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

They both sat in silence, struggling to come to terms with the news.

“The UCH registrar called me to confirm what she’d suspected.”

“But how is that possible?” Nancy’s croaky voice sounded almost inaudible.

“It’s not the result of his overdose in Camden …” Pole let his arms fall to his sides, his eyes fixed on the mobile phone he had dropped on the coffee table. “Someone injected him with a fresh dose of drugs … an opiate of some sort.”

“You mean … someone came into Ollie’s room to administer it?”

“That’s the only way it could have happened … it was injected into the drip they fitted when he first arrived.” Pole picked up the phone and replaced it carefully on the table. “Of course, I’ll have to interview the two PCs who have been on duty the whole time he has been in hospital, but I’ll be surprised if it has anything to do with those two.”

“Then the only possibility is hospital staff.” Nancy cleared her throat. She owed it to Ollie and Cora to focus on the matter. “Or, more likely, someone who managed to pass for a doctor or hospital nurse.”

Pole nodded. “I’ll get Andy to check the CCTV cameras. We should have a good record of who came in and out of the room.” Pole finally raised his head. He briefly met Nancy’s eyes. Some remaining anger flashed there, but he was no longer in the mood for an argument and neither was she.

Nancy stretched out a hand and gently squeezed his fingers.

“I’m sorry I gave you concern, Jonathan.”

Pole’s fingers hesitated. “I can’t protect you if you won’t let me.”

“I don’t always need protecting … it’s also who I am, a risk taker, always needing to know how far I can push my luck.”

“I’m aware of that, but by not talking to me, you have delayed what I could have done to investigate the assault.”

“I spoke to Andy.” Nancy had laced her fingers into his. He almost pulled back.

“You know Andy will not query what you say. He is good, a very good DS, but he’s still a little green.”

“It felt right that I should not surrender to fear … I don’t believe the bike attack was aimed at snatching my satchel. It was all about scaring me off, intimidation.”

“But we don’t know what the assailant was trying to scare you about. Is it the Wilson case? Is it your father’s case?”

“And we won’t know until I pursue both investigations with equal determination.”

Pole looked surprised. He must have expected her key focus to remain on the Wilson case. But he had to know she would no longer rely on others to find out about her father’s fate.

“I can’t let people get hurt because they make enquiries about him on my behalf. And somehow China is a key player in what is happening to me, to Ollie and of course to Amy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I had a number of conversations with Ollie about China … At the time I thought it was all about Cora. Her parents’ disappearance. Her upbringing as a Hong Kong Chinese. But I no longer think that is the case. His questions were concerned not so much with the past but about the present, and I did not spot it at the time.”

“Is that a good enough reason to go barging into his office?”

“You don’t have enough evidence for a search warrant, as you said yourself. Not to search his office, anyway. You could just about justify requesting access to his computer, but the company will have removed any sensitive data by now and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Nancy came to sit next to Pole. “You know I’m right. This case is made to look like a drug addiction gone bad, perhaps even a drug dealing transaction that went wrong … and nothing else.”

“And we can’t discard that as a possibility.”

“You are right, we can’t … I might be too …” Nancy hesitated but carried on. “… obsessed with China to think straight, but I’d like to follow my hunch.”

“I don’t mind you following your hunch as long as I know whether that puts you in danger.” Pole moved his body round to face her.

“It’s not always practical to do that.”

He picked up his mobile. “This is switched on 24/7 as you know.”

“But I know you too well … you’ll try to convince me to stop.”

“That’s my job. I stop people doing stupid things all the time, so I’d like to stop you from doing them too.” Pole dumped the phone on the table again, irritated.

Nancy smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I need to be free to choose. I know I’m asking you to do the opposite to what you spend your career doing … very successfully I might add. I find solutions because I take enough risks to discover the right information.”

“I don’t want to change that, Nancy, I just want to be given the important information in time so that I can anticipate any problems.”

“And I’m about to feed you exactly that.”

Pole ran his free hand through his hair and left it there for a moment. “So, what have you got for me?”

Nancy moved more fully into the sofa, her back against the armrest, legs pulled underneath her. She gave a detailed account of her day without omitting the motorbike incident. Pole picked up one of her yellow notebook pads. He didn’t interrupt. It felt more like a deposition than teamwork, but Nancy had decided not to worry if he felt put out by this.

“I’ll check whether there is anything on record about Viro-Tech Therapeutics,” Pole finally volunteered.

“And I’ll get more information about the ultimate beneficial owner of the Hong Kong company that has invested in Viro-Tech … I have called the most suitable contact amongst my former criminal lawyer colleagues. I am sure he will help.”

Pole thought for a moment. “The NCA has given