‘A couple more hours and I would have had you,’ Ezra said. ‘You need to come inside. One of the—’
‘I’m not going inside. They’ll arrest me and I … I need time. I just want to talk to you.’
‘Bruv, I told you. That ain’t my job and I don’t want to get in trouble and talking to you, right now, is getting me in trouble.’
‘I’m not an idiot. I already know I’ve activated the clock by even being here and that you’ll tell them but … I don’t know. I suppose I’m just asking for a bit of grace.’
Ezra screwed his face in concentration. He relented. ‘Come on. We’re not going inside, just around the back, it’s a big building but there’s only us in it.’
‘Thank you,’ Kaiden said as he followed Ezra across the road, and they entered the old custody yard.
‘So, what is it?’ Ezra asked, positioning himself so that if needed, he could run but Kaiden couldn’t.
Kaiden took off his hat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. ‘It was never meant to go this far,’ he said. ‘No one was ever meant to die.’
‘You made it look like someone had hacked the monitoring system?’
‘I thought I’d done a good job of covering my tracks but then I went back and saw what you’d downloaded. I realised then it was only a matter of time before I was fucked.’
‘You really should be talking to Inspector Henley about this.’
‘I know, I know, but I just wanted to … I don’t know, maybe because you’re not a cop, I feel that I can trust you.’
‘How involved are you?’ asked Ezra. ‘Is it just downloading stuff or is it … everything?’
‘Everything.’
Ezra stepped back and looked at the rear door that led to the custody suite, trying to calculate how quickly he could get into the building.
‘You don’t have to be scared of me.’
‘Mate, I spend half my time trying to avoid the murder board upstairs and you’re telling me not to be scared of you. I’ve seen what you’ve done.’
‘I’ve got a wife. Two boys and I’m about to lose it all. I want to hand myself in, but I just want to give myself a bit of time to get things sorted.’
Kaiden jumped as the sound of a police siren rang out, the volume increasing as it got closer.
Ezra held up his hands. ‘It’s just passing, nothing to do with us.’
Kaiden relaxed slightly as the siren reached its peak and then became quieter. ‘I need to stop this, but I need to get things sorted at home first. Tell my wife. Say goodbye to my kids,’ he said. ‘You must get it. Wanting a chance to say goodbye.’
‘I get that,’ Ezra nodded. ‘But I still don’t know what exactly you want me to do.’
‘An email address,’ said Kaiden. ‘I need to send you everything I’ve got. Everything that implicates me and the rest of them.’
‘Mate, I’m not sure. Why don’t you just come in and wait for the—’
‘No. I want to do it this way even though I know you’ll call Inspector Henley as soon as my back is turned.’
‘Of course I will,’ said Ezra.
‘I promise you I’ll be the one to hand myself in. First thing tomorrow morning. I’ll come straight back here. You have my word.’
Ezra sighed. ‘Ok, give me your phone.’
Kaiden pulled out his phone, unlocked it and handed it to Ezra.
‘My email and direct line,’ said Ezra.
