Deviance. London Psychic Book 3 (22 page)

Blake put his head in his hands. The desire for alcohol had subsided, but his head pounded with the aftermath of the visions.

"You need to rest," Jamie said. "I know how much reading takes out of you. Come lie down."

She patted the bed next to her, pulling the covers open for him.
 

There was a part of Blake that wanted to lean down and kiss her right now, to stroke her bare skin with his scarred hands. Could he read her past? Could he take her pain from her?
 

But now wasn't the right time. It never seemed to be the right time.
 

He lay down and closed his eyes. He felt her breath on his cheek and then her lips touched his face in a light kiss. Her weight shifted a little as she leaned down.

"I need to make some calls and then I'll come and rest with you," she whispered. "Sleep now."

Blake wanted to hold onto that moment, he wanted to wait for her to come to bed, but he was exhausted. His mind and body spent. He let go of wanting and slipped into sleep.
 

Jamie heard Blake's breathing change as he fell asleep. His face relaxed and she watched him for a moment. He was a beautiful man and part of her wanted to curl around him and kiss his caramel skin, taste his body. He would wake in the night and they would finally take things further. All she had to do was slip into bed next to him.

But his vision had shaken her and Jamie knew she wouldn't sleep now.
 

Dale Cameron had been her boss in the police, but she had glimpsed his darker side several times. She had tried to ignore her suspicions before, but now she was sure that it must have been him in the smoke of the Hellfire Caves, covering up the scandal for his aristocratic friends. He procured the victims for the RAIN agency and now he was cleaning up the city in a much more personal way.
 

Jamie picked up her motorcycle helmet and gloves. She looked down at Blake's sleeping face once more, fixing his image in her mind.
 

This wasn't his responsibility. She had to do this alone.
 

She picked up the pen and put it in her pocket. Then she slipped out of the flat, mounted her bike and roared back towards Southwark.
 

The Mayor's new office was in the Shard, the tallest building in Europe, a tower of glass that rose above the ancient city like an angel's spear pointing the way to Heaven. Jamie parked below it and looked up. It was beautiful, a fitting place for Dale Cameron to survey his new domain. Jamie thought of the temptation of Jesus in the desert when the Devil had taken him to a high place and offered him the world if only he would call on the angels to lift him up. It seemed as if Cameron had already taken his deal with the Devil.
 

It was late, but she knew Cameron's habits from the police. He often worked late into the night, and in the first few days of his Mayoralty it was likely that he was still at the office. She also still had his mobile number.

She stood at the main entrance, closed and locked for the night. Jamie dialed Cameron's number.
 

It rang once, twice, three times. Her heart sank as she realized that she might not have the reckoning she craved tonight.
 

"Jamie Brooke." Cameron's voice was calm and assured. "I'm a little surprised to hear from you, especially at this late hour."

"I'd like to talk to you," Jamie said, her heart pounding. She didn't really have a plan as such, but her anger had carried her this far. She had to see it through now. "I remember how you used to work this late in the police." She paused. "I miss those times."

There was a moment of silence and she wondered if she had laid it on too thick.
 

A click and a whirr and the door slid open.
 

"Come up. Take the right-hand lift."

Jamie walked in, her footsteps echoing on the marble slabs underfoot. This place oozed wealth and power. No wonder Cameron liked it here.
 

The lift made her feel slightly queasy as it zoomed upwards. She took her phone out and activated the recording app, slipping it back into her pocket as the doors pinged. Jamie stepped out to find Cameron standing at the doorway to his office, a bottle of burgundy in his hand. He wore a grey suit that looked like it cost more than Jamie's motorbike. He was clean shaven and she could smell a hint of cologne. Enough to woo the senses, not overpower them.

"Drink?" he said, holding up the bottle. The movement revealed a Patek Philippe watch on his wrist. "I was about to have one myself and after all, it's not something we ever did when we worked together."

Jamie nodded. "That would be great."

He turned and she followed him through the open-plan workspace into his office. There were piles of boxes everywhere, paperwork strewn over desktops and pictures still in bubble wrap.
 

"We're still moving in," Cameron said, pouring the wine into two Riedel glasses. His eyes twinkled with excitement. "Lots to do. Exciting times for the city."

Jamie felt the edge of his charisma as she sipped the wine. He had the ability to make people feel special, his gaze a sunbeam of energy, like they were the only person in the world to him.

"It's good to see you, Jamie," Cameron said softly. "You were a great Detective, and I'm sorry you left when you did. I apologize if I made things hard for you, especially when you were coping with the death of your daughter."

Jamie let him talk. He was still a smooth bastard, that was for sure. No wonder the city loved him. But now she knew what was underneath that facade and she just had to draw it out.

"I need people I can trust now and as Mayor, I can make connections for you," Cameron continued, his voice confident. "You could come and work for me. Or you could go back into the police if you want, perhaps even at a higher level. I can make that happen. Or I know some people in private security, where you could earn more money than you ever have before, doing the work you love."

She pulled the silver pen from her pocket.
 

"I actually came to return this," she said, laying it on the desk.
 

His grey eyes narrowed a little as he reached for it.
 

"I wondered where that had gone." He looked at her closely. "Where did you find it?"

"I've been doing some private investigation work on behalf of the Southwark community since the murders. We've had difficult times in recent days."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Cameron said, his response almost automated, trotted out in interviews to display compassion. But the words were empty, his eyes suspicious.

"The company behind the evictions and the security company at Cross Bones is called Vera Causa. I found your pen at their offices."

Cameron raised an eyebrow. "I've been doing a lot of community work for the Mayoral campaign. I must have left it there. Thanks for returning it." He paused for a moment, leaning back in his chair. The shadows shifted and for a moment, he was shrouded in darkness.

He pointed to a staircase in the corner of the room. "Let's go up to the roof. There's something I want to show you. Something I think you'll appreciate with your love for the city."

He pushed his chair out and walked up the stairs without looking back.
 

Jamie sat for a moment. Cameron was dangerous and following him was a risk, but she needed evidence to stop him. She grabbed the silver pen from his desk and slipped it back in her pocket before following him up the stairs.

Blake woke in the darkness of his room. His heart pounded as he emerged from a nightmare of gleaming knives and blood.
 

Jamie.

She had been here when he had fallen asleep and now she was gone. A coldness swept over him as he realized that she must have gone to meet Cameron. After his reading last night, she had decided to face him alone.
 

Blake jumped out of bed and grabbed his phone, dialing Jamie's number quickly. It rang and rang and then switched to voicemail.
 

"Damn it, Jamie," he whispered. He needed to get down there, but he needed local help.
 

"Magda, it's Blake Daniel. We met at O's flat earlier this week. I'm sorry to call so late."

"Oh, not at all." Magda's voice was dull. "I'm back at the hospital and O is recovering from surgery. Maybe Jamie told you?"

"Yes," Blake said. "It's about Jamie. I need your help."

He explained about his reading, his suspicions that Jamie had gone to meet Cameron.

"I'm coming," Magda said, her voice stronger now, galvanized into action. "This has gone too far. I will not have another of our number hurt tonight. I'll meet you on the corner of Stoney Street next to Borough Market."

***

Jamie emerged from the stairwell onto one of the very top floors of the Shard. The view was stunning, a 360-degree panorama of London with the river a dark ribbon running through its heart. This level was still under construction with glass panels enclosing three sides of the structure, but the east side and the roof were partially open to the elements, with only a safety barrier blocking access.
 

A gust of wind whipped through and Jamie pulled her jacket close about her shoulders. The metal girders creaked a little and the glass rattled, the sound of the building shifting in the sky.

Cameron stood looking north over the city, his nose inches from the glass. He turned at Jamie's approach.
 

"Isn't it amazing up here?" His grey eyes shone with passion. "This is where I come to get some perspective, and I hope that you will be able to see as I do." Jamie stepped slowly towards him, needing to get closer to record his words. He pointed out, sweeping his arm in a wide arc. "This is London, as far as you can see. The city is not just Southwark, it's not just your Kitchen or Cross Bones Graveyard. It's millions of people who deserve a city where they can thrive. A city that has been cleaned of those who don't deserve to be here. Like a cancer, they must be cut out so the healthy body can survive."

Jamie looked down into the streets of Southwark. She thought she could see Cross Bones Graveyard below them, a patch of dark in the bright orange spectrum of streetlights.
 

How insignificant our lives are
, Jamie thought. The Shard was built upon the ground of an ancient borough and the blood of two millennia had been spilled here. Now the anger of the Outcast Dead rose up, the shades of those buried by the advance of the rich and powerful over the years.
 

She placed a hand on the glass.
 

"I don't see the city as you do," she said softly. "I see people who need help, communities that need leaders who will stand up to your plans." She turned. "Like we did at Cross Bones."

"And look how that ended for your friends," Cameron spat as he walked behind her and stood at the top of the stairs.

"I
will
clean up London, Jamie," he said, his eyes cold, a steel grey as hard as the girders that surrounded them. "I have powerful backers who have the money and power we need for rejuvenation and redevelopment."

"But you'll destroy the diversity that makes this borough a unique historical community," Jamie said.
 

"Local color is overrated." Cameron chuckled. "People would rather have more wealth. They've demonstrated that in the way they voted and it's time your 'community' moved on. I'm only helping them move on faster."

Cameron cocked his head to one side, regarding her as if she were a problem to be solved. Jamie tensed, realizing how much of a mistake she had made in coming up here.

She darted sideways, ducking under his arm as she rushed for the stairs.
 

He caught her arm, swinging her back around. Her phone fell out of her pocket, the case smashing on the concrete floor as it spun towards the open edge of the building.
 

She struggled against him, bringing her arms up fast to break his hold. But he was quick and strong, punching her in the solar plexus sharply with a broad fist.
 

Jamie dropped to her knees, winded and gasping for breath.

"You should have died that night in the Hellfire Caves," Cameron hissed as he grabbed her hair. "You should have burned alongside your daughter's body."

He dragged her over to the open east side as she struggled against him. Cameron kicked her phone out, sending it spinning into the void.

"You won't be needing that anymore."

In the split second he watched it fall, Jamie grabbed his fist with both hands, forcing her thumbs into the pressure points and twisted hard.
 

Cameron grunted, releasing his grip for a second. Jamie turned away on her knees, scrambling for the exit, trying to get up.
 

His boot crunched down on her ankle and strong hands grabbed the back of her jeans, tugging her towards the opening.
 

"You're only leaving one way," he said, yanking Jamie over and then kicking her in the stomach, his face contorted in a snarl.
 

She curled inwards, trying to protect herself, pain shooting through her. Her fingers scrabbled for the pen in her pocket, clutching it in one fist.

As he kicked again, Jamie grabbed for his foot and pulled it towards her, tugging him off balance. She scrambled on top of him, using the pen to stab him in the groin. Once. Twice. He howled in pain and doubled over.

She took her chance. Jamie got up and ran for the exit.
 

A crackle behind her.
 

A burning pain in her back.
 

The shuddering agony of electricity shot through her and she crumpled to the floor, limbs jerking. Jamie's mind was screaming even as her body was frozen by the shock.

Cameron stood over her, the police-issue Taser in one hand.
 

"It's been so hard for you lately, hasn't it?" He straightened his tie then bent to her feet. "First you lose your daughter, then your job, then you're evicted. Your community is crumbling around you. It's no wonder you had to end it all. But at least you chose to jump from somewhere with a great view."