Zoe Sharp - [Charlie Fox]

by Absence of Light (epub)

  “Thank you, Miss Tyler, for retrieving my gems.”

  Lefevre took a step forward but wisely did not try to bring the Ruger up to make himself more of a target.

  “We had an agreement, commander, if you recall? A seventy-thirty split in my favour.”

  Peck gave a negligent shrug. “Circumstances have changed, my friend.” He gestured around him. “More people are now involved on my behalf and, if you’ll forgive me for pointing this out, fewer on yours.”

  I checked Marcus’s face but could glean nothing from it. Did that “more people” Peck mentioned include him or not? Where was the Colt he usually carried? And my SIG?

  “But, a deal is a deal, surely?” Lefevre’s mouth was smiling but I was close enough to see his eyes were scared. “You brought us in - my late partner and myself - for this job because you were told you could trust us. Is it unreasonable to expect that you will keep your word?”

  “Unreasonable? No. Unrealistic in the circumstances? Yes.” Peck’s face was stony. “It was supposed to be a simple robbery. You had no need to kill Senor Rojas. That was not part of the deal.”

  Lefevre took a quick step back, opening his mouth to protest, but it was too late.

  Peck fired a short three-round burst from the HK. The 5.56mm NATO rounds exploded into Lefevre’s upper torso, dropping him instantly. He let go of the Ruger which skittered away out of reach. I watched his chest deflate slowly as his last breath expelled and he was unable to draw another.

  Riley swore again, low and vicious. Hope merely curled herself around Lemon’s shivering body as the dog cowered from the gunfire.

  “Thank you all for assisting me to capture a dangerous criminal, who sadly resisted arrest,” Peck said calmly. “Mr Marcus, if you would be so kind as to retrieve the bag of … evidence from Miss Tyler, I believe I will now be able to close this case.”

  With only the briefest pause, Marcus walked across the gap separating us and grasped the satchel Lemon had brought out. As he bent over her, Hope raised a tear-streaked face to his.

  “It’s all right, Hope. Everything will be all right.”

  He walked back to Peck without hurrying. Peck held out his free hand for the satchel but Marcus made no immediate moves to hand it over.

  “We agreed on a dozen stones,” he said, “for letting you handle this your way.”

  Peck said nothing for a moment, then nodded.

  I watched in disbelief as Marcus undid the straps and pulled out a black velvet pouch. He reached in without taking his eyes from Peck and came out with a handful of what might have seemed like chips of glass except for the way they sparkled as they caught the light. He let a couple drip back through his fingers, counted what remained, then put the pouch back into the satchel and handed it over without a word.

  “This just gets better and better, doesn’t it, Joe?” I said, my voice oozing with contempt. “Now I know why you had to get rid of Kyle Stephens.”

  Riley swore again, more quietly this time, and Hope’s breath hitched in her throat.

  Marcus gave me a long stare that went right through me as if it found no resistance. “You don’t know anything for sure.”

  “Oh, of course not,” I agreed, edged with sarcasm. “That’s why you wanted to leave me in that damn cellar and hope the building would silence me so you didn’t have to.”

  He frowned but before he could speak Wilson broke in.

  “What about me, eh?” Marcus and Peck both turned to look at him. Their expressions were not encouraging.

  “You only received your cut if you obtained the gems first. You did not,” Peck told him. “That was our agreement.”

  “Wait a bloody minute there, pal. If I hadn’t brought them here - ” he gestured to Marcus and me, “ - and tipped you off, you would never have got a hold of the stones.”

  “You brought them here?” Peck queried mildly. “I thought my pilot did that. Just as my pilot made the radio call that summoned me as soon as you were in the air.”

  The shock on the big Scot’s face tightened into outright fury as Peck turned away, dismissing him. He launched for the police commander’s back, managed to get his good arm around the man’s neck before Peck brought the butt of the rifle back, jamming it into Wilson’s ribcage.

  I heard the air gust out of his lungs along with a grunt of pain. He tumbled backward, gasping. The effect of the blow surprised me. Either Peck was stronger than he looked or …

  “Bastard!” Wilson got out between his teeth. “I put my career on the line for you. You owe me! You needn’t think I’m going to keep quiet about this, pal.”

  Peck regarded him for a moment and then started to bring the HK up to his shoulder again.

  I moved forward. Peck’s aim shifted slightly.

  “Enough,” I said. “Killing a murderer is one thing. Killing a man because he’s threatening to expose you is quite another.”

  And I knew when I spoke that Joe Marcus would not have missed the significance of the words, even if he did not react to them.

  “What about killing a man who has tried to kill you?” Peck asked. “Who did you think was sniping at you from the end of this very street yesterday?”

  I looked down at Wilson. He was clutching his side as though it would come apart without the support of his hands, and trying without success to move around the pain.

  “All’s fair in love and war, eh?” he said with a grimace that tried to be a smile. “Couldn’t let you get to those gems first. Him - ” he flicked his eyes in the direction of Joe Marcus, “ - he’d already offered me a cut, but you? You would have handed ‘em in, you daft bitch.”

  I leaned over him, several other things becoming clear now. “How are the ribs?” I asked. “I should have booted you harder when I had the chance.”

  “Hey!” Riley shouted, making all of us jump. He was still sitting trussed on the ground. “Hey, there’s - ”

  “Shut up!” Peck snapped, swinging the HK in his direction.

  But even as he spoke we realised what Riley had been trying to tell us as the ground began to tremble, then to shake.

  “Aftershock!”

  But this one was not like the others. It was as if the whole of the surrounding area was being hit by intense artillery bombardment. It jarred and shuddered violently from each impact, except there were no explosions, no heat and blast waves, no shells raining down on us. I tried to drop to my knees, to get my head covered, only to discover the ground under me had already gone.

  I screamed. A pure visceral cry of terror as my body lurched, leaving my stomach behind, and then I was falling feet first into the void.

  Epilogue

  I watched the Lockheed C-130 plunge towards the fractured runway with a feeling of relief that, this time, I was not on board. It was bad enough watching the tyres deform from the impact as they hit, seeing the puff of smoke and only afterwards hearing the chirrup, delayed by the distance between us.

  “Your ride,” Commander Peck said unnecessarily.

  “It is,” I agreed.

  “It has been a pleasure to have you visit my country, Miss Fox,” he said, offering his hand. “Please do not come back.”

  “They couldn’t pay me enough,” I said cheerfully.

  His mouth twitched, almost a smile, although his eyes were hidden behind the usual Aviators. “Then we are in accord.”

  I climbed stiffly down from the back of the police Eurocopter. A silent Wilson followed me out. I watched him struggle with the pair of crutches he was relying on, his foot and ankle encased in plaster.

  “I hope this is the last time we meet,” I told him, not offering to help. “But if you ever decide to shoot at me again, pal, make sure you don’t miss. Because I won’t.”

  “I was never trying to hurt you, just shake you up a bit. Thought I could put in for your spot, eh? Seemed like a cushy number.”

  Wilson, I’d learned, was a man who could resist anything except temptation, the lure of easy money, at which point h
is scruples tended to take a holiday. I wondered what kind of a soldier it had made him, and what kind of a copper he’d since turned into.

  “Ribs still hurting, are they?”

  “Like a bastard,” he admitted, his voice rueful. “It was Peck put me up to - ”

  “Good,” I interrupted, meaning the ribs. “I don’t need to hear any more. And as long as you keep your mouth shut, nobody else does either, do they?”

  I walked away from him, far enough to watch the Hercules taxi off the flight-line and slot into its designated space in a line of other heavy transport aircraft. The rear loading ramp was already lowering before the engines finished spooling down, forklifts and refuelling tankers converging.

  As the crew emerged there were two figures among them who didn’t fit the usual mould. Manners dictated that I go to meet them. Surprise kept me static.

  “Charlie,” Parker Armstrong greeted me without inflection as he drew closer. Those cool grey eyes skated over the cuts and grazes on my face, the way I held myself, and I knew he was assessing the damage - both what he could see and what he could not. “Glad you’re OK.”

  “Sir,” I murmured, keeping it formal because alongside him was R&R’s sponsor - in effect my employer on this job - Mrs Hamilton. She looked as cool and elegant as ever, the rigours of a long-haul flight in steerage notwithstanding.

  “It’s a miracle they got you out alive. It must have been terrifying,” she said, ignoring my proffered hand in favour of a light hug and a kiss to both cheeks. “My God, I never expected … How long were you buried?”

  “Only about six hours,” I said, playing it down. It had felt like six weeks. “They had to stabilise the area before they could get to us.”

  I did not add that the initial surveys and gathering of equipment had taken Marcus and his team over four hours, during which time neither myself nor Wilson, trapped nearby, had known if they were coming for us or not. It had been a sobering experience.

  Wilson had wept and wailed and raged himself into silence - something he was not proud of now and another stick I could beat him with if I so chose. Providing he kept to his side of the bargain, I’d keep to mine.

  The infinitely slow tick of those first four hours had given me time to think about where I had been with my life and where I intended to go. About right and wrong. Trust and betrayal. And justice, whatever I deemed that to be.

  “Ah, looks like we have company,” Mrs Hamilton said, smiling over my shoulder.

  I turned and saw the khaki-coloured Bell making a fast showy landing near the hangar where Riley picked me up on my arrival, less than a week ago.

  As soon as the skids were on the tarmac the doors opened. Joe Marcus helped Dr Bertrand climb down as Hope and Lemon jumped out of the rear load bay. Riley stayed in the pilot’s seat as if to be ready for a quick exit. He gave me a nod and a salute when he saw me watching, but for once he did not smile.

  “The gang’s all here,” I murmured. Parker glanced at me sharply, but he made no comment.

  The R&R team greeted Mrs Hamilton with respectful enthusiasm. Even Lemon was on her most appealing best behaviour. Hope could hardly bring herself to look at me.

  “I expect you are all wondering about the reason for this impromptu inspection of the forces,” Mrs Hamilton said, flicking her eyes to Parker. “I - ”

  “I think I can probably answer that,” I said. “Mrs Hamilton did not simply employ me as a replacement security advisor for Kyle Stephens.” I let my gaze wander across them. “She also employed me to find out how and why he died.”

  Mrs Hamilton took a breath as if to contradict me. I waited, but she said nothing, frowning.

  “I’m very sorry,” I told her, “but I’m afraid your trust was severely misplaced.”

  She flinched and I heard Hope take in an audible breath that hitched in the back of her throat.

  “Misplaced how?” Parker asked.

  “Kyle Stephens, for all his record in the Rangers, was not a man to be trusted,” I said. “He stole from the dead and sold off what he couldn’t trade or barter.”

  “So his death?” Mrs Hamilton queried. “It wasn’t …?”

  “Deliberate?” I shrugged. “You’d asked him to look into the rumours, so he must have known he was on borrowed time. Maybe that led to him being … reckless, who knows?”

  She nodded, the slight drop of her shoulders the only giveaway to her relief. “And that’s it?” she asked. “Nothing more?”

  My gaze skimmed the R&R team once again, lingering on Hope. She paled, mutely pleading.

  “No,” I said. “There’s nothing more.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs Hamilton said. “For putting my mind at rest. I mean, I knew, but even so …”

  “You’re welcome.”

  A man in uniform with a lot of gold braid across the breast and epaulettes arrived to claim Mrs Hamilton in some official capacity.

  Parker touched my arm. “We’ve located Sean,” he murmured, his face grave. “It’s not the news we were hoping for.”

  “Let’s hear it, Parker.”

  “Not now. I’ll brief you on the plane. Wheels up in two hours, OK?” And with that he joined his client, giving me a brief nod that was not altogether satisfied.

  As soon as they’d gone more than a few yards Hope flung herself at me and squeezed me tighter than bruising and stitches were happy to allow. Lemon skipped around the pair of us, squeaking like a puppy.

  “Thank you, Charlie,” Joe Marcus said quietly over the top of Hope’s head. “We won’t forget this.”

  “Neither will I,” I said.

  Hope released me, only to have Lemon leap up and slosh a sloppy wet tongue across my face. I wiped my face on my scarf as the pair of them dashed for the Bell. I saw her standing on tiptoe by the pilot’s door, talking to Riley. After a moment or so he broke out a big grin.

  Marcus put his hand out and I shook it without hesitation. Dr Bertrand kissed me on both cheeks then held my upper arms and stared into my face. “What kind of macho nonsense is this?” she demanded. “That you do not want to let anyone see ‘ow badly you are ‘urting?”

  Parker’s words about Sean came back to me. “It’s not the news we were hoping for …”

  “Because I’m not done yet,” I said, still watching the girl and the dog. I turned back to face them. “I know you killed Kyle Stephens. By accident or design. Please tell me it wasn’t over a few stolen gems.”

  “I know Hope told you she was the one who started this but that’s not entirely true,” Marcus said. “There’s always a heap of valuable items just lying around after an event like this, like those jewels from Rojas’s store.”

  “And if you didn’t pick them up, somebody else would, is that it?”

  “We donate them to a good cause.”

  “R&R, you mean?” I said, thinking of those dozen stones I’d seen change hands.

  “No.” Marcus’s face ticked. “They don’t line our own pockets. Those stones from Peck went straight to the local relief fund.”

  “Ah … but Stephens was not so altruistic and he wanted his cut,” I surmised. “Was that the price of his silence?”

  Marcus nodded. “But it wasn’t why he had to die.”

  “‘E found out about ‘Ope - ‘er real identity. The bastard was blackmailing ‘er into ‘aving sex with ‘im.” Dr Bertrand said in a cool and deadly voice. The only clue to her inner rage was that her accent seemed more pronounced than usual. “It was rape, plain and simple. If ‘e ‘ad not taken the easy way out, I would ‘ave killed ‘im myself.”

  “Alex wanted to surgically castrate him without an anaesthetic,” Marcus said. “I offered him a chance for redemption. He took it.”

  I thought of Hope, of the way she cringed when anyone other than Marcus touched her. He’d been more generous than I would have been, I decided, given similar circumstances. “I guess we’re all of us looking for redemption one way or another.”

  “That we are,” Marcus said.r />
  And I realised that I hadn’t given Sean a chance to redeem himself. Instead, I’d thrown it down like a challenge, not realising that’s how he’d perceive it, or the lengths he might go to in order to see it through.

  Whatever he did next - whatever he’d already done - was on my head. I shivered in the clarity.

  Sometimes it takes the darkness before we can see the light.