In the Cage Where Your Saviours Hide

by Malcolm Mackay

  There was movement behind the woman on his right, someone who had presumably just come down the ramp. Darian looked away, assuming it was another of Viv’s people, looking to the left where he still thought his best chance of escape lay. There probably wasn’t an exit there. Surely Viv would have had someone to cover it if there was, but turning this into a race was his best hope. Then he heard the voice.

  ‘That’s probably enough.’

  It was a familiar voice, and when Darian turned he saw a familiar face move into the edge of the light. Sorley stood and looked at the brutal people looking back at him. He didn’t flinch, and didn’t look to have a single drop of the nerves Darian was suffering from. The reason for his calm became clear when the other shadows around him moved into the dim light by the bottom of the ramp. There were two of them, two young men, both as ready and willing to embrace violence as their saviour as Viv’s people were. The former wrestler TLM stood on one side of Sorley, both of them looking positively dwarfish beside Gorm MacGilling. Supposing the seven-footer had been the only person Sorley had brought for backup, he would have looked enough to even the odds. There would be no guns there either, but they would be tooled, and they had bulk on their side.

  Viv looked at Sorley and said, ‘I remember when your gang was too small to stand in a fight like this.’

  Sorley said, ‘This isn’t a fight yet, just a get-together that doesn’t know how it’ll end.’

  Viv turned to Darian and said, ‘I told you to remind your brother about the last thing I said to him.’

  ‘I haven’t seen him since we last spoke.’

  Sorley, his voice bouncing across the large space, said, ‘It’s a hell of a thing when me and my wee brother see more of you than we do of each other, isn’t it, Viv? There’s a solution, though. I’m going to need you to give me your word that you’ll leave Darian alone.’

  Vivienne moved across the no man’s land to stand in front of Sorley. Gorm flinched when she moved, waiting for someone else to start the defence before he joined in, the sort of hesitation that had marred his basketball career. Viv stood what would have been nose-to-nose with Sorley if she hadn’t been five and a half inches shorter than him. In silhouette they would have looked like lovers, going for a kiss.

  She said, ‘Why would I give you my word?’

  ‘Because I did ignore the last thing you said to me.’

  ‘And why would you trust my word?’

  ‘Because I’ll always enjoy checking up on you.’

  She smiled at the idea he would be checking on her instead of the other way around. The smile disappeared and she turned her back on him, walked past Darian and over to the safety of her people. Darian had already taken a couple of short steps towards his brother, and moved a little more quickly now. This could still turn nasty and he didn’t want to be standing halfway between the two sides if it did.

  Viv said, ‘What good timing you have, Sorley. And what wisdom your little brother has, to call you for backup. We’ll see how well that wisdom serves you both.’

  She led her people through the blue door and up the stairs. They had come to beat someone up, not to fight. Viv wasn’t going to let this turn into something she might not walk away pristine from, big fights needed planning this did not have. The woman with the screwdriver shot a dirty look in the direction of the ramp, empty hatred for people she wasn’t sure why she despised. The door shut behind them and Gorm breathed out the hurricane he’d been holding in, TLM laughing nervously.

  They waited a few minutes to be sure they didn’t bump into Viv’s lot on the way out. Wouldn’t do to dodge battle in the basement only to collide with it at the exit. Sorley’s two went up the ramp first to make sure it was clear and he and Darian walked slowly up behind them.

  ‘You’re gathering an interesting collection of enemies in a short space of time.’

  Darian said, ‘I didn’t upset her that much.’

  ‘You’re right, that wasn’t about Viv, that was about someone else. My guess is you’ve upset someone who’s leaned on Viv to try to scare you off. She’s good at scaring people is Viv.’

  ‘Except she didn’t want to scare me, did she? You turned up just in the nick of time and she tells her colleagues there that I called you for backup. I didn’t, so I’m starting to think she did.’

  Sorley smiled and said, ‘Viv’s a decent person, except for most of the time. Her letting you go doesn’t give you a free ticket; you still have to be wary of her. It just means she didn’t want to do the bidding of the dirty cop, that we’ll call DI Corey for simplicity’s sake, who sent her here in the first place. You be okay to get home in one piece?’

  They were out on the street, Sorley’s thugs eager to leave. Darian said, ‘I’ve got a car, I’ll be fine. Thanks, Sorley.’

  ‘No bother, but, remember, I ain’t the fourth emergency service so don’t expect me to turn up on a rescue mission again.’

  Sorley and his gang walked up Letta Road to the corner and disappeared round it. As Darian walked down to the Skoda he heard the sound of a car and a motorbike starting up. His big brother, still looking out for him, and then he thought of Corey. This dark business had moved onto another level, more vicious than before, and while it felt like he’d stepped out of a trap he knew this had to be the endgame. Corey had made a desperation play, a last resort.

  47

  DARIAN FELT EXHAUSTED and decided to go home. He dumped the food from Mr Yang’s in the bin, but he didn’t go to bed when he got back to the flat. Instead he sat at the living-room window and looked out at the lights of the city and the darkness of the loch, the lights of a single boat snaking through the water towards the southern docks. There was often a squat boat out dredging the loch in the darkness, keeping it clear for larger shipping than the first people to dock there had dreamed possible. It was a view that usually soothed him. His mind was racing and he was feeling frustrated, the overwhelming sense that the end of this investigation was close but wasn’t in his grasp. Corey still had the power, so he could dictate events while Darian had to sit and wait for things to happen to him.

  As he ran his finger over one of the many fissures in the table he closed his eyes and tried to line his thoughts up in a neat row. He had wanted to destroy Corey from the moment he met him, and he still believed he could. Going to Viv for help just showed how scared he was, how much he had to hide. All of this because of the Moses Guerra killing, and Corey’s devotion to covering it up. The cop knew more about what had happened than anyone, and it was another secret he would have to be forced to spill.

  It was a pathetic and selfish feeling and he shook his head when it ran through him, but he couldn’t help resent the fact it wouldn’t be him who got the credit for bringing Corey down. Whatever cop led the investigation into their colleague would get most of it; Sholto would be sure to gather up whatever crumbs were left, and Darian and Maeve would be left with little but a pat on the head for their efforts.

  Darian took a look at his watch and tried to work out where Corey would be right at that moment. Viv would have been in touch with him by now, would have told him she confronted Darian, but that Sorley and his gang showed up and forced them out of the building. Corey would hit the roof, accuse her of chickening out and blame her because his last resort was closing down. Viv would probably shrug it off, a smart enough woman to know that Corey had reached the end of his rope and might be out of her hair if she could play for time just a little longer. Hard to know what a man like Corey might do next.

  Darian looked down at the street where Gallowglass had been sneaking around stalking him. Darian wanted to do something, to break the inactivity and quieten the voice telling him he needed to be out in Challaid making use of the dark hours before someone else did.

  The heavy silence was chased from the flat by the shrill ring of his phone, lying on the table. He was guessing it would be Maeve, Sholto or Sorley, and wasn’t expecting any of them to be calling with good news. He picked it up and lo
oked at the screen. A number with no name was showing, someone who had never called before. That made him nervous, but he pressed green anyway.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘This is finishing now, Ross, it’s finishing now. I’m not letting him get what he wants, I’m going to get that bitch of a girlfriend of yours and you’re all going to tell the truth about it, you understand me?’

  The phone cut off. It had been the angry voice of a young man spitting with emotion. Young in that he was younger than Corey, but not as young as Darian was at the time. The sound quality had been poor, but he was sure it was Gallowglass, ranting into his phone as he drove. That had been the background noise, the drone of an engine moving fast and needing a gear change that a driver with his phone in hand couldn’t execute yet. A man barely in control of himself and his car.

  The threat was to Maeve. Gallowglass was going there and he was going to get her, and his reasons made little sense in the few seconds he’d spent shouting them. Gallowglass was driving to Maeve’s flat. He called Maeve, growling for her to answer as the phone rang through to voicemail. He tried again with the same result.

  Darian sprinted out of the flat, the keys to the Skoda in his hand, pulling the front door shut behind him with a slam. He jumped down the stairs two at a time, almost falling down them, and ran out into the street. It was the one time he drove the Skoda and didn’t notice the smell, pulling out into the middle of the road and racing east through Bank. There were still plenty of cars on the road – there are at every hour in this city because there’s never a better alternative – and the city didn’t race past nearly as fast as he wanted it to. It felt like the longest drive up the east side he’d ever made, despite the fact he almost lost control a couple of times when he clipped the kerbs, calling her again on the phone and getting no answer. He turned onto Sgàil Drive and stopped with a screech on the street outside her flat, parking between the car he had seen Gallowglass drive when Maeve took him to see Gallowglass’s house and the car in which Corey had taken him for his nocturnal chat after their unexpected encounter in Moira’s house.

  CONFIDENTIAL INVESTIGATION INTO CONDUCT OF DC RANDULF GALLOWGLASS, CONDUCTED BY DI ADOLPHO PUGA, BAKERS MOOR STATION

  SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS –

  • DC Gallowglass did attack [redacted] on Fair Road in Earmam, breaking his nose and a tooth and then refused to call for medical treatment before questioning him. There was insufficient evidence to suggest [redacted] was a suspect in reported crime.

  • DC Gallowglass repeatedly pursued suspects in cases that were not assigned to him, interfering in areas of investigations and districts of the city where his work obstructed other officers, despite multiple warnings.

  • DC Gallowglass, in at least one provable case, suppressed evidence against a suspect he considered a source of information, and in so doing prevented a charge and likely conviction being brought against that suspect.

  • DC Gallowglass used his position to pursue vendettas against several individuals who had angered him, either by refusing to work as a source for him or by proving investigations of his to be wrong. These vendettas included threatening the individuals and harassing them by informing neighbours and employers that the individuals were under investigation by Challaid Police when they were not.

  • DC Gallowglass did attack [redacted] in a corridor of Cnocaid police station. DC Gallowglass had gone to the cell in which [redacted] was being held and attempted to force her to talk to him without a lawyer present. He did become violent when she refused, dragging her out into the corridor and striking her twice about the head.

  In the course of investigating the conduct of DC Gallowglass I have found evidence of seventy-one clear breaches of conduct and twelve criminal offences of varying severity on his part. His colleagues have repeatedly stated that they no longer feel safe working with him, and his behaviour towards fellow officers, witnesses and suspects has routinely fallen far below that expected of a serving officer. For the sake of the dignity of the force and the trust of the public, it is not conscionable that DC Gallowglass should remain a serving officer.

  Further to the investigation into DC Gallowglass’s conduct, I recommend that those working most closely with him, particularly his direct superior officers, be investigated. In light of the catalogue of misdemeanours carried out by DC Gallowglass, it is improbable that none of his direct superiors could have been aware of his conduct. Several officers have informed my inquiry that they reported DC Gallowglass to his superiors and yet not only was no action taken, no record of the complaints was kept and the complainants were made to feel intimidated within the station.

  Challaid Police continues to suffer low trust ratings among the public, and it is the actions of officers like DC Gallowglass that are to blame for this. He has been allowed to behave as though the laws he enforces do not apply to him, and not only must that culture end, Challaid Police must be seen to be the ones ending it before an external force does.

  48

  DARIAN COULDN’T REMEMBER if he locked the car or not as he ran into the flat, and an unlocked car in that area was a vulnerable beast. He sprinted into the building and up the stairs to Maeve’s flat, running along the corridor and seeing her front door open. His heart sank; Gallowglass must be in the flat.

  He stepped through the front door and saw a glut of people along the corridor in the living-room doorway. Corey was the first he saw, face red and angry, spit on his lip like he’d just been hissing at someone. He turned and saw Darian, his anger touching a new height, and he snarled at him.

  ‘Oh, brilliant, fan-fucking-tastic, look who else is here to join the party. More stupidity to throw on the pile. There isn’t one of you with an ounce of sense, not one of you.’

  He was trying to say it in a whisper but his rage twisted it into a hiss. Darian stepped along the corridor, getting close to the doorway so he could see what was happening inside. Corey was of little concern to him at the moment; it was Maeve he wanted to see.

  She was in the living area, back towards the window, a large kitchen knife in her hand. She was pointing it at Gallowglass, the big ex-cop standing in the middle of the room, staring at her, a concentrating silence. This looked like a standoff that had been going on a while, Gallowglass uncertain about going for Maeve when she had the knife and Maeve unwilling to push past him to the door because she didn’t want to have to get blood on the blade. All the while Corey was in the doorway, sniping at the pair of them.

  ‘Come on, Randulf, get out of there. You’ve lost the plot.’

  Gallowglass didn’t take his eyes off Maeve as he said quietly, ‘You’re going to arrest her, gaffer, you’re going to take her in and charge her. It ain’t going to be me. I’m not taking the fall for this. No way. No way.’

  Corey looked quickly at Darian and then back into the room, talking fast and quiet as though Darian might not hear him. ‘I don’t know where you got that into your thick ugly head but you’re not taking the fall for anything. Nothing. Now get out here.’

  Darian could see Gallowglass shaking his head. ‘No, you’re stitching me up. I should have known it from the start. Get rid of me. The pair of you are stitching me up. You hearing this, Ross? Your girlfriend and the cop, stitching me up from the beginning.’

  He was shouting the last sentence. He knew Darian was there and he wanted him to serve as a witness. That was the point of the phone call, to bring him here to bear witness to the ending. Darian couldn’t affect it, couldn’t change what had started without him, but he would be made to see the truth. That seemed to matter a lot to Gallowglass.

  Maeve spoke for the first time. ‘Don’t you come any closer, you’re scaring me.’

  That prompted Darian to take a step forward and try to push his way past Corey, but the old cop grabbed him roughly and shoved him back. He went nose-to-nose with Darian and said, ‘You stop trying to be a bloody hero; this ain’t the place for them, this is the real world.’

  Darian thought abou
t forcing his way through but he stopped. It seemed Corey wanted Gallowglass out of the room, and there was nothing else Darian wanted more. Corey had a better chance of making their shared ambition happen. The cop looked at him with disgust and turned away to talk to Gallowglass before he thought of another insult and turned quickly back to Darian.

  He said, ‘You know this is your bloody fault. You sticking your nose in, trying to solve every injustice like a dime-store batman. All you’ve done is make a bad situation worse. You made this.’

  Maeve shouted, ‘Don’t listen to him, Darian. This is his doing, him and Gallowglass. You were right about them both.’

  That provoked Gallowglass, as though it confirmed the fears that had driven him madly here. He took a step towards Maeve, Darian and Corey watching from the doorway, knowing they were too far away to stop it. Gallowglass lurched at her, grabbing out with both arms.

  Corey shouted, ‘Don’t.’

  The two men ran into the room but it was over, Gallowglass had jumped at her and Maeve had instinctively stuck out her hand. The knife had gone deep into his stomach, up to the handle, and Maeve had let go. She took a step back so that she was pressed against the window and watched Gallowglass. He stood still, looking down at the knife. His hands reached for it but when he touched it he grimaced and stepped back, scared of the pain he had created.

  He whispered, ‘I knew it.’

  Gallowglass took another step back and stumbled, all of his strength falling out of him as he tumbled. He fell against the wall of the room opposite Maeve and slumped down into a sitting position, the handle of the knife still protruding. He held his hands around the plastic but not on it, fearing it might move. Maeve stood and watched him. Corey stepped towards Gallowglass and stopped, unsure. Darian ran to Maeve and threw his arms around her.