The alpha dropped his head. “I like your shitty attitude.”
Oliver covered his mouth. “You?—”
“Briefings in thirty minutes.”
“Right.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“See you in thirty minutes.”
FIVE
OPERATION SCEPTRE
Op Sceptre - Restricted. That’s what the sign on the door read, as Oliver shuffled into the briefing room. An Op name meant resources, people, and time to build a case that would stick. Something about that sent a little thrum of excitement through Oliver’s chest. He’d worked decent sized cases before, but never one with an Op name.
Pulling up two chairs at the back of the room, he and Nancy scanned the space to see who’d been invited to the party. The Met officers immediately crowded around the long conference table in the centre, leaving the West Newton officers hanging awkwardly around the periphery of the room.It was their fucking police station!
“Pst, Ollie, look,” Nancy said, nudging his shoulder. “Frank and Annie from cyber crime are here. Oh, oh and look, there’s Harry from the fraud squad. Hi guys!” She said, waving awkwardly at the three West Newton officers huddled together in the corner.
Harry, a mousy-haired brown-eyed beta, gave Oliver a distinctly pointed look. Two years prior, they had an extremely short fling that ended in Harry declaring that—whilst the sex had been great—he wanted to settle down, and that Oliversimply didn’t meet the criteria for baby making. Well, the joke waswell and trulyon him because two years later, Harry was just as single as Oliver. Still, Harry possessed a rather magnificent set of arse cheeks that Oliver still thought about every now and again.
By the time everyone had taken their seats, the team was twenty members strong, roughly half of whom were West Newton, the rest Metropolitan. The distinction between the two forces was laughably obvious as they crammed together in the dimly lit room. The Met were all sharp lines, tailored suits and perfectly coiffed hair. West Newton was a little more… homely. Tea-drinking, Clifford the Big Red Dog loving grandmothers sprang to mind.
Just as Oliver began to fidget, the door to the briefing room swung open. Inspector Callahan strode in, flanked by Lucas and Oliver’s own sergeant, alpha Blake Smith. Callahan flashed them all his easy-going smile, Lucas kept his head down, and Blake just looked pissed off. He couldn’t blame him. Op Sceptre had wiped out a good portion of the Child Protection Unit in one fell swoop.
“Morning all, thank you for coming,” the Inspector said.
A chorus of “Morning boss,” echoed around the room.
Oliver’s eyes flicked to Lucas, who was already looking at him through the crowd. For a moment, it felt as though they were the only two people in the room and he had to look away from the intensity of the alpha’s gaze.
Nancy nudged his arm. “Pst, do you think I should invite everyone on the pub crawl tonight? You know… as a little ice-breaker?”
Oliver covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. “Nance, that’s very sweet, but I doubt the Met have even heard of a pub crawl.”
“What? They’re coppers, aren’t they? If there’s one thing every copper has in common, it’s that they like a drink.”
“Look at them, Nance. Do they look like they consume anything other than kale and protein shakes? Besides, I don’t think West Newton high street will thank you for having twenty police officers descending on its night time economy.” They both giggled, snapping abruptly back to attention when the Inspector cleared his throat.
“You’re being split into two teams,” he said, eyes moving around the room. “A squad, and B squad. Nice and simple. We’ve placed you based on your individual specialisations. A squad will be led by DS White, B squad by DS Smith. Both report directly to me. Questions so far?” When nobody answered, the Inspector continued. “On A squad we have, DS White, Nancy Purslow, Harry Clarke, Fatima Kaur, Oliver Reed…”
He and Nancy fist bumped when their names were read out, but his mood soured slightly when he felt Harry’s eyes on him.
“Right then, you’re probably wondering where all this is going. As DS White and DS Smith undoubtedly explained on the phone, Special Branch currently has several outstanding suspects from an organised crime group operating across central Europe. They believe the group is making moves to set up a trafficking ring in West Newton and the surrounding boroughs. We all know how vulnerable our towns have become with the introduction of the high-speed rail-line. Unfortunately, it’s only going to get worse now that West Newton acts as a thoroughfare between London and the North.”
Murmurs echoed around the room following the Inspector’s words. Every single one of the departments had felt the impact of the high-speed rail-line. Economic crime was up by fifty percent as unlicensed tech stores set up shop close to the station. Domestic and child abuse had risen exponentially, as families poured in from the city. It was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, as the tiny divisions of West Newton and High Enfield struggled to keep up with the growing demand.
“Thanks to DS White and DC Reed,” The Inspector continued, tipping his head towards Oliver. “We now suspect that they have—at least in part—been operating out of an address in Wicking. It is strongly believed that Adrian Moore and a group of his associates have been targeting children in the local care system. The simple fact is—social services cannot keep up with the growing number of families, so many children have slipped through the net. Some of you, especially those of you in child protection, will know of Helena Cartwright.”
Oliver glanced at Lucas, who gave him a small nod.
“Adrian Moore and Helena were found together in a vehicle four days ago, and since then, Helena has provided crucial information to the police. Tomorrow morning, A squad will execute a search warrant at the High Enfield Sandero dealership. It is believed that a member, or several members of staff, facilitated the use of a showroom vehicle for Adrian Moore. B squad will carry out a simultaneous warrant on the address in Wicking. We are still waiting for the examination of the mobile phone seized by DC Reed, and as of now, no other children have been reported missing. However, we anticipate that will change in the coming days. Questions?”
When there was none, the teams filtered off to their respective ends of the briefing room. Lucas, to his credit, allowed the West Newton officers to carry out the most important task of all.
