“Yeah. We went to the footie together a lot and during away matches he’d come to my place or I’d go to his to watch it on the telly. We went drinking together too.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Three days ago,” he sighed. “He came to mine to watch the match.”
“How was he?”
“Fine. A bit quiet, unless he was watching the footie. He really threw himself into a match, shouting and yelling at the telly. He made it great fun, he would come out with some pretty funny shit but that day he just stared at the screen and didn’t say much. I got the feeling he wasn’t even watching it, like he was lost in his own head, you know. When I asked him what was wrong he said he wasn’t feeling well. He went home at about five o’clock that afternoon and I never saw him again. Poor bastard,” he said a little sadly.
“What about the days before he died? What was he doing? Who was he with?”
“I don’t know. He became hard to get hold of and didn’t want to come out for a pint anymore.”
“So he had a lot on his mind?”
“Yeah.”
“Any idea what?”
“No but he was worried about something. Now I think it’s because he knew someone was after him.”
“Mickey Gunning?”
“No,” snorted Warren. “The police asked me that but whoever frightened him was scarier than Mickey.”
“Like who?”
“No idea.” His eyes widened. “It was you lot, wasn’t it? You killed him.”
“Us?” said Vance with feigned innocence. “The losers who are up their own arses?”
“Yeah, you,” he breathed.
“So you think we killed Dillon then came here to ask you who you think did it?”
Vance’s logic slowly permeated Warren’s not very quick brain. “Maybe not.”
“Exactly. This wasn’t down to us.”
“I’ve no idea who killed him. If I did they’d be fucking dead by now but Dillon wasn’t easy to scare and he was afraid, I’m sure of it.”
“And you’ve no idea of who? He didn’t hint at anything?”
“Nope.”
“Can you think of anyone who might know?”
He shook his head. “No one has a bloody clue. His murder’s been the main topic of conversation and everyone’s baffled.”
“Could it be someone from out of town?” said Caleb.
“Possibly. That would explain why no one has any idea who did it. Unless there was some random loony in the park and Dillon was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Why was he in the park in the first place?” said Vance.
“No idea. Dillon wasn’t a park kind of guy. Nightclubs, boozers, bookies, they were more his scene.”
“So someone definitely lured him there to kill him,” said Faith. “But why?”
“What did Dillon say about working for us?” Vance asked Warren.
His eyes flicked around the room in panic. “Not much.”
“Judging by your reaction he said a lot. Just give it to us straight, we’re grown-ups, we can take it. We won’t blame you for what he said.”
“All right, as long as you remember this is Dillon, not me.”
All three of them nodded.
“He said you didn’t deserve the money and power you had. So many people in this town have worked in the game for years and were much more experienced. He thought the Maguires had made a mistake handing it all over to your family. It caused a lot of resentment.”
“Did he think he was more worthy than us?” said Faith.
“Yeah. Actually, he thought he was more worthy than anyone else in Blackpool.”
“So he was bitter?” said Vance.
“That’s an understatement.”
“Did he come into any extra money?”
“Not that I saw. He was very private about his finances. If he had he wouldn’t have told anyone, he’d be too afraid of someone asking him for a loan.”
“Is there anything else you can think of that could help us find who did this?” said Vance, unaware he sounded like a police officer.
“No, that’s it.”
“Thank you for your time Warren,” said Faith. “I’m sorry we had to get rough with you.”
“No worries. Happens all the time in this pub.”
They exited the back room into the main bar area.
“Going so soon?” Lil purred across the room at Caleb.
“Sorry gorgeous,” he replied. “We’ve got a lot on.”
“Come back when you’ve got some free time. You look like you could use some loosening up.”
“I will,” he smiled as he followed his brother and sister outside.
“I thought you were distancing yourself from Lil,” Faith asked Caleb once they were back in the car.
“I tried but I keep getting drawn back to her. I’ve got a plan though – I’m going to ask her out on a date to the cinema and if she says no then I’ll end it for good.”
“You’ve said that before.”
“I know but I mean it this time. I’m tired of being used as her personal sex toy.”
“You need to find someone else to take your mind off her,” said Vance as he drove.
“I’ve tried with lots of women at the club but they’re all so shallow and boring. Lil’s got so much personality and life in her. No one else can compete. But I’m determined to stick to what I’ve decided this time. Abi getting engaged was a bit of a wake-up call. I want something more.”
“You’ll find it,” said Faith. “Once you’ve cut yourself loose from Lil. It won’t happen until then.”
“I know. Anyway, what are we going to do now?”
“Dillon was an ungrateful bastard,” said Vance. “We paid him good money and all the time he was calling us behind our backs.”
“It’s not a surprise really,” said Faith. “We knew our position put a lot of backs up.”
“How many more people who work for us are bad-mouthing us behind our backs?” muttered Caleb. “Ungrateful twats.”
“Who gives a shit what they think,” said Faith. “But that makes it even more important that we make an example of whoever stole from us. If we don’t then all those people who feel about us like Dillon did will hit us too.”
“So no pressure then,” sighed Caleb.
“What is it?” Faith asked Vance when his body went rigid.
“I’ve just had a thought,” he said, pulling the car up at the kerb and tugging his phone out of his pocket.
“About what?”
“Who we’re dealing with. What everyone said about no one new in the area with the capability to pull this off. If they were out of town someone somewhere would know because strangers would need local contacts but no one does. All the usual faces are as clueless as we are and that’s because they’re not the usual faces.”
“What the hell are you banging on about?” said Caleb.
Vance played the footage of the robbery at the vault and turned it round for them to see. “They used an hydraulic door breacher because they’re police officers. They used police techniques to restrain our men because they’re police officers.”
Faith shook her head. “No, not again.”
“I don’t think the police rooted out all their bad apples. Who are you calling?” he said when she took out her phone. Vance noted her hands were shaking as she dialled.
“Matthew,” she said when he answered. “Some of Marlow’s men are still in your station. They stole the product.”
Matthew received Faith’s call when he was shut away in his office at the station, sifting through the evidence into Dillon’s murder. He was glad he was alone when he answered because what she had to tell him knocked him sideways.
“What evidence do you have?” he asked her.
“None but we’re sure we’re right. I’ll send you the footage of the vault being breached. Vance said they used police techniques and equipment and he should know. I’ve also felt l
ike I’ve been being watched.”
“Why did you never say?” he exclaimed, thinking of all the times they’d met to talk.
“Because I thought it was my imagination after what Marlow did to me. I never thought the danger was real because nothing happened.”
“Christ Faith,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I’m sorry but whoever did this works with you. Be careful Matthew. You were instrumental in bringing down Marlow. Whoever it is might want revenge.”
“They’ve had time to take it and never bothered.”
“It doesn’t mean they won’t. Have you any idea who it could be?”
“No. All my officers are good people.”
“But they’re not all your officers. The ones responsible might be in a different unit.”
He sighed heavily, feeling a bit sick. God he hoped it wasn’t happening again. “Counter-Corruption went through this station with a fine-tooth comb. If there was anyone else they would have found them. Marlow’s accomplices grassed on each other.”
“What if there were some officers Marlow’s own people didn’t know about? What if Marlow kept their identities a secret from the rest?”
“Why would he do that?”
“God knows but it’s something he would do.”
Matthew knew she was right but he didn’t want to believe it. “Maybe.”
“How has your investigation into Dillon’s death been going? Has there been any interference?”
“No, none at all. The case is going swimmingly. The only problem is that we haven’t caught who did it yet.”
“Someone could be stopping you from finding the guilty party.”
“I’ve seen absolutely no sign of that and all my officers are putting a hundred and ten percent into it. You could be wrong Faith.”
“Perhaps but you still need to be careful.”
“I will be. I’ll see what I can find out, okay?”
“Yes. Thank you,” she replied, sounding a little relieved that he was taking her seriously.
He hung up, tossed his phone onto the desk and went to the window to think. Was it possible some bad apples had been missed and they were slowly corrupting the barrel without anyone realising? He couldn’t take the chance. There was no choice, he had to look into it.
He exited his office and stepped into the main CID office where the majority of his detectives were gathered together, gabbling into phones, furiously typing at their computers or discussing the various cases they were investigating. They were all hard-working and good detectives. None of them were corrupt, he was sure of it.
“Sir,” said DS Talbot, a very capable and intelligent officer.
“Not now,” he said, waving her aside.
“Sir, are you all right?” she asked him as he walked by her.
“Fine,” he murmured vaguely. “I’ve just got…something to do.”
With that he strode straight out of CID, not sure where he was headed but knowing he needed to get away from his colleagues until he’d gathered himself together.
He walked through the station, staring mistrustfully at every officer that passed him by, still unable to believe any of them were traitors. The investigation into the corruption in this station had been extremely thorough and they’d been confident every rotten apple had been binned. All Marlow’s corrupt officers were now serving time behind bars. Even Superintendent Gallagher had been given seven years for his role in hiding evidence, setting up Vance and protecting Marlow. He’d heard Gallagher wasn’t coping very well with life behind bars. He’d been replaced by a superintendent from Manchester called Oakes whose role was to keep an eye out for any more corruption and he was very good at his job. Even the more senior officers were wary of him, knowing he was there to root out corruption and incompetence and they were still in the bad books for not noticing the rot in the first place. The station ran much more efficiently since Oakes had joined them and Matthew couldn’t imagine anyone like Marlow or his merry band hiding in the station again with him in charge. He couldn’t even go to Oakes with this information as that would mean telling him where it had come from and he couldn’t very well say he was in collusion with the Chambers family as he’d be prosecuted for corruption too. He must keep this to himself, do his own quiet little investigation and if he unearthed any proof then he would take it to the superintendent.
There was another possibility – that Faith had created this theory thanks to the trauma Marlow had imprinted upon her. She wasn’t usually the hysterical type but she had been through an ordeal that he knew she hadn’t even begun to get over. Vance had said the crew who’d robbed the vault used police equipment and techniques but that didn’t mean they were police officers and he could understand Vance leaping to that conclusion when he’d had two years of his life stolen by corrupt officers.
Matthew exited the station, crossed the car park and passed through the gate leading into the industrial park packed with big name shops and supermarkets. It was the same route he’d taken to escape Marlow’s men when they’d been after him and he thought it ironic he was taking it now, as though he was trying to escape something he didn’t want to think about.
A thought occurred to him - what if whoever did over the Chambers family weren’t serving police officers but ex-police officers? Now that would make much more sense. They would have the training necessary to carry off that robbery and they would know how to get hold of and operate an hydraulic door breacher. God he hoped that was the case. He couldn’t imagine anyone in his station being stupid enough to pull off a stunt like that when they were still being so closely watched by counter-corruption, unless whoever did it knew the robbery wouldn’t be reported. It wasn’t like the Chambers family could file a complaint but it would still be a very risky move. It made more sense that this was ex-police officers, but who? None of Marlow’s lot were still on the outside. He pondered talking to his grasses. Faith had spoken to everyone they could think of but they couldn’t say they were looking for their stolen drugs because that would damage their reputations. He however could ask his informants about a large amount of drugs flooding the market and they wouldn’t know what he was referring to.
After buying himself a drink and a sandwich from a supermarket, he headed straight to his car. He would speak to his informants about the drugs and hopefully they might know something about Dillon Enfield too.
“This place is great,” smiled Caleb.
They’d collected the keys for Eclectic from the estate agent and now he was standing in the middle of the main dancefloor with his siblings, surveying his new domain. The club wasn’t as big as Pulse but it was still one of the most popular nightspots in Blackpool, split into two levels. The ground floor was full-on loud music, dancing and shots, mainly frequented by the younger crowd and stag and hen parties who wanted to get blind drunk and make a lot of noise. The first floor was quieter and played more sedate music where customers could go to drink and chat or cosy up together in large comfortable booths. Here was also housed the VIP room, which was frequented by quite a few celebrity clients.
“So this bit’s for the plebs,” said Kevin. “And upstairs are the reality TV twats and crap footballers.”
“I see you’ve got a lot of hope for this place then,” said Vance.
“It’s all right I suppose. It’s not as awesome as Pulse. Look, it’s got that tacky eighties neon lighting.”
“That’s because it has eighties themed nights,” said Caleb.
“Why? Eighties music was proper crap.”
“A lot of people like it, especially the hen parties and they’re the most popular nights, so we will be keeping them on.”
“Oh God,” he sighed.
“Luckily for you, you’ll be staying at Pulse,” Faith told Kevin. “Vance will be the one helping Caleb with this place.”
“Thank Christ for that,” muttered Kevin.
“I love eighties music,” enthused Abi.
“The refurbishment st
arts tomorrow,” said Faith. “It’ll only take a week, the changes are just cosmetic and then we’ll have the launch party. All the tickets have sold out.”
“Oh my God,” breathed Caleb.
“You can handle it,” Vance told him, patting his shoulder. “You’re ready for this.”
“Cheers,” he replied with a nervous smile.
“Me and Michael are coming,” said Abi. “So if you need us, we can help out.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I’ll be here too for opening night,” Faith told him. “Kev and Jason will be running Pulse that night.” She stared hard at her two younger brothers. “So no getting pissed and no shagging women in the toilets. You’ll need to be on the ball.”
“We will be, no worries,” replied Jason. “And me and Kev have found the new storage place for the product.”
“If you say it’s a couple of streets from a police station I will lock you in a cupboard,” Vance told them.
“It’s not. Actually, it’s slap-bang in the middle of the town centre with dodgy people coming and going all the time, not wanting to be noticed by anyone.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” said Caleb when Kevin paused dramatically.
“It’s a porn shop,” he grinned, very pleased with himself.
“As in adult entertainment?” said Vance.
“Oh yeah,” he said, smiled broadening. “It’s only selling for eighty five thousand on an online auction, meaning we can buy it through a business name, so it won’t be linked to us. But that’s not the best thing.”
“It’s still got all its stock inside,” exclaimed Jason, unable to contain himself.
“I wanted to say that bit,” frowned Kevin.
“Fair’s fair. You told the rest of it.”
Kevin scowled at his brother before looking to the rest of his siblings. “They couldn’t find anyone who wanted to take it all on, so they decided to sell it with the building.”
“Urgh,” frowned Abi.
“Let me guess,” Caleb said to Kevin. “You’d like to run that shop?”
“Well, I won’t object if you’re offering, even though I have plenty of women now. I don’t need porn anymore.”
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