Oliver Stark - 88 Killer

Harper stood at the door of the interrogation room and stared at the sad figure before him. He sat opposite the big man as Eddie slipped in behind and leaned against the wall. ‘You remember me?’ said Harper.

There was no response. Harper nodded. ‘You fought well in the alley. Hit me hard. You got the build. Could be a fighter if you put your mind to it.’

Leo Lukanov continued to stare at the table. Harper pushed a packet of cigarettes across to him. ‘Take one. You’ve had a tough night.’ Harper paused. ‘They set us up when we’re useful, then abandon us, don’t they? This is what they do.’

Lukanov looked up. Harper caught his eye. ‘I’m talking about bosses. People in charge. People who think they know better. You know the kind of people I’m talking about, Leo. People with all the orders — but you know what? Where are they when the shit hits the fan? Where are they, Leo?’

Lukanov reached out and took a cigarette. Harper waited. He needed the man to engage. Harper withheld the matches and stared up at the wall. Finally, Leo looked up. ‘You got a light?’

‘Sure,’ said Harper. He leaned forward and struck a match. Lukanov dragged hard on the cigarette.

‘People like you are in the front line. You’re taking all the risks, while someone sitting back there is drinking a cold one. I tell you something, Leo, if I could have my way, I’d get rid of bosses and orders. The reason they give orders is because they’re too scared to do the job themselves. Look at this. Will you take a fucking look at it.’

Leo looked up, as Harper flicked through a sheaf of paper. ‘You know what this is? This is paperwork. They want us to go out and risk our necks and they want fucking paperwork.’

‘It’s bullshit,’ said Leo.

‘It is bullshit. But if I don’t do it, I get canned. You don’t follow orders, what do they do? Smash your car? Beatings?’

Leo turned his head away.

‘I know about the beatings, Leo, and the threats — they told me.’ Harper watched. It was a bluff, but not a big one. ‘Think about this, Leo. When you joined up, did they ever tell you that they wanted a fall guy, someone to go down, while they escape? I bet they didn’t sell it like that, did they?’

‘No.’

‘Let’s just complete this paperwork and get you out of here. Far as I can see, you didn’t lay a finger on anyone until things got intense. You hit me, but you could argue you didn’t know who the fuck I was. I didn’t show any ID, right?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Any lawyer with half a brain could get you off. So let’s just get this done right now.’

‘How so?’

‘Ticking boxes, Leo, that’s all I’m doing. I’m a trained fucking box ticker. You think cops are thick? Now you know why.’

Leo laughed.

‘That’s right, Leo. We’re a bunch of sheep. No one’s independent. No one’s operating from personal integrity. I bet it feels like that with you, doesn’t it? You don’t call the shots any more.’

‘I just get told.’

‘That’s right, you get told, like you’re some fucking ninth-grader. Tell them to go fuck themselves, Leo.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You’re taking this shit because some asshole told you to do something you didn’t choose yourself. I tell you, I bet if you’d done it yourself you wouldn’t have got caught, either.’

‘No damn way.’

‘Let’s get ticking,’ said Harper. ‘Then you can go focus all that energy on something worthwhile. Make something of yourself while you can. You’re still young.’

Leo Lukanov’s head nodded a little. Harper looked at him. Lukanov was listening. Harper was trying to feed him a story, a way to understand his behavior, then he wanted to give him a door. The door would come later; first, you had to prime people. He continued, ‘We all get angry, Leo, but you don’t want to spend your life in jail. It’s a shit place to be. You don’t want that. So here we go.’

Harper spent ten minutes going through all the information he already knew. Age, date of birth, conviction records, alias, known associates. Leo just agreed as things progressed.

‘Okay, next question. What’s the name of the other guys you were with?’

‘I’m not giving no names.’

‘Shit, Leo, I’m trying to get you off here. I’ve got the fucking names written right here. Look!’ Harper showed Leo the three names. ‘I got all this information. We’re just signing it off to please the Captain.’

‘Okay.’

‘So again, who were the three guys you were with in the alleyway?’

‘Ray Hicks, Tommy Ocks, Paddy Ellery.’

‘Right, we’ve finished another page. Well done. We’re nearly there. Okay, now this bit is tough. We need to know how to explain the barbed wire, or else you’re going to go down for the murder of David Capske.’

‘I didn’t kill David Capske.’

‘I know that — you know that — but my guys upstairs want to pin it on you. Your guys out there are pinning it on you. They’re all just looking out for themselves.’

‘No, they’re not,’ he said. ‘Not my guys.’

Harper opened the file. ‘Oh no, big man? Well, in that case, they didn’t tell us that it was you who received the black card for the Denise Levene attack. Yeah, Leo, that’s what they said. That’s how the operation works. Your so-called buddies told us. The lead guy gives out a black card with a name on and you do the person on the card. Is that right?’

‘Yeah,’ said Leo.

‘So, as far as this goes, I got to say here who was the lead. At the moment it was you. As far as your guys are concerned, it was you. If you’re the lead, Leo, then this looks ten times worse. If you’re the lead on this operation and it’s premeditated, that’s a very serious fucking crime. The lead is responsible. So, Leo, let’s check this box. You weren’t the lead, were you?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I wasn’t the lead.’

‘That’s right, Leo, you weren’t the lead. Smart boy.’

Lukanov swiveled in his seat and dragged on the cigarette.

‘Next up, who’s the lead?’

‘Fuck you.’

‘If it’s not you, it’s got to be someone. Just give a name, Leo. The name of the guy.’

‘There is no guy. I got the card. The card just comes.’

‘Fuck that. No one goes and fucks people over for a card through the mail.’

Lukanov breathed deeply. Harper shifted in his chair. ‘I just need to get this signed off. The thing is, Lukanov, I’m in a hurry.’

‘I got all the time in the world.’

‘You do?’

‘I got nothing on.’

‘Eddie, give me an update.’

‘She’s already been found. The media are all over her.’

‘You need to go home, son,’ said Harper.

‘What do you mean?’ said Leo. ‘Who’s been found?’

‘Media got your name, Leo. We tried to keep it quiet, but the Capske thing is fucking major. I mean, everyone wants to know. So now your name’s out there. They’ve got your home address, Leo. And now they’ve found your mom’s address.’

‘What the hell does this have to do with her?’

‘The press don’t give a flying fuck for you or your mom.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

‘They’ll be hounding her, raking through her trash, searching records, speaking to neighbors, work colleagues, phoning, knocking, hour after hour. She’ll be a prisoner too, Leo. All on her own, I understand.’

Leo rose; the handcuffs clinked taut. ‘Let me go.’

‘Give me the name, Leo.’

‘No.’

‘Be a fucking man, you coward. Be a fucking man, for once. Look after your family, right? Your mom. Look after her, not some lowlife who set you up.’

‘What do you mean, set me up?’