Spider Shepherd 11 - White Lies by Stephen Leather Read Free Book Online

so why not take a couple of weeks off. Have a holiday.’
    ‘I’m not a great one for beaches or swimming pools. But yeah, I could do with some downtime.’ He put down his knife and fork. He hadn’t realised how hungry he was but he’d cleaned his plate and eaten half the toast in the rack. He looked over at Button’s plate. She’d barely touched her scrambled eggs and salmon. ‘I’ll head back to Hereford, if that’s OK with you. I’ll need transport.’
    ‘There’s a car and driver outside ready to take you wherever you want to go,’ she said. ‘Where’s the Andy Bell vehicle?’
    ‘Up north. In the Seahouses harbour car park. I left it there when I took the rib over to France.’
    ‘I’ll get it collected,’ said Button. ‘And I’ll arrange for the cottage in Seahouses to be cleared. Is there anything there you need?’
    ‘It’s all legend stuff,’ said Shepherd. He took off his wristwatch, a battered TAG Heuer, and put it down in front of her. ‘That has to go back, too.’ He reached for another slice of toast, buttered it and covered it with marmalade.
    ‘Do you always eat like that?’ she asked.
    ‘Only when I’m ravenous,’ he said.
    ‘You must have a high metabolic rate.’
    ‘Piloting the rib takes a lot of energy,’ said Shepherd. ‘You’re on your feet all the time and fighting the wheel. What’s happening with Coatsworth and the rest?’
    ‘They’ll all be charged with human trafficking, and the importation of Class A drugs. There were eight kilos of high-grade Afghan heroin in Rainey’s backpack. We’ll try to get him to tell us where the drugs were headed.’
    ‘And cut him a deal?’
    ‘That’s how it works.’
    ‘But no deal for Coatsworth?’
    ‘Not on the drugs. He’s denying all knowledge of the heroin.’
    ‘I don’t think he knew, Charlie. He never mentioned drugs to me.’
    ‘Why would he, you’re the new guy on the team.’ She leaned towards him. ‘Seriously, Spider, you did well. Coatsworth’s operation has brought over hundreds of illegals and heaven knows how much heroin.’
    ‘Ally always said the great thing about smuggling people was the penalties were so much lower.’
    ‘Ally?’ She raised her eyebrows.
    ‘Just because I use his first name …’
    ‘The drugs were on his boat, Spider.’
    ‘No argument there, I’m just saying that he probably didn’t know what Rainey was doing. It was just a backpack. We all had gear with us.’
    ‘Yes, but you didn’t have eight kilos of almost pure heroin in your backpack, did you?’
    ‘So Coatsworth is going to be charged with drugs smuggling as well?’
    ‘That’ll be a CPS decision,’ she said.
    ‘That’s not fair.’ He held up his hands. ‘I know, life’s not fair.’
    ‘Spider, he ran a smuggling operation and the day we busted him there were eight kilos of heroin on his boat. If Rainey wants to stand up in court and say that Coatsworth didn’t know about the drugs, then that’s all well and good. But it’s not your problem.’ She picked up the TAG Heuer and put it in her handbag, then looked at her own watch, a slim gold Cartier. ‘Right, I’ve got a debrief with the Border Force commander at noon. I’ll be sure to bring up the matter of you being belted over the head. Let me know what you decide holiday-wise. Oh, and your biannual is due. Caroline Stockmann will be in touch.’
    ‘My favourite psychologist,’ he said. Six-monthly psychological evaluations were a nuisance but he liked Stockmann as she had the knack of making them seem like friendly conversations.
    ‘You love your little chats with her, you know you do.’ Button laughed. ‘And she can check that the torch didn’t do any lasting damage.’
    The instructor’s name was Hammad. He was thirty-seven years old, a former captain in the Afghan National Army, and a jihad warrior who believed with all his heart that his mission in life was to kill those who did not agree that Allah was the only God and that