“Sir, she knew what she was doing when she gave the info. It’s not your fault if–”
“It may not be my fault, CC, but I am responsible.”
“We don’t know yet that it was definitely Bekim and Edar.”
“I’d put my pension on it, but I’ve brought the identikit images with me, just to make certain that’s who it was. Come on; let’s see what we can find out.”
They entered the shelter and the overpowering smell of unwashed bodies, stale urine and boiled vegetables hit them like a solid wall. Paolo, at least, had been expecting it, but he heard CC gag and realised she’d been taken by surprise.
“Try not to breathe too deeply,” he said. “You’ll soon adjust.”
They’d only taken a few steps when a tall man came rushing towards them. He was so thin Paolo was amazed he could remain upright. The clothes hanging from his frame looked as if they’d been bought for someone three times as bulky.
“I’m John,” the man said. “I know it’s cold, but can we talk outside?”
Paolo caught the look of relief on CC’s face and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
They went out and stood next to the wall where Paolo had chatted with Michelle a few weeks earlier. On that day it had been warm enough to pretend summer hadn’t left. This afternoon, a raw November wind whipped round corners and bit through clothing, regardless of how many layers a body was wrapped up in. Even so, CC looked much happier out here in the cold than back in the warmth of the shelter.
“I’ve been calling her mobile,” John said, “but no one is answering. It goes straight to voicemail. I know she had it with her when the men came.”
“Can you tell us what happened?” Paolo asked.
“Michelle had come out on a smoke break. I realised we would need more bread rolls for this evening and came out to ask her to chat up her contact in the local bakery. They give more generously to her than to anyone else. If I go I’ll end up with half of what she manages.” He stopped. “Sorry, none of that’s important.”
His voice quivered and Paolo realised John wasn’t just upset at losing a valuable team member.
“You care for her, don’t you?” he asked.
John nodded. “She was, is, such a brilliant person. Funny and very, very intelligent. We were, you know, sort of getting to know each other.”
Paolo nodded. “I liked her. She’d found a way out of the life on the streets. Tell me what you saw.”
“I’d just opened the door to come out when a black car pulled up. I think it was a BMW, but I’m not good with cars, so it might not have been. Two men jumped out and grabbed Michelle. One got in the back with her and the other drove off. I ran after the car, but it went screaming down the road like it was jet fuelled.”
“Did you get the registration number?”
“That’s what really frightened me. It didn’t have any plates. It was almost as if they knew they might be seen. Michelle had told me, if anything happened to her to call you. That you’d know what to do.”
Paolo felt as if a fist of stone had punched him in the gut. More proof that Michelle had trusted him to make sure she stayed safe.
“Did you get a good look at the men?” he asked.
John nodded. “Enough to know I’d recognise them again if I saw them.”
Paolo pulled out the images of Bekim and Edar. “Are these the men?”
John’s face lit up. “Yes! That’s great. If you know who’s taken her you can get her back, right?”
The stone fist punched harder. “I’m afraid it’s not that easy, John. We know who they are, but not where to find them.” He put his hand on John’s arm. “I promise I’ll do everything possible to make sure no harm comes to her.”
But even as he said the words, he knew they meant nothing. If Bekim and Edar had taken Michelle there wasn’t much hope of seeing her again. Not alive, anyway.
They arrived back at the station to find Dave and George in the middle of a yelling competition. Paolo took one look and exploded.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he yelled.
The room went quiet. Dave turned to Paolo, his face ashen.
“Sorry, sir, things got a bit out of hand.”
Paolo forced himself to calm down, but it was hard. Already upset over Michelle’s disappearance, his anger was close to erupting. Taking a deep breath, he hissed a command.
“I can see that. I want both of you in my office.”
George opened his mouth to speak, but Paolo cut him off.
“Now!”
He strode to his office, not looking to see if Dave and George were behind him. He’d have them hung by their toes if they weren’t. Only when he’d moved round to sit behind his desk did he look up. Dave shut the door and turned round. He kept his eyes down, almost as if he couldn’t bear to face Paolo. George, though, glared as if the debacle in the main office was nothing to do with him and he couldn’t understand why he’d been called in like a naughty schoolboy.
“Sit down,” Paolo said.
“I’d rather stand, if it’s all the same to you, sir,” George said.
“No, it bloody well isn’t. Sit down!”
George sat, pointedly taking his time. Paolo had to clench his hands together under the desk to stop himself from throwing something at him.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when I came in. You two yelling at each other like kids in a playground. What the hell was that all about?”
Dave finally looked up. “Sorry, sir.”
“I didn’t ask for apologies. I asked what was going on. George, would you like to start?”
George shrugged. “Why not ask your golden boy what he told me to do.”
Dave turned in his chair. “I didn’t tell you to do anything. I asked you.”
“Same thing,” George said. “You didn’t waste time before throwing your weight around.”
Paolo banged his desk. “That’s enough. Dave, I’ll hear your version of what happened and then, George, I’d like to hear yours, minus the stupid remarks. Just what actually was said and done. Go on, Dave, I’m listening.”
“I filled everyone in on what we’d discovered about the possible delivery of people in the truck arriving in Hull on the 15th. Then I looked at the information CC gave me just before she went out with you. I handed out tasks as I thought you would have allocated them.”
George snorted. “Suck up. But you’re right. I’d have got the crap jobs whoever handed them out.”
“Bloody hell, George, what is your problem?” Dave asked. “You’ve been as miserable as sin for months.”
“What’s wrong with me has fuck all to do with you.”
Paolo again banged his hand on the desk. “That’s enough. What did Dave ask you to do that you feel was beneath your capabilities?”
George scowled. “I offered to go to Hull to liaise with the officers there, but apparently that’s out of my league. You and the Chief’s special nephew here will be going on that trip.”
Realisation hit Paolo with the force of a lightning strike. “When did you discover Dave was the Chief Constable’s nephew?”
George shrugged. “I can’t remember when exactly, but when I saw the preferential treatment you were giving him, I did a bit of digging. That’s like being a detective, sir.”
Paolo looked across at Dave. “Go back to the other office. George and I have things to sort out.”
Dave stood up. “I really am sorry, sir.”
Paolo nodded. “We’ll discuss it later.”
As Dave closed the door behind him, Paolo sighed. “You’re wrong if you think I’m giving him preferential treatment, George. I came down harder on him than on any of you when he first arrived, purely and simply because I didn’t want someone foisted on my team who wouldn’t pull his weight. I, too, thought his being the chief’s nephew would mean he’d expect the easy path to promotion, but he isn’t like that and you know it.”
George laughed. “I don’t know
anything of the sort. Between him and CC they get all the cushy jobs and I get the shit that’s left over.”
“That isn’t the case at all.”
“Isn’t it? I never go out with you on interviews. I’m usually stuck here in the office doing the donkey work so that you and your pets can go off and be the glory boys. Even when I spent the best part of a bloody day following those two pimps, I wasn’t allowed to take them in. Oh no, that had to be down to you and wonderboy.”
“Firstly, Dave didn’t sit in on those interviews.”
“No, your other pet did that!”
“And secondly,” Paolo continued, “I have used your talents to the full. Like it or not, you are the absolute best in this station at ferreting out information. I don’t know how you do it, but you come up with the goods every time I ask you to. That’s why you tend to get used more here than out on the streets. It certainly isn’t because I don’t value you.”
Paolo waited, but George looked down at his hands and kept quiet.
“Would you like me to put in a transfer request on your behalf? I could have you moved to another region. I don’t want to lose you, but I also can’t have the undercurrents you’ve added to the team recently.”
He waited for a response. Finally, after what felt like an hour, George looked up.
“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what’s got into me recently. I’ve never minded being the backroom boy. I know I’m good at that, but seeing CC and Dave always out and about…I dunno, it made me feel as if you didn’t even see me at times.”
Paolo smiled. “Now it’s my turn to apologise, if that’s how I’ve made you feel. I can assure I’m very well aware of your contribution into every investigation. I’ll try to make sure you aren’t stuck in the office all the time, but honestly, George, you are the best information gatherer we have, so you’ll have to bear with me until I can find someone who is in your league.”
Paolo stood up and walked around to stand next to George.
“I really do value your contribution to the team. We wouldn’t function anywhere near as well without your talents. Don’t ever think differently.”
He held out his hand. George stood and shook it.
Paolo smiled. “Let’s get back to work. But, before you go, have you told anyone else about Dave’s relationship to the Chief?”
George shook his head. “I almost blurted it out when we were having our slanging match, but you arrived back in time to stop me.”
“Good. Keep it to yourself. You won’t be the only one who imagines Dave’s getting preferential treatment if the word gets out.”
He looked surprised. “So even CC doesn’t know?”
“There are only three people on my team who do and that’s me, you and Dave. I’d like to keep it that way, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
Paolo waited until he’d gone and then let out an enormous sigh. Sometimes he thought looking after a bunch of three-year-olds after an all-day sugar feast might be easier.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
15th November (night - Hull)
From the moment they’d crossed the Humber Bridge, Paolo began to worry about Dave. It was almost as if he’d retreated into a world Paolo couldn’t enter. He’d barely spoken for the past hour. That alone was unusual for him, but when Paolo had asked him about his plans for the weekend with Rebecca, he’d clammed up completely. All wasn’t well in that relationship, but Paolo couldn’t figure out what. Dave and Rebecca were crazy about each other, so there probably wasn’t anyone else involved.
His thoughts were interrupted by the Satnav telling them to turn left, following the signs for King George Dock & Ferries.
“It’ll be strange, sir, you not being in charge.”
Paolo shrugged. “I knew that would be the case as soon as we passed the information along. It’s decent of them to invite us up here to join them.”
“What will happen, though, after tonight? Do we get the bastards or does Hull hang on to them?”
Again, there was something in Dave’s voice that made Paolo wonder why he was taking it so personally. In a way, he was almost relieved Dave wouldn’t be interviewing anyone up here.
“Let’s wait and see what we find on the lorry. We’ll work with Hull on this one. I just want to find out who is bringing in the kids to Bradchester and shut the bastard down. Let Hull have the mules, I want the mule driver.”
And find whoever ordered Bekim and Edar to pick up Michelle, Paolo thought. Two weeks and not a sign of her. Part of Paolo’s brain knew she was probably dead, but the rest of him refused to give up looking until someone found her body. Maybe he was wrong and they were just keeping her prisoner somewhere. Yeah, right. Fat chance of that. The best case scenario was that they’d forced her back onto the streets, in which case, she’d turn up somewhere. Paolo never thought he’d be praying a woman had been forced back into prostitution, but that was preferable to her being killed, or even tortured, to find out what she’d told him.
They reached the ferry terminal and Paolo was relieved when Dave’s voice broke in on his uncomfortable thoughts.
“Well, that was a doddle to find, sir. Let’s hope our hotel is just as easy,” he said as he pulled the car over to the side of the road.
Paolo stretched his legs out as far as they could go within the confines of the car. “Yes, a good night’s sleep and we’ll be ready to meet up with our Hull colleagues bright and early tomorrow. We need to be at the station by six. Apparently the ferries here are always on time, so at eight tomorrow we’ll be waiting for the doors to open and the lorry to roll off.”
“I’m Detective Chief Inspector Collins.”
Paolo held back a yawn as he shook hands and introduced himself and Dave. Maybe Dave’s snoring was the reason he and Rebecca weren’t quite as close as they seemed. Paolo felt as if he’d only just dropped off when the alarm sounded at five.
Collins let go of Paolo’s hand and smiled. “Good to meet you. Thank you for the tip off. We’ve been convinced for a while now that some of the trucks are bringing in illegals from all over Eastern Europe. We’ve had an influx of them over the past couple of years, but haven’t had much joy catching anyone with bodies on board. Yours is the first solid lead we’ve had.”
Paolo nodded. “You’re looking for adults; we think the truck is bringing in kids for the sex trade. Let’s hope one of us gets lucky. Our source said men, but we’re hoping that wasn’t correct. Other than that, the person was pretty sure of the facts, but we’ve no idea if anything was changed without the informant knowing.”
Collins smiled. “Let’s go and find out which one of us is going to hit the jackpot, shall we?”
“I’m glad we’re not outside in this, sir,” Dave said as snow flurries drifted past the windscreen.
“From the point of view of not freezing to death, I agree with you, but I’d really like to be in on the action when the truck arrives. Speaking of which, look!”
Paolo pointed to the ferry where a lorry was being forced out of the queue by unmarked police cars that had been parked nearby.
“Come on, Dave, time to play follow the leader.”
They drove behind the convoy to a hangar. Once they were inside, officers moved to close and bar the doors. Anyone inside would be staying there until the doors opened again. Dave parked over to the side of the hangar.
As they got out of the car, Paolo nodded towards the truck’s Albania/UK/Albania sign emblazoned on the side.
“They made it nice and easy to pick them out of the queue. Let’s go and watch the thing being taken apart. God, I hope this proves Jetmir Redzepi is involved. We need a break on this case.”
Two hours later the truck had been unloaded of its cargo and only the shell remained. Paolo and Dave watched as a team of men demolished the interior panel by panel. They’d covered about three-quarters of the panels when a shout went up.
The adrenaline shot through Paolo, making his head throb. At last. If there were kids in th
ere, they’d be terrified. Paolo knew Collins had an interpreter on hand, but he wished he’d brought along Gazmend’s replacement. Ejona was really making progress with the girls in care. They were finally opening up to her.
Another panel came free.
“We’ve got people in here,” one of the officers inside the truck called out. “Some of them look in a bad way. Bring the medics.”
Dear God, those poor children, Paolo thought, but the first person helped off the truck wasn’t a child. Neither was the next, nor the next. A steady stream of grown men appeared. Paolo moved over to where Collins was directing operations.
“Seems my informant was right, in more ways than one,” Paolo said.
“How do you mean?”
“Men and not kids. I’m pleased you’ve got what you wanted, but unless Redzepi is also shipping kids in, it doesn’t take me any further forward. Time for me to go and find out if he’s the villain I’m looking for. You’ll keep me informed of whatever you uncover up here?”
“Yes, of course. You’ll do the same with regards the owner of this outfit?”
Paolo nodded.
Collins held out his hand. “Good luck and thanks once again for the tip-off.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
18th November (morning/afternoon)
Paolo felt like smashing his head against the wall in frustration. Every time it seemed as if they’d come close to a breakthrough, the door shut faster than he could force a foot across the threshold.
Redzepi was in custody, but they wouldn’t be able to hold him for much longer unless something concrete came up proving he knew about his brother-in-law’s illegal activities. So far both men were sticking to the same story. Sam Bristol was taking full responsibility for bringing in the illegals and saying his wife’s brother knew nothing about it. Redzepi was claiming shock and outrage to think his brother-in-law would do such a thing. Paolo knew they were lying and so did Collins in Hull, but unless Angela was prepared to stand up and say so, they couldn’t prove Redzepi’s involvement. Paolo just had to hope the books they’d confiscated would unearth something he could use.
Someday Never Comes (#2 - D.I. Paolo Storey Crime Series) Page 20