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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

‘S tay in the car – please?’ Nina added the magic word to make her command sound more like a question. However, it fell on deaf ears, just as she’d assumed it would.

Nina jumped out of the car and grabbed Cheryl’s arm. ‘He doesn’t like cops.’

Cheryl’s jaw appeared almost square, clenched as tight as it was. ‘He’s been gone for over twenty-four hours. I’m not letting some twat fuck this up.’

‘So stay in the car,’ Nina hissed, holding back some of her ire so as to not prod the beast. Between the two of them, Cheryl had the prefixes before her name that gave her the power to arrest Nina for obstruction of justice.

Joshua’s hand landed on Nina’s shoulder, then on Cheryl’s. ‘Bickering isn’t going to bring us Robert. He’s in no state to be off on his own, and reporting to the cops could put a bounty on his head. So please, let’s get on for his sake.’

Nina shrugged.

Cheryl rolled her eyes and stepped back on the pavement. ‘Five minutes.’

‘Fifteen.’ Nina held up a finger. ‘He’ll spook if he catches even a whiff of your warrant card.’

Nina whirled round and jaywalked across the street, muttering curses at Cheryl’s constant arguments. First she’d argued on where to park the car then about how they’d tackle Finn. In Cheryl’s opinion, the most efficient way would be to hustle Finn into the car and force him to track Robert down. Nina had vetoed that disastrous plan, played the logic card and forced Cheryl to park the car two blocks down from where Finn usually operated.

With every tick of the clock’s hands, things seemed bleaker. After his near panic attack, Robert had rushed out for some air. He’d asked for space, and they’d respected his need for privacy. Such revelations would shake even the most stoic person, and for Robert, it had just been more muck on a pile of shite.

When Robert still hadn’t returned a half hour later, Nina had gone out to check on him. Only he hadn’t been by the front door, or the side door. He hadn’t answered his phone; hadn’t been at her flat or his.

Now twenty-four hours had passed without any contact, stress and worry bloomed high.

Nina pushed open the door to the café, grimacing when she saw every single table was occupied… and none of them by a buff man hunched over a laptop.

Nina eyed the few stools in the corner overlooking the other road. There…

Muttering apologies as she picked her way through the crowded café, Nina stumbled over to where Finn, dressed in office attire, hunched over his laptop.

‘Finn.’

The man jerked, smacking the lid of the laptop shut in an instant. What did he think she was she going to do, arrest him?

He glared. ‘I thought you were done with me.’

Nina smiled at the person sitting next to Finn then wedged herself in the space between Finn and them. ‘Robert’s gone missing. I need you to track him down.’

‘Track a cop?’ Finn snorted, flashing his teeth. ‘Never thought I’d be asked to do that.’

Nina reached out and covered the man’s hand. Damn, even his wrists had some serious muscles – how the hell did he exercise them? ‘Look, we had a breakthrough yesterday afternoon that didn’t end up being good news for Robert. He left Billy’s distraught and never came back. We can’t find him, and we must.’

‘He’s a cop.’

Not this again! Nina ran a hand through her hair, disturbing the bob. She’d been doing that a lot in the last twenty-four hours. ‘Look, I know he’s a cop. But you’ve met him. Has he ever rubbed you the wrong way? Besides, if you help us, you’ll play a part in bringing down a bent police officer. How many of them hassle you on the regular?’

Finn’s eyes narrowed, then he lifted his laptop’s screen. ‘I don’t deal with cops.’ Then he began typing again as if Nina didn’t exist.

When she’d come in here, Nina hadn’t expected Finn to be so averse to helping out. After all, his attitude should have thawed towards them by now. She took a deep breath, fighting for patience. ‘He’s a good man. If he were such a stickler for rules, do you think he would’ve broken laws to help me out? That he’d have helped Daisy or Billy?’

Finn’s fingers danced over the keyboard, his eyes focused on the screen. Suddenly, the cursor blinked, and the image of a phone screen popped up. ‘As a blanket rule, I’m not a fan of cops, so I installed a screen-mirroring app on Robert’s phone. I wanted to know if he contacted any of his colleagues about me. This morning, he texted the number he’d saved under Anne Muller.’

Finn toggled over to his photos. ‘With a screen-mirroring app, I can’t access his device, only watch what he’s doing. So I took a screenshot when I saw what he was up to. Texting a dead woman is fucking suspicious. And?—’

‘What did he say, Finn?’ Nina’s fingers gripped the bar so hard she lost all feeling in her ring finger. ‘We don’t have time to?—’

Finn pulled up the message so she could read it.

‘Fuck!’ Nina’s profanity whipped throughout the coffee shop like a bullet. Heads turned to shoot her a look, most uncaring but some unamused. ‘Fuck!’ Nina certainly didn’t care.

Robert had just double-crossed her. What the hell? After everything, this was what he chose to do – run back to a wife that had betrayed him? Aye, he was a kind man, but she’d never taken him for a fucking coward.

‘Thanks.’ Nina pushed away from the bar, thinking of all the ways she’d kick not only Anne’s arse but Robert’s too. Maybe Robert deserved more of her ire. After all, he’d fucked her, said those sweet things to her; he’d conned her.

A hand clasped around her elbow and yanked her back. Finn shook his head when she opened her mouth to scream at him, then he deposited her onto the stool he’d been sitting on. ‘You’re going to need coffee for this. And… damn it! Where did those cops come from?’

The door to the café had jingled, and Nina looked over to see a scowling Cheryl enter, a helpless Joshua rushing in behind her.

‘They’re that fucking eejit’s pals,’ Nina snarled. If she said his name, she’d snap something in half.

‘Oh good, more cops, just what I fucking needed.’ Finn snapped his laptop shut, picked it up then deposited it on a table for four. The family sitting there had packed up and left after Nina’s wee outburst. He picked up his mouse, mousemat, and drink and arranged them on the table.

Nina slid from the stool and muttered, ‘I’m going to get us coffees.’

Cheryl had taken up a spot at the till, arms crossed and glaring at Nina.

‘What happened to fifteen minutes?’ Nina hissed. Why did the woman find it so hard to work in a team?

Cheryl eyed Finn. ‘He doesn’t look like a tech genius.’

‘And you look like you love taking orders.’ Nina sidestepped the DI and smiled at the barista. ‘Could we please have three long blacks and?—’

‘Hot chocolate. That’s what he likes at this hour,’ the barista smiled, her eyes twinkling at Finn. Of course she’d drool over those Superman-like muscles and that face.

‘Aye, that.’ Nina dug into her pocket and withdrew two tenners.

‘Er, could you make it a latte for me, please?’ Joshua peeked over Cheryl’s shoulder. ‘I’m not so bitter.’

After paying their bill, Nina waited for the barista to prepare their drinks. Cheryl still glared at Finn, though Joshua leaned in and muttered something in her ear that had the tension deflating from her shoulders.

Nina rolled her eyes. Robert and his pals were literally like a box of fruit jellies – sweet and sour mixed together. Cheryl liked her things just so, Robert didn’t mind bending the rules if he thought he could genuinely help someone and Joshua… well, he seemed to be the mediator, someone who appeared to be a joker on the surface, though her journalist’s instincts, still very much kicking inside her, said the man hid a lot underneath that costume.

‘Here you go.’ The barista placed all their drinks on a tray, then shot a smile at Finn. But the man had his head down, once more engrossed in his work.

‘Thanks.’ Nina shuffled forward like a stork, ensuring she didn’t tumble over bags, askew chairs or feet and spill their drinks. After setting their tray on the table, she slid in beside Finn.

Cheryl and Joshua took up the seats opposite, and Nina made the introductions, which neither party – cops nor hacker – seemed interested in.

Then she told Cheryl and Joshua about the message.

‘Favourite place?’ Joshua took a sip of his latte. ‘I didn’t know they had a favourite place at all.’

Cheryl picked up her coffee, then gestured to Finn. ‘Show me what the message looks like.’

‘I’m not sure?—’

‘Just do it,’ Cheryl snapped. ‘I don’t care how many laws we break, I’m not letting Robert walk into trouble.’

Finn angled the laptop so they could all see the text.

‘“I figured it out. Meet me at our favourite place. I’ll bring the hot chocolate… and the camera,”’ Cheryl read.

Joshua frowned, then shook his head. ‘Hot chocolate… At this time of the year, there are so many stalls that sell hot chocolate. Perhaps if we?—’

‘He didn’t text her a time, did he?’ Cheryl looked at her watch. It was almost five. ‘And he doesn’t have the camera.’

‘It’s in the car.’ Nina slid out of her chair. ‘I’ll go get it.’

Cheryl held up a finger. ‘Wait.’

‘The camera shouldn’t be left alone!’ Nina flashed her teeth at Cheryl. ‘You could cost us our only bargaining chip. Our evidence!’

‘I have copies of the pictures,’ Finn interrupted, shaking his head. ‘I haven’t got all day. The café shuts soon.’

The barista still loitered behind the till, fidgeting with something. Finn shot her a grin Nina hadn’t known he was capable of. ‘She’ll keep it open a wee bit longer for me, but I don’t like inconveniencing her.’

‘They’re planning to meet at George Square at six,’ Cheryl sighed. ‘Robert loves going to the Christmas Market there and grabbing hot chocolate. It’s something he always did with his mum. Anne hated joining him so much so that Robert dragged us there after work every day. Besides, every time we met, she’d always be on some diet or the other.’

Nina shook her head. ‘We need to stop him before he does something reckless.’

‘Hold on,’ Finn snapped. He looked at each of them then muttered a curse. ‘After I left the other day, I couldn’t stop thinking about the tables and those numbers. They’re all people. If your cop pals go bursting in and capture Anne, what do you think is going to happen to those women? At the end of the day, they’re here illegally. And they’ll be vulnerable.’

Cheryl nodded. ‘We have systems in place for that.’

‘Really?’ Finn snorted then roared with laughter. ‘Family liaison officers who’ve done a fucking course? Or the system where you cuff someone for stealing a loaf of bread but let a corrupt CEO walk with a hefty severance pay cheque?’

Turning to Nina, Finn shook his head. ‘All that lot wants are arrests. Those hundred-odd women in that table? They’ll just be collateral damage. And the bent cop? He’ll get early retirement and some medals for his trouble.’

‘Finn—’

He slapped a few papers in front of Nina. ‘Those numbers haunted me. Haunted me because numbering people is what the Nazis did. And I won’t stand for that in my town. These’ – he tapped the paper – ‘these are the names of the people, their real names and passport images. Find them first, before you bring the mastermind down.’

Nina leafed through the pages. There were 123 women on the list, but there would likely be more out there – many more.

She turned to Finn and gripped his forearm. ‘I promise you we’ll make sure they’re safe. You’re right. Humans are not numbers.’