Life Ruins

by Danuta Kot

  Liam grinned, pleased with the effect of his needling. ‘Top marks for you, Becca. This is how it works. Worked. The caravan guy – Greaseball.’ He looked at Jared and nodded. ‘That’s cool, that.’ He grinned as if he and Jared were big mates. ‘He pays for the girls, the punters pay to come to the party. The girls get some money, he gets some money, everyone’s happy.’ As he was speaking, he wandered across the grass to where Jared had parked the motorbike. ‘Hey. Serious bike. Yours?’ He looked at Jared with something like respect.

  Becca wasn’t going to let Liam change the subject. ‘Everyone’s happy?’ she snapped. ‘You mean, you’re happy. You get the girls, you get the money.’

  Liam spoke over his shoulder as he inspected the bike. ‘Yeah. Why not? We’re in the same business, Bex. Sorry. Becca. You and me – let’s make a deal after this is done, right? I can get you more money than you ever dreamed of.’

  ‘Fuck off,’ Becca said.

  Liam laughed. ‘Haven’t got any other job though, have you Bex?’ He turned back to Jared. ‘It was Greaseball on his own at first. But then some others came in on the deal and that’s when it got, you know, heavy. When it was just Greaseball, everyone makes a bit so everyone’s happy, no one gets hurt. But now they’ve got it going up and down the coast.’

  And probably other places. Jared thought about all the half-empty caravan parks, the holiday lets standing empty through the winter. They could use hundreds of locations. ‘Pop-up brothels,’ he said, glancing at Becca.

  Liam nodded. ‘That’s right. Only – there weren’t enough girls, so they started bringing them in.’

  ‘Bringing them in?’

  Liam’s look at Jared said Duh! as clearly as if he had spoken it aloud. ‘Illegals,’ he said with exaggerated patience. ‘You know? Nothing to do with us. We got girls from the drop-in. Then Paige says it’s getting too heavy and she wants to stop. I never make her do what she doesn’t want to, right, Paige?’

  ‘Suppose.’ Paige plucked the grass at her feet, apparently bored.

  Liam’s eyes narrowed. ‘Suppose?’

  She looked at him and, briefly, fear showed on her face as she scrambled for the words. ‘I mean, yeah, I only do what, you know, I want. Get some money, whatever. Only . . .’ She looked at Liam. ‘It’s not a laugh anymore.’

  Jared caught Becca’s eye and shook his head. She looked ready to kill someone. Christ, don’t lose it now, Becca. Keeping a cautious eye on her, he said, ‘I think I get it. It was just small-time when it was Greaseball, bit of dosh, bit of a laugh, but now it’s gone big-time, right? People who can cause bad trouble. How bad? Could they get in the way of a police investigation?’

  Liam considered Jared’s question seriously. ‘Yeah. Probably. They might even be police for all I know.’ His eyes narrowed in sudden resentment. ‘It was my piece of action and they pushed me out. Thought we might be able to cut a deal with Greaseball, keep our little op to ourselves, but . . .’ Liam shrugged. ‘He’s not The Man, not now. So we’re getting out.’

  ‘So what are you doing up here?’

  Liam looked – almost – embarrassed. ‘I said. To see Greaseball. He had – business up this way. But he’s not interested. So we thought we might drop in on Bex, visit a mate, you know?’

  Becca ignored Liam’s goading. She seemed to have a grip on her anger now. ‘How did you know I was here?’

  Liam shrugged, but he spoke to Jared. ‘Word gets out. Becca’s in Whitby, Becca’s at Kettleness. Got a bit of a proposition for her. Like I said, she’s got some people seriously pissed off.’

  Becca’s eyes narrowed. ‘A proposition? How’s that supposed to work?’

  Liam grinned. ‘OK, here’s the deal. Me and Paige – we’re setting up elsewhere. Thought you might like to join us. We need a bit of – some nice girls, and you need to move on.’ He held her gaze, and for a moment, his face was serious. ‘Trust me. You do.’

  Jared stepped in before Becca could speak. He was back at the caravan site that night. He was looking down at the girl, at the bared teeth and the staring eyes, listening to the halting, agonised breath.

  Only this time, it wasn’t a stranger lying at his feet. This time, it was Becca. ‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I know what they’ve been doing! ‘

  ‘Hey, hey, hey.’ Liam held up a conciliatory hand. ‘Calm down, lover boy. That shit’s new. Nothing to do with us. When it was just your mate Greaseball, it was OK. If a girl tried anything, Greaseball got a couple of guys to, you know, nothing much, just, have a bit of a party with her, let her know who’s boss, teach her a lesson.’

  ‘So what happened. What shit?’ Jared glanced at Becca, who was about to speak. He shook his head. Keep quiet. Let him talk. We have to know.

  ‘All that shit with the knife and the –’ Liam made a graphic peeling gesture against his face – ‘All of that, it started after the new people came in.’

  The new people. Human traffickers, selling sex. Like some kind of fucking hedge fund. Jared closed his eyes. He ached for his pills, whisky, whatever it took to wipe the images away, scrub out the thoughts. ‘Why?’ he said.

  ‘Why do you think?’ Liam rubbed his thumb and forefinger together in the sign for money. ‘These new girls, they weren’t like Paige. They didn’t have someone looking out for them.’ He looked across to where Paige was sitting. ‘You want to remember that sometimes.’

  She smiled up at him. ‘I know, Lee. I’m sorry.’

  ‘I still don’t get it,’ Jared said. ‘Why would they do that?’

  ‘Well, it’s the dosh, isn’t it?’ Liam explained. ‘They pay to bring these girls over. That costs. So the girls gotta do what they’re told to pay them back, you know? When a girl gets a bit uppity, tries to get away without paying, makes trouble, they do, like, a special, the thing with the face, and they film it. There’s good money in that.’

  Jared felt sick, but he kept his face expressionless. ‘They film it?’

  ‘Yeah. It’s hardcore.’ Liam spoke as if he admired the business acumen of the men who were doing this. ‘The stuff with lots of guys. The really violent stuff, you know? Then when they’re done, one of the heavies gets a knife, and he just – it’s like skinning a cat. Loads of dosh in that. Oh, and it keeps the other girls in line.’

  Jesus. But Jared could believe it. He knew all too well the kinds of things that lurked on the dark web. ‘And then?’

  Liam looked across the empty land towards the sea. ‘Then someone gets rid of them.’

  Chapter 64

  Jared followed Liam’s gaze out across the grey, restless water. The waves showed nothing of what might lie beneath them. It was the perfect dumping ground if you chose the right time to make sure the bodies washed away, rather than drifting back up on the shore. Not so long ago, he’d stood not far from here, watching the sea surging against the Ness, the waves pounding the cliffs. You could hide a body in the mine, wait for a real high tide, then tumble it down into the water and let the sea take it. If anything did come back it would be battered beyond any possibility of recognition.

  ‘And they told you about all this?’ No way. No way they would have let a little shit like Liam in on it.

  ‘I don’t need to be told. I keep my eyes open.’

  Becca had sunk down onto the grass and was sitting with her head bowed, her hair hiding her face. Now, she looked up, looked directly at Paige. ‘Did you know?’

  ‘What’s it to you?’

  ‘It’s everything to me. Your friend. Mari. Did you know?’

  ‘No I fucking didn’t!’ Paige exploded. Suddenly, she wasn’t the withdrawn kid sitting out some dull, adult ritual, she was angry and her eyes sparkled with tears. ‘She was my mate. We were, you know, besties? The guy who runs the site, he kind of likes her.’ She looked down and started pulling up bits of grass, scattering them around. ‘Liked her. They used to do it. In his office.’

  Becca cut in. ‘That’s not liking. That’s perving.’

  �
�Yeah, well.’ Paige dismissed the distinction. ‘So sometimes he left her there and she was messing around with his laptop. And she found, you know, one of the movies. One of them that Lee said about.’

  ‘The hardcore shit,’ Liam affirmed.

  Jared didn’t want to hear any more – he wanted to stop them talking, but he had to know.

  ‘So she got scared,’ Paige continued, ‘and she told me what she saw, and she said – Mari, I mean – she said she knew someone who could do something about it. And then . . .’ She trailed off, tore up another blade of grass and threw it away.

  ‘Did she tell this person?’

  ‘I dunno. That’s what she went to do, but she didn’t come back. She was supposed to meet me at the drop-in, but she never. I told Liam—’

  Liam shook his head. ‘I was taking care of it.’

  ‘Taking care of it how?’

  Liam’s eyes narrowed. ‘Taking care of it, right?’ He looked at Paige. ‘Only she goes and shoots her mouth off – Where’s my mate? Where’s my mate? So they come to get Paige and the stupid cow only goes with them, doesn’t she? She’s lucky I was looking out for her.’

  Jared remembered the bikes flashing past him, the night of the attack. Liam, riding to the rescue. Kind of.

  ‘They let you take Paige?’

  ‘Well, good business, innit? I told them she didn’t know about, you know, the stuff. I told them I’d keep her in line, and, you know, I’d give them . . . well, doesn’t matter.’

  Liam was proud of his skill in making deals, Jared realised; that’s why he’d been talking so freely. But now, for the first time, he seemed evasive.

  ‘You’d give them what?’ Becca broke in, her voice uneven, disbelieving. ‘Another girl? Ma—’

  ‘Shut the fuck up!’ Liam’s shout was sudden and shocking as he moved sharply across to Becca. He grabbed her hair and jammed her face against his crotch. ‘Use your mouth for something useful or keep it shut.’ He shoved her away and she flung her arms out to stop herself from falling to the ground.

  ‘Get your fucking hands off her!’ Jared was beside her in a second. He crouched down next to her. ‘Are you OK?’ Her face was white and she looked sick.

  She nodded. ‘Yeah, I just . . . Fucking perve!’

  Liam seemed to hesitate, then he turned to Paige, holding out his hand. ‘Come on. We’re out of here.’ Paige scrambled to her feet. ‘We’re moving on, me and Paige, aren’t we?’

  Paige nodded. ‘Going to Leeds,’ she said.

  ‘You can’t go with him,’ Becca said. ‘You heard what he did!’

  ‘You can’t tell me what to do! Lee’s OK. He got me out of there, didn’t he? You’re just jealous because you haven’t got anything like me and Lee have.’

  ‘Yeah, right. Like I’d want that.’ Becca had found her anger again.

  Paige opened her mouth to respond, but Liam grabbed her arm and pulled her away. ‘We’re going,’ he said. He looked at Jared. ‘And you won’t be following us, right?’

  ‘Fucking right we won’t.’ Any time Jared saw Liam again would be too soon.

  Liam put his arm round Paige and she gave him a playful shove as they headed back up the path towards the car park, Terry walking behind – just kids, messing around.

  Chapter 65

  Jared put his hand on Becca’s arm. She shook him off. ‘We’ve got to stop them! He could really hurt Paige.’

  ‘Wait.’ He watched until they were out of sight. ‘Listen, that little scrote knew you were up here. Word gets out – that’s just shit. Has he ever got his hands on your phone?’

  ‘No, he – hang on. I lost it. At the drop-in. It turned up somewhere in the coffee bar. I just thought I must have, you know, put it down.’

  ‘He said he knew where you’d been but he didn’t. He said Whitby and up here. He didn’t say anything about York. He’s got some tracking on your phone.’

  Becca’s mouth fell open, then she pulled her phone out of her pocket and threw it onto the grass, wiping her hands on her trousers as if she had touched something disgusting.

  Jared picked it up.

  ‘I don’t want it,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah you do. You’re going to need it. Look, we can clean it up later. For now, just . . .’ He fiddled with the back and took the battery out. ‘Here. He can’t track you now.’

  After a moment’s hesitation, she took it gingerly and slipped it into her pocket. ‘Come on then. We’ve got to get after them.’

  Jared shook his head. ‘We can’t. Right now, it’s only us that knows what happened. That’s got to change. It’s got to be the police but we’ve got to have something to back it up.’ After what happened to her in York, he wasn’t letting the police anywhere near her, not until they had evidence no one could argue with.

  Becca nodded reluctantly. ‘I – listen. We have got something. The girl, Mari, the one who was hurt . . . there was a photo at Kay’s.’

  ‘That’s what I was trying to tell you. You know her?’

  ‘She came into the drop-in. When I first started. They called her Mari, but I think her real name’s Maireid. Kay and Matt, they fostered her, just before Matt got ill. I never met her, not then.’

  ‘But the photo’s gone.’ Jared could have taken it with him the first time he saw it. Why hadn’t he? Fucking pills had addled his brain.

  ‘I’ve got it,’ Becca said. ‘I found it on the floor. It’s in my bag.’

  He wanted to kiss her. ‘Then this is what we’re going to do. That photo – it’s not enough, but it’s something. We’re going back into the mine. This time, we’ll get some photographs and then we’ll go to the police. And we’ll tell them—’

  Jared was interrupted by two sharp reports, slightly muffled. Gunshots? Ordinarily that wouldn’t be unusual. Farmers shot rabbits all the time. But there was someone else around here with a gun, someone they really didn’t want to meet.

  ‘Come on!’ Jared said, grabbing Becca’s hand. He ran towards the cliff path, pulling Becca with him. ‘Here.’ There was a vantage point, behind a large rock, where they could watch the path to the tunnel but keep themselves concealed. The same sound echoed up the cliff a couple more times, followed by a slithering, slumping sound. A few minutes later, GBH emerged along the path leading from the cliff and the mine entrance. Jared could see no sign of a gun, but his face was grim.

  Becca’s hand tightened on his arm. GBH stood on the clifftop for a few minutes, looking back, his gaze sweeping the beach below, then he turned away and headed up the path towards the car park and the road.

  Jared waited until he was out of sight. He felt Becca start to move. ‘Not yet,’ he whispered. ‘He might come back.’ They waited ten minutes before they heard the sound of an engine.

  ‘OK,’ Jared murmured.

  They stood, sore from crouching, and made their way along the path until they were scrambling down the cliff face, Becca forging ahead, moving too fast for the terrain.

  ‘Take it easy—’ he began as she vanished from sight. Then he heard her exclamation of dismay. For a brief moment, he thought she had fallen, but it wasn’t that.

  When Jared had first seen GBH’s gun in the cave with the girls, his fear had been what might happen if bullets were fired into the unstable roof. GBH must have had the same thought.

  The arch in the cliff was collapsed. The entrance, what remained of it, was blocked with mud and shale.

  The evidence they had come back for was buried beyond retrieval.

  Chapter 66

  When Kay woke, she had no idea what time it was. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the small window of her bedroom – no, the hospital ward – then the events of the morning came flooding back. She closed her eyes and lay back, letting everything become clear in her mind. Her head felt muzzy and she was thirsty, but she didn’t feel as bad as she had when she had woken up before. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. When she stood, her legs were a bit sh
aky, but they supported her. She reached for the water jug by her bed, then stopped. It might be paranoia, but she wasn’t going to drink anything that didn’t come out of the tap. She took the jug into the bathroom, rinsed it out well and refilled it. Then she drank what must have been close to a pint of water. When she put the jug back on the bedside table, it was almost empty.

  What could she do? Her phone was gone, and the only window in the room was a skylight, so she had no way of seeing where she was or what was happening outside. She went across to the door and tried it. Locked.

  Shaun was keeping her here. But why?

  There was a chair but it was nowhere near high enough for her to reach the skylight if she stood on it. If she could drag the chest of drawers to the middle of the room and stacked the chair on that, then she might be able to get it open, but she still wouldn’t be high enough to pull herself up and through, so what good would that do?

  Sitting down on the bed, she put her head in her hands and forced herself to think back. What did she know – really know – about Shaun? His first call had come the day after the attack on the girl at Flamborough. There had to be a connection. And then he’d stuck around, meeting her for coffee, inviting her out, bringing her flowers, all of which had appealed to her vanity, as he must have guessed.

  Then he’d turned up at the hospital after she had been hurt. It had seemed like genuine concern before he’d drugged and kidnapped her. All this time, he’d been keeping an eye on her. He must think she knew something – but what? She didn’t know anything. She couldn’t even imagine what he thought she knew.

  No, wait, he’d called before the Flamborough attack – on the anniversary of Matt’s death. Sorry to call out of the blue like this. It was not long after Maireid had contacted her: Maireid had never made the promised visit. Kay hadn’t been surprised – Maireid was still angry.