Inspector Rames

Chapter 9

He gripped my arms, pulling me to my feet. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah." I took off again.

Alex followed me up the stairs. The two patrol officers were closer now, and the steps rattled as they climbed behind us. The walkway went up and up, staggered by long landings with twists and turns that would lead us back towards the high street.

Alex drew alongside me, and I had to take the stairs two at a time to keep up. "We need to get -- "

But he was already on it, telling the PRBs our current location.

We reached the first landing and shot past a mother and toddler sitting on a bench tucked into the corner. They gawped as the walkway shook. More steps rose ahead, and we sprinted up them.

The second landing branched off in different directions, towards the doors of the businesses that were level with us or twisting away to create more paths. I could see Kaden up ahead in his hoodie, forking to the right down a narrower section I knew well. He turned a corner and vanished.

"Dead end!" I drew my weapon.

Alex shouted at the PRBs in his earpiece, and we barrelled around the corner.

Kaden was coming back the other way, having seen his mistake. He slowed when he saw us, lifting his fists.

I raised my pistol. "Don't move!"

Kaden ignored me, turning around to see if the stone wall behind him had been a figment of his imagination. Four PRBs landed on the other side of the walkway to block him in.

He sighed loudly and raised his hands in the air.

I holstered my gun and strode towards his back. "Kaden Novick, I am arresting you for drug dealing, drug possession, and assaulting police officers." I took his wrists and cuffed them together. "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Two PRBs came forward and gripped Kaden by the biceps. I turned around to lead our way back to the station, my breaths finally starting to slow. My shin was throbbing.

Alex was leaning against the railings, holding his jaw. He straightened up as I approached and offered me a pained smile.

I fell into step with him. "Not bad, Sergeant."

***

Once Kaden had been put in an interview room with a PRB on guard, we waited for a solicitor to arrive at the station. Alex searched for an ice pack, and I studied Kaden's criminal record. He'd been arrested on drug charges before, but always possession, never dealing. He'd either been lucky or the dealing was a recent thing.

"But what's your connection to Zoe?" I murmured.

Zoe didn't come up anywhere on his national profile, and she wasn't linked to his Xplora account in any way. There was also no indication in her post-mortem report that she'd ever taken crimson.

At least Bryony's finances matched up with Jason's story.

I was just shutting everything down when Alex returned, holding an ice pack. He opened the office door and leaned against it. "Solicitor's turned up."

"That was fast." I stood. "I'll question Kaden alone. I don't want his ego to get any bigger, and you walking in there with a bruise the size of a melon is just going to make him smug. Look at Bryony Gold's tabphone, and check Zoe's again too. Make sure she wasn't in the habit of talking to Kaden Novick."