The Hard Way by Duncan Brockwell (electronic book reader .txt) 📗

to deploy, forcing Vanu’s head to hit the steering wheel. Slamming into the tree at fifty-six miles per hour was the killer blow, not the failure of the air bag to launch. Vanu’s BMW wrapped itself around the tree, crushing him to death.

31

“Cheers!” Walker clinked glasses with Rachel, happy that she enjoyed the shepherd’s pie he made from scratch at the last minute. He had to apologise to her for being late, having played nursemaid to Zuccari. He didn’t know how his mate got himself into such trouble; it was like he had a knack for it. “Shall we take this into the lounge?”

“You don’t get out of washing-up that easily, mister.” Rachel took a sip of her red wine. She smiled at him, letting him know she was joking. “That was delicious, though.”

“I’ll put the plates through the dishwasher for you, how about that?” He picked up their plates and carried them from the dining area to the kitchen. He scraped off the leftovers and put the plates in the machine. “All done.”

“A man of many talents. What else can you do, huh?”

“That’s for you to find out. I’m not giving away all my secrets.” He pulled her closer. “I’ve got to keep you interested somehow.”

He had not been seeing her for long, but from what he already knew, he liked her. Walker wanted to see where their relationship went. It might turn out that they were incompatible, but he doubted it. So far, they were very well-suited, intellectually, physically, and sexually.

In the lounge, he sat on the sofa and Rachel lay on his lap. “You didn’t get to finish telling me about your day. Did you catch that guy?”

“What guy? Oh, Fernando Linares.” Rachel stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know how, but Hayes managed to get his sister to talk, and she gave us the address of an abandoned house. We went, but he wasn’t there. So, we stuck the local uniforms on it. When they find him, they’ll bring him in.”

“You don’t sound too bothered,” he said, stroking her belly.

“We’re almost certain it’s not him.” Rachel leaned forward and put her wine glass on the coffee table. “We’ll only be crossing his name off the list. We think we know who it is anyway. Her name’s all over this case.”

Walker tilted his head. “Her name? Anyone I know?”

“You might do. She’s fairly well known around these parts.” Rachel let it linger, for dramatic effect. “Have you heard of Melodi Demirci?”

He sat up, disturbing her, making her follow suit. “Really? Demirci?”

With a look of confusion, she nodded. “Uh-huh! Why? What is it?”

“That’s who I’ve spent all afternoon and evening talking about.” He piqued her interest. Walker turned slightly to face her a bit more. Her expression said, “Tell me!” “This isn’t to go any further. If the top brass find out, they’ll go bananas. I’m not kidding, Rachel. Not one word, you promise?”

He was half expecting her to crack wise about him calling her Rachel. She either overlooked it, or didn’t mind. Rachel said she would keep the promise.

“You know I met Zuccari this afternoon… Well, when I got to the pub, he looked like shit. He spent the first half hour playing those poxy fruities, until I threw my dolls out my pram, threatening to go home. When I got him on his own, he let me have it.”

Rachel couldn’t wait. “And? What was it?”

“He’s only been sleeping with Melodi Demirci, hasn’t he? The silly bastard. He’s a member of SCO19, and shagging a notorious gangster, the stupid prick.”

“Really?” Rachel picked up her glass and took a sip. “Is that it? So he has a terrible choice in women. He can’t help that.”

“I haven’t finished yet.” He saw Rachel smile in apology. “So, he’s been sleeping with Demirci in the office of the casino he goes to as much as he can. Zuccari’s getting all comfortable, until Demirci agrees to stake him a hundred grand, which he sets about losing.”

“And let me guess: he can’t repay her. Am I right?”

“You got it! He now owes Demirci a hundred grand, and it increases for every day he doesn’t cough up the cash. She’s a nasty piece of work apparently.”

“I heard today that people think she had her own dad shot outside the casino, and even hired her psycho cousins to carry it out. Is there any truth to that, do you think?”

“I guess anything’s possible with that woman. I just don’t get why she would get him in so much debt?”

“It can’t hurt to have a cop in her pocket. You’d better watch out for him if he owes a ton of money. He’ll either do a runner, or top himself.” She held his hand. “I’ve seen it happen. One of my squad got himself into a ton of debt. He suffocated himself in his garage. He attached a hose to the exhaust and drifted off to sleep. Poor bastard only owed ten grand.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right. I’ll keep an eye on him, as usual.” He leaned back, allowing Miller to lie on him. “The arsehole’s become a liability. It’s getting to the point where I don’t know if I can trust him anymore. And that’s not good when he holds my life in his hands every day on the job.”

“It sounds like he doesn’t deserve to be a cop anyway.” Rachel stroked his arm. “Are you going to talk about it with Sarge? See what he says. And don’t forget, he might get suspended permanently after the shooting the other morning. Could be a blessing.”

Walker nodded. “You’re right. I might broach it with Sarge, see what he says.” Walker didn’t want to rat his “friend” out to his sergeant, not in the slightest, but a firearms officer with mental baggage like this wasn’t a good combination. Would he trust Zuccari in a siege, or a roadblock, or anywhere? The answer was no.

“You have to do what’s right for the unit, not one member.”

He