by Koko Brown
Saoirse took her father at his word and bounced off. “I’m going to clean my teeth!” she yelled, disappearing around the doorway. As soon as she was out of sight, Lonán curved a warm palm around Rae’s cheek to give her a whiskery kiss. She didn’t pull back; instead, she rested her hands on his shoulders and kissed him back.
“Hi.”
“Hello,” she said the words against his mouth, lifted by her smile. She had to be the most insanely beautiful woman he’d ever met. “I didn’t mean to stay. Or for Saoirse to get in the bed with us.”
“She still does that,” he explained. “That’s why I don’t usually go to bed without something on. It’s only right. Now what do you want for breakfast?”
“Pancakes,” she suggested. “Seriously. Make those and I won’t go anywhere else for the rest of the day. Except maybe to get some underwear.”
Lonán pushed back the duvet. “Actually, I said I’d go and look at this girls’ school for Saoirse.”
Rae looked taken back. “Really? That’s huge!”
“Thank you for mentioning it, but we’re not talking about my man-flesh,” he teased, tugging on pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt. “Is it me or is it cold?”
“Freezing.”
He leaned across the bed to give her another kiss. “I’ll do something about that. Just come down when you’re ready. If you like, use my slippers.”
She stroked a hand over his chest. “I will if you don’t mind. Cold feet are the enemy.”
Bursting with near joy, he followed Saoirse down the stairs where she helped him mix a batch of American-style pancakes.
“Rae, I don’t have any syrup,” he yelled up the stairs. “Do you have any in your cottage?”
“In the pantry!” she called back. “Give me a minute, I’ll come with you.”
“Don’t worry yourself,” he yelled, stuffing his feet into boots and grabbing her keys from the coffee table in the living room. “Listen, Saoirse, don’t start baking before Rae comes down, okay? I haven’t even put the bacon in.”
Saoirse bowed. “Yes, Dada, sir.”
He laughed, feeling lighter and happier than he had in months. Leaving the door on the latch, he loped across the street and opened Rae’s door.
The shot slammed into his shoulder. The noise disturbed him more than the pain of the bullet. He glanced down to see red streaming into his pure white T-shirt. The keys dropped from his hands and he stumbled back quickly, just as the second bullet whizzed past his ear. Had he stayed in the same place, his brains would have been scattered on the ground.
Jesus, Saoirse! Please God, whatever happened to him, let his daughter survive. Please God…
The man approached him, smoothing a hand along the barrel of the weapon. “Where is she?” he demanded.
Play for time. “You nearly killed me!”
The man bent down to his level. The stench of stale cigarettes and body odour, in combination with the pain in his shoulder, made bile rise in his throat. “I will if you don’t talk.”
“She who?”
“You had keys. Don’t play for time. You don’t have it. Where is she?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement.
He suddenly understood the woman he had formed some pretty intense feelings for was absolutely dangerous.
FOURTEEN
Atarah heard the shot. Quickly, she turned to Saoirse. “Where does Dada keep his secret things? For work?”
“Under the rug,” Saoirse answered. “What’s wrong?”
Atarah moved the table with a grunted shove. Saoirse thought it was a game and found it funny to lift the rug back. A bolt shoved to the side revealed a range of weaponry underneath the floorboards. She grabbed the first weapon and inserted a clip. Sliding back the release, she unlocked the safety and told Saoirse to go and hide.
“Stay there until me or Dada gets you. Okay?”
Atarah looked out of the window and saw Lonán crawl from the cottage and a man follow him leisurely. She took one deep breath, wrenched opened the door with one hand and fired a clean shot with the other. The man dropped the weapon, howling in agony. She glanced from side to side, to see if anyone else remained in the vicinity.
Her heart pounded at the very notion of Lonán injured. How do I get to him? The road was so open. She’d have to risk it.
She rushed across the road, her head bent and skidded to Lonán’s side, skinning her bare knees. “Did you see anyone else?” she asked, quickly assessing him. He seemed to just have a flesh wound on his shoulder. Maybe it was a warning shot only. To get him to say where she was.
Oh fuck. She’d put them all in such terrible danger. All he’d wanted was for his child to be safe.
“Lonán, please talk to me. Did you see anyone else?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s no one else here. But I didn’t even notice this guy.”
“Because you were thinking about syrup, you silly man,” she laughed before tears began to sting her eyes. Fucking shitting hell. This was so not fair. Neither of them deserved it. Atarah did. Lonán and Saoirse didn’t. Not even a bit.
“Can you stay here a minute, and I’ll sweep?”
“I don’t think I can move, sweet pea,” he said wryly. She pressed a kiss to his lips and whispered I’m sorry to his cheekbone. Keeping low to the ground, she got up and hovered over the man who tried to kill Lonán.
“You shot me, you bitch!” he hollered, writhing in pain. “I’ll lose my hand!”
“Maybe,” she murmured, patting him down and taking his mobile, along with the dropped gun.
His dark red blood pooled into the wooden floors and with yet another wince, Atarah realised that Xiu would need to replace them. Like everything else she’d touched.
She swept through the living room then dragged Hand-Man into the kitchen, away from Lonán. What to secure him with? Hmm.
She remembered she had twine in the pantry. Quickly she secured a napkin to his hand, and then tied them both to the pipe under the sink. Certain he was secure, she stuffed a kitchen towel into his mouth to shut him up, then she edged upstairs. If there was anyone else, they couldn’t have missed the sound of those two shots.
Movement behind the bedroom door made Atarah kick it forward. An “oof” rang out and Atarah followed with a kick to the face. Another man fell into the headboard of the bed and a sickening crack rang out as his skull slammed into the concrete floor. Atarah stood over him, gun right between his eyes.
“What the fuck do you want?” she hissed.
“Sybilla needs you gone. Before you talk. She knows you’re here with a copper.”
“More fool her,” she said simply. With an index finger, she touched the wound in his head. Eyes rolling in pain, the man slumped in unconsciousness.
His phone began to ring in his jacket pocket and Atarah thought, why the fuck not?
“Is it done yet? The lazy bitch will probably still be in bed.”
“The lazy bitch is very much awake, and now really pissed off.”
She heard the smile in her former boss’s voice. “Are you? How intriguing that you managed to escape yet another clean-up. You are getting most irritating.”
“Same,” Atarah said with a flickered smile. She couldn’t see Lonán from the bedroom window, and she most certainly couldn’t see Saoirse. As long as the little girl was safe…
“I just don’t think anyone will miss you if you’re gone,” Sybilla said, her tone wistful.
“How on earth would you know? Hiding in a uniform makes you a far easier target, you do realise. I know all your weaknesses now.”
“What?” Her wistful tone disappeared immediately.
“Make of that exactly what you will. Don’t come here again. I’m not sticking around.”
She ended the call and threw the phone onto the man’s torso.
“Uniform?” Lonán said on a gasp. Atarah whipped around and saw him leaning in the doorway, gripping his shoulder. “Are you… Are you a copper?”
/> Xiu made sure he was outside the station when he made the call to Alan. “How’s my favourite lawyer doing?”
“I ain’t your favourite, don’t lie. It hurts.”
Xiu grinned. “Fair enough. You’re my second favourite.”
Alan gasped in outrage. “How dare you! Who’s first?”
“Don’t worry about it. Listen, can you arrange for Wen to be moved? Anywhere else?”
Alan sighed heavily. “Where that wouldn’t expect money?”
“Charge it to me. I’ve got some money left from my mother’s estate.”
He heard the discomfort in Alan’s voice. “Why would you do that?”
Xiu cleared his throat. “Because… Well, I just want to make sure that Wen isn’t exposed to any danger. We don’t know who trafficked him into this country. To them, he’s a commodity. And he’s missing money.” Xiu tilted his head back, blinking away tears. “He reminds me of me. And he deserves so much more than what he’s endured right now.”
Alan made a murmur of agreement. “I’ll see what I can find.”
“Al, make sure it’s something nice. London is one of the best cities in the world. Don’t stick him in a slum.”
“What the fuck do you take me for?” Alan growled. “I’m so fucking offended right now, watch me rent out the most expensive flat in Mayfair on your bill, you cunt.”
Xiu burst out laughing. “Thanks, Alan! Just what I needed. Oh, and don’t let me or anyone else know where he’s moved to. It’s for his own protection.”
Alan tutted. “This is the last time I do this for you. Dragging me into shit you can’t handle.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I really am. But look out for Wen. Okay?”
“Done. All right, you pansy, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Just to confirm Wen is out of the safe house. ASAP, yeah?”
“All right, stop hassling me, you wife!”
Xiu ended the call and returned to the incident room. He could rely on Alan. By the end of the day, Wen and his mother would be out of the safe house, away from the prospect of murder.
He needed some sort of smoking gun to link Nicodeme to Chambers and her husband. There was no way he’d get clearance to look through Chambers bank statements or her phone or e-mail.
E-mail. IP addresses.
He swiftly dialled an extension.
“Hey Shannon, you all right?”
“What do you want, Xiu?” the officer asked.
“What are you eating?”
She sighed. “I’m on a fruit and veg diet. Trying to get slim for my holiday to Vietnam. So what do you want?”
“I just need a small favour. And I’ll bring you a white chocolate Twix.”
A pause on the line made him chuckle. “Bring me two and I’ll do it. Actually, hold on what is it you want me to?”
“I need you to trace an IP address for an e-mail. Has to be on the DL.”
Shannon grunted. “You trying to impress the Chief again? You’re such an arse kisser.”
“That I am, but I’ll take you with me to the heights of the detective world. Can you?”
“All right, send it to me by e-mail.”
“Can I come down with it?”
“Oh, for goodness sake!” she burst out. “Bring that chocolate with you.”
Xiu put the phone down and made his way to the tech room. Chambers saw him and called out, “Why aren’t you fixed to your desk, getting me names on my murder victim?”
“Just getting a decent coffee. Do you want one?” he lied.
She waved him away and he continued his journey. Shannon kicked out a chair for him as soon as he approached her desk. “Chocolate offering goes here.” She tapped her mesh filing tray. He made his sacrifice and pushed over the IP address written down to her.
“Why off the grid? You’re not telling me that it’s someone here…” Her mocking laughter began to fade once she caught Xiu’s expression. “Are you serious? Someone here has done what? Is it paedo porn?”
“Jesus, Shannon, no!” Although what he’d seen on Nicodeme’s phone would count. He longed for the day those images would stop haunting his brain. “It’s not paedo porn, but it’s important I know where a pretty intense e-mail came from.”
“Is it the murder? The guy who was castrated and…” She mimicked a gunshot to the head, along with the sound of brains splattering like a fart.
“Maybe. I can’t be sure until you check the address,” he prompted gently. She nodded and straightened in her seat, facing the computer with determination. “Won’t take me long. Everyone is weirding out about the whole thing because forensics are saying he was killed by someone smaller than him or someone who had the disadvantage to him because of the surprise on his face. Can you imagine? Dying like that and looking as if someone just tweezered a hair out of your bumhole?”
Xiu made a noncommittal response, clasping his hands together for the patience of the angels. “Nope. Couldn’t imagine it.”
“I think Chambers will let you have a look at it, once it’s ready. They gave her the first bits and pieces… All right, the IP address is registered to… Here. Wait, what? How does that make any sense? It’s on our servers.”
Xiu sat back and breathed out slowly. It confirmed his fears that there was nowhere safe within the station. He took the IP address back. “Listen, don’t worry about it.”
“No, I can narrow this down to the computer. Each one has its own unique code.” She tapped in the address and her head barely moved from left to right as she scanned the numbers. “That really doesn’t make any sense.”
He caught her arm. “Listen to me, don’t say a word to anyone about this. Okay? For your own safety, don’t say a word.”
Shannon’s mouth parted and her eyes were wide, the whites shimmering through the lenses of her glasses. “Who could I tell?”
“Please. Just don’t. I wasn’t here, okay?”
She nodded, turning back to her computer. Then she gripped his hands. “Go to the chief. Go above this.”
“I don’t know if there’s anyone else I really can trust. Those links are strong. They all go out together, go on holiday together… Shannon, it’s as incestuous as anything. Look, I appreciate your help, but forget it, okay?”
She nodded and closed the search window. After a moment, she reached into her desk and pressed something into his palm. “If you think you’re being watched, or listened into, use this. It’ll interfere with it. I’d start with my car if I were you, and think about getting a new phone.”
He felt appalling for not being able to reassure her, despite her illuminating and entirely sensible advice, but the taint of corruption made it impossible.
The only thing he could do was to let Chambers make her move first. He needed to catch her in the act of the trafficking or actively trying to injure or kill Atarah. The idea of using her as bait made him ill. Almost as ill as finding her covered in blood and the brains of Nicodeme.
Xiu returned to his desk and sat down, rubbing his face. Chambers perched a buttock on his desk.
“No coffee?” she observed.
“I got distracted talking to someone about the forensics. Has that come back already?”
Chambers shifted slightly. “Yeah, I read through it. It’s not pretty reading, just to warn you. There were definitely three people in the room at the time of Nicodeme’s death.” A blush tinged Chambers’ cheeks. “And it was a brutal death. He really fought until the end.”
“That sounds like admiration,” Xiu observed, leaning back in his chair a neutral expression on his face. A hundred emotions rushed like a time-lapse over Chambers’ face, before she broke into a grin.
“Did you see the state of the place in the photos? It was like an Avengers/End of the World battle in there. Can only have been the result of the worst type of fight between two people.”
“You said there were three.”
“Forensics seem to think that the DNA they found on Nicodeme’s belt belongs to a you
ng boy. Who was the child you took to the hospital the other day?”
It was Xiu’s turn to control his emotion before he put his hands around Chambers’ neck and squeezed until the bitch choked. She would never, ever as long as he lived, get her claws into Wen. He’d kill her first without a second thought.
“I’ve no idea. Didn’t speak my language,” he lied, giving a careless bear-like yawn, which in turn made Chambers yawn.“Did social services assess him?”
“Probably, but God only knows when you’ll get a copy to follow up.”
“Well did you put them in touch with that lawyer friend of yours?”
Xiu shook his head, pressing his lips together in a disappointed expression. “He’s so busy these days, he barely takes my calls. And he’s all for confidentiality.”
“Erm, public policy trumps that.”
He shrugged. “Tell that to him. Can you forward me the report and I’ll get reading?”
“Absolutely.” She leapt off his desk and wandered to her office.
Xiu unclenched his fists and leaned forward until the pressure in his brain abated. He needed Atarah.
FIFTEEN
Atarah took gardening twine from the pantry and took the stairs two at a time to wrap one of the man’s hands around a radiator. He’d wake up shortly and Atarah had no interest in being here when he did.
Lonán swayed in the doorway.
“Did you hear me?” he demanded.
“I heard you and you’re wrong,” she replied simply. She removed her bag and started launching things inside. “I think adrenaline is doing weird things to your brain right now.” Looking up briefly, she nodded to his flesh wound. “I’ll sew that up in a moment.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m getting out of this shithole,” she explained, taking off his shirt and kicking off his slippers and diving into a pair of jeans and a jumper. Stalking into the bathroom she gathered everything she needed into her arms and carried into the bedroom. “And you and Saoirse need to come with me.
“What?” he burst out.
“You can’t stay here!” she cried. She took a calming breath and stuffed her feet into boots. “Those men are the tip of the flipping iceberg. These twats will have orders and as soon as they wake up…they’ll be after not just me, but you as well. Don’t, Lonán. Don’t be naïve.”