Riddick opened the fridge to get the milk for his Weetabix. He looked at the row of Brewdog Punk IPA on the top shelf. He considered it, but then decided he couldn’t face a beer this morning. He turned back to the breakfast table, where his usual breakfast drink awaited him – vodka and lime. Rachel was looking at him with a raised eyebrow from the head of the table.
‘Morning,’ Riddick said.
She didn’t respond.
‘Don’t be like that.’
‘You keep promising to cut down.’
He sighed. ‘I probably shouldn’t keep making that promise.’
‘Surely at some point, you have to mean it?’
Riddick sat down beside her.
‘You don’t want to die, do you?’
He looked at her. He wasn’t about to grace that with an answer. The easiest option was to take a mouthful of lime vodka. He then poured the milk onto his Weetabix. ‘I will stop, Rachel, but not today, not after last night. Besides, my head is throbbing where the bastard hit me. I’ll be good for nothing until I numb the pain.’
‘Daddy swore!’ Molly said.
Riddick looked up, opposite him, where his daughter was now sitting. ‘Sorry, honey…’
‘Daddy’s cool!’ Lucy said from the chair beside him.
‘Daddy is not cool,’ Rachel said.
Riddick smiled at Lucy. ‘It’s the language that’s not cool. You were right about Daddy though.’ He winked.
He’d only slept for two hours last night, and in his clothes. He reached into his suit pocket for his mobile phone and saw that the battery had given out on him. He bit his lip to stop himself swearing again.
‘Excuse me, I need to plug this in,’ he said, standing.
‘You like her, don’t you?’ Rachel said.
‘Who?’
‘Emma Gardner, your new partner.’
‘New boss, actually… Anyway, what makes you say that?’
‘I can just tell.’
There was a charger by the toaster, so Riddick plugged it in.
‘She’s married. Besides, she really isn’t my type.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that!’
‘Ah… okay, so how did you mean it?’ he asked, walking back to the table.
‘I mean in the way she’s got you juiced up again.’
He paused halfway to the table with raised eyebrows. ‘Not quite sure what juiced up means?’
‘It means she’s woken something up in you. This is the first time in years I’ve seen you like this.’
Riddick shook his head. ‘No, you’ve completely lost me.’
‘Tell her. Tell Emma about us. Talk to her. She’s your way out—’
There was a knock at the door.
Riddick stared at his wife a moment longer, her words hitting him harder than any brick ever could. Then, he went to answer the front door.
It was Anders. ‘I hope you got some sleep… I didn’t get a minute.’
‘You’re retired; you can sleep all day.’
‘Forget that,’ Anders said, closing the door behind him, following Riddick into the kitchen. ‘We can sleep when we’re dead.’
Riddick sat down and continued with his breakfast. He pointed at his vodka lime. ‘You want one?’
‘One bad night, a knife wound, and you think I’ll turn back to drink? I’m stronger than that, and you will be one day too.’ He sat down where Rachel had been sitting moments ago.
‘What relationship did you used to have with Neil?’ Riddick asked, not looking up at his former boss.
‘Why do you ask that?’
‘Something the prick said last night.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Something along the lines of you never used to give him this much grief.’
Anders guffawed. Riddick eyed him.
‘What’re you saying here?’
‘Just answer the bloody question.’
Anders sighed. ‘It’s not anything untoward. How long you known me? Jesus. Neil has always been a problem, but he’s part of the ecosystem around here. It’s a delicate ecosystem. I just kept my eye on him. I always knew what he was up to, so I could keep him on a short leash.’
‘I’m pretty sure the job description states you should just bust him?’
Anders said, ‘I did, if you remember!’
‘Eventually… but why not years before?’
‘Because, as I said, better the devil you know. There were plenty more people ready to step up and do what that idiot was doing. He knew I was watching, and things never got out of hand.’
Riddick drank his vodka lime. He’d always known that Anders was old school. That his associations with the less savoury locals could often go beyond what was considered appropriate for a member of the constabulary. However, Riddick had always believed that his old friend was simply keeping his enemies close in order to shut them down when the opportunity presented itself. It was distressing to learn now that Anders had allowed some lowlifes to continue unrestricted in their careers of exploitation. ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this.’
‘No one was ever murdered on my watch, Padawan, you remember that.’
‘Don’t call me that… and, also, what’s that supposed to mean?’
‘That wasn’t aimed at you, Paul. It’s just a fact. Since I’ve retired, things have slipped. That’s not just down to you—’
‘You know it was Neil that put that mugger in that alley, don’t you?’ Riddick pointed at him.
‘I don’t doubt it.’
‘It’s a mystery to me how you ever thought you could control a man like that?’
‘I imagine he’s different now he’s been inside. Hardened, perhaps? Anyway, I’ve no doubt you’ll hold him to account for what he’s done.’
Riddick’s phone beeped. He sighed and went over to it by the toaster. He saw that he had voicemails.
His face paled as he listened to the voicemails from Marsh and Gardner.
He put the phone down. ‘The boy who attacked Cherish last night…’
‘What about him?’
‘He’s dead.’