Harrison held up two documents in his right hand. ‘These are the warrants we were seeking to search both his offices in Ashford and his house. Debbie, love, can you dim the lights?’
Kay caught Gavin’s expression at the term of endearment and gave him a slight shake of her head.
Harrison’s management techniques belonged in the Dark Ages, but now wasn’t the time to debate it.
As she turned back, she saw O’Reilly bend down from his position on the corner of Carys’s desk and whisper something to the detective constable. Carys covered her mouth with her hand and responded, her eyes never leaving Harrison, but Kay saw the wink that O’Reilly gave her before turning his attention to the front of the room.
‘At this rate, we’ll be losing even more people to SOCU,’ she grumbled under her breath. ‘Including the Jake O’Reilly fan club.’
‘What was that?’ Gavin hissed next to her.
‘Nothing.’
‘Right.’ Harrison’s voice cut across the room, and tapped the image on the whiteboard. ‘Floor plans for Demiri’s offices.’
Kay turned her attention to the DCI as he extolled Carys’s attempts to get copies of the building’s layout from the council’s planning department, and wondered why he hadn’t sought assistance from their colleagues in Ashford.
She nibbled at the end of her pen as she listened, and then realised Harrison was so determined that Demiri be arrested by his investigation team, he was likely leaving as many people out of the loop as possible to protect his position.
It worried her, and despite his assertions as the briefing continued that they’d have support from a local uniform contingent when conducting the raid, she wondered what the ramifications might be when the detectives there found out they’d been snubbed.
She scribbled a note to herself as the image flickered and a new one appeared, that of an aerial photograph of a large sprawling house surrounded by woodland.
Harrison grinned, his face illuminated in a grotesque mask in the light from the overhead projector.
‘We haven’t been as lucky with Demiri’s house,’ he said. ‘For those of you joining us today and who aren’t aware, this property is on the outskirts of Pluckley.’
He flicked the switch and another image appeared. ‘This photograph was taken this morning by SOCU officers monitoring the property some distance away. You can see here that there appears to be three entrances – front door, back door next to what we believe to be a kitchen, and these double doors onto the paved patio that leads into the garden. I want officers at all entrances prior to us going in. Currently intelligence from previous reports by Gareth Jenkins suggests that Demiri has at least four live-in staff, and a number of people visiting his house on a day-to-day basis, so we need to make sure we restrain anyone trying to leave in a hurry. D’you want to get your team up to speed, Sharp?’
The DI nodded, and made his way to the front of the room. ‘I want two teams accompanying uniform, so Piper and Miles – you’re leading the search of Demiri’s offices. Barnes – I want you at the house. That way, we can have a high level debrief the moment you’re back here rather than wait for reports to be updated onto the system.’
He held up his hand for silence as a murmur swept the room, the team’s impatience palpable. ‘I don’t need to tell you how dangerous Demiri and his men are, or how important these searches are to our investigation, so watch out for each other, and get the job done properly.’
He handed the meeting back to Harrison who concluded by echoing Sharp’s order for restraint before dismissing the team.
Kay turned at O’Reilly’s voice as he passed her desk.
‘Miles? Be careful, yeah?’
Carys’s eyes opened wide at O’Reilly’s words, but she nodded. ‘Of course, Sarge. Always.’
‘Obviously hasn’t heard about you taking on a moving train,’ mumbled Gavin as he followed her out the room.
Kay could hear them still bickering as the door swung shut behind them, and smiled to herself.
At least Gavin could be trusted to keep Carys’s mind on the job and not the detective sergeant during the raid.
‘O’Reilly?’
‘Guv?’
‘A word in Sharp’s office. Got a special task for you.’ Harrison beamed, and gestured towards the open door.
Kay stayed in her seat as the overhead lights sprang back to life, and stared at the fading image of the house as the projector was switched off.
Why hadn’t she been included in one of the search teams?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kay rubbed her eye and strained her ears to listen to the rapid fire orders being barked over the radio.
Debbie set down a mug of tea in front of her, then hovered at the end of the desk.
‘Has it started yet?’
‘No. They’re waiting for the order to go in.’
‘Bet you wish you were there,’ said Debbie, before returning to her own side of the incident room.
Kay’s thoughts turned to the cellar they’d discovered beneath Demiri’s nightclub, and shuddered. She said nothing, and instead leaned across the pile of paperwork in front of her and turned up the volume on the radio.
The door to Sharp’s office was wrenched open, and Harrison appeared, his whole body exuding tension.
‘Are they ready?’
‘Yes, guv. Waiting for your order,’ said Kay, and handed him the radio. ‘HQ are ready, too. They’ve got patrol cars set up to block access in and out of the road on the industrial park where Demiri’s offices are, as well as the road outside his house.’
‘Good.’ Harrison glanced over his shoulder as Sharp strode towards them, his tie askew.
Kay frowned, then turned away.
His face appeared thunderous, and she’d never seen him with a tie that wasn’t knotted and perfectly straight.
She wondered what Harrison had said to him behind closed doors that had him so riled, then pushed the thought away as Harrison raised the radio.
‘All teams, this is DCI Harrison. You have a “go” for Operation Exodus. Repeat,
