The horror weekend, p.19
The Horror Weekend, page 19
“Did you garner much else before we all arrived?” asked his boss.
“Not a lot. I had a son who had lost his mother, a wife who had lost her husband, a teenager whose boyfriend had been trying to kill her, a daughter who had lost her dad and a man who was grieving his partner. McGrath and I were the only two who had not lost someone in there. Macaulay had wanted to provide a horror weekend, a time to be loose amongst madness. You had to see the things he built, carefully crafted monstrosities dripped in pig’s blood and all other sorts of effects. But he failed to see the horror of what he was part of until it was too late.”
“So it was only Brace and Johnston who carried this out?”
“Once constructed, Macaulay was an innocent. He died once they tried to bring him fully on board and he refused—at least that’s my take. But the housekeeper, Mrs Smith, she was in on it too. Much to her son’s horror.”
Once again, there was silence between them and Macleod knew that feeling of wanting to scream and shout at all of this death and madness but was instead maintaining that policeman’s poise, holding things in for a better time to release them.
Hope had now made her way towards them and came before her bosses, putting on that poise Macleod was such an expert in.
“I think I’ve passed on everything, ma’am, sir. Just going to take five minutes over there if that’s all right.”
The Chief Inspector nodded and as Hope started walking, Macleod made his apologies to his boss and followed her. She did not look back but kept walking until she reached the beach and stood at the change from snow to sand. Macleod joined her looking out into the small sea loch. Normally the area would get a dusting of snow and there would be bits of heather and bog land darkening the colour, but after this storm, the land seemed to have been completely purified.
“Not sure I have ever seen Glasgow like this, totally white. There’s hardly a drop of anything else. It’s so pristine,” said Hope.
“That’s the beauty of up here, the weather can be rough but then you get these moments when you see the real package. A little bit of sun always helps though.” Macleod looked at Hope and he saw a faint smile.
“Wasn’t sure I’d get to see it. But you just go on, do the job. Or else you wouldn’t make it.” Hope was quiet for a moment and then suddenly spoke. “Johnston, that scream . . .”
“Yes,” said Macleod, “that scream. If they offer help, take it. If they don’t, find it. It’s not my first and they don’t go.”
The pair stood as the sea rolled in gently before backing away. There was a line of seaweed that had been throw up onto the beach and which was mixed in with the snow. It was not a sight Macleod had often seen. He looked at the loch and then turned letting his eyes roam across the landscape but carefully avoiding the house.
“I might leave Glasgow, if Jane will come.”
“Leave,” queried Hope. “Just Glasgow, or do you mean the force too?”
“Just Glasgow. Maybe Inverness, maybe over here. I don’t know. Just feel I want to go home, back to islands. Or at least the highlands if I can’t make that work. It’s different up here. Can you see that?”
“Yes, it’s quite something.”
Macleod watched her standing, looking out to sea, her red hair blowing in the wind and found himself pitying her returning to no one at home. She’d need help with this one.
“Sunday lunch.”
“Sorry? What do you mean, Seoras?” asked Hope.
“Come around Sunday; Jane’s a decent cook. You’ll have plans to discuss. Career plans.”
“What career plans? It was you that said you wanted to move.”
“Trust me,” said Macleod. “Lunch on Sunday. Career plans. And a bit of company for when you hear the scream.”
Hope nodded and then gave Macleod a gentle smile before turning to look out at the sea again. Macleod joined her and watched the waves rise and fall in their steady motion. They said the sea soothed and it did. Every tiny crash as the small breakers made it to shore, every sudden sucking drain as the sea retreated from between rocks. With his back to the house, and a mind that was metaphorically walking away from it, he thought about how to convince Jane to come to the islands.
Turn over to discover the new Patrick Smythe series!
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Patrick Smythe is a former Northern Irish policeman who after suffering an amputation after a bomb blast, takes to the sea between the west coast of Scotland and his homeland to ply his trade as a private investigator. Join Paddy as he tries to work to his own ethics while knowing how to bend the rules he once enforced. Working from his beloved motorboat ‘Craigantlet’, Paddy decides to rescue a drug mule in this short story from the pen of G R Jordan.
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About the Author
GR Jordan is a self-published author who finally decided at forty that in order to have an enjoyable lifestyle, his creative beast within would have to be unleashed. His books mirror that conflict in life where acts of decency contend with self-promotion, goodness stares in horror at evil, and kindness blindsides us when we at our worst. Corrupting our world with his parade of wondrous and horrific characters, he highlights everyday tensions with fresh eyes whilst taking his methodical, intelligent mainstays on a roller-coaster ride of dilemmas, all the while suffering the banter of their provocative sidekicks.
A graduate of Loughborough University where he masqueraded as a chemical engineer but ultimately played American football, Gary had worked at changing the shape of cereal flakes and pulled a pallet truck for a living. Watching vegetables freeze at -40’C was another career highlight and he was also one of the Scottish Highlands “blind” air traffic controllers. These days he has graduated to answering a telephone to people in trouble before telephoning other people to sort it out.
Having flirted with most places in the UK, he is now based in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland where his free time is spent between raising a young family with his wife, writing, figuring out how to work a loom and caring for a small flock of chickens. Luckily, his writing is influenced by his varied work and life experience as the chickens have not been the poetical inspiration he had hoped for!
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Also by G R Jordan
G R Jordan writes across multiple genres including dark and action adventure fantasy, feel good fantasy, mystery thriller and horror fantasy. Below are a selection of his work grouped together in their genres, starting with the popular Austerley & Kirkgordon action adventure fantasy. Whilst all books are available across online stores, signed copies are available at his personal shop.
The Small Ferry: A Highlands and Islands Detective Thriller (Highlands & Islands Detective Book 4)
A dreich day for a crossing and a small ferry packed to the gills. After off-loading one man sits dead at the wheel of the last remaining car. Can Macleod find the connections between the passengers, before the killer strikes again?
Macleod and McGrath return to Cromarty when a man is found dead at the wheel of his car on the local ferry. As the passengers are identified, the trail extends across the highlands and islands as past deeds are paid back in full. Can the seasoned pair hunt down a killer before their butchery spreads across the land?
“The Small Ferry” is the fourth Highlands and Islands Detective thriller and brings the odd pair back to the Black Isle when the quiet routine of the Firth is broken apart by a strange death. If you like murder mysteries set amongst the beautiful north of Scotland and its wild coastline and islands, then you’ll love the adventures of Macleod and McGrath.
When there’s so much going on, it can be hard to see what’s happening!
Water’s Edge: A Highlands and Islands Detective Thriller (Highlands & Islands Detective Book 1)
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/water-s-edge-11
A body discovered by the rocks. A broken detective returns to a scene of past tragedy. Will the pain of the past prevent him from seeing the present?
Detective Inspector Macleod returns to his island home twenty years after the painful loss of his wife. With a disposition forged in strong religious conservatism, he must bond with his new partner, the free spirited and upcoming female star of the force, to seek the killer of a young woman and shine a light on the evil beneath the surface. To do so, he must once again stand in the place where he lost everything. Only at the water’s edge, will everything be made new.
The rising tide brings all things to the surface.
The Bothy: A Highlands and Islands Detective Thriller (Highlands & Islands Detective Book 2)
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-bothy-1
Two bodies in a burnt out love nest. A cultish lifestyle and children moulded by domination. Can Macleod unravel the Black Isle mystery before the killer dispenses judgement again?
DI Macleod heads for the Black Isle as winter sets in to unravel the mystery of two lovers in a burned out bothy. With his feisty partner DC McGrath, he must unravel the connection between a family living under a cultish cloud and a radio station whose staff are being permanently retired. In the dark of winter, can Macleod shine a light on the shadowy relationships driving a killer to their murderous tasks?
Forgetting your boundaries has never been so deadly!
Surface Tensions (Island Adventures Book 1)
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/surface-tensions-2
Mermaids sighted near a Scottish island. A town exploding in anger and distrust. And Donald’s got to get the sexiest fish in town, back in the water.
“Surface Tensions” is the first story in a series of Island adventures from the pen of G R Jordan. If you love comic moments, cosy adventures and light fantasy action, then you’ll love these tales with a twist.Get the book that amazon readers said, “perfectly captures life in the Scottish Hebrides” and that explores “human nature at its best and worst”.
Something’s stirring the water!
Austerley & Kirgordon Adventures Box Set: Books 1-3 and Origin stories 1-3 (Austerley& Kirkgordon)
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/austerley-kirgordon-adventures-box-set
A retired bodyguard looking for a little fun before it’s too late. An obsessive Professor, seeking the darkest things of life. And an Elder god seeking to rule the world, if they can’t stop him.
Join Austerley and Kirkgordon on the rollercoaster ride that is their first three adventures. Comprising 3 full novels as well as 3 accompanying origin novelettes, this collection will introduce you to a polarised duo that are the world’s best hope. Joining them for the adventure are a myriad of strange characters, bizarre animals, evil humans and the UK’s finest agents from its most secret department.
As one reviewer put it, “If you like Lovecraft, Poe, or Conan Doyle you will like this book. If you like tv show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Being Human, or X-Files you will like this book.”
So take a chance on a molotov cocktail of a duo and see how to save the world on the wild side.
G R Jordan, The Horror Weekend
