Rat Runners by Oisin McGann Read Free Book Online Page B

a port-wine birthmark that went from above her left eye, across her cheek, almost to her ear. Manikin was sure that the girl normally covered as much of that mark as possible with her hair. It spoiled what was otherwise quite a pretty face. With hips like that, she wasn’t exactly model material, but there was something very attractive about her. She had a spirited expression, and the posture of her small figure suggested a confident personality.
    “Veronica Brundle, the boffin’s daughter,” Move-Easy announced. “The person he trusted most in the world. He was mad about ’er, but separated from the mother. The girl lives with the mother. She visited ’er dad last night. The handbag she had with ’er could have held the case, but we didn’t ’ave anyone on the buildin’ when she left—there was a Safe-Guard on the street by then—so she could have walked off with the box in her bag without us knowin’.
    “Now, her dad told her about us, so if she’d any sense, she’d have brought us that box by now. But she ’asn’t. I want you to suss ’er out, check ’er ’ouse and the school. Is she connected? Is she protected? Does she ’ave the contacts to sell the cards? If she’s gonna try an’ run, I want to know before she does. There’s no guarantee she’s got ’em, but I think she’s our best bet. Tricky bit is, she lives in a two-floor apartment in the Barbican and goes to a private school.”
    Manikin rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and FX groaned. The Barbican Estate was a mass of concrete structures containing over two thousand flats, some as part of three massive residential towers. It was a maze, and it was riddled with security cameras. And even though primary and secondary schools could not be observed by the WatchWorld system, they all had their own security measures. Private schools were usually the most paranoid and had higher quality systems.
    “I presume these cards are worth a lot of money to someone who can use them,” Manikin spoke up. “Would she leave something like that in school?”
    “Might, if she didn’t want her mum findin’ it,” Move-Easy told her. “Leave no stone unturned, that’s what I say. Tanker will give you all the details we ’ave on the girl. You’ve got three days to find out for sure whether she ’as it or not.”
    He glanced up at the well-dressed man standing at the bar, who was leaning there with his eyes closed. With those earphones in his ears, it was impossible to tell if Coda was listening to them or not.
    “I don’t want to ’ave to send in Coda here, or set any of the boys on ’er and the mother unless there’s no other way,” Move-Easy said. “Let’s keep this quiet and hands-off for now.”
    “If it’s OK with you, I’d like to bring Scope in on this as well,” Nimmo said.
    Manikin glanced at FX, who shrugged. They both knew Scope and trusted her. She wouldn’t get in the way, but they couldn’t see what they needed her for out on the street.
    “What d’you want her for?” Move-Easy asked, frowning. “You’ve got all the skills you need right here.”
    “I don’t want to go to all the hassle of doing the job, gettin’ my hands on those cards,” Nimmo told him, “and then find out they’re fakes. That’s one of the jobs she does for you, isn’t it? She spots counterfeit merchandise. Better she do it on the spot than have us bringin’ fake gear back here.”
    “Awright, she can go with you. But look after ’er, Nimmo. If summink ’appens to my Little Brain, I’d be most put out. Worth her weight in diamonds, that girl is. She’s like a friend’s daughter to me. Not a hair on ’er ’ead, boy, y’hear me? Not a hair on ’er ’ead.”
    “I hear you,” Nimmo said. “It’ll be the safest hair in London.”
    The three teenagers were getting to their feet when Move-Easy added to FX and Manikin:
    “Oh, last thing. Just so the both of you know, Nimmo’s in charge. What ’e says goes.”
    “What?”