To Snatch a Thief (8 page)

Hunter gripped both her arms, gave her a light shake. ‘Get it together, Skye,’ he ordered, none too gently. ‘If you want to help those people, get your head straightened out and start thinking like a cadet.’

‘I’m sorry, you’re right.’ Taking a deep breath, she nodded. ‘I’m okay now. Um, it’s Herzl, Victor Herzl. He’s slime,’ she added, with feeling.

She was less shaky by the time Hunter returned, speaking rapid-fire orders into his klip. She imagined a squad was scrambling at HQ. ‘No, the scene hasn’t been compromised,’ he was saying. ‘Nothing’s been touched. I’ve told the landlord to keep the door locked until you get here. Luckily it’s early so the building’s quiet, but I want two uniforms in the street to keep sightseers and the media at bay. Yeah, looks like the same MO… Yep, same as the others… They look like they just stopped living.’

Breaking transmission, he strode into the flat, casting an eye around its shabby interior. ‘These places should be condemned,’ he scowled. ‘How long have you lived like this?’

Her chin came up at that; a spike of anger that speared through grief. It might be a dump, but she kept it clean. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers, sir,’ she snapped back. ‘We can’t all afford Italian shoes.’

‘What? What are you talking about?’

She brushed past him, flicking her eyes to his feet. ‘Just an observation. Excuse me, I have to get Lexie a drink.’

For a moment he just stared, then dragged his hands over his face. Dropping into a chair, he blew out his cheeks. ‘Jesus, it’s freezing in here. Have you got any coffee?’ He gave a tired sigh. ‘You caught me not far from here. I didn’t get home last night.’

‘Slumming?’ She couldn’t resist.

Seeing his eyes glint dangerously, she let it go. ‘I haven’t any coffee left, but there’s tea,’ she said. ‘No milk though.’

‘I’ll pass. How well did you know the victims?’

‘Not intimately.’ Skye handed Lexie the drink, then began picking up toys to give her hands something to do. ‘We weren’t bosom buddies or anything. It was more of a business arrangement really. It suited us both. Her partner bolted when Tommy was born, so the money came in handy. She looked after Lexie when I went out to work…’ She paused when he arched an eyebrow.

‘I did do
some
legitimate work,’ she said stiffly. ‘Casual kitchen stuff, cleaning if I could get it.’ She threw the last car in a box in the corner. ‘They threatened to foster Lexie out when I got sentenced. I was so scared I’d lose him; we’re all we’ve got. Shiralee stepped in. I owe her.’ Tears pricked behind her eyes for the first time. ‘I’ll take him to school today, keep everything normal for him, but after that, I don’t know what I’ll do.’

He leaned forward, his forearms resting along his thighs, his hands loosely clasped. ‘Have you thought maybe it would be better for both of you if you let the authorities take him? Do you get any time for yourself, Skye?’

A rap on the door spared her from giving Hunter her opinion. She doubted he would have liked it.

He stood to open it. Dawson was outside.

‘Lieutenant,’ she said, acknowledging Skye with a curt nod. ‘The landlord’s not happy about us questioning his tenants. Says having snatchers all over his premises gives the place a bad name, and he’ll sue if he loses rent through it. He’s kicking up quite a stink, sir, actually. Wants to talk to you personally.’

Skye watched Hunter’s face darken. ‘Dawson, go back and tell him
we’re
not happy about having to investigate multiple suspicious deaths,’ he ordered. ‘Remind him they occurred on his miserable premises. Tell him until cause is determined, everyone is a suspect - including him. Oh, and tell him,’ Hunter added as the private turned to leave. ‘I’ll be contacting environmental heath about the state of this place. If he wants to talk to me about that, he can do it at HQ.

‘You can’t stay here,’ he said, on closing the door. Although his face was blazing with anger, Hunter lowered his voice. ‘Not with what’s happened downstairs. Up until now the victims of this…whatever it is, have been further to the west with a handful in the north where conditions are truly pitiful. But it looks like its spreading.’

‘We’ve nowhere else to go.’ It was the simple truth. ‘I’m struggling to pay the rent as it is.’

He paced to the window, running a hand over the stubble on his chin before turning to face her. ‘You need to know some things,’ he said.

‘Okay, but I have to sit. My legs feel kind of wobbly.’

‘Look, this isn’t for public knowledge,’ he began, taking the seat opposite. ‘We don’t want an all out panic on our hands, but I think you should be aware of the facts.’

Kid’s programmes finished, Lexie wandered over. ‘Have Mitch and Tommy finished the game yet?’ he asked, giving Hunter a long hard stare. ‘Are we going to school?’

‘Soon, Lex. You can play with your toys for a while. I have to talk to the lieutenant about something first, okay?’

For once he didn’t argue. ‘Kay.’

When he was settled she rounded on Hunter. ‘What
are
the true facts, then?’

‘With the first few terminations, natural causes were assumed; they didn’t send up any flags to alert us to anything untoward. No autopsies were performed, the pods collected the bodies and they were disposed of in the normal way. Then they started piling up. We got interested. What the media weren’t told is that forensics found minute particles of a totally unknown substance in each of the victim’s throats.’

‘Were they druggies?’

Hunter shook his head. ‘At first we thought that, but whole age groups were involved. Kids, oldies; it didn’t fit, and drug squad had no intelligence of any new illegal on the market. And anyway this was something way, way different. Toxicology on food and legal medication samples in the victims homes came up negative. So how were those people ingesting a deadly toxin?’

‘They breathed it in? Oh, God. Is it here… in the air?’ Stupidly, she covered her mouth with her hand and started towards Lexie.

‘No.’ He waved her back down. ‘Obviously we took air and dust samples but also we ruled out airborne pathogens because nothing was found in the nasal passages or airways. It entered the throat through the mouth.’

‘So, how
did
they get it?’ Her heart thumped unevenly as a second, colder chill ran down her back. ‘You think somebody
gave
it to them?’

‘If their food source wasn’t contaminated, that’s the obvious conclusion. But did they take it willingly, unaware of its consequences, or were they forced?’

‘Why would anyone want to hurt Shiralee and the boys?’ Moisture threatened again. As his eyebrows pulled together in warning, she willed them back.

‘I don’t know. We’ll need you to do a formal statement, but in the meantime try to remember anyone she might have talked about, anything she mentioned that seemed odd at the time.’

‘I-I will…I don’t know who she … With me being away, I…’ Her voice hitched. Two tears spilled down her cheeks and plopped into her lap. ‘S-sorry.’

Sitting directly opposite, Skye saw the exact moment his eyes changed. Startled, when he leant forward, took both her hands in his, she tried to pull away. He only gripped harder, hurting her fingers. ‘Listen to me, Skye. A gut feeling tells me this is only the tip of the iceberg. Trust me, you and your brother are in danger if you stay around here.’

‘Y-you’re scaring me.’

‘I mean to.’

Her breath caught, but she couldn’t look away. When she eventually nodded, he released the pressure, ran a thumb over the back of her hand. ‘I may be able to help. I know somewhere you could possibly go, and someone who would help with your brother – nothing official, she’s a friend,’ he added as he saw her brindle. ‘If you agree, I’ll make some calls. For the present, I’ll organise an advance on your salary – I should have realised you’d be short of cash.’ He ran a weary hand over his hair. ‘Before my grandfather’s day, people were looked after by the government. Now we’ve licensed beggars on the street and kids like you are forced into crime. Progress? I don’t think so.’ Frowning, he turned the full power of his eyes on her again and she felt the hairs on her neck prickle. ‘Now the snatcher in me’s curious,’ he said, tilting his head. ‘I’m wondering how, if you’ve no money, you’ve been managing to feed yourselves?’

It was amazing how he had her grateful to see him one minute, the next spitting mad. ‘If you must know, I’ve been bringing stuff home from staff amenities,’ she hissed. ‘They restock the infrawaves between shifts, so if there are stale pizzas or burgers, they let me have them. That isn’t illegal is it…sir?’

Hunter’s laugh rolled out, causing Lexie to glance up. ‘I’m really not sure.’

In a move that had her wanting to bite his hand, he reached out and mussed her hair like she was ten years old. When she ground her teeth, his grin only widened. ‘But I’ve a feeling taking you on is going to prove one hell of a challenge.

.

CHAPTER NINE

If you believed the nightly news, Skye mused, the entire population north of Leicestershire was pouring into the south, like water over sand. It was a wonder England didn’t upend. Those with winter homes shook off the dust sheets and cosied down to run their businesses from home. Others, who’d pre-booked, moved into rented flats and apartments, paying through the nose for the privilege of being warm. The country groaned under the pressure. Amenities struggled to cope. Hotels closed their books. Tempers frayed. Arguments in shops over short supplies, escalated into brawls.

So, she puzzled, how in the world did Hunter swing it?

‘The lock’s programmed to recognise your micro-chip,’ he was saying, as she stood in her new home, grinning from ear to ear like Alice’s Cheshire cat. ‘There’s also a security camera in the street outside which relays a visual of any callers to the screens located in each room, including that one.’ He pointed to a glass panel on the inside of the door. ‘Lights are voice activated, as is the heating, window shields and screen; rent’s payable to the department in global dollars, deducted straight out of your salary.’

She could hardly contain her excitement. Arms outstretched, she spun a full circle. ‘There are rugs on the floor,’ she sighed. ‘And a stacked food dispenser in the kitchen; I mean it’s totally
loaded
with food.’

‘It’ll give you a head start; don’t pig it all at once.’ Hunter frowned as she danced around him; that mixture of amusement and irritation on his face that today, she thought, couldn’t possibly annoy her.

‘Remember you’re in uniform, Forrester. Try to act appropriately.’ He gave an impatient sigh, tapped his klip. ‘I’ve got work to get back to. So have you…’

‘What’s down there?’ Rushing down a short hallway, she stopped dead. ‘V-i-
Vid
! Two bedrooms, Lexie’s going to go ballistic, and the bathroom’s to die for. So, if this was a safe-house, why isn’t it used anymore?’

When she turned, he had a shoulder against the wall watching her. ‘It was compromised. The department occasionally uses it for visiting officials. Mostly it’s left empty.’ He smiled for the first time. ‘I cashed in a few favours. The place is yours as long as you stick in the job.’

She was speechless. Almost. ‘Um, probably
not
appropriate to give you a hug, sir?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ There was a hint of warning in his eyes. She grinned. He almost looked scared. ‘The friend I told you about lives a short walk from here,’ he hurried on. ‘Her name’s Maxine McCullough. I’ll give you her address so you can take Lexie to meet her after school.’

Maxine’s hair was short and grey, her eyes a gentle brown. She lived in a quiet street in a well-kept semi-detached with a post-box red front door.

‘So you’re Alexei.’ The soft highland burr made Skye think of mountains and heather. ‘We’re having tea in the kitchen,’ she told him. ‘I believe there’s chocolate cake and fizzers. Never fails,’ she whispered, as Lexie’s eyes lit up. ‘My granddaughter Beatrice is through there. You’ll be in the same class at your new school. Why don’t you go and find her.’ As the boy sped away, she hooked her arm through Skye’s. ‘My daughter and son-in-law have such busy lives. Beatrice comes to me quite often. I find time weighs heavy since I was widowed, so we keep each other company.’ She patted Skye’s hand in a motherly way and they walked slowly down the hall. ‘Stephen,’ she continued. ‘I taught him at school, did he tell you that? And the dear boy’s always kept in touch, even when he was all those trillions of miles away on Stella Frontier. I’m very fond of him.’

Skye’s antennae swivelled in her direction. ‘Hunter’s worked off-planet?’

‘Oh, yes, for over a year.’ Sympathy swam in her eyes. ‘It was such a tragedy… such a terrible thing, but…’ Her shoulders lifted and fell as she patted Skye’s hand again. ‘Anyway, he’s fine now. Although of course one’s never completely…but, as far as it goes, he’s fine, and that’s what’s important. And a
lieutenant
- imagine. He’s done very well for himself.’

Skye was more than curious, however, as childish laughter rang out from the direction Lexie had disappeared, Maxine’s face brightened. ‘Good,’ she smiled. ‘I hoped they’d get on. Now… Stephen’s told me a bit about you. So, while I pour the tea tell me in what ways I can help.

Drumming her fingers on her knees, Skye scowled at the half empty incident room. Everybody but me, she grumbled. I knew them, I found them, I’m going to their memorial service tomorrow, but I’m the one stuck here while everyone else is out collecting evidence or whatever. It just wasn’t fair. She slipped a hand in her pocket and fingered the thin glass of the memory square she’d become somewhat obsessed with. The events of the last few days had driven it to the back of her mind, but now she pressed it to her screen, watching Corporal Blake’s files open yet again.

As always the back of her neck tingled.

No illegals were found in the house; the junkie died at the scene; the informant who’d rung in the tip-off, poofed into thin air. Lieutenant Hunter underwent an internal investigation because a weapon had been discharged which resulted in a fatality. He was cleared of any misconduct. No wonder you were crabby back then, she said, thinking out loud. Corporal Blake died and you killed a man. You must have been going through hell.