‘What about the man I shot?’
Penrith grinned. ‘There’ll be a queue of people wanting to shake your hand. He’s wanted for all kinds of crimes throughout Europe. Albanian, very nasty man.’
‘And he knows who I am.’
‘Well, if you will go around shooting people… Where did you get the gun?’
‘It was in a drawer in Harris’s office. Lucy saw it when she got the car keys and slipped it into her pocket. No one searched her, and eventually she managed to pass it to me.’
Penrith nodded. ‘Impressive.’
It was. ‘It was… a surprise. I knew it was loaded from the weight, but there was no guarantee I’d have a chance to use it. We were lucky.’
‘Why would Harris have a gun in his desk drawer?’
‘To impress people, maybe, or intimidate them. To remind Justyna who was boss? You’ll have to ask him.’
‘I’m sure someone will.’
Caelan rubbed her eyes. ‘You lied to me. I trusted you, again, and you lied.’
‘No. I wound you up and let you go. I knew you could do this, would do it.’ He flicked through a pile of papers on his desk, found the one he wanted and held it out. ‘We have names for our three victims; we can return their bodies to their families. When you’re thinking about who’s done what and what could have happened, remember that. You couldn’t save them, but you saved the people who were wearing these,’ he waved the headdresses, ‘and all the others who would have followed them.’
Suddenly Caelan was exhausted. ‘You lied.’ She knew she sounded like a child, couldn’t help it.
Penrith held up a hand. ‘I’m not going to discuss this with you now. You’re tired, you’ve had… a difficult day. Go back to the hotel and we’ll meet tomorrow. You can scream at me as much as you like then.’ He grinned. ‘And bring me that invoice.’
* * *
When Caelan reached the street outside, she crossed the road and stood looking out over the Thames, watching the London Eye slowly turn, her arms wrapped around her body as she tried not to shiver. Shock, or just the cold? She didn’t know, couldn’t think, couldn’t begin to understand what had happened over the last few days.
After a couple of minutes, she became aware of someone standing beside her. She turned.
‘Thank you,’ Lucy Mulligan said. She too looked exhausted, shattered and hollowed out by what she’d seen and endured.
To Caelan’s horror, tears welled in her eyes. She swallowed them down. ‘Quite a few hours,’ she said.
Lucy gave a shaky smile, though it was clearly an effort. ‘I’ve had better days.’
Images flashed through Caelan’s mind – the shots, the blood, the tumbling bodies. ‘Me too.’
‘Sorry if I hurt your hand. I remember grabbing it a few times.’
‘Giving me the gun… You took a hell of a chance.’
Lucy shrugged. ‘What choice did I have? I didn’t know how to use it.’
Caelan glanced at her, angry though she knew Lucy wasn’t to blame. ‘I thought you were missing. How did you end up in the hotel?’
She stared at the ground. ‘James contacted me, told me he was in trouble, that I had to stay in a hotel he’d booked for me. He’d send some mates round to pick me up, make it look as though I was being abducted. Said it would confuse the people who were after him, and that I should stay hidden until he contacted me again. Well, he didn’t.’ She snorted. ‘I didn’t know at the time that he was in a room down the corridor. I had my laptop, a few books and plenty of work to do. James had got them to leave me loads to eat, so I was fine. Lonely, bored, but fine.’
‘Then what happened?’
‘Like I said, I didn’t hear from James, and I began to panic. Then I got a message from Tom – Tom Haslam – saying you’d been asking questions, saying you were my cousin.’
Caelan frowned. ‘You had your phone?’ Penrith had said she had left it behind.
Lucy shook her head. ‘Not mine. James told me to leave my personal stuff in my room, make it more convincing. He’d arranged for another one to be left at the hotel. Tom emailed, said he hoped I’d be able to read it as he knew I didn’t have my phone. I was confused, angry – I didn’t know what to do, what to think. James wasn’t answering his phone, and I thought I’d go and find out what was going on. Tom told me he could help; he told me where you’d be.’
‘But Nash and Harris already had Tom.’
‘They sent the email as if it was from him. I should have realised – it was a different email address, and it sounded strange, but then Tom can be… Well, anyway, I decided to go to Kwik Kabs. I didn’t question how Tom knew you’d be there, and I should have done.’
‘Because Stefan Harris knew I would be.’ Caelan ran both hands over her face.
‘You must be exhausted,’ Lucy said.
‘Exhausted, hungry, confused, angry. Those people…’
Lucy closed her eyes. ‘I know. I’ve never… I can’t imagine…’
‘They’ll be helped,’ Caelan said, to reassure herself as much as Lucy.
‘Do you know what James told me? The woman who was there doing the make-up – the auctioneer was her uncle. He used to do it for a living, apparently.’
Caelan’s mouth twisted. ‘Keeping it in the family. Lovely.’
They were quiet, listening to the sounds of the city, watching the river. After Big Ben chimed eleven o’clock, Lucy turned back to Caelan and smiled.
‘Fancy getting some breakfast?’
Caelan hesitated. She wanted to shower and sleep, but she heard the plea in Lucy’s voice. She didn’t want to be alone, and if Caelan was honest, it wouldn’t be a chore to keep her company.
As they crossed Westminster Bridge, Caelan’s phone rang. With an apology to Lucy, she answered.
‘Caelan?’ Nicky Sturgess said. ‘I’m sorry. Can we meet?’
Acknowledgements
It’s that time again…
Thank you to the lovely people at Canelo, and special thanks to Michael Bhaskar (as always) for his patience, understanding and advice.
Thank you to Jane Selley for her ace editing skills, and to Tom Sanderson for the amazing cover.
To anyone who has read my books, written a review or blog post, taken the time to contact me about my work – thank you.
Thank you to my wonderful family and friends, and my furry writing companions.
And finally, Tracy: thank you for your support, belief, and encouragement. I couldn’t have done it without you, and I wouldn’t want to even try.
Detective Caelan Small Series
Ask No Questions
Tell No Lies
Time To Go
Find out more
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
57 Shepherds Lane
Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © Lisa Hartley, 2019
The moral right of Lisa Hartley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788631013
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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