Die Alone

that doesn’t mean I didn’t care, Tina. I’ve always cared. And I’ve always missed you.’
She stared out of the window into the night. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Then don’t say anything. I shouldn’t have asked you to come.’
‘No, it’s a relief to see you. I’m glad you made it. I thought it was Kalaman’s or Sheridan’s people who’d kidnapped you, and that you were dead, or being tortured somewhere.’
I could hear the pain in her voice, and the car fell silent for a few moments.
‘Look,’ I said eventually, ‘there’s something else I need. It’s something that’s not going to arouse any suspicion or put you in any danger, I promise. But if you don’t want to do it, I’d understand.’
‘What is it?’
‘Lane and her people made a real effort to avoid any kind of identification, or give me any clue as to where I was being held for the last two weeks. They even made me wear a hood and lie under a blanket on the way into London. But they made one mistake. When they dropped me off here, I managed to get the car registration. You’re a private detective. Do you know anyone who can get access to the ANPR database and find out the route their car took yesterday afternoon?’
She thought about that for a moment. ‘I know someone who might be able to help, but what use is that information to you?’
‘I know exactly what the house I was kept in looked like from the outside. I walked round it enough times. If there’s an ANPR camera within a mile or so of it, I might be able to get its exact location, and the more I know about these people the better, especially if they do decide not to play ball.’
She wrote the registration number down. ‘Leave it with me. If I find anything I’ll message you on your new phone.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, feeling awkward. ‘For everything. I wish it hadn’t ended like it did. I really do.’
‘I’m used to it,’ Tina said with a small shake of the head. ‘I’ve always been unlucky in love.’
We looked at each other for a long second, and I knew the spark was still there for both of us. Instinctively I went to kiss her on the lips, but she turned her cheek, and my lips brushed against it. Her skin smelled soft and sweet and I longed for just one more night. I’d been so long without human affection that I suddenly yearned for it.
‘You broke my heart, Ray,’ she said as I moved back in my seat. ‘I know you didn’t mean to. But that’s what you did.’
I took a deep breath. ‘I know. And I can’t tell you how much I regret that.’
‘I have to go. Good luck, and I’ll see what I can do about that registration.’
I got out of the car, keeping my head low as I walked down the street, and Tina drove past me, quickly disappearing from view, and leaving me feeling more empty than ever.

Part Two


10
The next morning I rose early and made myself instant coffee from the store cupboard. It tasted like crap after the good stuff I’d had for the past couple of weeks, but it woke me up, which was useful as I had a busy day ahead. Whatever happened, I was determined not to go back to prison, and since I couldn’t trust Lane and her associates to come through with their promises, I was going to have to make my own plans.
Contrary to what some might think, it’s not easy being on the run. To stay hidden you need money, and lots of it – more than the handy spending cash Tina had passed to me the previous night. I no longer had access to my savings and pensions, but one of my luckier investment decisions had been buying up bitcoin when it was still relatively cheap, and I had it stored in a wallet hidden away on the net a long way from the prying eyes of the authorities. I wasn’t sure how much it was worth right now and didn’t want to waste my data finding out, but figured it must be in the region of a quarter of a million pounds, all of it untraceable.
But money’s no good without a whole new identity. Fake passports and driving licences can be bought over the net but a lot of the sites offering the services are scammers and the finished products often shoddy and easily identifiable as fakes. If you’re buying from criminals, it’s always better to do it face to face. They’re less likely to scam you that way.
Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, there’s no list of reliable providers of high-quality fake IDs for me to access. However, being a former detective has its advantages, and I knew immediately who could help me find the right person.
For a number of years I worked for the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, or CT as it was better known. Although technology plays an increasingly large part in catching would-be terrorists before they can carry out their attacks, one of the most reliable methods of disrupting terrorist activity is still the use of informants. These people aren’t necessarily right on the inside of plots; often they’re petty criminals on the fringes who keep their ears to the ground, and come up with the occasional titbit of information in exchange for being left alone by the police. It’s not officially like that of course, but that’s how it tends to work, and the best informants are those who provide a steady stream of information over a long period of time without ever falling under suspicion.
Zafir Rasaq was one of those. A thief, minor drug dealer and occasional fraudster, he seemed to know everything that was going on in