Page 54

FIFTY-THREE

Once he’d been given the go-ahead by Nicola Tanner, Greg Hobbs had sent instructions to Emily Mead on how to download a secure application that would enable them to video-chat. As soon as she’d messaged him to confirm that she’d installed the app, he called her.

‘Well, that works then.’ Hobbs grinned and gave a thumbs-up, then, seeing the image of himself in a small box on the bottom right of his screen, he instinctively straightened his collar and made a few quick adjustments to his hair.

‘Yeah.’

Hobbs enlarged the main image and could see immediately that Emily Mead had been crying. ‘You OK?’

‘I’ve definitely been better, Greg.’

‘We can do this another time, if you want.’

‘It’s fine.’ She almost smiled. ‘I’ve been a lot worse as well.’

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

She clearly needed no further invitation and, while Hobbs had no idea if she was telling him the things she did because she specifically wanted him to know or because he was the only person she could tell at that moment, he quickly stopped caring either way.

He just listened and tried not to look too shocked. Too horrified.

‘Fuck, that’s . . . awful,’ Hobbs said. Emily had paused and turned her face from the camera on her phone, breathing hard as though fighting to keep a lid on her emotions. He wasn’t sure if there was more to come, but struggled to imagine that it could get any worse.

‘Yep.’ She turned back to look at him. ‘ “Awful” is about right.’

‘I never knew,’ Hobbs said. ‘Any of it.’

‘Why would you?’

‘I’m just the nerd who gets paid to do the IT stuff. They don’t actually tell me anything.’

They stared at each other for a few seconds. The bare wall behind the sofa on which Emily was sitting was a suitably bland backdrop and Hobbs realised that he should have thought a little more about what she could see behind him .

‘It’d be fine if it wasn’t for that voice,’ she said, eventually.

‘The other man’s voice. I mean, no . . .

not fine, but maybe bearable. I know I can’t really claim I’d come to terms with what Callaghan did .

. . not when I was part of that stupid hate forum and considering what I let Brightwell draw me into.

Hopefully it’s going to get easier anyway now he’s dead, but all I’m saying is it’s not him that keeps me awake at night.

Never really was. I can still remember what that piece of shit smelled like and the noises he made while he was doing it, but they’re just like . . . flashes, you know?’

‘If you smell something similar,’ Hobbs said. ‘When you hear those kinds of noises.’

‘Right. But that voice has never gone away, never left me alone.’

‘Maybe when they’ve caught him.’ Hobbs knew it sounded trite, unconvincing even, but he didn’t know what else to say. ‘You’ve got good people on the case. Nicola and Tom Thorne.’

‘I know,’ she said.

‘So . . . ’

‘Is there a reason you wanted to talk?’ she asked. ‘I don’t mind if there isn’t.’

Hobbs had already cleared it with Nicola Tanner.

Once he’d given her the update, she’d said that she had no intention of sharing the news with Emily Mead.

It was information that no longer made any difference, she’d said, operationally or otherwise, but Hobbs had told Tanner that he’d like to pass it on.

He thought that Emily had a right to know.

‘Brightwell’s been online again,’ he said. ‘On your “hate forum”.’

‘Saying what?’

‘It was weird, like he was showing off. Letting everyone else in the group know that they were lightweights, basically.’

‘Well, he’s right, isn’t he? I mean, compared to him, everything he’s done.’

‘It also felt a bit like he was touting for business, you know? Angling for suggestions . . . names of coppers he could go after.’

‘Did he get any?’

‘Not as far as I could see.’

‘That’s good news for somebody.’

‘Oh yeah.’ Hobbs was trying to sound nice and casual, like it was no big deal. Because it really wasn’t. ‘And he sent you another message.’

Emily blinked and turned away again, just for a second or two. ‘What did he say?’

‘Hang on . . . ’ Hobbs executed a few swift strokes on his keyboard so that Emily would see the screenshot he’d taken.

Stay safe . . .

He did what was necessary to get Emily staring back at him again.

‘Fuck’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Like I said, he’s just showing off. He must know we’re seeing it, that it’s all being monitored, so it’s just . . . posturing or whatever.’

‘Course it is, because I am safe.’

‘Absolutely,’ Hobbs said.

‘Safe here , I mean. Aren’t I?’

‘Safe as houses.’

‘You know, unless he’s got a missile launcher or he’s planning to burn the building down or something.’

‘It’s all just for our benefit,’ Hobbs said. ‘There’s nothing he can do, you know that, right?’

‘Yeah . . . thanks.’ Emily nodded and leaned down out of shot. Hobbs heard the tell-tale hiss.

‘Are you vaping ?’

Emily reappeared on-screen, chugging away at the disposable vape and grinning like a naughty child when she puffed the vapour out. ‘One of the coppers outside smuggled it in for me.’

‘That’s a government building.’ Hobbs was grinning, too. ‘I doubt very much that the use of e-cigarettes is permitted on the premises.’

‘They’re hardly going to kick me out, are they?’ She started chugging again. ‘I could sit around in here smoking crack if I wanted to. Wouldn’t make much difference, as there’s every chance I’m getting sent down anyway when this is all over.’

‘I doubt that’s going to happen.’

‘You couldn’t get me some, could you? Crack, I mean. Maybe from that site where you bought those iffy meds.’

‘Almost certainly,’ Hobbs said. ‘But I know you’re joking.’

‘Half joking.’

Hobbs leaned across to adjust the volume on his computer and heard Emily laugh. He leaned back again. ‘What?’

She pointed. ‘What the hell is that ? Behind you.’

Hobbs turned to look at the object mounted on the wall, the one he’d paid nearly nine hundred pounds for at a gamers’ fair and really should have thought about covering up before he made the call.

He turned back and did his best to look dignified.

Unashamed. ‘It’s a life-size replica of Frostmourne,’ he said.

‘The two-handed longsword which bestows eternal power on the Lich King.’

‘Oh, right . . . and he lives in that citadel you told me about, does he?’

‘It’s his last bastion,’ Hobbs said.

Emily sat back, unable to get the vape into her mouth because she was laughing so much. Hobbs watched her and decided that he’d made the right decision in making the call because, if nothing else, he’d certainly cheered her up.

‘Well, Greg, the good news is that it’s actually pretty cool.’

‘Yeah . . . I know.’

‘But the bad news is, I don’t think your on/off girlfriend will be on again any time soon.’