“Okay,” I began as I poured a packet of sugar into my coffee. “The first thing you need to know is that our boss is ready, and probably eager, to shut this operation down at the first sign of trouble from you because he definitely thinks you’re going to make a deal with Carmichael and screw us over.”
“Which you haven’t done, right?” Fletcher asked, using the straw to swirl the ice in her drink. “I have to ask. I mean, you have his phone number. You could easily have warned him about us or agreed to lead us on in exchange for a cut of the money.”
“I haven’t done either of those things,” Alec assured us. He sketched a quick X over his heart. “Carmichael texted me, confirming the date and time of the concert and asking if we needed to buy tickets ahead of time, but I told him I’d take care of it and text him the tickets tomorrow. He asked for three, so it looks like he’s bringing the whole crew.”
“You didn’t think to tell us this sooner?” I asked, raising one eyebrow in Alec’s direction.
He shrugged. “I’m telling you now, aren’t I? Besides, I heard from him just before you came to pick me up, and then I was a little more concerned with the fact that you seemed to be kidnapping me.”
“It’s good to know that we’re expecting the whole team,” I said, letting the matter of the delayed information drop. “We’ve got five people on the team, not including the three of us, so we’ll have them well outnumbered.”
“We need you to try to figure out where Carmichael’s stashed the money,” Fletcher added. “That’s probably the most important thing since Carmichael might not give that up even after we arrest him.”
“I’d like you to bring up the murder as well,” I said, Alec’s gaze shifting between Fletcher and me each time one of us took over the instructions. “You might be able to get a read on which one of them is the killer. We’ll stick as close as we can and try to watch as well, but we’ll have to be careful to make sure we aren’t noticed.”
“I can probably do both of those things,” Alec said. He bobbed his tea bag up and down in his mug, and I could tell it was a nervous gesture as his eyes locked on the spreading colour. “We’re still on the same page about the wire thing, though, right? What if he wants to search me or something?”
“We would really prefer to listen in,” I told him. “But we also understand your concern. We’re working on coming up with an alternate solution right now.”
Alec frowned and gulped at his tea, flinching when he realised it was still far too hot and he’d just burned his tongue. “How much did you tell your boss about my involvement? Did you tell him who I was?”
“We had to,” I said. “We kept it to ourselves as long as possible, but he is our boss, after all.”
“He wants to arrest me, doesn’t he?” Alec guessed.
I glanced at Fletcher, who nodded that I should be truthful, her cup cleverly raised to her mouth at just the right moment so she wouldn’t have to be the one to answer.
“Well, yes,” I admitted. Alec immediately scooted his chair back from the table, panicked, but I held out a hand to stop him. “But we’ll make sure you get out of there. You have my word on that one. You’re really helping us out here. I’m not going to repay that by getting you arrested.”
Alec relaxed but only slightly, slumping against the back of his chair and reaching for his mug of tea with a shaking hand. “You promise?”
I took that hand and shook it firmly. “I promise.” I released my grip to take a sip of coffee. “We’ll give you the money for those tickets as well. We’ll buy our own, but it’s probably best if you take care of the ones for Carmichael since it probably needs a name on it.”
“I’ll do that this afternoon,” Alec said.
I nodded. “Good. We’ll need to meet up one more time tomorrow to hopefully give you an unobtrusive mic and go over any last-minute details. Otherwise, just keep a low profile and call me if Carmichael contacts you again.”
Alec sucked in a shaky breath and then squared his slim shoulders. “Sounds like a plan. And you’ll still talk to Ainslee for me after all this?”
I smiled at him. “Of course. I’ll put in a good word for you.”
“Thanks,” he said as he returned my smile.
I finished off my coffee, burning my mouth, then rose from the table as Fletcher chugged the rest of her drink so she could follow suit.
“Do you need us to drop you anywhere?” I asked Alec.
He shook his head and waved the offer off. “I’m good. Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” I agreed, then Fletcher and I left him at the table and exited the cafe.
The sun had finally broken through the clouds and driven them off so that the blue sky could shine through, raising the temperature of the day along with it. I tipped my face up to soak in some of the sun since it had been some time since we’d seen it, and the warmth helped soothe away some of the tension that had settled along my spine the night before.
“What’s next?” Fletcher asked me as we started walking toward the spot where we’d parked the car a couple of streets away.
“I need to check in with Rayla,” I said. “Hopefully, I can convince her to help me out with this. A date would really help out with the camouflage.”
“I should find myself one too,” Fletcher agreed.
“You mean you don’t already have one?” I asked, nudging her in the ribs as I grinned.
“I’m good, but I’m not quite that good,” she said, flicking a short lock of hair away from her face. “Were you going to call her or go over in person? Because I’d appreciate a lift back to the station if you’re going over in person.”
“Probably better to go in person,” I said.
Fletcher nodded as we reached the car, and we quickly got inside so I could drive her back to the station.
“What were you doing at your mum’s this morning?” she asked while I revved the engine and pulled away from the kerb.
“I’ll tell you after the concert,” I said, quickly putting a few mental bricks on the box I’d stuffed all the stuff about my father into. “I need to focus on this for now, or it’ll get overwhelming.”
“Understood,” Fletcher said with a swift nod. “But it’s not something bad, is it?”
“No,” I promised her. “I mean, it could turn bad. But it’s okay for the moment.”
“What about your talk with Reilly? How did that go?” she asked.
“It was fine,” I said as I turned on my indicator. “He apologised, I told him a very small part of what’s been going on, and he’s on his way home to check on his cat.”
“Of course, he has a cat,” Fletcher said with a laugh. “And everything’s good between you two? I know how important that relationship is to you.”
“It’ll be fine with a little time,” I said. “I’m not happy about what he did, but it came from a place of caring, so I can forgive him.”
“I don’t know if I would have,” Fletcher admitted. “I’ve got a thing about being lied to.” Her face darkened with the weight of whatever memory that statement had conjured up, but she didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t press her. I knew she had some stuff in her past regarding her family, she’d hinted at it before, but she never seemed to really want to get into it with anyone. I respected that.
Fifteen minutes later, I dropped her off at the station then texted Rayla to ask if I could swing by her work and talk to her, claiming it was urgent but nothing bad. I sat in my car while I waited for a reply, and after ten minutes, Rayla told me that it would be fine and to come down to the office that Bee MacPherson rented for her and Alana.
I breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t decided to ghost me, then backed out of my parking spot, cruising swiftly away from the station and back out onto the streets. Rayla’s and Alana’s office was in the city centre, not far from the cafe I’d just been at, so I had to go out of my way to take Fletcher back to the station, but I didn’t mind. I liked driving. I found it
calming, so long as my brain didn’t convince me someone was following me.
I had to park in a multi-storey car park this time around as all the street spots around Rayla’s office were full, and I wound my way nearly to the top of the building before I finally found a slot to slide into, although even then, the car on the left side was hanging over the line, and I had to carefully edge in beside it.
I rode the lift down to the ground floor and stuffed my hands in my pockets as I walked out of the building, although the sun had burned off most of the chill in the air, and it was turning out to be quite a pleasant day. I walked swiftly down the pavement for two streets before I reached Rayla’s office building, a small two-storey affair that housed about five different businesses, all crammed in together with hardly any space between them.
I’d been to Rayla’s office before, so I let myself in and made my way upstairs to the back left corner. The plaque beside the door, Inverness United, then listed Alana’s, Rayla’s, and Bee MacPherson’s names beneath it. The door was closed, so I rapped lightly on the wood. Rayla’s voice called for me to enter, and I eased the door open with a smile on my face, lifting a hand to greet the room.
Alana and Rayla were standing at a table that didn’t have any chairs beside it, bent over a bunch of papers until they glanced up at me. Rayla looked a little nervous to see me, but Alana grinned and came over to give me a hug. Her hair was buzzed short, less than an inch of tight curls sprouting from her head, and she was as tall as I was, dressed in a red leather jacket that would have rivalled one in Fletcher’s collection.
“Callum, hey. How are you doing?” she asked as she released me.
“About the same as ever,” I replied. “You?”
“Busy, but in a good way,” Alana said, gesturing around the office at all the papers stacked here and there. “I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again; thank you for hooking us up with Bee. She and her money have really been a godsend.”
“I’m glad to hear it’s going well,” I told her. I shuffled my feet on the carpet and took a breath before I locked eyes with Rayla. “Rayla, is it okay if we talk for a minute? I know we said we were going to keep some space between us, but I need to ask you a favour.”
I knew that Rayla had no doubt already told Alana that things were a little rocky between us, so I felt alright bringing it up in front of her, although I wasn’t entirely sure if Rayla had mentioned the whole bleeding woman on her doorstep thing.
“Sure,” Rayla said with a small nod. “Let’s step out into the hall.”
“Actually, I was going to go on a coffee run,” Alana piped up helpfully as she gathered her purse off the table. “I’ll be back in twenty. Callum, do you want anything?”
“That’s okay. I just had a coffee,” I said, smiling at her in thanks for her tact in leaving us alone. “Thanks, though.”
“Okay. Be back soon.”
Alana swept out of the room, leaving Rayla and me alone. Rayla perched on the edge of the table and looked down at her hands, picking at one of her nails. I moved a couple of steps closer.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said. “I know we were going to take some time to let some of the stuff in my life settle down, but something’s come up, and I could really use your help.”
“Does it have anything to do with that woman?” Rayla asked. She pulled her gaze away from her hands and up to my face, her eyes wide and worried.
“No, of course not,” I assured her quickly. “We haven’t seen hide or hair of the people who were following her, so it seems like it was just the one guy.”
That wasn’t entirely true if the shadow I’d seen outside my apartment had actually been stalking me, but I didn’t need to add to Rayla’s worries.
“It’s about my current case,” I continued. “We’ve set up an operation at this concert tomorrow, and I could really use a date to help with the camouflage. I was hoping you might come along. I promise you won’t be in any danger. We just need to watch the guy for a while to see if we can get some information out of him, and when we go to arrest him, I’ll make sure you’re as far out of the way as you can get.”
“I do like concerts,” Rayla said, letting a small smile cross her lips. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Really?” I asked, unable to believe that she’d agreed so easily. I thought for sure I’d have to talk her into it.
Rayla shrugged and hopped off the table to walk over and take one of my hands. “Sure. I’ve been thinking about it, and if that woman showed up on my doorstep, then I’m probably already on these people’s radar, and it’s not going to make much of a difference if I’m seen with you. Not that I like being on someone’s radar. I haven’t slept in three days, and I’m pretty sure my hair is falling out, but I can’t hide in Alana’s flat forever. I think a night out would do me a little good.”
“Thanks, Rayla,” I said and leaned in to give her a quick kiss. “I’ll text you the details later. And I’m sorry my life is so crazy. I know it’s not easy for you.”
“Who doesn’t like a little crazy every so often?” Rayla replied, but her tone read as slightly false to me, and I looked into her eyes to see what was really there. She shielded them by pecking me on the cheek, and I let the matter drop as she pulled back. Surely, she’d talk to me about it when she was ready.
“Do you want to stay until Alana gets back?” she asked. “It’s been a while since the three of us hung out.”
I checked the time on my phone. “I would love to, but I’ve got a lot to do today. This case is building to a big finish, and I need to make sure everything’s good to go before tomorrow night.”
“Right, makes sense,” Rayla said. “In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“I’ll text you later,” I promised.
I gave her another small kiss then saw myself out of the office, closing the door quietly behind me. I hurried downstairs, feeling relieved that had gone much better than I’d expected. I shot Fletcher a message as I walked down the street to tell her I was on my way back to the precinct. At least on a day this nice, it was hard to believe there was anyone stalking me, and the short walk was quite pleasant, the pavement scrolling by beneath my feet.
It took me a few minutes to exit the car park once I’d reached my car as it seemed that literally everybody else was trying to do the same thing at the exact same time, and I practised my clutch control as I eased down the line behind the Volkswagen in front of me.
I sped up as soon as I made it past the barrier, zipping through the streets toward the police station as quickly as I could in the heavy traffic. Once I arrived, I parked beside Fletcher’s Renault, stuffing my keys into my pocket as I got out of the car.
Fletcher was inside at her desk, eating Owens’ pot of mousse that she’d no doubt stolen from the fridge, her feet up on her desk as she looked over a report. I shucked my overcoat off and plopped down into my chair, the force of my impact spinning it halfway around before I stopped it.
“How did it go with Rayla?” Fletcher asked around the spoon in her mouth.
“Good, actually. She agreed to go with,” I replied. “You find a date yet?”
“I did,” Fletcher said with a sly look in her eyes. “She’s super-hot.”
“Good for you,” I laughed.
I booted up my computer and navigated to the concert’s ticket page. It would sure be a bummer if we’d left this too long and all the tickets were sold out, but the concert was small and local enough that there were plenty left. I bought enough for my team and our dates since Alec would be taking care of his side of things. Good thing Dunnel would be reimbursing me for this. I entered my card info and made sure to save the receipt. Then I emailed the tickets to everyone who needed one. Just as I finished with that, my phone buzzed with a text from Alec, letting me know that he’d bought his own tickets. He attached his receipt, and I saved it alongside mine to send to Dunnel in a little bit.
“We are good to go for tomorrow,” I announced to F
letcher once I was finished, and she gave me two thumbs-up in acknowledgement. “We should go talk to Martin. I want to know if he’s got any way for us to listen in on Alec’s conversation.”
Fletcher nodded, and we stood up from our desks to make our way over to the lifts, riding one all the way down to the lab. Martin and Benson were arguing about something when we entered, as they always were, though it didn’t seem to involve any broken glass this time. It sounded like it was about some kind of video game I wasn’t familiar with and the best way to beat the final boss.
I cleared my throat to get their attention, though, of course, Martin held up a finger for us to wait so he could get a final point in. Once he was finished, he smugly turned to look at us, ending the argument and cutting off Benson’s chance to retaliate. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that man was well over fifty.
“Callum, Tara, what can I do for you?” he asked as Benson crossed his arms and pouted a little.
“We came to check in about tomorrow,” I said. “Do you have anything for our man to wear other than a wire?”
“I mean, wearing a wire’s really not that big a deal,” Martin said, rolling his eyes. “We don’t exactly have any fancy, high-end earpieces either. The budget just doesn’t cover spyware.” Martin let out a dramatic sigh and shook his head.
“And?” I asked, gesturing with one hand to get him to hurry it along.
“Yeah, I don’t have anything new,” Martin said, and I let out a slow groan. “But I did try to modify one of our existing wires to try to make it a little smaller and less obtrusive.”
He turned to rifle through a couple of drawers until he found what he was looking for. He held it out to me, and I accepted the contraption, flipping it over in my hands as I examined it. He’d managed to make the wire’s transmitter about the size of a matchbox, where previously it had looked like a radio or a boxy phone. The wire itself was still black, winding its way up to the small microphone which could be taped to a person’s skin. I was willing to bet we’d be able to find a way to hide it to Alec’s satisfaction, maybe slide it up the inseam of a jacket where it would be less obvious.
Fatal Transaction: A DCI MacBain Scottish Crime Thriller Page 26
