Ryan Harper had served with the British Army’s Intelligence Corps within a specialist unit, but was now a private investigator for hire. A job that didn’t come close to his previous life, but at least it paid well. That was what he told himself to justify his new life, although deep down, he knew it was far from where he had envisaged his life would lead. Dealing with anything from rich business owners to shady underworld figures, and everything in between, the cases didn’t bring him the satisfaction of his previous military life.
Jasper Barnes, a young hacker from New York, dedicated his hacking skills not to financial gain but to help right the wrongs committed by large corporate organisations that plagued the world through greed. He thought of himself as the digital Robin Hood, paying back those who had been left short by greedy organisations. His troubled upbringing had made him into a resilient young man with a strong moral compass.
The frenzied incidents had started from nowhere but had rapidly increased, first in the United States but then spreading across the globe. People were dying, and those who survived were becoming afraid to set foot in public spaces, scared of becoming caught up in the random incidents which saw everyday people succumb to what could only be described as primal and violent urges. The widespread incidents were increasing in number, and there was no clear pattern or reasoning for them.
As the frenzied attacks escalate, Ryan’s and Jasper’s worlds collide as they start to unravel the truth behind the attacks and those behind them. With both fighting their own personal battles, they come together with an array of other characters to try and bring down those responsible. From a seemingly isolated yet harrowing incident to a global pandemic driven by an unknown catalyst of fear and destruction, the tempo increases dramatically in this modern-day thriller.
Excerpt
(Excerpt From Chapter 1):
The rain had eased off, although the effects were still quite evident. Puddles were scattered throughout the dark alley, the moonlight casting silvery reflections in each of the small black pools as he walked forward silently. The rest of the dirty tarmac gleamed from the thin covering of rainwater, making it slippery in some parts. There were no street lights in the alley, although there was just enough ambient light for the lone figure to make his way forward without incident.
Regardless of whether he was used to working in the shadows, it wasn’t his ideal situation if he were being honest with himself. The job he had accepted some weeks ago had brought him to this particular point in time. Wet to the skin and chilled to the bone due to the late hour and the time of year, he continued. He had always hated November as it never ceased to stop raining long enough to enjoy the early winter season, not in London anyway.
He would be glad to get this job completed and take some much-needed time out. He had been working nonstop for the last few months, jumping from case to case. He had chosen this career as a private investigator because he knew he was good at solving problems, and people paid handsomely to solve their murky problems. His military life seemed a lifetime away these days, although he could still vividly remember his days in the British Army’s Intelligence Corps and specifically the unit he saw out his final days with, the elite Joint Support Group or JSG for short.
He smiled inwardly as he was acutely aware that the tasks he was accepting these days were a far cry from the missions he had been involved with as an intelligence operator.
Forcing his mind back to the present, he reached the bottom of the rusted fire escape, which he had previously identified as the route to the rear of the location he was trying to reach. Standing under the metal platform on the first floor, he pulled back the cuff of his black leather jacket and looked at his watch. The tactical luminous hands told him that it was 2:10 a.m., so he covered his watch and backed further into the shadows and waited.
He wanted to ensure that there was no movement around him before taking the metal stairs to the third floor, where the fire escape door was located. He had already completed his research on the inside of the building and knew that the third floor was where he would find what he was looking for.
The person who had hired him for the case was a successful businessman with various business interests in and around London. This particular client lived in an affluent area of Surrey with his much younger wife and two children. It was quite possibly the fairytale lifestyle with the big house, fancy cars and beautiful wife. Well, it would have been if his client hadn’t been caught out by a blackmail scam whereby a video had been taken of him frolicking with a prostitute. The client hadn’t gone into much detail about what the footage might have involved, but it didn’t take much imagination to guess, especially since the client was paying a lot of money to retrieve the damaging footage.
You dirty man!, Ryan Harper thought to himself.
Twenty-five thousand pounds had made it difficult to refuse. The client didn’t want to involve the police, as inevitably the details would come out at some point, and that meant that his perfect little home life would be shattered very quickly. If that happened, then the client would end up paying a hell of a lot more than what he had paid for this case.
Confident that the coast was clear, he moved to the first step and started up the staircase one step at a time, conscious that any noise he made would travel far in the quiet of the night, especially now the rain had stopped thrashing down.
The tactical boots he wore were perfect for this kind of work, the soft leather silent as he moved, the non-slip rubber soles landing silently on each metal step as he ascended. At the top of each staircase was a square platform, with the stairs then changing direction up to the next grated platform. He didn’t use the handrail as he didn’t trust it not to make noise, and so he kept his arms by his side. The black tactical gloves kept the cold from his hands, but at the same time allowed a high level of dexterity for when he needed it.
He was now on the second grated platform, so he remained still for one minute, listening to his surroundings before continuing. He could see now that no lights were coming from the large windows on the third floor, or any floor for that matter. The windows were large but then made up of smaller individual squares, and he knew that those on the floor he was making his way to had external security bars. That didn’t concern him as he had just the tool to help him access the single fire door.
Without wasting any more time, he started up the last flight of stairs, and once on the final grated platform with the fire door in front of him, he looked over the metal railing at the alley below him to make sure there was no one about.
Once satisfied, he unzipped his leather jacket halfway, reached in with his gloved right hand and removed a black crowbar from inside. Sometimes, the most rudimentary tools were all that were needed, and he liked it when things were simplified.
Placing the bent chisel end into the slight gap between the old fire door and the brick wall, he paused once more to listen to his surroundings before using both hands to push the other end of the crowbar towards the brick wall, which provided enough leverage to crack the fire door open.