Good Cop Bad Cop by Simon Kernick
Author:Simon Kernick
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2021-11-10T16:00:00+00:00
32
Tonight
Teller
Sketty finishes speaking. Heâs told this part of the story in a manner thatâs fast and furious, and I can tell that heâs genuinely reliving the events of that night. No one â no one â is that good an actor.
He takes a deep breath, sits â no, almost slumps â back in his chair as if the recollection has taken it out of him, and stares at me with a pain in his eyes that looks so real, it demands that you believe him. Itâs whatâs so disarming about this man. He looks as he sounds. Like one of the good guys.
âAnd thatâs how it happened,â he says at last. âMy best friend, Ty Quelch, died of his injuries, as Iâm sure you know. He was wearing a ballistic vest, but he took a bullet in the eye. One of ten innocent people killed that night. And many injured.â
âIncluding yourself,â I say, giving him a sympathetic look.
âYes,â he answers. âIncluding myself. I was hit by a single round in the hip, which caused a major fracture and eventually resulted in traumatic osteoarthritis and a shortening of the left leg. Iâve walked with a limp ever since. And do you know what? I donât know about youâ â he nods towards my wheelchair â âbut whenever I dream, Iâm always able to walk normally, or even run. Itâs like none of this ever happened.â
Thatâs another thing about Sketty. He draws you in like the best salesman. Finds shared experiences for you to talk about. Feigns interest.
âIâm the same,â I say with a rueful smile, pretending itâs working. âItâs as if a part of our brain refuses to accept whatâs happened to us. But it makes it painful to wake up and have to accept reality once again.â I sigh. âThank you for sharing your recollection of that night with me. I know it must be hard to recount it.â
âI relive it in my head all the time. Always wondering why I did what I did. I was mad running into that restaurant, and keeping up the chase like that. I should have just left it. Thereâs not a day that goes by when I donât regret it.â
âI can understand that,â I say, and an image of dear, beautiful Victoria comes into my head. âThereâs not a day that goes by when I donât think about that night either. I lost the love of my life in Villa Amalfi.â
Sketty nods. âI know. I remember you telling me in the email.â
âThe Villa Amalfi was one of the worst terrorist atrocities in British history. It was also a terrible intelligence failure.â
âI did what I could,â he tells me, his expression hardening.
âYes. But there have always been so many questions unanswered. Thatâs why Iâve spent the fourteen years since searching for the truth.â
âAnd Iâve been as truthful as I can. Iâve even told you about my part in the killing of Kerry Masters. No one else in the whole world knows about that.â
Which isnât entirely true.
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