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Operation WetFish Book 14: Trust and Betrayal

Page 7

by Adam Carter


  They all averted their gaze. It told Sanders precisely what he needed to know. Inwardly he was not happy, although he should have figured he would be vilified eventually by his officers. He had always tried to do his best for them, for the city, for everyone. He was tough and ruthless, true, but he wasn’t about to leave his officers to die. “You’re not the first operatives to screw up an assignment,” he told them seriously.

  “We wanted to make amends,” Lin said. She seemed to be the instigator of the mutiny. Since Thompson had been unconscious for it, Sanders figured it would have been Lin.

  He shook his head. “Well, the case is solved. Hodgson killed the Arcady family and Arnold Arcady killed Hodgson in revenge. It’s all official now.”

  “What about Arcady?” Thompson asked. “Has he been picked up yet?”

  “Fished out.”

  “Sir?”

  “Seems someone told him to jump in the river, and he did.” His eyes lingered upon Foster. “Someone dressed like a tart who got a confession in church to the murder of Elizabeth Farris. Who says confession’s not good for the soul, eh?” It did not elicit so much as a smile from any of them.

  “Did ...” Foster stammered. “Did anyone give a description of the ... tart?”

  “Sure,” Sanders smiled. “Extremely short skirt, shaved legs, and huge bazookas. That was a quote by the way, not a ventured opinion of your DCI.” At Foster’s flush he added, “No one was looking at your face, Detective. At least no one still alive.”

  “So everything’s fine then,” Lin breathed a sigh of relief. “Operation WetFish wasn’t compromised and we can all go back to work.”

  “No,” Sanders said, and they all tensed. “I mean yes, you didn’t compromise the operation, but everything’s not fine. None of this needed to have happened. You think we don’t mess up every now and again? Come on, people, we’re a department here. If you fail your assignment you contact me immediately and I tell you what to do. In this instance it meant me sending out a doctor for Thompson and recalling all three of you so I could sort the mess out myself.” His gaze drifted from one woman to the next, until he was certain they were all understanding him correctly. “If you get into trouble, ask for help. You’ll get it. We all need a little help once in a while, we’re only human.”

  The final words lingered in the air and Sanders did not like the taste of them on his tongue. It didn’t matter about the operation, he had almost lost three of his best officers. And in a time when he was growing ever more concerned about other members of the team that was something he could not afford.

  “There might be trouble soon,” he said, not certain how much to tell them. “I need to know I can count on you three. Your discretion, your loyalty, and your ability to communicate with me before all others.”

  The three women exchanged confused glances. “Of course, sir,” Lin said. “We should have trusted you. It won’t happen again.”

  She wasn’t getting his message, although he did not care to elaborate. Not quite yet anyway. But perhaps he would never need to. Perhaps he was worrying over nothing. “Fine, fine. Go home. All of you. And Thompson, go get the doctor to take a look at you, for God’s sake.”

  They departed and Sanders shook his head in exasperation. These were his hope, his best chance should things around the bunker turn sour. But no, they were not the best, and that was the problem. It was the best officers he was beginning to worry about, the two best officers who might soon be turning against him. He would have to rely on Lin, Thompson and Foster to defend WetFish against them; and if this little fiasco proved one thing, it was that WetFish did not stand a chance.

  Sanders reached for the phone. He did not want to, but his hand had been forced and he only had the one remaining card to play. It rang three times before a gruff male voice answered it. “It’s me,” Sanders said flatly. “I have a job for you. But you’re not going to like it.”

  Also available by the same author in e-book and paperback:

  Dinosaur World books:

  Excavating a Dinosaur World

  Dinosaur Fall-Girl

  Dinosaur Plague Doctor

  Ike Scarman & the Dinosaur Slavers of Ceres

  Dinosaur Prison World

  The Dinosaur That Wasn’t

  Awfully Wedded Strife

  Tales of a Dinosaur Prison World

  Deities of a Dinosaur World

  Return to the Dinosaur Prison World

  Nikolina Finch & the Dinosaur Utopia

  Of Stags, Hens & Dinosaurs

  Dinosaur World Massacre

  Dino-Racers

  Christmas on a Dinosaur World

  Utara the Savage

  Sheriff Grizzly:

  Book 1: Sheriff Grizzly

  Book 2: The Horse Thief Honey

  Book 3: The Coyote Colt Kid

  Game books:

  Lost Treasures of a Dinosaur World

  The Underworld Horror

  Knights of Torbalia game books:

  The Return of the Stolen Jewel

  Into the Massacre

  March of the Demon Trees

  Hero Cast trilogy:

  Book 1: The Villainous Heroes

  Book 2: The Heroic Villains

  Book 3: The Forge of Heroes

  Detective books:

  Detective’s Ex

  One-Way Ticket to Murder

  Who Slew Santa?

  The Curse of the Genie’s Detective

  The Woman Who Cried Diamonds

  The Murder of Snowman Joe

  The Murder of Loyalty

  Operation WetFish, Vampire Detective:

  Book 1: The Power of Life and Death

  Book 2: Chasing Innocence

  Book 3: The Hunt for Charles Baronaire

  Book 4: Christmas on the Kerb

  Book 5: A Necessary Evil

  Book 6: No Comment

  Book 7: Fear and Ecstasy

  Book 8: Call of the Siren

  Book 9: Happy Families

  Book 10: A Step in the Right Direction

  Book 11: What Money Can’t Buy

  Book 12: ‘Tis the Season

  Book 13: The Power Trip

  Miscellaneous:

  Holding the Nuts

  One Week to Love: Speed Dating of the Gods

  The Trojan Ant

  Visit: https://www.facebook.com/OperationWetFish for news, illustrations, previews and short stories.

 

 

 


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