Fatal Last Words

Twenty-five

‘It’s funny,’ Neil McIlhenney chuckled, ‘but I’ve never taken you for a guy who’d sit on a beach filtering the sand through his toes.’

‘Why not?’ Bob Skinner replied ‘I’m a dad just like you, and it’s a nice Sunday. OK, maybe I’m a bit older than you, but my kids are younger than yours, apart from wee Louis here, of course.’ He turned to the infant who sat beside him in a carry-chair, chewing earnestly on a teething ring, and tickled his tummy. ‘Eh, wee man. Won’t be long before you’re on your feet and in the sea with the other four.’ He pointed to the water’s edge, where Spencer McIlhenney and his own adopted son Mark were superintending James Andrew and Seonaid as they played in the light surf. ‘The bathing’s always safe here,’ he said. ‘Just as well, for I don’t know what Markie-boy could do if a big wave came in,’ he murmured. ‘The Jazzer’s a better swimmer than he is.’

‘Maybe better than Spence, too,’ Neil conceded, ‘and definitely better than Lauren, although you won’t find her with this group any more. She sees her place as up at the house with Aileen and Lou.’

‘That’s all part of growing up, mate. I always think that puberty’s a bigger thing for a girl than a boy. With lads the change is more gradual, but. . She may be an early teen, but you better start thinking of your Lauren as a woman. You know, I’d never heard of PMT till Alex was that age, then I found out about it big time. Her mother was neither up nor down at that time of the month. . although maybe she was in her teens, I don’t know. . but Alexis, Christ, from being a peaceable wee girl, she started throwing tantrums every four weeks, regular as clockwork. It was probably the worst part of being a single parent.’ He broke off as a cry of ‘Daddee!’ split the air and Seonaid came running up the beach towards him, throwing herself into his arms as she arrived, soaking his shirt and shorts.

‘Hey,’ he called out, rolling backwards and throwing her in the air, then catching her again as she squealed with delight. ‘I tell you, Neil, I’m making a point of cherishing every moment of this one’s childhood, for it’ll be over in the blink of an eye.’

The child soon tired of the game and returned to her brothers, and their friend, leaving the two men to their chat. ‘Tell me,’ said Skinner, ‘for how long did you consider taking Andy’s advice and keeping me in the dark about Glover’s surveillance?’

‘Two seconds, maybe.’

‘Twice as long as was appropriate, I’d say.’

‘Yes. Sorry I hesitated.’ McIlhenney snorted. ‘I don’t know what he was thinking about, suggesting that I could keep a significant line of investigation secret from my reporting officer.’

‘No, me neither. It’s not like Andy to think that way. He’s never been a pure book operator, any more than I have, but he’s always come down on the right side of an issue.’

‘Maybe this Coben guy got to him; maybe he really was scared for you and for Aileen.’

‘Andy? Scared?’

‘It would be unprecedented, I’ll grant you.’

‘Unnecessary too, all of it. Aileen and I agreed very early in our relationship that it was all right for each of us to keep operational secrets from the other. Plus, I knew about the surveillance.’

‘You knew?’ McIlhenney exclaimed. ‘You mean they cleared it with you?’

‘No, they didn’t, for which omission somebody’s probably had his arse kicked. I found out by accident. Andy’s pal at BT was my source before he ever was his. When he got leaned on by Andy for a second time, he got pissed off, so he came to me and told me about it. So did Amanda Dennis, after he started poking around in MI5. It didn’t take me long to figure out who was behind it, or why. Trident’s an incredibly sensitive issue; anything, anything at all that might relate to its security is going to attract a degree of attention.’

‘This defence intelligence heavy didn’t come to see you, did he?’

‘No, and I didn’t know about his visit to Andy either, before you ask.’

‘So what do we do? Regard the man Coben as a suspect?’

‘Nah, I can’t credit that. MoD intelligence don’t go bumping off people like Glover.’ He chuckled. ‘Not as a general rule, anyway.’

‘How do I proceed? This is not my usual line of work.’

‘It’s within your pay grade, though. Forget about Coben; I’ll handle that. You get that list, the one that Andy has in his safe. Take a look at the names on it and follow them up; do what you can to check their well-being. If anything’s happened to any of them, bring it back to me.’

‘Will do. Incidentally,’ the superintendent murmured casually, ‘you might be getting a call from Andy, about me. He and I had a disagreement. He didn’t want Sammy Pye in the room when he talked to me. It got a bit-’

‘You had your way, I hope.’

‘Yes, but there were things said, warnings given.’

‘Then forget them; and forget about getting that list. I’ll do that myself. Andy will be having a visit from me, tomorrow morning. He’s crossed the line a couple of times today, by trying to keep secrets from me and by having a go at one of my officers. I want to know why.’