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

The lift door pinged open. Pole stopped for an instant to get his bearings and made his way towards the small group.

The young female officer gave her side of the story again, adding a few small details about when she started her shift. She hadn’t left her position since then, and everything had looked normal apart from the sudden deterioration in Ollie’s condition.

Pole was about to ask more questions when the doors of the ICU monitoring room’s doors slid open. A woman in blue medical scrubs and operating theatre cap walked slowly towards them. She anticipated the question. “He is alive.”

Cora collapsed on the nearest chair, holding onto Nancy’s hand.

“Let’s all get ourselves a cup of tea.” She moved towards the vending machines and Pole took her cue. They disappeared away from the others. They spoke quietly as they organised teas for everyone. Pole made a face and ran his hand through his hair.

Pole came back with the cups. The ICU registrar returned to her workstation. The doors slid open and shut without revealing what was happening beyond the frosted glass.

“The tests are going to take some time.” Pole sat down next to Cora. “You may want to go back home. As you can see, the hospital is very good at keeping us informed and PC Craven will let us know if we need to return. DS Branning is waiting downstairs.”

Cora slumped back into her chair. “I don’t have a home.” She ignored the cup of tea Pole was handing to her. He placed it on a coffee table nearby.

“I know it is hard for you. But you have my word, the minute I hear anything from the hospital, you will know.”

“Jonathan is right, Cora. Staying here won’t change a thing.” Nancy moved closer to her young friend.

Cora relented. She looked exhausted and disoriented. Pole and Nancy tried to reassure her. She was simply nodding without listening.

After a short moment, Pole started walking back towards the lift. Nancy hesitated. PC Craven was also trying to convince Cora to go home. Nancy managed to reach Pole as he walked through the opening doors.

“If it is about this afternoon …” Pole’s jaw stiffened a little.

“No.” Nancy shook her head, releasing a strand of hair from a hairpin. “I need to give you some information which I gathered this afternoon.”

Pole breathed in deeply. “Let’s hear it.”

“Ollie Wilson spoke to Cora yesterday.”

His face tightened further. Why did she not tell him sooner?

Nancy replied before he could ask. “It wasn’t a full-blown conversation … it was only one word … innocent.”

She carried on. “I also spent a little time at his office. Before you tell me I’m a fool, I can assure you that the CEO of that organisation does not want people getting too close to Ollie or whatever it was he was researching. He did not tell me he would not be around for a while, but simply pretended he was unwell. He equally did not welcome a lawyer asking questions, even on the pretext of making a substantial investment.”

“Did he become suspicious?”

“Difficult to say. I offered to invest a large enough amount of money in his business. If he checks my credentials they will hold. Granted it is a departure from what I usually invest in, but neither is it completely ridiculous.”

They had reached the ground floor. Branning was sitting in the main lobby, leafing through a newspaper.

Pole’s face was still closed. “Fine … I’ll take note. We need to find out more about the type of work he was carrying out, I agree. But I can’t just barge into Viro-Tech with a search warrant without good evidence.”

“Which is why I wanted to ask those questions.”

Pole looked at his watch. “I need to speak to Andy, but I can be at yours in a couple of hours.”

Nancy sighed. It was going to take more than a good bottle of wine and an excellent dinner to assuage Inspector Pole’s anger.

* * *

“I’ve asked the team to gather as much information as they can on the building.” Jethro was on the loudspeaker. Jack considered whether he had invited the team to listen in, but no, it was just the Station Chief who was talking and browsing through his emails at the same time.

“Thanks for that.” Jack had discovered a little café on Fleet Street, the street that once used to be home to all the major newspaper offices in London. He was on his way back to his hotel, having wandered around the City’s business district for a while.

He settled at a window table in the Fleet Street Presscafé. The place felt cosy, old photographs that looked genuine, from the days when Fleet Street was the centre of the press industry, covered the walls.

“I’m curious to check whether the security in and around the building was included originally or whether it is an upgrade. And if it is, when they decided to increase their protection.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I have gathered the intel. And this Asian woman, Ms Wu, I’ll see what I can do.” Jack heard Greeney typing, already calling up her name in his database, but as a prerogative of his position, he would only tell Jack what he felt he could reveal.

Jack’s coffee arrived. He needed a couple of these to stay awake. Still, this would do as a start. He would simply take his time. And perhaps a call to Laurie wouldn’t go amiss.

“You’re on holiday …” Laurie was, as always, eating her lunch at her desk.

“I know, but I won’t be able to have a proper holiday if my mind keeps coming back to the case I left behind.”

“And how can I help with this high anxiety of yours, Jack. I would not want to spoil your fun.” Laurie had stopped chewing.

“The office where Ollie Wilson worked looked rather well protected when I last looked at a picture of it … even more so from close up.”

“Address please?” Laurie resumed