Contents (83)
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- Acknowledgements
- OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK
‘BECAUSE YOU COME ALONE AND YOU WON’T LEAVE BREATHING!’ He continued to shout, pulling his arm free of Sarah’s as he did so. ‘YOU HEAR ME? YOU WON’T LEAVE BREATHING!’
Sarah could tell that he was itching to run. To chase O’Driscoll down. And so she made the decision for him. She grasped his hand tight, pulling him back towards her.
‘Calm, Mikey.’ Sarah’s voice was soothing. ‘Calm.’
Michael turned towards Sarah’s voice. His eyes met hers but they did not focus. Sarah could tell that he was struggling. That his control was on a knife edge.
Desperate, she took his face into her hands and stared hard into his eyes.
‘Calm down, Mikey,’ Sarah repeated. ‘It’s just a stupid boy making stupid threats. It’s not worth the trouble. All we have to do is call the police. We know who he is. We know what this was about. We just need to call the police. So calm. Just calm.’
Michael’s eyes began to focus. Sarah’s words were getting through the fog.
‘I’m sorry.’ The shame in Michael’s eyes said that he meant it. Sarah did not need that proof. She knew him better than he knew himself. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You don’t have to say sorry.’ Sarah reached into her handbag as she spoke and took out her mobile phone. ‘I’d have lost it too, if that little shit had said that to me.’
She tapped a number into the phone. Eleven digits. Michael had been expecting three nines.
‘Who are you calling?’
‘A new friend,’ Sarah replied. ‘One who’ll make Patrick O’Driscoll regret every word he just said.’
THIRTY
‘What time was he brought in?’
Joelle Levy was at her desk with her telephone at her ear. She glanced at the clock and noted the time. 9 p.m. Richard’s bedtime. Levy had missed it again. The familiar guilt ate at her gut.
‘OK. Has anyone spoken to Sarah Truman and Michael Devlin?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ came the answer. ‘They thanked us for picking O’Driscoll up, but neither one wanted to make a witness statement.’
‘I didn’t think they would. In that case, interview him, hold him until his twenty-four hours are up and then release him without charge.’
‘Ma’am?’ The caller sounded confused. ‘That’s not appropriate if we know we won’t be getting any evidence. Why would—’
‘Because I said so, Sergeant. If anything comes of it, I’ll make it clear you were acting on my instruction. Just hold him.’
Levy placed the receiver into the phone dock and shook her head. Having her judgement questioned by a police sergeant was irritating, but that was especially true when the sergeant was right. Levy had known that neither Sarah nor her fiancé would make a witness statement against Patrick O’Driscoll. Sarah had been clear about that in her call; that it would make it too difficult for Michael to continue as Simon Kash’s lawyer.
Without those statements there was no real evidence to justify the arrest. Less still to keep O’Driscoll in custody for twenty-four hours. The sergeant had reminded Levy of this, but a debt was a debt, and Levy still felt that she owed Sarah.