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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

R obert ran up to the police tape shouting, ‘My girlfriend’s in there. Let me through.’

Never before had he wished so hard to have his warrant card with him. After he’d received Joshua’s message about armed police being summoned to an address on the High Street because someone – reports suggested someone ethnically Indian – had been shot dead, Robert hadn’t been able to think. Except to run out here and see.

In his heart, he knew. It had to be Nina.

But how the hell had this happened? Owning a gun in the UK wasn’t easy. You needed a permit – or a link to an illegal smuggling ring. When he’d sent her off on her own, he’d never imagined this outcome.

The police constable stationed by the tape shook his head. ‘I cannae let you through, sir.’

The media had already set up camp and, Robert knew, had their ears trained on this conversation. He could make a big deal out of it, kick and scream till someone helped him out, but even his dim senses knew how sensitive a situation like this could be.

Robert peered over the police constable’s shoulder, but apart from a few parked police cars and an ambulance, he could see nothing.

He pulled out his phone and dialled Joshua. His pal picked up a minute later. ‘Sorry, Rob, I’ve got nothing. But the situation has garnered a large-scale response. Cheryl has been summoned, but she’s pissed at you and won’t tell me anything.’

‘I just need to know where Nina is. If… if she’s the one who…’ Robert walked to the corner, trying to find a place to talk in private, but the onlookers, media and police constables made it impossible.

‘Can you talk to Cheryl?’ Robert heard the plea in his voice. ‘Nina won’t have me as her emergency contact, so if she is hurt and not… you know… I won’t know.’

A pause sounded down the line. ‘Maybe we could call hospitals – ask if she’s been rushed into A it was for Nina. He couldn’t lose her – not this time, not at all. He’d barely made it through Anne’s death. And Nina had come to mean so much to him. ‘Please.’

The receptionist huffed, that iron scowl melting just a wee bit. He took the image from Robert’s hand. ‘The woman they brought in was badly bruised. It’s difficult for me to say, as this image is clearly taken from a CCTV camera, but that bob is hard to mistake.’

Robert’s entire body sighed. The relief coursing through his body was so powerful, he nearly collapsed. She hadn’t been shot. ‘Oh thank God. Th-Thank you!’

The receptionist waved him away. ‘Sit there before the nurses need to help you. I’ll see what I can do.’

Robert did as he was asked. Settling on the hard chair, he waited. And waited, long after his arse had gone numb. The queue for A&E didn’t diminish, but at the same time, no one came to get him. The receptionist left for the night, without a word to Robert. Still, Robert sat there until:

‘Maybe I should arrest you. If your… rebound hadn’t butted her head in, I wouldn’t have had to make this trip to talk to her.’

Robert knew who it was before he lifted his head. Dickheadson’s wrinkles appeared more defined than the last time Robert had seen him, the scowl on his face as dark as if it had been etched with charcoal.

Robert’s legs almost gave in when he pushed off his seat. Christ, his arse hurt.

Seeing Robert’s grimace of discomfort brought a smile to Dickheadson’s face. ‘You don’t look fit to take your warrant card back.’

‘We both know, sir, you don’t want me to rejoin the force. You’d rather I quit.’

Dickheadson’s smile widened. ‘And now that she’s murdered her third, well, you’ll be going down with her.’ He poked Robert in the chest. ‘You’ll be out on your arse before you can even think of speaking back to me again.’

Robert watched the man turn and clomp down the corridor, his warrant card held up. ‘I’m here to talk to the patient who was brought in earlier with multiple wounds or whatever. Nina Banerjee. No one else gets to see her, talk to her, contact her. Got it.’ When a nurse nodded at Dickheadson, he pointed at Robert – it wasthe same finger he’d poked him with. ‘Especially that eejit.’

Robert hadn’t been expecting sympathy from the man. Hell, he hadn’t even had the decency to break the news of Anne’s death with care. Why would he change his ways for… what had he called Nina right there? Aye, a rebound.

‘Arsehole.’

‘That he is.’

Robert whipped round to find the owner of that voice. Cheryl stood there, her hair combed back in a high ponytail and her suit ironed like a military uniform, the blue shirt underneath equally professional.

‘You look dapper.’

She crossed her arms. ‘When I stopped worrying about two baboons, it gave me more time for myself.’

‘Why’re you here?’

While they hadn’t had an all-out fight, when Robert had walked away from Cheryl and Joshua, he’d known Cheryl hadn’t appreciated his line of thought or his belief in Nina.

‘Well, Robert, when someone dies of a gunshot wound, you need a full-blown police response. It makes people feel safe, and it also means we get the perp off the streets.’

Oh fuck! Neither Dickheadson nor she were here to ask questions. They were here to arrest Nina. ‘Oh no, there’s no way Nina shot someone. No one would tell me what’s happened?—’

‘Unless you eloped, I don’t think you’re married to Ms Banerjee, so we’re under no obligation to tell you anything.’

‘You know it’s more than that. Nina was with me until this morning. She left to visit the shop. There’s no way she has a gun or the training to use it. It’s hard to gain access to a gun, let alone the means to learn to use one. We would have known if?—’

‘Just like you know Nina is innocent?’ Cheryl raised an eyebrow. If she’d meant to mock him, it had certainly worked. ‘You’re a cop. What evidence? What happened to following facts?’

Robert opened his mouth to speak, but Cheryl threw her hands up. ‘You know what, I told you I wouldn’t be there to wipe your arse after you took a shit, so I’m not going to be. You take care of yourself.’

Robert reached out and held her arm. ‘She did not do this. She’s being framed, clearly. Have you taken a moment to consider why else those thugs would be after her?’

That had Cheryl pausing in her tracks. ‘She burned down Shah’s club. He wanted revenge. Not everything needs to be complicated, Robert.’ Then she rounded on him, caging him until Robert’s thighs hit the chair and he plopped back down. ‘Your girlfriend went up to the shop to confront Shah. Did you know that? They had an altercation. And then Shah died.’

So it was Shah that had been shot. Robert shook his head. ‘Nina doesn’t own a firearm. I have her backpack too. Cheryl you have to believe me. Shah was after her. And we thought… Hell.’ Robert ran a hand over his face. Their entire theory had been based on Shah. ‘Come on, you have to believe me– Nina is no killer.’

Cheryl stepped away from Robert, her eyes watching the people in the room. Everyone was busy – the staff trying their best to reduce the queues, and patients focused on their ailments.

She sat down next to Robert. ‘A few years ago, I met someone. Someone like Nina.’

Robert frowned. ‘A woman?’

‘Anthony Ricci.’ Cheryl looked down at her fingers. ‘He said the perfect things, made me feel incredible. Only, he was a Ricci.’

Wait? Cheryl in love. What the hell? ‘Ricci as in the gang family?’

When Cheryl looked up, her eyes had lost their sharpness. Instead, they were two watery pools. ‘Aye, that same family, although they weren’t close. At least estranged enough for me to… fall for him.’

In the entire while Robert had known Cheryl she had never been in a relationship and certainly hadn’t mentioned this Ricci fellow. Robert reached out and held her hand. ‘What happened?’

Instead of replying, Cheryl straightened her spine, then dashed away a tear. ‘The inevitable, Robert. What always happens when a cop falls for the criminal.’

‘They caught him?’

A laugh burbled out of her. ‘No. As I said, he was a smooth criminal. And now here we are. I fear you’re making the same mistake I did.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘All I want to say is, don’t fall for a lie. And don’t make the same mistake I did. It’ll only lead to heartache.’

It all made so much sense now. Cheryl’s antagonism towards Nina and her constant warnings stemmed from something more than prejudice. ‘Thank you for telling me.’

‘If you tell Joshua about this, I will murder you. And for the record, I still believe Nina could kill.’

‘Come on, Cheryl.’

‘But’ – Cheryl shot Robert a glare – ‘she couldn’t have killed him . That’s the only reason we didn’t get here earlier and arrest her. Now this is confidential. And I’m… telling you this because I’m not confident about Dickinson arresting the right perp. So I want you to listen carefully and for once in your damned life do as I say.’

When Robert didn’t agree, she raised her eyebrows, not to mock him but to urge him to answer. He nodded.

‘We traced a lad who works at the shop. Once I grilled him a little, he said Nina came in asking about the lockers.’

Robert opened his mouth to explain, but Cheryl cut him off.

‘No, don’t tell me why she was there. I don’t care. Anyway, Shah turned up later. Said he wanted to talk to Nina. Shah owned that place. Based on the destruction at the scene, there was a fight. But once again, given the lack of wounds on Shah – except for his brain matter being scattered over the ground – we believe he attacked Nina. During the altercation, he took her to the back alley behind the building. Don’t know why they were out there, but… he was shot there. No one heard anything, but someone saw the body and called it in. The officers found Nina huddled behind the bins, unconscious.

‘A search of the scene, including a thorough search of the bins, hasn’t led to any discovery of a firearm. Nina was in no state to toss the weapon. Besides, I just saw the autopsy. The bullet that hit him wasn’t fired from point-blank range. My theory is someone was waiting for him. They shot him and left.’

Someone? ‘That doesn’t add up.’ Robert shook his head. ‘Shah was our ultimate suspect.’

‘Nothing so far adds up, Robert.’ Cheryl laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘I hate to say this, and I hate to encourage this, but Dickinson wants Nina to stay put. And I know you’ll stick to her like her own shadow. And even if I’m angry at you, I don’t want to find your brains splattered on the ground, so take Nina and this time, hide. For fuck’s sake, please hide.’

That said, she stood up, patted his shoulder and disappeared down the corridor towards what Robert assumed was Nina’s room.