The Tribes

by Catriona King

  The gang boss interrupted smoothly. “Your new found moral stance does you credit, Mr Hill, but as you know, I don’t deal in either item. These men are taking over my patches and killing my men as they do. They’re enemies to both of us-”

  Tommy cut in. “Patches? Ye only told me about Belfast.”

  “Need to know. But yes, they’ve killed two of my other men in Armagh. But that’s not what I came here to talk about. What more do you know about Belfast?”

  “The leader’s name. Abaz Goga or some crap like that. Came in last December and he knows we’ve been asking questions. Had one of my mate’s men beat up.”

  Hanratty tutted. “Most unfortunate. It would seem to be in everyone’s interest to get rid of this group.”

  Tommy looked sceptical. “Good luck with that. They’ve cells all over ar country and yers as well. The cells report straight to some big chief, but only they know who he is.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We’ll be paying Mr Goga a visit and I’m sure that he’ll be happy to talk. Do you have anything on his whereabouts?”

  Tommy shrugged. “I know he beat up ar lad in some shithole called The Pit.” He gave a croaky laugh. “Well named if it’s anythin’ like the clubs ye see on TV.”

  Hanratty nodded then he stood up abruptly and reached out his hand to shake. “It’s been good doing business with you, Mr Hill.” The hand was left hanging while Tommy kept sipping his drink. The gang leader was just about to drop his when Billy Ross shot the old paramilitary a warning look. It said you’d better not mess with this man, Tommy, or he’ll squash you like a bug.

  Tommy touched Hanratty’s hand fleetingly and the southerner knew that as soon as he’d gone Tommy would be scrubbing his own hard. It meant nothing to him; he’d met bigotry before and he didn’t judge men on their good manners. Hill had proved useful so, ignorant bigot or not, he would stay in one piece till he decided whether to use him again or not.

  ****

  The C.C.U. 5 p.m.

  Ash walked back onto the floor at the same time as Kyle, and just as Craig was exiting. The detective stopped for a moment.

  “Nice of you to join us, Kyle. Ash, I’m going out for half-an-hour and I’ll need an update when I get back.”

  The analyst smiled, knowing that what he had to report would be worth his time. As Craig continued on his way Jake appeared and followed him to the lift.

  “Could I have a word, sir?”

  “Can it wait an hour, Jake? I have a meeting. But as soon as I get back. I promise.”

  The sergeant nodded and as Craig finally entered the lift Ash rushed across to Davy, his bag still over his shoulder.

  “That IP address doesn’t belong to any of Miskimmon’s devices. You were right; Des was able to suss it out.”

  Davy looked up from his searches on Abaz Goga, glad of the respite. The Albanian’s life before he’d entered Ireland illegally said that he wasn’t someone they would ever have taken as a citizen.

  “That means there’s another computer out there. Now w…we just have to find it.”

  Ash opened his bag and brought out a laptop.

  “Is that one of Miskimmon’s-”

  “Yep. Des said I could borrow it for a few hours.”

  Davy looked confused. “To do what w…with? You can’t turn it on, you’ll fry it!”

  “Don’t panic. I just need its Wi-Fi signal. Des lent me the reader they use to detect them.”

  Davy caught on. “You’re going to use its signal to help find the missing one.”

  Ash grinned. “That’s the plan. I’m banking that if they’re close enough I can find the missing one with Bluetooth, then I can try a wake-up LAN from it to start this one up. Either way we should get a look at Miskimmon’s files.”

  ****

  The Police Intelligence Section. Malone Road.

  Susan Richie had eyes that had seen too much wine and skin that had felt more than enough heat. Both had aged her beyond her forty years, and contributed to her perpetually world-weary air, but the bulk of it came from the things she’d heard; things that Joe Public would find incredible even on the silver screen. Things that she and her team shielded them from.

  She’d been puzzled when she’d seen Craig’s name in her schedule and dismissed it as something to do with Kyle Spence’s secondment, although why Craig couldn’t have bothered Barrett with such trivia was beyond her. Still, he was easy on the eyes and ears, unlike some of the other men she’d met in the force. She was just picturing them together in a dark wine bar when her P.A. knocked on the door.

  “Superintendent Craig is here, Ma’am.”

  She nodded him out, deciding to make Craig wait for a while. He might be a Superintendent and her only a D.C.I. but she ruled this kingdom, something that he shouldn’t forget. Her attempt at manipulation was short-circuited by the detective walking into the office and extending his hand.

  “D.C.I. Richie. I hope it was OK to come in?”

  Her eyes said ‘well no, actually, it wasn’t’ and ‘I’m going to kill that bloody P.A.’, but her hand moved, first to shake his and then wave him to a seat. Craig cut straight to the chase.

  “I’ll tell you why I’m here, Chief Inspector. One, you’ve been in contact with a war criminal without reporting his whereabouts to the International Court at the Hague, and two, it looks like I’m your new boss.”

  The second was as big a surprise to him as it was to her, given that he’d only made up his mind to definitely take the promotion that moment, when he’d read the disdain in her eyes. He carried on.

  “I’m now a D.C.S., and as such will be supervising both the Murder and Intelligence Sections, although of course the day to day work here will be led by the Director.”

  The Director; not you. It made her jerk upright as he went on.

  “The appointment of that director will need to be discussed with the Chief Constable, but I can tell you now that it must be someone I can trust. So, can you tell me how long you’ve known of Jastreb’s whereabouts and why he hasn’t been reported to the Hague?”

  Susan Richie’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly as Craig sat back in his chair and waited patiently for her to speak. He would have had some sympathy with her shock if he hadn’t read arrogance in every move since he’d walked in. When she finally found some words they sounded banal, even to her.

  “I thought you were here about Inspector Spence.”

  “Clearly not.”

  He didn’t embellish, hanging her out to dry instead. It went against his normal grain. He liked women, all women, and treating one harshly wasn’t in his playbook. But war criminals changed all the rules. Richie tried again.

  “We have many informants…that… sail close to the wind.”

  “I understand that, and using criminals as informants has been done before, but that doesn’t apply to murderers in Jastreb’s league.”

  She obfuscated defensively. “I can’t report him because I never know where he is. He changes his number and location each time we speak.”

  “You’ve made absolutely no attempt to pin him down, have you? And if you have, then show me the evidence.” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’m putting you on notice, Chief Inspector. I expect Jastreb to be notified to the Hague and Interpol immediately, and I want all paperwork pertaining to him on my desk by the end of the day. I’ll be informing the Chief Constable of this episode and next week we’ll be sitting down to go through every case you’re working on. Is that clear?”

  Her only answer was a nod. Then he was gone, leaving her to contemplate just how much she would damage him if he attempted to move her aside.

  ****

  Jake and Ash both rose the moment Craig walked back through the doors. He signalled Jake to join him in his office, leaving Ash with no option but to cover his suddenly vertical stance with a trip to the loo. Craig closed the office door behind them and waved Jake to a seat.

  “What can I do for you?”

  The sergea
nt stared at his feet. “I just wanted you to know that I’m appealing the P.P.S. decision about Aaron, sir.”

  Craig nodded, unsurprised. “Thank you for letting me know. To be honest I’ve been expecting you to say this for days.” He sat down and leaned forward on the desk. “It’s your right, of course, but do you mind me asking why?”

  Jake’s eyes widened indignantly. “Because he tried to kill me! And he drove all the way back from Derry to do it. In my mind that’s premeditation.”

  “No doubt of that.”

  The younger man sat forward, warning to his theme angrily. “Now he’s lied and convinced some bleeding heart psychiatrist that the balance of his mind was disturbed, just so he can get a lighter sentence. And I’m supposed to just take that lying down?” He sat back with a thud. “No way.”

  Craig kept his voice calm. “I totally understand your anger, Jake, but what’s the end game here? Aaron gets sentenced to life for attempted murder? Will that make you feel better?”

  Jake’s fist slammed down on the desk. “YES. Yes. It’ll make me feel a whole lot better. I hope he dies in prison. That would please me even more.”

  Craig nodded; knowing that now wasn’t the time to try reason. “OK, Jake. Thank you for telling me. If Liam’s outside could you send him in, please.”

  Liam’s noisy appearance a minute later was almost a comfort. Craig poured two coffees as the D.C.I. made a frank observation.

  “You look like someone’s wrung you out too hard.”

  Craig pushed a mug across the desk. “Another one of your mother’s?”

  “Nah. That one I read in a book. Jake looked rough as well. What’s happening?”

  By the time Craig had brought him up to date on his visit to Intelligence and his conversation with Jake, Liam’s eyes were like saucers.

  “Bloody hell, boss. Not content with having Terry Harrison as an enemy, now you’ve got the ice queen! You must have a death wish. I wouldn’t put it past her to have poison stashed somewhere.”

  Craig gave a very hollow laugh. “I don’t suppose you fancy being the new Director of Intel, do you? I need someone in there that I can trust.”

  Liam shuddered noisily. “Not on your life. I’m a cop not a spook.” He gestured towards the door. “Put Roy Barrett in charge. He’s as sound as a pound and he’s a D.C.I. as well, so you wouldn’t have to pay him much more.”

  Craig thought for a moment. “That’s not a bad idea. Roy’s good, he knows the section, he…” He grabbed the phone suddenly. “Liam, you’re a genius. I’ll OK it with the C.C.”

  “Aye well, genius I may be, but before you dial the chief, what are we going to do about Jake?”

  Craig was confused. “What about him?”

  “Ach, don’t tell me you haven’t spotted what he’s up to with this appeal.”

  “He wants Aaron to do more time.”

  Liam shook his head slowly. “Man, you might have brains to burn but you’ve less common sense than my kids this week. He’s appealing it because he wants Aaron to get out on bail. Annette told me he nipped out to join a gym earlier.”

  “So? It’s probably for his rehab.”

  Liam tutted. “Even Annette wouldn’t believe that. My money’s on him pumping himself up to take Aaron on, and only one of them is going to walk away from that fight.”

  If he was right they had a team member they needed to watch very closely.

  ****

  When Craig’s call to the C.C. was finished he spoke to Ash. Five minutes later Nicky was summoning everyone who wasn’t already there for a snap briefing.

  Craig cut to the chase.

  “This is for information, not discussion, although I’ll take some questions at the end.”

  A murmur went round the group but he stilled it with a hand.

  “First. We now know for sure that the Rey, McAllister and Fox cases are linked, and the girl who was on the periphery of Rey’s and Fox’s murders has been found dead. Shot. Forensics are working on the bullet now.”

  Liam opened his mouth to speak but Craig shut it again with a shake of his head.

  “We’re fairly certain that Mara McAllister and Mitchell Purvis had no involvement in her husband’s killing, but we do know that the car used in Matias Rey’s abduction was owned by Colin McAllister, so we think his killer stole it from the farm when he spiked his air tank. We’re narrowing down the possible suspects.” He turned to Liam. “Chase that please.”

  Just then Nicky placed a coffee in his hand. He took a quick sip and carried on.

  “OK, we also know that two brothers, Gerry and Declan Delaney, who were employed by Xavier Rey at his cab firm, were involved in Matias’ death; setting him up and later transporting him to his killer.” He scanned the group with a warning stare. “On no account is that information to leave this room. The last thing we need is Xavier Rey on a witch hunt. We’ve already had to stop his men beating information out of half of Belfast.” He turned to Jake. “Jake, Rey’s men are at Stranmillis at the moment. Drop up and organise their release for around ten tonight.”

  Jake nodded, but it was plain he was confused. So were the others but Craig didn’t have the time for explanations.

  “OK. Kyle.” He looked around until he spotted him sitting at the very edge of the group. “Our part-time attendee.”

  Liam mimicked cutting his throat as Craig carried on.

  “OK, reluctant copper as Kyle is, he brought us a valuable piece of information that confirms something that Karl Rimmins first mentioned. An Albanian mobster, Abaz Goga has been in Ireland since last year. The EU savvy amongst you will know that Albania is not yet a member of the EU so Goga’s illegal, and apparently he’s not here alone. The word is that there are several-” He broke off and turned to the spook. “Cells was it, Kyle?”

  Spence nodded.

  “Several cells of Albanians dotted around Ireland, all being coordinated by a big boss. So far we have no idea who he is. So this is a second gang we’re looking at, far more vicious than The Rock. They’re smuggling in girls and drugs and distributing them everywhere.” He suddenly realised he’d been standing and searched for somewhere to sit, perching on Nicky’s desk. “This gang are killers, unlike Rey’s lot. The Rock deals in fuel fraud, counterfeiting, gambling, smuggled cigarettes etcetera. Still crimes, but they don’t kill. We believe that the Albanian gang sees them as a soft target and is trying to take over their patch and distribution routes. There’s a lot of money to be made. That’s why they killed Matias Rey, Calum Fox, who was probably involved in the gambling and counterfeiting side, and Colin McAllister, who we think was smuggling fuel on his farm. Having now taken out The Rock’s main players they’re going to try for its turf.”

  He paused and signalled Liam to summarise.

  “Aye well, so the general of The Rock, whose name we don’t know, is having his business taken over by the Albanian lot, headed up by another bloke we don’t know, and that’s what all the killing’s been about.”

  Craig swallowed a mouthful of coffee and picked things up. “However, there’s one big difference between the two gang leaders. The Rock’s leader isn’t known to anyone, not even Xavier Rey, whereas the Albanian’s leader is known by the head of every cell, even though apparently he uses aliases. That knowledge makes him vulnerable and we’re going to use it.” He searched around for Annette. “Annette and Liam, I need to see you after this. First I want to cover one other thing.”

  He smiled over at Davy and Ash. “As most of you will know, Ronan Miskimmon and Eleanor Corneau will be charged with visa fraud unless we can prove they carried out the murders here using computer hacks. We have Miskimmon’s computers but they’re so well protected that even trying to turn them on will result in frying the hard drives and wipe all the files. Ash.” The green haired analyst took a bow. “With Davy helping.” Davy didn’t even blink. “Has managed to locate information which might help us access those files. If I try to explain how I’ll only confuse everyone, but Jake,
after you’ve dealt with Stranmillis I want you to accompany Ash to two locations that he’ll give you after this.”

  It piqued everyone’s curiosity.

  “Take Rhonda with you, please. It’ll be good experience.”

  He stopped talking and frowned, wondering if now was the time to mention his promotion. He decided that it wasn’t and jumped off the desk, nodding at Kyle and beckoning him into his room. He deserved to know that he had a new boss before he heard it on the grapevine.

  “Annette and Liam, I’ll see you two next.”

  Once inside the detective turned to face his old roommate.

  “Kyle, I think you should know that I’ve been given oversight of Intelligence.”

  Kyle’s jaw dropped. “What about Susan?”

  Craig’s face was impassive. “She’s being moved, but she doesn’t know yet so I’d be grateful if you didn’t say. Roy Barrett will be the new director and lead the unit day to day. I’ll supervise in the same way I supervise the other murder teams.” He swallowed, feeling boastful for even mentioning the next point. “I’ve been made up to D.C.S. and supervision is a compulsory part of the job.”

  Kyle grabbed the back of a chair and for a moment Craig thought he was going to pass out in shock. Then he murmured “Susan’s going” and Craig realised that it wasn’t shock he was seeing but relief. It made him curious.

  “Was she that bad?”

  “Could Pavarotti sing?”

  Susan Richie obviously hadn’t had the love of her troops.

  Spence continued. “Roy’s brilliant. He’ll do the job well and he’s as straight as they come.” He paused before asking warily. “Where’s she going to?”

  Inside his head Craig answered ‘jail, if I had my way’ but outwardly his reply was. “No decision yet, as far as I know.”

  “She won’t be happy without an empire to rule.”

  Craig shrugged. “It’s not my job to make her happy.” He turned to open the door. “Look, I just wanted you to know, but you must keep it to yourself until I’ve spoken to Susan and Roy. And only Liam knows about the D.C.S. post at the moment and I’d like it to stay that way.”