away from the Assistant Commissioner.
'If I could turn the clock back, I would. But back then, I didn't have a choice,' she said. Tina looked around the office, her eyes settling on the large clock on the wall, the red hand ticking away the seconds of her life.
'You had to bring me here to tell me this, yeah?' she said.
'You couldn't have written? Or phoned?'
'I wanted to talk to you.'
She turned to look at him and fixed him with her dark green eyes.
'You wanted to see me squirm?'
Latham shook his head.
'It's not that, Tina.'
'So what is it, then?'
'I've a proposition for you.'
'I knew it!' Tina hissed.
'You're all the bloody same. I do it for you, you turn a blind eye to my past. Quid pro fucking quo.'
Latham smiled sadly and shook his head.
'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm probably the most happily married man you've ever met. Just listen to what I have to say. Okay?'
Tina nodded. She looked around for an ashtray, but there wasn't one so she stubbed the cigarette out on the underside of the desk, grimacing apologetically.
'Okay,' she said.
'Your past precludes you from joining the Metropolitan Police as a normal entrant,' Latham continued.
'You can understand why. Suppose you had to arrest someone who knew you from your previous life? Suppose your past became public knowledge? Every case you'd ever worked on would be compromised. It wouldn't matter how good a police officer you were. All that would matter is that you used to be a prostitute. It would also leave you open to blackmail.'
'I know,' sighed Tina.
'I just hoped .. .' She left the sentence hanging.
'That it would remain a secret for ever?'
Tina nodded.
'Pretty naive, yeah?'
Latham smiled thinly.
'Why did you apply to join the police, Tina? Of all the jobs that you could have done.'
'Like what? Serving in a shop? Waitressing?'
'There's nothing wrong with either of those jobs. You can't be afraid of hard work or you wouldn't have applied to join the Met. I've seen your CV, Tina. I've seen the jobs you've done to make a living and the courses you've taken to get the qualifications you never got at school.'
Tina shrugged.
'Why the police?' Latham asked again.
'Why not the army? The civil service? Nursing?'
'Because I want to help people like me. People who were shat on when they were kids.'
'So why didn't you become a social worker?'
'I want to make a difference. I want to help put away the bastards who break the rules. Who think it's okay to molest kids or steal from old ladies.' Tina rubbed the back of her neck with both hands.
'Why all these questions? You've already said that I can't join the police.'
'That's not what I said,' said Latham.
'I said you couldn't join as a uniformed constable, but there are other opportunities available to you within the force.'
'Washing up in the staff canteen?'
Latham gave her a frosty look.
'It's been obvious to us for some time that our undercover operations are being compromised more often than not. The reason for that is quite simple villains, the good ones, can always spot a police officer, no matter how good their cover. Police officers all undergo the same training, and pretty much have the same experiences on the job. It's that shared experience that binds them together, but it also shapes them, it gives them a standard way of behaving, common mannerisms. They become a type.'
Tina nodded.
'We could always spot Vice on the streets,' she said.
'Stuck out like sore thumbs.' She grinned.
'Thumbs weren't the only things sticking out.'
For a moment Tina thought that the Assistant Commissioner was going to accuse her of flippancy again, but he smiled and nodded.
'Exactly,' he said.
'So what we want to do is to set up a unit of police officers who haven't been through the standard Hendon training. We need a special sort of undercover officer,' said Latham.
'We need people who have enough strength of character to work virtually alone, people who have enough, how shall I describe it ... life experience ... to cope with whatever gets thrown at them, and we need them with a background that isn't manufactured. A background that will stand up to any scrutiny.'
'Like a former prostitute?'
'While your background precludes you from serving as a regular officer, it's perfect for an undercover operative,' said Latham.
'The very same contacts that would damage you as a regular officer will be a major advantage in your role under cover.'
'Because no one would ever believe that the Met would hire a former prostitute?'
Latham nodded.
'I have to tell you, Tina, it won't be easy. Hardly anyone will know what you're doing; you won't be able to tell anyone, family or friends. So far as anyone will know, you'll be on the wrong side of the tracks.'
'What if anything went wrong?'
'You'd have back-up,' said Latham, 'but that's down the line. What I need now is your commitment to join the unit. Then your handler will take over.'
'Handler? You make me sound like a dog.' Trisha grinned.
'How much does the job pay?'
'You'll be on the same rate of pay as an ordinary entrant. There'll be regular increases based on length of service and promotion, and overtime. But again, these are details to be worked out with your handler. My role is to demonstrate that your recruitment is desired at a very high level. The highest.'
'Does the Commissioner know?'
Latham frowned slightly.
'If you're asking officially, I'd have to say that you'd need to put a question of that nature to the Commissioner's office. Unofficially, I'd say that I wouldn't be here if I didn't have his approval. I'm certainly not a maverick.'
Tina reached over and picked up her pack of cigarettes. She toyed with it, running her fingers down the pack, standing it on each side in turn. She took a deep breath.
'Okay,' she said.
'I'm in.'
Latham beamed.
'Good. That's very good, Tina.'
'What happens now?' she asked.
'You go home. Someone will be in touch.' He pushed back his chair and held out his hand.
'I doubt that we'll meet again, but I will be watching your progress with great interest, Tina.'
Tina shook his hand. It was smooth and dry with an inner strength that suggested he could crush her if he wanted.
