Deadly Justice: Sterling Rose Series, #2

By Gemma Perfect and Gemma Leigh

Deadly Justice follows Sterling Rose's quest for revenge as she continues to hunt down the people on her list who wronged her.

But when it all comes frightening close to disaster, she struggles to come to terms with her past and build a new future for herself.

Will she be defined by what happened to her, or will she be able to forge a new path and find happiness?

• Please note that this book has the following themes which could cause upset: violence, sexual assault, murder, trafficking, forced prostitution •

• Language: English
• Publisher: PERFECT INK PUBLISHING
• Release date: May 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223227984

Gemma Perfect

Thank you for reading The Kingmaker – I hope you enjoyed it. I started writing it in 2011. I was watching Junior Apprentice on the BBC, and one of the female contestants had to choose which of the two boys in her team would be team leader. She said, “I’m like the Kingmaker,” or words to that effect and something in my brain just sparked. I wrote about 30, 000 words but then, for some reason I can’t even remember, I ignored it until the summer of 2015. In the mean time I wrote and self-published a set of three children’s books, an adult romance, which was also traditionally published, before coming back to The Kingmaker. I was struggling to write another romance, and questioning whether I should stop writing altogether when I picked The Kingmaker up again. Within four weeks I had written another 40, 000 words. That’s when I realised that I was finally writing what I should be writing – not what I thought I should be writing or what I believed people would want to read. Suddenly it was easy to do and, more importantly, enjoyable again. I finished the book and sent it off to publishers and agents, hoping that someone would want it. They didn’t. I decided to have faith in myself and my writing and self-publish again, but I waited until I had written the whole trilogy first. If readers liked it, I wanted the whole trilogy complete so they wouldn’t have to wait. I know how impatient I am when I read a book I love and want to read the next one straight away. So on that note, if you enjoyed The Kingmaker, then book two – Seize The Crown and book three – Born to Rule, are both written and available to buy now. For updates and excerpts as I write my new book - The Cursed Princess - please subscribe to my monthly newsletter, via my website – www.gemmaperfect.com There are two things readers can do for authors they like once they’ve read their book: Review and Recommend. Reviews really do help books become more visible to other readers and a good review can make an author’s day. Recommendations are what make a book take on a life of its own, finding new readers and fans and there’s nothing like word of mouth for spreading the word about books we love.  You can get in touch with me via fb.me/gemmalperfect or you can visit my website www.gemmaperfect.com and I really hope that you do. xxx

Book preview

Chapter 1

STERLING’S DRIVING instructor pulls up to the farmhouse and congratulates her again. Sterling thanks her, and climbs out of the car, laughing. Jack and Ben are waiting outside, holding up what looks like a hastily painted – still dripping – sign that says ‘Congratulations!’.

Ben runs over to hug her and then she walks over to hug Jack. The sign is left on the bench.

‘Cuppa?’ Jack asks, as they go inside the farmhouse.

‘I can’t believe you passed,’ Ben says, eyes wide.

‘I can.’ Sterling grins. ‘I'm a quick learner.

‘Insanely quick,’ Ben says, looking aggrieved. It took him three tries to pass his theory test and two to pass his driving test. ‘You’ve had, like, five lessons.’

Sterling laughs and gestures at Jack. ‘I also had Jack’s tuition before that. Right to go, left to stop.’

Ben rolls his eyes. ‘You learned in a manual.’

‘I was trying to make you feel better.’

Jack laughs and sits at the table.

‘Proud of you. And I can stop worrying when you borrow the car now.’

‘You can,’ she says, opening the pack of biscuits Ben passes her.

‘Well, I’ll worry about the other stuff,’ Jack says, accepting a custard cream from her, ‘but not the driving.’

‘You don’t need to worry about the other stuff,’ Sterling says. ‘I know what I'm doing.’

‘Who’s next?’ Ben asks, pouring the tea so his grandpa doesn’t have to get up. He grabs a milkshake for himself.

‘All of them,’ Sterling says, shrugging.

She has plans to kill all of the people who used and abused her, but she doesn’t have an order of preference. Other than that Theo should come last; for some weird reason she feels like it has to end with him. But if an opportunity to kill him comes up first, she won’t turn it down. She doesn’t want a prettily packaged revenge plan, all written out and executed in the preferred order. She just wants them dead.

‘I found something that might help you,’ Ben says, quickly looking at Jack.

Jack nods and Ben pulls out his phone.

‘What is it?’ Sterling asks, taking a sip of her tea and then dunking her biscuit in it.

Ben passes her the phone. It’s a news article online, from the Liverpool Echo.

Her stomach flips when she reads the headline.

Successful local businessman’s funeral to be held.

She scans the article, wanting to scream at the way Jamie – the first brother she killed, and Theo are described. Pillars of the community, altruistic business brothers. She almost spits out her tea.

‘How did you find this?’ she asks Ben.

He shrugs. ‘Just did some digging around online. I knew they were from Liverpool; I knew their names... are you angry?’

‘Not with you,’ she says, reaching over to pat his hand. ‘Not with you, just with this journalist. I wish people knew what they were like – they’re not successful or reputable or philanthropic – they are trafficking women, pimping them out, murdering people. Or at least getting people like me to murder on their behalf. It makes me sick.’

She scrolls through the rest of the article, looking at the photos of the brothers, and their delightful bitch of a sister, smiling at parties and conferences. She can feel the heat rising up her face. She’s filled with fury.

Jack sighs. ‘I know we won’t ever change your mind on this Sterling.’

She shakes her head. ‘You won’t. How is it fair that his death is covered by the local newspapers, and probably hundreds of people – including all his dodgy henchmen – will turn up to his funeral and all the people he’s hurt and killed don’t get a mention, they’re just not important. It makes my blood boil, I just...’ She trails off. She’s angry but also defeated. These men are important. They have worked their way into the local community – they sponsor kid’s football teams and literacy programmes in the local schools.

They also stand by and watch while women are raped by countless men; they benefit from it. The money they give to the community is all tainted money.

‘What I want to say,’ Jack says, waving a custard cream, ‘is if we can’t stop you, let us help you.’

She shakes her head. ‘No, no way. You can’t get involved; these people are dangerous. Look what happened to Maggie.’

Her stomach sinks and twists when she remembers how they killed Maggie, right in front of her, and it was all her fault.

‘I don’t mean help like that,’ Jack says, smiling softly. ‘Lord, what use would we be? But we can help in other ways.’

‘Like what?’ Sterling asks, aware that she needs to unclench her fists and breathe.

‘Like telling you that the funeral will take place in Grace Field cemetery tomorrow at two o’clock,’ Ben says. ‘And that all his flunkies will be there.’

‘And I can kill some of them,’ Sterling says, thinking aloud. ‘Maybe even Theo?’

Ben and Jack nod, grinning and Sterling laughs.

‘You two look so proud of yourselves.’

Ben laughs. ‘We are. We can’t stop you, so we have to help you. We can’t kill anyone, but we can still help you.’

Sterling wants to cry but doesn’t. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. I need help.’

‘You also need to listen to me,’ Jack says. ‘If you’re going to do this, you need sleep, proper food, no more gallivanting and getting yourself injured. You need to be on top of your game, like you were for them.’

She closes her eyes and then nods. He’s right. She wasn’t as careful as she should have been because she’d been too eager to get started, just hellbent on getting revenge, and she needs to be smart.

Especially now. She knows that they’ll be scrambling because she killed Jamie, and escaped them again. She knows Theo will be furious that the men he sent to kill her managed to kill Maggie but let Sterling escape. Lucky for them that they’re dead, or Theo would have had them killed, but not quickly and painlessly, like Sterling killed them. He’d have made them pay.

They’ll be on high alert now, waiting to see what she does next. So, she needs to surprise them. The funeral will be perfect.

Chapter 2

WHEN STERLING WAKES up the next day Jack is still out in the fields and Ben is sleeping. Or working. She makes herself a cup of tea, and smiles. The farmhouse is the loveliest place to be. It has a homely, welcoming feel, even when nobody else is there with her.

It’s home.

She sighs and closes her eyes. She can’t dwell on Maggie, but sometimes it’s hard. The smallest thing will remind Sterling of her. She has to do what she did after Kat was killed; take the grief and turn it into something else. The drive and desire to get revenge. Justice. Anything else will ruin her life and let them get away with it.

When she was working for them, killing people for them, she was allowed a tablet, just in the week running up to the kill. She couldn’t go on social media and she couldn’t message anyone – not that she had anyone to message – but she could google things that she might need to know. She could memorise the map of the place she was going to, she could figure out escape routes and familiarise herself with the area, without ever stepping foot there.

She does this now with the cemetery. She googles it and zooms in. She looks at the streets surrounding it, and where the new graves are located. What if it’s an old grave?

After Ben showed her the newspaper article in the paper, he also showed her the undertaker’s name and the notice for Jamie’s death on their social media pages.

Laird and son.

She finds it again on Facebook and scrolls down, until she sees Jamie’s picture. Her stomach churns and twists but it’s a mix of nausea and joy because she killed him.

His handsome, smiling face looks almost serene. If only people knew. She reads through the comments and feels the heat rising up to her cheeks again.

What an amazing man.

Always willing to help.

Him and his brother are incredible.

What a family.

A little bit of sick comes up into her mouth and she swallows it down. She reads the information from the undertaker.

Burial at Grace Park cemetery at two p.m. Section K.

She googles the cemetery and finds section K.

She grins. She’s got an idea.

‘Morning,’ Jack says and even though he’s softly spoken, she jumps. ‘Sorry, Cariad, I didn’t mean to startle you.’

‘It’s fine,’ Sterling says. ‘I was just plotting.’

Jack smiles. ‘Cuppa?’

Sterling swallows down the last of hers and nods. ‘I’ll do it.’

‘I won’t argue,’ he says, sitting at the table. ‘My old bones are aching this morning.’

‘Poor Jack. Where’s Willow?’

‘She’s outside, chasing squirrels. She’ll be in soon enough.’

‘Are you hungry?’ Sterling asks.

They’ve settled into a relaxed domestic routine, the three of them, since Sterling came back. Jack tends to cook, but he’s teaching Sterling, and she’s watching everything he makes with interest, acting as his helper.

Between them they get the cleaning done, and they each do their own laundry.

Last weekend they cleaned out all of Jane’s things – at Jack’s insistence and painted the bedroom. Sterling bought herself a new bed and bedding and wardrobes and plenty of clothes to fill them.

They get on well, and Sterling doesn’t feel like a stranger in their home. She feels like part of the family. They make her feel like part of the family.

‘Go on Jack, you know I can do a mean fry up now.’

‘Something lighter,’ he says, groaning as he shifts himself on the chair. ‘Just a couple of bacon butties.’

Sterling nods and puts the oven on to cook the part baked rolls.

‘Bacon and egg?’

‘Oh, go on then,’ Jack says, taking his cup of tea from her. ‘So, what are you plotting?’

She nods. ‘I’ll go up for the week, come back on Friday. See who I can kill, see who I can locate. I want to find the brothels, but I also know they’ll be waiting for my next move. I don’t want to screw up again.’

‘Cariad, just think about it. Take your time, even though I know you’re impatient about this. Just remember, no more reckless choices.’

She nods. She was reckless. She didn’t think they would follow her after she killed Jamie. Because whenever she killed for them, they always picked her up and drove her away to safety. It never occurred to her that anyone would follow her. Follow her and kill Maggie.

‘I’ll be careful,’ she says and gets the frying pan out, ready to make breakfast. ‘I’ll be so careful.’

Chapter 3

SHE’S BOOKED A ROOM at a smart hotel and when she gets there she parks in the underground carpark. She wants to suss out the Blue Room, find the brothel, kill as many people on her list as she can but the first stop is the funeral.  

Dressed in navy trousers, a white t shirt, and a navy bodywarmer, she ties her hair up in a messy bun and puts her lanyard on. The lanyard has a picture of her in it and a logo for a local builder’s merchant. It’s clearly homemade if you take a closer look, but she’s hoping that from a distance it will look like an official staff pass.

She’s bought a scruffy holdall in a second-hand shop and some tools from the DIY shop. Nestled among the hammers and screwdrivers are her guns and knives.

There are five houses that back on to the cemetery. Any one of them will do.

She grins. This is the fun bit. Can she convince someone to let her in their house, so she can take up her position in the back upstairs room, and shoot Theo? Will she be that lucky?

Parking on a different street she walks with purpose. The rule of doing something you shouldn’t be, is to look like you should be. She doesn’t break stride, she smiles, she looks purposeful and she knocks on the first door, stomach twisting.

‘Good afternoon Sir. Just popping by to check your boiler.’

The man frowns and scratches his chin.

‘Checking it for what?’

‘Checking it works, giving it a service. Can’t have people’s boilers breaking down on them.’

‘Only had mine checked a few weeks back. It was playing up. I know Linda a few doors down was moaning she hasn’t seen a gas man for years. Or woman,’ he adds, laughing until he coughs.

She grins. ‘I’ll call on Linda, then. Thanks. What number is she?’

‘Three,’ he says, shutting the door. She can still hear him coughing.

‘Three,’ she repeats the word. ‘Come on Linda, let me in.’

She knocks the door, smiling in case Linda is watching