What She Saw

by Diane Saxon

  He dropped his arm from around Mason’s neck, his own eyes bulging, his face purpled.

  ‘Come on, Mason, stop scrambling around on the floor and get up.’

  Mason thrashed around on his back for a moment longer, then rolled off the other man, flipped over onto his hands and knees, and staggered to his feet as he sucked in rasping mouthfuls of air. He shot Blue an accusing stare and then whipped his gaze up to Sergeant Bennett. ‘It would have been good if he could have helped.’

  Without so much as a twitch, Blue remained where he was, gaze firmly fixed on his own suspect.

  Chris Bennett glanced down at the dog by his side and then back up again. ‘Could have. Didn’t need to. Wouldn’t want him biting the wrong arse now, would we?’

  Without taking her gaze from the man under her foot, Jenna’s lips twitched. ‘You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer.’

  That should take care of him while they conducted further investigations. She seriously doubted he had drugs on him, but that would all come out once they conducted their initial search.

  22

  Monday 20 April 0650 hours

  Jenna touched her hand to Mason’s arm and drew him away from the uniforms they’d just handed over to so they could take their four suspects to Malinsgate Station. ‘Not bad for a morning’s work.’ She grinned, the excitement of the arrest still pumping through her veins.

  ‘The day hasn’t officially started and we’ve made the best arrests of the week.’ He nudged her almost taking her off her feet.

  ‘The week has only just begun.’

  ‘No one’s going to do better than this.’ His lips quirked up in a smile as he rubbed his knuckles.

  ‘Yeah, but we’re not dealing with it. I’ll hand the legwork over. We’re going to need to know what’s going on with the major incident.’ She snapped him a sharp grin. ‘Keeping the balls in the air, Mason.’

  ‘Chuck me a few if you need to.’

  ‘You’ll be having a few thrown your way. There’s going to be plenty to do. In the meantime,’ she nodded to the suspects as they were being searched by uniform. ‘We’ll let them cool their heels down at the station.’

  ‘Right.’

  She cruised her gaze over the young blonde. ‘Tanya Boulding. Thoughts?’ She turned to Ryan, knowing he was desperate to answer.

  ‘Young, impressionable… innocent. I see her all the time. She’s a nice girl.’

  Pale skin turned ashen. Inclined to go with her DC’s impressions, convinced the girl had nothing to do with drugs, Jenna unclipped her radio from her belt.

  As Mason opened his mouth to speak, Jenna raised her forefinger to halt him while she depressed the button on the Airwaves radio and patched herself through to the person she wanted. ‘DC Salter.’

  ‘Sarge. I hear you have a little activity going on. Would you like me and Wainwright to be a part of it?’

  ‘I certainly would.’

  ‘Tell me what you want, Sarge. There’s nothing much going on here until we get an update from NILO for the fire. It’s been postponed again until later this afternoon, I’m told, as the fire service are still unable to enter the building.’

  Satisfied there was nothing further she could do on that case until she had an update, Jenna consoled herself with the fact that she could see this one through without breaking her stride.

  Before that, she did want something from Salter and Wainwright.

  ‘Uniform are escorting four suspects back to the station.’ She glanced over just as Tanya turned a delicate shade of green and looked like she might just puke. If she were the uniform, she’d be wise to take a step back. She glanced down at her own coffee-splattered trousers and grimaced. Perhaps she wouldn’t.

  Jenna turned her back and put a few more steps between herself and the general activity in the room. She spoke into Airwaves again. ‘They have a young girl, Tanya Boulding. Would you see what you can do to get her processed in a speedy manner? She’s young, frightened, and in my opinion most likely innocent.’ She’d been in the job long enough to get a sense of a situation and this was one young woman Jenna believed was harmless. Willing to take another opinion, Jenna was content to hand the responsibility over to the indubitably reliable team of Salter and Wainwright. ‘See what you think when you question her. I don’t think she has any knowledge, but I’ll leave her with you. We’ll catch up later.’

  ‘Sure, I’ll make my way down once I’ve had my coffee. That should give them enough time to process her.’

  Finished with DC Salter, Jenna jerked her head in the direction of the exit for both Ryan and Mason to follow. She raised her hand to attract Chris’s attention. She would need the services of Blue for what she was about to do.

  ‘You and Blue fancy a trip out, Chris?’

  With a mild grin, Chris gave the top of his Belgian Malinois’ head an affectionate scrub. ‘Aye, Blue will be looking forward to biting another arse or two. Won’t you, lad?’

  Flanked by the three officers and the dog, Jenna made her way along the corridor and past the receptionist, who appeared to have developed a permanent state of surprise as a uniformed officer took out a notebook and leaned on the reception counter to write.

  ‘What we doing, Sarge?’

  Jenna slipped her radio from where it bumped against her hip. ‘I need to have a word with Control, Mason. I think we can search Lamonte’s premises under a Section 18. I think this one’s got a lot more to do with drug pushing than just that little bundle.’ In reality, it had been a hefty bundle they’d extracted from him, all neatly bagged and in the safe hands of one of the uniforms. The bags in handsome boy’s pockets had been extracted but looked only enough for personal use.

  ‘What are you going to do about Shaun?’

  ‘His involvement’s the next step up. We don’t have time to conduct that kind of operation. We’d be stepping on Drug Squad’s toes.’

  Ryan’s shoulders jiggled as he slouched in an effortless sulk. ‘We’re going to hand off a great bust.’

  ‘No, we’re going to let someone else do the long job, Ryan. We couldn’t ignore what went on this morning, but Shaun is much more complex. They’ll do obs on him for a while, arrest him and possibly turn him so they can infiltrate the bigger ring. That’s what they do. That’s their speciality, we’ll stick to ours.’

  Mason shoulder-bumped Ryan. ‘We pursue our bird in the hand and leave the one in the bush to the Drug Squad. The majority of those packets were still on Lamonte, he only handed over enough for personal use, so we need to follow the little trail of white powder back to his place. He who hesitates is lost. Remember, continuity. I’d guess there was a street value exceeding a few thousand pounds if it were genuine.’

  Chris nodded. ‘Blue says it was.’

  ‘Who are we to question his expertise?’ Jenna reached out a hand to touch the dog’s head and withdrew it quickly as his ears flicked backwards. Perhaps she wouldn’t. She lengthened her stride and took the stairs without pause. ‘Let’s go and see if Lamonte’s got any evidence at his home address.’

  Ryan’s loose-legged stride kept up with hers. ‘He was a bit pissed off to see me there.’

  She shrugged. ‘He knew you were a police officer. He’s the one taking the risk, Ryan.’

  ‘I thought he was a mate.’ There were undertones of sulk in Ryan’s voice.

  A ripple of pity stole over her. ‘Unfortunately, mates in this business aren’t always genuine.’ She didn’t want her cynicism to rub off on him. Not just yet. ‘I don’t have many friends outside of the job, but those I do are die-hards.’ She wasn’t sure she had any friends outside of the job, but she didn’t want to sound pitiful. She’d think of someone.

  Nobody came instantly to mind. Apart from one. Adrian. That relationship was too fresh yet to class him as a die-hard.

  Fliss was her best friend, and if you could count a dog as a friend, she’d never find a human as faithful as Domino. Then there was Mason. He was more like a brot
her.

  She grabbed her radio again and puffed out as she reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘Juliet Alpha 77 to Control. This is DS Jenna Morgan, could you put me through to DI Taylor?’

  Already on stand-by, it took a brief moment for DI Taylor to respond.

  ‘DS Morgan.’

  ‘Sir, I'm taking DC Ellis and DC Downey to conduct a Section 18 on 33 Doseley Way, Mountside, the residence of Lamonte Junior.’ She raised her hand to acknowledge Chris and Blue as they headed towards the back exit of the building where the dog handlers’ van would be parked up. ‘We also have Sergeant Bennett and Blue in our company.’

  ‘In connection with the arrests, I assume?’

  ‘Yes, sir. Uniform are on their way back to the station with four suspects and a whole pack of evidence we’ve obtained.’

  ‘Reasonable suspicion?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Go ahead, Sergeant.’

  Once again, she replied, ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Let me know if you need SOCO when you get there.’

  As they swept towards their respective cars, Jenna barked out her instructions. ‘Mason, Ryan, meet me back at the station, we’ll drop off our own cars and pick up a police-issue vehicle instead of pitching up in three cars. Mason, you grab the keys when you get there. Meet us out front.’

  ‘Yes, Sarge.’ He came to a halt and turned back. ‘Do you want me to drive?’

  Jenna slanted him a look, quirking her lips. ‘Yeah, okay, Mason, you can drive.’

  She slipped into her own car, trying not to laugh at the stunned disbelief that flashed over his face. She rarely allowed him to drive, preferring to be in the driving seat herself, but on occasion it amused her to take him by surprise.

  Fleur raised her head, her little whippy tail gave a gentle wag and she dropped her chin back onto her paws.

  Jenna studied her. Poor little girl. She reached down and smoothed one hand over Fleur’s head. ‘What are we going to do with you, my lovely?’

  She straightened up and in the close confines of her car, the waft of strong coffee beans greeted her. As she mulled over her little dog predicament, Jenna picked the takeout cup from the console holder and took a tentative sip. Tepid it may be, but the strong, smooth tones of liquid pleasure slid over her tongue and down her throat with no effort.

  As Mason shot off in front of her, she popped the cup back in the holder and followed at a more sedate pace, with Ryan bringing up the rear behind her in his little Suzuki Swift, close enough to make her twitchy. She touched her brakes at the first roundabout and hoped to hell he was paying attention and didn’t ram into the back of her.

  On the straight, she snatched up her cup again and took a good, long swig. Cold, black coffee wasn’t so bad. It may be in her mind, but the effects of the caffeine had an instant reaction and her mood took a quick upward swing.

  She glanced in her mirror and held her breath as she drove in through the police station car park only sighing out her relief as Ryan veered off to race down the first aisle as she continued along the thoroughfare to the further end of the car park.

  She unbuckled herself and finished the last of her coffee before she snatched the second disposable cup from the cup holder. With the milk content, Mason’s coffee was even cooler than hers. Her stomach gave a little hitch as she imagined the cold swirl of curdled milk.

  With a quick glance around to check she had everything she needed, she wrinkled her nose as she swiped her bag from the passenger seat, stuffed the now cold panini in the top so she could grab it later and nuke it in the microwave at work. She scooped a scarf-wrapped sleepy Fleur into her arms, and juggled the two cups. She gave the door a shove open with her elbow and then closed it with a hard nudge of her hip and strode towards the front entrance of the station.

  Mason drew the police vehicle alongside just as she threw her empty cup in the green metal waste bin at the edge of the public footpath.

  She raised his cup and waggled it at him as he wound down the passenger window. ‘Do you want this, or should I chuck it? It’s stone cold.’

  He screwed up his face. ‘Nah, I don’t want it. It’ll be rank now.’

  ‘I’ll have it.’ Ryan swiped it from her raised hand as he swooped past, a wide grin on his face.

  ‘Ah!’ With that one sharp word, she stopped him before he had a chance to slug down the coffee. ‘You don't really need to come. Mason and I can handle this.’ Jenna tightened her grip on Fleur ready to hand the dog over for Ryan to take care of.

  ‘No problem.’ He flashed her a cheeky grin. ‘I want to, really it’s great experience.’

  Before she could suggest he might go into the station and complete paperwork, he yanked open the car door and was already in the back seat, not even trying to take her position in the front passenger seat. She suspected he knew that would be one step too far. Shotgun was her privilege. She’d already established that with him on previous occasions.

  She may be his senior officer, but there was a boyish persuasiveness about Ryan that had her giving in. Resigned to putting up with him, she leaned down and spoke to both of them through the open window. ‘Give me a minute.’

  She turned her back and trotted over the moat bridge to the station’s automatic doors where she paused to let them swish open. She turned right and stepped up to the front counter where she grinned as she saw the ever respectable Tim Harper. A quiet man, close to retirement, he simply goggled at her as she thrust the little chihuahua into his arms and gave her a little chin scratch, resisting the temptation to make coochy noises, which would only spoil her reputation of tough.

  ‘This is Fleur. Fleur needs to be looked after while she waits for someone to claim her. Keep a hold of her, would you, Tim? Just until I come back.’ She knew he’d pass her on to one of his female colleagues as soon as he could. From the way he held her, it looked like he thought he had a ticking time bomb.

  Jenna back-stepped towards the doors, hearing them swish open behind her. ‘She’ll probably need to pee soon.’

  She turned just as his mouth opened and closed like a landed fish and hot-footed it over the little bridge with a slide of guilt. Fleur would be fine. She’d been fed. She’d be safe.

  Jenna slipped into the front seat and strapped her seat belt on, she tapped the postcode she had for Lamonte’s address into the satnav and leaned back to clear her mind while Mason navigated his way into the early-morning traffic. There was no rush. They needed to check out the location. If they found anything incriminating, they could hand it over to SOCO and continue with the case from the previous evening.

  She took out her phone and tapped the WhatsApp icon. A million one-line messages from Fliss as was her habit. She typed a few words, zapped send, typed a few more. A lengthy monologue she’d have been better off sending in one missive. She started with the first message.

  Domino with Lena.

  Lena was the dogwalker Fliss had engaged. As a teacher, Fliss needed to get into school early on Monday mornings to set up for the week. The other times were relatively flexible so they could work his care between them. He’d fully recovered from his trauma when they’d almost lost him to a madman, but he needed attention and he needed exercise. Lena had been taking him out for the last several weeks. Jenna wasn’t sure it had made such a difference to his attitude. It didn’t seem to matter how much exercise he had, he still leapt around with boundless energy, never happier than when he was on a mission. A mischief mission.

  She scrolled further down her messages. Most of them from Fliss were one-way exchanges, quick reminders.

  Get milk.

  Jenna sighed. Fliss liked her little emojis. There followed a stream of them. Wine, a plate of pasta. Damn, but she wasn’t going to have time for a shop. They’d bloody well starve, especially if they didn’t have any pasta, the quick fix in their lives.

  She punched in a brief message. Fliss would understand. She’d grab them something on her way home or slip into the local Co-op w
hen she walked Domino. Her sister knew what shifts could be like. Eight hours or sixteen. You never could tell.

  The next message brought a smile to her face. Adrian. Quick, perfunctory, perfect.

  On the train. Have a great day. Speak later.

  And they would.

  She sent a quick reply and clicked off the phone so she could think.

  If they found nothing at Lamonte’s, it would be a quick paper exercise. All in a day’s work, juggling a dozen or more cases at the same time. She might simply hand it over to Ryan and let him close it off, assured that he would never miss a trick.

  In the meantime, using Section 18 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which covered the police for entry and search after an arrest, they could conduct a thorough inspection of Lamonte Junior’s house. She wrapped her fingers around the single front door key he’d handed over with reluctance, but it was better than them having to break the door down. He’d seen the wisdom of that in the end.

  He hadn’t had the opportunity to contact anybody to give them the heads-up or dash in and remove any evidence. He’d not made any attempt to use his phone. They’d taken him far too quickly by surprise. Nor had he been able to dispose of all the cocaine he had.

  Jenna flipped the passenger sun visor down and peered at Ryan’s reflection in the mirror. Credit where credit was due.

  ‘That was a good arrest, Ryan. Smooth.’ She moved her attention away as he flushed up, happy to give him the praise and let him preen for a while. His development was coming along. She cast a sideways glance at Mason. ‘You too. Although do you think you can try to refrain from hitting people?’

  ‘It wasn’t a hit, it was a block.’

  ‘With your fist.’

  ‘There is that, but I was left with no choice.’