her fault he died. It was his own.’
‘ Hm,’ snuffled FB, unimpressed.
‘ And she nearly caught Hinksman last time. If she’d got the support she deserved, he would have been caught much sooner and maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t have this…’ Henry let his words sink in.
FB put his head to one side and said, ‘You’ve changed your tune about her, haven’t you? Don’t forget, she disciplined you and kicked you off the initial enquiry.’
‘ I don’t mind learning things about people,’ Henry admitted. ‘She knows as much as anybody about Hinksman, and Karl Donaldson is encyclopaedic. Let me have them. Give them a chance.’
FB nodded impatiently. ‘OK, OK, I haven’t the time to argue — but you keep me informed of every move you make, every breath you take… ‘
‘ Don’t tell me,’ said Henry. ‘You’ll be watching me.’
‘ Too fucking right I will.’
‘ Are you DS Christie?’ A uniformed Constable had sidled up next to Henry.
‘ Yes.
‘ There’s a message for you from the hospital. The PC who was shot in the guts has asked to see you. I’ve been told to pass on the message urgently. Apparently he doesn’t have much time left.’
August stood by one of the screens which protected the scene from onlookers. He was hot and sticky and worried.
I’ve really done it now, he thought. Blood on my hands. Innocent men mown down like rats because of me. Because I was desperate to protect a career and a reputation. Everything gone through one lousy night with a whore. And I walked right into it, eyes closed, cock erect. What a stupid fucking bastard I am.
August looked at the driver of one of the cars, still slumped across the steering wheel. Part of the side of his face was missing, but his eyes were intact, wide open and staring accusingly. Right at August. He tore his gaze away with a little whimper.
August’s mind raced on. They still have a hold on me, whoever they are, he thought frantically. If they want me for anything else, they’ve got me by the balls. If they gave that damned tape to the press, I’d be finished for good. Whatever happens, I must stop them being able to get at me again…
‘ FB,’ he said loudly, ‘on my desk, nine tomorrow morning, I want everything about Hinksman from Day One. I’m going to take a very personal interest in this investigation and from now on I’ll be looking over your shoulder. I shall expect daily updates on all lines of enquiry — understand? I want to know absolutely everything.’
The motorcycle was abandoned near Garstang where both Hinksman and the rider transferred to a car. Here there was time for the remainder of the handcuffs to be snipped from Hinksman’s wrists. He rubbed them gratefully and the blood flowed back into his hands.
Thirty minutes after driving sedately through country roads to Blackburn, the car stopped outside a terraced house in the Revidge area of the town. The driver handed Hinksman a key and said, ‘That’s where you’ll be lying low until the next stage, whatever that is. There’s enough food and drink for you for at least a week. Goodbye and good luck.’
Hinksman said, ‘Thanks. That’s a good firm you work for. How do I contact you if I ever need you?’
The man laughed. ‘You’ll find a way,’ he said mysteriously.
‘ Understood,’ said Hinksman.
They shook hands and Hinksman got out. The car pulled away from the kerb and Hinksman made his way to the front door of the house without looking back.
Ten minutes later he was joined by Lenny Dakin who had dumped the Jag and was now driving a legitimate car.
They greeted each other with much effusiveness and self-congratulation. A brilliant job. Superbly professional. It was as though they were discussing a Stock Market coup, not a shooting which had left more than half a dozen cops dead.
‘ I thought you weren’t going to come through,’ Hinksman admitted, ‘when my lawyer said nothing to me.’
‘ I decided it was best that way. If he got cold feet and blabbed it would’ve jeopardised the whole thing. Better safe than sorry.’
They looked at each other then embraced elatedly, slapping each other’s backs. When they came back to earth, Hinksman asked, ‘What’s next?’
‘ To get you out of the country.’
‘ How do you intend to do that?’
‘ Well, Corelli wants you back in the US as quickly as possible, but it’ll have to be done at my speed. We have a delivery due at the weekend, so what I plan to do is use the reverse route for you. That’ll get you to Eire, and from there it’s relatively easy to get to the States, maybe via Paris or Amsterdam, whatever.’
‘ Sounds good,’ Hinksman said approvingly.
‘ So in the meantime, just crash out here. You should be safe enough if you’re sensible.’
Hinksman’s nod turned smoothly to a shake. ‘I have business to attend to. A debt to repay.’
‘ Now look.’ Dakin’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve put my neck on the line for you, so don’t fuck anything up.’
‘ As if I would,’ said Hinksman reprovingly with a grim smile. ‘I’ll be careful and I’ll be back in time. Trust me.’
A hand clamped down on Kovaks’ shoulder, making him jump. He had been sitting at his desk, staring blankly into space, with the Corelli surveillance reports in front of him, ever since Damian’s phone call. He turned round and there was Eamon Ritter accompanied by Ram Chander.
‘ Hey, day dreamer,’ laughed Ritter. ‘I bumped into Ram in reception. He said he’d come to see you about Sue’s murder, so I brought him straight up. Look, I really am sorry about her, Joe. She was a damned good agent and though I didn’t know her too well, she always had a pleasant smile for me. She was your partner for a while, wasn’t she?’
‘ Yeah, she was. And thanks for the sentiment. How’s the investigation going, Ram?’
‘ To be honest,’ the Indian admitted, ‘we don’t seem to be getting anywhere and until we apprehend this Damian character, I don’t think we will. That is why I came to see you, Mr Joe, to see if you have heard anything more.’
Kovaks looked at Ritter and instantly decided, what the hell, he’s an agent too.
‘ Yes, I have heard something. Gotta phone call from your chief suspect not long before you walked in here. Sounds like he wants to talk to someone.’
Chander’s interest perked up. ‘Did he say where he was?’
Kovaks shook his head. ‘Said he wanted to talk to someone he could trust, then I think he panicked and hung up. I’ve been waiting for him to call back, but he may not. He knows that all calls are recorded. He sounded scared.’
Chander sighed. ‘OK, Mr Joe, if he does, please let me know immediately. Just remember, this isn’t a Federal matter, it’s my case.’
‘ Yeah, no problem,’ said Kovaks.
After Ram Chander had left, Ritter sat down next to Kovaks.
‘ I didn’t know that Damian was number one suspect,’ he said. ‘I knew they wanted to talk to him, obviously, but do you think he killed her?’
‘ No fucking chance,’ said Kovaks with feeling. ‘He wouldn’t even kill a computer virus. Maybe he knows who did it, though. Maybe he witnessed it.’
‘ He couldn’t have,’ argued Ritter. ‘Wasn’t he on leave, at his mother’s in Clearwater?’
‘ Apparently he left there and could’ve easily been back at the time of the killing.’
Ritter drew in a breath. ‘So he could have done it?’
‘ Or witnessed it.’
‘ The cunt,’ rasped Ritter. ‘Look, if you need any assistance whatsoever, just let me know, will ya? My workload’s pretty light at the moment. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can.’
