Chapter Two

 

Emma Angel stood in the foyer of the police station, suddenly unsure of her ground. The sergeant behind the desk was similarly unsettled. He took one look at her, nodded in greeting then went off to make a phone call.

She hadn't had a warrant card since that evening several weeks ago when the raid on the warehouse had gone so disastrously wrong. Aside from one long morning of interviews with Professional Standards, she hadn't been on police property or even had contact with her department. Now she'd been instructed to return to work.

She was met by the impeccably groomed DS Maxine Jones who nodded curtly at the sergeant and beckoned DC Angel to follow her into the station. DC Angel bristled a bit at being escorted into her own station but there was nothing she could do about it now.

Soon they were seated in an anonymous meeting room with coffees from the machine.

DS Jones smiled and slid a clear envelope across the table to DC Angel. 'First of all, Emma, thank you for your patience in all this. I know these things take time, and I can appreciate how worrying it must be. So I wanted to return these to you first to set your mind at rest.'

DC Angel shook out the envelope, retrieved her warrant card and slipped it into her pocket then put her security pass around her neck. She wouldn't admit to herself how much happier, more complete, it made her.

'Now that's out of the way,' DS Jones said, 'I can update you on the investigation. We've completed out the preliminary enquiries and all the evidence we've gathered corroborates your statement.'

'The two bodyguards?'

DS Jones looked down at a file. 'Yes, Trevor Swain and Kim Lawson. They're both going down the "no comment" route. It doesn't matter, Billy King's blood is all over Lawson's clothes and the knife, which only has his prints. Likewise, we recovered a short wooden truncheon which had only Swain's prints and DCI Haines' blood and hair. There's little doubt they acted together, so we're preparing charges of murder and attempted murder against both of them.' She stopped being official and looked up at DC Angel with warmth and respect. 'I have to say, Emma, there's no doubt that you saved DCI Haines' life. I'm not sure I'd have rushed in against two huge guys like that with no backup.'

'I didn't really think,' Emma said, flustered. Michelle Jones with her oriental looks and sleek black hair had always been unreadable to her. She wasn't used to being complimented by her. 'I could see that he was in trouble and rushed in. To be honest I got lucky. I should've hung back and called it in. But if I'd done that, well, I doubt Haines would still be with us.'

'Well, we're all glad you didn't. The last thing we need is a police funeral.'

'So, my behaviour on the day?' Emma asked. 'The injuries that I inflicted on those two bodyguards?'

'Entirely justified. They were both armed, and there was a clear danger both to other officers and the general public.' She stopped, as if considering whether to confide in DC Angel. 'In fact, I shouldn't say this but a file has been prepared for the chief constable. I expect you'll be getting a commendation out of this.'

Not knowing how to reply to this, DC Angel just nodded, her head spinning. She had been scared in that alleyway and didn't feel like she deserved anything. She rubbed one hand over the other, feeling the nearly invisible scars where she'd grazed her knuckles. Without thinking, she rubbed the back of her head and down to her ear where she'd also been injured. Although everything was healed, it was a nervous tic that she couldn't shake.

'So, what happens now?'

'Now? You go straight back to work. Obviously there have been a lot of changes in CID so you'll need to get used to the new team. And if you have any problems settling back into routine work or any issues relating to the traumatic event you've been through, counselling is always available, totally confidential.'

'Changes? Who will I recognise?' Emma was concerned again. As well as tackling the bodyguards, she had also arranged for her entire team to be investigated by Professional Standards. What had happened? Would she still be welcome?

'Well, Haines is still off on medical leave, and obviously we've arrested Hargreaves so he's suspended. Aside from that, the whole team is also suspended with the one exception of DS Andrew Stonor who's been demoted to detective constable.'

'Andy's been demoted, why?'

'It's not for me to comment on another officer's case.'

'Oh, come on, if it wasn't for me you'd still be sniffing around the edges of the case.' Emma sat back and thought through what had happened that night. 'In fact, if it wasn't for me, both King and Haines would be dead, and Glen Hargreaves would've walked straight through the cordon and set Garoza up as the big name in Bradwick. You'd have been back to square one, except far worse off.'

Maxine nodded slowly. 'Well, as you told me, the whole department was corrupt. All skimming money and hiding it in accounts all over the place. Forensic accountants are still chasing it down. It appears that Stonor never actually took a penny. At least, if he did, we can't find any proof. But on the other hand, he was very good at looking the other way. He can't have been that deeply embedded in the department for so long and not have some idea what was going on. So we've issued him a reprimand on his record and put him down to detective constable for not reporting crimes being committed.' She paused and leant forward, as if unsure whether or not to continue. 'There were high-level discussions about Bradwick CID. One side favoured moving everyone out and installing a whole new team. But I, along with others, argued that some continuity was essential. So that's why you're not being reassigned and why Andy Stonor's still got a job.'

Emma sat back and thought. That was a lot of pressure on her shoulders. She'd been in CID for all of five minutes and now she was expected to carry the torch and help the new people understand the territory of Bradwick? On the other hand, amid the chaos, she still had a job and approval from her bosses. Sometimes that was all you could hope for.

* * *

There was no way to avoid it. DC Angel was led into her own department. Except it didn't feel like it. She had a weird nod from DS Andy Stonor, who was now DC Stonor. And there was a crowd of strangers in the office.

'So,' DS Maxine Jones was still talking, 'let's start at the top. This is the new boss of the department, Detective Inspector Kevin Slater.'

'Morning, boss,' Emma said, holding out her hand to shake. Slater was a short man in his late fifties or even early sixties. He had short grey hair. He looked neat and precise.

'And,' DS Jones led Emma over to the open area, 'this is Detective Sergeant Susan Berman.'

'You can call me Suse, everyone else does.' She shook Emma's hand in a firm grip. Emma took an instant dislike to her. Suse? Not Sue, or Susie or Susan, but something halfway in between. It was almost like she was going out of her way to be difficult.

Suse was taller and larger than Emma with a stocky body and a short, unflattering hairstyle. Unfortunately she had rather a large square face as well. Even though it was the era of political correctness, hashtag me too and sensitivity training, Emma had no doubt that Suse would've put up with a lot of whispers about female rugby players and lesbians all the way through from school into the police locker room. No amount of rainbow flags and diversity workshops could change the fundamental male officer mindset.

'And this is the other sergeant, Brian Chisholm.'

Emma tried to hide her surprise as the other man shook her hand. He was obviously, like DI Slater, older. She knew the pension age had crept up to sixty but he must be close to that. His hair was full grey, cropped close to hide where it was thinning. He had a big red nose, lined with veins from excessive drinking. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was quite overweight. Whatever his age, he didn't look like he'd be able to pass the current fitness tests.

As if reading her thoughts, DS Jones continued, 'DS Chisholm has worked in nearly every department across the force. His experience will really help the team at this difficult time.'

Emma dutifully shook his hand and wondered why he had moved around so much without progressing beyond the rank of sergeant.

'You know Andy Stonor, of course,' DS Jones said, and Andy dutifully waved. 'Which only leaves our newest recruit, Detective Constable Nicholas Dent.'

He ambled over to shake her hand. Whether it was because Emma had just met DS Chisholm or not, he looked about twelve. He was tall and lanky with a shock of ginger hair and had a round face that looked still unformed.

Emma went to sit at her desk, log into the computer and see what had been happening in Bradwick while she'd been gone. As she suspected, violence and drug offences were both up. A month ago they'd disrupted a large smuggling operation, and a different network had also been inadvertently disrupted when its head was killed. Reading between the lines of the reports it was now a free for all on the streets of Bradwick.

She resolved to check in with Lukas, her friend and paid informer. He'd know what was actually happening on the streets. She also thought around the structure of her new team. Slater and Chisholm were both easy to understand. Officers at the end of their careers who'd been enticed to come back in for a final six months. Whatever favours or inducements had been offered, they'd be there for the short term to ensure that CID was on an even keel before permanent replacements could be found.

She looked carefully over the top of her screen at Chisholm. Detective Sergeant Brian Chisholm. She rolled the name around her mind, trying see if it sounded familiar. Was he once Inspector Chisholm? Had there been a fall from grace?

She made a mental note to ask DCI Rob Haines if there was any history there. As soon as she'd had the thought, she felt the deep loss like a punch to the gut. She had spent the past few weeks under investigation by Professional Standards, so contact with any member of her team had been forbidden.

She had desperately wanted to find out how he was doing and had relied on the rumour mill. She had found out that he was out of hospital and back home, but that was all she knew. Several times, in a moment of weakness she had brought up Rob Haines' number on her phone but had stopped before she hit the call button.

Her entire team had been under investigation and had all been interviewed separately about the events that led up to the drug raid. If she'd been in contact with someone else also under suspicion then her job would've been on the line. She knew that in this day and age there was no way to get in touch with her old boss without leaving a trace. Any contact between them could add up to a whole heap of trouble.

Until today, she'd managed, more or less, to put him out of her mind. She couldn't help looking over at Rob Haines' office. But the person behind the desk was DI Kev Slater instead. Now she was out from under the cloud of suspicion, she would go round to Haines' house after work and find out what had happened. And get the unofficial information on her new team.

This resolution was tinged with nerves. She had been instrumental in the collapse of the police raid and the Professional Standards operation. She knew, in her heart, that if she hadn't got involved, then she would've lined up with the rest of her squad, stab vest on and ready to charge in. If that had happened, then DCI Haines would be dead and Bradwick's drug scene would be controlled by a drug baron working with a corrupt police officer.

The problem was how could she explain to her boss and friend that while she had saved his life, she'd also betrayed him and his secrets and ultimately led to his being under investigation. It would be a very delicate conversation – Rob Haines highly valued loyalty in his officers and although she wasn't going to run from a difficult situation, she still wasn't looking forward to it. Hopefully, Rob Haines would see that she'd acted in his best interests.

She was also curious as to what had become of him. Last time she'd seen him, he was being loaded into an ambulance. But in her experience, mild concussion was usually an overnight stay in hospital for observation followed by a return to work. She knew that following injuries to sports stars, concussion was treated more seriously but she still couldn't see how he'd swung weeks and weeks off work.

In anyone else she would've suspected a ruse to escape the investigation but this was Rob Haines. He had old-school values – work hard, play hard and go down with the team. He was the last person she'd expect to skive and dodge the consequences of his actions. Despite her misgivings she would have to go and see him and see what was up.

Emma took furtive glances at the rest of her team. There was something about the other sergeant, Suse, that set her on edge. She carried herself in a way that was just beyond assertive, almost aggressive. Emma understood that you had to stand your ground in the police, but something about the other woman unsettled her. She was just a bit too confrontational.

Her musings were disturbed when the phone rang.

She picked it up and was soon talking to a constable.

'We've got a body for you at the motel on the services. The one on the junction with the A361?'

'Yes,' Emma said. She could picture it, one step down from a motorway services with a big chain motel, petrol station and café that was also a chain. 'What's the deal? People die in hotels. Call the pathologist and the coroner and get it checked out. If he's absolutely certain that it's murder, then call us out.'

'Oh no. The pathologist is on his way. But trust me, this is not a natural death. You need to be out here.'

'You can't just say that. I need details before I leave my desk.'

'I'd really rather not say. But this is a murder case. And CID need to be here.'

'All right then.' Emma shook her head. Bloody overdramatic uniform PCs. He'd obviously watched too many police dramas on TV and thought that this approach would fast-track him into CID.

'I'm off out,' she called across to Suse, who was her nearest superior.

'What's up?'

'Some uniform over at the motel on the main road services. Has a body, he's certain it's murder.'

'God! Can't he wait for the pathologist, then make a decision? Why do CID have to be in so soon?'

'He was insistent but wouldn't say why over the phone.'

'Right. If he's pissing you about, get his name and number and I'll get our boss to have a word with his boss.' She stopped to make sure that Emma was listening. 'Have you been out there? It's pretty much a full on turf war. We can't be out and about holding a uniform's hand just because he found a body.'