‘Not my problem,’ Lambert spat. ‘We paid you and your friend Gondrand to keep things running smoothly.’ He stopped and tipped his head to one side. ‘Unless you’re just trying to get more money out of us — is that it? You want us to pay you more?’
Tourrain looked surprised, then fearful. ‘No. Hell, no — I wouldn’t.’
‘That’s a wise decision.’ Lambert’s voice dropped. ‘Just remember what happened to Gondrand when he tried screwing us, too.’
Rocco had heard enough. He began to worm his way back to the rear door, angling between the boxes. One thing was certain: he doubted any of the workers here would be willing to talk to him about what was going on in this place, or what had just transpired. Surmounting the fact that they were illegals, they would be too terrified of what might happen to them if they dared speak out against Lambert, Metz or anyone else involved in this operation.
He stepped clear of the boxes and was almost to the door when a figure appeared around the corner, tailing a broom. Dark skin, dulled, terrified eyes, an air of resigned fatigue, a man assigned to sweep up the fallen screws.
It was too late for stealth. Rocco straightened up, walked past the startled man, and opened the door. He stepped through and pulled it closed behind him, his instinctive timer for unfolding disaster beginning its countdown. Odds-on the man would wonder who the tall stranger was. He might reason that a white employee was another one of the bosses here, and therefore of no concern to him. Or he might see an opportunity to win points by raising the alarm.
He chose the second option.
As Rocco stepped clear of the building, a shout came from inside, followed by a chorus of calls and the clang of an alarm bell.
Rocco measured the distance to the fence, judging the likelihood of scaling it before any of the guards appeared. No chance. He could already hear the sound of running footsteps approaching from the front. That would be the gate security guard. Given the right circumstances, he’d counted on using a spare pallet to boost himself over from this side. But that option was now dead. Instead, he turned and ran for the skip he’d used before and slipped underneath the tarpaulin. Squirming down beneath the layers of debris and construction cast-offs, he closed a hand over his nose against the swirl of dust rising to meet him and waited to see if his luck would hold.
A murmur of voices approached and moved past. Someone gave a cursory prod into the skip with a length of wood, then a shout from nearby distracted them.
The rope and grappling hook had been spotted.
Other voices issued orders until Lambert’s voice called for quiet and organised a sweep of the outside of the perimeter fence and along the canal. Rocco heard a rattle as the gate in the fence was unlocked and the voices faded as the guards moved away.
A vehicle approached the front of the building. It slowed momentarily, then came on and stopped. A car door slammed and the vehicle moved away. Then the hum of the heating system ceased and silence descended on the site.
They were listening for him. They knew he was still around.
But they hadn’t locked the gate behind them.
He felt the beginnings of cramp in his leg where his calf muscle was twisted. Stifling the desire to stay where he was, he eased himself upwards until he could see over the edge of the skip. He could just see the security guard sitting in his hut, but nobody else. They must be out of sight behind the building. As he moved to straighten his legs and get a clearer view, his shoulder brushed against something. It was a small strip of aluminium sheeting. Before he could stop it, it slid gracefully from his shoulder, paused on the edge of the skip, then fell to the ground with a sharp clatter.
A dog barked, the sound descending to a growl deep in the back of the animal’s throat, and Rocco felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. It was close, barely fifty metres away. Men he could handle; dogs, though, were altogether different.
And now they knew exactly where to look.
There was nothing for it. With the guards now fully alert, he would have to make a run for it and take his chances. But he needed an edge. He felt around his feet and came up with a short length of aluminium piping. It would have to do. Taking a deep breath and lifting the tarpaulin, he heaved himself over the edge of the skip. He hit the ground at an angle and grunted with pain as his shoulder collided with a short stack of wooden pallets.
He turned and ran towards the fence.
Shouts came from behind him, and a torch beam flicked across the ground between him and the fence. It wavered for a moment, then came back. Suddenly his own shadow was in front of him, stretching out to touch the wire before he did.
Then came another bark and a snick-snick sound. It was the dog chasing him across the tarmac.
There was no time for finesse. More voices were joining in, and he could see movement in his peripheral vision as someone angled across to intercept him. He charged through the gate, slamming it shut behind him just as the dog jumped. It crashed against the mesh with a yelp and snarled in frustration, flicks of spittle touching Rocco’s face.
He took the pipe and pushed it through the mesh of the gate, then leant his full weight against it, bending it round the upright and forcing it into the mesh on the outside. They would get it free eventually, but not before he’d got a good way along the canal.
He jogged away, listening for sounds of pursuit, but there were none.
He came to the lock and moved quickly across the top of the gates and down the other side. Stopped dead.
Two men were on the towpath, blocking his way.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
The nearest man was Metz, idly swinging the length of steel he’d used on the unfortunate worker in the factory. The other man was further back, indistinct and slight. Then he moved and Rocco recognised the slim figure of Detective Tourrain.
They had deliberately let him think he was free and clear; that he’d fooled them all. Then they had come out here and waited for him to show up.
‘Well, well,’ said Metz. ‘Looks like we’ve found our intruder. Let’s see who you are, shall we?’
Rocco studied the ground the men were standing on. They were on a broad patch of flat grass by the side of the lock basin, too narrow for him to force his way past. The canal lay on the right, the level three to four metres below the edge, the rush of water muffled by the deep stone walls. To Rocco’s left was a thick hedge, then a slope with an indistinct tangle of bushes and undergrowth offering no clear way through.
If the two men came to him, where the ground was narrower, they would eventually hamper each other. Unless they opted for guns. Somehow he didn’t think they would; guns were noisy and they were too close to town, and he was sure they had orders to dispose of any intruders without trace.
He heard a metallic snick from behind Metz. Tourrain, holding a long-bladed knife. It gleamed dully, polished and deadly.
Rocco felt a coldness wash over him. So this was their plan. No attempt to argue against what he had seen, no ducking behind the certificate they had used so far to give them the protection of the Ministry of Defence. He had witnessed too much and there was only one way for this to end.
He studied Metz, the more dangerous of the two men. He was a brawler, with little finesse or style about him, and would rely on strength and brutality to carry him through, just as he had when dealing with the illegal worker. For him, doling out punishment would be a pleasure, as automatic as breathing.
Tourrain, though, was different. He was a policeman caught in a bad situation, but carrying a weapon made purely for killing. And judging by the way his body was moving and flexing excitedly in the gloom, he was desperate to use it. As a cop facing exposure and arrest, he would see only one way out of this situation: to kill the intruder and dispose of the body.
As both men moved towards him, unwittingly giving up the advantage of a flatter, wider ground, the breath hissed between Rocco’s teeth. He reached for his gun… and felt his gut go cold. It wasn’t there. He must have dr
opped it going over the wire or climbing in and out of the skip. He waited until Metz had moving further ahead of Tourrain, then moved forward to meet him. Metz stopped instantly, on the defensive. Tourrain did the same, although he stayed back slightly instead of drawing level with his colleague.
‘You’re under arrest, Metz,’ said Rocco. ‘And you, Tourrain. There’s no way out of this for you.’
The sound of his voice seemed to throw both men off their stride. They were probably accustomed to their victims pleading with them, he decided, or shouting abuse in desperation or anger. Not talking to them in calm, confident tones. Or, for that matter, walking towards them without the slightest display of anxiety.
‘Jesus… Rocco?’ Tourrain had finally recognised who he was facing. ‘What the fuck-?’ He cast around, looking first at Metz, then turning to check behind him as if help lay out there in the dark. ‘It was you in the factory?’ He didn’t wait for a reply but added, ‘Hey — we can sort this out, right? There’s no need for it to go any higher.’
It was a desperate gamble by a man who should have known he was finished. But Rocco sensed Tourrain hadn’t got the intelligence to realise that whatever game he had been mixed up in with Gondrand and Lambert, it was now over.
For a moment the threat of action from the two men was frozen, suspended by the expectation of a deal. For Tourrain it was a way out. For men like Metz it was the way of the world; one crooked cop meant others had their price, too. All it came down to was how much. He remained immobile, head turning to cast a look at Tourrain, while the detective stepped from foot to foot, undecided on his next move.
Tourrain was the first to break.
‘ Metz… come on…!’ Suddenly he was turning and running along the towpath, leaving the guard to fend for himself.
Metz snarled in disgust and slashed at Rocco’s head, the metal rod hissing through the air. Rocco swayed out of reach, wary of the uneven ground beneath his feet. A detached part of his brain was telling him this was not how he would have chosen to go, given a choice: being felled by a brutal sliver of cold metal in the hands of a murderous thug, followed by blackness.
He stepped forward, shutting out the thought with clinical detachment, and waited for another wild slash before executing a hard snap kick to Metz’s midriff. This was something Metz, in his brutal enthusiasm, had overlooked: Rocco had the leg reach and power. The point of impact was the leather-shod ball of Rocco’s foot against the other man’s diaphragm. It didn’t require great body weight behind it, simply speed and momentum.
The shock of impact clouded Metz’s eyes, draining his face of blood. He stood still for a moment as pain blossomed throughout his body, then slashed again, but with little effect. And Rocco waited, calmly watching the man’s system beginning to shut down.
Metz made a sound — a word, perhaps, maybe a cough — as he fought to regain his breathing. He spat to one side and appeared to stagger, then waved the steel rod in front of him. But it was a token, a show of aggression with no real power or focus.
‘Give it up,’ said Rocco.
But Metz wasn’t finished. He reached into his pocket, groaning with the effort, and dragged out a gun.
Rocco reacted instinctively. He stepped in close and smacked Metz’s gun hand away with his right palm, then half turned away and rammed his elbow backwards into the man’s chest. A split second later he struck again, this time to Metz’s nose, driving his head back under the impact, the cartilage crushed.
And suddenly Metz was gone, tottering briefly on the lip of the lock basin before tumbling into the black water with a muffled splash.
The steel rod was lying on the ground. Rocco put his toe underneath it and flicked it over the edge. He retrieved the gun and did the same thing.
But he didn’t hear the soft rush of footsteps on the grass behind him, or the grunt of someone breathing. All he knew was a sharp pain in the back of his head.
Then darkness.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
‘I don’t know where Inspector Rocco is, sir.’ Detective Desmoulins stood his ground under the blistering gazes of Commissaire Massin, Captain Canet and a red-faced Marcel Wiegheim, operations manager of the Ecoboras plant. They were grouped in Massin’s office, while downstairs, the task of questioning the men they had picked up during the night was under way. ‘I was busy and didn’t have contact with him. I believe he was looking after the new liaison officer, sir, as you asked.’
‘Let’s hope you’re right,’ put in Canet quickly, before Massin could explode. ‘You and he have been working like a double act recently.’ He bent forward and peered at a bruise on the detective’s forehead. ‘What’s that — your wife unhappy about your little telephone game yesterday? She kick you out of bed, perhaps?’
Desmoulins blushed before saying, ‘No, sir. I got it jumping out of my car during the raids last night. The door sprang back on me. You know, I think it’s a design fault with the top hinge, sir. After a while it seizes up. Those Renaults all have the same problem — you ask any of the patrols-’
‘Enough!’ Massin cut him off, then turned to Wiegheim, who was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘I’ll have to ask you to bear with us, Monsieur Wiegheim,’ he said. ‘It has been a difficult night and everyone is tired. However, I don’t see how you can be levelling any blame at Inspector Rocco for a break-in of your premises. Why would he have any knowledge of it?’
‘Because he’s already virtually accused us — me — of running illegal workers, that’s why,’ the factory manager spluttered and nearly stamped his foot. ‘This is intolerable! Are you seriously going to listen to his garbage? This man’s just protecting his friend!’
‘Inspector Rocco is a senior officer. He has no need of protection.’ Massin’s jaw clenched firmly. He just wanted rid of this noisy little man. ‘Do you have any other complaints?’
‘Isn’t this enough?’ Wiegheim waved a piece of paper in the air. It was, as they were all aware, a letter from the Defence Ministry, promising full protection and support during the time of the contract with Ecoboras. It also contained a clause stressing that any breach of contract by the factory would result in severe penalties and cancellation of this and all future contracts, which was, as far as any of the policemen could tell, the main reason for his anger. ‘Someone broke into my factory last night and I think I know who. Furthermore, I have a piece of the equipment used.’ He pointed a quivering finger at a coil of rope and grappling hook which had been found hanging from the security fence at his factory. ‘Tell me, Commissaire, that that… thing… is not official police issue!’
‘Personally speaking,’ replied Massin loftily, ‘I wouldn’t know. I never handle that kind of equipment. Captain Canet?’ He looked at his uniformed officer. ‘Do you recognise it?’
Canet hesitated only a second before shaking his head. Massin was placing him firmly in the spotlight if this thing ever got as far as an official investigation. Feigning ignorance of a piece of police equipment could seriously blight a promising career. On the other hand, it carried no serial number so how could anyone check? ‘I’ve never seen this before in my life, sir,’ he said truthfully, and pointed out, ‘I think you’ll find they’re used by boatmen to drag stuff out of the rivers.’
‘You would say that,’ sneered Wiegheim. ‘You’re just protecting your friend. I’ll be contacting the Ministry first thing this morning — that I promise you!’
‘Your privilege, of course,’ said Massin, who was fast losing interest. ‘But I think if you’d cooperated with us in the first place, the chances of a break-in would have been minimal. As it was, I think it must have been someone taking advantage of our activities last night.’ He gave a humourless smile. ‘Let us hope the Ministry doesn’t share my view.’
‘What view is that?’
‘That maybe you should have employed more or better security.’
‘That’s another thing,’ Wiegheim came back with renewed vigour. ‘One of my security guards is missing!’
‘I see.’ Massin looked down his nose at him. ‘Then as soon as I see Inspector Rocco, I will ask him to release your man.’
‘Release him?’
‘Well, you are obviously intent on blaming him for every strange occurrence last night. He must have kidnapped one of your staff, too.’
As soon as Wiegheim had gone storming out, Massin turned to Captain Canet and said quietly, ‘Find Rocco. I don’t care what it takes. Something has happened, whether of his own making or not, I don’t know. It could be that the man Farek has caught up with him. This could come back and haunt us if we don’t resolve it right away. And take that… thing with you.’ He waved a hand at the grappling hook and both men left his office.
Outside, Canet caught up with Desmoulins, who was making for the door.
‘Where are you going in such a hurry?’
‘To look for Rocco.’
Canet narrowed his eyes. ‘You know where he is?’
Desmoulins took a breath, then said, ‘No. But I know where he might have been.’
Canet nodded, lips pursed, then looked at the grappling hook. ‘And this?’ He thrust it at Desmoulins. ‘I suggest you find a home for it — preferably back where it came from. And before you deny it, I didn’t come up with yesterday’s turnips. Now, I’ve got to process the men we picked up.’
Desmoulins took the rope and hook and did as he was told. As he walked down to the equipment storage room, where he could lose the grappling hook until he got it back to its owners, he bumped into Detective Tourrain coming in from the car park. The man looked thinner and even more unwholesome than usual, in Desmoulins’ view, but he put that down to a busy night, like his own.
Tourrain eyed the rope. ‘Going climbing?’ he said with a sly chuckle. ‘How many rats did they catch, then?’
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