‘Okay, but keep your enquiries low key and your phones switched on. I don’t want two damned good officers getting hurt for the sake of an old wino whose liver finally gave up on him. He may be a good old boy, but you know what I’m saying. Any sign of anything amiss, call for help, understand?’

‘Absolutely, Ma’am, and thank you.’

Nikki sat and watched the officer leave, and quietly wondered about herself. That was the second time today she had praised her staff. Maybe she was like Archie, getting too long in the tooth for all the agro. Then she thought about Kerry and her heart hardened. No sodding way! Nikki Galena was as tough as ever, and ready and waiting to do battle. She would clean this town of the drug dealers if it were the last thing she ever did.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

JOSEPH HAD DOZED on and off whilst still keeping an eye on the slumbering boy. The slightest movement or whimper from the direction of the bed, and he was wide awake in a nanosecond. If you wanted to stay alive on Special Ops, you learnt to catnap but remain vigilant, and in his year away from the world, he had learned how to meditate, which refreshed him more than an hour of sleep could ever do.

Outside on the ward he could hear the nurses coming and going, buzzers bleeping and the occasional voice, but in the single room it was quiet. The last few days had been an unexpected rollercoaster, and it was good to take a breather.