Dark Side by Margaret Duffy Read Free Book Online Page B

injured his wife”.’ And when the other carried on staring at him, appalled, he added, ‘As you’re more than aware he’s done something like it before and all the signs are that Mallory’s right under his control. And now you say Cooper’s big buddies with a serious criminal?’ He shrugged. ‘All it would take is a phone call for Mallory to be seriously done over.’
    There was a much longer silence this time. Eventually Carrick, gazing into space, breathed out hard through his nose and muttered, ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have come out tonight.’
    â€˜Perhaps you don’t need friends.’
    The DCI turned to face him. ‘Look, Patrick …’ Then he got to his feet and strode away for several yards, his back to us. Patrick merely smiled into his beer tankard, waiting.
    With a gesture of despair Carrick came back and reseated himself. ‘This man’s like a running sore to me,’ he said through his teeth. ‘I’ve seen him twice lately when I’ve gone out at around midday. He doesn’t bother to hide himself, just stands around seeming to know where I’m going to be. And it’s worse than that: Joanna told me the other day that there was a red sports car parked in the lane outside our house with a man sitting in it. She’s never actually come face-to-face with Cooper but from her description it was him all right.’
    Patrick said, ‘I’ve already mentioned to Greenway that Cooper and Mallory are back in circulation as we were discussing the subject of career criminals recruiting dodgy private investigators to get corrupt cops to leak information and delete files. You’ve already had the experience of having Cooper trying to interfere with an investigation and he also took it to a personal level. As you know, Greenway doesn’t think that he could have been the target in that London shooting. He did, however, ask me to put the incident on file, leaving the responsibility of looking into this mobster chum of Cooper’s who’s been involved with interference to evidence elsewhere to your lot. James, you’re on SOCA’s radar with regard to this matter, which means that if you go in alone there’s every chance that things’ll go pear-shaped. If you bide your time and out-think Cooper, everything will be a hell of a sight better.’
    I had already said to Patrick that in my opinion a large part of the problem was the DCI’s chronic lack of sleep.
    Carrick said, ‘So, assuming I’m actually listening to you, where do I go from here with this little shit? Ignore the fact that he’s been sitting outside my house while Joanna’s there on her own?’
    â€˜From what I know about your good lady,’ Patrick drawled, ‘she has a pretty devastating right hook. Once bloodied the nose of one of her DS successors when he made some kind of dirty remark about your relationship, didn’t she?’
    â€˜Who told you that?’ Carrick demanded to know.
    Patrick smiled. ‘Only a little bird perched in a grape vine.’
    My money was all on Derek Woods.
    â€˜Seriously,’ Patrick continued, ‘I do understand your worries. But, if it
was
him I can’t imagine that Joanna’s in any danger. Would you like me to watch Cooper and Mallory for you?’
    â€˜How the hell can you? Just now in the pub you said you’d been given a desk job that would last a while.’
    â€˜I’ll disobey orders – besides, I can do most of the desk job from home.’
    Slowly, Carrick shook his head. ‘No, but thanks all the same.’
    â€˜Do you have any more info about the mobster Cooper’s involved with?’
    â€˜I simply haven’t had the time to go into it. But, there’s a rumour, courtesy of a London snout, that he likes to be known as Raptor.’

FOUR
    â€˜T he biggest advantage is that Cooper’s not previously clapped