'Can I go?' she asked.
The giant nodded. 'Get more medicine. More girls next week,' he said, and he waved her aside, dismissing her.
Kate stepped out into the night and walked steadily and carefully until she turned a corner and was out of sight. Then she placed her hands on her knees, bent double, and vomited until there was nothing left to come up.
She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, stood upright, and walked out of the yard in search of a taxi.
'You really shouldn't have gone to all this trouble,' said Cooper, with his mouth full. Kate laughed.
'If my Gran knew I was playing host to a Detective Inspector and not feeding him, she'd have a heart attack. She feeds everyone who ever knocks on her door. Doctor, postman, Jehovah's Witness, she doesn't care. Even if I call her and say I'm stopping by after dinner at a fancy restaurant she opens the door and says 'ooh love, you're looking a little peaky, I've done your favourite, corned beef pie!' And she'll sit there and watch me eat it, no matter how full of Sunday lunch or curry I am.'
'And you've inherited her compulsion?'
'It what we do oop North, DI Cooper. Just because you Southerners think hospitality begins and ends with a twist of lime in a G and T, doesn't mean we're so stingy.'
'Well this pasta is great, thank you. I'm not sure what my boss would say. He might accuse me of taking bribes.'
'It's not
'I'm a copper, Miss Booker…'
'Kate, please.'
'I live on pies, chips and coffee, Kate. You may not believe me, but I used to be lean and toned. It's only since I joined the force that I've got so flabby.'
Kate didn't think he was flabby. Fancies himself, she thought again, but not unkindly. Fishing for compliments.
'What did you do before?'
'I was in the army.'
'Really? I wouldn't have pegged you as the soldier type. What were you, admin or engineer?'
Cooper hesitated. 'Not exactly.'
'Man of mystery, huh.'
'Something like that.'
He finished his bowl of pasta and swilled it down with a gulp of lager. Kate collected their crockery and put the kettle on. Cooper browsed her bookcases while she made coffee. Once he'd taken it, he sat down, the informal air almost, but not entirely, banished. She sat opposite him.
'You gave the girls the injections?' he asked.
Kate nodded.
'How many?'
'Eight. Three for Manchester, two each for London and Birmingham, one for Cardiff.'
'Good. We'll track them to their destinations.'
'And then do nothing because you're waiting for authorisation.' The bitterness in her voice was hard to disguise.
'It won't be long now, I promise.' He paused and Kate could tell he was considering whether to tell her something. He put down his cutlery and leaned forward across the table intently. 'We're tracking a lorry full of girls at the moment. The Ukrainians, for once, actually tipped us off when it left. So far we've managed to keep track of it all the way to Dusseldorf. If we don't lose it before it gets here, we should have the whole trail mapped out clearly. Then we can wrap it all up in one fell swoop.'
'That's brilliant!' Said Kate. Cooper looked down at the table.
'But?' she asked, dreading his answer.
'They've decided the south coast ports are getting too dangerous. We think they're coming in via Grimsby and straight to Manchester.'
'And that's a problem, why?'
'We don't have anyone on the inside in Manchester.' He looked up at her and took a deep breath. 'We don't think they have a pet doctor up there yet, though.'
'Right,' said Kate, not quite following his logic.
'And in the next few days he's got a massive shipment of girls arriving there, the first to go direct, bypassing London.'
'Which would mean they'd send for me to help process the girls.'
'We hope so, yes.'
'And you'd follow me so I could lead you straight to them?'
'That's the general idea.'
Kate considered this for a moment. 'I'd still be in there when you stormed the place, right?'
Cooper held her gaze firmly. 'It's the only way. You'll be away from home so they'll let you sleep the night there, I guess, before driving you back.'
'Oh great. That's just what I want, a night stuck in a portacabin with those bastards.'
'Which is why we'll take them as soon as you lead us there.'
'And how exactly will I do that?'
'You'll need to carry some kind of tracking device.'
Kate shook her head firmly. 'They frisked me last time. They'd find something like that.'
'This will be well disguised. Trust me, they'll have no idea it's there.'
'Wait a minute. You'll take them as soon as I get there? You mean I'm going to be in the middle of a police raid?'
'Don't worry. I'll be there and I'll make it my first priority to get you to safety.'
Kate did not feel reassured.
'So I should expect to get a phone call in the next couple of days,' she said.
'Yeah.'
Cooper considered her, biting his lip. 'I've still not told my boss about you, you know. I'm keeping you completely off the books. With the operation nearing completion, the risk of a leak from within the Met is too great. I still don't know who Spider's got on the inside and until I do, I'm playing my cards very close to my chest.'
'But surely the operation you're proposing is going to require a lot of manpower.'
'Yeah. I'm bending the rules a bit there.' Kate waited for him to elaborate, but 'it's not exactly ethical' is all he said.
'Fuck ethics,' said Kate, suddenly impassioned. 'If this works, you'll be in a position to shut him down for good.'
Cooper smiled. 'Let's hope so. As they say in all the good movies: so now we wait.'
'However shall we pass the time?'
Cooper looked surprised and Kate cursed inwardly. Too obvious. Inappropriate. Stupid. Damn.
He registered her embarrassment and smiled. 'I have an idea or two,' he said.
Kate lifted her face out off the blue crash mat and groaned.
'This,' she said pointedly, 'was not what I had in mind, Detective Inspector Cooper.'
Cooper laughed as he bent down and held out a hand. She grabbed it and allowed herself to be helped to her feet.
'Again, Sanders. And stop going easy on her,' he said.
'Sir,' said the massive, muscled soldier who had just thrown Kate to the floor like she weighed less than a feather pillow. 'Now remember what I said, Miss Booker, duck under the attack, grab, pivot and throw.'
'Soldier, you're three times the size of me. I don't have to duck under your attack, I just have to stand here and let it pass over my head.'
The soldier smiled and held out his great meaty hands, ready to attack once more. Kate sighed and prepared
