“He’s dead, as well you know.” She paused. “Costello — what’s he up to?”
“Vinny is ill,” Roman reminded her.
“Seriously ill is what we’ve heard. But what exactly is his problem?”
Roman seemed reluctant to say. “It’s not common knowledge, for obvious reasons. Folk find out that Vinny’s not up to it and we’ll have an all-out war. There are plenty of villains out there, eager to snatch the crown. He had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The hospital attempted bypass surgery but when they got in there, the attack had done too much damage — valves and the like. At his age, the best option was to stitch him back together and do nothing.”
“So his time is limited?”
“Very much so.”
“Who will he hand over to?”
Roman took a swig of his beer. He made out he was thinking about it, but Leah was sure he knew more than he was saying.
“The changeover has already happened, weeks ago. New people are gradually being put in place. Things are set to be run very different. When the time is right, others will be told.”
“This new boss — tough, is he?”
“Runs things with an iron fist. Hired new people, operating scams that would shame the devil.”
The words hung in the air between them. Leah was thinking hard, trying to make sense of what Roman had just said.
“You could have told me this in the first place, Roman. It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“I have to be careful. A matter of survival,” he reminded her.
Leah could only imagine the fine line Roman walked. The villains trusted him for now. But if they ever got the slightest inkling that he’d double-crossed them . . .
“Rouse found out about the changeover?”
“He guessed. The fool started to blab. Vinny didn’t like it, neither did the new boss.”
“So Costello is fine with the new setup. He’s happy for someone new to take over?”
“Not happy, but he has no choice. All these years of being top dog, and now he is forced to hand over power to another. But that doesn’t stop him having input. He wants a gradual handing over. He does not want all-out war on the streets as every scally that’s ever fancied his chances has a go.”
“Who is it, Roman?” she asked firmly. “His opener was the smuggling of vulnerable young men from the Calais camp. We can’t let him get away with it.”
Roman smiled again. “Do you have proof? I doubt it. This one is careful. Never gets dirty hands. Learned off the master.”
“So you won’t help?”
“You need to think harder, doll. Like I said, Rouse worked it out, and he’s not that bright. That’s what got him into so much trouble. He found out about the lads and that clinic, but he didn’t stop digging. Nearly dug himself into an early grave. The power might be vested in a different pair of hands, but that is not for general consumption — not yet anyway.”
“Stop arsing me about, Roman. I need a name.”
“You’ve heard the one about the apple not falling far from the tree?”
* * *
“Sadie Costello!” Grace repeated. “She is behind all this?”
“According to my informant — not that he admitted it in so many words,” Leah replied. “But he gave me a damn good clue, and I have no reason to doubt him. If you think about it, she is in the perfect position to take over from her father. Vinny is ill, but to maintain order he wanted this kept quiet until he’d spoken to certain key people. Slicer Shaw for one. God knows who else. Rouse found out. Got too close to the whole operation — the boys, the killings and the sale of organs. Which is why they wanted him dead.”
“Do we know where Rouse is now?” asked Greco.
“Roman reckons he’ll lay low for a while longer. Eventually news of Costello’s fall from power will be common knowledge, and he’ll be able to show his face again.”
“Did Rouse have any evidence on Sadie?”
“No. He worked it out, but said things to the wrong people. Slicer Shaw, for one.”
Greco was angry. “I want everything we have going over again. All the statements, all the CCTV footage. We need something, anything that will incriminate Sadie Costello.”
Leah shook her head. “Bet we don’t find anything. She is like her father — gets others to dirty their hands.”
“Horton must know. He and Sadie were close. I wonder if he will talk to us?” Greco said.
“If he does, then he’s dead. Even behind bars he’ll not be safe. He must know this, he’s not daft. So I doubt it.” Leah was firm.
“No chance of her trying to get him off?”
“I don’t think so, sir. All that affection at the club was probably a performance. All Sadie was really interested in was his skill as a surgeon.”
“Todoran?”
Joel Hough spoke up. “We have had the results back, sir. The blood found by the doors was a match. That puts him at the scene. The blood and tissue on the hammer did belong to Dent. The blade found on Dent had DNA that matches the two dead boys. And still no sign of Dent’s mobile phone.”
That resolved the murder of Jamal and the unknown boy. “In that case, we need to find Todoran. We’ve alerted the ports? Dover especially.”
Joel nodded. “We’ve had an update on his vehicle, sir. Todoran’s lorry was found abandoned at a service station on the M20. A number of refugees were hidden on board.”
“Any clue where Todoran might have gone?”
“Not yet, sir.”
Greco walked over to the incident board. The team sat at their desks completing their reports. It wasn’t the outcome he’d wanted. Granted they had Horton. But now that he knew about the bigger picture, he wanted Sadie Costello behind bars. He stared at the board. How likely was that? There was nothing there that would help. She may have orchestrated the operation, but unless Horton talked, they didn’t have a scrap of evidence against her.
Epilogue
6 weeks later
“Stephen!” It was Superintendent Gordon McCabe, shouting down the corridor.
“Immigration have finally finished processing those lads from the factory your people raided. Very few spoke English so it was a thankless task, and no help with regard to the case. Hussain reckons he dealt only with Ray Shaw. Maintains he’s no idea who was behind the operation.” He shook his head. “God knows how many more such places there are on our patch. But at least it’ll be a hefty prison sentence for Hussain.”
“Todoran was picked up in France yesterday,” Greco told him. “They found a number of mobile phones on him, one of them belonging to Michael Dent. It seems it was Dent that sent Rouse the message. He must have found his number in Crompton’s notebook. Todoran is willing to do a deal. He knows nothing about the organisation of the operation. He only ever spoke to Shaw, and once to Horton. But he is willing to tell us who his friends are at Border Control. The ones who, for a fee, turn a blind eye.”
McCabe shrugged. “It can’t be much of a deal. He’s going down for killing Dent. And the big one? Sadie Costello?”
“Nothing, sir. Horton refuses to say anything against her. A major disappointment.”
Greco carried on towards the incident room, where Leah had just put the phone down.
“The case against Horton is sound. He’ll go down for a good few years. There’s not enough to charge Rashid, though. He might have known stuff but there is no evidence to prove it. Horton certainly hasn’t dropped him in it. He still maintains Sadie knew nothing.”
“He’s lying. But Sadie Costello isn’t going away, and neither is the rest of the operation. We took out only a small part of what is going on nationwide. We have to hope that she drops her guard in the future,” Greco said.
“Not good though, is it, sir?” Speedy piped up. “Bloody irritating, if you ask me. A scam like that, and she walks.”
Greco smiled at his sergeant. “At least we have put a stop to it on our patch.”
* * *
What now? Grace’s ‘private words’ always bugged Greco. The Brighton incident hadn’t been forgotten but she’d not been on about it as much lately. He was hopeful that in time she would let it drop. That way he wouldn’t have to make a decision about her one way or the other.
“I’ll get them. You sit over there.” She nodded to a table at the far end of the room.
Greco checked his phone while he waited. It was the half-term holidays and Pat had taken Matilda to see Suzy’s parents in Norfolk. She was sending him regular updates and photos. Looking through them, he could see that his daughter was having a great time.
Grace put down his coffee.
“Orange juice? Not like you.”
Grace shook her head. “Gone off coffee. And tea.”
“Health kick?”
“No, Stephen, it’s nothing that simple.”
There was something about her tone, edgy, uncomfortable. He met her gaze for an instant. She looked down.
“There is never going to be a right time to say this, so I’ll just come out with it.” Grace took a deep breath.
“I’m pregnant, Stephen — with your child.”
THE END
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OTHER BOOKS BY HELEN H. DURRANT
DARK MURDER (DCI GRECO BOOK 1)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MURDER-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B0163DVHC2/
http://www.amazon.com/MURDER-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B0163DVHC2/
A woman is found dead by a canal . . . why have her eyes have been viciously poked out?
Detective Stephen Greco has just started a new job at Oldston CID and now he faces a series of murders with seemingly no connection but the brutal disfigurement of the victims. Greco’s team is falling apart under the pressure and he doesn't know who he can trust. Then they discover a link to a local drug dealer, but maybe it’s not all that it seems.
Can Greco get control of his chaotic team and stop the murders?
DARK HOUSES (DI GRECO BOOK 2)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ
http://www.amazon.com/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ
A young woman is found brutally murdered in an empty house
Detective Stephen Greco and his team must piece together her life as quickly as possible. Within twenty-four hours there is another killing using the same method. The detectives realise that the victims are random but the locations are not. The killer is more concerned with finding the right house – somewhere he won’t be disturbed.
When a man walks into the station and confesses, it looks like the case is closed. But Greco’s not convinced and soon he’ll be fighting to save the woman who’s most important to him in a stunningly tense conclusion.
THE CALLADINE AND BAYLISS MYSTERIES (book 3 features DI GRECO)
BOOK 1 DEAD WRONG:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/
http://www.amazon.com/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/
First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
Police partners D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.
Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicize the gruesome crimes? Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine’s heart.
BOOK 2: DEAD SILENT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/
http://www.amazon.com/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/
A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . .
BOOK 3: DEAD LIST
This book is the first to feature D.I Greco
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW
An unlikely serial killer with a bucket list of victims . . .
BOOK 4: DEAD LOST
An abandoned cotton mill holds horrific secrets
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss face one of their toughest challenges yet. A group of homeless people have set up camp in the grounds of a disused cotton mill belonging to local businessman Damien Chase.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/
BOOK 5: DEAD & BURIED
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BURIED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01HXXTWKA/
https://www.amazon.com/BURIED-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01HXXTWKA/
Annie Naden and her husband buy a remote country cottage at auction. It’s the home of their own that they always wanted, but as they begin renovations, Annie discovers a satchel in a dusty old hidden cupboard. Inside are the usual schoolbooks, now over 40 years old, and a girl’s diary. Among the record of day-to-day crushes and pop concerts, is a secret whose terrible consequences are still resonating to this day.
BOOK 6: DEAD NASTY
www.amazon.co.uk/NASTY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01M9JRC13/
www.amazon.com/NASTY-gripping-crime-thriller-twists-ebook/dp/B01M9JRC13/
A GIRL’S BODY IS FOUND IN A DUSTBIN. DEAD MEAT IS WRITTEN ON A NOTE FOUND WITH HER.
The girl was part of a group of bullies from the local school. But DI Calladine recognises the MO of Craig Donnelly, a killer he thought he’d put away forever. And coincidentally Donnelly has just been released from prison. But when Detective Calladine charges in, he finds out that Donnelly has a watertight alibi and is under the protection of the local vicar, who thinks Donnelly is a changed man.
CHARACTER LIST
Superintendent Gordon McCabe
He worked his way up through the ranks. A no-frills type of policeman. He is mid-fifties, overweight with grey hair. A face described as ‘lived in’ and long since divorced.
DCI Stephen Greco
He is a dedicated policeman who can’t imagine ever doing anything else. He is in his mid-thirties, tall, blond, straight-laced, and meticulous in his approach to work. Greco is the first to admit that he is faulty. He has mild OCD and is not a people person. He finds making friends difficult. He doesn’t mix with the team out of the office and finds conversations about anything other than the current case difficult.
Recently promoted and working with the East Manchester Serious Crime Squad under Gordon McCabe. He has returned to the job after compassionate leave. He is still feeling bad after the murder of his wife Suzy. His home life is a little more sorted. He has his father’s sister, his aunt, living with him and Matilda – Pat Greco.
DS Grace Harper
She likes to know the gossip. She is ambitious and wishes she could give all to her job and get promotion. But she has small child — Holly, and she’s a single parent. Her partner did a runner while Grace was pregnant and has nothing to do with Holly. She took time off work then went back, leaving Holly in nursery or with her mother. Grace feels guilty. She wishes she could do more with the child. She is torn between the job and her
daughter. Given the chance she could be a good detective. She is bright and intuitive. People tend to like her.
DS Jed Quickenden
He is known as Speedy to his mates. Quickenden was born and bred in Oldston, and everyone he knows lives there. Most of his old mates from school are wasters who have turned to petty crime to make ends meet. Speedy has turned a corner with his job. He is more involved than he used to be. He is very tall and thin, he towers over most of his colleagues. He has mid-length curly hair and is frequently untidy in appearance.
DI Leah Wells
Recently promoted and transferred from Manchester Central. Leah is tall, with shoulder-length dark hair. Her style of dress irritates Greco – jeans with tops that don’t match. She is ambitious with no ties.
DC Joel Hough
Young, geeky and spends most of his time in front of his computer. A little on the shy side. He has also been transferred from Manchester Central.
Vinny Costello
A villain we have met before. He is ill — heart problems, and the prognosis isn’t good. However, he still maintains his iron grip on Manchester.
Sadie Costello
Vinny’s daughter. She appears to be a social butterfly.
Ray (Slicer) Shaw
A mid-fifties villain who is Costello’s right-hand man in East Manchester. He owns a club called the Windfall in an upmarket part of Manchester. He got the nickname ‘Slicer’ from the way he has despatched those who stepped out of line in the past.
DARK TRADE a gripping crime thriller full of twists Page 18
