The Informant (46 page)

Joey laughed. ‘Tell you what little sister, you get in the car, come back to London with me right now, or I ring Tol, tell him to put a bullet in your boyfriend’s head. Your choice
babes.’

Nicci Armstrong stood in front of Turnbull’s desk. He was looking immaculate, a pristine white shirt, blue silk tie. Gold cufflinks peeped out from the sleeves of his
dark suit. He seemed to be dressed for a wedding or a job interview. He planted his elbows on the neat pile of papers in front of him and steepled his fingers. But he was struggling to hold his
temper.

‘Let me get this straight, you were on the phone to him, unexpectedly, middle of the conversation, the line goes dead. But you didn’t follow that up for over twelve hours? Why
not?’

Nicci took a deep breath. ‘It didn’t . . . seem necessary.’

Turnbull rose to his feet, kicked away the chair. He leant forward, resting white knuckles on the desk, his whole frame rippling with frustration and fury. His goal was within reach, one single
meeting away. But he’d never anticipated this. He’d set Bradley up to fail, not to get himself killed. The last thing he needed was another death on his conscience.

He turned his wrath on Nicci. ‘Necessary? You’re supposed to be Bradley’s backup. He goes off the grid and you don’t think it necessary to find out why? I’ll have
your fucking job for this Armstrong!’

Nicci glared right back at him, the tension was burning off her. They were wasting so much time. ‘He was off on his own, he didn’t even tell me what . . .’

She realized Turnbull wasn’t listening. His gaze had shot over her shoulder, past Mayhew, a couple of paces behind, and through the glass-panelled door to where Fiona Calder was striding
towards the office, a look of thunder on her face. As she seized the handle and flung the door open, Turnbull turned to them.

‘You two, out!’

The Assistant Commissioner paused on the threshold, glanced at Mayhew and Nicci. Out of uniform, in an expensive charcoal-grey trouser suit and fine string of pearls, she looked like any
well-heeled executive or CEO.

She fixed Turnbull with a glacial stare. ‘No Alan, I think all your team need to hear this.’ She checked her wristwatch. ‘Shouldn’t you have left for your meeting with
the IPCC by now? They take a dim view of people being late.’

The colour was draining from Turnbull’s face. Nicci had always seen him as tough and imperious, but confronted by this small, middle-aged woman, he seemed to shrink.

He cleared his throat. ‘We have a situation here ma’am, which I need to deal with as a matter of urgency—’

In spite of her size, Calder’s presence filled the room. ‘I think you’ve dealt with your last situation as a serving police officer. You’re suspended from
duty.’

Turnbull blinked a couple of times, then he came right back at her. ‘That won’t stop me making my statement to the IPCC. You sanctioned an illegal operation – you’re the
one who’s finished.’

Calder gave him a cynical laugh. ‘You chose Bradley, not me. You set up the honey trap.’

Turnbull’s jaw tightened. ‘I was acting on your instructions ma’am and that’s what I’ll tell the IPCC. We’ll see who they believe.’

‘My instructions!’ Calder was seething. Turnbull towered over her in height, but she stepped forward, jabbing her index finger at his chest. ‘You lied to me and you set up your
own officers to fail.’

She glanced at Nicci and Mayhew, several other members of the squad were hovering near the open door.

‘And for what? To mess up a major investigation and prove we’re all rubbish? Hoping that’ll create a big enough scandal so your friend Duncan Linton can move a private security
firm in to take over major investigations?’

At the mention of Linton’s name, Turnbull did indeed blanch. How the hell did she know?

The Assistant Commissioner allowed herself a triumphant smile. ‘Oh, the Commissioner knows all about your deal with Linton. How? Marcus Foxley told him. Never trust a politician Alan. He
may behave like a naive fool, but that doesn’t mean he is one.’

Turnbull was stunned, but he was determined to stand his ground. ‘Well, privatization is coming whether you and the Commissioner like it or not.’

‘So you thought you’d buy yourself a ticket on the gravy train? How many millions did you hope to make?’

Turnbull shot her a defiant look. ‘It’s not just about money. It’s about who takes over. Putting the right people in the job. You want some ex-American police chief running
homicide investigations in London?’

Calder turned and with a sweep of her arm encompassed Nicci, Mayhew and the officers in the outer office.

‘And that’s your excuse for betraying me, your colleagues and the Metropolitan Police Service? Shame on you Turnbull. Shame on you.’

Turnbull jutted his chin.

‘The core values of the MPS have got a far better chance of survival with Duncan Linton than with some of the other outfits that’ll be vying for the contract.’

Nicci glanced at Mayhew. They’d both been watching open-mouthed as their bosses slugged it out, but Nicci couldn’t keep quiet any longer. The image of Alex Marlow’s bloated
corpse kept flashing through her mind.

‘Sorry ma’am, but DC Bradley . . . well it looks like Joey Phelps has got him.’

Calder turned, her fury with Turnbull was consuming her. She stared at Nicci blankly. ‘What?’

‘We’ve only just found out. We think Phelps kidnapped him yesterday evening.’

Fiona Calder swivelled round, pointed at a stocky, carrot-haired officer standing near the doorway. ‘You – what’s your name?’

The officer’s eyes widened, he flushed red from neck to forehead. ‘DC Payne ma’am.’

‘Payne, I want you to escort Detective Chief Superintendent Turnbull out of the building. You will relieve him of his warrant card and bring it to me.’

Payne’s jaw slackened, he glanced at Mayhew for support. Mayhew gave him a curt nod.

Calder turned back to Nicci. ‘You’re Armstrong aren’t you?’

‘Yes ma’am.’

‘You’re sure about all this?’

Nicci nodded. ‘Yeah. We’ve got a witness saw him being taken.’

Calder zeroed in on Mayhew. ‘I want Joey Phelps brought in. Get SO19 to provide armed backup. Find him. Nick him. Now. I’ll be taking over direct control of this operation
myself.’

Mayhew nodded and scurried out. Nicci followed. Calder glanced at Turnbull. He was still standing behind the desk, hands in his pockets. He looked pale, but he’d regained most of his
composure.

He gave her a contemptuous smile. ‘You can’t walk in here and throw me out.’

‘I’m acting on the Commissioner’s instructions. Your lawyer can make representations directly to him and the IPCC. Now, does DC Payne require assistance to escort you
out?’

Payne was hovering in the doorway with a look of total embarrassment on his face. Turnbull let a small hiss of annoyance escape between his teeth. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out
his warrant card and tossed it on the desk. He glared at Calder.

‘This isn’t over, y’know.’

The roadworks on the M1 slowed traffic from a twenty-mile-an-hour crawl to sporadic gridlock. Kaz sat in the back of the X5 wondering what the hell she was going to do. Joey
had taken the precaution of trashing her phone, grinding it into the gravel with his heel before they left Woodcote Hall. She’d caught a glimpse of Natalie being shepherded away into the
house by June as Yevgeny held the car door open for her. Doctor Iqbal seemed in his way to be a pretty canny bloke. Kaz hoped he’d find a way to protect her sister. And then there was Nic,
who Natalie was convinced was such a good mate, but Kaz didn’t place any reliance on that.

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time they arrived at the garage lock-up under some railway arches in Ilford. Tolya was sitting outside on an upturned crate smoking a Turkish cigarette.
Joey got out of the front passenger seat and stretched, he’d spent a large part of the journey dozing.

He nodded at Tolya. ‘Where’s Ash?’

‘I call him like you say. He not pick up. Think he went back to the flat.’

Joey yawned. ‘Skiving off, dozy sod. Well let’s get this show on the road.’

Yevgeny opened the car door for Kaz. She made a point of meeting his gaze, but his look remained disinterested and professional. She followed Tolya and her brother into the lock-up. Yevgeny was
close behind, making sure she was penned in.

Coming out of daylight into the gloomy interior required a moment for the eyes to adjust. But Kaz didn’t have any problem seeing the hooded figure trussed up on a chair in front of her.
His arms were pinioned behind him, his torso and legs were bound to the chair with heavy-duty duct tape, the chair was chained to an oil drum full of concrete. Tolya hadn’t taken any chances.
The hood was loose-weave hessian sacking blackened with engine oil. He pulled it off to reveal Bradley’s flushed and bloodied face.

Tolya glanced at Joey apologetically. ‘Nose all busted up, so if I tape the mouth he don’t breathe.’ He pointed upwards at the vaulted ceiling. ‘Trains every five minute.
No one hear him.’

As Kaz gazed at Bradley she felt rising nausea sting the back of her throat, her hand went reflexively to her mouth. He looked up at her, a hint of a smile in his eyes, but a beaten and bleeding
creature. Dried blood encrusted his face, his nose was swollen to twice the normal size. She realized Joey was watching her reaction, a satisfied smile playing round his mouth.

‘Right then, now we’ll get the truth.’

Kaz took a calming breath and turned to face her brother. She understood enough about his psychology to know she had to front it out with him.

‘Yeah you will Joey. ’Cause this is fucking ridiculous.’

Joey inclined his head, he was enjoying himself. ‘Show her the clip Tol.’

Tolya got out his phone, tapped the screen a couple of times. He set it to play and handed her the device. She watched the sequence of her and Bradley in front of the tube station. She shook her
head in disbelief, tossed the phone back to Tolya and glared at her brother.

‘Is that it? Is that your excuse for this total fucking mess?’

Joey tipped back his head and laughed. ‘I know you got balls babe. And I’ve always admired that. Never give up in a fight. But you’re shagging him, anyone can tell that. And it
was you told him about Marko and Leysa.’

Bradley coughed and spat a globule of congealed blood from his mouth. His voice was rough, a hoarse whisper. ‘No. She didn’t. Mainwaring Grant gave us your files. We found the place
in Danbury from that.’

Joey turned and glared at Bradley. ‘Did I fucking tell you to speak?’

It was clearly an effort to hold his head up, but Bradley returned his look. ‘Said you wanted the truth. Well ring up your old school pal Anthony Hobbart. He’ll tell you what
happened, we went round there and leant on them. They gave us Dimitrenko to get rid of us. And I suspect to get rid of you.’

Joey ruminated on this. His brow darkened, he looked ready to explode. Then he simply laughed. ‘Well whad’you know? Fucking accountants, eh.’

This lightning change of mood gave Kaz the opening she was looking for. She reached out, put her hand on his arm.

‘Joe, listen to me. I don’t blame you for jumping to conclusions.’ She shot a look in Bradley’s direction. ‘But let me tell you the truth about me and him. Since I
got out I’ve only slept with one person. And it ain’t him.’

Joey gazed at her, a troubled look came into his eyes. His glance darted from Tolya to Yevgeny.

‘Not one of them? They’re fucking animals.’

Kaz smiled. She didn’t want to get into this with him. It was no one’s business but her own. But she figured that the truth was the only thing likely to convince him. She dipped her
head.

‘Not them. Helen. Helen Warner, my lawyer. You can phone her and ask her.’

Joey’s jaw slackened. She was acutely aware of the four men around her, enough testosterone to start World War Three. But she didn’t care about their judgement. Yevgeny and Tolya
remained inscrutable. She wasn’t sure, but she thought perhaps Bradley smiled. Joey turned to the others, palms outstretched in incredulity.

‘You believe this? My sister a fucking carpet muncher? I mean look at her. Look at her. She’s too beautiful to be a dyke.’

Kaz sighed. ‘Doesn’t really work like that.’

Joey gave her a shrewd look. ‘Then what is going on with him?’

Kaz met his gaze. ‘We went to meet my art class teacher to persuade him to help me get a college place.’

Her brother frowned. ‘Thought you had a college place.’

Kaz smiled ruefully, somehow the truth had got him to listen, so the truth it had to be. ‘This one’s in New York.’

Joey nodded as he absorbed this. Then he pointed at Bradley. ‘Why would he help you? You can’t tell me he done it for nothing.’

‘I was playing him.’ Kaz hunched her shoulders, gave her brother an appealing look. ‘I mean obviously.’

Joey turned away, he looked petulant. ‘You wanna go to New York, why didn’t you ask me? We could’ve gone together.’

‘Joey, I needed him to persuade the art teacher to wangle me the college place and convince probation. These things ain’t easy to arrange.’

Joey nodded, took a deep breath then exhaled. Kaz could feel her stomach knotted with tension, but she was starting to hope. He did seem to believe her. The problem now was how to get Bradley
out of there.

Joey paced a couple of times, checked his watch. ‘Where the fuck’s Ashley? Tol, give him another call.’

Tolya produced his phone and went out of the lock-up.

Joey seemed to be musing to himself. ‘Never been to New York. I’ve always fancied it.’

Kaz squeezed his arm. ‘Let’s go together. We’ll have a great time.’

Joey glanced at Bradley and huffed. ‘What we gonna do about him?’

Kaz didn’t miss a beat.

‘Bribe him. He wants to get out the police, go to Australia. Don’t you Bradley?’

Bradley had been watching the two of them with an eagle eye. He nodded. ‘Yeah, get a job with my cousins.’

Joey gave Bradley a cursory glance. His tone was oddly innocent. ‘You really think you can trust him?’