‘You still let DP walk away. You shouldn’t have done that.’
‘I was only ever there on the off chance that Elena would send him after Freeman. Whatever DP did to you, Danny, he’s still just a foot soldier. His picture’s out there everywhere now. It’s only a matter of time before his name joins it. I’m going to tip off Interpol myself in the next twenty-four hours. Someone will get him. He’ll pay.’
‘Do you think he’ll return Harrigan’s son?’
‘I doubt it. It would be DP’s idea of a good joke not to. For all we know, the kid’s dead already.’
‘If we could find out where he was, we could let Harrigan know,’ Brinsmead said.
‘How are we going to do that? DP probably hasn’t even told Elena. She wouldn’t want him to. The last thing she wants is the details of what he’s doing.’
‘Couldn’t you work it out? You know his MO better than anyone.’
Sam was silent for a while. ‘He’s got to be very careful where he goes,’ she said eventually. ‘His picture’s all over the place. There’s a car park not far from Redfern station-Prestige Car Parking, long and short stay. You can leave your car there for months if you want to. I’d look there. DP used to park his van there when he was doing Elena’s dirty work. I tracked him there just before he gave me the slip. He could leave his van there for days and no one would look at it. Until the smell got too bad.’
‘Wouldn’t he use a stolen vehicle?’
‘No. That’d give the police a lead. He’s got a white Toyota HiAce under the name of Robert Woods. He’s probably used that.’
‘Do you know the registration number?’ Brinsmead asked.
Sam recited the letters and digits then seemed to regret it. ‘Danny, whatever else you do, you can’t ring Riordan with that information. However much you want to.’ Her voice was urgent.
‘How could it hurt to do that?’
‘Because it’ll bring the police here. They won’t stop asking questions until they know exactly where you got that information from. Then my cover could be blown. If Elena gets wind of any suspicion that I’m not who I say I am, we’re both gone. Listen to me. I’m the professional officer here. You’re the civilian operative. It’s my call. We have an operation to finish. We came here to find out what LPS is really up to and we’ve pretty well done that. If we don’t finish and report back, we’ve failed. Then more people stand to die than Harrigan’s son. You have to make these kinds of nasty decisions in this business. It’s what you signed up for.’
‘Why don’t we go and get the kid out ourselves?’ Brinsmead asked, his tone confrontational.
‘Because we’ll be picked up on the CCTV.’
‘Make an anonymous call. You’ve done that before today.’
‘No. As soon as that boy’s found, it’ll be all over the news. DP almost saw me that day in the car park with Marvin Tooth. It was enough for him to know he was being followed. He’ll join the dots and he’ll tell Elena. She’s already pretty suss about you as it is. You’ve been putting the wind up her lately. You shouldn’t do that, it’s unprofessional. We can’t risk it. There’s too much at stake.’
‘He’s an innocent-’
‘No!’
There was silence.
‘Sam, why are you so sure about all this?’
‘I’ve told you why. This is the only way I can make a difference. One thing I said I would do in my life is make a difference. I’ve made my decision and nothing’s happened to make me change my mind. Now I’ve got to get going. I’ve got things to do. Hang on. I’ve just seen your dog tag. It’s on the floor. There you go.’
Again there was the sound of the bed creaking.
‘I should get going as well. The car’s waiting downstairs,’ Brinsmead said. ‘Did you finish cleaning out the pool?’
‘Yeah, that’s done. I’ll leave first.’
There was a brief pause.
‘Bye, Sophia,’ Brinsmead said quietly.
‘Don’t call me that. Sophia’s dead. I said goodbye to all that when I signed up with you. I’ll get the last of that stuff out of the bathroom and I’ll go.’ There was another silence. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m just going to lie here for a little while longer. That wasn’t a good combination, the tablets and the shot.’
‘You wanted her to touch you.’
‘I don’t want to live like this.’
‘Stay the course, Danny. We’ll get you there. I promise.’
There was the sound of Sam going into the bathroom and then walking back down the hallway. ‘See you,’ she called, and the front door slammed shut. After a little while, Grace heard Brinsmead open a drawer in his bedside cabinet. She looked at her watch. The minutes ticked by and still there was no sound of him leaving, although once he went into the bathroom for a glass of water. Eventually half an hour had passed. Her feet were beginning to ache. She thought of Harrigan and Toby and decided she would walk out of the wardrobe regardless of the outcome. Then there was the sound of the downstairs buzzer. Brinsmead got up, and after some minutes more there was the sound of the doorbell. The voices were distant. Grace stepped out of the wardrobe to hear them.
‘-waiting for you for over an hour, Dr Brinsmead. Do you still want the car?’
‘My painkillers immobilised me. I couldn’t move very easily. I’ll meet the cost. I just have to get something. Please wait, I’ll be down soon. Leave the door open.’
He came back to the bedroom. It was still almost another ten minutes before he left the penthouse. Finally, there was the sound of the front door being shut.
Grace waited for a few minutes more before leaving the wardrobe. The small photograph album she had seen in the drawer was lying face down on the bed. She picked it up. It wasn’t open at any of the pictures of Brinsmead and Elena Calvo but at the black and white photograph at the end, of the couple and their child in the ruined city.
The apartment was silent and empty, the bathroom door left open and the lights turned off. All the cages were gone and whatever had been inside the steel cabinet had been emptied out.
Grace took out her mobile phone and rang Harrigan. She didn’t even get his voicemail, only a message saying the caller wasn’t answering. She tried Trevor. No response there either. She thought of who else she might ring but decided it would be too hard to explain to anyone else. If they were going to find Toby alive, she couldn’t waste time convincing people that her information was reliable. She rang for a taxi as an emergency and headed for the door.
It hadn’t been deadlocked. Maybe Brinsmead’s mind was so clouded he’d forgotten to do it. She returned the key to the drawer before leaving. Outside, she quickly checked the swimming pool, climbing over the low fence to get inside the enclosure. Looking down into its blue-painted expanse, she saw empty plant trays, both wide and deep, covering the pool floor. Nothing remained of what might have been growing in them except for scraps of dirt and a scattering of unidentifiable plant matter. She climbed back over the fence.
Suddenly, she needed a cigarette badly. The smell of those tiny, dead animals was still with her. Anything to wipe that stink away. On the street, she smoked while she waited for the taxi to arrive. It was getting on to peak hour. Finally it was there.
‘Are you the lady who ran for a taxi to police headquarters?’ the driver said. ‘I can’t take you there, the streets are closed off. There’s been a disturbance of some kind.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I can’t tell you. It’s just happened. It’s complete mayhem up there. Now’s the time to rob a bank. They’re all looking the other way.’
‘This is urgent and official business. Get me as close as you can.’
‘I’m telling you, you can’t get in there. All the streets are blocked off.’