“No police,” Morgan declared, his voice guarded and lethal like a holstered pistol. “If Flex sees police, Lewis will die too. I’ve already had HQ call off the uniforms who were supposed to take over Patel’s crime scene.”
“But—”
“No police, Peter! These are our people, and it’s up to us to save them!”
Knight didn’t point out that Private’s own agent was beyond help. “Lewis is police. Her own people deserve to know what’s happening.”
Morgan shook his head. “I’m getting her out of this.”
Knight could see that the shock of Cook’s death was clouding Morgan’s judgment. The American had pulled off so many daring feats that Knight had lost count, but now that record was pushing Morgan into making rash decisions that would not only cost Lewis her life, but likely Jack Morgan his own.
“This is what he wants, Jack,” Knight argued. “He wants you to run in there with no plan.”
“I have a plan,” Morgan protested. “I’m going to kill him.”
Knight reached out and grabbed his friend by the shoulders. “Jack. Mate. Please. Reconsider this. Getting yourself killed will not bring her back.”
But there was no reply for Knight, nor recognition that his words had even been heard. Instead Morgan looked to the sky. “Chopper’s here.”
Chapter 54
Flex stood back as his accomplice delivered a kick into Lewis’s side. The air was driven from her, red-hot pain shooting through the woman’s body as the ends of her broken rib grated against one another.
“Here’s something for you to think about,” Flex growled through his mask. “Don’t you think it’s funny that Jack Morgan and Private keep turning up around the world just as shit is about to hit the fan? Look at London. Who was here to save the day at the Olympics? Who was here for Trooping the Color? It’s always that bastard Morgan. He sets these things up so that his company profits from them! Can you not see that?”
“All I see,” Lewis groaned, “is a fat boy with a man-crush. You should just get it over with and admit you want to fu—”
Flex’s boot drove the last words from her lungs as a wheeze.
“You stupid bitch! What money are you on as a copper? Thirty grand a year? Morgan is making millions a year! Millions! And he’s making it by having others die for him. You think this sack of shit on the floor is the first one who’s died to make Jack Morgan richer?”
“She died,” Lewis spat, “because you killed her!”
“She died because she was a disposable asset!” Flex shot back. “Disposable to Jack Morgan, so that he can continue to live his life of beach houses and private jets!”
“You jealous bastard,” Lewis laughed. “Is that all this is? You’re going to kill me because you want Morgan’s life?”
Flex told his accomplice to deliver another kick to Lewis’s broken ribs, but it did not stop Lewis from finishing. “No wonder you’re wearing that mask. Morgan is a good-looking bloke. I bet you’ve got a face like a cheese toastie.”
She laughed at her own insult. Then, to her surprise, she heard Flex join in.
“You really don’t think I’ll kill you, do you, copper?”
“I don’t think you’ve got the balls. Probably vanished from all that juice you’ve been doing.” She snorted, taking in the man’s steroid-inflated size. “You’re a coward. And a small man in all the ways that count.”
“A coward?” Flex laughed. “Well, maybe I am. But you don’t have to be a brave man to do this.”
Flex shoved the barrel of his gun inside Lewis’s mouth.
She tried to speak, but the words were muffled by the barrel and came out as an angry gurgle.
“I want you to know,” Flex said from above, “that you’re gonna die to make Jack Morgan richer. Think about that as your last thought.”
Flex laughed, and then he pulled the trigger.
Chapter 55
The buildings of London were a blur beneath the helicopter as it belted across the city, green parks just a flash as Morgan and Knight raced to Kensington, and to Sharon Lewis.
Morgan had been silent for the first two minutes of the flight, but now he pulled his phone and dialed into Private London’s HQ.
“Put me through to Hooligan,” he commanded the watch manager.
“Hooligan left once Patel was taken into custody,” the watch manager explained. “I’ll put you through to Denise.”
“Who’s Denise?” Morgan asked Knight as the call went through.
“We recruited her last year straight from Cambridge. Hooligan hand-picked her. She’s quite brilliant, really.”
“Denise, this is Jack Morgan. Are you OK with breaking the law?”
“I am if it’s for a good cause,” the young woman answered without hesitation.
“I need you to hack into any and all CCTV systems within five hundred yards of Mayoor Patel’s home, and then feed them to me. Can you do that?”
“I can.”
Morgan hung up the call.
“Why the hell isn’t Hooligan there?” he asked Knight.
“Jack, he’s been working non-stop. As far as he was concerned, our cases both wrapped up once we took Patel into custody. He couldn’t have foreseen... this.”
“Private isn’t a part-time gig.” Morgan spoke through clenched teeth. “If this new girl is as good as you say she is, then Hooligan’s gone.”
“Gone?” Knight stammered, flabbergasted. “He’s a lynchpin in Private London, Jack. I know things are not great right now but—”
“Not great?” Morgan cut him off, seething. “Jane is dead, and my people are not where they should be.”
“He didn’t know,” Knight pressed.
“And whose fault is that?” Morgan shot back, his eyes burning into Knight. “You are the head of Private London, Peter, and Flex is on your turf. If he was planning this, you should have known about it.”
Knight didn’t know what to say.
“Cook is dead because Private London didn’t see this coming,” Morgan warned. “Hooligan isn’t the only one that’s replaceable.”
Chapter 56
Inside the helicopter was tense, and silent. Beside Knight, Morgan sat like a coiled spring. Then, without warning, the American’s body sagged into his seat.
“I’m sorry, Peter,” Morgan sighed.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.”
“I’m the head of Private, and all mistakes belong to me. If anyone killed Jane, then it was me.”
Knight turned in the helicopter’s tight confines so that he could look directly into Morgan’s face. “Flex killed Jane. Don’t forget that, Jack. Nobody else. Flex.”
After a moment Morgan grudgingly nodded. “I should have seen this coming, though, Peter. We beat him down when we were searching for Abbie Winchester. We kicked his ass. Reputation is everything in the security business, and Flex must have lost his when he took that beating.”
“Not everyone kills over a reputation.”
“But Flex would,” Morgan countered. “I should have known that. I should have seen it. I came into this situation with blinkers on, and led us into one trap after another. Jane’s dead because of me.”
“Bollocks, Jack!” Knight grabbed his friend’s shoulder. “She’s dead because of that bastard!”
“She’s dead because of me. And Lewis too. Flex won’t take prisoners.”
Chapter 57
Flex pulled his gun from Sharon Lewis’s mouth and looked down at the policewoman.
He smiled.
“What are you looking at?” Lewis growled, fighting to control her shaking body.