Whisper For The Reaper, Jack Gatland [good books for high schoolers txt] 📗

said. ‘They knocked through to that staircase you found, and now we have the floors above us too.’ They walked towards the briefing room, which currently had the blinds pulled. ‘Top floor is just storage, but we’ve got interview rooms and a couple of shift cots upstairs, in case we’re pulling all-nighters.’ He grinned. ‘No more sleeping on sofas.’

‘Any news on the new Guv?’ Declan asked, hastily adding ‘of course, you’ll always be the Guv, Guv.’

‘All good things to those who wait,’ Monroe pointed at the briefing room door. ‘Come on, we started a few minutes back so you haven’t missed much.’

‘There’s a desk sergeant downstairs, didn’t seem to want to talk to me,’ Declan replied. ‘Are we gaining uniforms?’

‘A few,’ Monroe winked. Declan, unsure what that meant, walked into the briefing room and smiled.

DS Anjli Kapoor sat at a desk, chatting to DC William ‘Billy’ Fitzwarren. Behind them, currently arguing whether Harley Davidson’s were better than Triumphs, were PCs Joanna Davey and Morten De’Geer. By the wall, eating a cornetto and grinning at Declan was Doctor Marcos.

‘Find a seat, laddie, there you go,’ Monroe pointed at a spare chair beside a table at the front. ‘You can sit at the teacher’s pet table.’

Refusing to comment on this, Declan sat down as Monroe faced the team.

‘So, new day, new start,’ he said. ‘And now mister Walsh had graced us with his presence, we can begin.’ He cleared his throat, and Declan could see that he was nervous.

‘We made some big enemies, and also some influential friends,’ he started. ‘And because of that, they’ve given us a larger scope and remit, including new uniforms,’ he nodded to PC De’Geer who grinned at everyone, ‘and a new boss.’

He stopped, and looked to the door where Detective Superintendent Sophie Bullman entered, a small, faint smile on her face, as if concerned what people would say.

‘Before anyone says I was parachuted in, or that I took someone’s job,’ she said, pointedly looking at Monroe, ‘he didn’t want it. Some bollocks about Captain Kirk and being in space. Personally, I think we should put DCI Monroe out to pasture, or shoot him.’

‘Hear hear,’ Doctor Marcos raised her cornetto.

‘Been tried before,’ Monroe smiled as Bullman continued.

‘Apparently, the devious bastard convinced his superiors that the one person he didn’t want to command here was me, so here you go. I know all of you, although some of you are lesser known, and I’ve seen what you can do. But that was yesterday, and all the bosses care about is tomorrow. So have a look around our new offices, make use of the new kitchen upstairs before Doctor Marcos eats all the ice creams, and settle in. If I’ve learned anything about this unit the last three times I’ve worked with you, it’s that normality is more a guideline than choice.’

‘Welcome to the Last Chance Saloon, Guv,’ Anjli grinned, looking back to De’Geer. ‘To both of you.’

There was a smattering of applause, and with the meeting now over, Declan rose and walked to Monroe.

‘You okay with this?’ he asked.

‘I wouldn’t have worked well with the suits,’ Monroe replied with a faint smile. ‘Bullman is a far more political animal than I am. She’ll let us work on the cases, and I won’t have to deal with all the touchy feely bullshit anymore. And I won’t have to deal with explaining your screwups to Chief Superintendent Bradbury anymore.’

Declan laughed as he walked into the office, looking around. For a split second, it reminded him of Section D’s modern style office, and so he walked over to Billy, currently still connecting devices in his new setup.

‘Greatest IT team in London, they said,’ he moaned as he reconnected a USB-C connector. ‘Idiots have already screwed up the network. It’ll take me all day to fix it.’ He looked to Declan and smiled.

‘Thanks, sir. For getting me involved in Hurley. For reminding me why I do this.’

‘You never need to thank me again,’ Declan replied. ‘I owe all of you.’

‘How’s Jess?’

‘I don’t know,’ Declan stated mournfully. ‘Her mum has banned her from contacting me. All I know is that she’s home and safe, and I can deal with that.’ He pulled out a USB drive, the small one that Tom Marlowe had given him a week earlier.

‘But as you claim you owe me, I could do with a favour,’ he explained, passing it across. ‘Off the books.’

‘Christ, I haven’t even settled in!’ Billy lamented.

‘Just check it over, ensure there're no viruses or anything,’ Declan replied. ‘Wintergreen wanted me to have it, and I’m untrusting of gifts these days.’

Billy nodded, taking the drive, and Declan walked over to De’Geer, currently standing at a bit of a loss in the middle of the office.

‘Transferred or sent?’ he asked. De’Geer looked towards the offices of Monroe and Bullman.

‘Requested,’ he replied. ‘Seems someone here felt I was being under-used in Maidenhead.’

‘Hell of a commute, though,’ Declan said. ‘Trust me on that one.’

‘Not on a motorcycle,’ De’Geer chuckled. ‘You should try it.’

He looked up as PC Davey waved him over, their bike argument unfinished. ‘Sir,’ he said as he left Declan alone once more.

He walked over to his new desk, seeing that his items, packed away by the contractors, were beside the keyboard, waiting for him to unpack. On the top was the British Bobby Funko that he’d had on his desk since Tottenham North; a gift from Jess almost a year earlier. Pulling it out, he saw that in the packing and subsequent movement, it had been broken and hastily fixed, a long broken scar running across the face where the two parts had been glued back together. Holding it up in his hand, he stared hard at it.

I hope to Christ this isn’t an omen.

And then, placing it on his desk, he unpacked his things, preparing for work.

He looked up, watching everyone else hard at work doing the same thing. Anjli was placing a photo of her mum on a desk, Billy still struggling with