Kay frowned. ‘The truck we found the gun in?’
Harrison nodded. ‘That was one way – the trucks were brought in by ferry rather than through the Channel Tunnel. The ferry traffic is harder to control – understaffing and the like means we can only carry out spot checks most of the time, unless we’ve received a tip-off. The Tunnel’s sexier to terrorists, so that’s where most of our resources are placed. The truck you’re referring to was impounded after your investigation was concluded—’
Kay glared at him. ‘It wasn’t concluded. I was set up.’
He held up a hand. ‘I’m sorry. If I could continue? Once we had the truck, we sent our own crime scene investigators back over it. Yours had done a fantastic job, but their focus was on linking Demiri to the gun and any drug residue. We were looking for something else.’
‘What?’
‘Evidence to show that Jozef Demiri is running a successful business in people trafficking. More specifically, slavery and prostitution.’
‘Did they find anything?’ asked Sharp.
‘Oh, yes. Hair, traces of blood, faeces, you name it – only in minute quantities though.’ He shook his head. ‘It took an age. I’ll be honest, we thought he was going to get away with it at one point. Gareth had warned us Demiri always insisted on each vehicle being thoroughly cleaned after each shipment.’
Kay exhaled and pushed herself out of her chair to walk over to the window.
To hear Harrison talk about Demiri’s victims so dispassionately sent a shiver down her neck, and she crossed her arms before turning her back onto the sunshine streaming through the blinds.
‘What happened to Katya?’
A look of distress stole across Harrison’s features, and he cleared his throat before speaking.
‘We always warn them,’ he said. ‘Our officers, I mean. Not to get involved. They can’t risk having ties with anyone, doing that sort of work. It’s why we approached Gareth. He has no parents, no siblings, no wife or girlfriend to worry about or who Demiri could use if his cover was blown. We always tell them not to get married or have a serious relationship.’ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly looking weary. ‘It never ends well. Unfortunately, Gareth seems to have fallen for Katya, and told us at our last debrief that he meant to get her away from Demiri. Told us she knew things that would help us put Demiri away for life.’
‘What sort of things?’ said Kay.
‘We don’t know. She refused to tell him until we guaranteed her safety. She was terrified of Demiri, and wouldn’t speak until we undertook to get her out of there.’
‘What went wrong?’ said Sharp.
Harrison shrugged. ‘We think Demiri found out about them.’
‘You think?’ said Kay. She strode across the room, snatched up the cardboard folder Greensmith had placed in her correspondence tray, and pulled out the photograph of Katya’s body in the back of the car before waving it under Harrison’s nose. ‘Seems to me he did find out.’
Colour rose on Harrison’s face. ‘She must’ve said something to someone.’
‘Or they were both under surveillance,’ said Sharp. ‘Demiri knew what Gareth was up to and used her to send you a message.’
‘When did you find out about Gareth’s accident?’ said Kay.
‘He didn’t contact me at his scheduled time four nights ago.’
‘And yet, it’s taken you until now to inform us,’ said Sharp through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing.
Kay looked to Sharp, then back to Harrison. ‘We need to talk with him as soon as he’s awake.’
‘I seem to be able to pre-empt your demands with uncanny accuracy,’ said Harrison. ‘Gareth woke up three hours ago. You’re scheduled to meet with him the moment we’re finished here.’
‘Well, what the hell are we waiting for?’
Chapter Twenty-One
Kay wasn’t surprised when Harrison insisted on driving, but she was taken aback when their vehicle shot past the junction for Barming and kept going.
Sharp had requisitioned the front passenger seat, so she had to lean forward from her position behind Harrison.
‘Where are we going? I thought Jenkins was at Maidstone Hospital?’
His eyes flickered to the rear-view mirror, then back to the road. ‘We had him moved under sedation last night. I insisted on an embargo on the news until we’d had a chance to speak.’
‘Why?’
‘Maidstone’s too big. Too easy for Demiri to cause a distraction and get to Gareth. We’ve had him moved to a small private hospital outside Tunbridge Wells.’
‘Are they equipped to look after him?’ said Sharp.
‘Yeah. State of the art emergency facilities and intensive care unit. He’s in the best hands the taxpayer could afford, in the circumstances.’
‘Does he know about Katya?’
‘He was informed when he regained consciousness, yes.’
Kay leaned back in her seat and stared out the window as the countryside flew past and sighed.
Sharp glanced over his shoulder. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah.’
The rest of the journey was completed in silence, only broken by Harrison announcing their arrival near the private hospital as he indicated off a roundabout and joined a bypass on the outskirts of the spa town.
Five minutes later, they were striding across a car park past ornamental landscaping, and then down the side of the three-storey modern building.
Two security guards stood next to a rear fire exit, and straightened as Harrison approached.
He pulled out his warrant card and turned back to Kay and Sharp as one of the guards brought his radio to his lips.
‘I meant what I said. We’re not taking any chances. No-one knows he’s here except us. These people don’t know who they’re guarding.’
‘Where’d you find them?’ said Kay.
‘They’re serving officers in our Tactical Response Unit,’ said Harrison. ‘There are four more of them inside the building, two of whom are inside Gareth’s room.’
As the guard finished talking and cleared his throat, Kay met Sharp’s eyes.
Suddenly, everything Harrison had told her about Demiri’s business and his determination to remain above the law seemed very, very real.
‘This way,’ barked Harrison.
Sharp
