Page 102 of Between the Lies

She brushed past him, ducked under someone’s legs, and kept running. Someone could easily swoop the child up, but Robert doubted she’d even notice she was flying, as intent as she was on the ball.

The girl lunged, wrapped her arms around the football then pranced back to where a woman stood beside a pram. ‘Mum!’

Taking the last sip of his hot chocolate, Robert walked towards the bin. The movement brought him closer to them, so he could keep an eye on the toddler.

In the hubbub of George Square, especially this time of the year, a child could easily get lost amongst the adults – more than twice the size of the wee bairn – eating, drinking or queuing up for the rides.

And in all this mess, just like that wee girl, Robert had to spot… him.

It should’ve been hard to pick him out, but the man had an air about him, or perhaps after all these years, Robert had a Dickheadson radar. The man walked like he owned the city, his chest puffed out, those eyes scanning every face that strode across his path.

After firing off that message, Robert’d figured she’d send him, her only remaining deputy.

Tilting his wrist, Robert check his watch: ten past six. Ah, so he’d decided to be fashionably late.

Robert gave the toddler a last glance before turning his eyes on Dickheadson again, and the small smile curving his lips vanished.

What the hell wasshedoing here?

Nina strode towards Dickheadson, her strides as determined as any journalist’s when they were on the trail of a hot case. Hell, if she didn’t stop, she was going to blow this.

Robert knocked into someone in his haste to get to her. The woman yelped and shot him a glare.

‘Sorry.’ Robert jogged after Nina, knowing the wall of people and distance would allow the inevitable to happen.

Sure enough, Nina intercepted Dickheadson by gripping his arm. She said something to the man, then her entire body jerked as if the DCI had frozen her.

Robert angled away from the two of them and watched the interaction out the corner of his eye. Despite the dark sky, the festive lights glinted over an object wedged between Dickheadson and Nina.

Shite! The man had come armed and was now holding Nina at knife-point.

As Dickheadson whispered something to Nina, his eyes studied the faces around them.

He’s probably searching for me.

Robert turned his back on the two of them – as hard as it was to leave Nina at the hands of a monster – then used a stall selling chips to circle back so he ended up a few feet behind Dickheadson.

Dickheadson’s shoulders moved; he shifted his weight from his left foot to the right then jerked his right shoulder, and Nina appeared, moving towards where Robert stood.

Before she could spot him, Robert ducked behind a group of lads and dropped his chin, pulling out his phone for cover.

When Dickheadson and Nina, now huddled even closer to him – he probably held the knife to Nina’s ribcage – made their way towards the exit, Robert followed. People poured into the market, while some hurried away towards the station. But everyone parted for Dickheadson.

If he was right, Dickheadson was taking Nina to a back alley. Despite the crowd, a few of the alleys here had bins lining each wall. It would be easy to hurt someone and dump them without anyone seeing.

Dickheadson stuck to the darkened shadows of the pavement, his shoulders hunched to avoid being identified. Soon, like Robert had predicted, Nina and Dickheadson turned into an alley, squashed between two buildings and smelling of piss. Robert waited a beat before trailing them.

‘Just you and me now, bitch,’ Dickheadson growled, shoving Nina against the wall. He got so close to her face, she shut her eyes and tried turning her head. ‘Squirm, you cow!’

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’ Robert’s declaration reverberated through the space.

Dickheadson jerked away from Nina, but his arms still pinned her, along with the blade he’d pressed to her throat. ‘I was looking for you.’

‘You didn’t look hard enough.’ Robert tempered his steps, and despite the somersaults his heart performed, he infused some confidence in his shoulders. If he turned Dickheadson’s attention to him, the man might let Nina go.

Nina tried pushing against Dickheadson, but even though the man spent most days behind a desk, he still knew how to incapacitate a person. Lessons learned from the job.

Robert stopped within arm’s reach of Dickheadson. ‘Why not pick on someone your own size? I’m sure after shooting Shah from a distance, you’re itching for a good brawl. Besides, Anne sent you for me, didn’t she?’

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