Catch as Catch Can (The Merseyside Crime Series Book 1), Malcolm Hollingdrake [best large ereader .TXT] 📗

They approached the door. The smell was the same. It was clearly neither fresh nor hygienic. Malik turned and immediately focused his attention on Skeeter. His expression did not change other than a narrowing of his eyes. Jane had already proffered her ID. ‘Liverpool Council Environmental Health, Mr Buruk.’ She smiled before letting the tag fall. ‘It’s a follow-up to see if you’ve improved certain areas that were highlighted in my colleague’s previous inspection.’

‘It’s not due yet.’ His attitude was defensive and he pointed at Skeeter. ‘She’s police, not health ...’

Jane immediately interjected. ‘Shall we get on? I’m going to look everywhere on this occasion. Up, down and out the back if I may. Let’s start upstairs and see if we can get you higher up the chart. Remember, this body cam will be monitored live throughout our visit.’ With little alternative he turned the closed sign on the door and dropped the latch.

The passport checks had gone without a hitch. To Arthur’s great relief there had not been a sniffer dog present. He carried only the single case he had with him, a porter had taken all their other luggage. Lynn sat in the wheelchair, the crutches to the side. They had agreed to be the last of their cohort to leave the ship to save delaying fellow travellers. Once clear, the porter wheeled Lynn to a seat just inside the Cruise Centre and took away the chair before returning once again with two large cases. He brought a third whilst Arthur went for the car. It had been left for the duration of the holiday in a multistorey carpark attached to the hotel they had used on the night before their departure. It was part of the cruise package. The luggage he carried stayed firmly in his grasp. He bent and kissed Lynn before walking off through the terminal carpark, dragging the case. She took a paperback from her bag and started to read. Not one word registered. Her nerves were at the forefront, but it gave her a barrier of normality behind which to hide. Arthur quickly passed a number of coaches waiting in the cruise terminal carpark and a slow stream of travellers who were dropping cases and boarding.

Sadiq pulled the cap peak a little lower over his face. It was instinctive rather than for any real purpose as he watched Arthur pass between the two closed barriers of the terminal carpark. He looked at the one case he was carrying. Knowing the contents, and that now they were so close, was the hardest part. It was the final hurdle, yet it could still all go terribly wrong. Other members of the team were on watch nearer the carpark. After Brinkman entered, he would be left alone; there were too many security cameras in the facility. After fifteen minutes, Brinkman’s car was waiting for the barrier of the cruise terminal to open. Sadiq was still watching, his nerves tight. There was no way of knowing if the transaction had taken place until the car they had left for the deposit was collected forty-eight hours later.

Lynn hobbled to the waiting car, the crutches alien and cumbersome. Arthur held the door open. Neither spoke but she immediately saw the supermarket bag on the back seat. Her heart fluttered nervously; her hands sweaty. She was using all her will to keep calm and under control. She settled in the seat as Arthur loaded the cases into the boot before returning to the driver’s seat. He was just about to drive off when he saw someone in uniform run from the cruise centre waving for them to stop.

Both flushed, their nerves on edge. Had they been detected? A rush of fear caused Arthur to stall the car. It was Lynn who saw the book first. The man was holding it high in his waving hand and relief flooded her whole being.

‘I left my bloody book!’

With a shaking hand, she lowered the car’s window.

‘You left this on the bench. Thought I’d missed you. Safe journey home.’ Pushing the book through the window he turned and jogged back, lifting his arm this time in a friendly wave.

Arthur rubbed his eyes and looked at Lynn. ‘Bloody hell. I’m too old for this shit!’ He put the car in neutral, turned the key and started to move towards the barrier.

Sadiq stood with the phone to his ear. ‘Delivery dropped, bro.’

‘You know about Malik? Soon he’ll no longer be with us. Careless, Sadiq, careless.’

‘I know, I saw and I heard about him with the girl, the shit.’

There was a long pause. ‘Right! What about her?’

‘Still looking, bro.’

‘Don’t cock this up. We need to find the bitch; things are too important right now.’

‘What about Scar?’

‘I’m on to it. We have an idea, someone by the name of Hoover, probably new in the area. I’ve put the word out with a reward. You need to find Chelle and you need to keep things running. Cut the attacks but maintain the drops. With new stock coming we can afford to make new markets, spread the tentacles a little further without treading on toes. We’ll see what that brings.’

‘Right.’ Sadiq’s answer was concise but there was nothing more to add. There was too much going on, too much seemed to be now out of his control. The only consolation, he was five minutes from his apartment and he needed a drink.

Skeeter photographed the upstairs room containing the double bed. She ignored Malik’s protestations that no one had lived there. She allowed her eyes to scan the full scene. The large sheet of dark plastic over the window was an effective blackout. Light pierced the edges in fine white daggers but the majority of the room was dark and closed off from the outside world. The lone, unshaded bulb offered the only brightness. As Malik and Jane moved into another room she knelt to look under the bed. Ignoring the