Trust No One by Alex Walters Read Free Book Online Page B

was going to be her brother. Somehow, even as cover, that felt intrusive, but there was little she could do about it now.
    â€˜Hello there, Hugh,’ she said. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t supposed to use his real forename, but she’d done so as soon as he’d started to call her ‘sis’. With any luck, it would help the other side track the bugger down more easily.
    â€˜Afraid it’s bad news, sis.’
    She felt an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. Up to now, she’d been living on hope, clutching at the pitifully thin straws she’d tried to conjure up in the dark hours of the morning. Waiting on a miracle. She hadn’t dared return to Jake’s flat, or even try his phone line. Partly because now she couldn’t risk being linked to whatever might have happened there. But mainly because she knew, in her heart, that there would be no reply.
    â€˜We’ve had a death in the family,’ Salter went on. ‘Thought you ought to know.’
    â€˜A death?’ She held her breath for a moment, trying to keep her voice steady. ‘Whose death?’
    â€˜It’s J, I’m afraid,’ Salter said. She could read nothing into his tone. ‘Out of the blue.’
    Quite suddenly, she’d run out of words. She held the phone away from her face, breathing deeply, trying to hold herself together. ‘I don’t understand, Hugh,’ she said finally. ‘What do you mean?’
    â€˜What I say, sis. Poor old J’s dead. Dead as the proverbial fucking doornail, I’m afraid.’
    She bit back her first response, feeling bile at the back of her throat. There was a note in his voice she’d never heard before, something that leaked through the veneer of cynicism. He’s pissed off, of course, she thought, that’s part of it. But there was something more.
    She spoke slowly, trying to keep her voice steady. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Hugh, stop playing games. What’s happened?’
    â€˜What I say, sis. J’s dead. Taken in the night. Unexpectedly. Not an easy death, from what I understand. He suffered before the end.’
    She lowered herself slowly back down on her office chair, not entirely trusting her legs to support her. Her mind suddenly felt clear, as if she’d been dragged somewhere beyond emotion. ‘Suffered?’
    â€˜Yeah, it’s a bastard. A real bastard. Even that bugger didn’t deserve it.’
    She could feel herself clamming up, just wanting to get away from all this. This conversation. This job. This fucking life.
    â€˜Yeah, it’s a bastard, Hugh. So is there anything you want me to do about it?’
    There was another pause. ‘He was one of yours, wasn’t he, sis?’
    She held her breath again, concentrating, trying to ensure that she gave nothing away. ‘I put his name forward, Hugh, that’s all. Nobody forced him to be an informant.’
    â€˜No, suppose not, sis. Sad to see him go.’ There was no obvious sincerity in his tone. ‘Leaves us in a bloody hole as well. Anything you can do to help will be much appreciated, I’m sure.’
    â€˜I’ll bear that in mind, Hugh.’ She cut off the call, aware she was in danger of losing control. She didn’t know what her next reaction would have been – grief at Jake’s death, at the fucking manner of his demise. Tears at her own guilt and impotence. Blind fury at Salter’s smug irony. Whichever, it wouldn’t have been pretty. Now, she sat in silence, staring through the glass partition to where Joe was still patiently taking Darren through the intricacies of the reprographics machine.
    It wasn’t her fault. Yes, she’d been the one who’d suggested Jake as a possible informant. But, like she’d said, no one had compelled him to go along with it. He’d had his own reasons. She knew he’d wanted out, that he was sick of the endless brown-nosing to