Mind The Gap: Preview Chapter
Please find below a preview chapter of my crime novel MIND THE GAP. For a full synopsis please click this link.
Chapter One: The Morning Rush
London moved like a beast in the morning. Millions of footsteps, thousands of train doors hissing open, and not a single face making eye contact. To most, it was just another weekday. To DS Chris Collins, it was the beginning of the most dangerous assignment of his career.
He stood at the edge of the Piccadilly Line platform at Wood Green, dressed down in a scuffed leather jacket, worn jeans, and trainers that looked like they’d lost a few battles. A faded cap hid the unmistakably straight posture of a career officer. The polished silver watch on his wrist was the only thing that didn’t fit the image, his parting gift from the squad before he’d "resigned."
Unofficially, Chris Collins was a disgraced detective sergeant, booted from the force after a violent altercation with a suspect. Officially, he was deep undercover, sent in to dismantle a sophisticated gang of pickpockets and digital fraudsters who had turned the London Underground into their hunting ground.
The mission had been sanctioned at the highest level.
Three days earlier, he had stood in a stark operations room at Scotland Yard, across from Detective Inspector Grace Fraser, his longtime superior. Behind her, a projection screen flicked through victim reports, CCTV stills, and a digital map of linked transactions stretching from Camden to Clapham.
“We’re dealing with a crew that works like clockwork,” Fraser had said, arms folded tight. “Lift a wallet on the Circle Line, clone the card by the next stop, empty the account before the victim even notices.”
“They're fast, smart, and anonymous,” added Commander Nigel Trent, who stood near the door like he had somewhere better to be. “And they’re making us look bloody incompetent.”
Trent didn’t care about victims, he cared about headlines. But Fraser? She cared about results. She had handpicked Chris not just because he was good, but because he was clean. Too clean.
“You’re not just going undercover,” she had told him. “You’re walking away from everything. The force, your name, your people. You’ll play it like you’re bitter, angry, looking to make some cash. They'll test you. If you slip—”
“I won’t,” Chris replied without any hesitation.
Now, standing on the packed platform as a train screeched into the station, he reminded himself of every detail in his cover story. Former DS. Lost his temper one too many times. Burned too many bridges. Now looking for work, any work. The kind that paid in cash and didn’t ask questions.
The train doors slid open. He stepped into the crowd, blending in. A man in a suit brushed past. Chris caught the flash of movement, a subtle lift, smooth as silk. By the time they reached the next stop, that wallet would be gone, and the account already draining.
Chris didn’t move. Not yet. He wasn’t here to chase shadows. He was here to become one.
He slid into a corner seat, pulled out his burner phone, and stared at the reflection in the darkened window opposite. A face he barely recognized. Not Chris Collins, decorated officer. Just Chris, damaged goods.
He was waiting for a contact. A woman named Lena. No surname, no photo. Just a time, a place, and a warning: Don’t speak first.
At Leicester Square, the carriage filled again. Chris lowered his eyes as a teenage girl in a red coat slipped a phone from a distracted commuter’s pocket and disappeared into the next car. He made a mental note. Another recruit. Maybe a test. Maybe bait.
The doors closed. The train lurched forward.
“You don’t blink much for someone with nothing to hide.”
The voice came from his left. A woman had taken the seat beside him, dark curls tucked under a grey beanie, brown eyes sharp and unreadable. Lena.
Chris turned slowly. “You checking me out?”
“I’m checking your story,” she replied coolly. “You don’t look like someone who’s got nothing left.”
Chris gave a half-smile. “Maybe I’ve just got a good poker face.”
She studied him for a beat. “We’ll see.”
The train plunged into the tunnel, and the windows turned black. No more reflections. Just darkness, and the beginning of something dangerous.
Comments
Post a Comment