Page 74 of Twisted Lies

Sixty-One

‘Where’s she gone?’ Penn asked, removing his headphones.

Stacey shrugged and turned to look out the window.

‘Oh, I see her down there,’ she offered, spotting Leanne walking in circles with the phone glued to her ear.

‘Do you think their family members know what they do?’ he asked, pouring himself a coffee.

Stacey shrugged. In some ways, the life of the handler was similar to that of the witness. They couldn’t be open and honest about what they did or who they worked with, probably had to make up back stories for themselves and tell lies to most people they met. Stacey couldn’t imagine being in a position where she couldn’t share the rigours of her day with Devon.

‘Do you think that’s why she’s so cold?’ Penn asked, watching Leanne out of the window. ‘She’s not part of a team; her work is secret so she can’t share the biggest part of her life with anyone.’

Stacey stood and joined Penn at the window, watching her walk the car park.

‘Why do you think she had to change her name five years ago?’ Stacey asked.

‘Maybe something to do with her new assignment being crime-family related. Taking every precaution and all that.’

Stacey idly wondered what lengths she would go to herself to keep doing her job.

Leanne turned and saw them both watching.

‘Talking of which, I really don’t think the Tyler family killed our guy,’ Penn said, returning to his seat.

‘Come on, they’ve got a good reason,’ Stacey argued. ‘If his testimony put those brothers away for a few years, they’ve got more reason than anybody to want to see him dead. It’s not like they were gonna come out of prison, shake his hand and agree to forgive and forget.’

‘Agreed, but it’s all too showy. Too ostentatious.’

‘But they would have wanted him to suffer.’

‘Indeed they would; but if they’d found him, they would have been far more likely to bundle him into a van and take him back to their own area. Why go to the trouble of scoping out a place that’s unfamiliar to them? Better to throw him in a vehicle and do it in a place they know well.’

Stacey could see his point, but it was too big a lead to write off on a hunch. The man had put members of a crime family behind bars.

She was about to argue her point further when Leanne entered the room.

‘The guy in Somerset, Dennis Burke,’ she said, taking her seat.

Both she and Penn looked at her expectantly.

‘Yep, he’s definitely one of ours.’

Sixty-Two

‘What the fuck?’ Kim asked as Keats removed the cake mixing bowl.

She leaned closer. ‘Keats, is that…?’

‘A rat,’ he confirmed.

‘Jesus Christ,’ Bryant exclaimed.

Keats had been right about one thing.

As horrific as the sight was, she was unable to look away.

‘Explain,’ she said, pushing down the nausea.