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  ‘I’ve no idea; I can only assume it was the person who had tipped him off initially about the raid. My intervention was intended to save Watson, not kill her.’

  ‘I can’t imagine that any of those poor trafficked women would have tipped their incarcerator off,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘And how would they get hold of a phone?’ Harry added.

  ‘I really don’t know,’ Grady answered.

  Vinnie ignored her denial, he now understood her angle, and why she had not flinched when he cautioned her; doing so no doubt played into her plans nicely. She was clearly in a very inappropriate and corrupt personal relationship with Babik, something she could expect to receive several years’ imprisonment for, but it would not be a life sentence for murder. She was clearly trying to cut her losses.

  ‘Look, you are obviously bent, and have leaked God knows how much intelligence to Babik already, but this charade won’t work. You told him that we were taking Watson in my car. You are as guilty of murder as he is for pulling the trigger.’

  ‘I know it seems like that, but you can check my phone records.’

  Another ploy, Vinnie thought. But Harry spoke before he could respond. ‘As well you know, telephony data can only give us texts and numbers called and received, not the actual conversations. Only phone taps can do that. Anyway, I’ve heard enough. Vinnie, will you…’

  ‘Wait!’ she shouted as Vinnie pulled his handcuffs out of his desk drawer, and then added, ‘Why the hell would I just walk in here now? Yes, I could understand your cynicism if you’d found me and I was being interviewed formally. But I walked in here of my own accord.’

  It was a high risk strategy, Vinnie had to agree; giving herself up just for the opportunity to gain her version of events some added credibility. He wasn’t sure he’d have the balls to try it; he’d probably still be running.

  ‘OK, Susan, we’ve listened to you and by your own admission you had a corrupt relationship with Babik, for which I’m going to arrest you. But here’s the surprise; I’m nicking you for murder, too. Susan Grady, I arrest you—’ Vinnie started to say, before Grady interrupted him.

  ‘That’s not what I really came in to tell you. I need to stop you now, Mr Palmer. You can’t arrest me because my relationship with Babik isn’t corrupt and inappropriate as you must think. It is officially authorised.’

  Vinnie wasn’t interested in listening to any more of Susan Grady’s bullshit and was about to carry on, when Harry jumped in. ‘Officially authorised? What the hell does that mean?’

  Both Vinnie and Harry stood facing Grady now, Vinnie had freed one of the handcuffs by running the loose end of the cuff through its ratchet, and was about to snap it onto Grady’s left wrist, when her words stopped him.

  ‘My real name is not Susan Grady, but I am an officially authorised undercover officer. Cornel Babik is my target.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Vinnie hadn’t seen that one coming, and stopped his arrest protocol in order to hear more. ‘That’s a claim that is easily checkable,’ he said.

  ‘And we have been in touch with the chief constable Brian Darlington, who would know if you were an undercover officer or not,’ Harry said.

  ‘Look, you know I’ve not been at Preston long, and why do you think I’m in here declaring all to you instead of my DI, Jim Day?’

  Vinnie thought for a second, and was certainly unsure. Why them, Manchester officers working on a regional homicide unit which just happened to have an office here? Neither he nor Harry spoke.

  ‘I was put in here by the National Crime Agency as it is suspected that Babik has lots of friends in the police. Here locally, as well as in my firm. Darlington won’t know I’m here.’

  ‘That won’t go down too well,’ Harry said.

  ‘Professional egos aside, he won’t be on his own.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Even the northern bosses of the NCA are unaware. They are the ones who targeted Babik previously, but got nowhere near him.’

  ‘OK, suppose we go along with this very intriguing story, you must be able to give me a telephone number of someone in London who knows of your deployment.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘I see; can’t or won’t? Don’t bother answering that, I’ve heard enough,’ Harry said.

  ‘Wait. Part of my protection protocol is that no one will confirm my status, and trust me, that’s just a handful, and even if one of them did, they all think I’m on loan to the security service, and beyond that they don’t know what I’m working on, as it involves national security.’

  ‘So you are some kind of Jane Bond, now, are you?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘No, of course not, that’s just part of my cover story, to protect me. Those in the NCA who know my status as an undercover officer are all at senior level, and all think I’m on loan to MI5. But that’s just my cover.’

  Vinnie was getting tired now and he could see that Harry was also far from convinced. Time to get the handcuffs on.

  ‘But you must be able to pick up a phone and speak to someone, anyone, who can then confirm to me any of this,’ Harry insisted. ‘There must be at least one who knows all.’

  ‘If I’m in fear of compromise I can make contact through an automated system, but it will take too long. It would also kill the operation, as such disclosure would trigger an automatic revocation of my authorities and only the chief himself would then be briefed — as in your chief, Mr Darlington. No offence to your rank, Mr Delany.’

  Vinnie was sure he could smell a last desperate ploy by a very manipulative and intelligent criminal. ‘You know, if you had put this much effort into being a detective, rather than being a criminal’s moll, you would probably have gone far,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Look, I had to go to ground in order to try and discover what Babik would do next, and I wish I hadn’t. It’s getting far too dangerous to carry on, and in any event he’s committed a murder so that should do. OK, it may not give us the rest of his infrastructure, beyond what I know already, but a life sentence is a life sentence, which is why I’m breaking all the rules by outing myself to you here and now.’

  ‘In that case, give us Babik, and we may start to listen to you,’ Harry said. ‘If we get Babik now, then there would be no further need for you to be undercover, so once he is safely in the cells you could trigger the automatic revocation of your authorities. Mr Darlington would be briefed of your true status, as you have claimed it, and then we could start to unpick all that you have told us.’

  Even if any of this was true and Grady was an undercover officer, of which Vinnie had serious doubt, she could still be corrupt. It wouldn’t be the first time an undercover officer had gone rogue. But first things first, if there was the slightest chance on getting their hands on Babik before he flees, they were duty-bound to try. Vinnie glanced at Harry and could see tacit acceptance on his face.

  ‘OK, we’ll postpone arresting you for the greater public interest of getting hold of Babik. What’s the address?’ Harry asked.

  ‘There is one of three he will be at, but if you get the wrong one, he’ll know and you’ll have lost your chance. This will only work if I walk in and then confirm his presence. I’ll wear a wire so you can hear everything.’

  This was starting to sound like more of the same, Vinnie thought, before saying, ‘Look, can’t you just ring him?’

  ‘If I do that, he’ll suspect.’

  ‘Why?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘Because he took my phone from me before I came in.’

  ‘Why?’ Harry added.

  ‘Because it was Babik’s idea that I come walking in here and claim to be an undercover officer.’

  ‘So it is all bull?’ Harry said.

  ‘No, but he doesn’t know that,’ Grady responded.

  If Vinnie thought he’d heard the best tale so far, he obviously knew nothing. Now she was claiming to be an undercover officer pretending to be a bent cop in order to snare Babik, but because
of the murder, she had told Babik that the real cops would now suspect her of being really bent. But Babik wanted her back in play in the police station, so had come up with the plan for her to walk into the nick and pretend to be an undercover officer; without, of course, realising how perversely true his plan actually was. Vinnie glanced at Harry, who was just shaking his head, which was becoming red.

  ‘So you are an undercover officer deployed into Babik who thinks you are a bent cop,’ Vinnie started.

  ‘Yes,’ Grady said.

  ‘But as he thinks you are now blown, you should pretend to be undercover in order to un-blow yourself?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Yes,’ Grady said again.

  ‘But doesn’t he think we’d check?’

  ‘I told him that in an effort to test him, and he said you wouldn’t be able to check. He didn’t get it absolutely correct, but near enough to worry me that he has some serious inside knowledge of the workings of undercover operations and their operatives,’ Grady told him.

  Vinnie looked back over at Harry, who now had his hand over the top of his head and was giving it a serious rubbing session.

  ‘This is just getting beyond belief,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Won’t nicking Babik prove what I’m saying?’ Grady asked.

  ‘Possibly, I suppose,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Well, come on then before we lose him, but you’ll have to go in carefully,’ Grady warned them.

  ‘Why?’ Vinnie and Harry said in unison.

  ‘Because he’s taken a woman hostage.’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Vinnie had hurriedly called in as many cops and detectives as he could muster at short notice, together with the three armed response vehicles that were currently on duty. They were briefed that they would be attending up to three addresses, and each would be a covert armed approach. A knock at the door by a man with a clipboard. If the door was opened, happy days, he or she would declare who they were and put an armed challenge on whoever answered the door as the other armed officers rushed in. If there was no answer, then the clipboard-carrier’s job was to gather as much intel as possible and assess whether anyone was in.

  Grady had said that it should be her job to knock and enter and then call the cavalry in, but neither Vinnie nor Harry trusted her. She still couldn’t tell them how Babik would know that they’d been to an empty address. She’d just said that he had eyes and ears everywhere. They had left her locked in their office for the moment, and after briefing what staff they had, sent them off to the forward advance point.

  Fortunately, all three addresses were within a couple of minutes’ drive of each other, and the advance location would serve all three. It was a large retail outlet car park, and even though it would draw plenty of attention, no one would know why they were there and in any event, they wouldn’t be there long. At least all the local drug dealers’ water meters would go into hyperdrive as thousands of pounds worth of drugs would no doubt be flushed away.

  That was the thing about being a criminal; whenever they saw a cop, they assumed that they were the target. A mixture of arrogance and paranoia.

  As soon as the main office had emptied, Vinnie and Harry gave themselves a minute before collecting Grady.

  ‘What did Darlington say?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘Well, after he got over the shock, he said he wished we could put the raids off until we could get enough staff to hit all three simultaneously. But was worried a delay could prove fateful for whoever the hostage is. Though I do have an intel officer keeping watch on the front of addresses two and three.’

  ‘Any signs of life?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘Not as yet.’

  ‘Do you believe Grady when she says that she has no idea why Babik has taken a hostage?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Other than for insurance, but insurance against what?’ Vinnie said.

  A young analyst named Debbie then interrupted them. ‘Sorry sirs, but we have no one reported missing from home matching the information you gave me.’

  ‘What I was able to give you was vague, are you certain?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘Afraid so sir, in fact we have had no reported MFHs at all in the last 48 hours.’

  Vinnie cursed inwardly but thanked Debbie with a smile, before telling her, ‘Just keep an eye on it in case one comes in.’

  ‘I have all the comms rooms briefed,’ Debbie said.

  Vinnie thanked her and waited until she had walked away before turning back to Harry. ‘So, no MFHs, no intel matching this boneheaded accomplice, and no intel on any of the addresses.’

  ‘Don’t forget that the landlord of all three addresses is suddenly uncontactable,’ Harry added.

  ‘I don’t like it,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Me neither, but there is only one way to find out. Come on, we’d better get moving.’

  Then Vinnie’s phone rang. It was Christine and he took the call, saying, ‘You’ll have to be quick, I’m just in the middle—’

  Christine interrupted him with a garbled precis of what had happened over on Queens Drive in Liverpool.

  ‘Bloody hell, are you OK?’ he asked.

  ‘OK now I have the girls at my place, I’m just awaiting for the local cops to turn up.’

  ‘Look, I’m really in the middle of something I can’t get away from, but if you’re safe for now, that’s the main thing. The cops will just record the details and send a detective over to you, as well as social services. This will take a couple of hours at least, by which time I should be free.’

  ‘I’m frightened to let these women back into the system after what has happened,’ Christine said. ‘Will they let the women stay with me overnight, until things can be sorted properly?’

  ‘I would think they’d be glad of your offer. Soz, got to go, but ring me if you need me. Otherwise I’ll ring you later,’ Vinnie said, before ending the call.

  ‘Everything alright?’ Harry asked.

  ‘Ish. I’ll tell you later, when we can talk.’

  Twenty minutes later, they were parked up outside the first address, an end terrace house split into two flats. The downstairs was unoccupied and the upstairs was the one that Babik had used. The street was a dimly-lit side street off New Hall Lane, which was a major thoroughfare in and out of the city from the eastern side. The street was occupied on one side by pavement-fronted houses, but with a few small garden-fronted ones at its dead end. Most of the opposite side of the street was open land where textile mills had once stood, and although the narrow road was tarmacked, it had several potholes uncovering the cobbles from yesteryear.

  They were in Harry’s car, he was driving and Vinnie was in the back with Grady. He’d no intention of letting her further away from him than an arm’s reach.

  ‘I wish you’d let me go first, he’ll answer it if he sees me,’ Grady said.

  ‘Not safe, you’re unarmed,’ Harry said. Vinnie knew that wasn’t the real reason.

  ‘But I don’t need to be, I’m not a cop, as such. Anyway, he’ll be keen to know how his plan has worked, whether you believed me when I told you that I was undercover.’

  ‘Quite,’ Harry said, as his handheld radio announced that Alpha-one-foot was approaching the address. Alpha-one-foot was the plain clothed firearms man with the clipboard.

  Then the observation post came over the air to announce that the OP had a ‘visual on the friendly as clipboard man approached the address.’ Vinnie could see there was a light on upstairs, so they were hopeful. The main firearms team announced that they were in position, which meant they were all behind the gable end of the address. Seconds away from the front door. There was a small carpark opposite the address, which was where they were parked. Vinnie had told Harry to park his car facing away from the street, to add to their cover. He turned and looked out of the back window, which was starting to steam up. But they dare not turn the ignition on, as the dashboard would light up and make them obvious.

  Vinnie could just make out t
he outline of the man with the clipboard as he approached the door.

  ‘Alpha-one-foot to the team, knocking now,’ the officer whispered over the radio.

  Silence. Twenty seconds passed. Then, ‘Knocking again,’ he whispered.

  The sound of loud banging could be heard over his speech as he transmitted. Silence again. A further 20 seconds passed before the OP took up the commentary. ‘OP with the visual, confirming that Alpha-one-foot is away from the target premises. Update, Alpha-one-foot; soonest.’

  Another agonising wait of 10 or more seconds passed before Alpha-one-foot came over the radio, speaking more loudly now. He said there were lights on and he thought he had heard noises from within. The OP added that they thought they had seen the upstairs net curtains twitch, but were unable to confirm if they had been moved by a person.

  Vinnie knew that OP’s view would be very limited, peering out from the rear of a van. They had all the intel they were likely to get. It was decision time.

  ‘Harry?’ Vinnie asked.

  Harry didn’t answer, but put the radio transmitter to his mouth, ‘This is Zero Alpha to the OP; permission to speak?’

  Vinnie knew that in surveillance radio discipline, whoever had the eyeball had control, and anyone who wished to speak needed their permission; even the detective superintendent. It was intended to prevent things happening which the eyeball could not make the rest of the team aware because someone was hogging the airwaves. Only one voice can transmit and be heard at one time. Rank was irrelevant.

  ‘Go ahead, Zero Alpha,’ the OP replied.

  ‘Zero Alpha to Firearms Alpha and all the firearms teams — Strike, strike, strike,’ Harry said.

  There was a quick acknowledgment from each of the firearms strike teams and Vinnie then used his arm to clear the condensation from the rear window. He could just make out the silhouette of several figures as they crept from the gable end of the house under a garden wall to the short path which led to the front door. A pause, and then he saw the figures rush at the front door. A man with a battering ram had the door in in a second. Several figure rushed past him with their weapons drawn. Harry had dropped his driver’s door window and Vinnie could hear the clear shouts of “Armed Police” followed by more silence. And then…