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The second house was about a mile away, in Islington, but light-years away in comfort. It was a detached house with a small garden, the curtains all shut tight against the morning light. If the SO19 team leader hadn’t verified that it belonged to Mr. Hadeon Mazuryk, A
The team had had to move fast, before Mazuryk found out about the King’s Cross raid, and the SO19 team had reassembled in the van for a quick briefing. The layout of the house was similar to many others in the area, including the house one of the men lived in, and between them the officers were able to sketch out a likely floor plan. Then they quietly evacuated the houses on either side and sealed off the street at both ends.
A
“You’re very quiet, Dave,” she said, turning to Brooke, who was staring down the street.
“I was warned off,” he said, without looking at her.
“What?”
“I was warned off, A
“I’m sorry, Dave,” A
He gave her an ironic glance. “Isn’t that what the Germans said?”
“This is different. What else could you do?”
Brooke shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t like the feeling, that’s all. I doubt they’d warn off your pal Banks so easily.”
A
Brooke nodded. “It’s gone too far. Even the brass couldn’t justify leaving vulnerable underage girls in captivity like that for one night longer than they had to. Besides, we still don’t know if or how Lambert is co
“Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon,” said A
Half the men went around the back and the rest prepared to enter through the front door. A
This time, in addition to the shouting and screaming, A
“Everybody all right?” A
“We are,” he said. “Eddie took one on the chest but the body armor worked fine. He’s feeling a bit sore, that’s all. Look, we’re waiting for the ambulance and for the brass to get here. You know what it’s like whenever shots are fired. Forms in triplicate. Questions. You feel more like a criminal than a copper.”
A
One of the dead men resembled the description she had heard of Hadeon “Happy Harry” Mazuryk, and the other one had a bodybuilder’s physique, long greasy hair tied back in a ponytail and a thick gold chain around his neck. One of the bullets must have severed the chain because it snaked in one long piece down his bloody chest.
A
An ambulance arrived and men filled the room. A
“Carmen?” she said. “Carmen Petri?”
The girl nodded, seeming surprised that A
“What happened?” Carmen asked.
“I’ll explain it all later,” A
“Where’s Hadeon?”
“Dead.”
“Good. And Artyom?”
“Who’s he?”
“Big man. Ponytail.”
“He’s dead, too.”
“That is also good,” she said, shifting on the bed slightly. A
“What happened to you?” A
“Is a long story,” she said. “And a long time ago. I was taken from street when I was a young girl.”
“How young?”
“Sixteen.”
“By who?”
She shrugged. “A man.”
“Where?”
“A village near Craiova, in Romania. You will not have heard of it.”
“You went to see Dr. Lukas at the Berger-Le
“Yes. She was good to me.” Carmen reached for a cigarette. “She wanted me to stop smoking, but I tell her a girl must have one vice. I don’t drink and I don’t take drugs.” Her English was remarkably good, A
A
“Do you remember Je
“Yes. She works with Dr. Lukas.”
“She’s dead, too, Carmen. Someone killed her.”
Carmen looked alarmed. “Why?”
“We don’t know. We think it might have to do with something you told her. Je