domain.
She took the last of her toast into her office.
‘Tracker Three,’ Spinner’s voice filled her office. ‘Tracker Three,’ he repeated. ‘Copy please, Base.’ From time to time Gemma still liked to get out on the road herself. She unhoused the radio. ‘Good morning, Spinner. What’s happening?’
‘The target is still with his girlfriend,’ said Spinner. ‘I’ve been sitting off her place now for two hours. He arrived here a couple of hours ago, she came out to greet him, he pulled her into the car and they couldn’t wait. I can wrap this one up. You should see what I got on video!’
Gemma thought of the target’s wife who would also receive a copy of the action tomorrow.
‘I won’t bother taking it to her workplace today,’ said Spinner. ‘I’ll drop in on the Rock Breaker instead and see what’s cooking there. Then maybe the Big Limp this arvo.’
These were insurance company jobs. Both the Rock Breaker and the Big Limp were collecting compo payments because, according to their medical reports, they couldn’t get out of bed without help. Over the last two days, Spinner had obtained excellent footage of the Rock Breaker building an elaborate fishpond and waterfall in his backyard. Spinner had also followed him up to the Blue Mountains—despite the fact that the Rock Breaker maintained that driving a car was impossible—where he’d obtained clear evidence on video of the Rock Breaker pilfering large slabs of bush rock as well. National Parks and Wildlife might have something to say about that, Gemma thought. They had him cold, lifting and arranging rocks that must have weighed nearly as much as he did. Spinner also by now had good film of the Big Limp doing endless laps of his swimming pool and bench presses in his timber and glass living room. But when anyone knocked, the Big Limp could only hobble painfully to open the door, limping and lurching as if one leg was inches shorter than the other. Insurance work was the bread and butter of her business.
‘Spinner, you’re a legend,’ she said.
‘I know,’ was his modest reply. ‘Are you coming to Mike’s party tonight?’ he asked. ‘I’d like to introduce Rose to you.’ Spinner had been cautiously dating a woman whose Greek Orthodox practice was a challenge to his fundamentalist position. For Spinner, coffee with full cream milk was decadent.
‘I doubt it,’ she said. ‘I want an early night tonight. I’ll be late up tomorrow.’ There was a silence and Gemma could feel Spinner’s disapproval over the ether.
‘Look, Boss,’ he said, his voice revealing concern. ‘It’s not my business, but you should tell Steve about that job you’re doing for Shelly. He’d hit the roof if he knew. You can’t have a relationship that’s based in dishonesty.’ Spinner had a righteous edge to him, honed, Gemma felt sure, by his adherence to the charismatic church he attended far too often in her estimation. She wished now she hadn’t told him about her friend Shelly’s approach to her on behalf of the street girls to investigate the recent spate of violent attacks.
‘It’s not dishonesty,’ she said, feeling defensive. ‘It’s discretion. I don’t have to tell him everything I do. He doesn’t tell me everything.’
‘No,’ Spinner agreed. ‘But what you’re planning tomorrow night is dangerous, ma’am.’ Spinner only called her ‘ma’am’ when he was pissed off with her.
‘I’ve spent years working with dangerous,’ she said. ‘It’s my job.’
‘ Was your job. You turned in your badge and your gun years ago. What if he attacks you?’
‘We want him to do that,’ she said. ‘Then we’ve got him. We’ll match him to the physical evidence—’
‘What physical evidence?’
‘The Analytical Laboratory’s got a nice little amp of seminal protein and a DNA profile of this particular brute. All they need is something to match it against and snap! We take another nasty piece of work off the
She took the last of her toast into her office.
‘Tracker Three,’ Spinner’s voice filled her office. ‘Tracker Three,’ he repeated. ‘Copy please, Base.’ From time to time Gemma still liked to get out on the road herself. She unhoused the radio. ‘Good morning, Spinner. What’s happening?’
‘The target is still with his girlfriend,’ said Spinner. ‘I’ve been sitting off her place now for two hours. He arrived here a couple of hours ago, she came out to greet him, he pulled her into the car and they couldn’t wait. I can wrap this one up. You should see what I got on video!’
Gemma thought of the target’s wife who would also receive a copy of the action tomorrow.
‘I won’t bother taking it to her workplace today,’ said Spinner. ‘I’ll drop in on the Rock Breaker instead and see what’s cooking there. Then maybe the Big Limp this arvo.’
These were insurance company jobs. Both the Rock Breaker and the Big Limp were collecting compo payments because, according to their medical reports, they couldn’t get out of bed without help. Over the last two days, Spinner had obtained excellent footage of the Rock Breaker building an elaborate fishpond and waterfall in his backyard. Spinner had also followed him up to the Blue Mountains—despite the fact that the Rock Breaker maintained that driving a car was impossible—where he’d obtained clear evidence on video of the Rock Breaker pilfering large slabs of bush rock as well. National Parks and Wildlife might have something to say about that, Gemma thought. They had him cold, lifting and arranging rocks that must have weighed nearly as much as he did. Spinner also by now had good film of the Big Limp doing endless laps of his swimming pool and bench presses in his timber and glass living room. But when anyone knocked, the Big Limp could only hobble painfully to open the door, limping and lurching as if one leg was inches shorter than the other. Insurance work was the bread and butter of her business.
‘Spinner, you’re a legend,’ she said.
‘I know,’ was his modest reply. ‘Are you coming to Mike’s party tonight?’ he asked. ‘I’d like to introduce Rose to you.’ Spinner had been cautiously dating a woman whose Greek Orthodox practice was a challenge to his fundamentalist position. For Spinner, coffee with full cream milk was decadent.
‘I doubt it,’ she said. ‘I want an early night tonight. I’ll be late up tomorrow.’ There was a silence and Gemma could feel Spinner’s disapproval over the ether.
‘Look, Boss,’ he said, his voice revealing concern. ‘It’s not my business, but you should tell Steve about that job you’re doing for Shelly. He’d hit the roof if he knew. You can’t have a relationship that’s based in dishonesty.’ Spinner had a righteous edge to him, honed, Gemma felt sure, by his adherence to the charismatic church he attended far too often in her estimation. She wished now she hadn’t told him about her friend Shelly’s approach to her on behalf of the street girls to investigate the recent spate of violent attacks.
‘It’s not dishonesty,’ she said, feeling defensive. ‘It’s discretion. I don’t have to tell him everything I do. He doesn’t tell me everything.’
‘No,’ Spinner agreed. ‘But what you’re planning tomorrow night is dangerous, ma’am.’ Spinner only called her ‘ma’am’ when he was pissed off with her.
‘I’ve spent years working with dangerous,’ she said. ‘It’s my job.’
‘ Was your job. You turned in your badge and your gun years ago. What if he attacks you?’
‘We want him to do that,’ she said. ‘Then we’ve got him. We’ll match him to the physical evidence—’
‘What physical evidence?’
‘The Analytical Laboratory’s got a nice little amp of seminal protein and a DNA profile of this particular brute. All they need is something to match it against and snap! We take another nasty piece of work off the
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