Chapter Fifteen

 

Emma retreated to a corner seat in the pub and closed her eyes for a moment as she sat down. It had been an incredibly long day, full of ups and downs, and she needed to take a moment. She was holding a cold bottle of beer and took a long draught.

She had a momentary respite from the celebrating around her. She could still remember the feeling on the holiday park when a whole group of officers from various teams had stood around on the grass. They had a Method of Entry Team, but it was hardly necessary. Their target was the row of caravans and they could almost have opened each one up with a tin-opener round the lock. Instead it was the formal battering ram, followed by a rush of uniforms and a shouted, 'Clear!'

Her heart had sunk when she peered into caravan number one. It was obviously in the middle of a refit. There was none of the usual furniture – no sofas, kitchen area or even bedrooms. Instead the space was open plan with a couple of workbenches set up on trestles.

Emma felt a squeeze on her shoulder and turned round to see an inspector from the drug squad. 'Don't look so downhearted,' he said. 'Look around this place. Who tapes the curtains shut when they renovate? And puts in some quality ventilation but all pointing out towards the sea?' He took an elaborate sniff. 'And I can smell something faintly, something familiar and illegal.'

'Thank you,' Emma said. 'I've got a lot riding on this. It was my hunch.'

'Well, let's see what's behind door number two, shall we?' he said in his best game show voice.

Door number two, as it turned out, had a fully set up cannabis farm, with lots of plants, all lined up in rows with high power lights and watering systems. They were fully grown, almost to the ceiling. The smell was overwhelming. Emma nearly collapsed with relief. There was a lot here, and it was only the second caravan. This alone was enough to justify all the officers involved.

However, when all the mobile homes had been opened, a range of farms had been found. Each one was at a different stage of cultivation, obviously being cycled through. The owner didn't even try to resist questioning – he admitted that with the turmoil in the drugs market he'd been dismantling the farms after harvest and converting them to laboratories.

The whole afternoon's work then led naturally to the joint teams all heading to the pub together to celebrate. For a moment she was happy to people-watch. She could see that Brian Chisholm was shaking hands and generally chatting with old friends from other departments. She did notice however that he had a soft drink in his hand where all his friends had pints. She nodded to herself – abuse and alcoholism often went hand in hand. Nick Dent was looking out of his depth and Suse was working the room, smiling and laughing, mostly with the more senior officers.

Feeling rebellious, she got her phone out to text Rob Haines. Nothing in particular that she wanted, just to check in with him and see how he was doing after last night's big revelations. And she needed to reassure herself that she wouldn't let the likes of her boss dictate who she could and couldn't be friends with.

'Why are you hiding over here in a corner, DC Angel?' Kev Slater had come over to her. She guiltily slid her mobile back into her pocket. 'If it wasn't for your hunch we wouldn't have had this good result.'

'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I got lucky, and you did back me up with the warrant and the support.' She took a deep breath, to say the difficult thing. 'It was a team effort really.'

'Well, I'll drink to that.' He turned and drew her further into the pub. He started making the rounds, introducing her to people and buying drinks where they were needed. She started to see a new side of him, playing the politician as well as Suse.

Eventually Emma managed to pry herself away and went to perch at the bar. Ostensibly she was trying to buy a beer, but was quite happy to be ignored with the dregs of her last bottle. She needed a few minutes break from the clasp on the shoulder, hearty handshake and "well done" she'd been getting from some of the senior officers.

'That bad, is it?' a voice next to her asked.

'Just needed a break, really,' Emma replied, turning to see that it was the computer technician who'd decoded the computers. She'd remember his name in a minute.

'Pete,' he said, reading her face, 'from the IT department.'

'Oh yes, right. Now I remember. You had the computer and phone from the motel.' She paused for a second. 'What are you doing in here?'

'In a police pub, you mean? I do work for you. And sometimes I just get fed up of the banter and the jokes when someone has a spliff. I might be civilian staff but it's a better place to drink some nights.' He stopped to size her up. 'What's got you looking so down, anyway? Would it be fixed if I bought you a drink?' He indicated the empty bottle she was holding.

'I did a really good job today. Acted on a hunch and found a whole drug factory and cannabis farm set up as a holiday park. Owner arrested, drugs seized, job done.'

'And that made you miserable?'

'No,' she said in a lower voice. 'But then you end up in a pub with senior officers trying to buy you drinks and being all matey with you because one day goes well.' She sighed. 'Oh, I'm just being a bit down at the end of a long day. And yes, another drink would help. Thank you.'

She sat on her stool and had inconsequential chat with Pete. She was always a bit wary of people from work after her disastrous fling with a traffic officer. Once he'd understood that she wasn't going to drop everything to be with him, he'd turned nasty and nearly ruined her career. She still didn't like remembering that Rob Haines had intervened and smoothed it all out.

Emma tried as hard as she could, but couldn't help but like Pete. He was attentive and actually let her finish sentences. If he was putting on an act to impress her, it was convincing.

Still, the ghost of David from Traffic was looming over her, so she divided her attention between Pete and the rest of the team and made sure she left early and alone.