So far, as with his previous experiences at the club, not a single word had been spoken to him and none would be. He carefully prepared himself for the evening to come.
Ernie Davenport drove like a possessed man as he sped across London misusing his privileges as a policeman by the inappropriate use of his siren and blue flashing lights to help carve a way through any late night traffic that he came across. There were strict guidelines as to when they could be used and personal reasons were not on that list but tonight he did not care. Her phone call had more than disturbed him it had angered him! He knew that Thanos was a dangerous character but never in his wildest dreams did he consider that he would actually abduct her. His hard eyes concentrated on the road while his mind raced over the things that he would like to do to a certain Mr. Thanos!
Normally quiet and reserved and very conscious on how to conduct himself in social situations Ernie Davenport stepped through the doorway as soon as it was opened and uncharacteristically hugged her. For once the policeman in him gave way to the man that burned inside.
The stressful events of the night finally took their toll on Francesca. From her abduction through to her interrogation to witnessing the murder of his would-be executioners and then his cold revenge for endangering Kim she had survived as one event unfolded after another until now. Somehow his presence made her feel safe for the first time that night. She realised how close she had come to possibly losing her life over a stepbrother she barely knew and was now being comforted by a man that was virtually a stranger!
So far she had managed to get through the night facing each moment as it came but now, finally, the stressful events of the evening caught up with her and she pressed herself against him sobbing uncontrollably.
Ernie’s relief at seeing that she was all right only lasted as long as it took him to walk her into the living room. He stopped as his breathe caught and looked again to make sure that he was seeing right. There, standing in front of him, bold as brass, was another of his all time favourite crooks – Morton! He hated this man possibly more than Thanos because in his book Thanos gave the orders but this was the man responsible for carrying them out.
Without thinking or stopping to ask why he was there he instinctively charged across the room at him.
Exactly what he intended to do he had no idea. He knew that physically he was no match for Morton but he just knew that he had to get him out of her apartment. The scream from Francesca telling him to stop did not register until it was too late.
Even in his wounded state Morton easily caught the punch aimed at his jaw and just as easily swung the Inspector round against the double-glazed glass doors like a rag doll. He stepped backwards quickly before the policeman had time to react. He needed to avoid confrontation for now! Francesca ran across the room putting herself between the two men and grabbing hold of Ernie’s arm knowing that he would come off second best. She explained as quickly as she could in a much-condensed version of how Morton had probably saved her life tonight.
His smouldering hatred of Morton reached a new level as he stood, for the first time, eye to eye with the man but the contrast between the two could not have been more different. Ernie pulled himself up to his full height, he looked tense with his fist clenched and his face looked as though it was set in stone while Morton was the complete opposite. Calm, relaxed and looking totally impassive.
The tension in the room was coming mainly from Ernie. Morton had the luxury of knowing that he could walk out of there at any time. This copper was not going to stop him!
Ernie was not convinced and very suspicious of the man who now appeared to be wearing the mantle of a hero. The two men stood at opposite ends of the room with a very uneasy truce between them.
“He can help,” she insisted, “he has information that could help you put this Thanos behind bars!”
“He’s got more than information,” Ernie kept his voice low his eyes never leaving Morton. He did not trust him no matter what his supposed heroics were tonight, “he’s his right hand man!” Francesca looked shocked at the big man. She had no idea just how involved he was. “Now you know what kind of scum you’ve let into your place!”
“Is it true?” the circumstances surrounding her stepbrother's death suddenly seemed very muddy. She wondered if he had told her the true account of what happened. “You said you were there. Did you …” her voice trailed off frightened more of the answer than the man, “kill him?”
Morton's gaze shifted slowly from the policeman to her, “I told you what happened.”
“So where’s the body?” Davenport asked sharply. He knew that if there were any dirty deeds that had to be kept quiet then Thanos would trust no one but Morton to see to it.
Morton could lie as fast as he could think, “don't know. You’d have to ask his new pet!”
Ernie's brain went into overdrive as he rapidly processed this new information. New pet, he thought, implies a new enforcer. Has the great Morton been replaced? A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of a new replacement. Morton's reputation was formidable even amongst serving police officers. Whoever had replaced him must be one evil bastard. “Who’s the new boy?” his question was met with a stony silence. He expected nothing more. Even in the dubious world of the professional criminal there was still honour amongst the low-life that lived there. “No doubt he’ll surface,” he grunted not making it clear if he meant the body or the new enforcer. Professional curiosity made him ask the next question, “Why the divorce?”
“Personal reasons!” was all that Morton was ready to divulge on the subject.
“Kim.” The name slipped out before she could stop herself. For a brief moment Ernie looked startled. The great, unfeeling Morton falling for a girl. “She’s the reason.” For the first time she looked at him and could see what Kim saw in him physically. He was, she supposed, what some would describe as ruggedly handsome and very well built but his past? Was that something she could live with?”
“So, this is about revenge,” Ernie probed, “if you think, for one minute, that I’m going to make a deal with you, you're sadly mistaken!” the hatred was evident in his voice. “You spend most of your life breaking every law in the book and then, when it suits, you think that you can spill the beans and turn over a new leaf and start again. The courts might like to make deals with scum like you but I won’t!”
Morton slowly breathed in ignoring the pain it caused looking intently at the Inspector as he considered his next move. He knew that this would be a waste of time. Cops like Davenport never change. He was everything that Davenport despised. He was a career criminal. It was his chosen path and for the past two decades he had helped run one of the most successful and notorious stable of whores in the country. “I never asked you to talk to me. I saved your girls life and that’s all.” Deciding that he was better off disappearing he made a move towards the door intending to collect Kim and disappear.
“Wait!” Francesca called, secretly pleased that he thought she was his girl. She looked desperately from one to the other. There has to be a way, she thought, “Look,” she addressed Ernie, “can't you work something out. Right now you both want the same thing!”
“I don`t work with crooks!” Ernie replied curtly to which Morton just smiled. “Wipe that grin off your face!” he snarled at Morton.
“”That’s cheap coming from a cop!” goaded Morton, “there are more crooks on the force than there are on the streets. The only difference is that those on the street are more honest about what they do. Unlike you lot of tossers who hide behind your uniforms!”
“Bullshit!” retorted Davenport vehemently. He hated those police officers that, through their own selfish actions, tarred every decent cop in the job with the same brush. It only takes one bad apple every now and again and the public never forget. “Very few cops are on the take!”
“Bollocks!” the grin across Morton's face said it all. “Have you any idea how many cops we've got on the payroll? Well? Probably half
the fucking cops in London!” It was, he knew, a massive exaggeration but it made his point. “And do you know what their favourite method of payment is? Not cash, I can tell you! Most of them want sex! Yep. You heard right, copper, sex! We’ve got tapes of some of your so-called wonder bloody boys fucking the shit out of girls. Young girls and I’m talking school girls some of them in their school uniforms getting a right royal stuffing from the boys in blue. And some of them like to shove their cocks up little boys’ arses!” he watched as the lines around Davenport's face pulled tighter and tighter. He knew he had hit a nerve and a very raw one at that by the reaction he got.
“There may be one or two bad cops on the force but I refuse to believe that there are that many!” he wished that he could believe that but he knew otherwise. There have always been corrupt police officers and human nature dictated that there would always be those that put themselves before the job but he still believed that a vast majority of police officers were good, honest decent men and women who put their job first and foremost.
“Yeah,” sneered Morton, “you keep on telling yourself that! Some of the tapes we’ve got you wouldn't believe!”
Ernie became Inspector Davenport immediately. His curiosity peaked. What if this villain was telling the truth and he had proof that some police officers were on the take. This could be a big feather in his cap. And, of course, there was always the main prize – Thanos! He began to think that if what he was saying was true then maybe he could work with him. It stuck in his throat that he was even thinking of dealing with this scum but the bigger picture may dictate it. “There may be some truth in what you say,” he conceded, “but I doubt very much if it is anything as bad as you’re insinuating!”
Morton saw his chance. He had got this cops interest. Maybe there was a way for him to walk away from this after all. “I've got no reason to lie, cop. I can prove everything I said!”
“You still got access to the tapes?” Morton nodded. Unknown to Thanos he had kept his own copies of every dirty cop they had dealings with. Ernie hesitated as he considered what he was about to say. The words stuck in his throat and he knew that this was going to haunt him for the rest of his life, “If the tapes are genuine and if they are any good then perhaps we could work something out. I'm not promising any reduced prison sentence, though.”
Morton had never considered prison and still did not. “Prison! Fuck off! I'm not going to prison,” then it dawned on him that Davenport assumed that he was going to give himself up. “You think…” he looked incredulously at him, “you honestly think that I'm going to let you nick me?”
“How else do you expect to do this? I’m policeman. You’re a villain. I arrest you and we talk. That’s how it works in my book.”
Morton looked disbelievingly at him, “Do you ever get out of your ivory fucking station. There is no way that you, or any other copper is going to nick me!”
“Then we have a problem!” replied Ernie.
“Not really. When I'm ready I'll go.”
“I don`t think so! How far do you think you’ll get? I make one phone call and you will not even get to the end of the road!” He had an almost smug look on his face.
“Well, before I go maybe I'll just break your fucking neck!” growled Morton. It was hard to tell if he was serious or not as his facial expression very rarely changed.
Francesca swallowed dryly at the threat. She was sure that he was serious, though, having had already witnessed enough tonight to know that he was more than capable of carrying out his threat. Worried that things could deteriorate even further she stepped in quickly, “Look! You need to work together.” She could almost taste the testosterone in the air. She was nervous and a little frightened but she knew she had to do something.
Ernie stood his ground and faced up to Morton knowing that he was not in the same physical league as him but it was important that he did not back down. He needed that information but at what cost? It was Francesca that came unexpectedly to his rescue.
“Can't you two just talk? You tell Ernie what he needs to know and couldn’t you just sort of… look the other way as he disappears?”
“It's not that simple!” Ernie was desperate not to have his authority undermined.
“Why?” asked Morton simply “I've got something you want all you have to do is turn a blind eye. And besides, I can give you someone that will blow your mind! Be the collar of your career!”
“Thanos?” Ernie sounded somewhat desperate.
Morton grinned and shook his head, “Oh, this is much better! Way better!” he saw the disappointed look on Davenport’s face, “Forget him! You will never touch him. They will never allow it!”
Ernie's ears pricked up, “They?” he asked, “Who are they?”
“It's this private club,” Francesca quipped in quickly wanting the dialogue to continue, “he told me all about it. You remember the tapes? Well, that’s all part of the club. It's their doing. They supply girls to the rich, untouchable perverts in our society!”
Ernie thought hard. Even with all the information he had at his fingertips he had not been able to find out much at all about some of the names on the list and except for that one piece of tape with what looked like a well known person on it he had nothing. “This club, tell me!”
“What’s in it for me?” Morton pushed wanting to make sure they had an agreement.
Ernie thought hard and looked at Francesca. Her puffy, tear-stained eyes contrasted sharply with her pale complexion brought home to him just how much he owed this criminal.
Francesca spoke her voice sounding distant and soft as though she was in a dreamlike state, “You don`t know what they were going to do to her!” she bit hard on her lower lip as she fought back the memories, “the bastards were going…” she sobbed as the memories came racing back, “the animals…”she could not bring herself to say it. Ernie stepped forward and pulled her to him. She took in a deep breath settling herself before carrying on, “he was going to let him rape me. They took Kim away. The bastard let his boys rape her and then planned to kill her! They told us that!”
Ernie was too shocked to say anything. He always found it incomprehensible how any human could be so cold towards another human. His thoughts turned immediately to the man opposite him and wondered for the hundredth time how many times he had raped and killed. He questioned whether he had the right to let this man walk away. He wanted Thanos. For years this had been personal but now even more so.
“You help me and I’ll… we never met.” His tone dropped as his heart sank. This was hurting him.
Morton's thoughts strayed as he looked at them together. To him they seemed to make the perfect couple and he wondered if there was any real future for him and Kim or was it just a lonely man's fantasy. Whatever the outcome of tonight he knew that his life would never be the same. He was a marked man whether Thanos lived or died. Others far more powerful and resourceful would see to that. It would be too dangerous for him to continue living the life he had especially in his native East End. His best hope of a long life was to disappear and start again somewhere he was not known. “There's a meeting taking place tonight involving a very well known politician.”
Ernie knew it was him, “Who?” he just needed him to say his name.
“Robert Montgomery! Ring any bells?” he could tell from the expression on the Inspectors face that he knew who he was. Hell, half the country knew who he was whether you paid any attention to politics or not it was hard to avoid him. His face appeared regularly in newspapers and on various television programmes. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country; rich, spoilt, had an excellent military career, an adventurer and above all else, and what seemed to annoy most of the male population of the country, exceptionally good looking. “Tonight, he has an appointment with a very young girl! Interested?”
Interested! Ernie’s stomach was turning cartwheels he was so excited but there was one burning question, “Who’s protecting Thanos?”
&nb
sp; “don't know,” Morton answered truthfully, “We just talk to voices down a phone. Never met them. Never seen them.”
“So, exactly what is it you two do?” he was probing trying to find out as much as possible while he could.
“Provide the girls,” he thought for a moment, “sometimes boys!” Morton pre-empted his next question. “don't ask who to or where it was all pre-arranged and we never met. They use drop-off points. We’d leave the packages somewhere, disappear for a cup of tea or whatever, come back and they’d be gone!”
Packages, cringed Ernie, even the way they refer to these unfortunates is deplorable. He nodded understanding the arrangement. It made complete sense. They never saw anyone face to face therefore no one could be identified. If they did not know where the girls were taken too they could not tell. What you did not know you could not tell simple as that. However he was puzzled over one thing, “How do you know where they are going to be tonight?”
“Depending on where you are in the country you will be taken to certain addresses.”
Ernie could guess the answer to his next question but he asked anyway, “How do you know that if you never met?”
Morton shrugged with one shoulder, “We decided it was prudent to take out an insurance policy! Just in case, you know,” he said matter-of-factly.
Ernie almost smiled, “I would have thought that there was some sort of security arrangement to prevent that from happening. Very lapse on their part considering all the trouble they go to keep their identities secret.”
“Very!” was all Morton was prepared to say before he changed the subject. “Do we have a deal?”
“How does Andy Richards it into all this?” the inquisitive policeman’s mind wanted all the facts.
Francesca had more than a journalistic interest in this and wanted to hear as well. “He was trying to blackmail Thanos into letting one of the girls out of her contract. Idiot thought that she loved him.” He looked at Francesca and his attitude changed momentarily as he spoke to her; “Andy was a nice guy but, unfortunately, a bit soft. The whore was using him to get a legal passport into the country. Somehow he found out about the files with the details of some of their clients and nicked it and tried to use it as leverage. I told you the rest.”
The Qadesh Club Page 21