by Koko Brown
Lonán’s words stuck in his throat at the mention of the heartless bitch who sacrificed their daughter for her own useless hide.
“I suppose you can’t,” he agreed. “What do you want to do?”
“About all of this? I don’t know. I need to get a message to Xiu somehow, without being picked up by Sybilla. The absolute priority is Saoirse.”
“How you two have found each other,” he said, shaking his head. It threw him entirely how much his daughter adored Atarah.
Atarah shrugged. “She spoke to me. And I know this is really weird, but it felt like for the first time in years that someone has spoken to me. She’s a wise little soul. Not that I need to tell you that.”
“You probably do. She’s still the premature baby who couldn’t breathe on her own to me.” Lonán shook his head to clear his senses. He didn’t know what Atarah did to him, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from telling her everything. She’d take his whole soul if he wasn’t careful. “She’s been missing female company.”
Atarah tilted her head. “That’s it? She didn’t just see another battered soul and thought, I can help? She’s generous like that. I didn’t tell you what we did when she sneaked off to the cottage to see me. We baked a cake. So I have to bake her another red velvet, and to be honest, we owe her pancakes for the other morning.”
“We?”
“Yes, you and me. We played family morning and I want her to have that.” She drew her knees up to her chest. “Just in case.”
“In case of what?”
She sent him a sidelong glance. “You know what.”
“No, I don’t because I’m not going to accept that you’re going anywhere. If I were you, I’d look into alternative professions.” He caught her by the ankle and rubbed his palm over her bare leg from knee to calf. “Why are you at the other end?”
“You, me, and sofas are a bad idea.”
He got to his feet and held out both hands to her. “Come on. We’re going somewhere it’s a better idea.”
She took his hands and he immediately relaxed as soon as her body was flush with his own, her full breasts pressed against his chest. The kiss she gave him made his head swim and his groin swell to meet the warm delights between her thighs.
“Stop making me like you,” she whispered against his lips.
“Stop making me like you,” he mocked, his hands trailing from her waist to cup each buttock in both his palms. “And I mean really like you.” He shushed her as she opened her mouth to stage a protest about what she’d dragged them into, and what he was letting himself in for. He had zero interest in the argument.
“Come to bed and worry about it tomorrow. Over pancakes.”
That pretty much settled it and any further argument dissolved with each kiss.
SEVENTEEN
“Is this DS Jiang?” A woman asked, her voice brisk and efficient. The call came through to his desk, and he wondered how he’d been traced to the station. He glanced up to see where Chambers was and if she were spying on him. Having to second-guess every move he made increased his rage and his frustration with maintaining the status quo.
“Yes, this is DS Jiang. Can I help you?”
“I’m PC Martin, Hedley Police Station. We received a telephone call reporting a break in, at your home in the Hedley area…”
Xiu nearly leapt to his feet to get to the cottage. Jesus, Atarah! “What happened?”
“We investigated and found two men in your home. Both bound with garden twine. One by your sink, the other upstairs. Now, just precautionary, but does anyone else have access to your home?”
He didn’t hesitate. “I have a friend staying with me.”
“There’s no one else here. Doesn’t even look like anyone else stayed here. The bed’s made, the fridge is empty. I mean the only reason we’re here are the two men. There is a note addressed to you on the table,” PC Martin confided.
“Well, what does it say? This isn’t a time for politeness, I’m in London. I can’t get there for at least three hours!” he barked at her.
“I understand that,” she said patiently, “but I can’t read it. It’s written in… I think it looks like Chinese to me.”
Clever girl, he thought in relief. “If I give you my e-mail address, can you screenshot it and send it to me?”
“Yes, of course, I’ll do that now. But in the meantime, you haven’t really addressed the fact that two strange men were found tied up in your house.”
Xiu scratched his scalp. “Okay, listen, At the moment, my name is in the newspapers and some unscrupulous people seem to have located where I live. It’s to flush out someone who has information on them. And it’s worked. Without that note, I won’t know where she’s gone or how to protect her from whatever is about to rain down on her. So, no, I’m not going to address two men being tied up in my house. That tells me my friend got away safely, and those men probably have a string of charges against them.”
“Probably. We’re running their prints now. I thought I’d give you a ring just to let you know. I’ll keep you updated with their information and if they say anything. You know we found bullet holes in the wood?”
“I do now,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Any blood?”
“Some outside on the right of the cottage and in the entrance. It seems like the man who was tied downstairs was dragged to the sink. The man upstairs just suffered a shot to the leg, which lodged into the cement upstairs. Neither of them are talking. Phones are in the sink under water and both weapons have been emptied, also dumped in the water.”
Clever Atarah. Smart, incredibly sharp girl.
“Do you know your neighbours at all? Do you think they would have seen or heard anything?”
“The cottages are pretty solitary, but close enough that if anyone heard anything they’d have kept it to themselves. And I haven’t lived there at all. It was my mum’s old home. She knew everyone.”
“I’m sorry,” PC Martin said gently. “Was it recent?”
“Three years ago,” Xiu answered, surprised by the detour. The only person who had continued to ask after him following his mother’s death was Atarah. He hoped she was all right. “But apparently, I have one more year before I start to feel normal again.”
“I’ll give you my number and I’ll send the photos to you via text.”
“That’s really kind of you, thanks.”
“Then I’ll chat to the neighbours, with my superior, let you know how we get on. I hope your friend gets in contact.”
Me too, he thought grimly.
A few minutes after they said their goodbyes, the photos popped up. Atarah’s loopy and obviously feminine handwriting greeted him. Even in the Chinese characters, he could sense her warped sense of humour.
Had visitors, she wrote, had to get out and take your neighbours with me as they saw the whole thing. I’m going to be at the Lighthouse Cinema Bar every day at 3pm for an hour for the next two days, just to make sure we meet each other. I can’t risk calling you, not at the station, not within reach of Lady Voldemort. I’m so sorry for the mess I’ve made. Somehow, I’ll make it up to you. I double-promise. A.
He glanced at his watch and breathed out in relief to know he’d make it on time. He got to his feet and shrugged on his jacket.
“Off out again?” Chambers asked, her brows raised.
“Yeah, just got told my house was broken into. I need to go to Hedley and answer some questions. They think I may know the intruders.”
“Oh my goodness!” Chambers expertly pretended shock. “Are you all right?”
“Not really,” he answered simply. “That was my mother’s house. The only thing I have left of her. To think that someone tried to defile it really makes my blood boil.” He didn’t take his eyes from her face and it was she who looked away first.
“Why don’t you take Andrews with you, for moral support?”
“I don’t need it…”
She tilted her head to the side
. “You know procedure. You don’t go solo.”
“This isn’t police work, this is my life,” he reminded her. “I don’t need a partner.”
She tucked her hands behind her back. “Don’t make me ask you twice. And I’m going to need everything your source handed over. We’re not getting any further with our murder victim. I feel she’s a necessary key.”
Xiu tamped down his impatience. “That key’s missing. She’s been scared off. I’ve no idea where she is or where to find her.”
“Try,” Chambers snapped. “And for the last time, take Andrews with you.”
Xiu whistled sharply in Andrews’ direction and beckoned the younger man with an arm. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Where are we off to now?”
“I need to drop you at Nicodeme’s flat for you to have a solid look around. We’re missing something and the ma’am needs us to move things faster.”
Andrews winced. “I don’t like the idea of being at a crime scene alone. Can’t we ask forensics to go over it again? I mean I read the report and it seems to me as if someone, a female, interrupted Nicodeme having a bit of a Savile old time.”
“Don’t ever use that man’s name as a verb. Ever,” Xiu snapped at him. “Ever.”
“Sorry, I thought I was being hip to what’s happening in the world.”
“It’s never funny, do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sarge. Sorry. I’ll go and have a look around. And I won’t tell Chambers that you weren’t stuck to my side the whole time. But honestly, we find the woman, then we find Nicodeme’s killer.”
“Solid police work there, tie it up at the flat,” Xiu answered. He came to a screeching halt outside of the glitteringly posh apartment building where Nicodeme had flashed his cash and almost killed Atarah. “Out you get. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
Andrews reluctantly got out of the vehicle. “I say, Jiang, I would be cautious in defying Chambers. She’s got quite a temper. You know a tech who cleared her work from last week is on leave now.”
“Which tech?”
“I think you spoke to her. Your name was mentioned. I can’t recall it.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. “I’ll sort it, don’t worry. Just keep your mouth shut.”
Andrews said something, but Xiu had no interest in hearing any of it. He quickly called Shannon on her mobile number. Her chirpy voice answered. “Hi, this is Shannon, if I’m not at work, then I’m probably dead. Leave a message.”
“Shannon, it’s Xiu. Call me when you get this. Please!”
He hurried through the streets to North London, desperate to find Atarah. Parking proved to be the kind of epic nightmare that would forever haunt him. It meant a fifteen-minute walk to the Cinema Bar and arriving twenty minutes past three p.m. He saw her, sitting at the bar and stirring a clear drink in a tall glass.
Gently, he called her name and she leapt off her seat to embrace him. He exhaled deeply.
“Are you okay?” he murmured against her neck, her hair tickling his mouth. “Are you hurt?”
She leaned back to catch his gaze. “I’m fine. Look at me. I’m all right.”
Nodding, he caught her hand and took her back to the seats at the bar.
“Did you drive?” she asked. “Do you want something to drink?”
“I am driving, but I think I’ll just have a Coke.”
She ordered for him, gently removing his hand from hers to take out her purse. He kept staring at her, looking for marks or scars like there had been after Nicodeme’s death. “I’m going to tell you again, I’m okay.”
He took her word finally and as soon as the drink sweated in front of him, he wanted to know everything. “What happened?”
She exhaled heavily. “I was at your neighbour’s house.”
“Why?”
She bit into her bottom lip. “We were having breakfast. His daughter is kind of attached to me. Don’t look at me like that,” she warned him. “I needed to get to London and they gave me a lift. It just progressed from there. Anyway, it was a great thing that I was at that cottage, because it saved my life. Lonán…”
“Who’s that?”
She pressed her lips together and he held up his hands in defeat.
“Lonán went to the cottage to get some syrup and he was shot. I heard it and…” Her eyes became distant. “I disarmed the shooter and took care of the man in the bedroom. I called Sybilla. Told her to be afraid, and I think she is. What did you find out about the IP addresses?”
“It traces back to Chambers’ computer, but the technician who completed the trace for me… I think she’s gone missing. I am pretty sure I wasn’t followed, but I can’t risk going there.”
“I could go…”
“No, it’s not worth it. The address is probably being monitored, especially if Chambers is as twitchy as you say.”
“Don’t you know?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been trying to keep out of her way. She doesn’t know what I know. If I did, I don’t think I’d be alive to be honest with you.”
Unease made him glance behind him quickly, and he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. “Listen, you need to go out the back entrance and I’ll meet you in the alley off Meres Street. Now.”
She gave one nod, and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she got up, taking her bag with her. He paid up at the bar and got to his feet, walking past an innocuous-looking man who wore a polo neck and black trench coat. Briskly, he made his way to Meres Street.
In the shop reflection, he saw black trench coat, still following behind. Moving in between several women with prams and a disembarking bus, he ducked into the nearest shop and watched as black trench coat casually walked past, raising his chin on the lookout for Xiu.
He slid out of the shop and took a short cut to Meres. Atarah waited by his car and he beckoned her inside the vehicle. She tested the door handle and widened her eyes at him. Fuck! He pointed the keys at the car and she immediately dived inside, prostrate on the back seat.
Xiu joined her and just as he started the car, he saw black trench coat at the end of the road. Atarah stayed down, and he pulled the car out of the space and drove in the opposite direction to the spy.
“That was too close,” Atarah whispered, staying low on the seat. “I need to get out soon, I can’t be too far off where we’re staying. And no, I can’t tell you. Just let me out somewhere there aren’t cameras.”
“That’s asking a lot…”
“Stop near a bus stop, behind a bus. It’s pretty busy at the moment and I’ll be able to blend in.”
“Still cameras about.”
“You’ll need to let me out, Xiu!” she insisted.
He turned into a parking garage and took a ticket. “This is a good as I can do,” he told her, stopping the car near the stairwell. “If you can get out and get back to wherever you’re staying…”
“I can. Don’t worry. Here.” She handed him a mobile phone.
“There’re about three SIM cards there, but you’ll have to get some more. I can’t trust your existing phone. I need something pre-smartphone where everything can’t be traced in a goddamn minute.”
He nodded. “Okay. Atarah, be safe.”
She grinned at him. “Got this far, haven’t I?”
He caught her by the arm and pulled her forward for a kiss. He tasted her reluctance and her distance. He couldn’t help the frown that marred his brow as she wriggled out of his grip and headed into the shopping centre where the parking garage ran as an affix. A thousand scenarios ran through his mind, but it meant him leaving the garage.
He left the phone in the car under the passenger seat and went inside the shopping centre. Purchasing spare lightbulbs seemed sensible and innocuous enough to convince Chambers if there were any strange questions.
EIGHTEEN
Xiu made his way back to Nicodeme’s apartment to collect Andrews. The man shot into the car and held his head in his hands.
“What’s the matter?”
/>
“I just… Xiu, we need to go!”
A man barrelled out of the block and slammed both fists into the passenger window. Xiu got out and yelled, “This is a police officer’s car, what the fuck are you doing?”
The man didn’t seem to care, only reached for the passenger door handle and wrenched Andrews out of the car before smashing his fist twice into Andrews’ face. Xiu leapt over the bonnet of the car and thrust both feet into the man’s chest. Andrews fell to the ground, exhaling with panicked breaths.
“Get back in!” Xiu ordered.
Andrews scrambled back inside the car, and Xiu burned rubber screeching away from the block. “What the fuck just happened?” Xiu demanded.
“I was taking some swabs, I thought I saw something that didn’t look right and the next thing I know, that thug was there! That utter—I don’t know what—attacked me!” He pointed to his eye, rapidly swelling and changing colour. “Look what he did to me.”
“What did you see?” Xiu asked. “What was it that was different from the crime scene photos?”
“I know the report said there were three people there, but it looks like there were four. I found a footprint.”
Xiu’s heart triple-timed with panic. He’d been so careful to not leave any trace of his presence after Atarah’s act of self-defence. “Of who?”
“It looked like another woman. A size six of a stiletto heel, that’s what it looked like. I don’t know anyone else who has been inside the flat other than forensics, and forensics don’t stroll around in Christian Louboutins…. Jesus. Who knew we were there?”
“Chambers,” Xiu explained without thinking, then corrected. “But I think I was followed because of that article.”
Andrews hesitated. “Chambers named you in that article. Are you saying she has something to do with this?”
“I’m saying… Don’t repeat what you’ve said. Don’t note it down, don’t search for it in your computer. Just keep it to yourself.”
Andrews turned to him, moving his seatbelt out of the way slightly so he could face him. “You wouldn’t say that unless you were convinced that Chambers was involved in some way. If not by being in the apartment of a completely unscrupulous and possible paedophile of a man, but by making sure you are targeted by being the main investigator. When I saw it, I knew it was completely outside of protocol. And now…to be the only person who knew that we were going somewhere…”