Shattered Dreams: A gritty urban mystery set in Leicester (Inspector Sharma Thrillers Book 2) by C. V. Chauhan

Author:C. V. Chauhan [Chauhan, C. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2023-03-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

Grace and I were sitting in my car, some distance from Anand Parekh’s house. It was very early in the morning — just past five o’clock. The rising sun’s rays warmed the side of my face.

‘What’re you thinking about?’ asked Grace.

I felt a hollow pain in my chest. It was a question Faye had often asked after we had made love and we were in that relaxed, floating mood where nothing else in life mattered.

I turned round and looked into Grace’s eyes. There were early signs of crow’s feet at the edges. She smiled. I smiled back.

I wanted to tell her that the sun’s rays in the early morning would often form two dancing shadows on the bedroom ceiling. They had reminded me of two dodos staring lovingly at each other.

‘Hello? Is anybody there?’ she asked, nudging my bare arm with hers.

‘Oh, sorry, nothing significant, Grace,’ I replied.

‘I know that means the opposite of what it’s meant to mean.’

‘Isn’t it sad when bad things happen to good sentences?’ I replied, and laughed.

She joined in, then asked, ‘And what about George? Did you pay him the reward?’

‘Well, I was in a bit of a quandary about that. Since it wasn’t Fernando, thank God, I didn’t pay him the full amount. I gave him twenty pounds for his trouble. He seemed happy with that.’

‘It was good you’d put up flyers in the area. Certainly helped.’

My eyes rested on hers. Her dark brown irises reflected the pale morning sunlight. She suppressed a yawn.

I eventually said, ‘Yes, it was, wasn’t it?’ I then turned back to face the house.

I had asked Superintendent Breedon to secure a warrant for us to search all of Parekh’s properties, and he had reluctantly agreed. I asked for another senior officer to lead the search of his restaurants and jewellery shops and requested help from other forces with Parekh’s properties in various parts of the country.

I had contacted the Planning Department of the council to secure the design of the building, but I could remember much of it from when I’d last visited. I briefed the team in detail. The firm that monitored the security cameras had been forewarned not to alert anyone in the house. Behind me was a police van with six armed officers in full protective gear, including body armour and helmets. In front of us was another van with a further six officers, similarly dressed and equipped. Two specialist officers with sniffer dogs were in an estate car not far away.

It was important that all the raids were co-ordinated at the same time. I was equipped with a body camera and encrypted radio to collect evidence and to synchronise the bust.

‘Strike! Strike! Strike!’ I called over the airwaves. My voice reached all the teams around the country.

The armoured van drove slowly to the front of the imposing wooden gate. The bumper rested against it and the driver skilfully nudged it, inch by inch. There was a loud crack as the inner crossbars gave way and the two doors were breached.

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