Free Even dogs in the wild by Ian Rankin Page B

door. Once he was outside, Rebus
    focused on Bell.
    ‘What’s he like then, Alec?’
    ‘He’s all right.’
    ‘Better than you?’ Rebus didn’t sound convinced.
    ‘Just different. It is drugs and cash, by the way. Plenty of
    both. All this stuff about muscling in on your man Christie
    is wrong. Or them going after Big Ger Cafferty, for that
    matter.’
    ‘You got wire taps or something?’ Rebus mused.
    ‘Better than that.’ Bell turned his attention towards Fox,
    checking that the door was still closed and stabbing a finger at
    him. ‘This goes no further.’
    Fox held up his hands in a show of appeasement.
    ‘We’ve got a man on the inside. Deep cover.’

    ‘Bob Selway?’ Fox guessed, but Bell shook his head.
    ‘No names. He’s been undercover for more than three years,
    worming his way closer and closer to the Starks.’
    ‘Takes a bit of stamina,’ Rebus said, impressed.
    ‘Explains why my boss thought we were welcoming a team
    of six,’ Fox added.
    ‘Aye, someone at Gartcosh bolloxed that up – and got Ricky
    Compston raging at them for their efforts.’
    ‘Three years – is that how long the team’s been together?’
    Bell shook his head again. ‘There’ve been others before
    us. The Starks are behind half the crime in Glasgow and
    beyond – so far no operation’s been able to nail down their
    coffin.’
    ‘Sounds like your mole’s not exactly earning his keep,’ Fox
    commented. Bell scowled at him.
    ‘So what’s the story with this haulage contractor?’ Rebus
    hoisted his pint to his mouth.
    ‘Wasn’t happy moving stuff for the Starks. Wanted to be
    more of a freelance operator, you might say. He was talking to
    people in Aberdeen and elsewhere.’
    ‘Including here?’ Rebus watched as Alec Bell nodded
    slowly. ‘Meaning Darryl Christie?’
    ‘Very possibly.’
    ‘So the Starks will want a face-to-face with Darryl.’
    ‘They might, but they’d rather find Hamish Wright first, if
    he’s sitting on half a million in coke and eccies and the same in
    lovely hard cash.’
    ‘Your man’s told you this?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘You’ve got enough to take to trial?’
    ‘Just about.’

    86

    ‘But you want more.’
    Bell gave a wide smile. ‘Always.’
    ‘The longer your man is embedded, though, the more risk
    there is of him being rumbled.’
    ‘He’s aware of that.’
    ‘Deserves a medal, whatever happens.’
    Bell was nodding as Compston pushed open the door and
    strode towards the group, rubbing his hands to warm them.
    ‘The Starks have been meeting a man called Andrew
    Goodman.’
    ‘He runs a stable of nightclub bouncers,’ Rebus said.
    ‘That’s right. Which means he has a say in what gets into
    pubs and clubs.’
    ‘His boys do,’ Rebus corrected.
    ‘Including illegal substances,’ Fox added, ‘and those
    carrying them with intent to sell.’
    ‘Very good,’ Compston said.
    ‘He knows Hamish Wright?’ Rebus asked.
    Compston shrugged. ‘This is a long game we’re playing. But
    eventually all the bits of the jigsaw will fit together.’
    Rebus wrinkled his nose. ‘Sometimes a bit gets lost between
    the floorboards, though. Or it wasn’t in the box from the get-
    go.’
    ‘Cheery bastard, aren’t you? Whose round is it?’
    ‘I need to be going,’ Fox apologised.
    ‘Back across the road to report to your boss? Decided yet
    how much you’re going to spill?’ When Fox didn’t answer,
    Compston made a shooing motion, dismissing him, but Fox
    lingered.
    ‘I know why it’s called Operation Junior,’ he stated.
    Compston lifted an eyebrow. ‘Go on then.’

    ‘The Iron Man films – Robert Downey Junior plays a
    character called Stark.’
    Compston was miming a round of applause as Fox made
    his exit.
    ‘Same again, John?’ Bell was asking. Rebus nodded,
    watching the retreating figure. Then he turned towards
    Compston.
    ‘Malcolm’s all right, but the one thing he’s not is dirty. So if
    you start crossing the line, that may be when he