Bloody the Darkness (eBook)

An Obed de Swardt Thriller, Book 2

Gerrie Radlof, Pieter Haasbroek (Autoren)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
124 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
9780001021624 (ISBN)

Infos

They threatened his family.

And they demanded the impossible.

Now, a reporter's desperate choice has ignited a conspiracy that could burn the world.

In the shadowy world of post-war Johannesburg, respected reporter Grant Huysman is trapped in an impossible choice. A ruthless organization has his family in Europe, and their freedom comes at a terrible price. A top-secret treaty containing the world's atomic future. His mission is simple. Steal the document or his family dies.

When a desperate attempt goes wrong, the incident pulls brilliant private investigator Obed de Swardt into the crosshairs. As the body count rises, Obed realizes this is no simple crime, but a deadly game of international espionage where the spies will kill anyone to protect their prize. Now, with his own friends used as bait, he must race against time to unravel the conspiracy before it's too late.

A high stakes blend of classic adventure and cold-war spycraft, this unrelenting thriller is perfect for fans of Alistair MacLean, Robert Ludlum, and Lee Child.

The adventure continues! If you loved the first Wanderer Detective story, you won't want to miss the thrilling next chapter, Bloody the Darkness. For fans of pulp, action, and mystery, the stakes have never been higher. Pick up the second book in the series today!

Textauszug

Chapter 2

STRANGE VISITORS

Someone bent over her. He took her pulse and listened to her heart.

“She’s still alive,” he announced gravely. “We must call an ambulance immediately.”

“And the police too!” cried another.

“I live just around the corner,” said a third. It was an old man who spoke calmly. “My neighbour is a doctor, Doctor Albert Uys. I’ll go and call him quickly.”

“Run, old man.”

Behind him, he heard more cries. One wanted them to lift her out of the little side ditch onto the pavement. Another contradicted him loudly, warning that she must not be moved. Someone else still insisted that the ambulance and the police be called. On the outer edge of the circle of onlookers, as the old man pushed through, someone said callously that the police would arrive soon enough. It was not necessary to call them as well.

The elderly man walked quickly around the corner. One block further on, he turned right into the same street from which Anita Huysman had come. He walked, however, in the opposite direction and five houses further on he crossed the road and entered the motor gate of a comfortable double-storey home.

He sighed with relief when he saw the car standing in the garage. Doctor Uys was apparently at home.

He pressed the bell urgently. A few moments later the door was opened and a servant enquired about his visit.

“Doctor Uys!” the old man cried out. “There’s been an accident in the main street. Doctor Uys must go there immediately.”

From a lit room on the other side of the entrance hall came cheerful voices. It was interrupted, however, when the man’s loud voice penetrated through to there. The young physician came out quickly and towards the front door.

“Good evening, Oom Jan,” he greeted the old man.

“Evening, Doctor.”

“It sounds as if there’s an accident somewhere.”

“There is. The doctor must come at once. A lady has been seriously injured.”

“Wait here, Oom. I’ll be right back,” Albert Uys answered briskly and without another word he turned and went into the sitting room.

On the other side of the room, a young man and a girl were sitting on the sofa. Obed de Swardt looked up questioningly as his friend came in. The alert, intelligent eyes could see from his physician-friend’s expression that all was not well.

“What’s wrong, Albert?”

“An accident in the main street, Obed. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I just want to go and see if I can’t perhaps help.”

“But I’m going with you.” Obed de Swardt stood up. “You wait here, Tessa.”

The brown-eyed Tessa van Wyk looked at him indignantly.

“Are you mad, Obed,” she said cheerfully. “I’m going along too, or may I not, Albert?”

The young physician smiled good-naturedly.

“Young little girls like you ought to…”

“Look how he’s talking to me, Obed!” she cried out.

They laughed. Obed put his arm around the slender girl’s waist. They walked slowly out into the entrance hall while Albert went to fetch his bag.

A minute later, the three of them were walking behind the old man towards the main street. As is always the case in such situations, they were curious, but not dejected because they as yet had no personal connection with what lay ahead.

“Most likely it’s just a careless accident, Obed,” said Albert. “For you as a private detective, such things are rather dull, are they not? You like intrigue and excitement and...”

“You’re speaking too frivolously, Albert!” Tessa van Wyk cried out. “Such things are serious, aren’t they, Obed?”

The Swerwer-detective smiled quietly. It could be more serious than they thought. Involuntarily, the numerous times he had dealt with such seemingly innocent accidents flashed through his mind. How often serious causes had lain behind them. In any case, Obed de Swardt had already learned to always be on the lookout for foul play and hidden motives.

In the main street, oubaas Jan pushed a way through the crowd. With his refined voice, he called out in a muffled tone.

“Here is a physician. Stand aside.”

Albert Uys knelt beside the unconscious woman. Opposite her, a man had been squatting, and just for a moment, the physician’s eyes met the dark gazes above the high cheekbones.

“No one has touched her,” the man said as he stood up and moved back into the crowd.

Albert Uys leaned over Anita Huysman. He felt her pulse. He looked up at Obed, who was standing behind him.

“She’s alive,” he said quietly, and then he began to examine her body gently. A moment later he nodded as if to himself and looked around him at the circle of onlookers.

“I want to thank you,” he said in his deep, friendly voice, “for obeying the rules by leaving this woman untouched. Has anyone called the ambulance yet?”

“I have,” answered a young man.

“In that case, I would be glad, Oom Jan,” Albert resumed, addressing the old man, “if you would stay here and bring the ambulance to my house as soon as it comes. Help me, Obed. You take her carefully under the legs and then we’ll carry her home. Bring my little box of tricks, Tessa.”

The people stood aside. They carried the attractive young woman, her face still and pale, around the corner and up the side street.

“She took the blow to her upper body,” said Albert as he walked backwards with his arms under her shoulders. “Perhaps it’s more shock than anything else. But her head must have taken a terrible knock. She could be unconscious for a long time.”

In his study, they laid the woman carefully on a couch. Albert Uys stood back and looked at her thoughtfully.

“I’m sure I’ve seen her before,” he remarked, “but it was most likely just somewhere in passing without my being introduced to her. Tessa,” he requested politely, “will you please order a bowl of warm water from the kitchen. If you don’t mind, Obed, I want to...”

“Of course! Albert!” Obed de Swardt cried out. “I’ll wait for you in the sitting room. I’ll make myself at home.”

“As if this isn’t your second home,” laughed Albert as the detective walked out.

In the sitting room, Obed picked up his small glass. He smiled. He thought about how true Albert’s words were. Indeed, they were good friends, and Obed often came here. He himself had inherited a fortune and had a large, comfortable residence, “Drie Gewels,” in Linden. The young man with the black crew-cut was barely twenty-five years old. If he wanted to, he wouldn’t have to work, but still he was on the hunt for excitement and even danger. He shrugged his shoulders. For a moment just now, he had thought that here might be something else in which he could stick his detective’s nose. Now it appeared to be merely an accident. A young woman, most likely from this neighbourhood, who had not looked where she was going.

Someone knocked urgently on the front door. Perhaps it was already the ambulance, Obed thought, as he walked hastily through to the entrance hall so that Albert would not be disturbed.

On the stoep stood a man of about forty. He had a refined appearance, but his eyes immediately darted away from Obed’s when he met his gaze.

“Good evening!” the man cried out, and he rubbed his hands together nervously. “I understand that a young woman had an accident here at the front of the street. I... I...”

“You want to determine if you know her?” Obed enquired politely when he saw that the man was stammering due to his nervousness. Possibly it was her husband, or someone who knew her well.

“Yes, yes, please,” the man requested anxiously. “Can I see her?”

“Come in, mister...?”

“Louw, Louw is the surname.”

“Come in. I’ll find out from Doctor Uys if you may see the lady now.”

Obed let the man into the entrance hall. He walked quickly through to the study. He knocked softly on the door and Albert called out that he could come in.

The young physician was by the couch. Tessa was beside him. The woman was lying under a white sheet, but her head was uncovered, and Obed realised at once that she was not dead.

“There’s a man who thinks he might know her. He would like to see her.”

“Let him in, Obed. It will be better if we find out who she is as soon as possible.”

Obed beckoned from the door. The man, Louw, came in quickly, still wringing his hands. When his eyes fell on the pale face of the woman on the couch, he cried out in distress.

“Anette, Anette!” He rushed forward and went down on his knees before the couch. He stretched out his hands, but hesitated and drew them back to his sides as if he were afraid to touch her. “Anette!” he continued to cry out, brokenly.

“You know her?” Albert Uys enquired calmly behind him.

He looked up.

“This is my wife, Anette Louw. I am Hendrik Louw. She left home earlier this evening. She just went to the café. I waited, but when she didn’t come back, I walked up the street to meet her. Then I heard about the accident. Someone described her to me briefly.”

“She will live, Mr Louw,” Albert Uys said kindly. “It is largely shock. She bumped her head and will possibly be unconscious for a while.”

“Then I’ll take her home immediately!” the man cried out with concern. “I have already sent a friend to fetch my car. He should be here by now. If you will help me to carry her out, then...”

“I don’t think that is advisable, Mr Louw,” the physician interrupted...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.9.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Krimi / Thriller / Horror
• ISBN-13: 9780001021624 / 9780001021624