Final Justice (Lorne Simpkins thriller (Book Three)) (7 page)

Again, Lorne paused to see if the Frenchman was following her, he nodded and she continued, ‘Together they set up brothels. High class brothels, ones regularly frequented by well-known pillars of the community, MPs, judges, planning councillors. Their main objective was that they showed these guys a good time, at least the girls did, in return for favours. In other words, extortion. The most despicable part of all this was they held regular auctions where girls as young as twelve were sold to the highest bidder.’ She fell silent as she reached the part of the story that personally involved her and her family.

Sensing her discomfort, and with genuine concern touching his voice Michel asked, ‘Are you all right, Lorne? Would you like to stop?’

‘No, I’m fine, just catching my breath.’ She took a deep breath which she hoped would calm her racing heart.

‘Have we reached the part where your partner was killed?’

‘Oh lord, I forgot that part.’
How could I forget about Pete like that?
‘No, that happened a couple of days before he held an auction … oh dear, I’m afraid I’m not doing a very good job at filling in the gaps in your dossier.’

‘Please go on,’ he said.

‘I don’t know if you’re aware but in the Met we have a unit called CO19 they’re an armed response team, the only team in London allowed to carry weapons, which always went against the grain with me.’ She noticed his brow furrow. ‘Let me see, I suppose annoy would be the best way of describing that to you.’ He nodded, raised a finger of recognition and then urged her to continue. ‘Pete and I received a tip-off of The Unicorn’s location, and we were searching an alley when he ambushed us. He was above us firing from a roof while we were unarmed, so we had no way of retaliating.’

‘Unarmed yes, but you were issued with protective vests, non?’

‘That’s a sore point. I had mine done up, but Pete … well his didn’t fit – he’d put on weight and his new one hadn’t arrived. It meant the fool went in unprotected. Anyway, The Unicorn took Pete out with a bullet to the stomach and another close to the heart. I tried to save him, but …’ Her words trailed off.

‘I understand, cherie.’

His voice and what he’d said knocked her sideways for a minute or two, it was as though Jacques were in the room with her. She had to dig deep inside herself to continue her story. ‘No, I don’t think you do understand, you couldn’t. You see, Pete, died in my arms. It’s something that will stay with me for the rest of my life, I get flashbacks every waking hour and I suffer nightmares every night, I can’t see that changing any day soon. That image and hearing the shots that killed Jacques will torment me forever.’

‘Maybe I used the wrong word, forgive me. I have never lost a partner.’

She dismissed his lack of understanding with a shake of her head. ‘Not long after that we discovered Laura Crane, a member of my team, was feeding The Unicorn information.’ Michel gasped, she looked up at him and nodded, ‘Yes, a mole. That’s how he managed to stay ahead of us for so long.’

‘Why did he involve someone on your team?’ Michel surprised her by asking.

‘You don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself that same question. I have to admit I’ve yet to find a suitable answer. Anyway, The Unicorn became more brazen and made contact with me personally, goading me if you will. He threatened to blow up the Houses of Parliament unless a £20 million ransom was paid. My Superintendent refused to take the threat seriously. I had to though, because the bastard had abducted my daughter.’

Michel’s face creased with concern, Lorne sucked in a breath and went on, ‘I’ll spare you the details of what he put my thirteen-year-old through, needless to say, she’s still seeing a therapist almost a year later. I digress, due to Charlie, my daughter being kidnapped, my DCI took over the case, until she was returned, he wanted to send me home but I begged him to let me remain involved. Even my father, an ex-DCI himself joined us. It’s a good job he did really as he pointed us in a different direction, urged us to think outside the box. It was then we discovered what The Unicorn was really up to.’ Lorne watched, slightly amused, as Michel crossed and uncrossed his legs at the ankles continuously with excitement.

‘Go on.’

‘Okay, well, remember I told you The Unicorn or Baldwin was holding the Houses of Parliament to ransom, he gave us a twenty-four hour deadline to meet. To make sure we took his threat seriously, he set off a small incendiary device next door to the proposed target, and as Big Ben struck twelve my daughter and three other girls were paraded in front of the Houses of Parliament on national TV wearing suicide vests. But that was just the start of our problems. He went on to kidnap the Prime Minister’s son, shot Charlie and another girl and the distraction aided Baldwin’s escape.’

‘What happened next, did he get away again?’

‘I’ve been talking for too long, to sum it up, he slipped the net and tried to escape on a yacht. The yacht exploded …’ Her head dropped as tears misted her vision.

‘Forgive me, but how did he escape?’

‘By submarine.’

‘By what?’

‘I’m sorry I don’t know how else to say it, a boat that travels underwater.’

‘Yes, yes, sorry I understand the meaning of the word I just could not believe it. That must have been some yacht.’ He let out a long whistle.

‘It was worth £250 million.’

He whistled again. ‘You could feed a whole country on that. Sorry, please continue.’

‘The next day my whole world collapsed, and no, that is not an exaggeration. Pete was buried, my whole family was in hospital, I won’t go into detail there, and then I had to listen to my Superintendent and DCI take credit for the case. I resigned, and then Jacques was stolen from me before …’ She gazed down at the patterned royal blue carpet as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Without uttering a word Michel rose from the bed, covered the short distance between them and knelt before her. He placed a tentative hand on either side of her face, and raised her head to look at him. His thumbs swept across her cheeks, under her eyes, to wipe the tears away. Lorne stared at him, long and hard looking into his soul through his eyes. Then, before either of them realised what was happening they were locked in each other’s arms, their lips softly parting, inviting each other’s tongues to delve into pastures new. His hands stroked her back and sought out every contour of her body. She heard a distant moan of satisfaction and realised the noise had come from her own throat.

Taking her moan as an invitation to continue, Michel swept up her lightweight frame and carried her over to the bed. With their lips still connected, his hands moved swiftly to remove her robe they parted briefly so he could pull the t-shirt over her head, then his lips returned to hers. As their breath grew ragged with urgency, Lorne’s hands went in search of the buttons on his shirt, but her hands were trembling too much, and her mission became fraught with frustration. Michel took over, he straddled her, sitting upright he seductively removed his own clothes, tossing them to the floor like old rags.

When they were both finally naked, he gathered her in his arms and whispered. ‘Let me help the pain disappear, Lorne.’ She melted into his arms, feeling wanted and desired for the first time in twelve months.

Chapter Thirteen

Something tickled her face, Lorne pulled away and hit her head on the wall. ‘What the— ’

‘Ssshh, little one.
C’estmoi
.’

Her cheeks turned a deep pink when she realised she’d slept with a stranger, but seconds later, she stretched, and smiled, feeling relaxed for the first time in months. Michel reached out and gathered her in his arms, she suspected he was looking for a morning encore. His lips touched hers just as someone knocked on the door.

Lorne shot out of bed, feeling like a naughty teenager caught with her first boyfriend in her bedroom. Michel chuckled as he watched her throw on her robe and try to straighten her hair at the same time. ‘Shut up. Get in there.’ She ordered, grabbing Michel and shoving him towards the bathroom. ‘Just a minute.’ She called out as she ran around, picking up their discarded clothes, which she threw in the bathroom after Michel. ‘Stay there, if I hear one single noise coming from this room, you’ll be minced meat, buddy.’ She started to close the door, but noticed the glint in his eye as he grabbed her arm, to pull her into the room with him.

‘
Mais, cherie
, I am not finished with you.’

Lorne smiled, then kissed him, hard. ‘Believe me, Michel, when I tell you, I’m far from finished with you, too.’ She felt a tinge of regret rattle her insides as she wriggled away from him.

‘Jeez, Lorne, what kept you?’ Tony asked, barging past her the second the door opened.

‘Hey, isn’t a lady entitled to some privacy, I was taking a shower. What time is it anyway?’

One of his eyebrows lifted, ‘Sure you were, hon. What happened last night? I seem to remember we were about to talk strategies, before you had another "girly" moment and ran out of the dining room’ He glanced sideways at the dishevelled bed, and added, ‘Did we have a restless night?’

She fought hard to stay composed but her flushing cheeks gave her away. ‘Every night is restless for me, Tony as I’m sure you can imagine. I don’t wish to appear rude but couldn’t this discussion wait, over breakfast would be ideal. Give me half an hour and I’ll be down.’

A light flickered in his eye and she could tell in her eagerness to get rid of him she’d raised his suspicions, he smiled when he heard her gulp loudly. ‘You wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me by any chance, Lorne, would you?’

She pulled the robe tight, grabbed him by the arm, and half-tugged, half-pushed him towards the door. ‘Some guys just can’t take a hint, I guess you’re one of them, huh, Tony. Now, let me get dressed, will you? In peace.’

‘All right, all right. No more than half an hour though, Lorne, we’ll be on a tight schedule today. How silly of me, I’m sure the, Capitaine has told you that himself already. Isn’t that right, Capitaine?’ he called over his shoulder.

She jettisoned him out of the room into the hallway and snapped, ‘Tony, I haven’t got the faintest idea what you’re going on about.’

‘Oh is that right? Well, last night after our meal the Capitaine was last seen heading in this direction, and judging by the state of your bed this morning, I’d say he stayed around a little longer than either of you had anticipated.’ He had pushed her too far and suffered the consequences when she slapped his face. The action shocked the pair of them, but Tony recovered first, ‘Obviously, my assumption is correct.’

Without admitting, or denying, anything, Lorne looked ashamed and was full of remorse when she stepped back into the room and closed the door behind her.

A fully clothed Michel came out of the bathroom a few minutes later to find her still pressed up against the door with her eyes firmly shut. ‘Lorne?’ He kissed her on the lips.

‘Hmmm…’

He took her in his arms, and she crumpled against his chest as if they’d been lovers for a while rather than just for one night. ‘Are you upset?’

Lorne pushed herself away from him and gazed into his concerned eyes. ‘Not really, let’s just say I’m a little confused right now.’

‘Oh! With us?’

‘Honestly?’

‘It is the best way.’

She laughed, in spite of her topsy-turvy feelings. ‘I don’t know what to think, Michel. About us, about why I’m here, about the direction my life is heading in.’

‘I understand. I should have been more responsible. I am sorry about what happened last night. Please believe me, it was not my intention to come here to seduce you. It was also not my intention to complicate this case unnecessarily. Do you believe me, Lorne?’

Fresh doubts clawed at her; did that mean he regretted the time they’d spent together? The night of passion neither of them had expected. She nodded, not really knowing what to say.

‘Then I must go, let you get dressed. I will see you at breakfast.’ This time he didn’t finish his sentence with a kiss, though a kiss would have suppressed her fears, given the reassurance her heart was crying out to hear.

Chapter Fourteen

When she walked into the dining-room, Lorne found the others deep in conversation, and with butterflies taking flight in her stomach she sat down in the chair opposite to Michel.

On the table, spread out in front of Michel, were the plans for their intended raid of Baldwin’s chateau. He looked up and nodded at her, the smile she’d expected didn’t reach his lips, or his eyes. W
hat was that? Is that it? You spend the night with me, and all I get as a greeting is a curt nod. Maybe if the Lieutenant and Tony hadn’t been here his acknowledgement would have been different.

‘Our teams will be at every exit.’ Michel informed them with authority.

‘How many men?’ Tony asked.

‘Enough.’ Michel replied abruptly.

Lorne sensed an atmosphere around the breakfast table that hadn’t been there the previous evening at dinner. She couldn’t help thinking that what had happened, and what Tony suspected had happened between the Capitaine and herself was to blame. Both men were looking at the plan, talking to each other without either using eye contact or each other’s names.

‘The gendarmerie and the national police will be on the scene as the chateau is located on the border,’ the Capitaine said, he looked up and saw Lorne raise a quizzical eyebrow, and went on to explain his statement. ‘The national police deal with matters in urban areas and the gendarmerie oversee our rural areas. They have their own swat teams RAID, GIPN and GIGN. Usually, these teams work independently but as we are dealing with such a dangerous man, for the safety of the community, it has been decided that this will be a joint operation.’

Lorne nodded, grateful for the explanation, and then asked, ‘Do we know how many people are inside the chateau.’

‘We have heard that Baldwin has many men, at least twenty. All heavily armed, and obviously dangerous. The two bodies discovered in a nearby lake by fishermen have been identified as Sergei Osmanov, the Russian Finance Minister, and Chang Foo, the Chinese Finance Minister.’