Where There's Smoke

by Penny Grubb

  Annie nodded slowly. ‘Yes, good. That gets right to the heart of it. And of course, I won’t come right to the house with you. I’ll come as far as—’

  ‘I was getting to that,’ Pat interrupted. ‘You won’t come as far as anything. If I’m going out there with that cock-and-bull story, I’m going on my own.’ She held up her hand. ‘No buts. I can’t talk to them knowing you’re skulking about outside. I’d give the game away, I know I would. Anyone but Leah, maybe. Sorry, but that’s how it is. And it might at least bring out who’s behind what. Don’t tell me you don’t want to know. I do.’

  ‘Yes, OK, but suppose Vince is behind it - well, some of it - giving orders through Carl. Maybe his wife knows nothing about it. If you go there with that line, she’ll get to know. What happens then?’

  ‘On the whole, she leaves him be. As long as he doesn’t interfere with anything she’s doing, he can be as obnoxious as he likes. And if it’s something Leah doesn’t want him to do, I guess she’ll stop him. She wants him well again, and he’s not doing himself any favours getting mixed up in stuff. If he wasn’t as ill as he is and she tried to interfere, they’d fight, but with him being on his deathbed he’ll have to do as he’s told. I’ve Babs’s washing to do in the morning. I’ll go in the afternoon. And I need to be off soon anyway to get to the hospital.’

  Annie opened her mouth to query Pat on her exact timing, but quickly shifted gear as Christa came back, slumped in her seat and reached forward to plant a large plastic 27 on a stalk in the middle of the table. If Pat were going out there on her own, Annie intended to be close behind, but she knew Pat would suspect exactly that, so maybe her real intention was to go out in the morning and Barbara’s washing was an excuse to put Annie off the scent.

  ‘I ordered chocolate fudge cake,’ Christa said. ‘Looked better.’

  Pat nodded her approval, and Annie said, ‘We’ve not met Hassan. He was Pat’s sister’s case. What does he look like?’

  Christa shrugged. ‘Dunno. Haven’t seen him.’

  Pat glared at Christa. ‘You said he told you he was being blackmailed.’

  ‘I didn’t say it was him. It was one of the medical secretaries thought he might be being blackmailed. She said as much to her mate at the time. She’s going to look me out some stuff tonight if she can.’ Christa gave a short laugh. ‘D’you think some stuck-up consultant’s going to talk to me about stuff like that. Get real.’

  Annie shot Christa a hard look. ‘E-mailed her mate about it, did she?’

  Christa replied with a knowing wink. A kaleidoscope of emotions crossed Pat’s features; gobsmacked at Christa getting so much so quickly; annoyance at her tone; a need for a cutting comment to cut the cocky newcomer down to size. Annie was relieved to see a waiter arrive bearing a tray with a trio of steaming coffee cups and two plates of chocolatey goo with long spoons. Christa, stick thin, and Pat, three times her size, dived in with equal enthusiasm as Annie raised her cup to her lips and shot another narrow-eyed glare at Christa. One of these days she’d land herself in trouble too deep to find a way out. Gaining unauthorized access to e-mails was a trick Christa prided herself on. And it had had its uses. Pieternel had piled on too much praise when she’d needed the party trick performing. But it was legal quicksand on which to build a case. She sat back with a sigh. This wasn’t a case. The real cases – the ones Pat was worrying over, the ones Barbara had been in the middle of - were piling up in the office while she and Pat chased the shadows that closed in around them.

  ‘Your sister’s in Hull Royal, yeah?’ Christa said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

  Pat acknowledged her with a tiny nod.

  ‘You gonna see her tonight?’

  ‘I go every night.’

  ‘You can give me a lift, then. I’m due to meet my contact later.’

  ‘Oh, I can, can I?’ Pat snapped, clearly nettled at Christa’s tone.

  ‘Uh … no, don’t worry,’ Annie broke in. ‘Come with me, Christa. I’ll drop you off.’ She flashed a quick look towards Pat to remind her of her intention not to let Christa out of her sight just yet. ‘Remind me, where is it from here? Oh, it’s OK. I can see your car over there. Mine’s just round the corner. Don’t set off too fast and I can track you in.’

  ‘God, what a fuss!’ Pat slammed down her spoon, making them both jump. ‘Down to the traffic lights, turn right, keep going.’

  Annie looked at Pat in surprise. She thought she’d relaxed a bit since this morning, but maybe Christa had got further under her skin than she’d realized.

  As Annie pulled into the hospital carpark, she saw Pat stomping down the pavement towards the crossing at the front of the main building, annoyance still radiating from her. She wasn’t sure whether Pat spotted her, but she didn’t try to catch her attention. Christa, beside her, yawned extravagantly and pulled out her phone. Annie snaked around the lines of parked cars looking for a space, hearing the click-click-click of Christa tapping out a text. She would stay close to Christa when she met her contact, but as soon as she could manufacture the opportunity, she intended to attach a crude tracker to Pat’s car. Pat was not going to sneak off to Vince’s place without her. ‘Where to?’ she asked Christa as they walked together towards the main entrance.

  ‘We’ll have to wait a bit, but she’ll nip out when she can. If she asks, you’re undercover Special Branch.’

  Annie rolled her eyes heavenwards but said only, ‘How long will she be?’

  ‘Fifteen, twenty minutes.’

  Annie smiled. Fifteen minutes were plenty to see to Pat’s car.

  ‘Just a sec,’ Christa said suddenly, taking Annie unawares as she darted off between the vehicles and made for a gang of youths clustered round a motorbike. Annie glared after her, but kept her distance. She didn’t want to be on CCTV with that crowd. Nor should Christa, but too late for that. These would be Christa’s latest dealers. She’d probably found them on her first trip before going into the hospital and delving into unattended computers. As soon as Christa came back, Annie took her arm and hurried her towards the hospital. ‘Look, you know what’s going to happen if—’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, yada yada. You can bollock me later, OK? Let’s get to my contact first.’

  Annie pursed her lips but said nothing. The number of people around them grew as they neared the bottleneck of the entrance doors. When they reached the corner where Christa said they must wait, Annie let Christa sit down before she said, ‘If we’ve fifteen minutes to wait, I’ll nip up and see how Barbara’s doing.’

  Christa shot her a suspicious glance. ‘You want me to come?’

  ‘Hell, no.’ Annie laughed. ‘Pat’d have you thrown out. I won’t be long.’

  She turned and walked towards the lift bay, cursing under her breath. Christa might be in the process of frying her mind but she hadn’t lost her wits and had sensed an undercurrent. Now Annie would have to go all the way to the ward in case Christa followed. She marched along the corridors, not allowing herself to turn until within sight of the door of Barbara’s room. No obvious sign of Christa behind her. About to turn back, she was stopped by a voice saying, ‘Hello, it’s Annie, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes. Hi.’ She reached out to shake hands with Barbara’s son. ‘How’s your mother? I was dropping someone off so I thought I’d just call up and enquire. Is Pat here?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s doing well. But Aunt Pat couldn’t make it tonight. She rang me not ten minutes ago. She’ll be round in the morning instead. D’you want to come and see Mum?’

  ‘Uh … no, thanks. I … I have to be off. I only had a minute.’

  Giving him a beaming smile and hoping he wouldn’t think her too rude, Annie turned and sprinted back down the corridor. Damn it! No wonder Pat had been annoyed to learn they would follow her to the hospital. She’d had no intention of visiting tonight. She was heading off for Vince’s right now. How much of a start would she have? She’d made for the main doors in full view of Annie and Christa as they’d arrived,
but then what? Had she concealed herself in the concrete jungle that was the entrance to the big hospital, let them walk in past her and then doubled back? As she ran, her phone began to vibrate an incoming call. She snatched it out. Christa. Still running, she jammed the handset to her ear.

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘My contact nipped out as soon as you were gone. I’d have called, but she only had a minute. What are you doing? Are you running?’

  ‘Uh … no. No, it’s noisy here, that’s all. What did she say?’

  ‘She’s gonna come back down later,’ Christa rattled the words out as though on a timer. ‘But she said you’d be able to look out the case ’cos there was police involvement. You know, you being Special Branc—.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, but what else did she say?’

  ‘There was a complaint. She mentioned the name Greaves.’

  ‘What? Hassan complained about Greaves?’

  ‘No, I don’t think it was that.’

  ‘Christa, where are you?’ Annie barked out the question, in agonies of indecision. Did she tell Christa to head out and look for Pat? Or did she try to get out of the hospital unobserved and leave Christa to wait for her contact?

  ‘Just gone to get a coke from the machine.’

  That put Christa the wrong side of the hospital for the carpark entrance and made up Annie’s mind. She was within a spit of the exit herself now.

  ‘Sit and wait, Christa. See what you can get. I’d better keep out of the way now. ‘

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Well, if I’m supposed to be Special Branch, I know it all, so it’ll look suspicious if I’m asking. You spin her a line. You don’t need me telling you what to do. OK?’

  ‘OK.’

  She cut the call as she sprinted out across the narrow street towards the carpark, taking a leap to teeter on top of one of the small posts that held the chain-link fence. Her gaze scanned the expanse of cars and she suppressed a crow of triumph. There was the unmistakable bulk of Pat’s form hurrying to the far end. Should have parked nearer, thought Annie, and you might have lost me. Then she gasped as a gang of youths emerged from the dusk and looked about to ambush Pat. On the point of leaping down from her vantage point to go to help, she saw Pat swing round angrily and shoo them away with fierce hand gestures.

  ‘Hey, missus!’ A boy of about fourteen materialized at Annie’s elbow. ‘Spare us a few quid, missus. I’ve lost me bus fare.’

  ‘Sod off.’ She gave him a glare and he darted off, looking for easier prey.

  Annie hurried to her car and eased it forward out of its space, hanging back to let Pat be first to thread her way through the maze to the exit. As she waited, she glanced at her phone. Christa’s contact had mentioned Greaves. This was a link they hadn’t begun to figure out. Christa shouldn’t be left alone with this. Reluctantly, Annie punched in Scott’s number, not sure whether this would prove to be a bad move or a sensible one. She had to find more, to get a handle on what Christa might walk into. As Pat’s car bumped its way to the exit, Annie clicked her handset to speakerphone and positioned herself in the queue a few cars back. Pat might just be going home, of course, in which case she would get back here pronto. The ringtone morphed into Scott’s voice telling her he was unable to take her call and inviting her to leave a message. There didn’t seem much option, but what was she to say? ‘Scott, it’s … uh … hello.’ She wouldn’t leave her name. He ought to recognize her voice. ‘It’s about what we were talking about. I’ve come across some stuff. A doctor called Hassan. A complaint. I need to know about it. Will you ring me?’

  Annie watched Pat’s car cross the junction and head towards the big roundabout. If Pat were on her way home, she would turn left ahead and Annie could be back with Christa in minutes. The traffic slowed, an industrial vehicle of some sort was manoeuvring up ahead, holding up the line of cars. The handset rattled on the dashboard as it vibrated an incoming call. Annie peered over at it. Scott. That was quick. She clicked to accept the call and turned up the speaker.

  ‘Annie, there’s a lot I want to say to you.’ Scott’s voice was low and hurried but held angry undertones. ‘But I don’t have the time. I need to know what you’ve found out about Hassan’s complaint about Sleeman. And don’t piss me about.’

  Complaint about Sleeman? Annie was pleased they weren’t face to face. She didn’t want Scott to see her surprise. The large vehicle ahead was out of the way. The cars began to move forward. With time short, she took a chance. ‘I … uh … heard about Rob Greaves’s involvement.’

  ‘What do you know about it?’ His voice was hard, or at least she felt he tried to make it hard, but there was something else there, too.

  ‘I don’t know anything for sure, Scott. That’s why I rang you. Is there anything you can tell me?’

  There was a pause, then he said, ‘All I know is that there was a complaint. I don’t know the detail. It wasn’t taken anywhere. It was clear it was malicious. There was history between Hassan and Sleeman.’

  ‘History between them? What kind of history?’ Annie let her surprise show this time.

  All I know,’ Scott repeated, ‘is that there was a complaint and it was dropped. Rob had something to do with getting it dropped.’

  For the first time, Annie heard unease in his tone as he mentioned his colleague’s name. She felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. Christa needed her at the hospital, but Pat’s car was signalling a right turn. She wasn’t going home. And if Annie were to get there first, she had no option but to carry on. She knew what she wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure what words would do the trick. In the end, she simply said, ‘Please, Scott, don’t say anything to Rob. We don’t know what he might have been threatened with to keep Sleeman up to date. If we’re to help him out of it, we can’t give him even the glimmer of a chance to leak.’

  CHAPTER 18

  Scott’s voice reran in Annie’s head as she tried to pin down the emotions she’d heard behind it. His hurried call could have been down to all sorts of things. He was probably working somewhere he shouldn’t use his phone. But the wobble when he spoken about Greaves; the way he hadn’t contradicted her about Greaves being in Sleeman’s pocket; the very fact he’d called back so quickly all confirmed what she already knew. He had been dragged into something that he had to keep below the official radar.

  Annie watched Pat’s car glide through a gap in the traffic and sweep round under the concrete legs of the Daltry Street flyover. She’d be out of sight before Annie worked her way to the head of the queue, but it didn’t matter. Once on the dual carriageway, she couldn’t get away. Pat had only ever seen the new car at a distance and would think she’d left Annie at the hospital, so Annie wasn’t worried about being spotted. She had an old woollen cap to pull down over her hair for when she made her move and overtook.

  Once out on to the wide Clive Sullivan Way, she had Pat in sight again in minutes, but lost several opportunities to get ahead in another bout of indecision. What if Pat weren’t on her way to Vince’s? But where else could she be heading? If Annie didn’t follow, it would be a lost opportunity. And Pat would come to no harm with Vince, unlike Christa back at the hospital, digging for information on someone who had made a complaint about Vince that had been buried with Greaves’s help. She knew she should go back, but Pat had the power to walk into the heart of the operation out there and Annie might not get another chance to be on her tail as she did so.

  What she really wanted was to flag Pat down, tell her to leave it until tomorrow like they’d arranged, to tell her about Hassan, the complaint and Greaves and to beg for her help to go back and protect Christa. She might have done it, tried to persuade Pat to turn back, but no one had been straight with her since this job began. She couldn’t even be quite sure of Pat.

  If she left it much longer she’d leave herself in limbo. Decision made, she slipped down a gear and waited her chance to surge past with the next group of fast-moving cars.

  She put her foo
t down and sent up a silent prayer for a problem-free route. When the road was clear enough to juggle with her phone, she put in a call to Christa. After a couple of rings, it went to voicemail - not long enough to have clicked through automatically. Christa had red-buttoned her. Maybe she was with her contact again.

  She fought to keep her voice light, no trace of tension, ‘I’ve found something more about your guy. It’s really important you don’t make another move until I can debrief you. It’s good. You’ll like it. Ring me. If my phone’s off, either keep trying or wait for me to ring. I won’t be long.’

  With luck, that would intrigue Christa enough to get her to ring. She’d seen Annie’s number on her phone and she was sure to check her voicemail the moment she could. Annie was confident there would be a call back within minutes, long before she’d reached Vince’s hideaway.

  As she settled back to navigate the unfamiliar route, Annie rehearsed a story in her head that would persuade Christa to go back to her lodgings and do nothing until morning. Her fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel as she drove. Come on, Christa, ring me back.

  At the same time, she struggled for a mental image of the terrain around the farmhouse. When she’d been there, she’d thought more about getting away unobserved than of memorizing the surrounding countryside. And back in the office with the place revealed on Google Maps, it hadn’t occurred to her that she’d find herself heading out there without the chance for a thorough examination of the information.

  She smiled to herself as she remembered Christa’s explosive entry into the office. When the woman rang back, if she ever did, and if Annie could think up a plausible line to spin, Christa would give her a clear and detailed picture of the map she had only glimpsed.