Page 69 of Dropping Like Flies

A muscle twitched in Ben’s cheek, but he nodded. He knew when he was beaten. He’d known that as soon as the door opened that his opportunity to ask questions of Dougie was over, that the DCS wouldn’t—couldn’t—let it continue.

Disapproval came off Baros in waves as he focused on me. “Make sure he’s not left in here.” I raised an eyebrow at his tone, but didn’t comment. I was already skating on thin ice and arguing would only make it worse. Two of the officers dragged their gaze away from Dougie for long enough to flank me, taking hold of an arm each. I was still weak and shaky enough to be glad of the support.

“Are we arresting him?” one of them asked.

The look in Baros’ eyes said that nothing would please him more.

Ben opened his mouth to defend me, but a shake of my head had him closing it again.

Baros’ scrutiny of me went on for long enough that it went way past uncomfortable and became excruciating. Finally, he sighed. “There’s no point. Cade greases far too many palms to make it stick for more than a few hours. Just… get him out of my sight.”

He made to depart, one officer coughing before he could. “What do we do about…?” He didn’t seem to want to use Dougie’s name, jerking his head in his direction instead.

I did speak up then. I was the expert, after all. “Make him comfortable. Get him whatever he wants and take him wherever he wants to go. Let him call his mother if he wants to.”

Dougie brightened at that. “Can I? And I’d kill for a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea.” He grimaced when he realized what he’d said. “Not actually kill. It’s just, you know, a turn of phrase.”

There was a certain irony to the person who’d confessed to several killings they hadn’t done balking at a slip of the tongue. Were I not already being escorted out of the room, I might have pointed it out. Baros and Ben were a few steps ahead of me, Ben following his superior officer obediently. My escorts didn’t release their iron grip on my biceps until we were a few corridors away. I used my newfound freedom to catch up with Ben before he reached Baros’ office, the DCS already having disappeared inside.

“I’m coming with you. I’m not leaving you to face him alone.”

Ben shook his head as he pulled me to one side. “Don’t be stupid! The only thing that’ll happen if you go in there is that he’ll change his mind about arresting you. And Cade might be Billy Big Bollocks, but even he can’t just click his fingers and get you released in seconds. They can keep you for twenty-four hours without charge, and trust me, it’s a tactic we’re happy to do. I’ve done it myself enough times.”

The idea of being stuck in a custody cell for twenty-four hours held little appeal. “I don’t like the idea of you in there all on your own when we both did it.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I’m a big boy.”

“You are.” I let my gaze drop to his crotch just so he couldn’t possibly miss the double entendre.

His eyes might have flashed a warning, but it was very much at odds with the smile on his lips.

“DCI Weaver! Perhaps you’d like me to explain the meaning of the word NOW in simpler terms you can understand, because you seem to be having trouble with it.”

Ben gave me a little shove. “Go home and get some sleep. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know what was said.”

I checked my watch and grimaced when I saw it was nearly five. It would be light soon. “It is the morning.”

“WEAVER!”

Ben gave me another shove, this one more insistent. “Go. And don’t walk home. Get a cab. You’re in no fit state to be walking.”

I backed off a few steps. “Good luck.”

Ben sighed, his gaze straying toward the open office door. “Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”

Despite my misgivings, I did what he’d said and left him to it. It wasn’t until I stepped outside that I allowed myself to think about what the night had brought. Not the good stuff. I would think about being engaged again later. No, I thought about the bad stuff. Another murder and Dougie’s suicide. The latter had me looking back at the station. Was he still alive? Would they tell him what he’d done? I doubted it. Who wanted to have that conversation? They’d just wait. I only hoped they’d do what I’d said and give him anything he wanted until it happened.

Chapter Twenty-four

Ben

It was nearly six by the time Baros stopped shouting and let me leave his office. It certainly hadn’t been pretty, but somehow—and I was still reeling from how easily it could have gone the other way—I’d kept my job. They wouldn’t fire me, and they wouldn’t demote me either. As Baros had phrased it, “he’d just be keeping a really close eye on me until he felt he could trust me again. So close that not a day would go by without me waking up and wishing I hadn’t fucked up so spectacularly.”

I could live with that. I might have broken all the rules to do it, but we finally had something tangible that would prove Satanic Romeo’s identity. Find the man with the humming bird tattoo and we had our killer. It was this reveal that had finally placated Baros, his brain ticking over immediately to weigh up what we could do with the information. Stationing a continual presence in Eclipse was on the cards. One who knew what they were looking for this time. Although, the tattoo’s location made it more tricky. I doubted the manager of Eclipse would be up for having his customers strip-searched.

Even so, as I slid behind the wheel of my car, I couldn’t quite shake a feeling of optimism. It was something, and something was always better than nothing. Fatigue sat heavily on my shoulders as I started the engine. Heavy enough to make me contemplate whether I should be driving, my eyes feeling like they were full of grit. Hardly surprising when I’d been awake for over twenty-four hours. Never had my bed seemed more inviting. Yeah, I wasn’t hanging around for someone else to drive me home. As long as I took it slow, I’d be fine.

I’d just pulled up in front of my house when my phone rang. Griff? I would have hoped he’d be asleep. Baros? Had he thought of an insult he’d forgotten to throw at me? I had both of their numbers in my phone, though, and it was showing as unknown. I admired the glorious sunrise appearing on the horizon as I contemplated ignoring it, the lure of my bed strong. Who else would call at this time? Which, presumably meant it was important.

---