Free August by Gabrielle Lord

strategy.
    ‘What’s your theory?’ asked Sharkey. ‘Who do you think is holding your sister?’
    ‘At first I thought Oriana had kidnapped Gabbi, but I’m not so sure now. She was behind that meeting with Rathbone that cost me the Jewel and the Riddle, and almost my life. As far as she knows she has everything from me, so what would she need Gabbi for? There’s nothing she needs to trade for. And one of the guys who works for her, Kelvin, came after me at the Armitage District hospital, and by “came after me”, I mean he was there to finish off the job. He wasn’t there to negotiate a deal with me.’
    ‘So you’re thinking Sligo now? It could be someone completely from left field,’ suggested Sharkey. ‘You need to allow all possibilities.’
    I shrugged. I needed somewhere to begin. ‘Sligo probably doesn’t know that the Jewel and the Riddle are in Oriana’s clutches. He probably thinks he can bribe them out of me in exchange for Gab.’
    ‘Vulkan Sligo is one of the most powerful criminals in the city. He’s been a thorn in the side of the system for a very long time. Are you sure you know what you’re up against?’
    ‘You don’t have to tell me. But whether it’s Sligo or de la Force, I have to find a way to contact them. I need a contact in the underworld. Someone who knows what’s going on, someone to act as a go-between.’
    Nelson Sharkey nodded. ‘You sure do need to know what you’re doing when you’re arranging contact with Sligo. You can get yourself tortured and killed by asking questions about someone like him. The underworld is a dangerous place. You need someone who knows how to navigate those waters. How to avoid the sharks and the hidden reefs.’
    I knew all about sharks.
    ‘Right,’ I said.
    ‘The problem with using a go-between is that because you’re dealing with criminals, you’re never quite sure whether you can trust them or not.’
    ‘I don’t think I have much choice.’ The reality of Gabbi’s kidnapping was a crushing weight in my mind, never absent.
    The ex-detective looked past me as if he was thinking hard, and his shrewd eyes narrowed. ‘Iguess you don’t. This is a nasty situation. Kidnap is a particularly ugly crime. I’ll do what I can. You’ll need an alias. How about Mouse ? Mouse, from Armitage. You’re sort of small, preyed on by many, and always running about in the dark. Give me your phone number and leave it with me.’
    I’m not that small, I thought to myself.
    ‘Mouse will be fine,’ I said. ‘I don’t have a phone right now, but I’ll be getting one soon. I’ll call you with the details when I can. Thanks,’ I said, holding out my hand.
    The ex-detective shook it, and smiled, although I wasn’t sure if the smile reached his eyes. His weather-beaten face didn’t give much away, but I could tell he was intensely committed to my case.
    He stood up and stretched. ‘OK, let’s get out of here before we’re cooked.’

    I hurried along the street, still sweaty and hot from the sauna, deep in thought about Gabbi. As I took a hard left-hand turn, I looked up then stopped dead in my tracks.
    I’d sprung a guy spray-painting a tag on the run-down wall of a corner shop. He sensed me there, and then tossed the can and vanished around the corner.

    It was the ‘No Psycho’ tagger!
    I ran after him, but he disappeared in the maze of alleys.
    The paint glistened, still wet. I wanted to know what it meant. It had followed me around the city ever since I first saw it in the stormwater drains.

    I knocked and waited for Winter to open the door of her flat.
    It was late. After meeting Sharkey I went by Oriana’s place and scoped it out for a while, to suss out whether anything unusual was happening there. I watched the place closely for a couple of hours but it remained empty the whole time.
    I knocked again. She had said she was going to be home, but I couldn’t see any lights on inside. Maybe she had to duck out for something.
    The lock