‘I’ve already seconded a detective sergeant from Maidstone police station to work on this case with me.’
‘Oh. Who?’
‘Jake O’Reilly.’
Kay managed to bite back the surprised outburst that threatened to escape her lips.
O’Reilly had a tenuous record at best when it came to his workload, and she reminded herself the DS still hadn’t found out who had attacked Gavin Piper in the spring, leaving the younger detective in hospital with broken ribs.
She hadn’t broached the subject before, reluctant because she blamed herself for the attack on Gavin. She had long suspected it had been a warning to her to drop her own enquiries into Demiri’s business, and she had no wish to endanger her colleagues further.
She dug her nails into her palms.
‘Kay’s got a point,’ said Sharp. ‘My team has a better knowledge of the immediate vicinity and Demiri’s known locations. We’ve already interviewed him in relation to the body of the woman found in a vehicle involved in an accident three nights ago, and we’re waiting to interview the driver. We’ve got the manpower you’re going to need and we’re already mobilised.’
‘I can work alongside O’Reilly to bring him up to speed with our investigation to date,’ Kay added.
Harrison smirked. ‘I don’t think that’s necessary, Hunter.’
‘Why not? I’ve worked with the Major Crimes Unit for five years. I’ve been seconded to SOCU before, and I’ve undergone adequate training. I’m more than capable. Besides, you could say I’ve got a vested interest in how this all turns out, haven’t I, guv?’
‘I’m not sure what the Chief Super will have to say about this.’
Kay smiled, and folded her arms. ‘Well, we could wait until she comes back and ask her?’
‘Or you could phone her,’ said Sharp. ‘She seemed to know where to find you at a moment’s notice, so I’m presuming you have her mobile number?’
Harrison’s eyes narrowed, and he stalked towards the door. ‘Wait here.’
Sharp leaned forward and lowered his voice as the door closed quietly behind the DCI. ‘You don’t have to do this, Kay. You know how dangerous Demiri is.’ He held up a hand to silence her. ‘I’m not denying your capabilities. I am questioning the sense in having you so close to someone who’s already proved he’s not above breaking into your house and possibly attacking your colleague in an attempt to stop you pursuing him.’
‘I want this,’ said Kay. ‘For my daughter, and everything else. I want justice.’
She turned her attention at a polite cough from Harrison, who stood in the doorway.
He raised an eyebrow at her and Sharp, then his lips thinned into a brief semblance of a smile.
‘I can’t say I’m entirely surprised by your demands, Hunter. I always did get the impression you were obsessive in your pursuit of Demiri.’
Kay swallowed, but remained silent as he turned his attention to Sharp.
‘Your team can remain on the investigation into the woman’s death,’ he said. ‘And, you’ll be seconded to me until we see Demiri charged.’
‘Thank you,’ Kay breathed.
Harrison’s top lip curled. ‘There won’t be another chance if you change your mind, Hunter. We’re going after him. Now.’
Chapter Twenty
‘Are you going to tell us who the man in the hospital is?’
Simon Harrison folded his arms across his chest. ‘Daniel Stokes is the name Demiri knows him by.’
‘What do you mean?’
The man sighed, and contemplated his fingernails. ‘I suppose it doesn’t matter now if you know his name. He won’t be working undercover anymore, and we’re probably going to have to construct a new identity for him after this latest debacle. His real name is Gareth Jenkins. He’s a detective sergeant who’s been working undercover in Demiri’s organisation for the past two years. A highly valuable asset, too it must be said.’
‘Who’s the dead girl? Do you know?’ asked Sharp.
‘Gareth would have to confirm, but I strongly suspect from looking at the photographs it’s an illegal entrant from Romania called Katya.’
‘It’s not an “it”, it’s “she”,’ said Kay. ‘How do you know her name?’
‘We’ve been monitoring Demiri, as I said, for two years now. When we started the operation, we believed him to be responsible for a large amount of drugs being smuggled into the country via the south Kent coastline. Gareth’s remit was to get himself positioned within Demiri’s business and gain access to information about how the drugs were being imported, and by whom.’
Kay frowned. ‘The truck we found the gun in?’
Harrison nodded. ‘That was one way – the trucks were brought in by ferry rather than through the Channel Tunnel. The ferry traffic is harder to control – understaffing and the like means we can only carry out spot checks most of the time, unless we’ve received a tip-off. The Tunnel’s sexier to terrorists, so that’s where most of our resources are placed. The truck you’re referring to was impounded after your investigation was concluded—’
Kay glared at him. ‘It wasn’t concluded. I was set up.’
He held up a hand. ‘I’m sorry. If I could continue? Once we had the truck, we sent our own crime scene investigators back over it. Yours had done a fantastic job, but their focus was on linking Demiri to the gun and any drug residue. We were looking for something else.’
‘What?’
‘Evidence to show that Jozef Demiri is running a successful business in people trafficking. More specifically, slavery and prostitution.’
‘Did they find anything?’ asked Sharp.
‘Oh, yes. Hair, traces of blood, faeces, you name it – only in minute quantities though.’ He shook his head. ‘It took an age. I’ll be honest, we thought he was going to get away with it at one point. Gareth had warned us Demiri always insisted on each vehicle being thoroughly cleaned after each shipment.’
Kay exhaled and pushed herself out of her chair to walk over to the window.
To hear Harrison talk about Demiri’s victims so dispassionately sent a shiver down her neck, and she crossed her arms before turning her back onto the sunshine streaming through the blinds.
‘What happened to Katya?’
A look of distress stole across Harrison’s features, and he cleared his throat before speaking.
‘We always warn them,’ he said. ‘Our officers, I mean. Not to get involved. They can’t risk having ties with anyone, doing that sort of work. It’s why we approached Gareth. He has no parents, no siblings, no wife or girlfriend to worry about or who Demiri could use if his cover was blown. We always tell them not to get married or have a serious relationship.’ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly looking weary. ‘It never ends well. Unfortunately, Gareth seems to have fallen for Katya, and told us at our last debrief that he meant to get her away from Demiri. Told us she knew things that would help us put Demiri away for life.’
‘What sort of things?’ said Kay.
‘We don’t know. She refused to tell him until we guaranteed her safety. She was terrified of Demiri, and wouldn’t speak until we undertook to get her out of there.’
‘What went wrong?’ said Sharp.
Harrison shrugged. ‘We think Demiri found out about them.’
‘You think?’ said Kay. She strode across the room, snatched up the cardboard folder Greensmith had placed in her correspondence tray, and pulled out the photograph of Katya’s body in the back of the car before waving it under Harrison’s nose. ‘Seems to me he did find out.’
Colour rose on Harrison’s face. ‘She must’ve said something to someone.’
‘Or they were both under surveillance,’ said Sharp. ‘Demiri knew what Gareth was up to and used her to send you a message.’
‘When did you find out about Gareth’s accident?’ said Kay.
‘He didn’t contact me at his scheduled time four nights ago.’
‘And yet, it’s taken you until now
to inform us,’ said Sharp through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing.
Kay looked to Sharp, then back to Harrison. ‘We need to talk with him as soon as he’s awake.’
‘I seem to be able to pre-empt your demands with uncanny accuracy,’ said Harrison. ‘Gareth woke up three hours ago. You’re scheduled to meet with him the moment we’re finished here.’
‘Well, what the hell are we waiting for?’
Chapter Twenty-One
Kay wasn’t surprised when Harrison insisted on driving, but she was taken aback when their vehicle shot past the junction for Barming and kept going.
Sharp had requisitioned the front passenger seat, so she had to lean forward from her position behind Harrison.
‘Where are we going? I thought Jenkins was at Maidstone Hospital?’
His eyes flickered to the rear-view mirror, then back to the road. ‘We had him moved under sedation last night. I insisted on an embargo on the news until we’d had a chance to speak.’
‘Why?’
‘Maidstone’s too big. Too easy for Demiri to cause a distraction and get to Gareth. We’ve had him moved to a small private hospital outside Tunbridge Wells.’
‘Are they equipped to look after him?’ said Sharp.
‘Yeah. State of the art emergency facilities and intensive care unit. He’s in the best hands the taxpayer could afford, in the circumstances.’
‘Does he know about Katya?’
‘He was informed when he regained consciousness, yes.’
Kay leaned back in her seat and stared out the window as the countryside flew past and sighed.
Sharp glanced over his shoulder. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah.’
The rest of the journey was completed in silence, only broken by Harrison announcing their arrival near the private hospital as he indicated off a roundabout and joined a bypass on the outskirts of the spa town.
Five minutes later, they were striding across a car park past ornamental landscaping, and then down the side of the three-storey modern building.
Two security guards stood next to a rear fire exit, and straightened as Harrison approached.
He pulled out his warrant card and turned back to Kay and Sharp as one of the guards brought his radio to his lips.
‘I meant what I said. We’re not taking any chances. No-one knows he’s here except us. These people don’t know who they’re guarding.’
‘Where’d you find them?’ said Kay.
‘They’re serving officers in our Tactical Response Unit,’ said Harrison. ‘There are four more of them inside the building, two of whom are inside Gareth’s room.’
As the guard finished talking and cleared his throat, Kay met Sharp’s eyes.
Suddenly, everything Harrison had told her about Demiri’s business and his determination to remain above the law seemed very, very real.
‘This way,’ barked Harrison.
Sharp held the door open for her, then followed as they made their way along a narrow corridor and up a flight of stairs.
Despite the sweeping smoked glass along the front of the medical facility, the rear of the building was featureless and functional and Kay noted signs pointing to administration offices and storerooms as she kept up with Harrison.
They turned a corner, and Kay peered around Harrison to see two more armed guards halfway along the next corridor.
One of them pivoted to face them as they neared, and Kay shuffled from foot to foot as their identification was checked once more.
Finally, the guard waved them past and pointed to a door on the left.
‘Thanks,’ said Harrison.
He pushed open the door and beckoned to them to follow.
As Kay passed him and into the room, she took a sharp intake of breath.
A man lay on a single bed to the left-hand side of the door, a series of tubes and wires protruding from under the blankets as machines next to the bed beeped and whirred.
Two armed guards stood to the right of the room, and Harrison waved them outside.
‘Stay by the door, though.’
The taller of the two nodded, and pulled the door shut behind them.
Sharp circled the end of the bed, his face impassive while Harrison approached the man in the bed.
‘Gareth? It’s Simon Harrison. We wanted a quick word.’
The man’s eyes flickered open, and his eyes swept the three faces that stared at him until his gaze found Kay.
‘So, you’re Kay Hunter, huh?’ He managed a small smile. ‘I’d say it’s nice to meet you properly at last, but—’
‘Yeah, I know. Circumstances.’ Kay shrugged. She had no time for niceties. She folded her arms across her chest. ‘What did Katya tell you about Demiri’s business that got her killed?’
Jenkins swallowed, lowered his eyes and shook his head.
Kay glanced up at Sharp, who nodded.
‘The thing is, Gareth, our pathologist tells us she wasn’t dead while she was in the boot of your car. She was just unconscious. The force of the car crash killed her. So, where were you going with her? Did you decide she’d outlived her usefulness?’
A single tear rolled down the man’s cheek.
Kay swallowed. She hated the line of questioning, but she and Sharp needed answers, and so did Harrison.
‘The bastard,’ he rasped.
He wiped at his eyes and glared at her. ‘He has another man that works closely with him – Oliver Tavender. He phoned me four days ago and told me to have the car ready at the back of his nightclub in Maidstone town centre. When I got there, he told me to stay in the car. I watched him in the mirrors. He dragged something towards the back of it, opened the boot, and then came back round to where I was sitting and told me to dump it in woodland the other side of Ryarsh.’
‘What caused the crash?’ said Sharp. ‘Early indications from the crash investigators are that there was nothing on the road to cause you to swerve. Even the truck driver that was parked on the hard shoulder said the car went out of control for no apparent reason.’
Jenkins sniffed. ‘I’d already decided earlier that night to get Katya away from Demiri. She knew stuff – way too much about his business. I knew she was in danger.’ He glanced at Harrison, his eyes contrite. ‘I know I shouldn’t have got involved, but I couldn’t help it. I knew I had to dump whatever was in the boot of the car first though, otherwise Tavender would’ve got suspicious. I was driving down the motorway, and I used my own mobile to phone Katya. I wanted to warn her, to tell her that I’d be at her place within the hour and that I’d take her away.’
‘Where to?’ asked Harrison.
‘I don’t know!’ Jenkins spat. ‘I just knew I had to get her away.’
‘What happened?’ said Kay.
‘I couldn’t get a signal to start off with, and then when the call went through, I could hear a phone ringing in the back of the car.’ He choked out a sob. ‘I knew then that he’d killed her, and that it was her body that Tavender had put in the boot. They’d found out she’d talked to me. I was in shock. I-I just remember staring at the phone, trying to process what I was hearing, and then I looked up and saw the truck on the hard shoulder. I was too close. I—’
The machine next to the bed starting beeping at an alarming rate, and Kay reached out and touched Jenkins’s shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry, Gareth. We had to know.’
He nodded, and wiped at his eyes once more.
‘What about the two women whose bodies were found near Aylesford last year?’ said Sharp. ‘Did you dump those?’
Jenkins shook his head. ‘I’ve got no idea who was responsible for them,’ he said. ‘I’m not the only one Demiri uses.’
‘What exactly did Katya tell you?’ said Kay. She gestured to Harrison. ‘Apparently, you never got to make your last report.’
Jenkins glanced across at Harrison, who nodded.
‘It’s okay, Gareth. They’re on the investigating team now. We need to pool our resources to put Demiri away once
and for all.’
‘We understand he’s involved in people smuggling,’ said Sharp.
Jenkins let out a sigh that wracked his whole body. ‘It’s worse than that. I found out from Katya what goes on at that nightclub of Demiri’s. I was meant to be meeting Harrison that night, and that’s when I was going to tell him. Demiri’s running a kill club.’
‘A what?’
‘He has a secret room there. Invitation only. There’s maybe five or six clients that are the only ones who know about it. One of them flies in from Europe especially.’
Sharp moved closer to the bed. ‘What sort of room?’
Jenkins’ face turned paler. ‘A torture chamber,’ he whispered. ‘Demiri’s clients pay to pick a girl from each new boatload that’s smuggled in. He’s making a fortune from letting them live out their sick fantasies.’
Kay gasped, bile rising in her throat.
She dug her fingers into her palms, her nails biting into the soft skin as she closed her eyes and tried to keep calm, when all she wanted to do was run out to the car and drive back to Ashford and confront Demiri.
She swallowed, then opened her eyes.
Both Sharp and Harrison wore distraught expressions, and she knew they would feel as sick as she.
‘We need to get a search warrant for that building immediately,’ said Sharp to Harrison.
‘I’ll sort it out. Can you provide additional officers?’
‘Absolutely. I’ll get onto our crime scene investigators and arrange for them to meet us there.’
‘It’ll take a while to get the paperwork done.’ Harrison checked his watch. ‘It’s too late to do anything tonight. Suggest a seven o’clock briefing tomorrow morning?’
Sharp nodded. ‘We’ll make some phone calls and make sure everyone’s on time.’ He turned to Jenkins. ‘Thank you.’
As Kay turned away from the bed, Gareth’s hand shot out and his fingers wrapped around her wrist.
‘You listen to me,’ he said, his voice fierce. ‘You get him, and you make him pay for it. All of it, do you understand?’
Kay held his gaze.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I understand.’
Hell to Pay Page 8