Текст книги "Hearts of Blue"

Автор книги: L. H. Cosway

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 21 страниц)

Seventeen

Tony’s eyes flared wide as he took in the scene: me with the front of my shirt splayed open, my bra exposed, the fly of my trousers undone, Lee’s hands cupping my face.

After just a second, his expression darkened, and he levelled me with a hard look. “Fix yourself up, Constable, and meet me outside. I’ll be waiting in the car.” With that he turned and left the bathroom, and I flew into a panic.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I swore, backing away from Lee and right up into the opposite wall.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” he tried to reassure me. “I’ll go and talk to him.”

“You won’t do anything of the sort. This is my mess. I’ll fix it. Just…just help me set my uniform back to rights.”

Silently, he came forward, redoing my belt as I buttoned up my shirt and tried to straighten out my hair. Glancing in the mirror, I saw that my lips were red and swollen, my cheeks flushed. This was so, so bad. There was no way of convincing Tony that what he’d seen hadn’t been what it looked like.

“I have to go,” I told Lee, stepping away from him and heading toward the door.

“Wait,” he said, grabbing my wrist.

I turned back, our gazes locking, and a sense of despair washed over me. All my recklessness had finally reached its climax. Either Tony was going to report me for seeing a man currently under police investigation, or he was going to keep my secret, and I had no idea which option was for the better.

“I’ll come see you tomorrow,” Lee promised.

“Yes, fine,” I replied, flustered. “Right now I just need to go and deal with Tony.”

With that I yanked my wrist from his hold and walked out of the ladies’. When I climbed into the car beside Tony, I found him staring straight ahead, his mouth a firm line. A moment of quiet passed before he spoke.

“How long’s it been going on?”

Guilt and remorse roiled within me. We were supposed to be friends. Friends didn’t deceive each other like I’d deceived Tony. “I never meant for any of this to happen. You have to believe me when I say that.”

“How long, Karla?”

“Two months, maybe a little more. The first time I met him was six months ago, but nothing happened between us for a long while.”

Tony shook his head and let out a slow breath. “You know what? I should’ve seen this coming. Looking back, all the signs were there. I just never expected this from you. You’re supposed to be one of the good ones. Fuck knows there’s so little of us left as it is.”

“I am one of the good ones. My relationship with Lee is entirely personal. It’s never had anything to do with my work.”

Tony gave me his fatherly stare, the one that made me wither in place. “So you’re telling me the time we searched his garage and came up empty, it had nothing to do with you?”

I turned to him, my expression agonised. “Okay, yes, but that was the only time, I promise. He was with me when you called and overheard the conversation. I never told him anything. It was just bad timing.”

“Can you even hear yourself right now? You’re having a relationship with a known felon. Christ, your own father is working on the case that will put him behind bars. You’re one of my closest friends, Karla, so please listen to me when I say this. You need to get out now before everything implodes around you.”

My voice was barely a whisper when I replied, “I’ve tried to get out. It’s not that easy, especially when feelings are involved.”

Now he looked concerned. “Do you love him?”

“No!” I exclaimed. “Of course not.” A pause. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

He was quiet for a long minute, and I could tell that his temper was dying down a little as he contemplated things. His voice turned softer. “Look, I get it, believe me, I do. The bloke is charismatic, and, from speaking with him in the interview room, I get the sense he’s out to set his own version of justice on the world. There’s an appeal to that, and in a certain way I can respect it. But when it comes down to brass tacks, that boy lives in a different world from us, Karla, with an entirely different set of rules.”

“I know that, but it’s not been easy for him. He practically raised his brothers all by himself. That family had nothing. If either one of us were born into that, we’d be living by a different set of rules, too.”

Tony stared at me sadly, his breath leaving in a heavy rush. “You do love him.”

I focused on my lap. “Maybe.”

He reached over and took my hand in his. “Listen, I have your best interests at heart. You’re young. I look at you like I would one of my own daughters, so when I say this, it’s with the utmost care. You need to step away and put this in the past. There’ll be other men, ones who don’t hold the ability to wreck your life, your career. You’ll just have to go through the heartache before you can come out the other side.”

I stared at the hand he was holding, completely deflated. Tony was talking sense, and I knew he’d never give me bad advice. He cared about me, and he was right. I had to be the strong woman I always claimed to be and stop seeing Lee for good.

“Are you going to report me to Jennings?” I whispered into the quiet of the car.

Tony let out a gruff breath. “If you promise to end it, then no. I’ll forget this night ever happened.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking him in the eye, and I meant it. This was my final chance, and I had no intention of screwing it up.

***

The following day I was off work. It was late evening and starting to get dark, and I was on my way back from the corner shop, where I’d gone to pick up a few things. I was walking alongside a row of storage compartments, where some of the locals kept their cars and household tools. There were lots of them around London, because most people lived in flats and didn’t have anywhere to keep extras like ladders and lawnmowers. I kept thinking I could hear feet pounding from above my head, but maybe I was imagining things. Why would anybody be running along the roofs?

Reaching the break between one row and the next, I looked up just in time to see Lee leap through the air, bridging the six-foot gap and making a perfect landing on the next row of compartments. For a second I stood there in awe. The sight was just so completely unexpected, and something about the way he moved niggled at my memory, like an odd sense of déjà vu.

“What are you doing up there?” I called, stopping in my tracks to peer up at him.

When he saw I’d spotted him, he stopped, shooting me a cheeky grin before backing up a few steps, then taking a run and jump to the ground. Whoa. He crouched when he landed, and I couldn’t hide that I was impressed.

“I thought it was only Trevor and Liam who did…all that stuff.” I motioned with my hands, pretending like I hadn’t known.

Lee rose to standing, the grin still on his face as he dusted himself off. “Who d’ya think taught them?”

“Oh,” I breathed, unsure what else to say. I wanted to ask him where he learned, if he ever got scared that he might fall and really hurt himself, but I didn’t. Now wasn’t the time. “What are you doing here?”

“Came to see you, like I said I would,” he replied, stepping forward and taking my hand, his fingers intertwining effortlessly with mine. He was already tugging me forward, relieving me of my shopping bag before I could try to stop him.

“Let go, Lee.”

He glanced at me over his shoulder. “Just give me half an hour, okay? Then I’ll leave.”

Knowing he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, I allowed him to lead me inside the block of flats opposite mine. We climbed almost fifteen flights of stairs before we reached an emergency exit and Lee pushed it open, leading me onto the roof of the building. I pulled my hand from his, not too thrilled to be up so high. I didn’t have a fear of heights, but there wasn’t any proper sort of railing around the edge of the roof, which would make anyone a tad nervous.

Folding my arms across my chest, I shot him a wry look. “You’re not going to try to push me to my death, are you?”

Lee smirked and came to pull me forward once more. I noticed somebody had left an old couch up here, and there were a bunch of cigarette butts on the ground alongside a few empty beer cans. Lee plopped down onto the couch, but I resisted when he tried to pull me down with him.

“I’m not sitting on that.”

Without a word he stood, unzipped his jacket and laid it down for me, leaving him in only a grey long-sleeved T-shirt. Finally, I sat, inhaling his scent on the fabric almost against my own will.

“Well, this is romantic,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm. We were both staring at the view beyond us. It was twilight, not quite day, not quite night, and there were rooftops and buildings as far as the eye could see. Smog hung thick in the sky, another day in the city drawing to a close.

“Glad you approve,” Lee replied. “So, how’d the old guy take it last night?”

“Tony’s forty. He’s not old,” I told him grumpily. Lee slid his arm around my shoulders, and I bristled at his touch.

“You took my jacket. The least you can do is let me snuggle close for warmth,” he flirted, trying to charm me.

Letting out a long sigh, I finally explained, “He didn’t take it well, but he’s not going to report me.” I paused, cocking my head and sliding my eyes to his. “On the condition that I stop seeing you.”

Lee’s expression gave nothing away. “I thought you already had.”

“So did I. But you seem to keep turning up like a bad penny,” I elbowed him in the side.

“Ouch,” said Lee, putting his hand to his chest like he’d just been wounded. A quiet passed.

“Why did you drink so much yesterday? I’ve never seen you like that before.”

His breath came out in a heavy whoosh. “A combination of reasons.”

“Such as?”

Rubbing at his jaw, he answered, “It was the anniversary of Mum’s death. It’s always been a shit day, but it was shittier than usual this year.” With his arm still around my shoulders, he picked up a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “For one, I was missing you, and for two, I was dealing with the fallout from discovering who beat Liam.”

I let out a quiet gasp. “Who was it?”

Lee looked away and into the distance. “My boss.”

I gaped at him in disbelief. His boss was Tommy McGregor. Lee made a lot of money for the man, so why on earth would he do such a thing? As though he could read my thoughts, Lee continued, “He got an inkling I was fixing to get out, didn’t like that, didn’t like the money he’d lose if I left. So he decided to send a message, showed how he’d hurt my family if I ever fucked him over.”

“Lee,” I whispered, trying to absorb the fact that he was planning to go clean, wondering what his brothers thought of it all. “I know who you work for.”

He exhaled. “I thought you might.”

“So, he won’t let you out of your…arrangement?”

“He wouldn’t at first, but we spoke this morning, made a deal. He’s gonna let me and all my brothers make a clean break.”

“If?” I probed.

“If what?”

“There’s got to be a catch.”

“You don’t need to worry about the catch, Karla. Just know that in a couple weeks’ time, I’ll be a free man.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. Nobody got out of working for a gangster like McGregor without losing something. You had to pay your way, and often money wasn’t the only currency. I wanted to ask more questions, but I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of him. Instead, I asked what my heart wanted to know.

“Are you doing this for me?”

“For you, and for my family. I never wanted this life for my brothers, but it was the only option in front of me at one time.”

Allowing my body to settle into his, I asked gently, “Will you tell me about it? The life you’ve lived.” I paused before adding humorously, “How you learned to jump through the air like Batman, etcetera.”

Lee emitted a soft chuckle, his hand moving to my stomach and feeling up toward my chest. “You wearing a wire, Snap?”

“Oh, shut up, you know I’m not,” I said, laughing when he tickled me.

His hand paused, his thumb brushing softly over my belly, as his smile turned contemplative. “The first time I met him was a couple months after Mum passed.” Instinctively, I knew he was talking about McGregor. “I’d just nicked some old geezer’s wallet, was halfway down the street when he came out from around a corner. I’d never seen anyone so flash – he had all these gold rings, designer suit, the works. Anyway, I thought I’d been caught, but then he started talking me up, telling me I thieved like a pro, said he had work for me if I wanted it.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen. Sounds young, but I know people who started earlier. He asked me where I lived and then began coming around all the time. In the end, I didn’t have a choice but to work for him. Stu got in on it, too, and before we knew it, we were turning over four or five cars a night. London’s a big place, ripe for the picking. The money started to roll in, and it felt good. Being able to feed Liam, Trev, and Sophie, put clothes on their backs and send them to school gave me a high. I could give them something our parents never did.

“There were other perks, too. I could buy nice things, go places, have fun. In the end, supply wasn’t meeting demand, so I had to recruit others. I couldn’t hide what I did from Liam and Trev, and I told them point blank they didn’t have to do what I do. They could go to college, get normal jobs, whatever they wanted. Stubbornness runs in the family, though, and they wanted to do their bit. Before I knew it, we were all fully embroiled in the life, no inclination of ever changing.”

“And the Batman stuff?”

Lee laughed softly. “It’s called parkour, you nerd. I suppose I picked it up sort of randomly. Saw a bunch of Spanish students doing it in Hyde Park when I was about fifteen and thought it looked cool as fuck. So I approached the one who seemed like he knew what he was doing the most and asked him to teach me.”

“Clearly, he agreed.”

“Clearly. His name was Alejandro,” said Lee, camping it by putting an accent on the name. I giggled. “Good bloke. I helped him with his conversational English, and he helped me learn how to drop twenty feet without breaking a leg.”

“I’m sure that came in handy.”

Lee nodded. “My brothers loved it, especially Trev. They all wanted to learn. Believe it or not, I never really set out to use it to my advantage. I just wanted to do something fun. I suppose the whole thing sort of…evolved.”

“Is that why you pretend you can’t do it?”

“Come again?”

“You’re not like Trevor – you don’t show off. I’m guessing it’s for discretion. If you see a man hopping off a building to get away from the cops, there are only so many people it could be.” Almost as if my own words had led me to it, I realised why I’d had déjà vu watching Lee jump. It reminded me of the video Tony had shown me of the burglar robbing the cash-for-gold scammers.

“There’s that,” said Lee, drawing me from my thoughts. “Plus, Trevor’s a flashy fucker. He can’t help it, really.” He paused to eye me curiously. “What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing, I just…well, no, it’s not nothing. Can I ask you something?”

“Might as well. This already feels like a This Is Your Life interview,” Lee teased.

I mock-scowled at him. “I saw this surveillance footage of a robbery once. I think it might have been you.”

Lee chuckled. “Was I wearing black and white stripes and carrying a sack with a dollar sign on?”

“No. You were wearing a balaclava, and climbed ten flights of a building before swinging down through the scaffolding.”

A tension fell as his eyes shone in the dark, but he didn’t say anything. Somehow, his silence was more confirmation than words.

“The people you stole from were scamming the elderly. You took their things back and anonymously handed them in to the police. Why?”

He didn’t look at me when he spoke, his posture stiff, almost like he was embarrassed. “You know Mrs Spencer who lives on my road?”

“The old woman you saved dinner for, yes, I remember, Lee. That was really sweet, by the way.”

He huffed awkwardly. “She’s a widow. Been living in that house all her life. When we were kids, she used to get on to Mum about how badly mistreated we all were. She’d even give us food when she could afford it. Well, Mrs Spencer told me how she sent her old wedding ring and a few expensive pieces of jewellery off to those scammers, hoping for some money to do her house up. Obviously, she never saw a penny. I found out where the racket was being run from and put an end to it.”

I stared at him, warmth suffusing my insides. “You’re such a liar.”

Lee frowned at me, confused. “Why would I lie?”

“You said you couldn’t understand why I help people with no payback, but you do it, too. You did it for Mrs Spencer.”

“I care about Mrs Spencer. She’s my neighbour, and she was kind to me when I was just a kid. I could give a fuck about your average Joe Soap walking down the street.”

I just smiled at him.

“I’m being serious, Karla. I’m no saint. Don’t go building any fanciful ideas about me. I’ve robbed from people just like those scammers. I just don’t rob from the vulnerable. I rob from the wealthy.”

“High-end motor vehicles, I know.”

“Yeah, well, not anymore.”

“You really want to get out?” I asked, ever hopeful.

 Lee emitted a weary sigh. “I can’t stay on the second-last rung of the ladder forever, Karla. You either move up, or somebody else comes along and moves you out, and I don’t want to move up. Liam’s court date is a couple of weeks away, and if he gets sent down, I’ll never forgive myself. Maybe it’s too late, maybe it’ll be all for nothing, but I at least have to try.”

His words gave me confidence. Perhaps I didn’t have to stop seeing him after all, not forever anyway. We could stay apart until everything settled down, and then we could see where this thing went between us.

Lee picked up my plastic bag and began rooting through it. Pulling out the milk, he asked, “You mind?”

I shook my head. “Not at all.”

He opened the carton and took a long swig before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m hung over as fuck, barely got a wink of sleep last night.”

Right after he said it, I noticed the bags under his eyes. He looked tired. Reaching out, I placed a hand to his chest and rubbed. “You shouldn’t drink so much.”

Lee let his head fall back, savouring my touch. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Sometime between us arriving on the roof and now, the sky had darkened to night. It felt peaceful and quiet up there, civilisation far below us. Streetlights glittered in the sky, cars moving along on the roads in the distance.

“Lee,” I said, my voice seeking as it broke though the silence.

“What is it, Snap?”

“What if something bad happens? What if even after you do everything he’s asked of you, he still doesn’t let you go?”

It was a while before he responded, like he was really thinking about it. “There are dishonourable thieves, and there are honourable ones. Despite everything you might have heard about my boss, he falls into the latter category. If he makes a promise, he’ll stick by it, no matter what.”

I stared at him, not sure if I believed that. If McGregor had honour, then he never would’ve had Jennings beaten, or Liam, for that matter. People like him liked to claim they had a code, but when it came down to it, it was dog eat dog. Or maybe Lee’s version of honour was just a lot different from mine.

He looked at me, his eyes fierce. He seemed very sure of what he said. I just hoped his faith wasn’t misplaced. I hoped his plan worked.

Because I wanted to believe that one day we’d look back on all this and wonder how our lives had ever been so tumultuous.

Eighteen

“I bet I can beat you to the ground,” said Lee, his eyes flashing with devilry.

We’d been sitting on the roof for over two hours, talking about life, our past relationships, everything, really. I told him all about Gavin, and what a disloyal, narcissistic arsehole he’d been, and Lee told me all about his ex, Tammy, and how materialistic she was, only really with him so that he’d buy her stuff. What was left unsaid was how we both knew we were the opposites of our ex-partners. I wanted Lee for the core of who he was, and he would never cheat; it wasn’t how he was wired. He was too loyal.

It felt like we’d been trapped together in a bubble neither one of us wanted to leave, subtly finding new ways to touch one another that weren’t explicitly sexual, but still made my bones ache with need.

“What do you mean?”

“You take the stairs. Fuck, you can even take the lift, and I bet I’ll make it to the ground before you.”

His words gave me a little rush, my pulse starting to speed up. There was something about making bets with Lee that was always decidedly exciting.

“And if you win?”

He leaned close, his breath warm amid the cold night air. “I get to kiss you for the last time before everything changes.”

His answer made me shiver. “And if I do?”

He smiled widely, and it only enhanced his handsome features. “You get to kiss me for the last time before everything changes.”

I don’t know why, but I laughed loudly, smiling back at him and holding out my hand. “It’s a deal.”

We shook, and Lee stood. I watched as he walked over to the edge of the building, and all of a sudden my panic set in as I realised what he planned to do. He was going to jump. He still faced me, his back to the edge, and I got up hurriedly, rushing toward him.

“Wait, no, I’m calling it off.”

Lee took his final step backward, his foot meeting the last bit of concrete before there was nothing but air. He raised his hands, still smiling, “A bet’s a bet, Karla.”

Right after he said it he dropped, and I let out a startled yelp, my hand going to my mouth in fright. I ran the last few yards to the edge and looked down, shocked and exhilarated by what I saw.

The balconies of each apartment jutted out from the building, almost like steps on a ladder – if you were a giant. Lee leapt diagonally from one to the next, each balcony bringing him closer to the ground. I put my hand to my chest to feel how hard and fast my heart was beating, my fear lessening as excitement took over. His body moved with purpose, his rangy muscles perfectly aligned, his jumps measured to avoid injury. He was already halfway to the bottom when I realised what a head start I’d given him.

Even though we both got the same thing, no matter who won, my competitive streak set in and I hurried to the lift, no qualms about cheating. By the time I got to the ground floor, my breaths were coming out frantically as I ran from the carriage and outside.

Lee sat confidently on a bench facing the entrance, his arms folded and a cocky grin shaping his lips. I shook my head and laughed, hurrying toward him and stopping only a foot or two away.

“That was incredible. But I think you might be even crazier than Trevor,” I breathed, my words all air.

Lee got up from the bench and closed the distance between us. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat after his exertion, and I savoured his warmth. I wore his jacket, having grown cold up on the roof after a while. He cupped his hands around my face and stared down at me.

“Crazy can be a little exciting, though, yeah?”

I laughed again, this time more breathily. “Yeah.”

And then he kissed me, pressing his mouth to mine and coaxing my tongue to glide with his. I trembled under his assault, my chest on fire and my lungs too full. His kiss was piercing, too much and not enough, and through it I felt him communicate everything he felt inside. I gripped him tight, my fingertips pressing into the dips and lines of his shoulder blades, and tried my damnedest to communicate everything I felt right back.

***

“Mind if I sit?” I asked as I stood by the table Jennings was occupying in the break room. There were a few other officers milling about, but mostly the place was empty. She looked up from her newspaper and frowned, her mouth turning down grimly at the edges.

After a moment of consideration, she motioned for me to join her, and I took the seat on the other side of the table. My lunch consisted of a cheese and ham sandwich, an apple, and a carton of juice. Jennings proceeded to ignore me, reading her paper as I began to eat.

“Anything interesting?” I asked after a minute or two of quiet.

She let out an impatient sigh. “If this is about the application for sergeant, then you’re wasting your time.”

“Don’t worry – I’ve long since given up trying to get on your good side, Katherine. And I’ll keep applying for sergeant until you finally get sick of me and decide to give in. Simple as,” I replied with confidence.

She glanced up from her paper. “Well, then, what do you want?”

“Is it so strange to imagine I might be here for the pleasure of your company?”

Jennings scoffed, and if I wasn’t mistaken, something almost like a smile began to shape her lips. But that couldn’t be right. Looking out the window, I didn’t see any pigs flying.

“I find that terribly hard to believe,” she said stiffly.

“Don’t sell yourself so short. If you’d actually take that stick out of your arse and quit treating me like a particularly unpleasant fungal infection, you’d realise we actually have a lot in common.”

Closing over her paper and giving me her full attention, Jennings folded her arms across her chest and levelled me with a cynical expression. “Now this I have to hear.”

I held up all five fingers. “Well, for one, we’re both tough bitches, and for two, we can handle working in a male-dominated environment without buckling under the pressure. Three, let me see, we both hate my dad. Four, we’re funny.”

Five, we both had love affairs that jeopardised our careers. I left the fifth finger standing.

“Funny?” Jennings asked with a huff of scepticism.

“The other day when Connors wanted to know if he had food in his teeth, you asked him if he cared so much about his appearance, then why was he walking around with a barnet like a crow’s nest?”

“That falls more into the bitch category, if you ask me,” said Jennings. “But he does have awful hair.”

“And a bad attitude. You give put-downs where they’re due. Well, except for with me, but I guess you have your reasons for those, which I’ll allow,” I told her cheekily. I was pushing my luck, but if I knew anything about this woman, it was that the only way to get on her good side was to stand my ground. If I tried licking her arse, she’d tell me exactly where to stick it. Sure, I was complimenting her, but with bite. In this instance, the bite was key.

“You’re persistent,” she said, eyeing me shrewdly.

“I have to be, with the likes of you.”

At this she surprised both of us when she huffed a begrudging laugh. “You remind me a lot of your father in that way. And just to be clear, that’s not a compliment.”

“Don’t worry, I know.” I paused to lower my voice. “He does feel bad for what he did to you, though. Well, as bad as a man like my dad can feel about anything, which isn’t much. Usually, his way is the right way, no ifs or buts.” I paused to eye her seriously. “You do know he’s been working so hard on the McGregor case so that he can finally get justice for you.”

“Yes, well, it’s all a bit too little, too late in that regard.”

“Maybe, but we’re all fallible. It’s the ones who can’t accept they’ve made a mistake who have problems.”

Jennings stared at me for a long time, so long I began to grow self-conscious. “Do you know,” she said, “none of the other constables have ever tried to join me for lunch.”

“Well, I’m happy to break you in.”

At this she let out another laugh, a real laugh. I looked out the window again. Yep, still pig-free. “Keep applying for sergeant, Sheehan. Who knows, maybe after ten or fifteen more attempts, you’ll finally get what you want.”

With that she stood and gathered her things, leaving me alone at the table. I picked up my sandwich and took a bite, and after a couple of chews, I started to smile.

***

“I’m telling you, the answer is 9 p.m.,” I told Tony as we discussed the riddle he’d given me weeks ago, the one Stu had solved. It was one of those puzzles that even when you had the answer, it still took a while to get your head around.

“Nine p.m.,” Tony repeated. “Nah, I’m still not seeing it.”

“Just keep thinking, and it’ll start to make sense.”

His brow furrowed, and I grinned at how serious he looked when he concentrated. His thick black eyebrows were like two big caterpillars on his face. We’d just finished dealing with a homeless man who’d been causing a drunken disturbance on the tube, and were driving back to the station.

I heard the scratchy sound of the radio coming on right before a call from dispatch came through. My heart rate picked up when I heard the details of the report. The panic button had been pushed at a city centre bank, and all available units were being called in to investigate. Before the call had even cut off, I hit the sirens, put my foot down on the gas pedal, and hightailed it to the scene.

It was mid-morning, one of the quieter periods, and everything looked like normal when we arrived on the street where the bank was located. I scanned the area, noticing a few pedestrians strolling by and several parked cars. It was the black transit van that caught my attention, and just as I was pulling up to the kerb, the bank doors flew open. A number of men dressed in dark clothing emerged, their faces disguised beneath balaclavas.

I swore when I saw two of them were carrying Kalashnikovs, the others with weapons more discreetly hidden. They were also lugging a number of black gym bags. Tony was already on his radio, reporting what we were seeing. The men looked in our direction, the sirens drawing their attentions, then ran straight for the transit van, pulled open the back doors, and hopped inside.

Within seconds they were speeding away from the scene. Clearly, there’d been a driver waiting. Not even bothering to stop, I gave chase, calling out the van’s licence plate number as the dispatch operator did a search.

“It was reported stolen two days ago,” he told me, but I wasn’t surprised. Stolen vehicles were business as usual for a bank job.

We were halfway to Canning Town when three other patrol cars joined in the chase behind us. They were unarmed units, just like us, which wasn’t going to do much good once the thieves began to panic. The sentencing for armed robbery was seven years, more if they’d used their guns to harm anyone. If push came to shove, I had no doubt they’d open fire on us to get away. Suddenly, my palms felt clammy on the steering wheel, my adrenaline kicking in.