Kay and the others turned and faced the front of the room where he stood stock-still beside the whiteboard.
‘An officer gave his life to try and put Demiri away,’ he said. ‘Let’s make this count.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kay tugged at the collar of her stab vest and tried to ignore the surge of adrenalin that seized at her heart as she listened to Harrison’s final instructions.
She cast her eyes over the graffiti tags that littered the walls of the buildings, bright colours defying the worn dark bricks interspersed with simpler, spray-painted profanities, and wondered if any of the artists ever found real work in their chosen medium. Although she hated to admit it, at least two of the culprits had exceptional talent.
To her left, Carys shifted from foot to foot, her impatience emanating across the space between them.
Kay made a mental note to keep the younger detective in check. They’d been in a situation before where her colleague’s enthusiasm for justice had nearly cost her life.
She peered over Carys’s head to where Barnes and O’Reilly stood, their expressions impassive as they watched Harrison send Gavin and two other men running to the locked front and rear doors of the nightclub.
From their position at the end of the alleyway that ran behind the building, Kay could make out a series of dirty windows that would’ve provided a view of the raid, except for the fact that grime covered the panes beyond the steel bars that filled the frames.
A Chinese takeaway had once been housed in the section of the building closest to where she stood, but she knew the family that owned it had been hounded away by Demiri’s thugs over a year ago. The property on the opposite side of the nightclub hadn’t housed a tenant in nearly five years.
Her right eye twitched, and she resisted the urge to rub at it. She refocused on her breathing, waiting for the command to proceed.
Any minute—
A crash echoed off the walls of the alleyway as the back door to the nightclub was breached, closely followed by a similar sound from the front of the building.
Kay edged forward on her toes, and heard Carys’s sharp intake of breath.
‘Come on,’ she muttered.
A crackle of static burst to life through the radio in Sharp’s hand, and he muttered a response to the team in the building before turning his attention to the waiting police officers.
‘We’re clear to proceed.’
He led them past three overflowing industrial-sized waste bins, the stink of waste assaulting Kay’s nostrils as she tried not to think about the poor crime scene investigator who would be tasked with sifting through the contents.
A distinct stench of urine clung to the pitted surface under her feet and she grimaced as a large rat scurried across her path before disappearing through a gap under a padlocked door.
In moments, they were at the breached back entryway to the nightclub.
‘Right, you’ve had a chance to look at the plans for the place,’ said Sharp. ‘Kay and Carys, I want you to search the ground floor offices. Take Dave Morrison and Aaron Stewart with you to record what you find. Keep your eyes open for anything that might give us some indication as to when another lot of people are arriving.’
‘Guv.’ Kay signalled to two uniformed officers to join them and led the way along an unlit corridor towards what would have been the nightclub manager’s office.
She’d only met Morrison and Stewart after the morning’s briefing had concluded. After quick introductions though, she was convinced of their capabilities and training – DCI Harrison would have insisted on only his most trusted people to carry out the raid, and they seemed as focused and keen as she that Demiri be locked away.
‘What do you think our chances are of finding something if he knows about Jenkins?’ said Carys.
‘Slightly less than zero, but it’s got to be done,’ said Kay. She squinted as the lights overhead flickered to life. ‘Seems they forgot to turn the power off before closing up.’
‘Thank Christ for that,’ said Stewart. ‘Didn’t fancy doing this by torchlight.’ He flipped his torch into his utility belt and pulled on gloves. ‘Ready when you are, Sarge.’
Kay nodded, and pushed against the door to the office.
It swung open freely, and she reached inside and flipped the light switch.
A strip of fluorescent lights flashed twice across the ceiling before saturating the office with a pale white hue.
A window to Kay’s right provided a view across the club’s dance floor, and she realised as she watched her colleagues moving across it towards the bar and the rooms beyond that it was mirrored on the other side. The manager could keep an eye on proceedings unnoticed.
A liquor cabinet had been placed under the window, while a two-seater leather sofa to one side of it still held the indentation of where someone had recently sat.
To her right, three filing cabinets stood against the wall, the drawers open and paper strewn across the floor. The desk in front of her was in a similar state and above that, a wall safe yawned open, its contents missing.
Kay sighed, and raised the radio to her lips. ‘Guv? Looks like the place has been deserted in a hurry.’
Static spat through the speaker before Sharp responded. ‘The bar and front area of the club has been stripped, too. We’ve missed them. You know what to do.’
‘Got it.’ She turned to the officers beside her and clipped the radio to her belt. ‘Okay, split up. Dave, Aaron – you take the filing cabinets. Carys, help me see if we can salvage anything from the desk and drawers.’
They worked in silence, the sounds of their colleagues working their way through the rest of the club reaching Kay’s ears as she sifted through the day-to-day workings of a busy town venue.
Suppliers’ receipts, copies of licences for serving alcohol and late night openings were all she found to the side of the
