PAUL GITSHAMstarted his career as a biologist, working in such exotic locales as Manchester and Toronto. After stints as the world’s most over-qualified receptionist and a spell making sure that international terrorists and other ne’er do wells hadn’t opened a Junior Savings Account at a major UK bank (a job even less exciting than being a receptionist) he retrained as a Science teacher. He now spends his time passing on his bad habits and sloppy lab-skills to the next generation of enquiring minds.
Paul has always wanted to be a writer and his final report on leaving primary school predicted he’d be the next Roald Dahl! For the sake of balance it should be pointed out that it also said ‘he’ll never get anywhere in life if his handwriting doesn’t improve’. Over twenty-five years later and his handwriting is worse than ever but millions of children around the world love him.*
You can learn more about Paul’s writing at www.paulgitsham.comor www.facebook.com/dcijones
*This is a lie, just ask any of the pupils he has taught.
Also by Paul Gitsham, featuring DCI Warren Jones
The Last Straw
No Smoke Without Fire
Blood is Thicker than Water (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
Silent as the Grave
A Case Gone Cold (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
The Common Enemy
A Deadly Lesson (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
Forgive Me Father
At First Glance (A DCI Warren Jones novella)
The Common Enemy
PAUL GITSHAM
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Paul Gitsham 2018
Paul Gitsham 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 author’s 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, downloaded, 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.
E-book Edition © 2018 September ISBN: 9780008301170
Version: 2019-11-11
Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Also by Paul Gitsham, Featuring Dci Warren Jones
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Saturday 19th July
Prologue
Sunday 20th July
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Monday 21st July
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Tuesday 22nd July
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Wednesday 23rd July
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Thursday 24th July
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Friday 25th July
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Saturday 26th July
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Sunday 27th July
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Monday 28th July
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Tuesday 29th July
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Wednesday 30th July
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Thursday 31st July
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Friday 1st August
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Saturday 2nd August
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Monday 11th August
Chapter 85
Acknowledgements
Read on
Dear Reader
Keep Reading
About the Publisher
To Cheryl – with me every step of the way!
Saturday 19th July
Waste containers with sliding lids made the narrow alleyway even harder to navigate. Tommy Meegan bent over, hands on knees, breathing heavily. Behind him he could hear the sounds of fighting continuing. He smiled, baring his teeth, his blood singing from the adrenaline surging around his body.
It had gone better than he could have hoped for. He’d seen crews from the BBC, Sky News and ITN, all perfectly poised to capture the action when it finally kicked off.
Untucking his T-shirt, he bunched it up and used the front to wipe the sweat from his shaved head, leaving a red smear on the white of the St George’s flag. He reached up, wincing as his fingers found the cut above his temple. He hoped the TV cameras had caught that. He had no idea what it was that had actually struck him, just that it had come from the crowd of anti-fascists loosely corralled behind the cordon of under-prepared riot police.
Already he was planning the evening’s tweets and a press release for the website. A two-pronged strategy, he decided: they’d pin the attack on the Muslims and claim that the police hadn’t done enough to protect their right to free speech.
He touched his head again, another idea forming. The cut was still bleeding, but it was little more than a nick. He’d need to do something about that. If he was going to garner any sympathy on the evening news he’d need some real war wounds.
He squinted at his watch; he was actually a few minutes early. It had been touch and go with the timing after the police had kept them on the bus. He’d been worried that he’d get to the alleyway too late. Fortunately, the protestors had finally broken through the police line and the party members had scattered every which way.
He’d found himself running alongside Bellies Brandon and been concerned that he wouldn’t be able to find his way to his rendezvous unseen; his contact had made it very clear that he was to come alone. Fortunately, the fat bastard was so unfit Tommy had soon left him behind.
A whoop of sirens in the distance finally signalled the arrival of more riot police. Tommy smiled again. Assuming that all had gone to plan and everyone had done as they were told, all the party members should have left the scene long ago. The only fighting should be between the Muslim-lovers and the police. Even the left-wing, mainstream media couldn’t bury that.
The alleyway remained silent. He pulled the battered Nokia from his back pocket – no new messages. He’d made certain to empty the inbox; he didn’t want to make things too easy for the pigs if he got arrested.
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