Ro’s flat wasn’t far from his mum’s. It was on the second storey of a new build council estate, set atop the bones of old row houses and corner shops. Wide boys lurked in the corners, watching him with hooded gazes. He was thankful he hadn’t come in uniform, and equally thankful he had his sidearm holstered under his coat.
He stopped. The door to Ro’s place was in front of him. All he had to do was knock. Maybe she wasn’t in. Maybe she’d just kept running. That’s what a smart person would have done. Ro was smart, but not that smart.
He knocked on the door and waited. A moment later, the door cracked open. Ro peered out, jaw set, eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
“Are you going to let me in?” he said.
“Are you alone?”
“Of course.”
The door shut. He heard the jangle of a chain, and then it swung open in invitation. Ro gestured impatiently. “Well?” she said. “In or not?”
“In,” Danny said. She closed the door behind him, after a quick look down the corridor. “I told you I was alone.”
“Yeah, forgive me for not trusting you.” Ro fell back onto an overstuffed couch that had seen better decades. She indicated a wicker chair nearby. “Sit, if you want.”
Danny sat. They stared at each other in silence for several moments. Danny tried to think of how best to begin, but the longer it took, the more pugnacious Ro’s expression became. He cleared his throat. “Nice place.”
“Cheers.”
“The Kelleys own the building, don’t they?”
Ro looked at the ceiling. “What does that matter?”
“You’re paying your bosses for a place to live.”
“And you stay in barracks.”
“I get paid to stay in barracks.” He raised a hand, interrupting her retort. “Never mind. Colin Wilson’s flat,” he said, finally.
“What about it?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Rosemary.”
“Ro,” she corrected. Danny met her glare and held it.
“What were you doing there?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I was conducting an investigation.”
She laughed. “You a plod now?”
Danny looked around, taking in the lack of furnishings, the peeling paint, the stains. “Why were you there?”
“Wasn’t.”
“You literally punched me.”
“Didn’t.”
Danny sank back into his chair. “You think this is funny?”
“I’m amused,” Ro said.
“Five different CCTV feeds caught you running away. Three caught you entering the building. Six drones spotted you making your way down the street. Do I need to go on?”
Ro wasn’t smiling anymore. He could tell she was rattled. She hadn’t thought about it. She never really did. “Are you here to arrest me then? Mum will be cross.”
“I’m not here to arrest you.”
“Then why you here, bruv? You ain’t missed me.”
“Maybe I did,” Danny said. “Maybe I’m worried about you. Maybe I don’t want some trigger-happy operative to put a bullet in you, because you’re standing next to one of the Kelleys at the wrong time.”
Ro looked away. “That won’t happen.”
“You don’t know that.” Danny leaned forward. “You don’t know anything. Otherwise you wouldn’t be messing with this shit, yeah?” He paused, forcing himself to stay calm. “Why were you there?”
Ro was silent. Then, “Had to be, innit?”
“The Kelleys sent you?”
“Yeah.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Bloody Mary wants to know what Colin was up to. And since I knew him…” She met his eyes challengingly, but he didn’t speak. She went on. “Since I knew him, I got the job.”
“You saw him get killed,” Danny said, softly. He’d seen the CCTV footage from the pub – what there was of it. Ro had been talking to the victim when he’d been shot. She nodded. “Was he a friend?”
“No, I just knew him, like.”
Danny could hear the tremor in her voice, but didn’t press her. “What did you find?”
“What makes you think I found anything?”
“Because you were running like you did.”
“Maybe I just didn’t want to get caught.” Ro looked at him. “If you’re not here to arrest me, or take me into custody or for questioning or whatever bullshit you call it – why are you here?”
“Maybe I wanted to check on you.”
“I wasn’t the one who got my arse kicked.”
Danny bit back a retort. “But you were the one on the cameras. Or you would be, if I hadn’t dealt with the footage.”
Ro stared at him. “You what?”
“I’m the only one who knows. I haven’t told anybody, and as soon as I can figure out how to erase it, or copy over it or whatever, I will.” He paused. “I’m risking my job, maybe more than that, for you. The least you could do is tell me what you found.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t have to,” he snapped, raising his voice. “You’re my sister, remember? What am I supposed to do? Just leave you to it?”
“It’s what you’ve always done before,” Ro snarled back.
Danny opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked away. Arguments with Ro were circular things, always going back around to old hurts. She couldn’t let go of the past, couldn’t see that he wanted what was best for her. Finally, he said, “I’m not dad.”
Ro jerked as if he’d slapped her. She fell silent. Danny looked at her. “You’re mad because I went away? Fine. I went away. But I went for you and mum. We needed money and I got some. And I never expected a word of thanks…”
“And you won’t be getting one,” she said. “We didn’t need money, we needed you. And you ran away. You went halfway across the bloody world – for what? Not for us.”
The words stung because there was some truth to them, however much he wanted to deny it. It had all been too much for him.
