“‘Course, mate. He helped me out too, and you’re me best mate, so of course, I was going to help out, like.”
I managed a nod, and Phil moved on with his tour while my mind turned over what he’d said. What kind of ‘help’ had my dad given Phil all those years ago?
The garage wasn’t huge, so it wasn’t long before we were about done. Phil’s fidgeting was making it fairly clear that he wanted to get on with the accounting part, and I didn’t mind getting a move on, too. Lee was on the other side of the garage, exchanging small talk with one of Phil’s genuine mechanics, who was working on a rustbucket of a car. I called him over, and he came to join us.
Phil directed his attention at me as he brought out the garage’s records and started chatting away about his bookkeeping habits. To my untrained eye, they looked like something of a mess, and I saw from Lee’s quirked eyebrow that he agreed.
“Think you can help us out? Make things, uh, line up better?” Phil rounded up, looking at me as he spoke.
“Aye, I’m sure we can. I know that Lee here can handle it just fine, so how about you and I get a drink, Phil?”
Phil looked surprised, glancing between Lee and me like he wasn’t quite sure. He’d clearly been expecting me to handle the books, and he wasn’t too keen on letting some unknown lad get his hands all over them.
“Mate, I’ll look it over after, good and thorough after he’s done, promise. I thought we could catch up a bit more, you know. It’s been a long time.”
Phil softened at that and gave me another of his slightly crooked grins.
“Yeah, sounds good to me.” He slapped Lee on the shoulder just as he’d done with me. “Do a good job for me, eh lad? If you impress me, there’ll be more of that coming, and you can count on a nice bonus from your boss here, that right, Dee?”
“Dammit, don’t go promising him things,” I said, but I was laughing.
Phil gave Lee a wink and a conspiratorial nudge, and then we headed over to Phil’s office. He had a crate of beer under the desk, which didn’t surprise me, and he flicked through the channels on an ancient, wall-mounted TV until he found the Leeds footie game. The game was something of a dud, but it provided a good bit of background noise to our talk, and I relaxed into it. I was aware of the wire against my skin and made sure not to have too much of Phil’s strong beer, but otherwise, I found myself settling back into the rhythm of talking with him. He led most of the conversation, and whilst I tried a couple of times to nudge him towards the topics I wanted to talk about, the dogfighting and Matt, I didn’t push too hard. I figured that, at this point, it was still early days, and I didn’t want to make him too nervy before we’d even made any progress.
Lee came over a half or so later, hesitantly knocking on the office door.
“Aw, this guy’s a polite one,” Phil laughed before hollering for the guy to come in.
“I’m all done with the books,” he said, glancing over to me with a slightly apologetic expression like he wasn’t sure if he’d interrupted Phil and me. I guessed that the books had actually been finished up for a while, but Lee hadn’t wanted to intrude. I gave him an easy smile and a nod of approval.
“That’s good, then. I’ll come to have a look, aye?” I said, setting my still half-full beer down on Phil’s desk and getting to my feet.
Phil was about to say something, but his phone went off loudly before he could. His ringtone was of a bunch of rowdy lads belting out the Leeds football chant, probably on a night out. He gave me a grin as he picked it up and shut off the dodgy singing.
His expression slid quickly into seriousness as he listened on the phone, and I tried to overhear what was being said on the other end without being too obvious, but it was too quiet.
“Alright, alright, gimme a second,” he said finally, lowering the phone before looking over at Lee and me. He gave a smile, but it looked stiff. “I’ve got to dash, mate. Look, we can talk more some other time, right? You’re always welcome to drop by.”
“Aye, of course, don’t let us hold you up,” I said quickly. His offer to drop by was a promising one, giving me an excuse if I wanted to do some snooping in the future and got caught here when I hadn’t been invited.
“Thanks, Dee. See you soon, yeah?”
He had the phone pressed back to his ear before he was done talking to me, and he only stopped to grab his coat before he was out the office door. I was surprised by how fast he moved despite the several beers he had and made a mental note that the man could hold his drinks. Not that this was anything new, I thought, remembering how he used to be able to put away the pints just fine when he was twenty, too.
Lee released a heavy breath beside me that sounded like relief.
“I didn’t interrupt anything important when I came in, did I?” he asked.
“Let’s talk outside,” I said, nodding towards the door and following him out.
I held my hand up in goodbye to the mechanic, and he waved a grease-covered spanner at me in return. His face looked familiar, and I wondered whether he’d gone to the same high school as Phil and me back in the day.
Lee and I headed back to the car, and I settled into the driver’s seat, my fingers brushing the microphone at my chest again. It was still firmly in place and had hopefully captured everything Phil had said back at the garage. He hadn’t said very much that was of use, but the small details could be crucial, and I was aware that this case was going to be more of a marathon than a sprint.
“You did great,” I assured Lee as soon as he was sitting in the passenger.
“Yeah? I was shaking in my boots, not gonna lie.” He gave a short laugh, rubbing a hand through his gingery hair.
“You handled it really well,” I said, giving him a nod, and he smiled back, clearly pleased.
I got the car started up and drove us back towards Hewford, navigating the small amount of late rush-hour traffic. It was fairly dark out, and the air had a sharper nip to it, enough to have me cranking up the car’s heating. Rain started coming down before long, and I flicked the wipers on. They squeaked as they cleared the windscreen, the rubber worn down and old, and I absently made a mental note to get them changed.
“What were Phil’s accounts like?” I asked Lee a moment later. “Knowing him, I’d think that they’d be something of a mess. What did you think?”
My question started Lee off on a conversation about accounting which went over my head at times. Still, it was obvious that he knew his stuff, and I’d already decided that I’d be happy to bring him along to see Phil again if he wanted any more ‘help’ down with his bookkeeping.
“Honestly, he wanted me to work a miracle,” Lee finished up, spreading his hands in consternation. “I did my best, and well, it was kind of fun to have a play around with the numbers and try to make everything fit, uh, not that I should say that- I mean-” He’d gone as red as his hair, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Don’t worry. I don’t think you’re going to be corrupted after one little visit. You’re good.”
He laughed, looking faintly relieved. “Yeah, I just meant that it was a fun change from my normal stuff, y’know?” He gave me a sheepish look, his face still heated with embarrassment.
My phone rang before I could respond. I was just about to pull up at some traffic lights, so I took the opportunity to dig my phone out of my pocket and handed it over to Lee, who looked like I’d handed him a hot potato.
“Put it on speakerphone, will you?” I asked before the lights went green, and I pulled the car forwards. My first thought was that it would be Stephen calling because he definitely called me more often than anyone else on my contact list. But of course, he’d gone off home after I’d got unfairly angry at him, and I gave a silent sigh.
Lee did as I asked, and a woman’s voice came through the speaker, one I didn’t immediately recognise. I struggled to hear her over the noise of the wipers, the rain, and the whir of the heating.
“Tell her to give me a second, and I’
ll pull over, would you, Lee?” I asked as I was looking around for somewhere to park. I couldn’t manage to focus on city driving, and a phone call with a stranger, not whilst the weather was like this.
I found a likely spot and took the phone from Lee when he offered. I hadn’t been listening much, but I knew that he’d been speaking to the woman on the other end while I focused on driving. I gave him a grateful smile and put the phone to my ear, leaning back in my seat.
“DCI Mitchell speaking. Sorry about that.”
“I was surprised to get an answer at all at this time. I would’ve thought you’d gone home,” the woman said. I placed her voice after a moment as being that of Kate Ross, from LACS.
“Aye, I was out on a late job. What can I help you with?”
“Bad news, I’m afraid, detective,” she said steadily, though I thought I could hear the weary disappointment in her voice.
I rubbed a hand over my forehead, which was wrinkled with a frown.
“About the dogfighting?” I asked, glancing sideways at Lee as I spoke.
He had the security clearance, so it didn’t matter that he was overhearing this, but it was strange for me to have him at my side and not Stephen. Stephen would already be on the same page as me, but Lee just looked slightly confused, because of course, he didn’t know the case like Stephen and I did.
“Afraid so. You wanted to hear any updates that I could tell you, so I’m letting you know.” She paused briefly, and I listened closely. “Our undercover agent was caught out in a lie. He had to be pulled out, effective immediately, for his own safety.”
“So the operation’s over?” I said, my throat feeling dry.
I thought about all those dogs I’d seen in the barn, the mothers with pups. The life those dogs would grow into would be short and brutal, torn apart in training or dog fights for money and so-called entertainment. I felt faintly sick. Ms Ross released a small sigh, and I felt a stab of sympathy for her. I couldn’t imagine doing her job and being faced day after day with the evidence of people’s cruelty towards innocent animals and of all the creatures she couldn’t save.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “The operation’s over.”
I swore under my breath and dragged a hand through my tangled hair. We had to do something to help those animals, but I had no plan and no evidence. Still, as Kate quietly bid me goodbye and hung up the phone, I made a resolution to myself that I’d do whatever I could to get those dogs out of there, no matter what.
Thirteen
Listening to the recording with Stephen was somewhat uncomfortable. It was early in the morning, and Stephen and I had been moving awkwardly around each other, neither of us ready to talk openly about what had happened between us yesterday. So instead, we were listening to the audio that the tiny microphone I’d been wearing when I went to meet Phil had captured.
It was strange to hear my own voice, let alone to hear how different I sounded when I was talking with my old mate. Stephen sent me a couple of sideways looks, clearly noticing how my accent thickened up and my speech got more casual.
We got to the point where Phil brought up my dad, and I stiffened up, my hand twitching to turn the recording off. I stopped myself, knowing that Stephen could probably do with hearing it all, but my lips still pressed together in a thin line. The recording finally petered out, finishing with mine and Lee’s conversation in the car, and Stephen glanced over.
I waited for him to say something, but when he did, all he said was, “You want some coffee?”
“Aye.” I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. If there was ever a time for needing coffee, it was early in the morning, after a fight with your best friend. “Thanks,” I said when he returned with our mugs. He’d made it just as lethally strong as I liked it, and I felt a wave of fondness for him and regret for what I’d said.
“I’m sorry-” I started.
“About yester-” he said, at the same time. I looked over at him and couldn’t hold back a grin. He shook his head, giving a crooked smile back, though it looked tired.
“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” I said when he didn’t keep quiet. “You didn’t deserve it, and I’m sorry.”
He gave a slow nod at that. “Thanks, man. I know I shouldn’t have pushed you, either. Wasn’t my place.”
“You’re my friend. You’re allowed to ask. I shouldn’t have bitten your head off.”
Even now, the thought of what he’d asked about my past made me unable to look at him, and I couldn’t even pin down why. I’d run away from it all, from my dad’s death, from the funeral arrangements and the criminal circles he’d been involved in, and I guess I was still running.
“Yeah, well, everyone has things they’d rather not talk about.”
I took a breath and released it, looking down at my desk. My hands were damp, and I twisted them together under the table.
“My dad died,” I managed to say finally, unsure why the words were so very hard to spit out. I saw Stephen nod in my peripheral vision but didn’t look over at him. “I was twenty. I’d finished school, had a job at the corner shop, and I wasn’t going anywhere in life, y’know? I’d thought about the army, but my dad wanted me to stick around.” I blew out a breath.
“A lot of the guys I mucked around with were into the same stuff my dad was, Phil included. They wanted more of that.”
“You didn’t?” Stephen asked quietly.
“I don’t know. At that age, I was kind of a follower, but I never had ambitions of getting into serious crime like Phil always did. He hero-worshipped my dad, but I’d grown up with him. He did mostly petty stuff, y’know, but even with that, there was always this,” I waved my hand, struggling to explain it, “pall of fear over the house. He tensed whenever a police car went by. Took me a while to shake that reaction off when I joined the police.” I gave a weak laugh.
“Why did you join the police?”
I sighed. “To spite him, maybe? He was a decent dad, but we didn’t get on that well, especially after my mum went off.” I swallowed thickly. “He died of a heart attack, just sitting in his chair.”
I thought about that morning when I’d found him. He’d been slumped to the side, so I couldn’t see his face properly. I’d reached out to touch his shoulder, and he’d stiffly fallen sideways. I could still picture it with complete clarity, and the memory made me feel ill. Even when I’d still thought he was sleeping, there had been something wrong about that stillness. That’d been the first dead body I’d ever seen, and if I hadn’t joined the police, it might’ve been the last, at least for a long while.
A good few months passed after he died before I started jumping when people touched me unexpectedly. Even just brushing against my arm on the train could do it, and I couldn’t say even now whether it was from that day or just the stress of the police job. There’d certainly been plenty of stress and a fair chunk of violence in my early days in the service, back when I was just a rookie, and I reckoned that could’ve had something to do with my overdeveloped vigilance. I’d improved a fair bit since then, and working out in the country at Lockdale had helped too, away from the city chaos. Being here at Hewford had brought some of it back again, but I hadn’t wanted to miss the opportunity over a few hang-ups about what was practically ancient history.
“You couldn’t have done anything for him, Mitch,” Stephen said, warmth and concern in his low voice. “These things just happen sometimes.”
“Maybe,” I conceded.
I didn’t tell him about the times I’d laid awake afterwards, wishing that I’d woken up earlier or gone downstairs in the night so that I might’ve found him in time. He’d mentioned chest pain a few days before, but he hadn’t wanted to do anything about it, and I’d not thought much further about it. I shook my head.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Stephen repeated, firmer. I glanced over at him and gave a nod.
“Anyway, after he died, I just upped and left. Got into the police, mostly by pure luck, I reckon, and didn’t
go back. I don’t think I would get in like that if I tried nowadays, but they were a bit more lenient back then.”
“Rubbish,” he scoffed, with enough outrage to make me smile. “Those recruiting folks can spot a bloke who’s got their head on straight from a mile away. Plus, you’re smart. I bet they snapped you up.”
I didn’t think my head had been on particularly straight back then, but I didn’t argue with him. I had enough of that in the last few days, and I wanted our easy camaraderie back again.
“Thanks, mate.”
I looked back at my computer screen as an easy quiet fell between us, and I took a sip of coffee. The audio from my wire was still up, and I ran my knuckles over my jaw as I looked at it.
“We’d better let Rashford know what’s been happening,” I said aloud after a minute.
“In person?”
“Nah, updating the report will be sufficient, I’d say. We haven’t had any huge developments, but she definitely made it clear that she wants to be kept up to date on things.”
“That she did,” Stephen said wryly. He sent a sideways glance at me after a moment, and I turned to raise an eyebrow at him.
“What is it?”
“Sorry.” He had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “So it didn’t hinder you getting into the police then, the whole-” He gestured vaguely with his hand when he couldn’t come up with the right words, and I had to laugh.
“The whole ‘my dad is a criminal’ thing?” I said, and he nodded sheepishly. I became serious. “They ran background checked, of course, and they talked to me about my dad. I didn’t have any convictions other than a couple of minor scrapes when I was a teen.” I grimaced at that admission before giving a shrug. “I guess they decided to give me a shot and to ignore the whole ‘the apple never falls far from the tree advice’.”
“Yeah, that’s nonsense,” Stephen said, and I sent him a grateful look.
Our conversation trailed off as we went back to work, and the silence felt mostly comfortable. I knew that Stephen was a decent bloke, and I’d sure hoped that he wouldn’t judge me or see me differently for hearing about my grubby family history, but it was still a relief to see that it didn’t seem to bother him too much. Time would tell if it made things awkward in the future, of course, but for now, I was glad that our friendship seemed to be back on more solid ground.
Tooth and Claw Page 14
