The Pulsar Files, page 27
part #1 of Matt Flynn Series
She knew they wouldn’t hand over Jacko without her giving them something in return; maybe an ear on the inside of the drugs squad, or help at a forthcoming criminal trial. Whatever they wanted, she would consider giving it to them, as long as it didn’t involve exposing any of her colleagues, but she would need to do something to win Lamar’s confidence. At the first opportunity, maybe in six weeks or six months’ time, she would use whatever knowledge gleaned about their operations to destroy them.
Emma walked to the door of the house, but before reaching it a security light switched on and bathed the outside in a cold, white light. When she reached the top step, the front door opened and a huge black guy, who would find the weights in most gyms timid, ushered her inside.
‘Turn around,’ he said.
She did and he patted her down, avoiding a grope of her boobs as the less experienced tended to do. Satisfied, he pointed to a closed door and said, ‘In there.’
The back room of this suburban house would be a dining room in any of the neighbouring houses, with views over the back gardens, but with the curtains shut and the lights on it had become the storage facility for a drugs operation. If she could hazard a guess, about a couple of million pounds’ worth of Spice stacked up in what she would imagine to be one-kilogram bags. At the other end of the room, Jacko tied to a chair, Lamar in the chair beside him, a gun sticking out from his waistband.
‘Ah, if it isn’t Detective Davis. Come in Emma, don’t stand at the door. And don’t try to make a run for it. Tito breaks bones for breakfast.’
‘I can believe it,’ Emma said. ‘How are you Jacko? How are they treating you?’
‘How d’ya bloody think?’ he snarled. ‘I’m trussed up here like a fucking chicken.’
Lamar’s big hand moved with the speed of an addict who had just scored his fix and slapped Jacko hard on the face.
‘Whoa fuck, that hurt,’ Jacko blurted out.
‘No more insults, Harris, there’s a lady present. Sit down Emma, we have a lot to discuss.’
Lamar wore a white t-shirt over loose-fitting chinos, his feet in loafers without socks. He didn’t look as if he’d fled from a rural laboratory only a few hours ago. Give him a set of designer shades and he could be the stereotypical driver of the car outside.
‘What do you want, Lamar?’ she asked.
‘I’ll get to it in a minute. Would you like a drink, Emma?’ he said nodding towards a slim-line, glass-fronted wine cooler fridge she hadn’t spotted earlier. ‘I have all manner of beers, white wine and soft drinks. What’ll you have?’
‘I don’t–’
‘Now, don’t say you won’t take anything from me or I’ll feel insulted. What’ll you have?’
‘You’ve twisted my arm. I’ll take a beer.’
‘Coming up.’ He stood, tall and muscled, but slim. She assumed he used the bear in the hall to do any of the enforcing work and the gun for everything else. In her experience, drug dealers like him were willing and capable of using such a weapon, as the business they’d built was lucrative and worth fighting over.
He took the cap off the bottle and handed it to Emma. When he sat down he lifted his bottle and said, ‘Cheers.’ With some reluctance, she did the same.
‘Do you know where the intel for tonight’s raid on the Grays operation came from?’ Lamar asked.
Good question, she thought. She didn’t. Superintendent Quigley said something about it coming from a good source but nobody thought to ask. ‘No, I don’t.’
‘Me,’ he said, tapping his chest.
In the process of taking a drink from the beer bottle, she spluttered out a mouthful over the floor.
‘Not a good look, Emma.’
‘Why the hell did you tell us about your own laboratory?’
‘When your forensic boys examine the place, they will find the prints and DNA of people who work in Jamal Baqri’s organisation. We broke into their place a few weeks back and nicked some of their kit and put it into the Grays warehouse.’
‘Can’t afford to buy the equipment now, you have to nick it from your competitors. Is this where you’ve ended up?’
He sneered. ‘Don’t be soft. Look behind you. There’s about three and half mils’ worth here and this is only one of a dozen places like this.’
Emma knew Simon Wood and his pals were making big money, but this big? It was hard for her to comprehend.
‘Oh, I get it,’ she said, ‘you put on this little farce to put Baqri in the frame, so why am I here?’
‘Not Baqri. Think again.’
‘You wanted to bring me here?’
He nodded.
‘Why?’
‘Neat eh?’
She couldn’t get her head around this. ‘Why?’
‘So I could meet you face to face and we could have this conversation.’
He’d played her good style, and like a fool, she’d fallen for it.
‘Why go to all this bother? What’s so important about me?’
‘My uncle, Simon Wood.’
She nodded, ‘I get it now. What do you want me to do?’
‘Get him out.’
She let the comment hang, giving her time to think. Would she, even if she could? ‘It’s not possible,’ she said, finally. ‘The case is out of my hands. It’s with the CPS.’
‘I dunno, you must be able to do something like hiding the evidence, you’re the expert.’
She smiled. ‘What, like fifty kilos of dope?’
‘I meant the evidence against Simon.’
‘He’s in jail as part of the crew on the boat. Hang on, can he sail a boat like that?’
‘Simon?’
‘Yeah.’
‘’Course he can, it’s his boat you raided.’
‘He could claim to be the captain, hired to bring the other guys over to the UK.’
‘Yeah, sounds good, I like it.’
‘Maybe it’s a bit weak but I’m sure there’s other things I can do.’
‘Listen Emma. I’m just testing the water like, you know, see what else we can do if Plan A doesn’t come off.’
‘What’s Plan A?’
‘What I want you to do next week, is call him back to your nick for questioning. Then, all you have to do is give me the time and the route of the security van bringing him in from Wandsworth. We’ll do the rest.’
Damn, she didn’t realise their planning was so well advanced. ‘I need some time to think about it.’
‘You don’t, not if you want him back anytime soon,’ he said nudging Jacko with his elbow.
Emma shook her head. ‘No deal. I said I need more time to think about what I can do. I’m agreeing to help you. In return, you need to release Jacko.’
‘Don’t talk to me about fucking deals,’ Lamar said raising his voice. ‘I’m the one with all the cards, okay?’
She nodded.
‘Don’t leave me here with him, Emma. He’ll kill me.’
Lamar turned to Jacko, ‘Shut up you, I’m talking to your boss.’ He turned back to her. ‘Emma, I’m gonna need three days’ notice before you bring the security van back to your place. I need a date from you, Thursday next week, latest. Does that give you enough time?’
‘I can’t just think up any old reason to bring him–’
‘Why don’t you question him about the Peterson case?’ Jacko said.
‘What’s that about?’ Lamar said.
‘Essex Police found the captain of a Baltic freighter, Olaf Peterson, dead in his cabin a day after it docked at Tilbury a month ago,’ Emma said. ‘Rumours were he was bringing in drugs from Russia.’
Intel suggested Peterson had crossed Simon Wood and paid for it with his life, but it wasn’t this that grabbed Emma’s attention. Jacko was a ham actor, always had been, and the Peterson story rolled off his tongue too easily, a bad actor trying to say his lines before quickly running off the stage. Lamar couldn’t act either as she could see he was feigning ignorance about a case involving his uncle. This could mean only one thing: Jacko and Lamar were in collusion with one another, this meeting was a charade.
Lamar looked at Emma. ‘So, we’re all set?’
‘I’ll do it.’
‘Hey, she agrees.’ He turned to Jacko again. ‘Man, you’re not so dumb after all.’
A look of anger flashed across Jacko’s eyes and it confused her at first, but she soon realised that Jacko was getting pissed at Lamar for overplaying his role.
‘Are we done?’ she asked.
Lamar nodded.
She stood and walked to the door. She needed to get out, to decide what to do, but at least this time she wouldn’t be hampered by thoughts of Jacko’s kidnapping.
‘Don’t leave me here, Emma, they’re vicious criminals,’ he whined.
‘Don’t worry Jacko, I’ll soon get you out.’ She put her hand on the door handle. ‘Be seeing you.’
‘Christ, Lemmy, look at her face and she didn’t ask when you’re letting me out. She’s got us sussed!’ Jacko’s pleading voice had gone to be replaced by a harder tone she’d never heard before. ‘She’ll tell the fucking world about me. Stop her!’
She pulled open the door but before she could take a step and walk out, a gun fired. She slumped to the ground, life seeping away as her blood pooled over the tiled floor.
Chapter 50
Matt woke from a deep and groggy sleep where he was dreaming of his mother. They were walking along a beach in Suffolk together. They often went to Suffolk on holiday but he couldn’t recall walking along a beach with her. Sitting outside a pub waiting for her and her latest ‘squeeze’ to finish boozing would be more like it, but he appreciated the imagery, the first dream involving her for several months. He opened his eyes and, expecting it to be his bedroom in Ingatestone with Emma lying beside him, the inside of the hospital room took him by surprise. Rosie was seated in a chair close by reading a book.
‘What are you reading?’
‘Oh, you’re awake,’ she said looking up. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I don’t know, I’m not awake yet.’
‘I wouldn’t advise you to move much as there’s heavy strapping on your left shoulder.’
He shifted position but stopped when a sharp pain coursed through his shoulder, like hundreds of little needles stabbing him all at once. ‘Christ! That’s painful,’ he said, sweat forming on his brow. ‘What happened?’
‘Leppo shot you.’
‘Shot? When I fell I thought he’d whacked me with something hard like a brick or a lump of wood.’
‘No, he shot you. I assume due to the lack of light and his dazed state following the crash he couldn’t see you that well or he would have killed you.’
‘That guy is as cold as ice. Where is he?’
‘In the morgue, where he belongs.’
‘You?’
She nodded. ‘He didn’t know I was there as he seemed to dawdle a bit before deciding to finish you off. It gave me time to line him up.’
‘Good job or I’d be in the morgue along with him. I assume your hands remained steady?’
‘What? How did you know?’ she said, her face quickly colouring.
‘I looked for it. Often happens after a serious incident like the one you experienced. Don’t worry, it’s temporary.’
‘So it seems. Luckily it disappeared a few days before my unscheduled firearms test and didn’t come back.’
‘You’ve exorcised your demons.’
‘I hope so, I’d be bloody useless as an HSA agent if I didn’t.’
‘What’s happened to Dragon?’
‘Sir Raymond will make a statement in the House today condemning their actions and Walter Ingham has been handed over to the Met. He’ll be charged with a suite of things including conspiracy to murder.’
‘Looking good.’
‘Watch this space, but it’s not all good news, Matt.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but I’d hate for you to read it in a newspaper.’
‘What?’
She hesitated, searching for the right words. ‘There’s no easy way to say this, Matt, but Emma’s dead.’
‘How? When?’
‘She was found with two bullet wounds by a dog-walker in Epping Forest. Initial forensics suggest she didn’t die there but somewhere else, her body dumped. No one’s been arrested yet. I’m sorry to be the bearer of such terrible news.’
Matt didn’t hear the rest. Perhaps due to the drugs, the full impact of the words took several moments to penetrate his muzzy senses but when it did, it hit him with the force of an express train. He wailed and wailed, his tears flowing freely. When he tried to move, to get out of the hospital and confirm Rosie’s words for himself, the pain seared through his muscles and sinews, leaving him panting, his face a mixture of sweat and tears.
He heard some commotion at the edge of his bed, but what or who was causing it failed to penetrate his grief. A firm hand gripped his arm and he felt a small pinprick. Emma’s face swam in front of his eyes but then the picture faded, the pixels dissolving into the ether before sleep lulled him back into its soft, comforting embrace.
Chapter 51
Over two hundred people attended the funeral service in the St. Edmund and St. Mary Church in Ingatestone. Matt came from a large Irish family and his many sisters, brothers and cousins were all there, but few from Emma’s family. She only had her brother, Phillip, and her parents, Daniel and Cathy. The rest of the congregation was made up from officers from the Met and officers and admin staff from HSA. Eulogies were read by Emma’s boss, Superintendent Tony Quigley, and her close working colleague, the newly promoted Detective Inspector Jack Harris.
No one had been arrested for her murder and now, almost two weeks after the event, Matt doubted they ever would. He’d heard rumours that with no real leads and no positive forensic data, the investigation was soon to be scaled back. The police would never forget a dead colleague, but he knew how frustrating it was without any sound intel to drive a case forward.
Outside in the churchyard he shook many hands and comforted Emma’s family. He liked her father, a nuclear engineer at Sellafield in Cumbria, and with Emma being a bit of a daddy’s girl, he seemed to take her death hardest.
‘I told her I didn’t want her joining the police.’
‘I know you did, but there are hundreds, maybe thousands of officers who suffer no more than a few bruises and broken bones in the course of their service.’
‘Ach, we all have to die of something, I just wish it didn’t happen so soon. However, I take comfort from knowing she died doing something she believed in. I must go and take care of her mother. See you later Matt.’ He clapped Matt on his un-bandaged shoulder, dipped his head to hide his tears and headed towards the graveyard to join his wife and son.
Matt walked over to speak to the Director when Jack Harris crossed his path.
‘Matt,’ he said shaking his hand. ‘Good to see you. How are you bearing up?’
‘Been walking around in a daze if I’m being truthful, not sure of the time or the day.’
‘Are you back at work yet?’
‘No, not yet. Before seeing you, I was on my way over there,’ he said nodding towards Gill, now talking to Superintendent Quigley, ‘to talk to my boss about the same thing.’
‘Emma will be missed in our place for sure.’
‘I’ll bet.’
‘Not only did we lose a good officer who played by the book and all that, but we could always rely on her.’
‘I want to understand what happened on Emma’s last job. You know what I’m saying, the drugs raid you guys did on the Spice lab at Grays.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Can I come and talk to you about it some time?’
‘Sure thing, Matt, any time you like. Just give me a call.’
‘Thanks Jacko, appreciated. Thanks for coming today.’
Matt walked towards Gill and the old feeling returned. Talking to Jacko always left Matt with a sense there was something shifty about him, as if the words coming out of his mouth didn’t match the expression on his face. He felt it moments before as he paid compliments to Matt’s dead partner; they sounded insincere and unfelt. He’d never mentioned it to Emma before as, to her, Jacko was God’s gift and she relied on him implicitly.
Matt noticed at previous funerals how some people would move away at the approach of the grief-stricken partner. Perhaps they were afraid of having nothing to say to provide comfort, or were scared of saying something that might cause offence. Whatever the reason, as Matt headed towards Templeton Gill, Superintendent Quigley walked away.
‘Hello Matt. I won’t ask you how you are as you told me yesterday.’
‘And the day before.’
‘True. I liked the service. Plenty of blue uniforms on display.’
‘Quigley spoke well.’
‘For a copper you mean, but that aside, I sense he’s got a lot of respect for Emma. I’ve asked around her old colleagues and believe me, it’s not bluster. He regarded her highly.’
‘It’s good to know,’ Matt said.
‘Do you want to know what happened to Dragon Technologies? You didn’t yesterday.’
‘Yeah. I’m much better now that I’ve seen Emma off.’
‘As you already know,’ The Director said, ‘Sir Raymond Deacon raised the subject in the House of Commons and it’s all snowballed since then. Louise’s newspaper published a front-page story, written by her, of course, and Walter Ingham and other senior people at Dragon in the UK and the US are now in custody. The UK and NATO orders for the Pulsar helicopter are suspended, awaiting the outcome of an investigation, and defence analysts expect them to be cancelled. The fallout has reached the US where shares in the parent company have been suspended on the New York Stock Exchange. Commentators say they could file for Chapter 11 in a matter of days.’
