Page 66 of Fortune's Ashes
‘Dev is on the right side of the law these days, more than you are.’
Scarlett wasn’t wrong about that. ‘It’s nothing illegal and it’s nothing to do with Devereau himself,’ I said. ‘It’s a problem I’m having that I believe he can advise me on.’
‘Hmm.’
I couldn’t blame Scarlett for feeling doubtful, but a moment later I heard Devereau Webb’s voice. ‘DC Bellamy. It’s been too long.’
‘I’m not DC, Mr Webb. Not at the moment.’
‘You’ll always be DC to me.’ He spoke with only the faintest edge of mockery. Given his history, I couldn’t blame him for that.
Rather than dance around the topic, I quickly explained what I’d found underneath Tallulah. As soon as I mentioned it, Devereau Webb’s manner became serious. ‘It’s too small to be explosives,’ he said. ‘And anyway, we all know there’s no point in blowing you up.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Can you take a photo of the device and send it to me?’
I glanced at the small phone that Barber had given me. ‘The phone I’m using is not that sophisticated.’
He clicked his tongue. ‘Burner, yeah? Pain in the arse. I know what you’re going through.’ He knew because he used to be a minor crime lord. I wasn’t convinced that close friendship was something that either of us wanted to experience, even though I believed we liked and respected each other.
‘Well,’ he continued, ‘you’ve got two choices. It must be a tracking device of some sort, and a cheap one by the sounds of it. Given the tech available these days it’s pretty large, so it’s probably an amateur who’s attached it to your car and not the Met police gathering intelligence against you and making sure you don’t do a runner.’
I was more relieved by that than I cared to admit.
‘Although,’ Webb cautioned, ‘sometimes the police go low-tech when they’re trying to be strict with their budgets and they think they can get away with it.’
I grimaced.
‘Option one, you can leave the device on your car and use it against whoever is tracking you to throw them off the scent. Turn the tables on them and tracktheminstead. Option two, you can yank it off and I’ll take a look at it for you. I might be able to trace where it comes from. Do you know how long it’s been there?’
Hmm. ‘Not long. Whoever planted it must have followed me here and attached it after I parked. Tallulah would have indicated before now if it had been there for longer.’
It was testament to Devereau Webb that he didn’t comment about me telling him that my car would have communicated with me. ‘So they could still be in the vicinity?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ I replied grimly.
‘Could they be watching you right now?’
I swivelled around. The car park was tucked away from the main street and I caught glimpses of passers-by, but nobody else was visible. However, a lot of windows overlooked this spot and I still couldn’t judge if anyone was watching me from any of them. ‘It’s possible,’ I admitted. The back of my neck prickled uncomfortably.
‘If they are watching and already know you’ve found it, you can’t use it to draw them out.’
He was right. Option two it was then. ‘Can you get over here and take a look at it for me?’
‘Do a favour for the police out of the goodness of my werewolf black heart, you mean?’
‘I’ve been suspended. You’re not doing any favours for the police.’
‘True.’ I heard the grin in his voice. ‘Alright, then. It’ll take me about half an hour to reach you.’
I checked my watch. ‘That’d be great.’ I gave him the address.
‘See you soon,’ Webb purred. He was enjoying himself far too much.
I hung up, patted Tallulah’s bonnet and apologised aloud for snapping at her. The tracking device might prove to be the murdering bastard’s biggest mistake or it might lead to yet another dead end; either way, I didn’t have time to wait idly for Webb to appear. I wasn’t going to cool my heels until he showed up, not when I could make myself useful.
I craned my neck for a third time towards the surrounding buildings. At least I could check them out and see if Iwasbeing watched from one of the tinted windows. Lady Luck hadn’t been smiling on Supe Squad lately but maybe she’d be on our side now.
