Lethal Intent Read Online Free PDF Page A

call him, are you?'
    'On the instant'
    'Look, be careful. Don't do anything that'll put you in jeopardy.'
    'I've been doing that for years, so don't worry about me. Now get some sleep.'
    'Okay, I will. I'm off to my bed.' She took a breath. 'How's things, by the way?'
    'If I knew I'd tell you. So long.'
    'Good night.'
    He hung up and turned to find Sarah looking at him. 'That was her, wasn't it?' she said. 'Aileen. And going by the conversation, that would be Aileen de Marco, the Justice Minister, wouldn't it?'
    He nodded.
    'Then we're done. I could tell by the way you talked to her: you used to speak to me like that'
    He took two steps towards her and tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but she twisted away. 'Look,' he murmured, 'you're reading too much into it. I like her. She believes in the same things I do, and she's a member of a rare species, a politician who can make a difference. We bat for the same team, Aileen and me.'
    Sarah snorted. 'Bob Skinner in bed with a politician; that's rich. Of course, she isn't the first, is she? There was that other one a few years ago.'
    'Shut up, please,' he found himself begging.
    'Yes, sir,' she hissed. 'You want to know the truth, Bob? There's only one of your mistresses that I can't stand, the one that I've never fought because I know I'll always lose, and that's your bloody job. You want to leave me for Aileen de Marco, fine. You want to have an affair with her and stay with me, fine. But God help her in the long run, for sooner or later she'll try to put herself above your job, and that'll be the end of her too.'
    'So what do you want me to do?'
    'Quit!' she shouted. 'How many times do I have to say it? That's what I'd like you to do to save our marriage. Resign from the force. You've given it all your adult life; now you owe your family some.'
    He walked away from her and across to the wardrobe, going through his jacket pockets until he had found the palm-sized computer that she had given him for his most recent birthday. He switched it on and scrolled though the phone numbers stored there until he found the one he sought, then walked back to the phone, picked it up again and began to dial.
    This time he had to wait much longer before his call was answered. This time, the voice on the other end sounded sodden with sleep. 'Grassick,' it croaked.
    'Milton,' he barked. 'It's Bob Skinner here, and I'm hugely pissed off.'
    'Do you know what time it is?' the Lord Advocate groaned.
    'I don't give a damn what time it is. I'm a policeman and I'm concerned twenty-four hours a day when I hear of the law being broken. So should you be: you're supposed to be the head of our prosecution system, after all.'
    'What do you mean?'
    'You know bloody fine what I mean. I'm talking about the five terrorists we arrested last month. They've been charged with various counts of murder and attempted murder; you and I both know they're as guilty as sin. Now I hear you're letting Murtagh pack them off to the US, without any trial for those crimes.'
    'Not the US,' Milton Grassick replied, wearily. 'Cuba. And there's no point in trying to interfere now: they were handed over to the Americans at midnight, and flown out of Turnhouse on a military jet.'
    'Magic! So they'll be interrogated, without any legal or personal representation, and once that's done, they'll probably be stuck before a secret tribunal, then shot' Skinner drew breath, as if to keep his anger in check. 'The most appalling thing about this,' he went on, 'is that you're a Scottish law officer. You've got legal and constitutional duties and you've ignored them all. These people weren't just in your custody, they were in your care. They had a right to offer a defence against extradition, and they've been denied it.'
    'There are great issues at work here,' Grassick protested.
    'None of them greater than natural justice,' Skinner fired back. 'Is this what you went to the Bar to do, Milton? To subvert the law and ignore every human-rights