Scorpion's Reach, page 11
“Why?”
“The force used!” she answered, “it was just enough to stop them and prevent them from scarpering, but not enough to do any permanent damage!”
“Broken legs and arms aren’t permanent?” he exclaimed with a mock surprise. “Remind me not to take you on!”
“Chris from the Armed Offenders Squad was there!” she explained. “That's his assessment, not mine!”
They both knew Chris, and they both knew that he was an expert in unarmed combat, just like their American counterparts in the SWAT teams. The Armed Offenders Squad were trained in all kinds of specialist means of ‘taking a bad guy down’. If they said the offender was ‘professional’, then that’s what they were and that could not be good, even if the guy was ‘on their side’
They both stopped talking, as if the last statement needed time to penetrate the armour that police put around themselves so that they can focus on getting to the truth of a matter. Eventually Danny broke the silence.
“So, we’ve got a highly trained person or persons playing ‘vigilante’ on our turf and somehow.” He picked up the photo of Cavell that was in the file. “This dipstick was linked in even though he’s been dead a week!” He stopped and leaned back in his chair, then continued, “Sounds like you need to take a trip over to the Coromandel and talk to some people.” He finally finished the mint and thought long and hard about reaching for another ciggie. “Take the trip tomorrow, just you and try to keep things on the ‘down low’ if you know what I mean,”
“Yeah,” Sam sighed. Truth was, she was absolutely wasted and just wanted to sleep. She looked at her watch. “Shit, err, sorry, boss, but I had something lined up for tonight. Guess I screwed that up!”
Danny chuckled. Just about every cop does that regularly. The job just takes over and the rest of ‘life’ gets put on hold. “Call him; tell him you were busy. If he’s half decent, he’ll understand!”
“Did that ever work for you?”
“That's why I’m divorced!”
“Expert advice then?”
“Sod off, get out of here and drive over tomorrow, only make sure you don’t call ahead,” He was emphatic, “Don’t give them any chance to get prepared!”
“Any other pearls of wisdom?” she asked as she headed for the door. There wasn’t any need for him to tell her a second time to take the rest of the day off.
“Yes,” He replied, “watch your back.”
Chapter 13
The two families had some hard talking to do. What was going to happen to the farm now? With Kevin gone and Helen so badly injured. Things were looking bleak.
Helen was in an induced coma as the hospital said the injuries were too severe to cope with at the moment. But they hoped that would change in the next couple of days.
“It’s not just the funeral arrangements,” Kevin’s dad was saying. He was almost breaking down “but we’re going into the busy time of year. Last thing the farm needs is to be a couple of experienced hands down, let alone our situation.” The reality was with both of them gone, the farm was going to struggle to survive.
“We can help some.” Peter offered, truth was he and his wife would be glad to have something to do, even if just to take their minds off the situation.
“And I’ve got a couple of ex Army mates here on a working holiday,” Joey offered. He and Sandy were just walking through the door. No one noticed the ‘dagger like,’ look she gave him. “They’d be glad of the work, in exchange for beer, of course!”
“What? why?” Kevin’s dad asked, “there’s no need to,”
“Don’t talk soft,” Joey replied. “They’d love to help” he didn’t even wince as Sandy dug him in the ribs hard.
“Let’s talk,” she spat out between clenched teeth and headed for the door.
As soon as they were outside, she rounded on him. “Just what the hell was that?” She only just kept her voice down. Joey was making promises he had no responsibility or authority for!
“What?” He gave a hard look back.
“You! You bloody idiot!” She shot back, “what the hell are you thinking?”
“Truth?” He asked. “This whole sodding lot is about to get really ugly, and I mean real fast! We need to be ready. Bringing Jacko and the others in might just be the excuse we need,”
“I know that, but Sir Michael will never go for it!”
“Probably not, but I don’t give a shit if he does!” Joey’s face was as hard as flint. “We look after our own, and these folks have no idea what’s coming! We tried sending them away; they refused. The only other option is ‘bring the mountain to Mohammed’ as the saying goes,”
“Despite the fact it’ll blow our cover and tell people who we are?” Sandy replied just as strongly, “I know, it’s my family and I want to make sure they’re okay, but I still want a job at the end of it!”
Joey almost smiled. He could understand where she was coming from, but Sandy was missing a few things. “Sandy,” he began. “Why do you think Sir Michael sent our team to Iran? And anyway, you really think your dad doesn’t know that we aren’t insurance agents? He bloody well knows and I’ll bet a hundred dollars your mum’s worked it out as well, just she’s got the good sense not to say anything,”
“Because you were the best!”
“That” Joey was somewhat embarrassed, “and something else, he knew there was no way we’d obey the second part of the brief! He expected us to ‘bend the rules’ just like he’s expecting it now!”
“Look,” Sandy came back quietly, “I’m with you all the way, but there’s got to be some other way?”
They were both thoughtful for a few minutes. Finally, Sandy broke the silence. “The best way” she began “would be to get him to”
“Think it’s his idea!” Joey finished her line off. He turned and gave her the biggest hug he could muster, lifting her clean off her feet and swirling her round. “You’re a genius, and I love you!” He stopped and let her slide down until their faces were fractions of an inch apart, then he slowly kissed her. She responded in kind. A full minute passed before they parted. “We tell them the truth about the incident at the apartment. With just a little plausible embellishment.” Joey continued, “they’ll already be wary of anything happening, so anything we say will only nudge them into action”
“The last thing anyone wants is a bloodbath on foreign soil where innocents get caught in the firing line,” Sandy thought out loud.
“Especially when you could have stopped it,” a voice spoke out of the darkness. It was Peter, Sandy’s dad.
“How much did you hear?” Sandy was suddenly defensive.
“Not much,” Peter replied, “But Joey’s right, I didn’t buy the insurance agent crap, but thought I’d go along with it as you must have had good reason!” He moved towards them, “by the way, no one else knows, or if they do, they aren’t saying and preferring to believe the story you gave. Also, by the way Joey, I came out to tell you not to call your mates just yet as Jack says he wants to try for some local guys first.” Peter said as he approached them. He was holding two cups of tea, offering them to Joey and Sandy he carried on talking and asking questions, “but just who are you folks? I mean, yes, you’re my daughter,” he turned to Sandy, “but you’ve changed since you went to university. Who are you? Or rather, who do you work for?”
Sandy looked upset. She was keeping things from the family. She was having to, but it was beginning to tell on her.
Joey spoke up, “Mr Little,” he began, “maybe it’s time you and I took a walk.” He waved, indicating a walk down the farm track. “There are some things we can tell you, but some things we can’t! Not because we don’t want to, but some things are dangerous to know,”
“That’s what I’m worried about!” Peter replied, she’s still my daughter.
“Don’t,” was all Joey said, “it’s not danger for her or me we’re talking about, it’s dangerous for you, that’s what we need to worry about!”
“What the hell do you mean?” Peter turned and looked at Joey. “just what in the good Lord’s name is going on?”
“There are things I can,”
“Don’t give me that horseshit son!” Peter rounded on him. “I’m a copper, remember!”
“I know,” Joey remained calm as he replied, “what I was going to say is there are things I can tell you, and they’ll have to be enough!”
Their brief discussion and walk took fifteen minutes
Sandy was still outside on the porch when they got back. Joey could see as they approached she was still upset, not crying but showing frustration in other ways. “How much did you tell him?” The question was almost an accusation.
“As much as a dad needs to know,“ Joey replied, “but not as much as a copper wants to know!”
“What?”
“Your dad’s a cop and wants to know what cops want to know!” Joey explained, “told him that wasn’t happening.” He took her in his arms and gently stood her up. He looked into her eyes, “but a dad needs to know his daughter is safe and knows what she’s gotten into, that I did tell him not to worry about,”
“Bet that went down well” Sandy cracked a small smile.
“I think he realized that once he knew we would not tell,” Joey replied, “He realized the ‘dad’ in him really didn’t want to know, and the dad took over!”
Chapter 14
“When in Rome” was Murray’s thoughts as he headed for the open sea. He’d got a few days off and, as usual, with the time off, he’d headed to the marina in Whitianga, where he kept his boat. Loaded up the supplies and was off for the day fishing.
“Damn, can’t they give it a bloody rest?” The phone was ringing, not the work one, but the other. The one that even he didn’t enjoy hearing from. This one nearly always had an Asian voice on the other end. He thought seriously about not answering, but the money on offer would be too good an offer to turn down. Besides, failure to answer might indicate to them he wasn’t interested anymore and that would not end well!
He picked the phone up, swiped the screen to ‘answer’ and spoke as calmly as he could. Trying not to show the frustration he was feeling. “What’s up?” he was abrupt.
“We have a problem,” the Asian voice said in a very cold tone. It sent a shiver down his spine.
“What kind of problem?” It was more a statement than anything else. Murray was disowning any problem they’d try to shift onto him. That way, they would pay more for ‘clearing the problem up’
“The car,” the Asian voice came back, “Something happened. The car is still in the police compound” his English wasn’t perfect, but Murray got the jist. The car was still in the compound, and it shouldn’t be. At least his Chinese friend thinks it shouldn’t be.
“Why’s that a problem?” Murray did not know what they’d planned, but it obviously wasn’t good for someone.
“Someone tampered with the car!” the voice came back. “Big problem, how do they tamper?”
“What the hell? I thought you were someone to do that?” Murray was incredulous. ”You’re telling me your boys or girls didn’t and someone else got to it?”
“That’s the problem,” the voice cut him off. “The car was meant to be dealt with permanently. It should be a pile of molten scrap by now! It isn’t, and we want to know why not?” the voice rose considerably with the last word, no mistaking what the voice meant. The car had meant to have either exploded or caught fire by now, and it didn’t.
“What are you talking about?” Murray’s voice got lower, almost as cold as ice. He was well and truly in the crap if anyone found out what they were doing. If the car had exploded, then dozens of cops would have been hurt, and no quarter given in the investigation. They would nail his arse to the wall. Throw him in some deep, dark cell and throw away the key!
“We arranged a car explosion,” the voice said again, “problem disappears, but car does not explode, someone knows! And that someone is not Police!”
“So?” Murray asked again. “I did what you wanted. I thought you’d remove the evidence. I didn’t realize you’d be stupid enough to try to destroy it, along with a flaming police station. You idiot! What the hell were you thinking?”
“Remember, you’re in this too,” the voice cut back, “Or how about we remove you as well?”
“You want me to find out who?” Murray asked, hoping they didn’t think too much about the last part of what they said.
“Also, we sent three of our men to an apartment in Auckland to retrieve something for us,” the voice continued. “They were intercepted and have been arrested,”
“Then get a lawyer to get them out!” Murray was frustrated. This was a mundane issue . A lawyer could clear this up, even if it was just getting them out on bail and then disappearing. “Don’t bother me with stuff like this. I’ll find out about the car. You deal with the rest.” He clicked the phone off.
Within a second, the phone rang again. As soon as he answered, the voice came back on again. “That wasn’t the smartest move constable!”
“Look, where’s the problem that I need to get involved with?” Murray asked.
“Do whatever it takes,” the voice came back, “You’ve shown pretty incompetent so far, so make this work, or else!”
“And just what do you mean by that?” Murray asked through clenched teeth, “who’re you calling incompetent?”
“You were told to make the death look like an accident!” The voice came back, cold and calculating. “If you’d done that, my men would have retrieved what we needed from Cavell’s place and no one would know who’d been there!”
“But they’d still know someone had! How long do you think before someone figured it out?” Murray was amazed at how close arrogance sometimes is to stupidity!
“That’s why we have people like you on the payroll!” The Asian came back, “someone got suspicious, and they showed up!”
“What did your people tell you?” Murray asked.
“Young, European looking male and female,”
“Pictures?”
“In your email, find them and deal with the situation, and this time don’t screw up!”
Murray swiped the phone off. He wasn’t a ‘happy camper’ but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it at the moment. He was out of range for the email to work and took a moment to think whether he should go back and put some things in place to deal with whoever was causing the problem. Murray had a good idea it was that young idiot Metcalfe and his ‘floozy’ with the red hair, but he’d need to confirm that with the photos. “That can sodding well wait,” he thought to himself as he pushed the throttle on the thirty foot Rayglass 2200 boat. She responded immediately, eager for the open water.
“Detective Sergeant Sam Hughes” Sam flashed her warrant card at the duty officer, a petite young female constable. She looked almost afraid behind the enormous desk and bulletproof glass. Sam carried on. “I’m hoping to catch a senior constable Murray, is he around?”
“Err sorry,” the young constable began, “But he called in sick today. I can put you through to the officer in the department if you like? A constable” she fumbled with the computer mouse as she brought up the right screen on the computer “Constable Hene Kingi” she looked up and straight at Sam.
“I called ahead to make sure he was going to be here!” Sam was frustrated, and didn’t mind too much that the desk officer felt the frustration. It was one of the desk officers, and maybe the same actual one that had told her it wasn’t a problem and they’d make sure Murray was available. “I suppose Kingi will have to do, it’s about the fatal accident they both attended last week”
“The one with the McLaren,” the desk officer replied as she buzzed Sam in. “Down the corridor on the left. He’s just finishing a shift. So he’ll be in the locker room. I can send him up as soon as he’s changed,” she indicated to the interview room where Sam was to wait, even though the interview would be recorded. “I’ll get you the files while you wait,”
Sam sat down in the interview room and waited for the files. She didn’t have to wait long, and the file wasn’t all that big. A quick glance told her there wasn’t anything more than she already knew about it.
The room itself was simple to the point of being spartan, no windows. A small table with a recording device built into a cabinet and secured into the table so that only the tapes can be accessed and preventing anyone from ripping the recorder out or smashing it. Four chairs for the two officers. The lawyer and the person being ‘interviewed’ were the sum total of the furniture.
“Not very comfortable, are they?” A male voice came from behind. Sam swivelled in the chair. He was quite tall, ‘maybe five foot ten, mid to late twenties’ she thought. “They’re not meant to be,” she replied. “They’re meant to put the interviewee on edge, but as a cop you’d know that”
“True,” he replied, “I’m officer Kingi,” he held out his hand. She was surprised. It was a confident handshake, not what the reports seemed to show by what she’d read about officer Kingi. “I’m just about to go get something to eat. Care to join me?”
Sam couldn’t believe it! He was hitting on her, at least that’s what it felt like, “Thanks, but I’m only here to talk about the fatal crash you attended a couple of days ago, if you don’t mind” she pointed to the seat opposite.
“I know you are,” Kingi replied, “and I’ll be happy to answer your questions, but I really need some food! Please, I’ll buy.” she didn’t move, so he added, “People often talk better outside the interview room!”
Read that as ‘I’m really uncomfortable with talking around people who might be Murray’s friends’ she thought. For some reason, Officer Kingi wasn’t comfortable talking in a place where what he said might get back to his ‘mentor’.
This wasn’t the ‘insecure officer’ she’d expected from the reports. And the way he was behaving about the station said something wasn’t quite right. She just didn’t know what yet.
