Silent Whisper (The Kenzie Marsh Chronicles Book 2) by Roy Robson

Author:Roy Robson [Robson, Roy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kenzie Marsh Publishing
Published: 2022-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

51

Seamus saw it as normal, an acceptable way for a guy to supplement his income.

‘We’ve all engaged in a wee bit of smuggling,’ he said as he welcomed Kenzie and Aiden on board. He didn’t ask any questions as she passed over the second of three payments.

The unofficial network of crossings had existed between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland for more years than anyone had been alive. Organised crime made millions smuggling cigarettes, fuel, alcohol … and people.

The smugglers were always two or more steps ahead of officialdom. As soon as the governments announced new tariffs or removed old ones, plans were afoot to cash in on whatever product would provide the best margins on the black market. Any divergence on practices or standards on either side of the border was ruthlessly exploited.

As an ex-police officer, Kenzie knew about the illicit trade … and where to seek those who provided services in it. Her favoured option to make it across the Irish Sea was one of the many boats scattered along the western British coastline that did regular unauthorised trips.

People were usually smuggling the other way, from Ireland into the British mainland; Kenzie’s request to travel the opposite way was rare. Seamus was intrigued as to why a woman and a young boy would undertake such a journey, but he knew the form. Questions were verboten.

Kenzie didn’t personally know anybody involved in the people-smuggling trade from Ireland to Britain, being she’d spent most of her time on the force investigating familial murders. But she knew enough to head for Liverpool, the best place to find secret passage across the Irish sea, the central location for the Irish-British gangs that controlled the drug trade not just in the UK but across much of Europe.

An ex-boss, DI Liam Greaves, who had once been part of a disruption unit – and moved to London after his identity had been tumbled – had told her the gangs were both close and ruthless. ‘They graft together, make money together and go to jail together. They don’t have the violent image of the Albanians or the steroid-fuelled nutjob image of the Russians, but if you cross them, they’ll kill you.’

Greaves had told her about some of his time doing undercover work and revealed one or two of the best places to make contact. After arriving in Liverpool, she tried to contact Jack to update him and find out what, if anything, he’d found. A stranger answered the mobile she’d left him, and she hung up immediately. Had he been caught or just lost the phone? Was she on her own again? She put it to the back of her mind. There was nothing she could do about it now.

She left Aiden in a hotel and headed for a nightclub called Flicks, in Birkenhead, on the other side of the River Mersey.

A lone woman, a bag of cash, and a nightclub full of villains who knew how to spot an ex-cop. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing, as it turned out.

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