‘And you just happened across the scene?’
Judith smiled, said nothing.
‘Eddie’s going to come after you. You know that, Jude. He’s got friends in low places and high places and he’s a bastard at the best of times but he idolises that boy.’
‘Luke Fraser is not a boy.’ She paused. ‘Look, it was an opportunity and I wasn’t going to let it pass me by. With a positive meth test on the record, he’s out. And there’s nothing his dad can do to stop it.’
‘You don’t need Eddie Fraser as an enemy. Jesus, Jude. And they’re already trying to pull the test results apart. Claiming a false positive.’
Judith snorted. ‘Good luck with that.’ As Assistant Commissioner charged with leading Crime Command, it was true that Eddie Fraser had enormous power, but even he couldn’t cover up the results of a drug test that had already passed through the hands of multiple officers. Judith had been more careful than Rocky knew. She’d picked her moment and gone after Luke entirely alone. More than one officer had been waiting for a chance to get rid of him. When Damien Collins had told his best friend on the force that he was sure Luke was high again, that message had reached Judith in less than an hour.
A door opened at the end of the corridor. Two officers came out of an interview room, leading a suspect in handcuffs. They threw glances in the direction of Judith and Rocky, and kept walking.
‘It’ll be okay,’ Judith said. ‘Eddie might try something, but a lot of people are going to be happy to see Luke gone. And Eddie’ll have to be careful. He can’t come after me directly.’
Rocky shook his head, and said nothing. They sat in silence for a moment. Judith found a piece of paper in her pocket and took the gum from her mouth. She looked around for a bin. There wasn’t one. She stood up.
‘Come on, Rocks. No point sitting here.’
They walked together down the corridor.
‘Who was the girl?’ Rocky asked.
‘Complainant,’ Judith said. ‘Sexual assault.’
Rocky gave her a sideways look. ‘And you interviewed her why?’ She and Rocky worked together in homicide. Judith hadn’t worked sex crimes in nearly eight years, and Rocky knew that she’d hated every minute of the short time she’d spent on the team. She wasn’t suited to the work, had never been great at building rapport with victims.
‘She asked for me by name.’
‘Make sure you hand it off.’
Judith shook her head. ‘I’m keeping this one.’
‘Jude...’
‘Let me have this one, Rocky. I’ve got my reasons.’
They stopped when they reached the end of the corridor. His eyes went again to her bruised cheek, and his right hand lifted like he wanted to reach out and touch her. Rocky was twenty years older than her, and on the cusp of retirement. He was old school with all that that entailed. His relationship with Judith blew hot and cold depending on how much he approved or disapproved of her choices. He was still the closest thing to a father that she’d ever had.
Judith felt herself soften.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said. ‘You should know by now that I can look after myself.’
He didn’t look convinced, but he’d clearly said what he had to say, and he knew her well enough to know that trying to push her or scare her would only serve to get her back up.
‘You need to call your mother,’ he said.
That provoked a little spike of irritation deep in Judith’s gut, but she kept her expression mild, and merely raised an eyebrow in enquiry.
‘She called me,’ Rocky said simply. ‘Asked me to ask you to call her back.’
‘I’m sorry about that.’ It was something Linda did, if Judith ignored her calls for too long.
‘It’s not a problem.’
‘I’ll call her.’
He nodded.
