Challis - 01 - Dragon Man by Garry Disher Read Free Book Online

all if the law caught up with you. Danny had
been with him on two such jobs. No fun at all, but he couldnt wriggle out, not
without copping a lot of aggro.

    He tossed his cigarette into the
darkness. His own style was more scientific. Hed stake out a street for a
couple of afternoons after knocking off work, getting a feel for the
surroundings. Any dogs? Any neighbours about? Any lawns in need of mowing, mail
mounting up in the box, newspapers not collected? Then, having targeted a
house, hed go around it, examining the windows for alarms. That was what he
was good at. Using his head. Hed steal nothing big, no bigger than a camera,
say. Rings, cash, watches, brooches, credit cards, CDs. Anything that would fit
in his backpack, a fancy soft leather thing with some foreign name stamped into
the black leather. Hed lifted it from a house on the outskirts of Frankston a
few days ago. Almost new, lovely smell to it. Hed give it to Megan next time
he saw her, tell her he was sorry hed forgotten her birthday.

    * * * *

    One
oclock in the morning. The bar was closing, and John Tankard had dipped out
badly with that nurse, so he thought he might as well drive home.

    Hed been chatting her upnot a bad
sort, about a seven on the scaleand started by buying her a glass of riesling
and telling her his name, John, John Tankard, except my mates call me Tank.
Shed looked him up and down and said, Built like one, too, then her hand
went to her mouth and her face went red. Sorry, I didnt mean youre fat or
anything, I meant youre strong, you know, like you keep in shape and that.
She came out of the other side of the apology a little breathless and smiling
and relieved to have turned a possible insult into a compliment, and hed
grinned at her kindly and theyd settled elbow to elbow on the bar and begun to
talk.

    But then came the moment. It was
always there, hovering over everything he did when he was off duty:

    What do you do?

    He said flatly, Im a policeman, a
copper.

    Wariness and retreat were there in
her eyes in an instant. An opportunity lost or failed, like hundreds over the
years. Just once would he like to see approval or interest or curiosity on
someones face when he told them that he was a copper.

    There was a time when he believed
all of the bullshit, that he was there to protect and serve. Now he saw it as
us against them, the police against the public. The public were all guilty of
something, anyway, if you dug deep enough. And did they deserve his protection?
They shouted police brutality whenever he made a legitimate arrest. At
parties they cringed comically and said, Dont shoot me, dont shoot me. Hed
had four malicious civil writs from people hed arrested, just trying it on,
giving him a hard time.

    Over the years the hardness had
grown. He was more suspicious than he used to be. The job was more violent now.
You saw some ugly things, like dead people, like syringes or speed or dope on
kitchen tables in full view of little kids. Tankard was full of frustration.
Repeat offenders were forever getting off on a bond. Sergeant van Alphen tried
to drill it into him, Dont take the job personally. Your responsibility is
simply to present the case. Its not your fault if some dropkick gets off
because hes got a good lawyer or a piss-weak judge or a good sob story but
it wasnt as easy as that.

    He was no longer sure what was right
and what was wrong, and nor did he care. Hed seen some pretty bent coppers in
his time and some halfway decent murderers, rapists and thieves. Most people
were on the take in some form or another. A nod and a favour here, a wink and a
slab of cold beer or half a grand in an envelope there. Fuck em all.

    And he felt tired all the time now,
and ragged from sleeplessness. He ate and drank too much. His back ached to the
extent that he could never get comfortable in any chair, and sitting for long
in the divisional van or a car was sheer hell. The insides of his cheeks were
raw from where hed chewed them.