MOIRA SAID, “What was that?”
There was a sound at the back door, like someone trying to force it open. Darian said, “Is it locked?”
“And bolted.”
Darian smiled. Corey’s man, or men, had thought that beating the lock would be enough to get them in and now they were forcing the door, not willing to waste any more time announcing what was supposed to be a low-key arrival. There was a loud thud from the back of the house as a large man shoulder-slammed the door. Darian left the living room and went into the corridor. He whispered to Moira, “Stay there, don’t get involved.”
“Don’t you worry.”
Darian moved along to the kitchen door and stopped without going in. He pressed himself back against the wall and waited. Someone was already inside the house, walking slowly in a belated attempt at stealth. It wasn’t one of Challaid’s intellectual giants in the kitchen then, tiptoeing around after battering down a door. Listening carefully, Darian worked out, to his relief, that it was a single stupid person.
The large figure stepped out of the kitchen and into the unlit corridor, a foot away from Darian and not knowing it. Darian recognized him even in the dark, they were so close. Gallowglass, on the prowl again.
Darian said, “You can stop there.”
Gallowglass paused, stood where he was, the cogs turning slowly.
Darian said, “This doesn’t have to be trouble, but breaking and entering is a very serious offense for a man who isn’t a cop anymore and you’re going to have to talk your way out of it very carefully. You can tell me what you’re up to, that would be a start.”
Gallowglass turned slowly and looked at the silhouette talking to him. Seeing it was a single person, and smaller than him, was all the analysis he needed. Gallowglass bolted for the kitchen, trying to leave the way he had come in, only quicker. Darian leapt on the bigger man, locking him in a bear hug and pulling him backward. Gallowglass threw his head back, catching Darian on the cheek and sending a snap of pain through him. He let Gallowglass go and the former cop tried to run again, back into the kitchen. He was close to escape, but Darian was never a quitter. He lunged into the darkness, through the doorway and onto the floor, managing to reach out a hand and trip Gallowglass up. They were both on the kitchen floor now, a graceless tangle, Darian diving on top of the bigger man. They grunted and rolled around a bit, both throwing punches with no force because they had no room to pull their arms back and a fear of punching the floor. The former detective was bigger and stronger and he was getting the upper hand until a shadow moved behind them and swung something solid into the back of Gallowglass’s head and he collapsed forward onto the floor beside Darian.
The light was switched on and Moira stood there, looking down at Darian and Gallowglass with shock, and said, “Well, thank God I hit the right one of you.”
Darian got unsteadily to his feet and looked down at Gallowglass and the broken lamp that was now on the floor beside him. He said to Moira, “I told you to stay out of it.”
“And miss a chance to clobber that bastard? Shame, though, I liked that lamp.”
Gallowglass was conscious, but it was a thin thread supporting the weight of his awareness. Darian and Moira had to half drag him through to the living room and get him into one of the chairs there. Moira put the light on and they both stood over him, waiting for him to regain whatever wits he’d had at the beginning of the evening.
When Gallowglass looked up at him with a frown Darian said, “I already asked you to tell me what you’re up to.”
“She assaulted me.”
“You broke into her house and assaulted me. Last time, what are you here for?”
“Ask her.”
“I already asked her. I want to see if your stories match.”
“She’s a criminal.”
“I already know that, and it’s not an answer to my question. Tell me what you and Corey are doing leaning on her, trying to rob money. You just hoovering up easy cash like a common crook now, that it?”
Gallowglass scoffed and looked sideways. He had no fear of Darian, no fear of the situation, and there was nothing Darian could say to change that, although he tried.
“You think Corey’s going to protect you from this? You think he’s all-powerful, capable of twisting every situation to fit his needs? You’re very wrong. Things have changed, Gallowglass, Corey’s on his way out, that’s why he’s chasing dirty money that doesn’t belong to him. Surely you can see that he’s finished and he’s planning to leave you a long way behind when he goes. All that money will buy a lot of miles between him and Challaid, but I’ll bet a finger it only buys a ticket for one. You’ll be sitting in your house in Heilam wondering where he is, and if I’m on a roll with my gambling I’ll say that your fingerprints will be on Corey’s crimes, not his. You have very little chance of getting out of this mess, and I’m the little chance you have.”
Gallowglass laughed at him. “You think a guy like you can lay a glove on a man like Folan Corey? Get your head out of your arse, kid, Corey’s running rings around you and you don’t even know it.”
“You’re living in the past and you don’t have a future without my help.”
Gallowglass looked past him to Moira and said, “You’ve blundered again, up to your armpits in shite. You should go call Corey right now, tell him you’re sorry and that you’ll do what he tells you.”
Darian said, “Shut up, she’s not calling Corey. You’ve broken in and committed an assault on me. Do you really want to have to sit in a police station and explain that? Even if Corey gets you out, it still neuters you, makes you useless to him. He can’t have one of his little dancing monkeys on the police radar, he knows that. The only thing you’ll be able to do for him then is be his patsy.”
He ignored Darian again and said, “Go call Corey.”
Darian turned to Moira and said, “Can you wait in the kitchen? I’ll come and get you when we’re done here.”
Moira looked at Gallowglass and at Darian before she walked out of the room and left them to it. With that distraction removed, Darian felt he could make some progress. “You need to tell me everything. Tell me what Corey’s had you doing for him.”
“You don’t need to lean over me, kid, I’ll talk to you.”
“Talk the truth, and all of it. I bet there are a bunch of cops who would love to charge you with something if I called them up right now.”
“Oh please, you think I haven’t heard every half-arsed threat under the sun? I’m the one who’s usually delivering them, so don’t try to scare me with that crap. You’re just some wee kid who thinks he can be a superhero without the cape. Let me tell you, junior, you can only save people who want to be saved and that isn’t me and it isn’t most people in this shithole city. People won’t take you seriously either, not with your father worse than Corey. You can’t throw a punch at him.”
“I can get other people to throw the punches for me, just like he does. He’s got his little failed projects, the cops he took under his wing and didn’t train properly, didn’t protect.”
“Ha, aye, very good. That your clever wee attempt to turn me against him, is it? Pretend that everything I did wrong was actually his fault, that you sympathize with me? Very good.”
“So you’re happy working as muscle for Corey?”
“It isn’t like that, I don’t just go round intimidating third-rate crooks like your new best pal Armstrong. I do all sorts of important things, for Corey, for Challaid.”
“For Challaid? You don’t really think this is your civic duty?”
“Take the piss all you want but you said to tell the truth and I’m telling it. I’ve stopped more crime since I left the police than I ever did when I was a cop, and that’s not a word of a lie. Not all justice comes from authority. Not all good is done by the decent.”
“Stopping more crime than you did as a cop is not a high bar given that you’ve always committed more than you prevented.”
“Not true, son of a killer, not true. You said the truth so you got to stick to it, too. I did my fair share of heavy lifting when I was a copper; my record was worth pinning to the wall. But, see, since I’ve left, that’s when I’ve been able to go after some really bad eggs, exercising crime prevention that’s done more for this city than you’ll do in your self-absorbed little life.”
“So Corey has you operating as part of his own private police force. Does he pay you for your work, or is it all out of the goodness of your bloated heart?”
“I’m not doing charity work. I’m good, but I still got to eat.”
“So he pays you by stealing large sums of money from people like Moira Slight because he thinks a crook like her can’t complain.”
“Nah, nah, that’s not what this is. Corey isn’t Robin Hood. The little I get paid he doesn’t need to rob the rich for. This is something totally different.”
“So tell me all the gory details.”
“Well, if anyone’s going to be telling gory details it’ll be me.”
A new voice from the doorway behind Darian. He spun round to see Corey standing there looking amused, MacDuff behind him looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in this world or the next. Darian looked down at Gallowglass again, at the smile that told him it was three against one and the circle Corey was running round him had just formed a noose.