in the business by Saif

Author:Saif
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2010-03-25T08:19:45+00:00

won't we?' Denham took his packet of cigarettes out and

showed it to Patsy. 'They're not my lungs, and it's not my

office,' she said. Denham lit up and inhaled gratefully. It had

been three hours since he'd last had a cigarette. Patsy picked up a

mobile phone and passed it over to Denham. 'It's a digital GSM,'

she said. 'But it's not secure, so . . .'

'Mum's the word?'

Patsy smiled. 'Exactly.' Denham slipped the phone into his

jacket pocket.

'Do you think the husband is up to it?' Patsy asked.

'I think so. They're going to expect him to be nervous,

anyway. All he has to do is to keep her talking.' He looked

around for an ashtray and Patsy pushed a crystal dish towards

him. He flicked ash into it, and waited for her to continue.

'Has he asked you what we're doing to find his daughter?'

'Not yet. No.'

'That's something.'

'What are you going to tell him when he does?'

'That we're doing everything we can.'

Denham blow smoke up towards the ceiling. There were

elaborate plaster carvings of fruit around the central light fitting.

The only decoration in Denham's old office had been a smoke

alarm missing a battery. 'And if he realises that we're not?'

'Liam, our first priority is to prevent them exploding whatever

device it is that Andrea Hayes is building for them. If we

make any attempt to locate the girl, they'll know we're on to

them.'

'So we do nothing to find the girl?'

'There's nothing we can do, not without showing our hand.'

Denham took a long pull on his cigarette and looked at the

ceiling again.

'We find them here first, then they'll tell us where the girl is,'

said Patsy. 'But the converse isn't true. In fact, I'd bet money that

the kidnappers in Ireland don't know the full details of what's

going on here.'

Denham nodded. She was right. But he didn't think that

Martin Hayes would see it her way. 'And what exactly is it you

want from me?' he asked. 'Why've I been brought in from the

cold?'

'Hardly the cold, Liam. You've a very nice pension, from

what I hear. Certainly more than I'll be getting when I retire.

The government has always been more than generous to its

employees in the North.'

'I was sacked, Patsy.'

'You retired.'

Denham gave her a tight smile.

'You were the only one who dealt with Trevor. You're the

only one who knows how she'll react.'

'I've not seen or spoken to her in ten years.'

'You're all we have. You and her husband. But even her

husband doesn't know her the way you do.'

Denham tapped ash into the ashtray. 'People change.'

'Of course they do. But you were with her when she was

under the most pressure. When her life was on the line. She

knew what they'd do to her if they ever found out she was

betraying them. And you were the only one she could confide

in.' She paused for a while. The only sound in the room was the

ticking of a clock on the mantelpiece, a big polished oak

monstrosity, around a tiled fireplace in which stood a vase of

dried flowers. To the side of the fireplace was a large brass scuttle

filled with chunks of wood.

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