Stephen Leather - Dead Men

He lowered Crompton to the carpeted floor, then laid down his gun, took a roll of insulation tape from his jacket pocket and used it to bind the man’s hands and feet. He picked up his weapon then strode across the room to the adjoining door. He pulled it open and stepped into Kinsella’s suite.

The doors to the lift rattled open and a robotic female voice informed Shepherd and Button that they had arrived at the fifteenth floor. Button looked at the signs indicating where the rooms were and pointed left. ‘This way.’ She rushed down the corridor and Shepherd hurried after her. His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. It was Elaine Carter. He rejected the call and put the phone away.

There was a chambermaid’s trolley at the far end of the corridor but other than that it was deserted. ‘There should be a man on guard here,’ said Button. ‘Something’s wrong.’

‘Turn around,’ said Maplethorpe, pointing his gun at Kinsella’s face. ‘Turn around or I’ll shoot you in the face.’

Kinsella was trembling and breathing heavily. ‘You’re a cop- what are you doing?’ he said.

‘I’m a cop and you killed a cop,’ said Maplethorpe. ‘Now turn around.’

‘You can’t do this,’ said Kinsella.

Maplethorpe stepped forward and whipped the barrel across Kinsella’s face. He yelped and blood spurted from his nose. ‘Turn around,’ said Maplethorpe.

At a knock on the door both men jumped.

Maplethorpe raised the gun. ‘Turn around or I’ll shoot you in the face,’ he said.

Button knocked on the door again. ‘Could they have gone out?’ asked Shepherd. The chambermaid came out of a room down the corridor, loaded with dirty towels.

Button shook her head. ‘I checked with Reception. The wife went out but Kinsella ordered room service half an hour ago.’

Shepherd banged on the door.

The chambermaid was West Indian with a gold tooth that glinted as she spoke. She waddled over to them. ‘He’s in there,’ she said. ‘Maybe he’s in the shower.’

Button showed the woman her SOCA identification. ‘Can you open the door for us?’ she said.

The chambermaid had a master keycard on a chain attached to her belt. ‘Sure I can,’ she said.

‘Charlie, maybe we should wait for back-up,’ said Shepherd.

‘We don’t have time,’ said Button.

‘If someone’s in there with a gun, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble,’ said Shepherd.

‘A gun?’ said the chambermaid, covering her mouth with a ring-covered hand.

‘It’s okay,’ said Shepherd. He held out his hand. ‘Give me the keycard, please.’

She landed it over. ‘Now,please leave the floor,’said Button. The chambermaid didn’t need to be asked twice. She set off as fast as she could to the lift.

‘There should be security in the next room,’ said Button.

Shepherd went to the door of the adjoining room, knocked, then slid the keycard into the slot on the door. The green light winked on. He twisted the handle and stepped inside. A man in a grey suit was lying on the floor, his hands and feet bound with blue tape. ‘Charlie, come on,’ he said.

‘Please don’t shoot me,’ cried Kinsella. ‘I’ve got a wife. She’s pregnant. I’m going to be a father.’ Tears were running down his cheeks.

‘You killed Robbie Carter and he was a father,’ said Maplethorpe. ‘You shot him in the legs and you shot him in the head. Now it’s your turn.’

‘You can’t do this,’ said Kinsella.

‘Turn around, Noel. Be a man.’

‘You killed Gerry Lynn?’

‘And McFee, and Dunne, and McEvoy.’

The door to the adjoining room crashed open.

Shepherd aimed Crompton’s gun at Maplethorpe. It was a Glock so there was no safety to worry about. ‘Drop the gun, John,’ he said.

Maplethorpe sneered at Shepherd, and kept his revolver aimed at Kinsella’s face. ‘I knew something wasn’t right about you, Jamie,’ he said. ‘What are you? Special Branch? MI5?’

‘I’m the guy who’s pointing a gun at you, John. That’s the only thing you should be worried about.’

‘Do I look worried?’said Maplethorpe. ‘Who’s the woman?’

‘Armed police are on their way,’ said Button.

‘So?’ said Maplethorpe. He took aim at Kinsella’s left leg. ‘You can watch as I take care of this little scrote.’

‘Shoot him!’ shouted Kinsella. ‘He’s crazy – shoot him, for God’s sake!’

‘John, put down the gun.’

‘Don’t talk to him, just shoot him!’ shouted Kinsella.

‘Maybe he wants you dead as much as I do,’ said Maplethorpe. ‘He’s a good friend of Robbie Carter’s widow. Maybe he wants me to kill you.’

‘John, enough,’ said Shepherd.

‘Am I right, Jamie? Don’t you think that this little scrote deserves to die?’

Shepherd said nothing.

‘You’re a detective superintendent with almost thirty years’ service. You know that what you’re doing is wrong,’ said Button.

‘Legally, but not morally,’ said Maplethorpe. ‘He killed Robbie Carter and didn’t serve a day for it. How can that be right? He murdered a good man but the Government pats him on the head and lets him go. Now he’s going to get what’s coming to him, what he gave to Robbie.’

‘Robbie Carter was a killer,’ muttered Kinsella. ‘A goddamned killer.’

‘Bollocks!’ said Maplethorpe.

‘He was passing info to the UFF, info that got Republicans killed. Info that came from his MI5 handler.’

‘You’re telling us that Carter was working with MI5 and the UFF?’ said Button.

‘He was a conduit. If MI5 wanted to put someone in the firing line they gave the info to Carter and he fed it to his UFF contact. He might not have pulled the trigger himself but he was responsible for the murders of at least eight good Republicans.’

‘And that’s why you killed him?’ asked Button.

‘I didn’t kill him. No one ever said I put a bullet in Carter. I was there but I didn’t shoot him. I fired into the floor. It was Adrian Dunne who put the bullet in Carter’s head. And there was nothing I could do to stop him.’

‘And why the hell would you have wanted to stop him?’ asked Shepherd.

Kinsella stared at him, sweat beading on his forehead. ‘Because I was an MI5 agent,’ he said.

‘Like fuck,’ said Maplethorpe.

‘I was a paid agent of MI5. Had been since 1992.’

‘You’re lying,’ said Maplethorpe.

‘Why would I lie about something like that?’

‘Because you know I’m going to put a bullet in your head, same as you did with Robbie.’

‘I didn’t shoot anyone,’ said Kinsella.

‘If Carter worked for MI5 and you worked for MI5,why didn’t you stop it?’ asked Shepherd.

‘Carter didn’t work for MI5. They used him. I was a paid agent.’

‘But you let the IRA team kill him,’ said Shepherd, his gun still aimed at Maplethorpe’s head.

‘There was nothing I could do. It was all kick, bollock, scramble,’ said Kinsella. ‘The guy running the operation was Gerry Lynn. The rest of us didn’t even know who the target was. It was only when we pulled up outside the house that I realised we were there for Carter.’

‘And you let them kill him?’ said Maplethorpe.

‘I was outgunned,’said Kinsella. ‘If I’d done anything they’d have killed me as well.’

‘Bollocks,’ said Maplethorpe, his finger tightening on the trigger.

‘Don’t do it, John,’ said Shepherd. ‘If you shoot him, I’ll kill you.’

‘Easy to say, Jamie,’ said Maplethorpe, ‘but it’s not that easy to pull the trigger.’

‘Just put the gun down and we can talk this through.’

‘He’s a liar. He helped kill Robbie.’

‘I had no choice!’ shouted Kinsella. ‘ I had no bloody choice .’