Midnight Smoke (The Firebrand Series Book 3)

by Helen Harper

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  I roared. Then I picked up my feet and sprinted for Tallulah, wrenching open the door and throwing myself into the driver’s seat. I should have acted sooner. I shouldn’t have allowed Devereau Webb to distract me from what was right in front of my nose.

  Esmeralda Strom wasn’t the boss of the gang; she hadn’t orchestrated the bank robbery. Lord Fairfax had. I’d known it as soon as I stared at Lukas’s keys lying in the plastic tray in front of the metal detector at Curtis Green.

  Scarlett had told me that Fairfax had installed metal detectors at his properties. Lukas had told me that he’d been forced to visit Fairfax instead of meeting me for dinner. The others had probably all done the same recently – Mosburn Pralk certainly had. And if they’d removed their keys to pass through Fairfax’s detectors, all it would have taken was someone to note down the numbers etched into the metal to know which safety deposit boxes to target.

  Not only that, Fairfax had known that Esmeralda Strom held a grudge against the Talismanic Bank because Pralk had told him all about it. Even Toffee had seemed to think that I was investigating her own alpha. She’d doubted him – and she was one of his top beta wolves.

  The evidence was circumstantial but there was enough to damn him. I’d been trying to give Fairfax enough rope to hang himself and confess what he’d done. Instead, I’d given him the opportunity to escape. I’d allowed a power-hungry alpha werewolf with a propensity for violence to run away and rampage through the streets of London. Anything could happen.

  I heard Lukas shout but I didn’t pause. It was safer for him if he stayed away. Bringing down one of the supe leaders was something for Supe Squad – and that meant me. I revved Tallulah’s engine and took off in pursuit as Fairfax’s car reached the end of the road and turned right.

  Tallulah seemed to recognise the urgency and let me accelerate with surprising ease. I paused briefly at the crossroads to avoid being hit by oncoming vehicles. When I reached the end of the road, I spun the steering wheel right and strained my eyes for Fairfax’s tail lights. Darkness was already falling and it was difficult to be sure what vehicles were up ahead. I accelerated again, hoping that the car a hundred metres in front was the one that I wanted.

  ‘Come on, Tallulah,’ I muttered aloud. I changed gears and pressed my foot down harder.

  A motorbike pulled out in front of me from a side street. I cursed and swerved, narrowly avoiding it. Tallulah’s tyres screeched in complaint; her engine didn’t have anything like the same horsepower as Fairfax’s expensive car. But in these narrow streets, she had greater traction. There was still hope.

  The car ahead reached a roundabout and turned left. I held my breath while the shops and buildings around me became a blur of colour. Three seconds later I reached the same roundabout – and so did a lorry making late-night deliveries. It pulled out from my right and blocked my path. I had no chance; I slammed on the brakes and jerked forward with enough force to send a bolt of pain through my wounded shoulder. Tallulah’s engine stalled. I hissed and hastily re-started it. I turned as soon as the lorry had passed but it was no use; the car had vanished. It could have turned down any of the streets to either my left or my right.

  I drove down the road, trying to glimpse the vehicle, but there was no sign of it. I made an educated guess, took one of the roads to the right and headed onto a main city artery. There were more cars here, but none of them was the one I was looking for.

  I continued for another minute before I pulled over. Fairfax could have gone in any direction. Chasing him like this was never going to work; I had to think strategically.

  I sucked on my bottom lip and considered, and then it came to me. I knew exactly where Lord Fairfax would be going. He’d obviously realised that the gig was up so he wouldn’t dare stay in the city. He wouldn’t be afraid of me, but he would be terrified of the other alphas, Lukas and the Talismanic Bank. They were the ones he’d stolen from, and quite possibly planned to kill at the same time.

  I couldn’t imagine what he’d been thinking. I thought of Toffee’s corpse from the first time I had gone through the robbery. Fairfax hadn’t expected her to be at the bank and he’d been genuinely shocked by her death. But when you play with fire, you must expect to be burnt – and that others might be immolated in the process.

  ‘It’s alright, Tallulah.’ My voice echoed round the small car. ‘I know where to go.’

  ***

  London is served by six airports. In theory Heathrow, as the largest, was the most likely choice for Fairfax’s getaway. But the alpha werewolf was on the run and his best chance of escaping was to get away as quickly as possible – and that meant going to the closest airport. London City wasn’t far away. It only covered short haul destinations but that was all Lord Fairfax needed. He could hop on a plane to a European city and disappear, or continue his journey to a more far-flung place.

  I crossed my fingers that my instincts were correct and set off. At the same time, I grabbed my police radio. ‘Dispatch,’ I said as clearly as possible, ‘this is DC Bellamy of Supernatural Squad requiring urgent assistance.’

  The response was immediate. ‘This is Dispatch. Go ahead, detective.’

  ‘I have a dangerous suspect on the loose. I believe he’s attempting to fly out of the country. I need all flights out of London City Airport checked.’

  ‘What name are we looking for?’

  I ran my tongue across my lips. ‘There are three possibilities. He has three fake passports in the names of Johannes Muller, Michael Hatt and Arnold Steenkamp.’ Fairfax had made a major error when he told me about the contents of his safety deposit boxes. At the time, he probably thought that being truthful would keep him in the clear – but he’d told me about the passports and the names on each one.

  ‘I’ll pass your request on to the relevant team and get back to you.’

  ‘Quickly, please.’

  ‘Noted.’

  The radio crackled and the disembodied voice disappeared. I concentrated on the road ahead, maintaining a good speed. By the time I was turning into the first London City Airport car park and haphazardly parking in the nearest space, I had my answer. This time it was a different voice. ‘DC Bellamy, this is Control.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘A South African citizen by the name of Arnold Steenkamp has just checked in for a flight to Zurich.’

  ‘Alert the airport police. He won’t risk carrying a weapon through an airport, but he is very dangerous. They should locate him but not approach under any circumstances.’

  ‘They are highly trained and very experienced. They can deal with all manner of people.’

  ‘I bet they’ve never dealt with an alpha werewolf on the run before,’ I said.

  The voice on the other end of the radio hesitated. ‘Werewolf?’

  ‘Alpha werewolf.’

  There was another pause. ‘I’ll inform airport police immediately. When can they expect you?’

  I glanced up, estimating the distance between the car park and the main terminal. ‘Three minutes.’

  ‘Very well.’ The radio clicked off. I dropped it, jumped out of Tallulah and slammed her door closed. And then, yet again, I began to run.

  My feet smacked against the bare concrete. A family heaving large suitcases out of the boot of their car froze to stare at me. I ignored them – and the couple arguing about whose responsibility it had been to pack their passports – and swung towards the door, taking the steps three at a time.

  Inside the terminal I discounted the travelator as too slow, given the numbers of travellers ambling along it, and sprinted down the corridor towards the check-in gates. Spotting two fluorescent-jacketed security officials, I headed straight for them.

  ‘I’m DC Bellamy!’ I yelled. ‘Where…?’ I didn’t have to finish my sentence. They were ready and they knew who I was.

  ‘ID?’

  I dug out my warrant card and held it up. The nearest one examined it quickly before
nodding and pointing at a door. ‘This way. We can bypass security. Your wolf has cleared immigration. We can stop him ourselves and—’

  ‘No.’ I was adamant, not because I wanted the glory for myself but because there was a real danger that Fairfax would turn furry and go crazy. A bus being hijacked by fake werewolves and the London Eye being brought to a standstill by a fake vampire had caused chaos, but that would be nothing compared to a werewolf transforming in the centre of an airport. I knew supes and I knew Lord Fairfax. This was my responsibility.

  The three of us ran for the door. We swung first one way, then another, emerging into a bustling crowd of weary travellers, duty-free shoppers and excited holidaymakers.

  ‘Which way?’ I demanded. ‘Where is he?’

  The shorter of the two officials pressed a finger to his ear and listened to his earpiece. ‘Left,’ he grunted. ‘In front of the café by Gate Nine.’

  I took off and the officials followed in my wake. There were people everywhere and I was forced to weave in and out to get through them. Fortunately, this wasn’t a large airport and, after dodging round a group of drunk businessmen on their way home after a long meeting in the city, I saw Fairfax. He was standing stiffly, a taut expression on his face. And he wasn’t alone.

  I came to a halt. An armed guard strode up to me, one hand on his gun, more than ready to intervene. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. ‘Should we evacuate the airport?’ he asked.

  I shook my head, hoping I was making the right call. ‘No. He’ll come quietly now he knows we’ve got him.’ I gestured at the three people standing beside him. ‘The others are humans. They need to be arrested as well.’

  Guards and police were appearing from all sides. Airport threats were taken very seriously indeed. ‘Stay back,’ I ordered. ‘I’ll call you if I need you.’

  Like all werewolves, Fairfax possessed supernatural senses. Although the blonde woman was jabbering at him furiously, he looked up and glanced round. He noted the sudden increase in security personnel. Then his gaze swung to me. Well, hello.

  Lord Fairfax went white as a sheet. He stepped away from the trio of irate humans but Moustache Man was having none of it. He reached forward to grab Fairfax’s collar and haul him back, but the werewolf muttered something and the man stalled. His head whipped round, but it was too late. I was already stalking towards them.

  ‘DC Bellamy.’ A yellow sheen rolled over Fairfax’s irises. ‘You followed me here.’

  ‘Not exactly.’ I smiled nastily. ‘Let’s just say I had an inside track on what you were up to.’

  ‘Bastards,’ the woman hissed. ‘She’s with the police?’

  The bespectacled man, who Adam Jones had dubbed ‘the professor’, shuffled to the side. ‘I don’t know any of these people,’ he declared loudly.

  Yeah, yeah. ‘Take a look around,’ I murmured. ‘There are a lot of guys here with a lot of guns. This is an airport. There’s no chance you’ll walk away from this. If you try anything – if any of you try anything – you’ll be shot dead instantly. Your only chance is to come quietly.’

  ‘Why?’ the blonde spat. ‘Why should we? We’ve not done anything wrong!’

  ‘You robbed the Talismanic Bank.’ I spoke calmly but implacably. None of them were getting away, not from here, not now. The best-case scenario was that they’d allow themselves to be arrested without making a scene.

  I pointed at their bags. ‘I’ll take a wild guess that you’ve got more in there than a trashy novel and a toothbrush.’

  ‘You … you … you…’

  Moustache Man made a break for it as panic got the better of him. He spun round and sprinted to his right but there was nowhere for him to go. Within ten feet, three plain-clothed officers had leapt at him and brought him down to the floor. He didn’t even have time to call out.

  There were a few shouts and screams from the people around us but, as shock gave way to self-preservation, the other travellers scattered as they made the sensible decision to get the hell out of the way.

  I didn’t flinch. I simply looked at the other two. ‘You should be pleased,’ I said quietly. ‘This could have ended far worse for you. At least this way you’ll still be breathing when tomorrow comes. Drop the bags. Put your hands up, and lower yourselves to the ground.’

  The blonde and the professor exchanged looks then did as they were told. I jerked my head at the security officers who swarmed towards us and hauled away the hapless pair. I still didn’t know their names but it didn’t matter; they were merely puppets in this affair.

  I licked my lips before turning to their master. ‘Did you think,’ I questioned softly, ‘that you’d actually get away with a crime of this magnitude?’

  Lord Fairfax regarded me without blinking. Now that he’d recovered from his initial shock at my appearance and understood the inevitability of arrest, he’d recovered some of his equilibrium. With deliberately slow movements, he dropped his bag. He managed a small smile. ‘Of course I did. Otherwise why do you think I’d go to all this trouble?’

  ‘Why?’ I pressed. ‘Why steal from your own?’

  ‘You wouldn’t understand.’

  ‘Try me.’

  Fairfax sighed. ‘It wasn’t about money – I’m not that crass. The truth, detective, is that we’ve been losing ground for years. What the wolves need is someone like Lord Horvath, someone who can rise above the others and take charge. I knew that if I could weaken the clans I could make them stronger in the long run. It would show the others that we need to work together more closely. Disaster unites rather than divides. All the werewolf clans need to do to grow stronger is to join together, but that won’t happen unless there is a reason. The right leader can provide that reason.’

  I stared him in disbelief. ‘So you thought that you’d steal from your own kind then, when chaos ensued, you’d step up to lead all the clans?’

  ‘You look sceptical, but history is full of examples. The UN was formed after the horrors of World War II. The United States of America came into being after the thirteen revolted against the British.’

  ‘You’re hardly George Washington.’

  Fairfax shrugged. ‘Scoff all you like. It could have worked.’ A trace of sadness flashed across his face but I suspected he felt sorry for himself, not for loss of what he thought the werewolves could have become. He sniffed. ‘It would have worked. I don’t see why you’re so upset. It’s not as if anyone died.’

  I almost laughed aloud. ‘But you wanted them to die. You wanted several people to die.’ I stared at him. ‘Your plan was to sell the contents of the safety deposit boxes back to their owners. You were going to begin with Lord Horvath. You would arrange for him to meet the robbers somewhere quiet – Westminster Bridge in the middle of the night, perhaps.’

  Fairfax started.

  ‘You wouldn’t show up yourself. No – you’d get others to do your dirty work. That way, you’d have deniability. You’d arrange for the others to sell Lord Horvath’s things back to him. Except,’ I smiled grimly, ‘you also knew that he would never agree to such a thing. He’d never negotiate in that way. He’d try to bring down the robbers rather than hand over a ransom. So you’d make sure that you had Esmeralda Strom positioned at a distance to kill not just Horvath but the robbers as well. There would be no blame apportioned to any supes because the bank robbers would be identified as human. They’d be dead, so they couldn’t answer any questions. Lord Horvath would be dead and the vampires in chaos. The safety deposit boxes would be supposedly lost forever. Including, the box belonging to the Talismanic Bank with the names of unregistered supes inside it.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘I wonder what you’d have done with that list. More blackmail and bribery, perhaps?’

  ‘This is bullshit,’ Fairfax bit out. ‘There’s no blood staining my hands.’

  I ignored his pathetic attempt at denial. ‘And then, so you could be absolutely sure of your own success, you’d locate Esmeralda and kill her. After that, you could take all th
e glory at having solved the greatest heist and biggest murder the supernatural community had ever seen.’

  His voice dripped with hatred. ‘You’ll never prove any of that.’

  I didn’t take my eyes off him. ‘Probably not, but I won’t have to. You’ve already given me all the evidence I need by trying to run.’ I nudged his bag with my toe. ‘What’s in there? The real Hope Diamond? A couple of contradictory copies of Love’s Labours Won?’

  Fairfax stared. ‘You’re very well informed.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I am.’ I could feel the security officials and police around me growing impatient. It was time to bring this to an end. ‘You still have a small chance of redemption.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Hand yourself in. The world at large won’t find out that one of the werewolf alphas tried to be a criminal mastermind, and the supes’ reputation will remain intact. Or,’ I continued, ‘resist arrest and damn all the werewolves. Every clan and every wolf will be tainted by your deeds for decades to come. This is your last chance to be the werewolf alpha your clan believes you to be.’

  A tiny muscle throbbed in Fairfax’s jaw but other than that he was inscrutable. I had no clue what he was thinking. ‘The others will kill me for what I’ve done. You know that.’

  I thought about Lukas’s dead body lying on Westminster Bridge. Fairfax hadn’t pulled the trigger on that occasion but he might as well have. ‘I have no control over supe law,’ I said quietly. And then, because I remained a damned fool despite everything, ‘However, I will speak for you. As you say, nobody died.’ This time.

  Fairfax’s shoulders slumped and, in that instant, I was sure it was going to be alright. ‘Okay then,’ he whispered. ‘Okay.’

  ***

  Flanked by police officers and airport officials, I walked Lord Fairfax out of the airport. I couldn’t bundle him into Tallulah – it would have been highly inappropriate, not to mention dangerous – so I arranged via DSI Barnes for more suitable transport. A sealed prisoner transport van was already waiting for us in a quiet corner away from the public. Two grim-faced men opened the back doors and I handed over Fairfax.