Miss No One, Mark Ayre [romantic love story reading .TXT] 📗

"Thank you," said Ana. "Where was I?"

"Hammond," said Christine.

"Right, so maybe the owners of Lucky Draw know Hammond is corrupt. In the past, he's only helped out his mate Davesh, but they decide they can turn his head. How? They offer him a hundred grand. What corrupt cop could refuse such a payday?"

"None, I'd imagine," said Christine. "But what are they paying him for?"

"Protection," suggested Abbie. "That's your theory?"

"It is," said Ana. "They know Orion's going to try get the police out the way on the night in question, so they find the top dog in the local station and pay him to protect them. They also discover Leilani is working against them and kill her. Meanwhile, Orion discovers Lucky Draw has paid Hammond to protect them, so kill him."

Ana stopped. Took a couple big swigs of water. Continued.

"Now Orion's jumpy. He knows Lucky Draw are on to him. He's tried to find a corrupt officer of DI rank or higher but failed, so he goes for more brutal methods to get his way. He kidnaps Isabella."

Ana drank more water, then leaned back.

"Becker's bent cops arranged for Kilman to be shot and Abbie framed. As for Ndidi's plan, the only thing I can think is that he wants the police nearby but not interrupting. Maybe it's a case of keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

There was silence as this story finished. Ana seemed to grow more concerned with every passing second. She sought validation.

Abbie picked up her phone, opened the Becker file, and started scrolling.

"I think that's plausible," said Christine. "It certainly fits most of the elements. Though you left out Davesh. How does he fit in?"

"You said Davesh and Hammond were close, right? Maybe Hammond had information relating to Lucky Draw that he handed to Davesh. Orion found out and sent his people to extract said information. Only Lucky Draw also knew of this information exchange and acted first. They killed Davesh so he couldn't talk."

Christine nodded. She liked this. For her, it drew all the evidence together.

"What about you Abbie, what do you think?"

It was Christine who spoke, but Abbie looked from her phone to meet Ana's eye. She saw the needy quality in the lawyer's look and couldn't help but want to validate the lawyer, abhorrent as some of her previous actions had been.

"It all fits," she said, and Ana smiled. Then she dropped the other shoe. "But it doesn't feel right."

Ana's face fell.

"What do you mean?" said Christine.

Abbie still wasn't sure. She got to pacing, circling the sofa and coming back around the front of her two comrades. She was trying to slot it together.

"From the Lucky Draw side, it seems to make sense, at first glance. Criminals run in small circles. The Beckers were big time so, if Lucky Draw got wind Orion was trying to rob them, they'd act accordingly. I believe, in their anxiety, they would murder Davesh and Leilani to keep them quiet, and pay large sums of money to a corrupt cop for protection. But what about the money itself? It's not just about the quantity, right? These guys are money launderers, which means they absolutely cannot lose the cash they hold. Why not? Because they would have multiple criminal factions on their back, furious and baying for blood. If they get robbed, they plummet into a war where they are vastly outnumbered. A war they cannot win. So yes, they would take desperate measures but, first and foremost, why wouldn't they just move the money?"

The other two considered this.

"Maybe they have," said Christine, while Ana said, "maybe they're afraid Orion wanted them to find out about the heist and is planning to attack when they move the money."

Abbie was still pacing, now only in front of the sofa.

"Maybe, maybe. Both of those are possible, except here's something else, I'm going through this file," Abbie held up her phone, "looking at the jobs we know the Beckers carried out in the past. It makes me think, how much money do we guess Lucky Draw's holding in that casino?"

This question she directed at Christine, who thought about it, but not for long.

"Well, everyone knows that's their hub, and like you said, they hold a lot of money for a lot of different crooks but can't afford to lose any of it. That mistake would be fatal for their business and possibly for them."

"Right," said Abbie. "Which means?"

"Well, the smart money would be on them keeping the bulk of the cash elsewhere. But they look after a tonne of money. There could easily be several hundred thousand pounds in the casino itself."

"My thoughts exactly," said Abbie. "Let's say, for the sake of argument, they keep a million pounds on the premises. Would they pay a police officer 10% of that to keep the rest safe? And I need to add I think it's not likely so much as a million. Which means Hammond's fee could be as much as twenty or thirty per cent of what they're holding."

"That's a high fee," said Ana.

"Incredibly high. Now look at it from Orion's side because that's what's been bothering me the whole time. Bothering me more than anything else. Look at these jobs," Abbie slapped her phone. "Where possible, I've added what they netted. The figures are estimated, but there's ten million, twenty million, fifteen million. The lowest-earning job is five million. Now Orion's risking everything for what will probably be a six-figure haul if he gets away with it."

"Sounds as though he doesn't need the money," said Ana.

"He doesn't," said Abbie, "and this was never going to be about the money. But it has to be something. I was telling myself it was about getting one over on another bunch of crooks but is that enough? After eight months in hiding, is this the job that entices him to risk life imprisonment?"

Abbie was still pacing. She knocked over her glass as she went, and the remainder of her water splashed onto the carpet. No one noticed. Or if they did, no one cared.

"Then there are the cops," said Abbie.