Jack Ford - The Killing Grounds - an explosive and gripping thriller for fans of James Patterson

For a while no-one – least of all Cooper – had thought Jackson would recover from his head injury, but he’d been flown to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, an eminent neurological hospital, and slowly things had begun to turn around.

Rehabilitation had been long and painful and frustrating for Jackson, but he was a fighter. And he’d battled. Battled hard. And eventually after sixteen arduous months, that fight had paid off and he’d been discharged – though he certainly hadn’t been left unscathed.

His head injury from the boom had been of sufficient force to twist and turn Jackson’s brain on its axis. Interrupting the normal nerve pathways. Tearing and damaging its surface and leaving him with a left-side partial paralysis. A direct corollary of his injuries.

And the large, disfiguring scar ran visibly but the deeper, unseen ones ran right to the heart of Jackson, triggering him on occasion to be lost, unreachable in the dark, debilitating days of depression.

Cooper grabbed hold of Jackson before he was really near enough to do so. Embracing him and making it last long enough to let Jackson know he cared. Damn, it seemed easier than words.

‘Can anyone join in?’

John Woods stood a few feet from Cooper and Jackson, immaculately dressed in a tailored blue suit, a starched white open shirt and a pair of mismatched socks. His warm smile reflecting in his green eyes. ‘Coop, it’s really good to see you. We were worried… Hey Cora, it’s good to see you. Don’t you look beautiful? I like your dress. How about a hello hug?’

‘No.’

‘Please?’

‘No.’

‘Just a small one.’

‘No.’

Cooper put his hand on her shoulder. ‘You want to show him Mr. Crawley, honey?’

‘No.’

Jackson smiled. ‘Maybe she knows you’re a democrat, Dad.’

Cooper returned the smile John was giving him. But he knew his was more guarded. ‘Good to see you too, sir.’

John Woods shook his head. ‘Do we have to go through this every time? Coop, come on, it’s me.’

Cooper said nothing.

With a sigh and still with his eyes on Cooper, Woods said, ‘Okay, guys, I gotta get out of here.’

‘Hold on,’ said Jackson. ‘Let me go and get that book you wanted to read… Oh and Dad, change those socks… Cora, why don’t you come with me? I’ve got something for you.’

‘A flamingo?’

‘I’m afraid not. Is that what you want?’

‘No.’

‘Has anyone told you, you’re a funny little girl?’

‘No.’

‘Well hurry up, Jackson,’ said Woods. ‘I’m on the clock.’

*

Cooper followed President Woods into the West Sitting Hall, an informal yet elegant living room, classically decorated in creams and quilted gold. They stood by the large lunette window looking out onto the West Wing.

‘Jackson looks happy. Is it for real?’

Woods shrugged. ‘Who knows? He hasn’t been good recently. Sometimes I don’t know how to reach him, Coop, he’s like you in that respect. Maybe that’s why you understand him so well. Each time I think I’ve got him back, a few months later, like a wave it hits him, and I lose him all over again.’

Cooper stayed silent. Watched the Secret Service through the window doing their morning sweep of the White House grounds. Then after a time, he drew his attention away. Turned to Woods. Made sure his manner was biting. ‘Is Rosedale something to do with you?’

‘What?’

‘Rosedale. Is he something to do with you?’

Woods shook his head. ‘Come on, Coop.’

Cooper’s poise stayed hostile. He knew when somebody was trying to be a wiseguy. ‘Is he or not?’

‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Stay out of my life when it comes to my work.’

‘You want me to stop caring? Is that what you want Coop?’ Woods’s tone appealed, but he was wasting his time.

‘I don’t need babysitting, and especially not from Rosedale. I want you to stop thinking you can make it alright.’

‘Then tell me what you want.’

‘I want you to tell me the truth about Rosedale. Is that so hard?’

Woods poured himself some water from the glass decanter sitting on the French antique silver tray. Tried to ignore his toothache. Gestured to Cooper who shook his head at the unspoken offer of a drink.

‘Look, okay. All I did was make a few calls. Granger and I go back a long way, you know that, so it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like I was calling up a stranger. And Granger was happy to give Rosedale a job.’

Exasperated, as Cooper often was by Woods, he said, ‘Of all people. Rosedale?’

‘Relax. Rosedale’s a good guy. He’ll look out for you. Okay, he has his oddball ways but he’s one of the best. He owed me a favor, plus the man was bored. God knows why he thought retirement would suit him… Look, I know you’re pissed, but Granger’s been keeping me in the loop. Coop, there’s been too many near-misses in the past and now, according to Granger, it’s started again.’

‘The hell it has, and Granger should keep his goddamn nose out of my business.’

‘It has, Coop, and I know why and so do you.’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Oh I think I do. It’s about why you went back to Africa, when you said you wouldn’t. Breaking your promise to Maddie.’

‘What do you know about Maddie? You’ve never even met her.’

‘And is that my fault? You’ve kept her away, Coop. God knows what you tell her.’

‘I don’t tell her anything. Might surprise you but you’re not the conversation of the day.’

‘Why is it that every time I see you there’s so much hostility?’

‘Listen John, I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s just stick to the point shall we?’

‘Which is?’

‘That I just want everyone to understand that they need to keep out of my business and realize I was just doing my job.’

‘No, that doesn’t cut it… Granger told me about Ellie’s death certificate finally coming through… I’m so sorry.’

The heat behind Cooper’s eyes began to blur his vision. He pressed his palms into them. ‘It didn’t just magically come through. Granger couldn’t send off for it fast enough, could he? Almost as the clock struck seven years, he was applying to court for a notice of legal presumption of death.’

‘Coop, it’s only right. You know as well as I do, if the accident had happened in US waters, the death certificate would’ve been issued years ago because the element of peril would’ve accelerated the presumption of death. It’s only because it happened in international waters that things were different.’

‘I don’t need a legal lecture. I know how it works.’

‘Then you know it’s the first time Granger has been able to get some kind of proper closure. Maybe now this is the time for you to get it too.’

‘Closure? Because of a piece of paper saying she’s….. so we’re all supposed to just shut it away and pretend it never happened?’

‘You know I don’t mean that.’

‘Then what do you mean, John?’

‘What I mean is, it’s there. Written down. It’s like an anchor to hold onto. It’s tragic, but maybe now it’ll help you accept it. Accept what we’ve been saying for years, rather than it send you spinning.’

‘So this is about you being right, is it? And now you want me to just get on with my life?’

‘Yes, because you were doing good with Maddie and with Cora. You’d moved on. I could see it. We all could.’

‘Had I? Or is that what you all wanted to believe, so that’s all you saw?’

‘Jesus, listen, Coop. Do not throw your life away over this. Nothing’s changed. Not since yesterday or last week, or last month or even last year. Everything’s still the same. You’re just struggling to see it now the death certificate’s come through. But you need to accept this… It’s finally over.’