would be no music tonight.
‘The bad guys have guns,’ he muttered, waiting for the explosion.
A second later Drexler swivelled, pointing the gun at McQuarry. ‘Drop it, Ed.’
She grinned at him and nodded, but made no move to drop her gun. ‘I knew it.’
‘You have to answer for my father.’
McQuarry smiled faintly. ‘You were always weak.’ She held onto her revolver but made no move to raise it.
‘Drop the gun, Ed.’
‘So you didn’t put him out of your mind.’
‘I couldn’t. I found him without your help. It was six months after the Golden Nugget. He was working in a soup kitchen in San Francisco. But then you already knew that.’ McQuarry didn’t reply. ‘Did you also know he’d been sober for a year? No? Did you know he gave his time for free? No? Did you know he was doing the twelve steps?’
McQuarry shrugged.
‘He sobbed when I found him, Ed. He begged me to try and forgive him for what he’d done. He said he’d understand if I couldn’t, but he said he loved me and wanted me in his life.’
‘And you believed him? What a schmuck.’
‘No, I didn’t believe him. And no, I didn’t trust him. But guess what? I no longer wanted him dead. See, he was suffering for what he’d done. I saw that much. It was killing him inside. And if it took years to win back my trust he said he wanted to try. He needed at least that ray of hope. I was prepared to allow him that.’
‘He was a wife-beating drunk, Mike.’
‘Was? You heard he died then.’
‘I heard, Mike,’ smiled McQuarry.
‘Did you hear someone waited for him in his fleapit hotel and cut his throat?’
‘I didn’t just hear it, Mike. I was there. He took it well. When I told your father you’d sent me, I think he wanted to die. He knew he didn’t deserve to live.’
‘People do change, Ed. My father had.’
‘No, he hadn’t. The first thing he did when I took out the blade was drop to his knees and start praying. That sound like he’d changed?’
‘You’ve changed, Ed. You’re crazy.’
McQuarry laughed. ‘That’s the thanks I get.’
‘Drop the gun, Ed. It’s not too late.’
McQuarry laughed again. ‘Or what? You’ll shoot me?’
‘Before I let you kill a brother officer, yes.’
She shook her head. ‘Like I said, people don’t change.’ She grinned. ‘This is the second time you’ve put your faith in Sorenson’s gun. Know how easy it is to disable the firing pin, Mike? I could do it with the gun in my pocket in the back of a dark car.’
Drexler glanced at the weapon then fired the M9 just above McQuarry’s head. The trigger clicked but no bullet was discharged. Drexler nodded and wrenched out a resigned smile.
‘See, Mike, you can’t grift a grifter.’
‘People do change,’ said Drexler. ‘The Edie McQuarry I knew wouldn’t forget to check my ankle holster.’
McQuarry’s grin froze on her face as Drexler raised his other hand a fraction before she could raise her own. Deafening explosions and a spray of orange were exchanged and both fell.
Nicole jumped out from behind the car and ran over to McQuarry. She was dead, her fish eyes glaring up at Pisces in the heavens. Drexler moaned and Nicole turned to him. Brook was on his feet by now, but kneeled again when he saw Drexler. He gestured with his hands to Nicole and she ran back to the car and returned with a scalpel. She severed his bonds and they both pulled Drexler up by the shoulders. He screamed in pain. The bullet had struck him just above the heart. The blood was flowing but he made to speak.
‘The good guys too,’ he whispered, then fell back.
‘I’ll get your phone,’ sobbed Nicole.
‘No, he won’t last. Grab his legs.’
They grabbed each end of Drexler as delicately as they could manage and stretched him onto the back seat. Brook jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Nicole opened a door.
‘Wait!’ said Brook, looking over at McQuarry’s twisted corpse. ‘Empty her pockets.’ Nicole looked at him. ‘Hurry.’
She bolted over to the body. ‘What about the guns?’
‘Leave them.’
Nicole hurried back to the car and got in the back with Drexler. ‘Hang on, Mike,’ shouted Brook, spinning the wheels out of the field.
‘Can you remember the way, Damen?’ Nicole asked. Brook caught her eyes in the driver’s mirror. ‘Every bloody inch.’ She couldn’t hold his look.
‘Sal, Sal. It’s okay. It’s okay.’
Brook looked at his watch. It was 4.30 in the morning. He couldn’t listen to the mumbled panic any more so he reached across to Nicole’s chair and shook her awake. She shuddered, raised her sweat-flecked head from her arms and lifted a bleary eye to Brook.
‘Any news?’
Brook shook his head. ‘Still in surgery.’
She buried her head in her hands and screwed her face up. ‘What have I done?’
Brook looked at her. ‘What
She looked at him and then at the floor. ‘Tony was my first, the only one. It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t hard. He raped your daughter when she was only fifteen.’
Now it was Brook’s turn to look at the floor. ‘And the Inghams?’
Nicole looked at him and shook her head. ‘If there’s blood, Ed always…’ she couldn’t finish.
‘The law won’t make a distinction.’
‘No.’
‘And the boy?’
After a pause, ‘I held his legs.’ She started to cry. ‘What have I done?’
‘And you emptied McQuarry’s pockets?’
‘Completely,’ she said. ‘If you’re worried about what I’ll say about you and Sorenson…’
‘I never worry about me. I have weaknesses. That’s my strength.’
‘Yes but-’
‘You never lost that accent. Why?’
‘What has that-?’
‘Why?’
Nicole hesitated until her confusion gave way to resignation. ‘Uncle Vic hired a private tutor. She was English.’ Brook smiled.
‘Why is that funny? Why is it even significant?’
‘And whose idea was it to become a police officer?’
‘Uncle Vic thought…’
‘Let me guess. He thought it would help his work.’ Nicole looked away. ‘It would give you access to deserving cases. To men like Caleb. Like Harvey-Ellis. Like me.’
After suitable reflection, Nicole answered with a barely audible, ‘Yes.’
Brook threw her the car keys, then the keys to the flat in Magnet House. ‘It’s a gunshot. They have to inform the police. I showed them my warrant card so that buys you some time. We’re in a different division so that buys you some more.’
‘Where are we?’
‘Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham — it was nearer.’ She nodded.
‘On your way out clean yourself up and keep that cap down low. Hospitals have cameras. Take the car back
