‘To put it bluntly, we’re close enough to the Sapiens to get shot without being able to do much shooting ourselves. So either we pull back or risk getting closer still.’
The strengthening rain was forming fleeting circles on the Alfred Hospital roof. As long as Riley’s cigarette stayed lit, the roof could be considered dry enough for their conversation.
Breeze was somewhere within the operating theaters below, sliced open for his second operation in less than twelve hours: this one a desperate attempt to save his left lung. The starkest illustration of the danger the RIP were facing.
Furn and Azu Nashy were the other participants in the rooftop meeting. The mood was decidedly grim.
Riley focussed his attention on Nashy. ‘You need to consider your position carefully. You’ve left the RIP behind for a generously sized office at Federal Police HQ, dealing with cases involving organized crime, domestic terrorism and corrupt officials. It’s a job with a good, solid future ahead of it.’
Nazu replied steadfastly. ‘I’d rather consider our shooter. Nikki Savva wasn’t a stranger. She was in the Red Line Files as a possible recruit to the RIP.’
‘Making the Armed Robbery Squad less respectable than it needed to be. She made an impression. The Sapiens got to her and this is how it turned out. Give me her angle in the case and I’m in.’ Riley exhaled a lungful of smoke at his watch – 9am. Time had a way of condemning or vindicating decisions. But it never made them. Via a squinting glance at the overcast sky Riley shifted his attention to Furn.
‘She risked getting up close to leave one of those calling cards on him,’ Furn said. ‘It’s the first mistake the Sapiens have made. It’s a big one.’ He smiled cruelly. He was unslept and unshaven but fresh all the same.
Riley spat out his cigarette and spat on it, even though a shallow puddle had already taken care of its flame. ‘I’m going to check up on Breeze. You two are going to stay up here and talk. You either come back down as partners on this or we hand the case back to the Prime Minister with regrets.’
He marched off the roof. The rain on his suit left behind a smell more exotic than his Turkish tobacco. Alpaca? If he had wanted to be around for the next word he would have had quite a wait on his hands.
‘Riley’s right, you’ve won yourself an office with a hell of a view,’ Furn finally said. ‘Even if it is in Canberra. You’d be a fool to risk it on this.’
‘I don’t think trying to talk me out of it was exactly what Riley had in mind,’ replied Nashy evenly. ‘Anyway it won’t do you any good. I owe Riley this. When he picked me up into the RIP I was taking bribes, planting evidence and doing a really bad job at it. I was headed for disaster. He taught me how to be an honest cop and still get by.’ She held his eyes. ‘You too.’
Furn’s tone turned bitter. ‘If you were enjoying it so much why did you leave us for the Feds?’
‘I suppose you did your job too well. The RIP is all about foregoing any chance of advancement, any kind of security, always being an outsider. But I was having fun and didn’t want it to end. So I jumped ship to the Feds.’
‘But the fun stayed behind with the rats on the sinking one?’
‘Something like that. Look, before things got screwed up we were a pretty good team.’
‘Really? You once said being my partner you had to put up with more posing than a gymnasium mirror.’
‘If you want to give the Sapiens back their own kind of punishment, you’ll need my help.’
Furn mulled over the idea a moment and flicked her a smirk. ‘I thought a time machine would have buttons and dials and lots of flashy lights. But in this case it turns out to be a well-oiled killing machine with cops and the twisted kin of PONIs as its inner workings.’
‘Funny old world.’ Nashy took out her phone, selected a number and waited impassively for a connection. ‘Michael, I’m still in Melbourne. I’m going into the field, so don’t try reaching me on my mobile. Any emergencies leave it with the dispatch. I’ll call in this evening. Oh, and remember to pay the electricity bill.’
It wasn’t always easy to tell the difference between cold messages and the warm and Furn wasn’t even going to try.
Nashy snapped the phone away into her black and white sailor’s jacket. ‘There are two ends we need to tie. Catlett and Nikki Savva. Where’s the nanny now? I know you’ve been pursuing her angle without success the past couple of days, but there’s one idea gnawing at me.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Furn with a croak.
‘Catlett has a few lowlife associates, but what self-respecting bad-ass basketball player wouldn’t? His career, however, has yet to take the kind of wrong turn that might really put him into bed with them. Drugs, alcohol, women of dubious intentions, they’re all lined up at his doorstep, but that stuff is like his first MVP award, they haven’t happened yet. So, what if we have been underestimating his charitable nature? Perhaps, the Sapiens ire was actually derived from something good: a good deed on his part.’
Furn shrugged. ‘Nothing springs to mind.’
‘Well, it might require some digging. We can squeeze a visit in on the way to Nikki Savva’s psychiatrist.’