Page 17 of The Rat

“Yeah, it has. I don’t wanna fightanymore.”

“I know you can do it, Rory,”Hamish mumbled, then he edged closer, “And you owe me,remember.”

Rory bit his lip and frowned. The doorswung open, and inspector Morris stepped inside. Her salt andpepper frizzy hair was tied back, and her lashes were coated withblack mascara. She looked at Hamish, then at Rory.

“You ready to go backinside?”

“No.”

“Knew you didn’t have it inyou.”

Rory gave her a venomous glare. “You trygetting stabbed, see how you feel.”

“It’s barely a scratch.” Morrisargued.

Rory closed his eyes. “Someone trappedme in a storage room and stabbed me. I can’t go back there. I justcan’t.”

“Did you blow your cover?”Hamishasked.

“No.”

“So this is inmates beinginmates, a welcome to prison tradition.”

“It hurt…”

Hamish shuffled his chairforward. “I believe you, but you can’t give up. SebastianClaw is evil. I puthim away all those years ago, and I need to do it again. If usthree do this, we’ll be heroes in the community.”

“I never wanted to be ahero.”

“You’ll climb the ladder like meand Morris. More money, more respect. A man your dad would’ve been proudof.”

Rory flashed a look atMorris, then atHamish.

“Look,if you can’t do it, step aside,”Hamish muttered, “but it’ll be a wasted opportunity. I brought youinto this because I trust you, I see huge potential. You could be asuccessful police officer, maybe even an inspector one day, likeMorris.”

“Twenty years agonow.”

“And you jump from division todivision.” Rory murmured. He didn’t add ‘and bed tobed,’ butMorris narrowed her eyes like she knew Rory was thinkingit.

“Morris is one of the bestofficers on the entire force. I asked her specifically to help mewith this case.”

He gazed up atMorris, and shepouted her lips, then fluttered her overdone eyelashes. “And I camerunning.”

Hamish turned back to Rory andgrabbed his hand.“I know you can do it. I’ve always believed in you, youcan’t let me down…”

Rory chewed his bottom lip and didn’t speak.His silence earned him a pat on the shoulder.

“That a boy. Now think back tothis past week. Has Sebastian said anything, anything at all that couldhint at what him, and his old friends are planning?”

“He saidwhen he gets out, he’s gonnacelebrate with a big bang.”

“A bang?”Morris mumbled. “Like an explosion, abomb?”

“I don’t know, that’s allhe said.”

Hamish itched his moustache.“We all knowhe’s done deals with terrorists before, sold devastating bombs overthe dark web. What would he want to blow up? The court that senthim down? The police station he was charged in—”

“The inspector’s house that caught him?”Morris whispered.

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