Read Online Sacrifice by Paul Finch - Free Book Online Page B

and removed from his post for gross negligence. If Heck had got his own way, Laycock would have been investigated for criminal activity, but there hadn’t been sufficient evidence of that.
    ‘The point is that attention is now focused on
us
,’ Gemma said. ‘On SCU. We’re a key facet of the National Crime Group. We’re part of the bright new future for British law enforcement. Or at least we were, until we started initiating cock-ups on a regular basis.’
    ‘I wouldn’t call it regular …’
    ‘One is too many, Heck! Two is a total clusterfuck.’
    That was a sure proof of how upset she was: Gemma almost never swore. She took another moment to compose herself. ‘So the first thing I’m going to do is appoint a full-time Media Liaison Officer.’ He raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘Just for us,’ she added. ‘A civvie … a real pro. Someone who can give us a far more professional face.’
    ‘Does the budget extend to that?’
    ‘It wouldn’t do normally, but as you know, Des Palliser’s retiring at the end of next month. If I don’t replace him we can manage it.’
    ‘You’re going to replace an operational DI with a civvie?’
    ‘He’s hardly operational. He’s been acting duty-officer for the last eighteen months, which means filing paperwork and manning phones. I’m sure we can live without him.’
    ‘Someone’ll have to do that job.’
    She eyed him carefully. ‘Bob Hunter.’
    Heck thought he’d misheard. ‘You’re taking Hunter off the streets?’
    Gemma shuffled the paperwork on her desk. ‘Bob’s better days are behind him. Milton Keynes wasn’t the first time he’s shown a lack of judgment recently.’
    ‘But we’re already under-strength, ma’am.’
    ‘Bob Hunter’s grounded for the foreseeable, and that’s all there is to it. We
are
under-strength, I agree … but the last thing I need at present is a loose cannon out in the field. Now let’s get back to work. We’re all busy.’ Heck stood up. Gemma was already engrossed in checking another report. He headed for the door. ‘Well done on the case,’ she said to his back. He glanced around, but she didn’t look up. ‘I said I meant that, and I do. But none of us smell of roses right now. And I have to take any action necessary to put that right.’
    Heck nodded and left.

Chapter 6
    If nothing else, Kate was glad it was spring.
    Okay, some parts of Liverpool didn’t look great at any time of year, and Toxteth was undoubtedly one of them, especially when rainy as today. But just standing outside the front of the shop this evening and not having to wrap up like an Eskimo was a boon.
    To call the winter that had just passed ‘bitter’ would have been a big understatement. An arctic air-stream had caused record lows and persistent whiteouts across the whole of the UK from mid-December until well into February. Great fun, of course, for the kiddies, whose schools were repeatedly closed. But there were an awful lot of people for whom those conditions were a living hell. The flotsam of the city – the lonely, the homeless, the sick, the drug-addled – did well to get through their average day and keep warm, dry and fed, but rotting cardboard boxes, piss-stained sleeping bags and windy concrete underpasses offered scant protection when the ice and snow bit with that much savagery.
    Kate chuffed on her cig, and considered it a miracle that any of her charges had survived this last winter at all – and they weren’t totally out of the woods yet. It was seven o’clock now and today’s inclement weather appeared to be clearing at last, though it still felt dank and chilly.
    She was in the process of closing up, loading bundles of plastic-wrapped second-hand clothing, all cleaned and pressed, into the boot of her battered old Ford Fiesta. The backstreet on which the charity shop was located, which was unused by any other businesses, became a deep, dark canyon once night fell. Only a single yellow lamp glowed at the far end,