Joe Country by Mick Herron

Author:Mick Herron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2019-04-09T17:19:04+00:00

Part Two

Wild Geese

When his buzzer buzzed, breaking sleep, River assumed it was a malfunction. His buzzer never buzzed. Buzzers were for friends he didn’t have; maybe bringing a bottle, or asking if he fancied a walk. For a life in which he’d throw sticks for dogs and wear a loosely-knotted scarf, like in a movie montage. But before he could get his head any further round that, his buzzer buzzed again.

There was little noise outside. This would have been worth celebrating, any other time: there was a nightclub nearby, and the quietest moments River enjoyed after dark were in those brief interludes that followed someone getting stabbed, or a bottle being smashed. Here, though, was the lull between the last Uber and the first delivery truck, a respite he generally observed by sleeping through it. Whoever this was better have a good excuse.

He wore jogging bottoms, and a grey T-shirt. Bare feet. Frigid floor.

The spy who walked round in the cold.

Through his intercom he could hear someone waiting by the building’s entrance. “It’s six o’clock in the morning,” he told them.

“It’s Emma Flyte.”

He hadn’t expected that. Mind you, he hadn’t expected anything: that was more or less the definition of surprise.

“Mind if I come in?”

“I didn’t think you lot asked.”

“You might not have heard. I’m no longer at the Park.”

“Oh, right, yeah.” He shook his head: still half-asleep. “I knew that.”

“So . . .”

He pushed the button that unlocked the building.

She appeared at the top of the stairs moments later, and walked through the door he was holding without looking impressed. River couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t impressed himself, and his standards were doubtless lower than hers. The flat, a one-bed, was shabbily decorated, and scored low on ambience and everything else, not to mention being further east than he imagined she usually ventured, though as soon as he caught that thought he corrected himself: Emma Flyte was ex-Met. She might look like a model, but she’d walked a beat. Had dragged villains from grubbier dwellings than this.

It was easy to fall into the trap of underestimating beautiful women. And best to avoid doing so while wearing jogging bottoms.

While he was thinking all this, she’d taken control of the room. “Louisa’s gone off the radar,” she said.

“Louisa’s gone on leave,” he told her. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Service jargon. But she filled in a form and everything.”

“Thanks, I knew that. And probably wouldn’t be here if that’s what I’d meant. Nice as your place is.”

“My cleaner’s not been well.”

“Looks like your cleaner got old and died. Possibly of shock when decimal currency came in. But like I say, not what I’m here for. Louisa called me yesterday, asking for a favour. She promised to check in later. She didn’t.”

River nodded, mostly to get circulation going in his head. “Okay. I—do you want coffee?”

“Do you have any?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Then let’s pretend you didn’t bother asking. Did she tell you where she was going?”

“She didn’t tell me anything. She just waved goodbye on her way out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.