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The Fallen
A DCI Matilda Darke short story
MICHAEL WOOD
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
This is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, living or dead, real events, businesses, organizations and localities are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. All names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.
Killer Reads
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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Copyright © Michael Wood 2016
Michael Wood asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com
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Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2016 ISBN: 9780008222383
Version 2016-10-24
To my bloggers.
For loving Matilda as much as I do.
Table of Contents
Tuesday 7th December 2010
Andrea Barnes should have been winding down her work duties, handing everything over to her second in command and making sure they knew what to do in her absence, not hurtling through the streets of Sheffield on a mercy dash for a man she didn’t even like.
She should have known this would happen. Every time she had some time off or was preparing to go on holiday something always spoiled it. She was beginning to think all those months at spinning class firming up her bum to fit into a £125 bikini had been a waste of time. Would she ever feel golden sand between her toes? This time, Iain Kilbride had failed to show for work (again), so a replacement driver had to be found at short notice, which would cost the