Nobody’s Hero (Ben Koenig #2)

Chapter 27

Koenig pulled onto what the Brits called the hard shoulder. The BMW tucked in behind him. Koenig stopped. So did the BMW.

‘If I say go, you go,’ Draper said. ‘You put your foot down and we get the hell out of here. I’m not getting whacked because you don’t understand an asshole with a gun is dangerous.’

‘Cops here aren’t armed,’ Koenig said.

‘And cops back home aren’t supposed to moonlight as bounty hunters.’

‘Fair point.’

Koenig watched the BMW in the rearview mirror. There was a woman in the passenger seat. She was making a call. He couldn’t tell if she was using a cell or a police radio. She said something to the man in the driver’s seat, then opened the door. She approached Koenig’s side of the Jag. Touched the trunk as she did. An old cop trick. Put her prints on the car in case something went wrong. Proved she’d been there.

She had shoulder-length black hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore black trousers, a white blouse and a navy blue blazer. Her hands were empty. She wasn’t carrying a bag. If she had a gun, it was tucked into her waist at the back. She knocked on the window. Koenig lowered it.

‘How are you doing?’ she said.

‘Very well, thank you. Yourself?’

‘Can’t complain.’

‘We’ll be on our way then,’ Koenig said.

The woman reached into her inside pocket and produced a thin black wallet. She flipped it open and held it out. ‘My name’s Chief Superintendent Danielle Brown. Do you know why I’ve stopped you?’

‘You’ve forgotten already?’ Koenig said. ‘It was only thirty seconds ago. I’d see a brain doctor if I were you.’

‘Do you want to try again, sir?’

‘Our Jag has a free doughnuts sign in the rear window?’

‘You’d better tell him, Chief Superintendent Brown,’ Draper said. ‘He can keep this bullshit up all day.’

‘I have some questions for you both,’ she said. ‘How about we start with an easy one? What are your names? The truth, please.’

‘My name’s Ben,’ Koenig said. ‘I’m an amateur bum, but I’m hoping to go professional next year. This is Jen. She used to torture people for the CIA but says she doesn’t any more.’

Draper glowered at him.

‘You won’t get into heaven if you lie to police officers, Jen. It’s in the rules. Anyway, she knows exactly who we are. Isn’t that right, Chief Superintendent Brown?’

She nodded. No hesitation. ‘Please, call me Danielle,’ she said.

‘Do you want to get in the back, Danielle? The seats are heated and it’s cold outside.’

‘Thank you.’ Danielle put her thumb and forefinger together, flashed her driver the OK gesture. She climbed into the back of the Jag.

‘How can we help you?’ Koenig said.

‘I want to know why my murder investigation was closed down,’ she said. ‘I want to know why someone dressed like a Victorian flower seller killed two people in cold blood. And I want to know how she managed to evade almost every camera in my city.’

‘Is that all?’

‘For now.’

‘If you know who we are, then you also know that we can’t tell you.’

‘Can’t or won’t?’

‘Is there a difference?’

‘There absolutely is a difference. “Can’t” means you don’t know. “Won’t” means you’re just a dickhead hiding behind some national security codswallop.’ She paused. ‘Are you a dickhead, Mr Koenig?’

Which was low-hanging fruit to Draper. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘God, yes.’

‘It’s a “can’t”,’ Koenig admitted. ‘We have absolutely no idea why she did anything. We don’t even know her name.’

‘But you’re here to find out?’

Koenig said nothing.

‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Danielle said. ‘And because you came over on diplomatic passports, and because Miss Draper owns a private intelligence company, I’m going out on a limb and saying this is an unsanctioned operation. You’re covert. You got material support from Bernice Kopitz and then she got rid of you as fast as possible.’

‘How’d you figure that?’

‘I know Bernice. Met her a couple of times. She’s incredibly competent. And if she’s sent you out without support, it’s because that’s what she was told to do. Or she wanted no part of what’s about to happen. Either way, you two are on your own. How am I doing?’

Koenig shared a look with Draper. She shrugged. ‘You have a suggestion?’ he said.

‘I do,’ Danielle said. ‘This is no longer a covert investigation. I know you’re here and I know why you’re here. And while you will both be given the courtesy that all our American guests get in the UK, none of the forty-five police forces will cooperate with you. Not from any sense of malice, you understand. We barely cooperate with each other. See what happens when you ask for assistance sounding like Joe Friday.’

‘I’m from Boston,’ Koenig said.

‘I wasn’t talking to you.’

Draper smiled. Which was a relief. Koenig had seen her punch people for less. He came to a decision. A British cop could be an asset. They could call in favours. Lean on informants. Order beers that weren’t warm. But only if she played at their level. He didn’t have time for excess baggage.

‘Why would we need cooperation?’ he asked.

‘Because we’ve watched the same movie,’ she said.

‘I’ll need a little more—’

‘You’re after a gun,’ she cut in. ‘Your mystery woman was holding a weapon our experts have identified as a COP .357 derringer. That’s exotic. All handguns over here are exotic, of course, but this one especially so. I was ordered to shut down my investigation, which I did. I work in a command-and-control organisation. I don’t need to know the rationale behind every decision my superiors make. But they can’t stop me thinking about it.’

‘And what is it you’ve been thinking about, Danielle?’

‘That if I’d been allowed to continue, I’d have headed north looking for where she bought the gun.’

‘You work in one of the biggest cities in Europe,’ Koenig said. ‘Why not start there?’

‘London has live facial recognition,’ she said. ‘And because the threat level hasn’t been below “substantial” for five years now, the LFR cameras are on permanent deployment. A woman this good would know that. She wouldn’t risk London. Not when her face triggered the kind of response it did. That leaves half a dozen other cities. You’re on the M6 and you’ve already passed Birmingham. That leaves Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow. All three have gang problems.’

‘Where exactly would you start looking?’

‘Not in the cities themselves. The guy you’re looking for will only sell to select clients. People he knows. The odd referral. He won’t live in the city because he won’t have to. But he’ll have to live nearby. Somewhere rural or semirural. He won’t want to make drops in an urban area. I think you plan to find someone with a gun and hit him until he tells you where he bought it. Then work your way up the food chain until you get to the big dog’s kennel.’

Koenig shared another glance with Draper. She nodded.

‘Did I pass?’ Danielle asked.

‘You did,’ Koenig said. ‘I was going to find a street dealer tonight. Start there. Would that work?’

‘It might,’ she said. ‘But if I were you, I’d skip a couple of the lower rungs by finding the right bar or club. The kind of place that sells punishment beatings. That type of place.’

‘You know anywhere like that?’

‘I used to work for Greater Manchester Police. I haven’t been back in almost ten years, but I still have contacts. By the time we get to where we’re going, I’ll have a name. Somewhere to start.’

‘You don’t need to check in with anyone?’ Koenig asked. ‘We may be a couple of days and I’m sure chief superintendents are kept busy in London.’

‘I’m on leave. Compassionate. Took it the moment Bernice collected you at Heathrow. Sick uncle.’

‘And your driver?’

‘Won’t say anything.’

‘He’s not coming?’

‘He is needed back in London. I’ll get a lift with you guys. Reduce my carbon footprint. I’m good to go.’

‘You don’t have an overnight bag in the trunk?’

‘If I need something, I’ll buy it.’

Koenig slipped the Jag into first and eased back onto the M6. ‘Let’s go and crack some skulls then.’

‘You know I’m a cop, right?’ Danielle said. ‘No one is cracking skulls.’

‘Figure of speech,’ Koenig said. ‘And, just so you know, that whole personal-carbon-footprint thing is nothing but propaganda. The product of a one-hundred-million-dollar marketing campaign. BP wanted to deflect responsibility for climate change away from them and onto the individual. It’s one of the most deceptive PR campaigns there has ever been.’

Draper sighed. ‘Welcome to my world, Danielle,’ she said. ‘I’ve had to put up with this since we left New York.’