Rotten Borough

Rotten Borough by Adam Parish Book 6 of the Jack Edwards and Amanda Barratt thriller series Also by Adam Parish The Quartermaster (1) Parthian Shot (2) Loose Ends (3) Business as Usual (4) Jacks and Knaves (5) To sign up for offers, updates and find out more about Adam Parish visit our website www.adam-parish.com This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organisations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used factually. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely co-incidental. Text copyright @2023 by Adam Parish No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without express permission. Thanks to Helen for her help, humour, and patience, Fran, Sandy, Tom and Hamish for their ideas and time and Mandy for everything. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 1 Ill-fitting steel shutters of an ice cream parlour rattled in response to powerful whistling gusts of wind from the sea. An empty plastic bag flew past his face. Not much of a night to be out. But when was it ever in Maltburn? Another glance at his watch. The wind took a break. Was that footsteps? Not sure. His heart was racing. Unique in his forty years. He loved it. He looked left – no one – then right: out of the dark, a stranger. No one he knew and not who he hoped for. A large man, standing uncomfortably close. He looked away. Surely the man would walk on? Seconds that seemed like minutes passed, but the stranger didn’t move. A cigarette lighter concealed in massive hands briefly illuminated the scene. The Chapter 2 It was after nine on a Friday evening, yet Amanda Barratt was still in her capacious office in Bloomsbury. She was alone. Sensibly, most of her staff, except the night porter, had better things to do. Peter Carter was the best-looking, most interesting man Amanda had ever met, and he was due in ten minutes. A friend for twenty years, starting as undergraduates with common causes and unbounded enthusiasm for the future. They were never lovers but once she had been hopeful. Certainly she had competition from almost everyone at college, but Amanda always backed herself when it came to men. She still did. But she had run up against an unbeatable opponent. Peter Carter had found God, and from the first it was clear that Peter had found a partner for life.