By
Jan
Chapter 1
Detective
Chief Superintendent Simon Stubberfield puffed furiously on his cigar. The
whole building was a no-smoking area but it would have to be a brave man – or
woman – who would bring that small detail to his attention. He sat hunched over
the table, beating out a tattoo with chubby fingertips and occasionally
glancing expectantly towards the open door. In turn, the half dozen assembled
officers of varying ranks looked at him expectantly. His head jerked up as two
people appeared in the doorway – a man and a woman. “Sean…Helen…come in,” he
boomed as he rose from his seat.
The
couple came into the room and went and stood beside him. “Everyone. This is
Detective Inspector Sean Parr and Detective Inspector Helen Stewart. They are
here on secondment to assist in the Wade case.”
All
eyes turned to the newcomers. The male eyes lingering appreciatively on DI
Stewart, an attractive, green-eyed thirty-year-old Scot.
“Right,
now. Pay attention,” Stubberfield ordered as he dropped his cigar butt into his
coffee mug. There was a hiss as coffee dregs extinguished the smouldering tip.
“DI Stewart will be working undercover. We think a woman might have more chance
infiltrating the organisation because of – shall we say – Wade’s predilection
for beautiful women.”
Helen
Stewart looked at him distastefully. The man was a pig and he had the manners
of pig. The coffee mug/cigar episode proved that. He had just made it painfully
obvious to everyone present, one of the main reasons she had been chosen for
this assignment was because of her gender and not because she was a good
copper. Anyway, why didn’t he just say Nicola Wade was a lesbian instead of
being so coy? They were all supposed to be adults, for Christ’s sake! She
mentally gave herself a kick on the shins. If they were all adults, why was she
having all these childish thoughts then? She managed to stop herself from
smiling but her eyes were dancing merrily as she looked up and her eyes met
those of a young man on the front row, openly admiring her. The embarrassment
on his face at being discovered brought a smile to her lips. He smiled back and
then looked away. She forced herself to be serious and folded her arms and crossed
her legs – grateful she had worn trousers and not a skirt – and tried to
concentrate on what Stubberfield was saying.
“As
you all know, Nicola Wade and her girlfriend, Patricia Barnes, own Skylarks.
It’s a known gay bar and, if our sources are to believed, a cover for the
biggest drug ring in the county. Last week a young girl was found dead in the
toilets after taking drugs. This is the second time this has happened and…” he
hesitated slightly to give his words full effect. “I’m going to make damn sure
it doesn’t happen again!”
Briefing
over, Stubberfield introduced them round. The young man in the front row –
obviously low down in the pecking order – was one of the last to be introduced.
“Sean…Helen,
this is DC Dominic McAllister,” Stubberfield introduced them.
“Nice
to meet you, Dominic.” Helen gave him a friendly smile.
“Sir…Ma’am,”
Dominic replied politely and somewhat nervously.
Sean
gave him the once over and nodded formally. Helen knew of old he rarely
acknowledged anyone below Detective Sergeant and then it was only to bark
orders at him or her. Helen hung back as the two men walked away. “So, Dominic,
how long have you been in the force?”
“About
four years, ma’am.”
Helen
flinched. She hated the word ‘ma’am’ especially when it was coming from someone
only a few years younger than herself. "You didn’t join straight from
school then?”
“No,
I had a few jobs before I joined up…postman, milkman, plumber’s mate,” he said
with a grin.
She
looked at Sean who was standing scowling at her. “I’d better go. Nice to have
met you, Dominic.”
“Yeah,
you too, ma’am.”
Nikki
Wade looked at the smug bastard sitting opposite her and clenched and
unclenched her fists. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm and in
control. Punching the bank manager’s lights out wouldn’t get them the loan they
wanted. “So, what you mean is, we’re going to have some nosy git prying into
our finances!” she exploded angrily.
“If
you prefer to refer to a business advisor as a ‘nosy git’, Miss Wade, that is
your prerogative but that attitude won’t keep you in business,” Nigel Carter
said patronisingly.
“Nikki!”
Trish Barnes, her partner in both business and life hissed warningly beside
her.
“Sorry,
Trish,” she apologised. “But I am not prepared to sit back and let the club be
snatched out from under my nose.” She glared at Carter defiantly.
“Miss
Wade, I am not proposing to snatch the club from under your nose,” Carter
replied patiently. “But we need to know that we are lending you money for a
sound business investment. The sooner the bank has your business plan, the
sooner we can give you a decision one way or the other.”
“Yeah,
I know that,” Nikki agreed.
“That’s
settled then. I’ll get one of our business advisors to give you a ring and
arrange a time convenient to you both.” Carter stood up signalling the meeting
was at an end.
The
two women also stood up and Trish extended her hand politely. “Thank you for
your time, Mr Carter.”
“It’s
a pleasure, Miss Barnes.” Trish’s hand was taken in a flabby grip. Nikki
noticed the way his thumb stroked the back of Trish’s hand and gave a mocking
grin. She turned away and opened the door for Trish.
“That
wanker fancies you,” Nikki informed her when Carter’s door had closed behind
them.
“It
doesn’t hurt to be friendly with him,” Trish snapped. “The way you were acting
I was expecting him to say ‘piss off and forget it’ at any minute.”
“He
is such a tosser!” Nikki exclaimed. She slipped her hand behind Trish’s back
and caressed her buttocks. “Didn’t have the heart to tell him you were mine,”
she said with a leer. She bent her head and captured Trish’s mouth. As Nikki
started to get carried away with the moment, she heard a polite cough behind
her. She turned, an irritated look at being disturbed on her face, and found
herself staring into a pair of cold, green eyes. “Did you want something,
love?” Nikki asked insolently.
“I
would like to get into Mr Carter’s office, if you don’t mind,” the woman said
with an icy Scottish twang.
“Come
on, Nik,” Trish grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her away.
As they started to walk
down the corridor, Nikki turned and saw the woman was still staring after them.
She smirked and winked at her then again ran her hand down Trish’s buttocks.
The woman looked away, obviously embarrassed.
“Will
you behave?” Trish exclaimed as if Nikki a naughty child but there was a smile
upon her lips. “And wait until we get home!”
As
the two women rounded the corner and disappeared from her sight, Helen rapped
smartly on Nigel Carter’s door. She was a little disconcerted by the so obvious
display of ‘lesbian love’ she had just witnessed and the tall dark-haired woman
seemed to have been going out of her way to shock her.
“Come
in!” Carter impatiently called out for the third time. “Inspector Stewart,” he
said pleasantly as she entered. “Glad you could make it. You’ve just missed
them.”
“I
was held up but I saw them outside.” She blushed as she again remembered the
women’s intimacy.
“The
Misses Barnes and Wade, as different as chalk and cheese. Whatever Patricia
Barnes sees in a boorish, no-hoper like Nicola Wade, I’ll never know,” he said
distastefully.
“Well,
I can’t comment. I don’t know either of them personally,” she said stiffly.
“You’ll
have your work cut out with Wade. She’s a tough nut, fiery, quick tempered.”
Helen
looked at him sharply. He seemed to have a real downer on the woman. Was his
dislike of her based on what she was really like or because he fancied the
other woman? Who she assumed was Wade’s girlfriend. “Don’t worry about me, Mr
Carter,” she replied silkily. “I’ve cracked tougher nuts than her but I want to
thank you for all your help.”
“If
I can do anything to get scum like Wade off the street then feel free to call
on me at any time!”
Helen
looked at him distastefully. She had been against getting Nigel Carter involved
from the beginning but there had been no alternative way into Wade’s
organisation. “Leave it to us now, Mr Carter, we’ll take it from here!”