he noticed a woman standing next to him. She had her head down, slumped forward, looking like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Gabriel stepped closer to the train, moving his arm and banging it against the woman next to him. She looked up and Gabriel noticed the cuts on her face, her split lip.

‘I’m so sorry. Are you okay?’ he asked, watching as she forced a smile, noticing her eyes and the sadness behind them. She was beautiful, elegant, and completely breathtaking. He observed her as she boarded the train through the crowd, disappearing into the barrage of people. Gabriel followed, moving forward, pushing through the commuters. He gripped the handrail overhead as the train pulled off. As he steadied himself, he saw her and was certain she directed a smile towards him. Gabriel wanted so badly to talk to her. He smiled back, thinking he’d literally kill for a woman like that.

I’d like to thank the wonderful admin and members of The Fiction Cafe Book Club, The Reading Corner Book Lounge and Page Turners Book Nook. You have all helped me on my journey and I’m forever grateful to all of you. Love you guys.

Finally, thank you to Betsy and the amazing team at Bloodhound Books for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to show my work to so many people. I’ll be forever grateful to the Bloodhound team and I can’t thank you all enough.

I love to speak with my readers and will always get back to you. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out about future thrillers I’m working on.

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‘The author is gritty, raw and dark in his writing. He is also extremely talented. I would highly recommend this read if you love a dark thriller in the same vein as Stephen King. My book of the month.’ – L A Detwiler, USA Today bestselling author of The Widow Next Door

‘Great job. Well crafted, deliciously twisty and kept me glued to the pages.’ – Jennifer Jaynes, USA Today bestselling author of Disturbed and Malice

‘Tense and thrilling, with an ending you won’t see coming.’ – Lisa Hall, author of The Party and Between You and Me

‘Fans of Mark Edwards will very much enjoy. Definitely a writer to look out for.’ – John Marrs, author of The Good Samaritan and The Wronged Son

‘A spooky read that will grab your attention from the very first page.’ – Natasha Harding from The Sun

‘A great read packed with twists and turns.’ – Caroline Mitchell, NY Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother and Truth and Lies

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Copyright © 2020 Stuart James

The right of to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in

accordance Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2020 by Bloodhound Books

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be

reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in

writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the

terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living

or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Print ISBN 978-1-913419-28-8