Strikers Instinct by A. D. Rogers Page A

it was all far too much and that he was playing with “boys toys” – he assured her that within a few days she would be completely used to everything. In fact even Luke was surprised at just how well the family adapted to their new surroundings. After only a few days they already felt completely at home and they loved everything about their new house.
    When Luke and Sue had began to earn large salaries they started to invest their money in what some people would consider to be high-risk projects. Luke wanted to do as much as he could to help his old friends in Wishton but Sue was more of a realist. She generally agreed with most of Luke’s madcap schemes but she always insisted on some stringent conditions. One of their more sensible projects was to start up a small construction company. To all intents and purposes Wishton Construction seemed to be owned by Bert Knowles but in fact the main shareholders were Luke and Sue.
    It was fairly obvious that Wishton Construction would be the company of choice to do the work on the new property. By the time the paperwork on the house had all been completed, Luke was finding that he had more and more spare time on his hands as he wound down his involvement with his IT company. Sue spotted the warning signs and asked Bert if Luke could help out with the construction. Bert had some concerns. They both knew that Luke sometimes became too involved in certain projects but Sue assured him that she would keep Luke in check. Thankfully, Luke’s involvement proved to be a roaring success. He worked hard all day long, mainly labouring jobs, such as digging and carrying but he loved every minute. All the men were amazed at how fit Luke was – he still seemed as fresh at the end of the day as he was at the beginning.
    The renovation was a big job but on the whole it went very well. There were some very ambitious aspects of the project and some days both Bert and Luke would be scratching their heads. Sue and Luke decided they wanted an indoor swimming pool in one of the outbuildings and Luke insisted on a large space to incorporate a gym. The children were encouraged to add their touches to the new property and they both decided that everything should be as green as possible. That meant that one roof of the barn had to be strengthened to hold a large array of solar panels. In addition there was a lengthy delay whilst research took place to find the optimum site for a wind turbine.
    Finally the main house and swimming complex were finished. There was still a lot of work to do with the outbuildings and other parts of the property but Luke and Bert agreed to put that off for a few months so that the family could settle into the house and begin to relax. The builders moved out and the Lindens – together with Nell Grimes moved in. Nell now had her own living space over the triple garage – complete with living room, bathroom and kitchen.
    Luke was still looking out of the window when he sensed a movement behind him. On one of the couches was what appeared to be a massive black and tan fur coat. On closer inspection the coat morphed into a very large Alsatian dog. Stretched out alongside the large dog was a tiny Yorkshire Terrier. Within seconds both dogs went from complete idleness to a state of heightened awareness. The Alsatian pricked his ears and a low growl came from somewhere deep in his throat and the Yorkie acted in a similar fashion. At almost the same time Luke heard the intercom from the gate bleeping. “Well done Biff, Bam-Bam.” he said. All that money spent on security and the dogs were still probably the best security device of all.
    He moved towards the screen and he saw that the car at the end of the drive belonged to Harry.
    â€œWhatever you are selling we don’t want it!” he barked into the speaker.
    Harry growled back. “I hate this machine. Anyone would think you were protecting Fort Knox! Hurry up and let me in.”
    Luke