Free In the Morning I'll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty Page B

and top him.”
    “The Brits will never find him, so they won’t!” Mrs. McCann said.
    “We’ll not tell you where he is, even if we did know, which we don’t. Do you think he’d call us? Do you think he’s that much of an eejit? Have you forgotten who you’re dealing with?”
    I shook my head. “I haven’t forgotten, Fiona. But if he does get in touch will you do me a favor and mention what I said? It would be better if he turned himself in. If the SAS find him they’ll kill him. He’s got the Brits terrified.”
    Fiona walked across the room and jabbed a finger in my chest. “We’ll be telling him nothing! And we’ll be telling you nothing! He never liked you. He never trusted you. I thought you were all right. But I see that I was mistaken. Now get out of here before I show you the back of my hand!”
    I got to my feet.
    Kate rose a moment later.
    “Thanks for the tea and cake. Delicious as usual, Mrs. McCann,” I said.
    The old lady smiled. “You were always a good boy, Sean. Ach, it’s just a shame things went the way they did, isn’t it?” she said dreamily.
    “Aye, it is.”
    I turned to look Fiona in the face. Her cheeks were red and again there was that weird light in their eyes, indicative of some rogue royal bloodline that had ended up in this ghastly sink estate in the arse-end of nowhere. “I’m fond of Dermot. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him. That’s not a threat. I just don’t want him to give the Brits an excuse to kill him in cold blood. They’re pulling out all the stops looking for him—hence my involvement—and it would be better if he turned himself in. Please pass on the message if he gets in touch.”
    This made her furious. “Will you fuck off, copper, or do I have to throw you out meself!” she hissed.
    I opened the door, and when Kate came through Fiona spat on the ground at our feet and slammed it shut.
    We walked back down the stairs in silence.
    “Was that normal? Are you happy with the way that went?” Kate asked as we reached the bottom.
    “It went exactly the way I expected it to go. It’s the way it’s going to go with all of Dermot’s family. No one is going to tell us anything.”
    “So how are you going to get a lead on him?”
    I lit myself a cigarette and offered her one.
    She shook her head.
    “To be honest, love, I haven’t the foggiest,” I said.
    Kate bit her lower lip. “So what is next?”
    I drew in the tobacco smoke and let its warmth coat my lungs and clear my head. I rubbed my chin. “Well, there’s his uncle who’s still in the Derry area. We’ll try him next. And then Annie, his ex-wife down in Antrim, living with her ma and da. We’ll try her.”
    “And then?”
    I shook my head. “The rest of his family is across the water. Didn’t you say they’re all in America and Australia and places like that?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s a bit beyond our jurisdiction, isn’t it? And his old comrades are either in prison or on the run from prison . . .”
    “So, again, my question, what will you do?”
    “If no one will talk?”
    “If no one will talk.”
    “Hope that somebody changes their mind or that Dermot slips up.”
    Although she attempted to hide it I could see that she was disappointed in me. She’d put her neck out for me and promised her bosses miracles but I was no miracle worker. I was an average, maybe a below-average, detective in a rather mediocre police force. Nothing more, nothing less. She’d given me another chance, and I appreciated it, but one man could do very little.
    We walked out of the building and found the hoodlum king guarding my car against all comers. I gave him the tenner.
    “Where would I find a fella called Poppy Devlin?” I asked.
    “The offy on Carlisle Gardens. Don’t go to him. He’s pricey. I can sort you out if you’re after some brown, or,” he looked uneasily at Kate, “a wee milly or something?”
    “Nah, you’re all right, son.”
    We got in the Beemer. It was