The Rain Killer by Luke Delaney Read Free Book Online Page B

country. I’d hate to risk losing her for anything less than a critical operation.’
    ‘It’s a murder case,’ Sean explained, watching Daiyu moving uncomfortably in her chair.
    ‘Go on,’ Chopra encouraged.
    ‘The man who’s been murdering the prostitutes,’ Sean admitted.
    ‘The Reaper?’ Chopra checked. ‘You want Daiyu to help you catch The Reaper?’
    ‘I believe his preferred choice of victim is young Southeast Asian women,’ Sean told them. ‘I also believe he regularly cruises the streets searching for victims that match what he’s looking for. He doesn’t wait for any given time period. If the victim’s right and the weather’s right, then he’ll strike.’
    ‘The weather?’ Daiyu asked.
    ‘He only kills in the rain,’ Sean told her straight, making Daiyu and Chopra look at each other.
    ‘And you want to use Daiyu as a decoy?’ Chopra guessed. ‘Put her on the streets and see if you can’t get him to take the bait?’
    ‘In a nutshell,’ Sean agreed. ‘With the usual safeguards, of course.’
    ‘I don’t like risky decoy ops and neither does the Assistant Commissioner,’ Chopra told him. ‘Too many moving parts to go wrong.’
    ‘I’ll do it,’ Daiyu interrupted, making them both stop and stare at her. ‘I’ll do it. Christ, anything to get out of that bloody restaurant. I didn’t join the police to wait tables.’
    ‘It’s an important operation,’ Chopra reminded her.
    ‘I know,’ she agreed, ‘but it’s all I’ve done for the last two years. I could do with a break. Something different.’
    ‘I can certainly promise you that,’ Sean assured her.
    ‘Yeah,’ Chopra warned her. ‘Standing out in the freezing cold and rain waiting for a killer to drag you in his car.’
    ‘It won’t come to that,’ Sean reassured him.
    ‘Won’t it?’ Chopra snapped a little.
    ‘You owe me, Arif,’ Sean reminded him. ‘I went to prison for you, remember?’
    ‘Prison?’ Daiyu sounded alarmed.
    ‘Undercover in prison,’ Chopra calmed her fears, ‘to infiltrate a paedophile gang.’ She nodded her understanding. Chopra sighed before giving in. ‘Okay. I’ll persuade the Assistant Commissioner it’s a viable and safe deployment. So how d’you want this to work?’
    ‘We’ll arrange a flat for Daiyu to live and work from,’ Sean began. ‘We’ll keep her away from police premises throughout and communication will be mainly by phone, but when we have to meet it’ll be somewhere safe. Sounds like we’re going to need a cover story, too. You can’t just go missing from the restaurant in Chinatown.’
    ‘I’ll tell them I have to go back to China to look after my sick father,’ Daiyu suggested.
    ‘That’ll work,’ Chopra agreed. ‘We already have a back story in place if anyone checks on it.’
    ‘Fine,’ Sean agreed before continuing. ‘We’ll have Vice roll by a couple of times while you’re on the streets – may even have you arrested. It’ll give you credibility with the other working girls and should our man be watching you it’ll convince him you’re the real deal. They’ll also pose as customers so you’ll be seen getting into cars with punters.’
    ‘What about real punters?’ Daiyu asked.
    ‘If they’re not Southeast Asian get rid of them,’ Sean told her.
    ‘How?’
    ‘You’re an undercover police officer,’ he reminded her. ‘If you can’t think on your feet maybe you shouldn’t be doing this.’
    ‘Fine,’ she quickly answered. ‘I’ll think of something.’
    ‘Tell them you’re already booked and you’re just waiting for your trick to turn up,’ Sean eased up on her and tried to help. ‘As far as I’m concerned, if they’re not a viable suspect you can tell them you’re a cop if it gets rid of them. It’s not like they’re going to tell anyone.’
    ‘Okay,’ she nodded.
    ‘And you’ll be wearing a covert monitor at all times, so we’ll hear everything you do, but it’s only one-way. We can’t