Mark laughed. ‘You know exactly who I’m talking about,’ he said. ‘Your new team member. DC Copeland.’
‘It’s not that I don’t like her it’s just that I find her—’
‘Too inna?’
Henley laughed at Mark’s use of slang. ‘Are you trying to keep up with your kids again?’
‘The eleven-year-old told me this morning that I had no rizz. I had to Google it.’
‘Ooh, that must have hurt.’
‘I’ll live. But am I right though? About Copeland.’
‘I can understand why she would want to join the SCU but she’s impulsive, sneaky and disingenuous.’
‘That’s quite a list, but I feel as though there’s something missing,’ said Mark
‘Her intention. I don’t think it’s just the appeal of this case that’s brought her to the SCU.’
‘Ramouter?’
‘How could you tell?’ Henley asked with surprise.
‘It’s what I do. I’m a profiler after all.’
‘And there I was thinking you were fussy about your title.’
‘Nah, I just like winding Stanford up, but my advice is don’t read too much into it. Ramouter has his family, but he still needs friends. It’s probably no more than that. London can be a lonely place. You and I won’t feel that because we were born and raised here.’
‘Maybe I’ll recommend him to my sister-in-law’s book club.’
‘Anjelica, come on.’
‘Fine. Fine. I’ll do better and thank you for coming by.’
‘Tell Pellacia it’s my last freebie,’ said Mark. ‘So where are you off to?’
‘Bromley Mags. I’m hoping that the judge will grant my application to get into Laurence Durant’s phone.’
‘Looking for the pack leader?’
‘Exactly. Find the pack and hopefully this whole vigilante group falls apart.’
‘A group like that. It won’t be easy for someone to just walk away. Your leader is someone who most likely has a narcissistic personality or borderline personality disorder and they’ll have the hallmarks of coercive behaviour. They thrive on being able to control people, events and situations which means that they won’t like it if a member of the pack attempts to break out. They’ll want to reinforce their dominance. They’ll do what some wolves do.’
Henley grimaced. ‘Eat their own,’ she said.
‘Not just their own,’ said Mark. ‘Once they recognise the SCU as a threat, they’ll snap. All of you are at risk.’
‘You think that they would come after one of us?’
‘I wouldn’t put anything past them. These people, whoever they are, believe they’re not just above the law, but better than it. As far as they’re concerned, you, the SCU are stopping them in their pursuit of what they believe to be justice.’
Henley shivered as the wind nipped at her neck. ‘You said the scalping made them feel powerful,’ she said.
‘And power is a drug,’ replied Mark. ‘But like all drugs, you can develop a tolerance.’
‘What are you saying, that the scalping may not be a big enough high?’
