by Susan Lewis
‘Is it true they’re being forced into prostitution?’
Starting slightly at the bluntness, Suzy said, ‘I don’t know if I’d put it like that … But yeah, I suppose you’re right. It’s forced.’
‘Is it a special kind of prostitution?’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘For example, are they used to service the needs of sadomasochists? Or maybe paedophiles?’
Suzy’s eyes darted to Danny, then came back again. ‘All I know is they do stuff the rest of us won’t do,’ she said. ‘They’re good little earners, I’m told. They’re Indian this time, aren’t they? They was from Eastern Europe before.’
‘What happened to the Eastern Europeans?’ Sherry asked.
Suzy shrugged, but she was careful to avoid Sherry’s eyes as she said, ‘How would I know? I never get to meet any of them. I just know they’re there, as back-up, is what we call it.’
She was lying, Sherry knew it. ‘What are you hiding?’ she said.
Suzy was immediately defensive. ‘Nothing!’ she snapped. ‘I’m not hiding nothing.’
‘I think you are,’ Sherry persisted.
‘Well, I can’t help what you think, can I?’
‘What happened to those women?’ Sherry said, repeating her question. ‘Where are they now?’
‘I told you, I don’t know. Why would I lie?’
Sherry didn’t know, but she was more convinced than ever that Suzy was holding something back.
Suzy looked at Danny. ‘You didn’t tell me I’d have to get into any of this,’ she complained.
Danny said, ‘I didn’t know she was going to ask, did I? And you was the one what mentioned the East Europeans.’
‘For God’s sake, what happened to them?’ Sherry broke in.
‘I don’t know,’ Suzy said tightly. ‘And that’s that, all right? I don’t know.’
Realizing she’d have to concede defeat, if only for the moment, Sherry said, ‘OK. If you won’t tell me that, then will you tell me if children are involved?’
Suzy’s discomfort was clearly increasing. ‘I’ve heard they might be,’ she answered stiffly.
‘Can you find out?’
Her eyes bulged. ‘Are you out of your mind?’ she cried. ‘If I start asking those kind of questions …’
‘You can always say you’ve got an interested customer.’
‘Those kind of customers don’t come through the club, or not that I’ve ever known.’
‘So where do they come from?’
‘The Internet,’ Danny answered.
Of course, she should have realized that. ‘Do you know the Web addresses?’ she asked.
‘That was partly what I was hoping to find when I went round to the flat earlier,’ he said. ‘The porn sites are easy to get hold of, but the specialist ones … Nothing doing.’
Sherry turned back to Suzy. ‘I take it you’re aware that some of these women are being very badly injured by the men you pass on.’
Suzy’s manner was becoming hostile again. ‘It’s why we pass ’em on,’ she snapped. ‘It’s what it’s all about.’
Sherry watched her and waited, for she obviously had some kind of conscience about it, or she wouldn’t be so defensive.
‘The way we see it,’ she said finally, ‘and Eddie sees it too, is that we’re doing society a favour, making sure these sickos are catered for, otherwise they’d be preying on our women and children, wouldn’t they?’
Sherry still only looked at her, and wondered when she had ever found it so hard to hide her disgust. That those poor, defenceless women were human beings too was clearly not worthy of consideration here. ‘You know who the men are,’ she stated. ‘I mean the deviants who are inflicting the injuries. You know who they are.’
A quick nervousness sprang to Suzy’s eyes. ‘Yeah, I probably know some,’ she conceded, ‘but no way am I going to tell you their names. And if you ever quote me as saying any of this, I swear to God you won’t be writing anything by the time I’ve finished.’
‘I gave you my word before we started,’ Sherry reminded her. ‘That won’t change. If I quote you at all, it’ll be as an unnamed source.’
Danny said, ‘Try not to quote her at all.’
Sherry glanced at him, but made no promise. ‘The doctor they used, Doctor Patel,’ she said, ‘he won’t speak to us now. Do you know of any other doctor who might be involved?’
Suzy shook her head.
‘What about how the women are being brought into the country? Do you know anything …’
‘We’re not getting into that,’ Danny cut in. ‘We’ll help you find the women that are here, but no more. That was what we agreed. Now, is that your phone ringing, or did you do a spot of shopping at Al’s before you came into the club?’
Sherry looked down at her bag which was trembling on the ground. Quickly taking out the phone she checked to see who it was, then said, ‘Excuse me. I need to take this,’ and getting up she walked over to the window and clicked on. ‘Hi,’ she said softly into the mouthpiece.
‘Hi yourself. How’s the ménage going?’
‘Fine. Pretty good, actually. But can I call you back? I’m still in the middle of things.’
‘Oh?’ Nick responded. ‘Can’t wait to hear. What time will you be done?’
‘Half an hour.’
‘I’m off the hook tonight. Can I come over?’
‘I’d love that. If you’re there before me, talk to the porter, he’ll let you in.’
As she rang off, she returned to her chair, ready to pick up where they’d left off, but to her dismay Suzy said, ‘I have to get back now. Have you got my money, for tonight?’
Sherry took out her purse. ‘Three hundred, is that right?’ she said.
‘Four.’
Sherry’s eyes came up. ‘I thought we agreed three.’
‘It’s just gone up.’
Fortunately she could cover it, but as she handed the money over Sherry said, ‘Please don’t spring an increase on me again like this. I might not have it the next time.’
‘You want the information, you do it my way,’ Suzy responded tartly.
‘OK. So how do I contact you?’
‘You don’t. Danny will. Stay away from the club now. If anyone sees you again they might get suspicious.’
Happy to go along with that, Sherry downed the rest of her drink and went ahead of them out of the flat. They were riding down in the lift when Suzy looked her straight in the eye and said, ‘Do you really not know what you’re dealing with here?’
Sherry countered with, ‘Why don’t you tell me?’
Suzy’s eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t know, do you?’ she said.
‘I’m asking you to tell me.’
Suzy shot a glance at Danny, then to Sherry she said, ‘If you don’t know now, you’re gonna, and when you do, you’re gonna wish you never got started. That’s my prediction for you, and if I’m wrong, you come and see me – if you can – and I’ll give you back every penny you’ve ever paid me, and double it.’
Later, as she recounted it all to Nick, it was the ‘if you can’ that kept ringing in Sherry’s ears.
Neela didn’t know where she was going. The streets were dark, the noises and traffic were different from those she was used to. Some people were dressed the same, but not many. A few lay on the pavements or in doorways, huddled in blankets and papers, the way she had back in her own country. They seemed to be sleeping, but one or two cupped their hands hoping for bread or coins. Her thoughts made pictures in her head of the Tughlak Fort where she’d begged with her mother, gazing up at tourists as they came and went. She’d point to her mouth and sometimes someone would toss a coin. Hundreds and thousands of people, bicycles, cars, animals, teemed around the streets. The noise never stopped. Hooting, shouting, barking, screaming, bells, whistles, engines, wheels. It wasn’t like that here. There was no music wailing out of the windows, no smells to torment her stomach. There was only the fear
that was bigger than the whole of the Tughlak Fort, and twice as deep as the Tapti River.
All kinds of buildings sped past in a blur. Through the tiny gap in the shawl she’d wrapped around her face she tried to read the signs, but nothing made sense and she was too afraid to try any more.
The driver didn’t speak to her, but he knew her language. He kept his eyes on the road. She sat in the back, wrapped in her sari, a small, frightened figure, in the midst of an evil world. Silently, desperately, she muttered prayers to Ambamata.
Ekta had said they wanted a virgin and Neela was a virgin. This was her chance and Ekta had sworn to take care of Shaila while she was gone. No-one would take her, Ekta had promised. She would be safe.
Neela hated the place where they were kept like prisoners, but she wanted to be there now. She wanted to be safe on her mattress next to Ekta, holding onto Shaila. Someone was going to do bad things to her. They were going to hurt her and then she would need a doctor. Laurie Forbes knew the doctor, so Neela was praying hard to Ambamata to come in the form of Laurie Forbes to save them, because someone had said that men were going to make a film of them being hurt. And others said they would make a film of them being hurt until they were dead.
Chapter Sixteen
‘WELL, THIS IS a surprise,’ Sherry commented, as she walked into the Grapes to find Nick sitting at a table with Laurie and Rhona.
‘It was supposed to be,’ he told her, getting up. ‘I had a meeting over this way, so I thought I’d drop by the office to see if you were free for lunch. Didn’t you say you were going to be there this morning?’ he added, after kissing her.
‘I did, but something came up.’ She took the chair he was holding for her, raising her eyebrows as Rhona mouthed, ‘He’s gorgeous. Give him to me.’
‘I’ll get you a drink,’ he said. ‘What’ll you have?’
Looking at Rhona’s and Laurie’s glasses, she said, ‘Are we celebrating something?’
‘Rhona’s return!’ Laurie declared. ‘That’s what we’re celebrating.’
Raising an eyebrow, Sherry said, ‘Then a glass of champagne for me too.’
As Nick went off to the bar she turned back to Laurie. ‘How long have you all been here? I thought we weren’t meeting till one.’
‘We weren’t,’ Laurie confirmed, ‘but when Nick came into the office looking for you, I thought rather than hang around there, we might as well come here. So I got on the phone to Rhona, and she came too.’
Sherry was still smiling. ‘I didn’t realize you were going into the office this morning,’ she said.
‘No, nor did I, until Rhona brought me breakfast in bed and I realized I couldn’t go on indulging in the high life like this. It’s time I started pulling my weight and got back to work. I don’t think I’ve actually achieved much, yet, but I will. Oops,’ she laughed as she hiccuped.
Sherry cast a glance at Rhona, whose expression appeared deliberately neutral. ‘So how is it, being back at Butler’s Wharf?’ she asked Laurie.
‘Only bearable because Rhona’s staying with me,’ she confessed. ‘But let’s not dwell on that. Tell me how you got on with the Immigration Crime Team this morning. That is – hiccup – who you were seeing, isn’t it?’
‘Not the whole team,’ Sherry answered. ‘How many of those have you had?’
Laurie grinned. ‘This is my second, and I haven’t eaten so it’s going straight to my head. There’s an email from Rose, by the way. Have you seen it? Apparently she’s actually got two oily creeps, as she calls them – agents for the buying and selling of young females for “Western clients” – to appear on camera. Shadowed, so they can’t be recognized, of course, but it’s quite a coup, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I certainly would,’ Sherry agreed, smiling up at Nick as he passed her drink. ‘Has she managed to come up with any links to our women, by any chance?’
‘Not directly, but the important thing is to show how it’s done that end, then what happens to the women when they get here, which we can only do if we find them. Linking it all together will be up to the police.’
Though she didn’t show it Sherry was surprised, for it wasn’t like Laurie to stop before uncovering the entire operation, and it wasn’t her, Sherry’s, intention now. However, since Laurie was obviously still distracted by the other events in her life, Sherry merely raised her glass and clinked it against those of the others. ‘Welcome home,’ she said to Rhona.
‘Thank you,’ Rhona responded. ‘Now let’s choose something to eat, or you’re going to be under the table.’
Sherry turned to Nick as he pulled a chair up next to her. ‘So who was your meeting with?’ she asked quietly.
His eyes immediately lit up. ‘John Burke-Godfrey at the Independent,’ he answered. ‘Would you believe, he wants to put me on staff.’
‘He’d be lucky to get you,’ she responded. ‘But I thought you wanted to go freelance once you moved here.’
‘I do. And I probably will, but it’s a bit of a boost for the old ego. I might even take him up on it, just until I get settled.’
‘Then here’s to you too,’ she said, clinking his glass. ‘Welcome back to Blighty. I always did say John Burke-Godfrey was an editor of extreme good sense and impeccable taste.’
‘Elliot really rates him too,’ Laurie joined in. ‘Actually, he and his wife were coming to the wedding, which reminds me, my mother’s sent out the cancellation notices now, so you should be getting yours any day.’
Sherry’s heart stirred with pity, for despite the effort Laurie was making to hide it, it had to have been hard for her to sound that casual.
‘We’ve been trying to think of something to do on what would have been the big day,’ Rhona told Sherry.
‘We should just get drunk,’ Laurie declared. ‘In fact, as it’s only two weeks away we could start now and just keep going.’
‘No, we should go somewhere,’ Rhona insisted. ‘The villa’s still free on Hydra.’
‘But you’ve only just come back.’
‘So? I can go again.’
‘We could go to Bali,’ Laurie interrupted. ‘I happen to know of a wonderful resort there, and I do believe they’ve got a vacancy around that time.’
‘Are you talking about one of the Amman Resorts?’ Nick said. ‘If you are, then I’ve got to tell you, the Ammanpula is one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever been. Put it top of your list if you’re looking for luxury, peace, everything on tap. The suites have even got their own private pools …’
‘She knows,’ Sherry said quietly. ‘It’s where they were going on honeymoon.’
Nick’s eyes closed. ‘Oh God, I’m sorry,’ he murmured.
‘No, I’m the one who should be sorry,’ Laurie insisted. ‘You weren’t to know, and I walked you right into it. Please, don’t think any more of it.’ She attempted a smile.
‘I’m voting for Hydra,’ Rhona declared, before an awkward silence had a chance to descend.
‘I’ll second it,’ Sherry responded.
‘What about Tuscany?’ Laurie said.
Rhona threw her a look.
‘I had a call from Rachel last night,’ Laurie said, turning to Sherry. ‘Apparently they’re all there now. Chris and Rachel. Elliot and Andraya. Their names ring well together, don’t you think? Elliot and Andraya. Yes, it definitely sounds right. And they’d look right together too, wouldn’t they? She’s about as tall as he is. In fact, I can just see them, strolling hand in hand through the vineyards, dining in out-of-the-way cafés, sharing a magnificent bedroom in Eduardo’s magnificent villa …’
‘Laurie, don’t,’ Rhona cut in. ‘You’re just tormenting yourself and embarrassing Nick.’
‘Oh don’t mind me,’ he came in quickly, before realizing it wasn’t quite what he should have come in with.
‘Sorry again,’ Laurie said, looking at him. ‘I’m making a bit of a fool of myself today, aren’t I?’
‘Not at all,’ he assured her.
&nbs
p; ‘Why did Rachel call?’ Sherry asked, curious because Rachel surely knew that any call from her right now would be extremely hard for Laurie to take.
‘Actually, she was calling me back,’ Laurie confessed. ‘I needed to know if he really had gone. And he has.’ She swallowed some champagne. ‘Apparently he asked Rachel how I was. I’d have thought he’d be too busy shagging his Brazilian bimbo to think about me, wouldn’t you?’
Sherry glanced at Nick as he said, ‘I don’t want to get into defending him, but I’m sure he’s not feeling too good about what’s happened.’
‘Well that’s a relief,’ Laurie retorted harshly, ‘because I hope he isn’t. I know I’m not. In fact, there should be surgery for this, some way of cutting him out of my life as though he’d never been in it.’
‘Now there’s an idea,’ Rhona responded. ‘Why on earth didn’t God think of it, pack it all into one removable little spot in the body, like the appendix, instead of right in the middle of the one organ we can’t live without.’
‘Muscle,’ Laurie corrected. ‘The heart’s a muscle.’
‘Whatever. Now come on, let’s decide what we’re going to eat,’ Rhona urged.
After jotting their orders down on a page from Sherry’s notebook Nick went off to the bar, while Laurie, still appearing slightly befuddled, tried to focus her mind on anything that wasn’t to do with Elliot.
Sensing her need for distraction, Sherry began telling her about her visit to the police that morning. ‘If they know anything specific about Eddie Cribbs, or our women, they’re not letting on,’ she said. ‘The most I could get out of them was an acknowledgement that there are thousands of illegal immigrants in this country, and that they’re aware some are forced into prostitution, but that’s Vice and they’re Immigration. So my next stop is Vice.’
‘What about the stripper, Suzy?’ Laurie asked. ‘Any news from her yet?’
‘No. I’ve got a feeling she might be having second thoughts, actually. In fact they both might be her and Danny, because he’s not returning my calls and I’ve left three messages in the past two days. He’s spoken to Barry though, who still seems confident they’ll come up with the goods. I just hope we find out soon where those women are, because I’ve had a really bad feeling about it since Suzy wouldn’t tell me what happened to the Eastern Europeans.’