Written in the Scars (The Estate Series Book 4) by Mel Sherratt Page A

wanted to know.
    ‘Just routine questions for now,’ Andy smiled.
    ‘We were just helping a mate to clear his land.’
    Andy got out his notepad, smiling at a nurse as she walked past the bottom of the bed. ‘This mate of yours, was he there?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So he didn’t actually know you were clearing it?’
    ‘Of course he did. We were helping him—’
    Andy threw that day’s copy of the local newspaper down beside him on the bed. ‘While you were in here, it looks like your fellow criminals decided to do the haul without you.’
    Sam snatched up the newspaper and read the heading on the page it was turned to.
    Robbery of electrical goods.
    The sneaky bastards. They had only gone and done the job even though he was in hospital.
    ‘Still, like you said, it had nothing to do with you.’ Andy stood up. ‘Wouldn’t be like you, profiting from anything like that.’
    Sam couldn’t look at him. His features were stuck in a glare.
    Andy made his way to the end of the bed. ‘I’m off to catch up with Johnstone now, see what he knows about things. I’ve missed him while he was inside. ‘Course, if you hadn’t had your accident, I might never have found out who was cutting back the trees.’
    ‘Wait!’ Sam called after him but Andy kept on walking.
    When the policeman had gone, Sam got off the bed and headed down the corridor. The television room at the end of the ward was empty, the TV switched off, so he dived in out of the way. He sat down with a thud on a small settee.
    That bastard! After all Sam had gone through to clear the land so they could get decent access to the back of the industrial estate, Scott had gone ahead and done the job without him.
    Why hadn’t Scott been in touch? Was he trying to keep it from him? Sam got out his phone, keeping it on his knee while he punched in Scott’s number with his left hand.
    ‘Yeah?’ Scott answered.
    ‘I’ve just seen the paper. You did the job without me?’ Sam’s tone was incredulous.
    ‘’Course we did.’
    ‘So when were you going to tell me about it?’
    ‘You’ve been under a lot of stress, what with the accident and—’
    ‘Don’t fucking patronise me!’ Spittle flew from Sam’s mouth. ‘You’d better save my cut or else.’
    ‘Looks like you’ve already had one.’ Sam heard Scott snigger. ‘You were the stupid fuck that nearly cut his hand off.’
    ‘But you’re the one who caused the accident!’ Sam felt his body tense as he sat forward in the seat.
    ‘You’re no good to me now, so you’re off the team.’
    ‘What the—’ Sam stood up and paced the room. ‘You’re chucking me because I’ve had an accident?’
    ‘You won’t be able to do much for a while. You can always join us again once you’re back to normal.’
    ‘Things will never be normal again because of you. I’m scarred for life!’
    ‘Stop with the whining. It can’t be that bad.’
    ‘What would you know?’ There was a silence between them. Sam couldn’t trust himself to speak or else he would lose it.
    ‘You’ll get your cut,’ Scott spoke eventually.
    ‘I’d better, because if—’
    ‘Of course, it will only be equivalent to what you did, which wasn’t much.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You only did half the job so you only get half the pay.’
    ‘I nearly lost my fucking hand because of you!’ Sam lowered his voice as two nurses walked past the room and glanced in. ‘That money is my compensation. I want what’s mine.’
    The door to the room opened and a woman in pink stripy pyjamas and fluffy white slippers walked in, pushing a drip in front of her. She smiled shyly, then let it drop as she caught his eye.
    ‘I want my fair share,’ he repeated.
    ‘You’re no use to me as damaged goods.’
    ‘What did you say?’ Sam gasped but the phone had gone dead. Glaring at the woman before storming out of the room, he flounced down the corridor and back to his bed. Damaged goods? How dare Scott say that to him? It was all his fault. He’d make