Dutch Courage by Elizabeth Darrell Read Free Book Online

them and dreaming of initiating them to the pleasures he rarely gets these days.’
    â€˜Mm, add to that the fact that he spends his working days dealing with sickness and injury, listening to the moans of young, virile lads who have sex as often as they have weekends, and you have a man bursting to break out from the sober, responsible guy he’s always been.’
    â€˜So why doesn’t he go to a brothel in town where girls are willing to act as a sex slave?’
    Heather shook her head. ‘Not the same. It would lack the excitement of tasting forbidden fruit. However, I’d guess if he found himself alone with a teen virgin, he’d back off.’
    â€˜You don’t see him as a potential rapist?’
    â€˜Do you?’
    â€˜No. If what Stacey says is true, he’s probably just using her as stimulation before slinking off somewhere quiet to masturbate. A pathetic bid to console himself his virility isn’t on the wane.’
    â€˜OK, let’s pursue that theme,’ said Heather. ‘Why that lumpy girl we’ve just seen? She’s not looking her best right now, of course, but there are others around her age, slim, gorgeous and flirty, who would inspire a great many men to fantasize about making them their sex slave.’
    â€˜Sure there are. Teen teasers who encourage middle-aged admiration just for kicks, and the Doc’s quite a dish to look at.’
    â€˜But a cold fish,’ Heather reminded her with a grin.
    â€˜Adds to the challenge for some.’
    â€˜But not for Stacey?’
    â€˜She’s lying.’
    â€˜I think so, too.’ Heather switched on the ignition. ‘The test will come when we ask her to record her damning evidence.’
    â€˜Even if she backs off then, it’ll be too late for Clarkson. His name’ll be mud before the sun sets tonight.’

Three
    A t the briefing late that afternoon, Tom led off by detailing his interview with Sam Collier. ‘On the surface, he’s what you’d expect of a guy who’s twice distinguished himself. I checked his record. Three years ago, on detachment in Sierra Leone, he and three others were captured by trigger-happy teen mercenaries high on some kind of opiate. Our guys were subjected to sadistic humiliation and semi-starved for a week, until Sergeant Collier conceived and led an escape.
    â€˜We’ve all read about his recent rescue of four wounded men at risk to his own life. Action his colleagues should surely applaud, yet it appears that one of them resents the public acclaim and has mounted a campaign of harassment against Mrs Collier that culminated in attempting to drive her off the road this morning.
    â€˜She identified the rogue car as a light-blue Audi. Beeny found one parked outside an accommodation block. The owner is on UK leave, so anyone could have borrowed it. That means a hell of a lot of questioning. The anonymous letters sent to Lieutenant Collier threatening to “tell the truth, remove the blinkers from everyone’s eyes” he shredded. They were printed in red felt-tip and couched in text-speak. So no clues there to aid us.’
    Tom glanced at the faces watching him and saw a leer on Phil Piercey’s. It put a bite in his tone. ‘I want this given top priority. Four months ago, before Christmas, we had to deal with two murders. We can be quick off the mark on this opportunity to prevent a tragedy by removing the threat as soon as possible. Mrs Collier was composed enough to escape danger today. I want this sorted before the worst happens.’ Giving Max a swift glance, he added, ‘This isn’t merely a case of a person expressing resentment. Someone out there intends to harm the Colliers, perhaps fatally. I’ve asked Sergeant Maddox to mount a guard on their house and, first thing tomorrow, I want you all out questioning the whole squadron.’
    â€˜Question them on what, sir?’ asked Piercey with feigned