Meaning meetings with men like himself.

Rebus watched as Cafferty stirred his coffee. “You sound like you still take an interest,” he commented.

“Call it a hobby.”

“Some hobbies end up all-consuming.”

“Man’s got to have something to fill his retirement. That’s where you went wrong. Nothing to do with yourself all day, so you ended up back in the game.” Cafferty scooped up some of the mousse from the surface of his drink and spooned it into his mouth.

“Any idea who might bear a grudge against Hammell?”

“Present company excepted?” Cafferty smiled. “Probably too many to count, but I doubt they’d bring a kid into it.”

“If they did, though…?”

“Then any day now they’ll get a message to Hammell, and that’s when he’ll go supernova. You’ll want to know about it if that happens.”

“We should keep a watch on him?”

“You should be doing that anyway. I seem to remember a fair few surveillance operations mounted against me in the dim and distant past.”

“Caught you red-handed, too.”

Cafferty gave another twitch of the mouth. “Best not to dwell on it.”

“Actually, I think we need to, just for a moment.”

Cafferty looked at him. “And why’s that?”

“Because the Complaints are keeping tabs on me.”

“Tut-tut.”

“They know, for example, that we’ve been out a few times together.”

“Someone must have told them.”

“Wasn’t you, was it?”

Cafferty’s face remained a mask.

“See, it makes sense to me,” Rebus continued. His hands were wrapped around his own mug of coffee, but he hadn’t taken so much as a sip since sitting down. “In fact, I can’t think of a neater way of setting me up. You keep taking me out for these little drinks and chats, making everyone think we’re bosom buddies…”

“I’m insulted.”

“Well, someone’s been talking to them.”

“Not me.” Cafferty shook his head slowly as he placed his spoon on the table. His phone was vibrating again.

“Sure you don’t want to answer that?” Rebus asked.

“I can’t help it if I’m popular.”

“You might want to look that word up in a dictionary.”

“The shit I let you get away with…” Cafferty’s eyes were sudden dark tunnels, leading to darker places still.

“There you are,” Rebus said, giving a thin smile. “Knew you were still in there somewhere, waiting to come out and play.”

“We’re finished,” Cafferty stated, rising to his feet and snatching his phone. “You should try being nice to me, Rebus. Sometimes I think I’m the only friend you’ve got left.”

“We’ve never been friends, and never will be.”

“You sure about that?” Rather than wait for an answer, Cafferty started threading his way between the tables, nimble for such a big man. Rebus sat back and looked around him, studying the café’s morning clients. He wished the Complaints had been watching and listening, just this one time; it might have put their minds at rest.

13

Did you miss me?” Rebus inquired as he walked into the SCRU office.