A quick examination showed the man and teenager had been dead for some time.
Why had Bex backtracked so strongly and downplayed any danger? His heart rate sped up. There was only one real reason: she was under duress to get rid of the police. Maybe his theory about the kidnappers having the girls holed up in the dormitory wasn’t as off base as he thought! If that was the case, the perps knew the police were sniffing around and their backs were to the wall. That made them especially dangerous.
“Jimbo, we’re going back. No flashlights this time. We’ll keep out of sight and scoot around behind the building. I think that dormitory is full of kidnapped schoolgirls.”
“If there are armed suspects, we’re going to need back up,” Jimbo argued.
“I’m not waiting. Twenty-two girls’ lives are on the line. Every second could make a difference.” Quinn was already moving out of the room, hefting the Glock in his hand.
“Quinn, wait up. We’ll come with you, but just to suss out the situation. Then we’re calling for back up. Okay?”
“Agreed.”
Following Eli’s plan in his head, Quinn led the others in a wide arc so they ended up at the parking lot to the rear of the dormitory. Two mini vans were parked. A brick wall jutted away from the main building, hiding several wheelie bins. Stale food odors permeated the air and Quinn guessed they were outside the kitchen servicing the canteen.
As the back doors burst open with a rattle, the three officers dropped to the ground. A wedge of light flooded through the open doors, but they were out of sight in the shadows. Barely lifting his head, Quinn watched the gaggle of girls in white jumpsuits file through the doorway. They were accompanied by three armed men. The first one strode ahead towards the vans, the other two herded the girls between them, their flashlights sweeping over the area in front.
Quinn touched Jimbo’s arm and jerked his head towards the group. With his lips pressed against Jimbo’s ear, he murmured, “Can you and Smithy take out the back and middle guy? Use silencers. I’ll handle the lead bloke.”
Jimbo nodded.
Using their forearms and feet to crawl on their bellies, the three men edged themselves into position. Elation coursed through Quinn’s veins. In just a few minutes they would drop the perps and release the girls.
Chapter 36
Fairbridge House College, Bromley
Eli gnawed on his cheek as he waited in the car. He had run out of both gum and cigarettes.
His imagination tormented him with images culled from twenty-five years on the job. There was no way of sugar coating his experiences to pretend his daughters weren’t at the mercy of some depraved, vicious sexual predator. His fingers dug into his temples as he palmed his eyes. But it did nothing to fade the vivid pictures rushing through his mind.
Dropping his hands, he raised his head to look out the windshield. His eyes traveled over the shadowy landscape, searching for movement. His ears were alert for any sound. Was Quinn right about the girls being on school grounds, perhaps held captive in the empty dormitory?
The car radio crackled to life. It was Reuben, calling from the Yard.
“I’ve tried Quinn’s phone but it must be switched off. I have some news I think he’ll want to hear. Is he there, Eli?”
Eli rubbed a spot between his brows, furrowing the skin even more. “No, he’s not. What have you got?”
Reuben hesitated and Eli’s senses jumped alert.
“CID has been in touch with Idris. I know we’re not officially on the case any more, but I thought after all our efforts Quinn would want to know. Especially as he’s worried about Isla.”
“Know what?” Unconsciously Eli’s fingers climbed over the dashboard to grip the steering wheel.
“CID located Li Jian. They’re interviewing him right now and he’s singing to the rafters after they promised him immunity. I wanted to let Quinn know that Li thinks his cousin has taken Isla Standing hostage. He had a meeting with Isla at her solicitor’s office this afternoon and drove her home. At Xiu Lan’s request he injected her with a narcotic that she provided. He let his cousin into the flat and he left immediately. He’s denied all further knowledge of what Xiu Lan wants with Isla.”
“Is he involved in the kidnappings?”
The silence inside the car was split by the crunch and snap of static over the radio and Eli’s labored breathing as he waited for Reuben to answer. His gut twisted with anxiety.
“I don’t know the details, but Li claims Xiu Lan is the mastermind behind the planning. Apparently she and her father run the whole sex slave trading ring like an import business, using Jian’s luxury car import business as a cover. There’s an All Points Bulletin out for her arrest. From what Li has disclosed CID think this human slavery ring might have been going on for years out of Eastern Europe. The only good news is that the girls might still be on English soil…”
The rest of Reuben’s words were drowned out by the noise of the blood thrumming through his ears. The hairs on the back of his arms prickled upright as though his fury was discharging electricity. No matter what the prosecution threw at Xiu Lan there was never going to be enough jail time for the hideousness of the crime she had committed. Rage boiled through his veins.
“…know the status quo on Isla…”
“Thanks for calling, I’ll let Quinn know.” Eli snapped off the radio without waiting for Reuben to finish. His eyes glazed with inward concentration as thoughts rioted through his mind. Was he reaching for hope, thinking Quinn was right about the girls being kept hostage in the school dormitory? Were Hannah and Imogen alive only a few hundred meters away? His heart lifted on a wave of adrenaline and hope.
He flung himself out of the car and crossed to the firearms vehicle. He tossed open the trunk to view the contents of the weapons safe. He passed over the semi-automatic guns, and pulled out a shotgun. He held it against his shoulder for a few seconds, before replacing it.
He had almost no experience with arms but he knew what he wanted. This was personal and he wanted to get up close to the woman who had stolen his daughters’ innocence. He didn’t want to shoot her from a distance. He wanted to hold the muzzle against her temples and blow her brains out.
With a not quite steady hand, he selected a compact black Glock 17 and a box of ammunition.
Chapter 37
Fairbridge House College, Bromley
Quickly and silently, the three trussed up kidnappers were dumped in the back of a mini van, driven away by Smithy. The apathetic girls had barely stirred when their captors were felled. Quinn suspected they were doped to the eyeballs, but it made it easy to hustle them into the second van. He had taken precious seconds scanning their faces to ensure that both Hannah and Imogen Morgan were part of the group, before he let them out of his sight.
As acting Detective Chief Inspector, Quinn was able to pull rank to brush off Jimbo’s insistence that Quinn leave the scene with him. “Call for back up when you get to the admin parking lot. And make sure Eli Morgan knows his daughters are safe.”
Quinn shut the door to the van. Crushed together, the girls’ slight bodies jostled as Jimbo took off, reminding Quinn of standing room only on the Tube at peak hour.
Before the van was out of sight, he snuck through the now empty kitchen. Harsh light bounced from stainless steel appliances and stark white tiles. He felt like a sitting duck until he found the switch and shut down the industrial glow.
He moved through a set of swinging doors into the dining area, using his flashlight to scan the room. The canteen was a windowless space in the dead center of the building. Quinn guessed dormitory rooms lined the outside walls.
Tables and chairs had been stacked against one wall to allow for a series of foam mattresses that had provided bedding for the girls. There was a door near the kitchen that lead to toilet facilities and a set of heavy wooden doors at the far end that Quinn presumed allowed access to the student boarders during canteen hours.
Bex Wynter weighed on his mind.
It seemed hard to dispute the damned woman had got caught up with the kidnappings. He had seen her walk back into the dormitory, so she must be in here somewhere. The smart thing to do, as Jimbo insisted, was to wait until back up came.
They had caught the goons who did the grunt work, but who was the mastermind? Quinn couldn’t be satisfied until the architect of the operation was captured and he suspected that was Li Jian. The most likely scenario was that he was holding Wynter under duress as collateral. Once the nee-naa nee-naa of the sirens hit the air, it might be too late for Wynter.
Shielding the flashlight so its glimmer wasn’t a telltale sign, he crept forward towards the main door. As he approached, he heard voices. Quinn pressed his ear against the wood. It was a woman’s voice he heard, tainted with loathing.
“…can’t believe you thought Jian was the mastermind behind this! He’s useless. My dad thinks the sun shines out of him just because he’s male. If he could, he would’ve traded me for him when I was born. I think he was secretly pleased when my uncle died, so my dad could take in Jian and raise him like he was his own son.”
“I can see that would make you very angry.” The second voice was Bex’s, running like a soothing undercurrent into the conversation.
“Girls cannot be angry. Girls are only good for one thing: to satisfy a man’s every whim.” The furious voice lashed out, ending in abrasive laughter. “In fact men are hostage to their own desires.” A note of gloating coated her voice. “My father taught me that.”
“Did he violate you, Xiu Lan?”
Xiu Lan? Quinn recognized the name of Jian’s cousin, and the conversation fell into place. Taking a risk, he extinguished his flashlight and cracked the door open to glimpse the lobby. Bex Wynter stood in the middle of the entry. Beyond her he had a view of a body in a pale yellow suit with two heads, like a female Janus. A sharper look revealed one head belonged to a Chinese woman standing behind the suited body. Even from this distance he could see the flat blackness in her slanted eyes. But what really snagged his attention was the gleaming knife blade in her hand.
The moment he identified Isla’s pale face, stained with an ugly bruise across her forehead, her tawny eyes darkened to deep umber through sheer terror, his heart lurched. He was caught afresh by her aching beauty, the length of her slender legs and the surprising tenderness of seeing her barefooted.
“He shagged my twelve-year old arse until I bled! He used me until he got a taste for white pussy when he traveled to Europe.” Xiu Lan’s voice was ugly, but her face remained bland and still, as emotionless as a mask. “Now he craves it. And so do the men in his circle. Once I showed him that I can supply girls to satisfy his desires, he knew that I was more valuable than Jian. Now I hold the upper hand because I’m the one who provides the white pussy, the younger and purer the better, to get top dollar in the market place. Fa Ping takes first pick of my crop and then we sell the cargo on.”
“I don’t believe you. I think it’s Li Jian who planned the raid on the school.”
It was obvious to Quinn that Wynter was antagonizing Xiu Lan, trying to provoke her to more confessions.
A sneer curled Xiu Lan’s thin lips and she threw Bex a look of contempt. “All Jian’s good for is running a business to provide a cover for what we’re really importing. I use his sea containers to transport the girls back to Shanghai. I perfected the technique in the Ukraine. My father’s shipping company regularly docks there. This is our first English cargo and I had it planned beautifully. Pick the girls up on Friday, pack the girls into the container, load the container on the ship due to leave port Saturday morning. Twenty-one days later it lands in Shanghai. Instead Jian ends up in court on Friday and we can’t leave the city. I had to change arrangements at the last minute.” The gloating note returned. “Don’t you think my alternative plans were very clever? Where could I store twenty-two girls until next week?”
Quinn noticed Bex inching closer to Xiu Lan and her hostage, her voice still soothing, as she commended the other woman. “Yes, it was very clever. Who would think of returning to the school where they had been kidnapped? Plus you have all the facilities you need in the dormitory.”
A smirk curved Xiu Lan’s mouth. “I also sent your police team on a wild goose chase to Manchester after the bus. That was a stroke of genius on my part. The original plan was to take the container filled with the girls on the bus straight to the dock at Manchester, but when we missed that ship because of Jian’s trial, I simply sent the empty bus up there. I had one of my men there swipe the bus from the container and dump it.”
“Yes, that was a smart move. Just when did you expect to ship the girls out?”
Bex had now moved sufficiently that she blocked Xiu Lan and Isla from his sight. Anxiety built inside him. What was Bex planning? His hand clenched over his Glock. His eyes roved over the expanse between himself and the women. There was a doorway behind Xiu Lan that must lead to the recreational area Eli had spoken of. There had been no movement since he’d entered the building and he was growing more certain that there was no one else in the building.
“Another ship berths in London in the early hours of Sunday morning. It takes twenty-four hours to unload its cargo and then my container will be stacked on board to ship out Tuesday. Jian has a sweet deal with customs and they no longer bother to check all his containers. Unfortunately Ms. Standing won’t be able to attend court on Monday. But I have every confidence her replacement will get Jian’s visa restored since she said it was simply a matter of rubber stamping the approval.”
Bex sidled forward and Quinn’s view of the other women was restored. He saw Xiu Lan’s eyes gleaming as sharply as the knife pressed against Isla’s soft flesh and knew it was time to make a move.
Chapter 38
Fairbridge House College, Bromley
Bex crept a half step closer to Xiu Lan, her eyes alert for any lapse of concentration on Xiu Lan’s part. She studied Xiu Lan’s face closely, but the vicious ruthlessness of her crimes was hidden behind a smooth blank expression. Although Xiu Lan’s callous disregard over ruining the lives of dozens, possibly hundreds, of young girls sickened Bex, she kept her manner calm and her voice soft, hoping to gain the other woman’s trust.
Quinn burst through the double doors from the canteen, Glock in hand, aimed directly at Isla and Xiu Lan.
“Police! Don’t move! Li Xiu Lan, I’m arresting you on kidnapping charges. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?”
Stunned, Bex half-turned to face Quinn. She was between him and the other women, but he was standing to the side to claim a better mark.
Xiu Lan jerked Isla a step back. Her teeth bared in a grimace. “Let’s hear what your wife has to say to that.”
Bex saw Xiu Lan prick the tip of the knife against Isla’s white skin until a drop of blood slid down her neck.
Quinn flinched.
“Please, Quinn, do whatever she asks,” Isla sobbed, begging for her life.
Bex knew that Isla’s plea left Quinn balanced on a needle-point. His jawline went rigid and she caught a flicker of doubt blur his eyes as they squinted with strain. It was never easy for a police officer to distance himself from emotional attachment, Bex knew. He couldn’t afford to care about the victim being threatened, couldn’t risk letting his judgment be clouded when he had a gun cocked and ready to fire.
That thought arrested Bex’s attention. What was Quinn doing with a gun? He wasn’t issued with one, where had he got it?
His hesitation and the way his brows knitted together as he focused on Xiu Lan told Bex more clearly than any words that his feelings for Isla still had a strong hold on him. Strong enough to kill? she wondered. Her pulse rate jumped. With Quinn overinvested in the victim he should have excused himself from further involvement instead of barging in to arrest Xiu Lan.
“I’m not
backing down, Detective. So I suggest you very carefully set your gun down and step away.” Xiu Lan’s voice was clipped and precise as a surgeon with a scalpel.
“The game’s up, Li. We’ve arrested your henchmen and the girls have been taken into custody. Release Isla immediately and I may be able to go easy on you.”
Bex darted at look at Quinn to determine if his words were bluster or truth. Quinn edged further to the side and Bex guessed he was trying to set himself up for a head shot. But Xiu Lan was cagey enough to keep herself well behind Isla. Quinn’s options were limited to try shooting through a fleshy part of Isla to hit the other woman. But the chances were high if he did then Isla’s throat could be sliced.
A look in Xiu Lan’s direction showed chagrin clearly written over her features. “Push me too far and I have nothing to lose!”
From behind Xiu Lan a shadow cut the light from the rec room doorway. Out of the corner of her eye Bex watched the flicker of movement become Eli Morgan with a gun raised and trained on Xiu Lan’s back. What the hell was Eli doing here with a weapon?
Keeping her eyes steady on Xiu Lan rather than alerting the other woman to what was happening, Bex felt icy cold drip down her spine. Darkness crowded in on her as she saw disaster looming on all fronts. Eli’s eyes held a feral glint. If he shot Xiu Lan at this distance the bullet would go straight through her and possibly kill Isla. Its trajectory could even reach Bex.
“Put the gun down or I’ll slit her throat like the pig’s wife she is.” Xiu Lan’s voice was matter of fact and emotionless.
“You know they’re divorced, right? He cares about bringing you down more than he cares about his ex-wife. He might even relish the opportunity to put a bullet through her,” Bex addressed Xiu Lan.
Doubt flashed in Xiu Lan’s eyes even as Isla’s hate-filled glance seared into Bex.
Bex Wynter Box Set Page 30
