‘He’s sending the car.’
Dog blinked in surprise, he’d been expecting to have to jog the final distance. Maybe the boss cared, after all.
When Dog got out of the car, which had been deliciously warm, Mr Mendelssohn was ready to open the door for him. There was a bandage around his head and it looked as if some of his hair had been shaved from around the hidden wound.
‘Any chance of something to eat, sir?’ said Dog. ‘I haven’t eaten a thing since last night.’ He remembered with a touch of sadness the stew he had allowed Chloe to eat in its entirety.
Mr Mendelssohn got as close to growling as Dog had ever heard, but he issued orders for food to be brought to his office. Delia was watching from the door to the lounge. Since Jason wasn’t allowed in the main house it was not a surprise he was absent.
‘Sit.’
Dog sat and his boss sat opposite, giving him all of his attention, which was unnerving.
‘Where did you go?’
‘What did George say?’
‘No easy outs, Dog. What happened last night? That was Chloe Dark in the cage.’
‘Yes, that’s what she said her name was. You know her?’
‘I follow the news.’
‘I smelled her before; she was near the hospital when me and freak-boy did the job for you. There wasn’t time to investigate then. But she’s one of us.’
‘Us?’
‘Me, Jason and your daughter, sir. A freak who isn’t one.’
‘So you went to rescue her.’
‘Yes.’
‘And left me in the fire.’
‘I—’
‘I hope your loyalties are not in question.’
‘No, sir, I mean she’s a fantastic fighter, you saw her, she’d be an amazing asset.’
‘I decide who will be an asset.’
There was a knock at the door and Mr Mendelssohn sat back, which made Dog only slightly less uncomfortable. Delia came in with a plateful of sandwiches filled with ham and beef.
‘Thanks,’ he said as she put it down on the desk in front of him and then added a glass of water.
‘Thank you for helping my dad.’
‘Get out, Delia.’
She didn’t, instead she turned towards him. ‘Have you thanked him, Dad?’
Dog intervened. ‘I was just doing what I had to.’
‘He knows what you did,’ she said glaring at her father while addressing Dog. ‘If you hadn’t pushed him back that piece would have gone into his face or neck. And George saw the state of the table he was lying behind.’
Dog tried to will Delia to leave, he didn’t want Mr Mendelssohn to be anymore embarrassed, he’d just get more bad-tempered when Delia had gone.
‘Just doing my job,’ said Dog.
‘Please leave, Delia.’
She said nothing more but slammed the door on the way out.
‘What happened after George took me out?’
Dog filled his boss in on the details, focusing on Mitchell and the Purity agent.
‘Bob Moses owed me for weapons and other assets,’ said Mr Mendelssohn after Dog had finished with the farmer’s attack and Chloe bounding over the house. ‘I am not happy that he is dead. I am out of pocket.’
Dog worried for a moment that he was going to get saddled with that debt as well, which really wouldn’t be fair because he had nothing to do with Moses’ death. His boss got up from the chair and went to the door. It was almost as if he was listening to see if Delia was outside. Dog knew she wasn’t. She’d gone off in a huff to her room. She wasn’t moving now, probably lying on her bed.
‘You did a good job.’
Dog almost felt he would explode with pleasure—the boss had said he’d done a good job. He couldn’t suppress the grin on his face.
‘I need to go and find Chloe Dark and bring her here to be part of the team.’
‘What?’
Dog turned round to face Mr Mendelssohn. ‘I can track her, catch up with her and get her to come and join us.’
‘Why would I want you to do that?’
‘She’s a good fighter, you could use one.’
‘I have plenty of good fighters,’ said Mr Mendelssohn. ‘These people are not your friends, Dog. You lived on the streets before I found you. This Jason kid was hiding from the authorities all his life. You’re criminals. Chloe Dark was brought up inside the system, she’s part of it. She would have no interest in living the criminal life.’
‘But she’s a freak now, with everybody after her. And she doesn’t know what she is; she thinks she’s going to die. Doesn’t that make her one of us?’
‘I can’t spare you.’
‘On my own time—’
‘No!’
Dog shut up. He did not understand why Mr Mendelssohn was fighting him about this. He’d been happy enough to buy Jason out of the cages. Why not Chloe Dark?
He left Mr Mendelssohn to his empire.
Chapter 9
Yates
The car drew up outside the apartment building in Ancoats. It was one of several converted warehouses that dated back nearly three hundred years. Of course, the conversions had been done before the plague so they were not in good condition, but better than most. The location and size made them some of the better residences available for rental.
‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ said Lament from the screen in the dashboard.
‘I’ll soon find out.’
‘Mitchell wouldn’t approve.’
‘Are you going to tell him?’
‘If this goes wrong you’ll have the full power of the Purity breathing down your neck.’
‘It won’t.’
He got out of the car and pulled his coat tighter round his neck as he trudged across the slippery snow, compacted by many feet. He reached the door and pushed his way inside. There was a man in an office off to the side. The police warrant card convinced him that he should not ring ahead as he allowed Yates through and told him to go to the third floor.
The lift didn’t work and the stairwell was filled with air that felt colder than the outside. He made his way up the six half-flights. Concrete steps with an iron banister rail. The sound of children playing in the main corridor of the second floor filtered out as he passed the door.
He pushed his way through into the third floor and followed the passage round to the required door. He knocked firmly, although his gloves muffled the sound somewhat.
‘Go away, Chris!’
Yates’s lips twitched into a smile. Chris? Christopher Graham, the Purity Officer? Bingo.
‘It’s Detective Sergeant Yates, Miss Kepple. I’d like to ask you a few questions.’
Faintly he heard the word shit then, ‘Just a minute.’
He waited. A door opened further down the corridor and a nosey neighbour poked her head out. He smiled and walked away from Miss Kepple’s door. ‘Good morning, madam. I’m DS Yates of the Manchester constabulary.’
‘I seen you on the telly.’
‘Yes.’ At that moment a girl of perhaps thirteen, already with a well-developed body, appeared behind what Yates assumed must be her mother.
‘You can’t touch her over there, she’s the Purity.’
‘Is there anything you think I ought to be able to get her for, I mean, if I could?’
‘She looks at my girl funny.’
‘No, she don’t,’ said the girl. ‘She’s nice.’
‘Some bloke’s been around a couple of times,’ the mother said conspiratorially.
‘Oh yes?’
‘Beats her up. I heard them.’
The door behind opened. ‘Well, thank you,’ said Yates loudly. ‘I’m sure I can find a uniformed officer to sort that out for you.’
He turned to see Sapphire Kepple. Amazing face. Amazing body. Definitely something he would have liked to explore in more detail at some point. But he was fairly sure he’d never get that opportunity. It did not make him sad. He was a pragmatist if nothing else.
‘Miss Kepple, I’m sorry to disturb you but I was wondering if you’d mind answering some questions.’
‘You’d better come in.’
The flat was warm. At least compared to the outside. Their breath did not form condensation. She was wearing a close-fitting jumper, tight jeans and a pair of fluffy pink slippers. He didn’t stare.
He took a seat by the table and she sat opposite.
‘You know I don’t have to answer any of your questions.’
‘Yes, of course, but if you’re able to give me any help at all I’ll be grateful.’
‘What’s this about?’
‘I’m investigating the death of Ali Najjar.’
‘The man who got hit by the truck that exploded.’
‘You keep up with the news.’
‘Don’t treat me like an idiot, DS Yates. He was Chloe’s physical therapist, and Chloe was my student.’
‘I understood she was more like your protégée.’
She shifted, crossed her legs.
‘Where did you get that idea?’
‘The general impression is that you gave her more attention, on an individual basis, than other typical students.’
‘She was very bright, very keen and had a strong desire to join the Purity.’
‘She wanted to help people and protect them,’ said Yates.
‘Exactly. How did you know?’
Yates shrugged. ‘She told me.’
‘Really?’ Miss Kepple was clearly sceptical. She didn’t have to say why would she confide in an ordinary policeman like you?
‘When we interviewed her about the disappearance of Melinda Vogler she expressed her interest in joining the Purity.’
Miss Kepple smiled. ‘That sounds like her.’
‘But now your protégée is an S.I.D infectee.’
Her good humour vanished in a moment. ‘That doesn’t change her inside.’
‘On the contrary, Miss Kepple, that is precisely what S.I.D does, as well you know.’
‘You know what I meant, and I do not appreciate your bullying tactics.’ She took a deep breath and uncrossed her legs. ‘What has this got to do with your investigation of that death? I thought it was an accident.’
‘Sadly not. The event was engineered specifically to kill him. It was murder.’
‘I don’t see how I can help with that.’
‘I’d like you to give me some background information about the Purity.’
Her eyes widened into an incredulous look. ‘You’re not serious.’
‘Completely.’
‘Then you’re a fool. You may as well leave now.’
She rose to her feet but he remained in his chair.
‘The evidence trail I was following led to Paul Banner.’
‘Impossible.’
‘We believe he committed suicide because his secret was about to be exposed.’
She sat again, any idea that Yates should leave now forgotten. She was thinking.
Yates pushed his advantage. ‘Did you know Paul Banner?’
‘I never met him.’
‘Anything you can think of that might help us...?’
She was silent for a while. He let her make her decisions until finally:
‘He was behind the decision to supply all schools with Utopia Genetics equipment.’
‘And does that equipment include DNA analysis?’
‘Some of it. You think they were looking for pre-freaks to kidnap them?’
‘We try not to make assumptions.’
‘That’s not an answer. That’s exactly what you think.’
‘I couldn’t possibly comment, Miss Kepple.’
‘Really? I’ve been open with you, I think I deserve some consideration in return.’
Yates considered it. Would she tell Graham? If the gossip was right then probably not, it didn’t sound like she and Graham had a healthy relationship—especially if her preferences ran more to young girls.
‘We think Utopia Genetics is behind the kidnappings, and the death of Paul Banner was an attempt by them to cover their tracks. Other leads have also ended up dead.’
‘What about Chloe?’ she asked. ‘Have they got her?’
Yates smiled. ‘We know they haven’t. She was seen last night in the company of a known criminal.’
‘But she’s alive?’
‘Yes.’
Considering how relieved Kepple seemed, Yates was not only certain that she was more than a bit in love with the girl, but that she knew nothing about what was going on.
Yates got to his feet. She had told him very little, quite the reverse, but sometimes it was about establishing relationships. From now on she would be far happier to tell him what he wanted to know, and since they couldn’t coerce her, making her willing to talk was the best option.
‘Thank you for your help,’ he said. He did not offer his hand and was quite taken aback when she did. But he took it.
‘You and DI Mitchell do a good job,’ she said. ‘Killing freaks.’
‘Thank you.’
She did not release her grip, but tightened it.
‘But if you kill my Chloe, I will kill you.’
She let go of his hand.
‘Message received, Miss Kepple.’
Chapter 10
Dog
The heating in the studio building was running at full blast and a wave of heat poured out as Dog opened the door and then shut it against the biting wind. He took a deep breath. There was nothing for him here, but Mr Mendelssohn wouldn’t let him stay at the house because he was so concerned for his daughter’s ... what? Virginity? Dog shook his head. He had better control than Mr Mendelssohn gave him credit for.
At least he wasn’t being forced to go back out into the atrocious weather. Late November and early December were always bad. After that it usually settled down until spring.
He climbed the stairs to the main room where Jason sat reading a book; there was a pile of them. Delia must have fetched them for him from the library. Dog was feeling so bad he didn’t even feel jealous.
Jason did not look up. Or maybe he did and was so fast Dog hadn’t noticed. He didn’t care. He went to the kitchen and got a drink of water. The pipes weren’t frozen, always a risk.
‘What do you do when you know something is right but you’ve been told not to do it by someone’s authority you respect?’
Dog sat down opposite where Jason was reading. Freak-boy definitely looked up this time. Dog wondered whether he could read the book and listen to Dog at the same time—but without Dog noticing.
‘I’m glad you asked,’ said Dog. ‘I respect Mr Mendelssohn, he’s a good man. Well, okay, he’s not a good man, he’s a criminal, but let’s face it, so are we.
‘I know what you’re thinking. There’s a difference between him and us. After all, we don’t really have a choice. Here we are, no riffy, outside of society, unable to survive unless we steal stuff.’ Dog held up his hand. ‘No, don’t say it. I know we could maybe catch our own food. Cook it ourselves, and live on the outskirts without interfering. But the winters are cold. Have you seen it out there?’
Jason dutifully looked towards the window where the snow was streaming across horizontally.
‘We won’t be catching our own food in that. Any sensible animal is in a hole for the whole winter. Hibernating. Can you hibernate? No, of course not, and neither can I. I’m a dog, dogs don’t hibernate and you’re a—whatever you are. I bet you don’t hibernate either.
‘And that’s the point. We might even want to be independent. We might want to be separate from the humans because they hate us and just want to kill us. But we can’t. But yes, that’s a fair point; they wouldn’t necessarily want to kill me because I look normal. You, they’d shoot on sight. Unfortunate but true.
‘Anyway, the thing is we just don’t have a choice. We aren’t part of society and we have to steal to survive. But Mr Mendelssohn had a choice, he could have chosen to be an honest man—not tha
t I’m saying he’s dishonest. He’ll keep his word. Whatever he promises he’ll keep to it, like the way he made sure your mother got more money. But he didn’t have to deal in criminal stuff. He didn’t have to choose that route.
‘He could, if he’d wanted to, have stayed on the right side of the law. Well, I expect he could. I’m not privy to all the reasons why he does what he does. But then there’s Delia. Whatever you may say about Mr Mendelssohn and his criminal activities, he loves his daughter but, unfortunately, his daughter is one of us. So even his hands are tied, so to speak. He couldn’t have a normal life because if he did they would find out about his daughter. So instead he chooses to be a criminal to keep her safe.
‘How does that work? Simple really. Probably. In fact I have no idea. But if he was a normal person with a normal life his daughter would have to be treated like a normal person with a normal life too. And then they’d find out. So that doesn’t work. As a criminal he can hide her.
‘And that’s all I want to do with Chloe.’
Dog took a deep breath. ‘Who’s Chloe? I’m glad you asked. She’s like us and she’s a perfect example of why we have to be criminals. There she is, a normal, someone living their life with their parents. Then she starts to change. To become like us.
‘Don’t ask me how that works. You, me, Delia, we were all the way we were from birth. I mean I suppose I was, I have nobody to tell me. Then there’s her, she was normal and then she started to change. Pretty awesome too, she’s getting wings—don’t you think that’s cool?
‘Sorry, not meaning to insult you or anything. Both me and Delia look normal enough, though she needs her cream, obviously, and you’re—whatever you are. But she’s getting wings. I mean, she was already awesome and then she started growing wings as well. I suppose she’ll be like an angel when she’s done.
‘Thing is, Jason, I wanted to go and find her but Mr Mendelssohn says no. I wanted to bring her here and she could be part of the pack, part of the family, everybody needs to be part of a family, don’t they? That’s all I want. I just want us all to be together. I know you’ve got your mum, and that’s cool. Delia’s got both her mum and dad. Her mum’s a total bitch, but at least she exists.
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