Tooth & Nail

Family

He slept deeply that night, but woke at six the next morning and sat up in bed immediately. His stomach hurt, a burning sensation as though he had, just swallowed a measure of spirits. The doctors had, told him not to drink alcohol Last night he had drunk just the one glass of wine and two glasses of brandy. He rubbed the area around the wound, willing the ache to go away, then took two more painkillers with a glass of, tap-water before dressing and putting on his shoes.

His taxi driver, though sleepy, was full of tales of yesterday's action.

`I was on Whitehall, wasn't I? An hour and a quarter in the cab before the traffic got moving again. Hour and a bleedin' quarter. Didn't see the chase either, but I heard the smash.'

Rebus sat back in silence, all the way to the block of flats in Bethnal Green. He paid the driver and looked again at the slip of paper Flight had given him. Number 46, fourth floor, flat six. The elevator smelled of vinegar. A crumpled paper package in one corner was oozing under-cooked chips and a tail-end of batter. Flight was right: it made all the difference having a good network of informers. It made for quick information. But what a good copper's network could get, so too could a good villain's. Rebus hoped he'd be in time.

He walked quickly across the small landing from the open lift to the door of one of the flats where two empty milk bottles stood to attention in a plastic holder. He picked up one bottle and hurried back to the lift just as its doors were shuddering to a close to place the milk bottle in the remaining gap. The doors stayed where they were. So did the lift.

You never knew when a quick getaway would be needed.

Then he walked along the narrow corridor to flat six, braced himself against the wall and kicked at the door?handle with the heel of his shoe. The door flew open and he walked into a stuffy hall. Another door, another kick and he was face to face with Kenny Watkiss.

Watkiss had been asleep on a mattress on the floor. He was standing now, clad only in underpants and shivering, against the furthest wall from the door. He pushed his hair back when he saw who it was.

Jee Jesus,' he stammered. `What are you doing here?'

`Hello, Kenny,' said Rebus, stepping into the room. `I thought we'd have a little chat.'

`What about?' You didn't get as frightened as Kenny Watkiss was by having your door kicked in at half, past six in the morning. You only got that frightened by the idea of who was, doing it and why.

`About Uncle Tommy.'

`Uncle Tommy?' Kenny Watkiss smiled unconvincingly. He moved back to the mattress and started pulling on a pair of torn denims. `What about him?'

`What are you so scared of Kenny? Why, are, you hiding?'

`Hiding?' That smile again. `Who said I was hiding?'

Rebus shook his .head, his own smile one of apparent sympathy. `I feel sorry for you, Kenny, really I do. I see your kind a hundred times a week. All ambition and no brain. All talk, but no guts. I've only been in London a week, and already. I know how to find you when I want you.

Do you think' Tommy can't? You think maybe he'll lay off? No, he's going to nail your head to the wall!

'Don't talk daft.' Now that he was dressed, having pulled on. a black T-shirt, Kenny's voice had lost some of its trembling. But he couldn't hide the look in his eyes, the haunted, hunted look. Rebus decided to make it easy for him. He reached into a pocket and brought out a packet of cigarettes, offered one to Kenny and lit it for him before taking one himself. He rubbed at his stomach. Jesus, it was hurting. He hoped the stitches were holding.

`You've been ripping him off,' Rebus said casually. `He handled stolen goods, you were his courier, passing it down the chain. But you've been skimming a little off the top, haven't you? And with each job you'd take a little more than he knew about. Why? Saving for that Docklands flat? So you could start your own business? Maybe you got greedy, I don't know. But Tommy got suspicious. You were in court that day because you wanted to see him go down. It was the only thing that could have saved you. When he didn't, you still tried putting one over on him, yelling out from the public gallery. But by then it was only a matter of time. And when you heard that the case had been dropped altogether, well, you knew he'd come straight after you. So you ran. You didn't run far enough, Kenny.'

Unknown

`What's it to you?' The words were angry. But it was the anger that came of fear. It wasn't directed at Rebus. He was merely the messenger.

`Just this,' Rebus said calmly, `keep away from Sammy. Don't ever go near her again, don't even try to talk to her. In fact, your best bet right now is to get on a train or a bus or whatever and get the hell out of London. Don't worry, we'll pin Tommy for something sooner or later. Then maybe you can come back.' He had slipped a hand into his pocket again. It came out holding a fold of ten pound notes, four of which he peeled off and threw onto the mattress.

`I'm offering you a one-way ticket, and I'm suggesting you take it right now, this morning.'

The eyes and voice were wary. 'You're not going to take me in?'

`Why should I?’

The smile this time was more confident still. He looked at the money. `It's just family, Rebus. That's all. I can take care of myself.'

`Can you?' Rebus nodded, taking in the room with its peeling wallpaper and boarded-up window, the mattress with its single rumpled sheet. `Fair enough.' He turned to go.

`It wasn't just me, you know.'

Rebus stopped but didn't turn. `What?' He tried not to sound interested.

`There was a copper, too. He was on a cut from the robberies.'

Rebus sucked in air. Did he need to know? Did he want to know? Kenny Watkiss didn't give him the choice.

`A detective called Lamb,' he said. Rebus exhaled silently, but, saying nothing, showing nothing, walked back out of the flat and, pulling open the lift doors, kicking away the milk bottle, pressed the button for the ground floor and waited for the slow descent.

Outside the block, he paused to stub out his cigarette. He rubbed at his stomach again. Stupid not to have brought the painkillers with him. From the corner of his eye, he could see the unmarked transit van in the car park. Six forty-five. There could be a perfectly rational explanation for it, for the fact that two men sat stonily in its front seats. They might be about to go to work, mightn't they?

In fact, Rebus knew damned fine that's what they were doing. And he had another choice now. He could let them go to work, or he could stop them. It took him another second or two to decide, but finally, with a picture of Samantha's face in his head, he walked across nonchalantly to the van and, the men still ignoring his existence, thumped hard on the passenger-side window. The passen?ger looked at him with undisguised enmity, but, seeing that Rebus was undeterred, rolled down the window.

`Yeah?'

Rebus stuck his ID so far into the man's face that the plastic coating brushed against his nose.

`Police, he snapped. `Now get the fuck out of here. And tell Tommy Watkiss we've got his nephew under twenty-four hour watch. Anything happens, we'll know where to come and who to charge.' Rebus stood back and looked carefully at the man. `Think you can remember all that, or do you want me to write it down?'

The passenger was growling audibly as he rolled the window back up. The driver was already starting the van. As it began to move off, Rebus gave its side a farewell kick. Maybe Kenny would leave and maybe he'd stay. It was up to him. Rebus had, given him a chance. Whether the young man took it or not was out of Rebus's hands.

`Like Pontius Pilate,' he mumbled to himself as he made for the main road. Standing by a lamppost, waiting and praying for a black cab to come along, he saw Kenny Watkiss emerge from the flats, a duffel-bag slung across his shoulder, and, looking around him, start to jog towards the far end of the estate. Rebus nodded to himself. `That's my boy,' he said, as, with protesting brakes, a cab slowed to a halt beside him.

You're in luck mate,' said the driver. `I'm just starting my shift.' Rebus, clambered in and gave the name of his hotel, then settled back, enjoying the city at this quiet hour. The driver, though, was in practice for the day ahead.

`Here,' he said, `did you hear about that rumpus yesterday at Trafalgar Square? I was in a queue for an hour and a half. I mean, I'm all for law and order, but there must've been another way of going about it, mustn't there?' John Rebus shook his head and laughed.

His suitcase sat closed on the bed beside the little-used briefcase and the bag of books. He was squeezing the last few items, into his sports bag when there was a soft tapping at his door.

`Come in.'

She did. She was wearing a solid-foam neck-brace, but grinned it away.

`Isn't it stupid? They want me to wear, it for the next few days, but I—' She saw the cases on, the bed. `You're not leaving already?'

Rebus nodded. `I came here to help with the Wolfman case. The Wolfman case is finished.'

`But what about—'

He, turned to her. `What about us?' he guessed. She lowered her eyes. `That's a good question, Lisa. You lied to me. You weren't trying to help. You were trying to get your bloody Ph.D.'

`I'm sorry,' she said.

`Me too. I mean, 'I can understand why you did it, why you think you had to do it. Really I can. But that doesn't make it any better.'

She straightened her back and nodded. `Fair enough then,' she said. `So, Inspector Rebus, if all I was doing was using you, why did I come here straight from the hospital?'

He zipped shut the bag. It was a good question. 'Because you got found out,' he said.

`No,' she said. `That was bound to happen eventually. Try again.' He shrugged his shoulders. `Oh,' she said, sounding disappointed. 'I was hoping you could tell me. I'm not really sure myself.'

He turned towards her again and saw that she was smiling. She looked so stupid in the neck-brace that he had to return the smile eventually. And when she came towards him he returned her hug, too.

`Ouch!' she said. `Not too hard, John.'

So he relaxed his muscles a little, and they kept on hugging. He was actually feeling mellow, the painkillers had seen to that.

`Anyway,' he said at last, `you weren't much help.'

She pulled away from him. He was still smiling, but archly. `What do you mean?'

`I mean all that stuff we talked about in the restaurant. All those index cards.' Rebus recited the list. `Thwarted ambition. Victims from a social class above the killer. No confrontation . . . ' He scratched his chin. `None of it fits Malcolm' Chambers.'

`I wouldn't say that. We've still got to look at his home life, his background.' She sounded defiant rather than merely defensive. `And I was right about the schizophre?nia.

`So you'll still do your project?'

She tried to nod: it wasn't easy. `Of course,' she said. `There's plenty of work to be done on Chambers, believe me. There must be clues there somewhere in his past. He must have left something.'

`Well, let me know what you find out.'

`John. Before he died, did he say anything?'

Rebus smiled. `Nothing important,' he said. `Nothing important.'

After she'd gone, after the promises of return trips and of weekends in Edinburgh, promises of postcards and phone calls, he took his luggage down to reception. George Flight was at the desk. Rebus put his key down next to where Flight was signing his name to several forms.

'Do you realise how much this hotel costs?' Flight said, not looking up. 'Next time you visit, you really will have to bunk at my place.' Then he glanced towards Rebus. `But I suppose you were worth it.' He finished with the forms and handed them to the receptionist, who checked them before nodding that everything was in order. `You know the address to send them to,' Flight called back as the two men started towards the hotel's swing-doors.

'I really must get the lock on the boot fixed,' Flight said, shutting the car's back door on Rebus's luggage. Then `Where to? King's Cross?'

Rebus nodded. `With one slight detour,' he said.

The detour, in Flight's words, turned out to be more than slight. They parked across from Rhona's flat in Gideon Park and Flight pulled on the handbrake.

'Going in?' he said. Rebus had been thinking about it, but shook his head. What could he tell Sammy? Nothing that would help. If he said he'd seen Kenny, she'd only accuse him of scaring him off. No, best leave it.

`George,' he said, `could you maybe have someone drop in and tell her Kenny's left London. But stress that he's okay, that he's not in trouble. I don't want him lingering too long in her memory.'

Flight was nodding. `I'll do it myself,' he said. `Have you seen him yet?'

`I went this morning.'

`And?'

`And I was just in time. But I reckon he'll be all right.'

Flight studied the face next to him. `I think I believe you,' he said.

`Just one thing.'

`Yes?'

`Kenny told me one of your men is involved. The baby faced redneck.'

`Lamb?'

`That's the one. He's on Tommy Watkiss's payroll, according to Kenny.'

Flight pursed his lips' and was silent for a moment. `I think I believe that, too,' he said at last, very quietly. `Don't worry, John. I'll deal with it.'

Rebus said nothing. He was still staring out at the windows of Rhona's flat, willing Sammy to come to one of them and see him. No, not see him, just so that he might see her. But there was no one at home. The ladies were out for the day with Tim or Tony or Graeme or Ben.

And it was none of Rebus's business anyway.

`Let's go,' he said.

So Flight drove him to King's Cross. Drove him through streets paved with nothing so very different from any other city. Streets ancient and modem, breathing with envy and excitement. And with evil. Not much evil, perhaps. But enough. Evil, after all, was pretty well a constant. He thanked God that it touched so few lives.' He thanked God that his friends and family were safe. And he thanked God he was going home.

`What are you thinking about?' Flight asked as they idled at yet another set of traffic lights.

`Nothing,' said Rebus.

He was still thinking about nothing when he boarded the busy Inter City 125, and sat down with his newspapers and his magazines. As the train was about to move off, someone squeezed into the seat opposite him and deposited four large cans of strong lager on the table. The youth was tall and hard-looking with shorn hair. He glared at Rebus and turned up his personal cassette player. Tscchh-tscchh-tscchh it went, so loud Rebus could almost make out the words. The youth was grasping a ticket denoting Edin?burgh as his destination. He put the ticket down and pulled on a ring-pull. Rebus shook his head wearily and smiled.

His own personal hell. As the train pulled away, he caught its rhythm and beat that rhythm out silently in his head.

FYTP

FYTP

FYTP

FYTP

FYTP

FYTP

All the way home.

The End