{"id":261903,"date":"2026-07-13T18:40:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/half-made-up-james-dunlop\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T18:40:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:40:48","slug":"half-made-up-james-dunlop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/half-made-up-james-dunlop\/","title":{"rendered":"Half Made Up – James Dunlop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<\/figure>\n

The flickering fluorescent lights hadn\u2019t been fixed. My watch said just after nine o\u2019clock. After my early breakfast with Jennifer, I\u2019d sloped off for a more careful search of the scene than the forensics guys had done. I\u2019d come directly from there with two spent Makarov casings in my pocket, a peace- offering to Romford. I clearly caught him just arrived at his desk and off guard. \u201cYou\u2019re back,\u201d he said with a noticeable degree of irritation.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice of you to drop in again. We want to talk to you.\u201d \u201cWhat good luck. I want to talk to you.\u201d I couldn\u2019t be certain, but a distinctly smug look was creeping over his face. \u201cWe found your prints on a Soviet Makarov we recovered near the scene.\u201d I wondered how much information he and Sinclair\u2019s people really shared. \u201cI know,\u201d I admitted. I decided to lie. \u201cI read it in the paper.\u201d \u201cI could place you under arrest right now.\u201d \u201cOn what charge? Handling a firearm?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me one good reason I don\u2019t arrest you?\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll give you two. You don\u2019t have the Right to Silence warning memo- rized and you left your aide memoire at home?\u201d He didn\u2019t find that funny. \u201cCome on, Romford. You\u2019ve seen the CCTV footage. I admitted I fired two shots. It\u2019s in my statement. If you\u2019ve forgotten, maybe you should read it. I can wait. It\u2019ll be in your files somewhere around here, probably in trip- licate by now.<\/p>\n

But if you can\u2019t read, as I say, you\u2019ll see it on the footage.\u201d He ignored my insults. \u201cThe shell casings we picked up at the scene match the gun your prints are on. The same gun you have in your hand in the footage.\u201d He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a plastic bag, which held the gun in question.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one, which we retrieved after you dropped it on the ground, MacKay. Careless. As far as I\u2019m concerned, that connects you to the murder weapon.\u201d \u201cRomford, if you thought I\u2019d somehow killed Edward, you\u2019d\u2019ve arrest- ed me already. That gun isn\u2019t the murder weapon and I can prove it. I stood up to dig into my front pocket and dropped a little piece of carefully folded paper on his desk. What\u2019s that?\u201d \u201cAn early Christmas gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began to unwrap it. \u201cTwo nine-millimetre Makarov casings. I found them at the scene this morning. Your forensics guys missed them because these rounds were fired from the van as it left, a good distance from where Edward was gunned down. Still, it\u2019s careless, Romford. Your ballistics guys will be able to match the bullets in Edward\u2019s chest to these casings.<\/p>\n

\n

Copyright \u00a9 2025 by James Dunlop This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author\u2019s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit- ted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise without the prior written consent of the author, except for brief quotations in a book review. Published in Canada by Expurgated Press. Cover design by Dean Hore Interior design by David W. Edelstein Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-0693008-1-2 Softcover ISBN: 978-1-0693008-0-5 e-book ISBN: 978-1-0693008-2-9 OceanofPDF.com T ONE he creature swinging the fifty-calibre machine gun mounted on the back of the jeep was a warthog, a dark green ugly one.<\/p>\n

He had filthy, grey tusks. Up on its hind legs, the thing gripped the gun\u2019s handles, flames erupting from the barrel. Rounds stitched along the ground toward me. Mind you, I didn\u2019t spend too much time gawking. I nosed about for some dead ground, diving head-first into a ditch someone had conveniently left at the side of the road. I say road. It was more of a track, really. I squinted along it now, getting a worm\u2019s eye view of things.<\/p>\n

Rounds danced along it, kicking up little puffs of dust. The jeep was now a low-flying gunship. It lifted up and away, disap- pearing behind a plume of dust churned up from the thing\u2019s prop wash. Nasty things, helicopters. Wait, the Taliban didn\u2019t have that kind of kit. The crack of incoming small arms fire snapped me back to the present. A radio squawked to life, the OC yelling, \u201cSend sitrep. Over!\u201d I looked around for my signaller.<\/p>\n

He was a step behind me, face down in the ditch. \u201cCorporal MacKenzie,\u201d I shouted. \u201cThe radio.\u201d He tipped his head up. \u201cAye, coming right up, boss.\u201d He crawled over, keeping low. I pulled the handset away from the communication piece strapped to his back. Two Taliban fighters sprinted for cover.<\/p>\n

MacKenzie fired a quick burst from his light machine gun and they dropped lifeless onto the road. \u201cNice shooting. You didn\u2019t give them much chance to reconsider their career choice.\u201d \u201cHad to lead \u2018em, sir.\u201d I depressed the handset button and shouted over the noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelta niner, this is delta three. Am engaging enemy. They have \u2026\u201d I suddenly remem- bered the fifty. \u201cEnemy has one vehicle-mounted hotel mike golf.\u201d No, wait. It wasn\u2019t a jeep with a heavy machine gun. It was a bloody he- licopter. \u201cWait, out,\u201d I shouted into the hand piece.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Table of Contents<\/p>\nToggle<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n