Carnal Acts

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planning of Pofnee and had been rewarded with responsibility for crime across the whole force area.
    ‘Something major go down in one of the cities?’ Heck found it unlikely that she was referring only to the brothel stabbings.
    ‘Nothing worse than usual,’ she said drily.
    Heck knew that could mean anything from running fights in central Newcastle to student bashing in Durham to drug-gang violence in Sunderland.
    ‘I’m interested in the Albanian connection,’ the ACC said, as they went across the entrance hall.
    ‘Is that right?’
    ‘They’re becoming a real problem in Newcastle.’ She tapped in the door code. ‘We don’t want them operating under our noses in Corham, especially if they’re being overtly violent. That wouldn’t be at all good for the Force’s image.’
    Heck nodded. It was all about image. If it hadn’t been a holiday, the local press would have been clamouring for a statement.
    ‘My office in five minutes,’ Ruth Dickie said, as the lift doors opened. ‘You and your DIs will be sufficient.’
    Heck swallowed a laugh. Why couldn’t the ACC use normal words like ‘enough’? He knew the reason – because she wasn’t normal at all, no matter how she looked. She was a woman rocketing through the glass ceiling, the chief constable’s job in hersights. He admired her and he wasn’t envious. He’d rather have walked the Roman Wall in winter wearing swimming trunks than occupy the sixth-floor corner office.
    ‘Morning, Joni,’ he said, as he walked into the fourth-floor MCU suite, having taken the stairs and almost lost his breath.
    DI Pax was hammering away at her keyboard. ‘Sir,’ she responded, without looking away from the screen. ‘ACC want us?’
    ‘How did you guess?’
    Joni shrugged.
    ‘Where’s Morrie?’
    ‘At the brothel. He and Nathan are being very secretive.’
    Heck called the other DI. ‘Morrie? You have a minute to get over here. The ACC’s office.’ He terminated the call. ‘That should get him moving. In truth he’s got three minutes.’
    Joni went to the printer and started collating papers.
    ‘Anything you want to tell me before we get grilled?’ Heck asked, dumping his bag in his glass-walled office. There was no one else around.
    ‘Nothing that won’t wait, sir.’
    ‘Thanks a lot. Let’s go then.’ He looked at her. ‘Aren’t you knackered?’
    ‘It’s not the first time I’ve pulled an all-nighter.’ Joni’s face softened. ‘Thanks for the concern, though.’ She followed him to the stairs, knowing his habit of avoiding the lifts. ‘There is one thing.’
    Heck looked over his shoulder.
    ‘The brothel. It’s owned by a company based in Liberia.’
    He groaned.

20
    Suzana watched the birds swarm over the park. They were like the shoals of fish she had once seen on Italian TV, circling and clustering in a dance only they could understand. She had spent the rest of the night behind the thick bushes that lined a park by a river. In the early morning she had gone through the nearby rubbish bins, finding half-eaten meat and bread and unfinished bottles – she ignored the beer and drank water and juice. Then, clutching her bent legs in her arms and leaning against the wall behind the bushes, she managed to sleep; not deeply and only in short bursts, but enough to refresh her. The wound in her chest was painful, as were her feet. She had taken off the trainers and socks and unwrapped the bandages, pouring water from a bottle she had saved over the lacerated soles. She didn’t know if it would be enough to fend off infection, but it was all she could do. When it got dark, she would see if she could find an unoccupied house to break into – there would be food and hot water, maybe even ointment and clean dressings. She wasn’t going near any hospital. Leka and his stinking friends would be there if she hadn’t killed them; she knew how unlikely it was that all three were dead. Even if they were, others would come after her. The clan

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