Hell to Pay

by Rachel Amphlett

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Kay slid the empty plate across the desk, dusted crumbs from her lap and took a sip of wine before scooting her chair closer to her computer screen.

  She’d worry about fixing a proper dinner later; cheese and biscuits were all she needed to sustain her while she worked through the notes she’d collated over the past eighteen months about Jozef Demiri.

  When she’d first arrived home, she’d put on a sweatshirt and leggings and taken off at a brisk run past the pub and then across a mini roundabout that intersected the modern housing estate that had sprung up twenty years ago either side of the lane. Picking up her pace, she’d worked her legs hard, burning off the anger and frustration about Harrison taking over the case until she circled back and reached her front door forty minutes later, her breathing ragged and her thoughts clear.

  She had to push back any grudges until they’d caught Demiri. She had another chance to make the Albanian pay for what he’d done to her, let alone what he’d done to the poor women he’d smuggled in from the Continent, and she wouldn’t rest until he was sentenced.

  Now, she leaned forward and turned down the rock music that had been blasting out of the speakers so she could concentrate and rested her chin in one hand, the other using the mouse to click and scroll through the files.

  The house seemed quiet without Adam.

  When she’d got home from her run and before stepping into the shower, she’d locked all the doors, checked the garage door was secure and the door from the garage to the kitchen had been fastened shut, and then pressed all the buttons on the panel next to the front door to set the security lights.

  Normally, when he was home, she’d be able to hear the television downstairs where he’d be watching a documentary or a football game. She’d be able to breathe in the aromas from his cooking, and wait for him to shout up the stairs that her dinner was getting cold.

  She smiled. Adam was the better cook out of the pair of them and was happy to be left alone in the kitchen most nights – if she tried to help, he grumbled that she cut the vegetables the wrong way, or simply hid his eyes while she wielded the knife, unable to watch as she sliced with much gusto but very little finesse – or regard for her own safety.

  A sound reached her ears and she straightened in her seat, her head cocked to one side.

  There it was again.

  A knock at the door.

  She switched off the music, checked her watch and frowned.

  Pushing her chair back from the desk, she made her way out to the landing. Ahead of her, the bright security lights shone through the curtains that covered the front windows.

  She paused, raising her gaze to the ceiling.

  A few months ago, she’d discovered a set of miniature cameras and microphones in the roof of her house that had been set up to spy on her through the spotlights in the ceiling. A quiet word with Sharp about her conviction that Demiri, or someone associated with him was responsible for their installation, led to the equipment being removed – carefully, and in such a way that the perpetrators would simply believe the cameras had failed due to a power outage.

  Now she wondered whether her enemies had been watching her home more closely, and in person.

  She swallowed, and then uttered a low cry at another loud knock on the door.

  Staying close to the wall, she edged her way down the stairs, her heart racing.

  She had nothing to use as a weapon, but her fingers found her mobile phone tucked into the back pocket of her jeans and she extracted it, her thumb hovering over the emergency button as she reached the foot of the stairs.

  Kay cursed the frosted glass at the top of the door that prevented her from seeing who was standing on the doorstep. She thought she heard murmured voices, and then took hold of the handle and wrenched open the door at the same time as taking a step backwards.

  ‘Food!’

  Kay exhaled and dropped her hand from the door.

  On the doorstep, Ian Barnes held four large pizza boxes in his arms. Behind him, Gavin and Carys stood, grinning from ear to ear.

  Barnes lowered the boxes. ‘You forgot it was your turn, didn’t you?’

  ‘My turn?’

  ‘She forgot,’ said Carys, and laughed. ‘Told you she had.’

  ‘Hurry up and let us in. It’s cold out here.’

  Kay stood back as her three colleagues tumbled over the threshold, laughing as they unwrapped scarves and threw their jackets over the newel post of the staircase before threading their way towards the kitchen.

  She shook her head, smiled at her own paranoia, and closed the front door.

  She pushed the bolts back into place and padded after them.

  ‘Okay, I admit it – I forgot,’ she said as she opened the refrigerator door and pulled out white wine and cans of beer.

  Gavin collected glasses from the cupboard under the worktop, and then lined them up and waited while Kay poured the drinks.

  ‘Oh, guinea pigs!’ Carys crouched next to the hutch. ‘What’re their names?’

  Barnes and Gavin laughed when Kay told them.

  ‘Can I pick them up?’

  ‘You can pick up Bonnie,’ said Kay. ‘She’s the little black and white one – Clyde’s got a skin infection so I’m on nurse duties at the moment until Adam gets back from Aberdeen.’

  Delighted, Carys flipped open the hatch and gently lifted Bonnie from where she’d been gazing up at the young detective.

  ‘Aw, she’s cute.’

  Kay smiled as Carys cradled the animal against her stomach and scratched it between the ears. Her geriatric pet gerbil had died the previous month, and the woman had been inconsolable for days, especially when it transpired she had nowhere to bury her pet because she rented an apartment on the outskirts of town.

  When he’d heard about her predicament, Adam had taken pity on her and offered to dig a grave for the gerbil at the bottom of their garden. Carys had been overwhelmed by the gesture, and had bought a new rose bush for them to mark the spot.

  ‘She’s not cute at half past four in the morning when she’s hungry,’ said Kay, and handed Carys a pre-made bag of raw vegetables from the refrigerator. ‘Here, pop her back and give them this. Your pizza’s getting cold.’

  Carys washed her hands, then slid the roll of paper kitchen towel into the centre of the worktop and sat on one of the bar stools with a loud sigh. ‘That was a long day.’

  Kay passed around the drinks. ‘Cheers, you lot.’

  They clinked glasses, and then Barnes flipped open the pizza boxes.

  ‘Let’s eat.’

  They fell silent for a few minutes as they devoured the food, save for Barnes and Carys bickering about whether pineapple belonged on top of a pizza or not.

  Kay took a sip of her wine, savouring the food and the easy company.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Gavin, wiping his fingers on a piece of the kitchen towel before tossing it into one of the empty boxes.

  ‘Didn’t you eat today?’ said Carys.

  ‘Didn’t have time.’

  ‘Sharp’ll moan at you,’ said Kay. ‘Have another slice – I’m stuffed.’

  ‘He can’t talk – I reckon he’s the worst out of all of us.’

  ‘What happened today?’ said Barnes. ‘Get your arse kicked again?’

  Kay slapped his arm. ‘No.’

  She fell silent, lost in thought until Barnes nudged her.

  ‘Come on. It’s us.’

  She managed a small smile, then took a sip of wine and set the glass down.

  ‘A DCI Harrison from SOCU is taking over the Demiri case.’

  A silence descended on the kitchen, only broken by a piece of mushroom falling off the pizza slice Gavin held halfway to his mouth.

  He scooped it off the worktop and popped it into his mouth. ‘Well, that’s just bloody typical, isn’t it?’

  ‘Why would he do that to us?’ demanded Barnes.

  ‘To protect someone. The driver of that car
crash.’

  Everyone started talking at once, and after a few seconds Kay held up her hand.

  ‘Look, Sharp will explain everything at tomorrow morning’s briefing, but the driver’s name is Gareth Jenkins. He was working for Jozef Demiri under an alias as part of an operation SOCU have been running for the past two years. He suspects Demiri found out that he was trying to save a girl – an illegal entrant – from some sort of private club Demiri runs.’ She took a deep breath, and a shiver wracked her body. ‘Jenkins alleges Demiri and the clients of that club are murdering young women. We persuaded Harrison to second us to his investigation, given that the girl died on our patch. Sharp and Harrison are getting a warrant organised tonight, so I’d imagine we’ll be involved in the search sometime tomorrow.’

  A silence filled the kitchen when she finished talking, and three shocked faces stared back at her.

  ‘Christ, Kay,’ said Barnes eventually. ‘You don’t do things by halves, do you?’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kay glanced up from her desk as Gavin pushed open the incident room door, his hair still wet from the shower.

  ‘In early, Sarge?’ he said as he passed, leaving a waft of shampoo in his wake.

  ‘Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.’

  A faint smile crossed his lips. ‘Me neither. Decided an early morning run might do me good.’ He dumped his backpack under his desk and switched his computer on. ‘I’m going to make a cup of tea – do you want one?’

  ‘Cheers, thanks.’

  Kay checked the clock on the right-hand side of her computer screen. She had ten minutes before Sharp began the planned meeting.

  She’d realised overnight as she lay tossing and turning that whatever they discovered at the nightclub, it would mean days if not weeks of paperwork and on the ground investigation, and so she’d arrived early to make sure she delegated as much of her current workload as possible.

  A DS over at headquarters was going to get a nasty surprise when he turned up for work in another thirty minutes, and she signed off her email with a promise of a favour returned.

  She pressed “send” and crossed her fingers that her memory of his somewhat casual timekeeping was correct.

  With any luck, the briefing would be well on its way by the time he received her note, and then it would be too late – she’d be out conducting the search with the rest of her colleagues.

  Movement out the corner of her eye caught her attention and she bit back a retort of surprise as DS Jake O’Reilly swaggered through the incident room towards her, a sly grin on his face.

  ‘Hunter. Still stuck here in the back of beyond?’

  She fixed a smile to her face. ‘O’Reilly. Any of that SOCU training rubbed off on you yet?’

  His features clouded, and he paused at her shoulder.

  Older than her by at least ten years, his greying mousy-coloured hair had been clipped too short at the sides recently, giving his head a pointed look and accentuating his large ears. Pale eyes narrowed as his top lip curled.

  ‘I knew you’d be like this, Hunter. Jealousy won’t get you anywhere. You and Sharp? Your days are numbered. No wonder the Chief Super had to get my DCI involved. No doubt we’ll have this case wrapped up in no time.’

  ‘Good,’ said Kay, keeping her smile sweet. ‘Perhaps then you could pick up where you left off here and get around to finding out who attacked Piper six months ago.’

  Gavin looked up at his name, then back to his work.

  Kay couldn’t blame him for ignoring O’Reilly – his nose had been left at a permanent soft angle after he was attacked in a car park close to the police station.

  O’Reilly had been placed in charge of the ensuing investigation, but had gained no traction on his enquiries before disappearing from sight – and now Kay was still smarting from the news at his secondment to SOCU.

  She set her jaw. No doubt the snub had been another jibe by DCI Larch to remind her of the Professional Standards investigation against her some eighteen months before, despite her innocence being upheld.

  The door to the incident room swung open and Carys entered, a tray of takeaway coffee between her hands.

  She stopped, the door bumping into her elbow as she spotted O’Reilly.

  ‘Well, if it isn’t the delightful DC Miles,’ he said, turning away from Kay as he looked Carys up and down.

  ‘DS O’Reilly. I-I didn’t expect to see you here.’

  Kay watched with bemusement as Carys blushed, and fiddled with the strap of her handbag as it tried to slide down her arm.

  ‘Here, let me help you,’ said O’Reilly, and rushed to her side.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t get you a coffee.’

  ‘No problem,’ he soothed.

  ‘Black, one sugar, isn’t it? Same as me?’ Carys emitted a giggle. ‘You can have mine if you like?’

  He winked. ‘All right, but only if you’re sure. Next one’s on me though.’

  Kay looked away, her eyes meeting Gavin’s as he shook his head in disbelief and mimed putting his fingers down his throat.

  It raised a smile, and she fought down the frustration that threatened common sense.

  Barnes breezed in moments later, nodded to O’Reilly, took the coffee Carys handed to him and sank into his seat opposite Kay’s desk.

  ‘You’ve got a face like thunder. Morning get off to a good start, did it?’

  Kay’s retort was cut short by their DI turning up to begin the briefing.

  ‘Who’s the other bloke with Sharp?’ whispered Barnes.

  ‘That’s the guy I told you about – Simon Harrison.’

  Barnes said nothing, raised an eyebrow and spun his chair round to face the front of the room.

  After introducing Harrison to the team, Sharp spent the next twenty minutes updating them about their meeting with Gareth Jenkins and his allegation that Demiri was running a people smuggling ring – and worse.

  He paused to allow everyone time to catch up with their notetaking before continuing.

  ‘We’ve obtained search warrants for Demiri’s nightclub and we’ll be conducting that search after this briefing,’ he said.

  ‘What about his house and offices?’ asked Kay.

  ‘The magistrate was reluctant to let us have warrants on the basis of hearsay,’ said Harrison, a note of disgust in his voice. ‘Her opinion is that Jenkins may have a personal vendetta against Demiri because of the death of Katya. Unless and until we find evidence at the nightclub to substantiate his claim, we won’t get a warrant for the other premises.’

  Barnes snorted, and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘So, in the meantime, Demiri gets to come and go as he pleases.’

  Harrison’s mobile phone started to ring, and he glanced at the number, then Sharp. ‘I have to take this.’

  He gestured to Sharp to continue the briefing, and moved to the DI’s office to take the call.

  ‘Right, let’s sort the teams out for the search on the nightclub while we’re waiting for Harrison,’ said Sharp. ‘You know the routine – stab vests, the lot. SOCU will be leading the raid, but they’re understaffed, too, so we need to support them in every way we can. O’Reilly – Harrison’s got you paired with Barnes so you can act as liaison for both of us. You’ll be posted towards the back of the cordon to start off with until the raid is underway.’

  He proceeded to split the team into groups of two, with Kay being paired with Carys.

  The younger detective pushed her chair over to where Kay sat so they could take notes together and pinpoint any prior knowledge of the area over and above the intelligence Harrison’s team had already gathered.

  Kay always admired Sharp’s attention to detail and his ability to focus his team. With his military background, he was able to give clear orders without wasting words, and an intense atmosphere descended on the incident room as they listened to him.

  Kay shifted her gaze as Harrison returned from Sharp’s office, his face pale.

  Sharp paused m
id-sentence. ‘Everything okay?’

  Harrison moved to the front of the room, put his mobile in his pocket, and leaned against the desk closest to the whiteboard.

  ‘That was the hospital,’ he said, his eyes downcast. ‘Gareth Jenkins passed away twenty minutes ago. Despite their best efforts to resuscitate him, he succumbed to his internal injuries and there was nothing they could do to save him.’

  A silence fell on the room as the news sank in.

  Kay’s thoughts returned to the conversation she’d had with Jenkins the previous day.

  You get him, and you make him pay for it.

  She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm.

  ‘We’re all sorry to hear that,’ said Sharp after a few moments.

  ‘He knew the risks.’ Harrison cast his gaze around the room. ‘Are we ready?’

  ‘We’re ready,’ said Sharp.

  Harrison straightened, and adjusted his jacket. ‘All right. Let’s go.’

  As the team began to move back to their desks and prepared to head to the stores room to obtain stab vests and the other paraphernalia that would be required prior to leaving to conduct the search, Sharp gave a low whistle.

  Kay and the others turned and faced the front of the room where he stood stock-still beside the whiteboard.

  ‘An officer gave his life to try and put Demiri away,’ he said. ‘Let’s make this count.’

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Kay tugged at the collar of her stab vest and tried to ignore the surge of adrenalin that seized at her heart as she listened to Harrison’s final instructions.

  She cast her eyes over the graffiti tags that littered the walls of the buildings, bright colours defying the worn dark bricks interspersed with simpler, spray-painted profanities, and wondered if any of the artists ever found real work in their chosen medium. Although she hated to admit it, at least two of the culprits had exceptional talent.

  To her left, Carys shifted from foot to foot, her impatience emanating across the space between them.

  Kay made a mental note to keep the younger detective in check. They’d been in a situation before where her colleague’s enthusiasm for justice had nearly cost her life.