don’t want to appear in court.’
‘Yeah, well, who can blame them?’ said Shepherd. ‘Would you want to stand up in front of a man like Maloney and describe to a court what he did to you? I can see the bastard standing there grinning and lapping it up.’
‘The line they’re trying to sell is that if they can get enough evidence then he’ll plead guilty.’
‘And his lawyer will get the sentences running concurrently, which means he won’t serve any extra time for the rapes,’ said Shepherd. ‘Maloney’s an animal. He should be locked away for life.’
‘He’ll get close to that, Spider, don’t worry. Even without a rape charge he’ll go down for armed robbery and for GBH on Toby Rawstorne and sexual assault on the girl. The really bad news is that Rawstorne has lost his spleen and he’s threatening to sue us all.’
‘For what?’ said Shepherd.
‘His lawyer’s claiming that the police were using him as bait. And that because of police recklessness, his family was put at risk.’
‘I didn’t know where we were going until we were there,’ said Shepherd. ‘I took a hell of a risk sending you the text when I did – if they’d caught me it would have ended then and there in the van.’
‘And we got the armed-response unit there as quickly as we could,’ said Button. ‘But Rawstorne’s house is in the middle of nowhere and we were in the depths of Somerset when all is said and done. The armed cops out there are okay, but they’re not up to the standards of CO19.’
‘We’re lucky they didn’t turn up on tractors,’ said Sharpe.
Button ignored the interruption. ‘Anyway, that’s all been explained to him, but his lawyer’s arguing that we were negligent and is threatening to sue us.’
‘If it hadn’t been for the police turning up when they did, Maloney would have killed him and his family,’ said Shepherd. ‘We saved them. How stupid is he? If I hadn’t infiltrated Grimshaw’s gang the robbery would still have gone ahead and his daughter would have been raped. And the beating he got was nothing to do with me.’
‘No arguments there,’ said Button. ‘But he does have a point. We could have pulled them in the planning stage. Got them for conspiracy.’ She caught the look of disgust that flashed across Shepherd’s face. ‘I’m just saying, Spider, that you can see it from their point of view. It was my call to let the operation run.’
‘And it was the right call,’ said Shepherd. ‘No one knew that Maloney was going to turn nasty. We needed to catch them with the gear.’
‘Their lawyer is demanding full details of the operation, including any undercover operatives.’
‘Which, of course, he isn’t going to get,’ said Shepherd.
‘Of course. I just wanted you to know where we stand, that’s all.’
‘I sometimes wonder if it’s worth us doing what we do,’ said Shepherd. ‘The courts go easy on the guys we do put away, and the people we’re trying to help want to sue us.’
‘Everyone’s a victim,’ said Sharpe, sourly. ‘Everyone except the cops. And us.’
Button laughed. ‘Looks like I’d better give you your next assignment before you start talking about quitting,’ she said. She picked up her briefcase, opened it and took out a thick file. Sharpe finished his coffee and joined them at the table as Button stuck a large photograph onto the whiteboard. It had been taken using a long lens but the detail was sharp. Three men in wheelchairs were being wheeled away from an Air Jamaica jet. Two had leg casts, one had his arm in a sling and all had facial injuries. ‘Orane Williams, Leonardo Sachell and Dwayne Brand, a.k.a. Glenford Barrow, big wheels in the Clansman Massive gang and frequent visitors to our shores,’ said Button. ‘Shown here returning to Kingston.’ She used a black marker pen to write the names on the whiteboard.
‘Good riddance, I’d say,’ said Sharpe.
‘I can’t argue with that,’ said Button. ‘But someone
‘Yeah, well, who can blame them?’ said Shepherd. ‘Would you want to stand up in front of a man like Maloney and describe to a court what he did to you? I can see the bastard standing there grinning and lapping it up.’
‘The line they’re trying to sell is that if they can get enough evidence then he’ll plead guilty.’
‘And his lawyer will get the sentences running concurrently, which means he won’t serve any extra time for the rapes,’ said Shepherd. ‘Maloney’s an animal. He should be locked away for life.’
‘He’ll get close to that, Spider, don’t worry. Even without a rape charge he’ll go down for armed robbery and for GBH on Toby Rawstorne and sexual assault on the girl. The really bad news is that Rawstorne has lost his spleen and he’s threatening to sue us all.’
‘For what?’ said Shepherd.
‘His lawyer’s claiming that the police were using him as bait. And that because of police recklessness, his family was put at risk.’
‘I didn’t know where we were going until we were there,’ said Shepherd. ‘I took a hell of a risk sending you the text when I did – if they’d caught me it would have ended then and there in the van.’
‘And we got the armed-response unit there as quickly as we could,’ said Button. ‘But Rawstorne’s house is in the middle of nowhere and we were in the depths of Somerset when all is said and done. The armed cops out there are okay, but they’re not up to the standards of CO19.’
‘We’re lucky they didn’t turn up on tractors,’ said Sharpe.
Button ignored the interruption. ‘Anyway, that’s all been explained to him, but his lawyer’s arguing that we were negligent and is threatening to sue us.’
‘If it hadn’t been for the police turning up when they did, Maloney would have killed him and his family,’ said Shepherd. ‘We saved them. How stupid is he? If I hadn’t infiltrated Grimshaw’s gang the robbery would still have gone ahead and his daughter would have been raped. And the beating he got was nothing to do with me.’
‘No arguments there,’ said Button. ‘But he does have a point. We could have pulled them in the planning stage. Got them for conspiracy.’ She caught the look of disgust that flashed across Shepherd’s face. ‘I’m just saying, Spider, that you can see it from their point of view. It was my call to let the operation run.’
‘And it was the right call,’ said Shepherd. ‘No one knew that Maloney was going to turn nasty. We needed to catch them with the gear.’
‘Their lawyer is demanding full details of the operation, including any undercover operatives.’
‘Which, of course, he isn’t going to get,’ said Shepherd.
‘Of course. I just wanted you to know where we stand, that’s all.’
‘I sometimes wonder if it’s worth us doing what we do,’ said Shepherd. ‘The courts go easy on the guys we do put away, and the people we’re trying to help want to sue us.’
‘Everyone’s a victim,’ said Sharpe, sourly. ‘Everyone except the cops. And us.’
Button laughed. ‘Looks like I’d better give you your next assignment before you start talking about quitting,’ she said. She picked up her briefcase, opened it and took out a thick file. Sharpe finished his coffee and joined them at the table as Button stuck a large photograph onto the whiteboard. It had been taken using a long lens but the detail was sharp. Three men in wheelchairs were being wheeled away from an Air Jamaica jet. Two had leg casts, one had his arm in a sling and all had facial injuries. ‘Orane Williams, Leonardo Sachell and Dwayne Brand, a.k.a. Glenford Barrow, big wheels in the Clansman Massive gang and frequent visitors to our shores,’ said Button. ‘Shown here returning to Kingston.’ She used a black marker pen to write the names on the whiteboard.
‘Good riddance, I’d say,’ said Sharpe.
‘I can’t argue with that,’ said Button. ‘But someone
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