Fightback
Page 14
‘I’m phoning to apologise,’ Kier explained, winking at Saskia, ‘for knocking you out and stealing your police car.’
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, then Doyle asked, ‘So what’s your plan? Are you going to turn yourself in?’
‘Not exactly, no.’
‘Then why are you ringing?’
‘Like I said, I wanted to apologise. But I’ve also got some information which you might find useful.’
‘I see.’ The tone of Doyle’s voice suggested that he thought this highly doubtful. ‘And what kind of information might that be?’
‘Last night there was an incident over at The Beeches. A car crash, explosion, that kind of thing. Couple of kids causing problems for a local businessman apparently.’
‘Is that so?’
‘That’s what I heard. Poor guy was just minding his own business. Running his little car empire and importing a few doors.’
‘Listen, son, I’m a busy man.’ Kier heard the exasperation creeping into the officer’s voice. ‘What’s your point exactly?’
‘My point,’ said Kier, ‘is that he’s got a van full of doors you might want to take a closer look at.’
‘And why would I want to do that?’
‘Because it’s my belief that they’re all soaked in cocaine.’
‘Your belief? Oh yeah, OK. And you expect me to take your word for that, do you?’
‘Not really, no. That’s why I’m going to send you a package with some wood shavings in it, so you can take a look for yourself. All you need to do is get them analysed. And if you find out I’m telling the truth, then you might want to give this McIntyre guy a hand to strip a few of his doors down.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’ asked Doyle.
‘Because you tried to help me, remember?’ said Kier. ‘And now I’m trying to help you. But I’d keep it between you and the anti-corruption unit until you’ve got some evidence in the bag.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean you were right when you said Chief Superintendent Tyler is only interested in fixing his crime figures. And believe me, he doesn’t care how he does it.’
‘Wait. Are you suggesting he’s involved in this?’
‘I’m doing more than suggesting it. I’ve got a recording to prove it. Your Chief Superintendent is in this up to his neck.’
‘That’s a very serious allegation,’ said Doyle, lowering his voice. ‘Why should I trust you?’
‘Because, believe it or not,’ said Kier, ‘we’re both on the same side.’
He closed the phone and smiled.
‘You know what?’ he said. ‘I think we’ve got him. I think our friend McIntyre is finally going down.’
‘I don’t get it,’ said Saskia, shaking her head. ‘How do you know about the doors?’
Kier poured a tube of sugar into his espresso and took a sip.
‘I thought to myself, “Why does a guy like McIntyre go to all the trouble of importing exotic doors only to grind them up into sawdust?” Then, when I smelt those chemicals, it got me thinking.’
‘About what?’
‘About solvents. Highly flammable ones. Probably not a good idea to chuck a match on them, come to think of it.’
Saskia frowned. ‘What are you talking about, Kier?’
‘All right, listen. McIntyre knows he can get cheap cocaine in Colombia and sell it for a fat profit in the UK, right?’
‘Right.’
‘But he also knows that customs officers are going to be paying special attention to anything that arrives from that part of the world. So he arranges to have some doors delivered. When they arrive at customs, the officers X-ray them for hidden drugs but can’t find any. Although they’re suspicious, there’s nothing they can do. So they let them through and McIntyre gets clean away with it.’
‘Away with what?’
‘With a whole shipment of cocaine. Don’t you see? The cocaine is dissolved in liquid, which is then soaked into the doors, so that when they go through customs there’s no sign of it. But when McIntyre’s gang get hold of it, they shave the wood off and drop it in a solvent, which dissolves the cocaine again. Then all they need to do is evaporate the liquid and they’re left with one hundred per cent pure cocaine. It’s just simple science – separating liquids and solids, same as we do at school.’
Saskia shook her head in amazement.
‘That’s incredible.’ She smiled. ‘Bit of a science swot at school, were we?’
‘Yeah.’ Kier paused. ‘You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately.’
‘About school?’
‘About that, and about something my dad said to me … you know, before all this happened. He told me to find out what matters and go after it the best way I can.’
‘Well, you did, didn’t you? That’s exactly what you did do.’
‘Yeah, I know, but …’
‘But what?’
‘But that was just something I had to do, Saskia. And now it’s done, I don’t want to live in a world where people are trying to kill each other all the time. I want to go back.’
‘Back where?’
‘To my old life. I want to go back to school. Maybe then I’ll find out what really matters.’
‘But you can’t, can you? Not after this.’
‘Why not?’
Saskia put her arms on the table and leaned forward, lowering her voice.
‘Because you’re too good at it, Kier. Jackson won’t want to lose you.’
‘Well, he’s going to have to. I can’t do it any more, Saskia. I just want to be ordinary again.’
Saskia squeezed his hand.
‘Trust me,’ she said, ‘ordinary is one thing you’ll never be.’
Then she got up and walked into the cafe.
*
It was twenty minutes before Kier realised that she wasn’t coming back. As he went to pay the bill, the waitress handed him a folded napkin with his name written on it in blue ink.
‘That girl you were with,’ she said. ‘She left it for you.’
Kier opened it and smiled.
Inside Saskia had written:
In case you can’t find what you’re looking for.
x
Sellotaped beneath it was a gift card from Harrods.
TWENTY-SEVEN
There were still a few days before the start of term and Kier spent them quietly walking in the park, giving his smart clothes to a charity shop (‘Are you sure about this, dear?’) and buying some new school uniform.
Before catching the train back to school, he made a quick stop at Pizza Hut.
‘Do you deliver?’ he asked.
‘Sure,’ said the man. ‘Where did you have in mind?’
It cost him the best part of fifty quid but it was worth it.
Kier imagined the delivery van pulling up by the bridge and the guy getting out with a big stack of pizza boxes. He imagined him walking past the river towards the soup kitchen, peering into the shadows and calling, ‘Nuggy? Nuggy? Did anyone here order pizzas with extra anchovies?’
He guessed Nuggy would appreciate that.
*
On his way to the station, he came across a newsagent’s beneath the stone arch of a railway bridge. There were papers on display outside and he picked up one with the headline:
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN ARRESTED IN
MAJOR DRUGS BUST: POLICE CHIEF
UNDER INVESTIGATION
He was about to walk in and pay for it when he glanced through the window and saw two men standing at the counter. They were wearing thick coats and Kier noticed they had their hoods up, even though it was a hot day. The shopkeeper was shaking his head and waving his hands around, and as Kier looked at the men again he saw that one of them was holding a knife.
‘Oh no,’ he said, returning the paper to the display stand. ‘No way.’
He took a step back and began walking towards the station.
It was nothing to do with him any m
ore.
He was going back to school and that was an end to it.
No more nonsense.
He made it as far as the corner of the street before turning round again.
When he reached the shop, he peered through the glass and saw that one of the men had the shopkeeper by the throat, while the other one emptied the till.
Kier hesitated for a moment and looked at his watch.
Then he took a deep breath, sighed and pushed the door open.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Is there a problem?’
READ MORE THRILLING
BOOKS BY STEVE VOAKE
OUT NOW …
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Sam and Skipper are back. But the Aurobon they return to is vastly different from the one they left. Odoursin now rules Auboron, Vahlzi is in ruins, and all that remains of Firebrand’s forces are a few resistance fighters.
Sam and Skipper’s only hope of fighting Odoursin lies in tracking down a powerful weapon – a search that will take them beyond Aurobon and into a living nightmare. But their mission becomes urgent when they discover that Odoursin is again plotting to destroy humankind – this time by using the President of the United States.
Praise for Blood Hunters:
‘It’s terrific stuff … classily put together and lipsmackingly gory.’ Financial Times
‘Bound to be popular with boys … this is a skilful, intelligent thriller.’ The Times
Praise for The Dreamwalker’s Child:
‘Steve Voake’s debut, The Dreamwalker’s Child, is an ingenious and fast-paced thriller … his book buzzes and hums with ideas.’ The Times
Praise for The Web of Fire:
‘A compelling sequel.’ The Times
Praise for The Starlight Conspiracy:
‘It’s been a while since anything as much fun as Steve Voake’s The Starlight Conspiracy came along … The quality of the writing, and the heartwarming sympathy it evokes makes this a really good, thought-provoking and exciting choice.’ The Times
About the Author
Steve Voake grew up in Midsomer Norton, near Bath. Before becoming a full-time writer, Steve was headteacher of a village school in Somerset. He is the critically acclaimed author of The Dreamwalker’s Child, The Web of Fire, The Starlight Conspiracy and Blood Hunters. He lives with his family in Somerset.
By the Same Author
The Dreamwalker’s Child
The Web of Fire
The Starlight Conspiracy
Blood Hunters
Copyright
First published in 2010
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2010
All rights reserved
© Steve Voake, 2010
The right of Steve Voake to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–25836–9