Broken Faith (26 page)

‘But why did you go on? You were supposed to stay only long enough to make the police aware of Jarvis's supposed information. Why didn't you just do as you were told? '

‘Because I was sent to do a job and that's what I did.'

‘But it wasn't what I told you to do.'

‘I know, you told me what I should do, but you didn't tell me what I was doing. I had to work that out for myself.'

‘Good heavens, Mr Costello, can you never leave things alone? Do you always have to work things out for yourself? You nearly got yourself killed. You certainly got Inspector Suarez killed. And for what? Your job was done as soon as you told the police why you were in Santander and certainly after you talked to Fr Perez. There was no need to go on. Why did you?'

That was a good question. Why did I go on? What did I get out of it?

‘When I told you about Jarvis you told me to co-operate, to act as an observer. So I stayed on. I was only doing what you told me to do.'

‘To observe. I needed to know what was going on. I didn't want you to go out and take on the London underworld single-handed. I just wanted to know what was going on, to be sure enough had been done.'

‘I don't like loose ends and neither does anyone else when a copper's been killed. Once Suarez was dead I couldn't leave it alone. If I'd walked away, it would have been someone else doing the digging. Who knows what they might have found? I had to close the whole thing down, get a result on Jarvis and see that it was all finished and tied up. Perez is an old man, a priest, not some ex-villain like Harry Mercer. He would have blown up if anyone had questioned him properly. It had to be me doing the questioning to keep him well out of the frame.  He hadn't lied, at least not a lie of his own. All he'd done was tell someone else's lie. He was a frail old man who had only done what he had been told to do. He'd spill the whole story if anyone put any kind of pressure on him. He was your loose end and he could unravel the whole thing. That's what I was doing, looking after Perez, making sure your clever lie worked like it was supposed to.'

McBride thought about it and knew he was right.

‘So now do we get to the end of your story?'

Jimmy nodded.

‘Now we get to the end. I worked out what was going on, why and how and who was involved. I gave it to the local police all wrapped up. Nobody is looking for anything else. No-one will talk to Fr Perez and he can get on with his retirement. Once it was all finished, properly finished, I came home. The job I was sent to do was done. The end.'

They sat for a moment. Then she picked up the envelope and opened it and read what was inside it.

‘Oh no. I can't approve this, it's far too much. My budget for this operation couldn't possibly include all this.'

‘It's all legitimate expenses.'

‘A candle, five Euros?'

‘It couldn't be a cheap candle.'

She read some more.

‘Sheets?'

‘Blood on them, my blood. I doubt they would have washed clean so I left the money to replace them. They belonged to Suarez's cousin or brother, I forget which. He was doing me a favour.'

And they sat in the office and went through Jimmy's expenses. Jimmy was sure he would get his money, the expenses were all legitimately incurred. He hadn't fiddled anything, not broken faith; he wasn't bent any more, just a bit more broken.

Unholy Ghost
James Green

Fourth in the Jimmy Costello crime thriller series shortlisted for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards

Jimmy Costello, corrupt ex-copper and now fixer for the Catholic Church, always liked Paris, but never got the chance to spend time there.  Now his boss in Rome wants him to go back.  It's a simple job: find the missing owner of a piece of valuable property.  But Jimmy's not the only one looking. 

What is he looking for and who else wants it so badly? No one seems to have the answers. This time Jimmy is on his own.

Copyright © James Green 2013

The right of James Green to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN 9781909840737

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Accent Press Ltd, Ty Cynon House, Navigation Park, Abercynon, CF45 4SN

The stories contained within this book are works of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors' imaginations and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental