The Amen Cadence

by J. J. Salkeld

  ‘So am I, Mary. Because if you had then things would be bloody different right now. At the very least you’d be cuffed, and ordinary, quiet coppers would be shouting abuse at you as you were taken down through the custody area. And at worst they’d be carrying you out of here on a fucking stretcher. You should never have tried to make it in my world, love, and you need to get straight back to where you came from. So get your resignation letter drafted, but don’t submit it just yet. That’s all for another day. For now, you do what I just said, keep everything normal, and then you wait for my call, OK?’

  Pepper collected Ben from school herself. Since he had been approached at the school gates she managed it most days, even though a marked car was parked just opposite when she arrived. She nodded to the PC in the driver’s seat, and noticed that he was eating. Given that he’d already struggle to win a footrace with a fit four year-old she wasn’t sure that this was wise.

  ‘We need to call in on a friend, love’, she said, when Ben was in the car. ‘It won’t take long.’

  ‘I said I’d play football after tea, mum. I scored yesterday, you know. Left foot it was, too, and it weren’t a tap-in, before you say it was.’

  ‘I’m sure it wasn’t. We’ll just be five minutes, I promise. It’s a work thing.’

  ‘Is it a con we’re visiting, mum?’

  Pepper smiled.

  ‘No, Ben, it’s not an offender. It’s one of the good guys.’

  ‘Like my dad?’

  ‘Yes, just like your dad.’

  ‘Is it my dad?’

  ‘No, love, it’s not. And you’ve got to stop asking about that, OK? Your dad just can’t be with us, OK? He wants to be, but he can’t.’

  Pepper accelerated a bit harder than she intended, as she turned into Davey Hood’s street, then braked again when she saw a parking space.

  ‘Come on, Ben’, she said, turning off the engine and opening her door in one quick movement. ‘We won’t be long, I promise.’

  ‘All right. Can we have chips for tea? Proper ones, from the chipper.’

  Pepper smiled. ‘I expect so, love.’

  Davey Hood answered the door himself. He didn’t look remotely surprised to see Pepper.

  ‘Hiya. This must be your Ben. I’m Davey.’

  ‘Do you like football?’

  Hood laughed. ‘I do, aye. I bet your mum’s rubbish, isn’t she, buddy?’

  ‘Couldn’t hit a barn door.’

  Hood was still laughing when he led them into the sitting room. His mum got up, made a fuss of Ben, then went to make them all cold drinks.

  ‘How did you know I was coming?’ asked Pepper.

  ‘I didn’t, not until you turned into the street.’

  ‘I didn’t see anyone watching.’

  ‘You wouldn’t. No-one would. That’s sort of the point, love. And I hear you’ve charged that young lad for killing your mate. That’s good, then.’

  ‘Christ, your spies really must be everywhere.’

  ‘It was on the TV news, just now.’

  Pepper laughed.

  ‘Of course it was. But the lad didn’t do it, although he was there. And we both knew who’s really responsible anyway, don’t we?’

  Mrs. Hood came back in with cold drinks.

  ‘I’m going to show Ben round the garden, if that’s all right. I expect a few of the strawberries are ready, what with the weather we’ve been having.’

  ‘Aye, of course, Mrs. Hood. Are you feeling better?’

  ‘I’m fine, love. I just wish this one would stop mithering me about it every five minutes. Anyway, I’ll leave you two to it.’

  Hood closed the door behind his mum, and sat down next to Pepper.

  ‘OK. So you have a plan of attack, I take it?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘And that plan involves me?’

  ‘It does.’

  ‘And if it works, will it achieve the objective?’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘To get Young out into the open, so he’s not relying on his hired hands to do his dirty work.’

  ‘It does do that. That’s the beauty of it. And you were right about Mary Clark, by the way.’

  ‘I know.’ Hood smiled. ‘But I didn’t see owt on the news about that one, did I?’

  ‘You did not. But only because I’ve made a deal with Mary. She helps flush Young out, and she gets to resign. I don’t grass her up, and nor do you.’

  ‘Sounds fair enough, so long as she delivers. But how do we get him to show out?’

  ‘We use you as bait, and me too. Mary tells Young that we’re an item, and that we’re staying here at night. My guess is that I’m off limits, because of my job, but you’re not, and he’ll want me to see him take you down. He’d totally get off on that.’

  ‘Him and whose army?’

  ‘Don’t underestimate him, Davey. He’s got money, and in his world, that’s all that matters. I wouldn’t want the kind of friends that it can buy, but they will kill to order, if the price is right.’

  ‘I’ve got my lads.’

  ‘How many?’

  ‘Five, but they’re each worth ten times as much as any hired thug, believe you me.’

  ‘All right, and I’ve got two mates from work who are in. But you have to understand, Davey, that this all off the books.’

  ‘Plausible deniability, eh? I can live with that. It’s not what you’d call unfamiliar territory for me, or the lads.’

  Pepper got up, turned and stood looking down at Hood. He looked relaxed, lying back on the sofa.

  ‘There is one thing, Davey, if we are going to do this. One thing I need you to promise.’

  Hood smiled. ‘We’re not cold blooded killers, Pepper. I keep telling you. Young only dies if he threatens me or one of my lads with deadly force; otherwise we don’t touch him. That’s the only assurance I can offer.’

  ‘All right. But just so we’re clear. Your end-game here isn’t to kill Young?’

  ‘No. My end-game is to get him gone, that’s all. We’ve got no intention of killing anyone at all, him included. So when does this all happen?’

  ‘Tomorrow. I make the call, and Mary sets it up. A one-to-one with Young. She tells him that he needs to move fast.’

  ‘You want me to have eyes on this meet? Not a problem.’

  ‘No, definitely not.’

  ‘But she’s your mate, Pepper, and she’s at risk, isn’t she?’

  ‘That’s her look-out, mate.’

  Hood straightened up on the sofa, and looked keenly at Pepper, as if he was trying to decide something important.

  ‘Aye, maybe it is. Will you have a wire on her?’

  ‘Christ, no. He’s bound to check for that, isn’t he?’

  ‘I would.’

  ‘But you didn’t check me, did you?’

  Hood laughed.

  ‘Why? Would you like me to?’

  Pepper joined in, and laughed right back.

  ‘You’re a right cocky bastard, Davey. Well, I’d better get my son back before he’s got your mum breaking a hip trying to make a save, or something. He’s a right persuasive little bugger, is my Ben.’

  Saturday, 20th June

  Superstore car park, 6.28am

  Mary Clark got out of her car as soon as Dai gestured to her from his. She climbed into the front passenger seat, and he held a small device in front of her chest.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘You can take your top off instead, if you like, love. But this saves us both the trouble.’

  ‘You’re checking me for a microphone? I’m not stupid, Dai.’

  ‘Glad to hear it. But you can’t be too careful, not in my job. And you haven’t got any mates tucked away round here, have you?’

  ‘How could I have? You only texted me this location ten minutes ago. And you were already here, waiting, I’ll bet.’

  Young smiled. ‘Maybe, aye, maybe I was. Now, what was so fucking urgent that we had to meet? Nothing personal, love,
but it’s not good for my image, mixing with cops. Even play-day law like you.’

  ‘I’ve got information, but I need an assurance from you. That’s why we had to meet.’

  Young smiled. ‘An assurance? Aye, why not? Anything to help the police, like.’

  ‘Nothing happens to Pepper Wilson, because of what I’m about to tell you. You need to swear it.’

  ‘That’s easy, love. Coppers are off limits, see. It’s a strict rule in my firm, is that. They’re just not worth the hassle. Not at the moment, anyway. Mind you, coppers’ families, well, that’s a bit different, isn’t it?’

  Mary turned away, but Young grabbed her face, his fingers pressing against her molars through the flesh, and he turned her head violently back towards him. An early shopper got out of her car nearby, and Young must have noticed, because he closed in and kissed Mary, hard. His hand gripped the back of her neck now, and it was twenty seconds before he came up for air.

  ‘Get off me, you bastard.’

  ‘Or what? I could fuck you, right now, over the boot of the car, if I wanted, and there’s nothing you could do. Who would you run to about it, eh? You’re lucky I don’t fancy you, that’s all.’

  ‘I certainly am.’

  ‘Don’t get smart with me, Mary. Don’t get fucking clever on me now.’

  ‘All right, all right. Listen, Pepper told me something.’

  ‘About the Thompson lad?’

  ‘No, not about him, about her. Did you know that she’s seeing Davey Hood? Stays round there most nights now, so I hear. She’ll be there tomorrow night.’

  ‘Really? And what about the kid, and his mum, come to that?’

  ‘They’re at her place. Under guard, mind. A few of his old army mates doing the honours, I hear.’

  Mary had stuck firmly to her script, and she kept looking at Young. She didn’t have much choice anyway, as his left hand was still tight on the back of her neck.

  ‘Why are you telling me this? Pepper’s your big mate, isn’t she?’

  ‘I want to settle my debt. My brother’s debt.’

  Young laughed. ‘Aye, that. Well, what you’ve told me pays the interest on it for a bit, anyway, but only if it’s true. And it had fucking better be. I’ll think about it, like. But there’s something I want from you. It’s the only reason I’m here, in fact. And this is important. I need you to get the Thompson boy back to Carlisle nick.’

  ‘What? Impossible. He’s been charged. He’s away on remand. And you don’t have to worry anyway, Dai. He’s saying he did it. He killed Linda Taylor. He’ll plead guilty, and that will be that.’

  ‘No, it won’t. Trust me, he’ll have second thoughts, sooner or later. And actually you’re wrong, you can get him back to your nick, or rather I can.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Another officer, a DS from HQ in Penrith, will be in touch with you. In fact, he probably already has been. He’ll have a very good reason to talk to Thompson again, back in Carlisle.’

  ‘What reason?’

  ‘You don’t have to worry about that. Just make sure it happens, that’s all.’

  ‘And then what happens?’

  Finally, Young let her go, and Mary turned her face away, but she didn’t rub where it hurt. She wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction.

  ‘Too many fucking questions, love. You just keep your neb out. Maybe we just want a friendly little chat with the lad, before he goes away, like.’

  ‘And maybe he’ll be found dead in his cell.’

  ‘Suicides do happen, love. Very sad, but some lads do the crime, then can’t do the time. Just don’t have the bottle for it, when that door slams shut. But that’s nowt to do with you, is it? All you have to do is send a couple of emails, and make it happen.’

  ‘When do you want him back here?’

  ‘Tomorrow. Evening, sometime. There’ll be hardly anyone in your nick then, will there?’

  ‘No, I suppose not. But what about the alarms, our CCTV, all that?’

  ‘Not your concern, Mary. Just get that in to your not very pretty head, all right? Now you fuck off and just make it happen, you hear me?’

  ‘All right.’

  Mary started to open the door, but Young caught her round the wrist and squeezed hard.

  ‘Ouch. Let go, you’re hurting me.’

  Young relaxed his grip slightly, but he didn’t let go.

  ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’

  ‘What?’

  Young looked at her steadily, watchfully. Mary tried to stay calm, and then it came to her.

  ‘Oh, aye. I assume that doing this for you cancels out my debt, getting your man to Thompson? I took that as read, like. That’s why I didn’t ask.’

  ‘Well that was fucking presumptuous of you, Mary. But I like you, or at least I don’t actually hate you, so aye, it does. My man gets into your custody suite tomorrow night, and the Thompson boy is there, and our business is concluded. We never speak again, unless you just can’t keep away. How’s that?’

  ‘Great. OK, I’ll do it.’

  ‘Of course you will, love. Of course you fucking will.’

  Mary Clark tried to ignore the pain in her arm as she walked back to her car. But she needn’t have worried about it showing, because Young accelerated away fast, and didn’t even glance at her as he passed. But, even so, Mary did what she’d previously agreed with Pepper and drove for a mile, back towards the centre of town, then turned left onto a side street. Then she watched her rear view mirror for a minute or two before she made the call. Pepper answered on the first ring.

  ‘Did he go for it?’

  ‘I don’t know. He asked why I was telling him, anyway.’

  ‘And you said?’

  ‘To settle my brother’s debt.’

  ‘Good. And you said that I wasn’t to be touched? You needed his assurance?’

  ‘I did, aye. And he went for it, I’m pretty sure of that. But there’s something else, Pepper. He wants young Thompson to be brought back to Carlisle nick.’

  ‘What? But we can’t do that. He’s been charged. So we can’t question him any more, you do know that?’

  ‘I do, and so did Young. He said that a DS from HQ would be in touch, with a request to bring Thompson back for questioning about another matter.’

  ‘Shit. No way. Did he say who it is?’

  ‘No. He said I’d have an email. Shall I check?’

  ‘Yes. Do it now.’

  Mary Clark opened her email, and sure enough the request that Young had predicted was coming her way was already there.

  ‘It’s from DS Jarvis, in Professional Standards. He says that Thompson may have information relating to a current internal investigation.’

  Pepper made a noise that was more yelp than laugh. ‘Fucking hell, one of the holier than thous is dirty. Right, Mary, this is how we play it. I want you to set it up. When does Jarvis want to do this interview?’

  ‘Tomorrow evening, Sunday, just like Dai said he would.’

  ‘OK, fine. Go back to him, and say you’ll get that sorted. Literally a one liner.’

  ‘And I’ll BCC you, right?’

  ‘No. Fuck, no, don’t do that whatever you do. Jarvis works in professional standards, so he’ll be able to see all our email. He’s bound to check my incoming. No, just keep it simple. Copy the custody inspector, just like you normally would, and leave it at that.’

  ‘But you’re not going to let anything happen to Thompson, are you? I know he was involved in killing your friend, but still…’

  ‘Of course I’m not, Mary. There is a bloody line, you know. Just leave it with me. Your part in all this is over now, you hear? You just sit tight, get on with your work, and let me know if Young or any of his people get in touch again. Otherwise, just keep your head down for now, OK?’

  Ben was already up, and had decided that the weather was propitious for bike riding, football and cricket in that order. He told Pepper this, four or five times, and then told her
again after breakfast, in case she’d forgotten. His mum could be forgetful about that sort of thing. But as soon as the hour was decent Pepper managed to blag him a play date with one of his mates, whose day’s agenda was, apparently, much the same as Ben’s. Then she drove to Kings Meaburn, and stopped outside the gates of the sandstone farmhouse, with the newish 4x4 and the newer Mini in the drive. She just sat and looked for a moment, at the high-sided trampoline, and the big, handsome trees in the garden. It all looked expensive, but not too flashy. Then she imagined herself living in that house, but only for a moment. Instead she reached for her phone, and dialled.

  ‘Keith Jones’, said the man, neutrally. He can’t have looked at who the call was from, or maybe he’d deleted her number. Aye, that would be it.

  ‘It’s me, Pepper.’

  ‘This is work?’

  ‘Aye, of course.’

  ‘Urgent? You know I’m off duty.’

  ‘Oh, aye, it’s urgent.’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Outside your house.’

  ‘Shit, Pepper. Drive to the end of the lane, and wait. I’ll be out in five. Will we be long?’

  ‘That’s down to you, but probably, aye.’

  When she rang off Pepper drove to the end of the lane, and waited, her hands draped over the wheel. She didn’t look in her mirror, but she didn’t jump when she heard the door open either.

  ‘Why couldn’t we do this through the usual channels, Pepper?’

  She told him.

  ‘Jesus H Christ. And you’re absolutely sure about this?’

  ‘Can you check that Jarvis sent the email, without him knowing?’

  ‘Aye, I can.’

  ‘And does he have any legitimate reason to talk to Thompson?’

  ‘Not that I know of.’

  ‘And if he did…’

  ‘I’d know about it, yes. I’m his line manager, now that Dixon has gone to that new strategy role. But where does this information come from? Superintendent Clark?’