The Hostage: BookShots (Hotel Series) Read Free Page A

us.’
    Roscoe wanted to lash out. This wasn’t a game. He needed to get back inside the hotel. He needed to start the hunt for a killer.
    ‘Is Mrs Harlington in the hotel? Is the Harlington family safe?’
    The questions kept coming as he made his way through the crowd.
    ‘Is Oscar Miller in danger? Do you think this is an attack on Tribeca Luxury Hotels?’
    ‘I heard somebody’s room service was delivered cold,’ quipped one of the journalists, and a number in the crowd started to laugh.
    ‘Yeah, I’d heard he hadn’t got clean towels this morning,’ called out another and the laughter continued.
    Roscoe wanted to shout that a man lay dead a few feet away from them, a man they had all seen brutally murdered. How could they stand at the front of the hotel joking about Jackson Harlington’s death? Human nature never failed to surprise Roscoe. Shock played its part, along with the madness of crowds, but it never ceased to amaze him how people could react to tragedy.
    Ignoring all those around him, he pushed forward, through the crowd and into the lobby of the hotel, where confusion was taking hold. Anna Conquest was standing by the elevators, preventing anyone making their way further inside the building.
    ‘Police are on their way,’ she called as he hurried across the vast marble lobby.
    ‘I’m locking down the elevators,’ he shouted. ‘Nobody goes beyond this point. I don’t want people running round the hotel trying to be heroes. Anna, I’ve never seen anything quite so brutal.’
    ‘Is it Jackson Harlington?’
    ‘Afraid so.’
    ‘He’s dead?’
    ‘He’s dead all right. Cut open and his guts spilled out all over the front lawn.’
    ‘My God. Who on earth would do that?’
    ‘I’ve no idea, but I’m pretty sure whoever it was is still inside the hotel.’
    Roscoe opened the elevator control pad, entered the emergency code, locking each of the hotel elevators in their current position. Stepping forward, he called out to the crowd gathering in the lobby.
    ‘The hotel is in lockdown. No one should attempt to access any other part of the building. Do not go beyond the lobby. When the police arrive they will need to take witness statements from each of you. The killer is still at large and there is every reason to believe he’s still inside the hotel. He is clearly an armed and incredibly dangerous individual. No one here should attempt to apprehend him.’
    His heart pounding, he turned to Anna. ‘The police will be here within minutes. If anything happens, call me.’
    ‘Where are you going?’
    ‘To catch a killer.’
    ‘You’ve just told everybody how dangerous this man is,’ said Anna, her voice trembling. ‘Shouldn’t you wait until the police get here?’
    ‘I’ll be okay.’
    ‘Why? Because you’re a little bit crazy?’
    Roscoe smiled. ‘Maybe a little bit.’
    As he opened the door to the stairway beside the bank of elevators, Anna reached out, gently touching his arm. ‘Be careful, Jon.’
    Roscoe looked at her for a moment, and then started to run up the stairs.
    Taking the steps two at a time, he made his way up to the fourth floor. At the next turn, he found Stanley Samson collapsed against the door leading to the hallway.
    His shirt was soaked in blood.

CHAPTER 5
    FROM THE MOMENT he’d met Stanley, Roscoe had recognised what a huge contribution he would bring to his team. His boundless enthusiasm and determination to do the right thing were combined with a sharp intelligence and a deductive mind. And when the two men had started working together, Roscoe had got to know and grown to respect a man who was always thinking ahead and ready to risk his own safety to get the right result.
    Now, crouching at Stanley’s side, Roscoe thought of how, since he’d been a small child, his friend had dreamt of becoming a police officer and working every day at New Scotland Yard. At the age of nineteen he’d applied to become a member of London’s Metropolitan Police Service;