‘Right!’ Hearst got their attention at once. ‘Uniform has reported that a set of temporary traffic lights has gone up on the B4437, just south of Chilson, and another two sets have appeared on the London Road near the Ascott-under-Wychwood train station. These lights are nothing to do with the council. So, ladies and gentlemen, it seems we may have just discovered this gang’s route in and out. Emphasis on the word “may”. Let’s not take anything for granted. DI Gifford, if I divert six uniforms from the charity buffet, pop them into plain clothes and send them your way, can you get them up to speed, please? Deploy them in pairs to each traffic light location. Tell them not to approach any suspicious vehicle under any circumstances. This gang must be assumed to be armed and dangerous and I refuse to lose a single officer to them.’ She paused, and all eyes remained on her, alert to every word. No officer in the Chipping Norton team had ever known her to actually lead a briefing, but she certainly knew how to keep their attention. ‘De Voe remains under tight surveillance in London courtesy of DCI Ridley. Undercover officers have him in sight, his phone lines are tapped, and everyone who pauses for a second in his general vicinity is photographed and checked.’ She paused again. ‘We have this. We’re ready.’

*

Ridley leant over the back of Laura’s chair, looking at her computer screen. She could smell his faintly musky masculine scent and felt herself flushing. Ridley was reading a transcript from the last recorded phone call between Michael De Voe and Alberto Barro. Although neither man said anything in direct reference to what was about to happen in the Cotswolds, they did mention that, on completion of business, Alberto would get his usual ‘goodie bag’ with a little extra as a going away present.

This audio would be added to the other 137 hours of recorded evidence. When the case ultimately came to court, all of this seemingly innocent material would hopefully take on new meaning and become the foundation of the prosecution. They would certainly need every piece of evidence they could gather because, so far, De Voe had still not put a foot wrong.

Once he’d finished reading, Ridley moved to his office without looking back.

Laura watched him, silently telling him all of the things she would never be able to say out loud. She sounded pathetic, even to herself. Since her epiphany at the courthouse, she’d made two clear decisions: that Ridley was the only man she wanted – and that she’d never tell him, knowing he would never look at her in the same way as she now looked at him. She’d never felt this level of need before, along with the certainty that it could never be satisfied. And that hurt.

*