Free Trust No One by Alex Walters Page A

Fair enough. She and Salter were the same job grade, but the convention was that the ‘buddy’ acted as supervisor for undercover officers. This would normally be a supervisory meeting, an opportunity for her to bounce issues or concerns off Salter and for Salter to check how she was doing.
    â€˜How are things, sis?’
    She gazed at him for a moment. ‘Fine, Hugh. So what’s this all about?
    â€˜Morton, of course.’
    Welsby leaned forwards in his chair. He was chewing gum, a substitute for his usual cigarettes. ‘You knew him well, Marie?’
    She took a breath and shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t say well. He was part of Kerridge’s team. I know them all, more or less.’
    â€˜You suggested him as an informant?’
    â€˜I got to know him a bit. He’s . . .’ She stopped. ‘He was the most approachable of Kerridge’s bunch, so I used him as a route in. Worked pretty well, I thought.’ It was worth reminding them that she’d got closer to Kerridge’s circle than Salter or anyone else had managed. ‘He seemed disenchanted with Kerridge. With the whole lifestyle, I thought. That’s why I reckoned he might make a good target for us.’
    You know all this, she thought. It’s all on file. There was a long and bureaucratic process to get an intelligence source authorized, and everyone covered their backsides.
    â€˜You got it spot on,’ Welsby said. ‘Smart piece of work. We got a lot out of him. We’d have got more. We’d have brought down Boyle. Maybe even Kerridge eventually.’
    She noted the past tense. ‘You think this has ballsed up the Boyle case?’
    â€˜For the moment,’ Welsby said. ‘Can’t see the CPS progressing with it unless we pull something else out of the shit.’
    â€˜Why we’re here,’ Salter said. ‘We’ve been digging around in the excrement. See what we can find.’
    She felt, at least at first, a surge of relief. Her second response was anger – that, for them, Morton’s killing was simply an operational inconvenience.
    â€˜I’m privileged to be part of the excrement, then,’ she said, keeping her voice steady. ‘How did this happen, anyway? Surely Morton’s security was top-level?’ Given the hints Salter had dropped, she wasn’t sure she wanted the full story. But Jake had given his life trying to help them nail Boyle and Kerridge. Whatever she might think or feel, she had an obligation to get involved.
    Salter glanced at Welsby. ‘Someone messed up,’ he said. ‘We don’t know who or how – yet.’
    â€˜Someone exposed him?’
    â€˜Must have done. Either by accident or on purpose.’
    â€˜No one would be that careless, surely.’
    Welsby shifted back in his chair. ‘Easy to be careless, lass. One slip . . .’ His voice was toneless. Marie looked across at him, wondering whether some response was expected of her.
    â€˜In any case,’ Salter said, ‘the alternative is worse.’
    It occurred to her for the first time that there was a tension between the two men, things they weren’t saying. Someone had exposed Jake, and no one knew who. If someone was leaking intelligence, they were all potentially compromised. And no one was more vulnerable than she was.
    â€˜So what happened?’ she said.
    â€˜He had a visit,’ Welsby said quietly. His mouth moved rhythmically around the gum. ‘Middle of the night.’
    â€˜Jesus.’ Marie pushed herself up from the table and strode over to the window, trying to repress the turmoil of emotion. More guilt. Loss. Fear. Above all, fear. She stood for a moment, staring at the half-empty car park, the blur of cars on the motorway, trying to find words that wouldn’t leave her exposed. ‘This was our one bloody chance,’ she said finally. ‘Our one chance to nail those