Desperate Measures

by Stephen Leather

  Chapter 39

  Monday May 18. Sandra and I took Dao to meet Oliver on Sunday evening. Alice was the best earning girl last week so she was very happy. Dao stared at all the money we gave to Oliver like it was a dream. She said she had never seen so much money at one time. She kept asking questions about what it was like to be a working girl, and Cat said they could go and take photographs on Wednesday if she wanted. Dao said she would but she wanted to know if they could hide her face. Oliver said no because customers thought that if a girl hid her face it was because she was ugly. He said Dao didn’t have to worry because no one in Thailand ever saw the websites. Cat said Dao should have a working name so we all talked about it and decided on Laura. Cat said she would lend Dao some money for clothes and for a new apartment, same as she did when I started work. I hope that Dao realises that once she has the apartment and the clothes she has no choice, she will have to do this job so that she can pay back Cat and Oliver. In a way it is a trap. But I think she really wants to do the job. I know she really wants the money.

  Chapter 40

  Tuesday May 19. Yesterday a policeman came to talk to me. He was actually quite nice but when he first said who he was I was crying and begging him not to take me to jail. Looking back it was quite funny but at the time I was really upset. He had booked me for one hour’s incall at two o’clock and Oliver said his name was Neil. He was about ten minutes late. He was about thirty, tall with very dark brown hair and blue eyes and he was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked like a businessman. I was wearing my white vinyl nurse’s outfit and white high heels and I looked really cute. I kissed him on the cheek and asked him if he wanted a drink and he said he’d have an orange juice. He sat down on the sofa and when I took him his drink he opened a wallet and showed me his ID card and said that he was a police officer. I was so shocked I dropped the orange juice and it went all over the floor. Some of it splashed on his trousers. That’s when I started crying. I begged him not to put me in jail or to send me back to Thailand. Tears were running down my face and I was shaking.

  He said that it was okay, he wasn’t there to arrest me. He told me to sit down and then he got a cloth from the kitchen and cleaned up the orange juice. He said that he worked for the Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Command who are the police who look after working girls in London. He asked me if I was being forced to work. I told him it was my choice, I wanted to work so that I could help my family. He asked me if anyone had brought me to London and I said no, I had come on my own, but I didn’t tell him about Kung. I started crying again and he said I wasn’t in trouble, he was there because he wanted to help me and the other girls at the agency. He took out some photographs to show me. He said that a man had been robbing working girls, beating them up and stealing their money. One of the girls was still in hospital, he said.

  Some of the photographs were from CCTV cameras but they weren’t very clear, just a man in a padded jacket with a baseball cap so you couldn’t see his face. One of the photographs was a computer picture of what the man looked like. He was black with very short hair and a flat nose. I hadn’t seen him before. The policeman gave me a folder containing copies of the photographs and he gave me some business cards with his telephone number on and asked me if I’d show the rest of the girls at the agency the pictures and if anyone recognised the man to give him a call.

  I was so relieved that I wanted to kiss him. I started crying again, but this time because I was so happy that he wasn’t going to put me in prison. I asked him why he hadn’t spoken to Oliver and he said that usually the people who ran the agencies didn’t want to talk to the police. They were scared that the police wanted to put them out of business. I asked him if it was true that the bosses of the agency could be sent to prison and he said yes because they were living off the earnings of prostitutes. But he said that usually the police didn’t bother about the bosses of the agencies unless they were using illegal immigrants or they were abusing the girls. I said that actually Oliver was a nice man.

  Neil said that I should always check on the CCTV camera that I could see a customer’s face. The building kept tapes of the CCTV pictures so if someone was going to steal he wouldn’t risk showing his face. I said that I always did that.

  Neil seemed like a nice man. I asked him if it was true that working girls in their own flats weren’t breaking the law and he said that it was. Providing the neighbours didn’t complain he said the police didn’t bother about girls in flats. If there was more than one girl and a maid then the police might say that it was a brothel, but even then they wouldn’t do anything unless somebody complained. He said that might change because of Covid. People weren’t supposed to visit the flats of people they didn’t know, but again the police would only investigate if someone complained.

  Sometimes the police helped immigration if they wanted to round up illegal immigrants. I said that all the girls at our agency had visas, but that was a lie because several of the girls including Alice and Nancy have overstayed. Then Neil said he was going to go. I asked him if he was going to pay me and he said he wasn’t, which I didn’t think was fair because I would have to pay Oliver his commission which was £50. But I didn’t say anything, I just smiled and said goodbye.

  After he had gone I phoned Sandra and told her what had happened. She said it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell Oliver because he wouldn’t be happy that I had been talking to a policeman. She said it would be better if we showed the pictures to the girls. I think she might be right. I asked her if she could pay me back some of the money she owed me and she said she hadn’t been very busy on Monday but maybe she could pay me back something by the end of the week. She said she was short of money because Bee hadn’t paid her back but I think it’s because she is giving all her money to her boyfriend.

  Chapter 41

  Thursday May 21. Yesterday I went with Dao to get her website photographs taken. Dao and I got an Uber taxi to the photographers and Cat was already waiting. Cat had some very sexy outfits for Dao and she got her to try them on. There was a schoolgirl’s uniform with a tartan skirt and a tight white shirt, a nurse’s outfit like the one I have, white bra and suspenders that looked really good, a black bra and suspenders set like I have, a red dress that showed off her breasts, and a body suit made of fishnet material that showed off all her body. It was funny because I thought Dao would be shy but she wasn’t at all and she walked around like a model and made us all laugh. She has a very good body. She is quite short, about five feet two, I think, and has a very small waist so that her breasts look quite big.

  Cat said Dao should buy all the clothes because they looked so sexy, and that Dao could owe her the £450 they cost and another £200 for the photographs. That is £650 that Dao owes Cat already. That means she will have to have sex seven times to pay back the money. And Cat said she was going to show her an apartment near Marble Arch that cost £1,800 a month. Cat said she would pay for the deposit and the first month’s rent. Dao didn’t seem worried at all. Actually I think she will be very good at this job.

  Something very strange happened while Thomas was taking the photographs. Cat was helping him get Dao to look sexy, and while they were busy Cat’s mobile phone rang. Well, it didn’t ring because it was set to silent but it flashed and the name of the caller came up. It was Kung. Now Kung is a common name in Thailand. It can be a name for a girl or for a boy. Actually it is not a real name, it is a nickname. It means Prawn. It could have been anyone called Kung phoning Cat, but I got a very strange feeling, like when you know that something bad is going to happen. When the phone stopped flashing I checked the number and do you know what? It was my boyfriend. It was my Kung calling Cat. How could he know about Cat? He doesn’t know what job I am doing, he doesn’t know that I work for Cat’s agency. Why would he call Cat? And why wouldn’t he tell me that he knows Cat? I was very worried. A bit scared, actually.

  Then Cat came over and I tried to smile because I didn’t want her
to know how worried I was. Cat said she had an idea. She said that I should let Thomas take some photographs of me and Dao together. She said we were both sexy girls and that we would get more business if we worked together. Dao said she was happy so I said okay, but it meant that I had to pay another £200 for the photographs. I found it difficult to look sexy in the pictures because I was so worried about the phone call and Thomas kept scolding me.

  After Thomas had taken the pictures, Cat took Dao to see the apartment in Marble Arch and I went home in a taxi. I was busy all day which was good because it stopped me thinking about the phone call. Kung called me five times and I ignored him but he called again and I answered. He was asking for more money and I said I would send him some by Western Union but I didn’t tell him that I knew he had phoned Cat. Something is wrong but I do not know what it is.

  I had four incall customers between two o’clock and eight o’clock, two for one hour and two for ninety minutes, then Oliver phoned to say that Robert wanted me for four hours. I was so happy that I was going to see Robert because he is kind and gentle and I don’t have to have sex with him. It was a good day. I earned £1,440 and I get to keep £960 plus I got some tips. I didn’t get home until three o’clock in the morning and I was so tired but I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking too much.

  Chapter 42

  Friday May 22. Dao phoned me this morning. She was really excited. She said her apartment was really nice and she wanted me to see it. It wasn’t far from my flat so I walked there. It is a nice flat. It is bigger than mine and has an extra bedroom though it is quite small. But it means that she doesn’t have to sleep in the bed where she works, which is a good thing, I think. I don’t like sleeping in my bed and most nights I sleep on the sofa in the living room. My bed is where I work, it’s not where I sleep. Dao said she was really excited about working. Her pictures weren’t on the website yet but Oliver had said that he would send her customers anyway. Bee’s pictures are still on the website and so are other girls who left a long time ago. She had made her bedroom look really nice and she had a Buddha figure on top of her wardrobe with some flowers and candles and there was a poster of a Thai temple on the back of her door.

  She had boxes of condoms ready and KY jelly and there was lots of shampoo and soap in the bathroom. She said Cat had been shopping with her and told her what to buy. She had taken a mirror from the living room and put it against the wall at the end of the bed and I knew that had been Sandra’s idea.

  She asked me what it was like, the first time that I had been with a customer. I said that I had cried, but that really it hadn’t been that bad. Most customers were nice and if a customer wasn’t nice you just had to think about something else. If I’m with a customer and I don’t like him then I just think about shopping.

  Chapter 43

  Saturday May 23. I can’t believe what happened yesterday. I had someone very famous as my customer. Very famous! If I say who it was, everyone would know. He is a famous actor from America, very handsome and very cute! He had booked me and Nancy together for two hours incall at Nancy’s apartment and he had used the name David, but that wasn’t his real name. Chris was at Nancy’s apartment again and he kept looking at me in the way I don’t like. I don’t know why Nancy lets him stay there all the time. Actually I do, she does not like being on her own. I am the same, but I do not have a kik to keep me company. Anyway, Nancy gave Chris £50 and he went to the pub while we waited for David. When he rang the bell we looked through the CCTV camera and he was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap but when we opened the front door we knew who he was right away.

  He was laughing because he knew that we had recognised him. He said he was in London to talk about his new movie with a producer here. And what was really funny was that I had been watching one of his movies on Netflix on Thursday. I had been watching him on the screen and now he was in Nancy’s apartment and we were going to make love to him. It was crazy. There are lots of girls who would give anything to be in bed with this man and he was paying us to have sex with him. Nancy was really excited and started kissing him right away. I asked him what he wanted to drink and he said anything would be okay. Nancy had a bottle of champagne in the fridge so I opened it and she had chocolates and strawberries in the fridge so I put them on the table for him.

  Nancy sat down with him on the sofa and undid his trousers and gave him oral sex and I took off my bra so that he could kiss my breasts. I couldn’t believe what was happening. He is so famous, and he has a wife and his wife is a famous actress too. His wife is very beautiful and I don’t know why he would want to be with two working girls when he has such a beautiful wife. He started kissing me and he was a really good kisser. Nancy took off his trousers and then she went crazy. She told me in Thai that she was going to make love to him without a condom and that maybe she would get pregnant with his baby and then she would be rich. I told her that she was crazy but she took off her panties and started rubbing herself against him and making him really horny. I could see that he really wanted to make love to Nancy and for a moment I thought he was going to make love to her with no condom but then he pushed her off, laughing. He said he had to shower. I gave him a towel and he asked us if we had any cocaine. I said no but I could get some for £400. He asked me if it was okay to pay in dollars and I said sure and he gave me $800. He went into the shower with Nancy and I phoned Vince. Vince said he wasn’t far away and that he’d come around to the flat with the cocaine.

  I went into the bathroom and got into the shower. Nancy was soaping him and kissing him and I helped. We both gave him oral in the shower and then Nancy started rubbing herself against him. She turned around and bent down and I could see that she was trying to get him to make love to her but he pushed her away and said that he had to wear a condom.

  We both used towels to dry him and then we took him to the bedroom. Nancy gave him oral again while I kissed him. Then the bell rang. It was Vince. I put on a robe and opened the door and gave him £300 and he gave me the cocaine. He winked at me and said I looked sexy and that maybe he would come and see me later if he wasn’t too busy.

  When I went back to the bedroom, Nancy was doing 69 with the customer but they stopped and the customer took some cocaine and gave some to Nancy. He asked if I wanted some but I said no, then Nancy said that I didn’t sniff cocaine but I would lick it off her pussy. He said he wanted to see that. I was a bit angry at Nancy but I did it because I had already done it before. This time Nancy put a lot on her pussy and she held my head tightly while I licked her and then while I was doing it, he made love to me, doggy-style. It actually felt quite good and I think this time the cocaine did affect me a bit.

  Nancy pushed me away and said that she wanted to make love to him so I took off the condom. Nancy got a new condom and she told me to kiss him so that he couldn’t see what she was doing. I told her not to be stupid but she said that he wouldn’t know. I thought she was crazy but I kissed him and stroked his chest. Nancy opened the condom and pretended to put it on him, but then she pushed him inside her and started to make love to him. Nancy was moaning and telling him to come and I could tell from the way that he was kissing me that he was really horny and then he came. Nancy pretended to come, too. At least I think she was pretending. Then she got off him. She still had the condom in her hand and she pretended that she had taken it off him but I know that actually he had come inside her. She went to the bathroom and I lay next to him and stroked him.

  He said he liked Asian girls but that he could never see Asian girls when he was in America because photographers followed him wherever he went. He said his wife would kill him if ever she found out what he did, and I think he is right. I do not understand why men with beautiful wives want to sleep with working girls.

  Nancy came out of the bathroom. She told me that she could feel his sperm inside her and that she was sure she would have a beautiful baby. I told her that she was crazy, even if she got pregnant how would she ever get to talk to h
im again and she said it wouldn’t be a problem, she would get a lawyer in America.

  We gave him a massage and then he asked us if we would do a lesbian show for him and we did. We drank more champagne and Nancy asked him if he would send us signed photographs and he said that he would, but I am not sure if he really will.

  When he went Nancy and I were laughing and jumping up and down. It was like a dream. I said that we mustn’t tell anybody and she said she was going to tell Chris and I said no, no one must know. It wouldn’t be fair if anyone knew. We had to be professional. I won’t even tell Vince, even though I would love to see his face if I told him who he had sold cocaine to.

  Vince didn’t come to see me last night, so I suppose he was busy. I did see four customers, though, all of them were incall. None of them were anywhere near as handsome as the famous customer.

  Chapter 44

  Sunday May 24. Sandra came to my flat to see me yesterday morning, with her boyfriend Andy. She said that Bee had a new website and that she was working on her own and charging £200 an hour as an escort. Actually, that seemed a really good idea. She will be earning twice as much as I earn because she does not have to pay an agency. After I have paid Oliver his commission I get £100 an hour. Bee will get to keep all of her £200. Sandra said that she had been to Bee’s flat in South Kensington but she wasn’t there. She had moved. And her old phone number wasn’t working. She and Andy had spent hours looking at websites on the internet and they had finally found her. Now she had a different name. She was calling herself Tanya. And she had a different phone number.