Behind Closed Doors (Season One: Book 7) (Jessica Daniel) Read Free

interested but she could feel herself being drawn in. ‘How old was he?’
    ‘Twenty-four. He’s a native Manc.’
    ‘How does that connect to a different district?’
    ‘We visited his family. Unlike what you might expect, his parents are still together. He’s got two younger sisters and a younger brother. They come from a respectable
area.’
    ‘That doesn’t mean much.’
    ‘Quite – but I visited myself. You know what it’s like when you have a feeling about people but there was none of that. None of them had spoken to him in a year or so. His mum
said he had big problems with alcohol and drugs but it was his younger brother who knew the most.’
    ‘How young?’
    ‘He’s eighteen but he’d heard things from around the estate about what his brother was up to. At first it was all drink and drugs and that was why he had been ostracised by the
family but around six months ago, Liam cleaned himself up – at least according to his brother.’
    ‘What then?’
    Cole shuffled nervously in the seat, glancing away from Jessica towards the window and then back again. ‘Then he disappeared. The rest of his family hadn’t seen him in a year but his
brother knew what he’d been up to from the mutual people they knew. Then it all stopped.’
    ‘But he only turned up dead recently?’
    ‘The brother said he’d heard Liam had been recruited.’
    ‘What for? The army?’
    Cole shook his head, reaching into his back pocket for a notebook. The fact he was completely prepared wasn’t lost on Jessica. So much for only wanting a chat.
    ‘How well do you know the Bible?’ he asked, not looking at the pad.
    ‘A bit. I went to Sunday School as a kid. Basically we’re not allowed to be gay but we are allowed to keep slaves. We’re supposed to love one another but an eye for an eye is
fair game too. It’s all very confusing.’
    Cole looked down at his pad. ‘There’s a group up on the Lancashire–Yorkshire border that live in a massive stately home. They’ve been on the local watch list for a little
while. Once a week or so, they visit the centres of the bigger cities, Manchester, Leeds, and so on, recruiting.’
    The penny dropped for Jessica. ‘They’re a religious cult?’
    Cole shrugged. ‘That’s the point, no one really knows what they are. To all intents and purposes, they are simply a group of friendly people trying to help. On the streets, they
preach that drugs and alcohol are sins. They say they can help cure people of their addictions.’
    ‘And that’s where Liam ended up?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So why hasn’t the local force gone in and sorted things?’
    Cole glanced at his pad again before putting it back on the arm of the chair. ‘There’s a lot of money involved. I don’t know the exact details of the house and the people
inside but they have expensive lawyers. Police have been to interview the people in charge, who even admitted that Liam lived there.’
    ‘But . . .’
    ‘They said he simply left and that they haven’t seen him in weeks. Officers spoke to everyone there but the story was identical: he had started drinking again, so they asked him to
leave. That was the last they saw of him.’
    Jessica stayed silent for a moment, knowing exactly where the conversation was headed. She even knew why Cole had come to her. A year ago, she would have jumped at the chance but things were
different now.
    It was as if he had read her mind. ‘They’re asking neighbouring forces for a certain type of person: someone tough and streetwise, female if possible. Someone not known in their
local district. A person who can blend in, get on with people if need be but generally poke around and find out what’s going on. The key is that it has to be someone who can look after
themselves. They’ll be on their own.’
    ‘You want to send me in?’
    ‘I don’t want to do anything. Nobody knows I’m here. I know what’s happened to you over the past nine months and I’m not trying to say