BLOOD DRAGON by Freddie Peters (books to get back into reading .TXT) 📕

“Bugger.” Mandy’s voice came out loud and clear.

“You’ve lost her?” He said without rising from his desk.

“Yeah … there must be a blind spot or something at the station. I can’t find her anywhere.”

“And would the station you’re talking about be Balham by any chance?”

Mandy sprang up from her chair. “Wow … How on earth did you know that?”

“That’s not the only blind spot in London … but it’s the one used by the other people we tried to track down and lost on the Wilson case.”

“Well then.” Mandy moved around to come and sit on Andy’s desk. “She’s got to be part of the gang.”

He lifted his head, closing one eye. “Send the file to me.” He had an idea.

Pole was returning from yet another meeting with a frustrated Superintendent Marsh.

The Ollie Wilson search had yielded very little.

The informal joint inquiry with the counter-terrorist squad was going nowhere.

Ms Wu had a very good excuse for going to Hong Kong … and booking two tickets in her own name was odd, but nothing reprehensible.

Ferguson tried to argue that she might have changed the name on the other ticket at the last minute, but he was clutching at straws. Still, the squad was on Pole’s back and he could feel the heat.

Pole needed progress. The squad would still be on his back, but not Marsh. Marsh would be convinced the Wilson case was a high-profile case. He too was being grilled by the head of the Counter Terrorist Squad and it was not pleasant. He would use the Wilson case to fend them off as well.

Pole walked into the open plan office. He could already tell Andy was onto something important. He was half standing … still working, but surveying the entrance to the room. When he saw Pole he waved, excited.

“What is it that you found that is so exciting then?”

“You remember I told you the jogger was a woman?”

It took Pole a few seconds to recall the encounter between Cora and the jogger along the Regents Canal towpath. He nodded.

“And you remember I also thought the biker who …” Andy was trying to put it diplomatically.

“… ran over Nancy?” Pole suggested.

“Exactly … was also a woman?”

“Now Mandy’s found the nurse Cora had noticed coming out of the hospital lift.”

“And it was the same person?” Pole smiled.

Andy snapped his fingers. “And – wait for this – … she alighted at Balham tube station!”

“Part of the Russian crowd then?”

“Possibly … well … very probable. I don’t think it can be a coincidence.”

“Neither do I. What else?”

“Mandy tracked her back inside UCH. She walked around a few floors doing nothing much, checking here and there. But she never went into any of the staff rooms. She changed out of her uniform in one of the public toilets.”

“And you’ve tracked that person back out?”

“We have … that’s how we came up with Balham.”

“You’re the best.” Pole gave his DS a friendly tap over the shoulder. “Where is Mandy?”

“Not sure … but I’ll be sure to tell her you think she’s done really well when she comes back.”

“Now that we know Balham is her contact point, let’s speak to the local guys … they may know how to track her down.”

“On it, Gov.”

“Is there someone you know in that neck of the woods?”

“Not sure …”

“Let’s try to keep this discreet … If this gang is as well connected as we suspect, they have eyes and ears everywhere.”

* * *

“I’ll tell you all that I know, and all that Ollie told me.” Jack was still holding his hands up at the level of his shoulders.

In the low light of the room, he could make out Randy’s face, covered in sweat. His grip on the knife was so tight his knuckles had turned white. He had no idea how to fight with such a weapon, but Jack did not fancy tackling him … unless he tried to have a go at him.

“You could still be working for them.” Randy’s voice was hoarse.

“Why don’t I tell you anyway, and then you can decide.”

Jack lowered his hands in a slow deliberate gesture. “Do you mind if I move to the other end of the room and sit down?” Jack followed his words by moving backwards in slow motion. Randy cast an eye towards the door. No one else was coming. He seemed to relax a little, still holding the knife up as he moved to the opposite wall and leaned against it.

Jack told him as much as he could. The way Ollie had contacted him through the embassy. How he had promised to send information to Jack but never managed to. The call from London telling him Ollie had disappeared … The suspicions about illegal drugs.

Jack told Randy about his visit to Professor Park at Harvard Medical School.

“Ollie will never do drugs again. He had a difficult patch at Uni, that’s all.”

“But evidence is not stacking up in his favour in the UK.”

“That’s a set up.”

“Who by?”

“I don’t know.” Randy slid slowly down the wall. “Possibly the same people who tried to silence him in the first place.”

“Viro-Tech Therapeutics?”

“This may sound odd, but I still can’t believe Jared would do that.” Randy shook his head. “Ollie’s girlfriend always told him he was too naive. I guess I was too.”

A faint noise silenced both men instantly. It was coming from the floor below them. Jack stood up and moved towards Randy, indicating he should stay down. They both remained quiet. The noise stopped for a moment and started again.

This time Randy stood up and Jack did not stop him. “Take the passport and money you’ve hidden in the bathroom, but leave the rest here.”

Randy froze.

“We need to leave now …”

Randy shook himself. He moved to the bathroom, and retrieved his possessions, carefully replacing the loose tiles.

The sound below kept coming and going … someone was investigating the room underneath them.

Jack moved to the door, opened it