Trafficking (Powell Book 1)

by Bill Ward

  The receiver made them both fall silent and listen as they clearly heard a male voice enter a room and say, ‘Hello’ before being met with a response in Romanian neither of them understood.

  “That’s Dimitry just arrived,” Powell confirmed. “And Stefan is the other voice. What are they saying Marius?”

  “The second man asked if Dimitry had a good flight.”

  Dimitry continued speaking Romanian. Powell heard Afina’s name mentioned. “What is he saying about Afina?”

  Marius translated, “He asked if there was any progress with finding the bitch, Afina."

  There was some further conversation in Romanian and both Powell and Brian waited expectantly for a translation.

  ‘Stefan says, he thinks someone called Mara knows where Afina is staying. He has told Dimitry to get a bit rough with this Mara and she’ll tell him where to find Afina. Or if not Afina at least she knows where to find some of her friends.’

  Powell wondered how Mara would react if she knew Stefan was throwing her to the proverbial wolf that was Dimitry.

  Marius continued translating. “Dimitry says he thinks it’s best he talks to Mara by himself.”

  Powell gave Brian a worried look. “This could turn nasty for Mara.”

  Marius continued, “Now Stefan has agreed but he has told Dimitry to be careful because he doesn’t want to have to explain to his uncle how she died.” Marius shot Powell a concerned look. “What are we going to do about this?”

  “Just translate,” Powell replied. “You’re doing a good job.”

  They could hear a door close and a minute later they heard a knock on the door as the transmitter in Mara’s room picked up Dimitry’s arrival outside.

  Powell and Brian both crouched forward as they heard the door open and listened to Mara greeting Dimitry as if he’d never been away. Powell was impressed with her coolness considering she knew he was there to potentially do her harm.

  ‘Dimitry is telling her, Stefan has said she knows where to find Afina but won’t say.”

  Powell could tell from Dimitry’s tone of voice he was threatening Mara.

  “Mara says she doesn’t know where to find Afina. She does know one bar she has been to before when Stefan had her follow Afina but when she returned last time there was no sign of Afina.”

  Brian turned to Powell in shock when they both heard the crack of what must have been Dimitry’s hand on Mara’s face and the noise of her falling to the floor.

  Marius was translating as fast as he could and looking nervously at Powell. ‘Dimitry is threatening to break every bone in her body if she doesn’t tell him how to find Afina.” Marius threw his hand to his mouth in shock. “He has said, Stefan says he can’t kill her but before he is finished with her, she will be begging him to kill her.’

  “This is going to be worse than I thought,” Powell said turning to Brian.

  “Shall I call the cavalry?”

  “No,” Powell responded firmly. “At least not yet.”

  “We must call the police,” Marius urged, then returned to translating. “Mara says she can’t tell him what she doesn’t know. She is very brave, she just swore at him.”

  Powell might not understand Romanian but as Mara increased her shouting at Dimitry, he knew she was calling him every name under the sun. There was a sudden further scream of pain.

  Marius continued, ‘Dimitry is again threatening her, she will tell him how to find Afina eventually so she might as well save herself the pain. Mara is begging him not to hurt her.”

  “Help me. Please someone help me!” Mara screamed out in English.

  Powell decided he must intervene. Mara knew he was listening and she was pleading for his direct help.

  “I can’t listen to any more of this,” Powell’ announced. “I’m going round there.”

  Powell ran from the hotel room and down the four flights of stairs before Brian could answer. In just two minutes he was standing in front of the familiar door ringing the bell. At the same time he dialled Stefan. “I’m downstairs, answer the bloody door,” he demanded when Stefan answered. “It’s important.”

  Stefan was at the door just a few seconds later.

  “Hi Danny, I wasn’t expecting to see you today. What’s so important?”

  Danny followed Stefan into the house and closed the door. “I think I’ve seen Afina,” Powell said, as he followed Stefan up the stairs and came close to the door to Mara’s room.

  Stefan stopped and made the decision to immediately knock on Mara’s door. “It’s me,” he said loudly.

  Dimitry opened the door and Powell could see behind him Mara was lying on the bed semi-naked and looking distraught. There was blood running from a split lip.

  “Danny, it’s good to see you again,” Dimitry said. “Mara here is being very obstinate. She won’t tell us how to find Afina.”

  “Danny says he’s seen her,” Stefan announced.

  “Really,” Dimitry smiled. “Where was this?”

  “In Hove this morning. I was at the supermarket and I saw her getting in a car. I called out to her and she looked at me. It was definitely her but she got in the car and they drove away.”

  “Who was she with?”

  “I’m not sure but to be honest he looked a bit like you guys. You know, he was tall, dark and swarthy looking, mid-thirties I’d guess and he had a scar on his neck.”

  “That’s Victor,” Dimitry exclaimed.

  “What is she doing with him?” Stefan asked.

  “I have no idea,” Dimitry admitted. “What car was he driving?”

  “It was a smart BMW,” Powell answered.

  “Victor doesn’t own a car in England. Does he?” Stefan asked uncertainly.

  “No,” Dimitry answered. “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “Perhaps he has fallen in love with Afina and they have run off together,” Powell suggested. “Afina could definitely tempt me to do something stupid.”

  “Victor can have any woman he wants. Whatever is going on it has nothing to do with love, I am sure of that!”

  “Then perhaps he is going into business with Afina,” Powell suggested, intent on stirring the pot.

  “I have no fucking idea what he is doing,” Dimitry answered angrily. “But the answer is to find Afina. I need to encourage Mara a little further. You go upstairs and I will join you soon.”

  “Dimitry, I have some experience of finding things out from people who don’t want to speak,” Powell responded. “Perhaps I could have the pleasure of asking Mara what she knows? The films we make for our special guests often involve a severe interview of an unwilling girl. I’d actually quite enjoy breaking Mara. Why don’t you guys go upstairs and leave me with her for say twenty minutes. That should be long enough.”

  “Please don’t leave me with Danny,” Mara shrieked. “He’s told me about how he likes to hurt women.”

  Perfectly on cue, Powell thought. Mara would make a damn good actress.

  “Well it seems Mara is more afraid of you than me,” Dimitry acknowledged. “I need to take a piss and get a coffee. You can have her for twenty minutes and if you have no luck we will try again together.”

  Powell breathed a sigh of relief. “It will be my pleasure to extract what you need to know,” he promised. “I am hoping she is stronger than she looks, otherwise it will be no fun.”

  “Don’t kill her,” Stefan warned. “She’s family.”

  “She will be returned to you alive if not very well,” Powell confirmed.

  Stefan and Dimitry headed up the stairs and Powell entered Mara’s room.

  “Are you okay?” Powell asked.

  “Yes but I wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t arrived,” Mara answered, sitting up on the bed. “What do we do now?”

  “I’m going to tell them you met Afina at a lap dancing club where she was thinking of working. You chatted up a couple of other girls, who were both lesbian and you all had some drinks and dances from the girls. You left with th
e other girls because Afina wasn’t interested in joining you for sex. You were pretty drunk and can’t even remember their names let alone where they lived. Afina said she was going to speak to the manager about getting a job as a dancer. The name of the club is Bunnies. Do you remember all that?”

  “Yes but will Dimitry believe me?”

  “I’m just trying to buy us some time.”

  “I hope it works. I’m not brave. If Dimitry really hurts me I will tell him everything I know. I won’t want to but I won’t be able to help myself.”

  “I understand but we are listening in so if anything gets out of hand we can be here in less than five minutes.”

  “You are a good actor Danny.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The first time I met you I thought you were a shy nobody. That isn’t you at all.”

  “If I remember rightly, you were the better actor that first time, pretending you enjoyed yourself with me.”

  “You were a good customer, polite and easy so it was for me a good time.”

  “Okay so now I need some more acting from you. In the minute I’m going to need some realistic screaming.”

  “What are you going to do?” Mara asked slightly apprehensively.

  “Something extremely painful that leaves no visible marks.”

  Mara’s first attempt at screaming was a little underwhelming but she warmed to the task and if anyone was listening they would have been convinced she was suffering horribly.

  Powell joined the others upstairs about twenty minutes later and recounted the story he had agreed with Mara.

  “How did you get her to tell you that so quickly?” Dimitry asked.

  “Easy really. I guess you hit her a couple of times and then asked questions. I introduced her to a more prolonged form of pain although some people find it pleasurable. I held her down and started fisting her, which she accommodated with some screaming. I then started on her arse and she quickly gave up the information.”

  “Is she okay?” Stefan asked.

  “A bit sore probably but otherwise okay. I didn’t make much progress with her arse before she was begging me to stop.”

  “I like your style, Danny,” Dimitry said admiringly. “Do you know this Bunnies club where Mara saw Afina?”

  “I’ve heard of it but I’ve not been there.”

  “I will pay it a visit tonight,” Dimitry stated. “See if Afina is working and speak to the manager.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Powell suggested. “But we mustn’t have too late a night. I have a big day planned for tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  Powell started the day by meeting with Brian and Chief Inspector Brown at Brighton police station. There was a sense of nervous excitement in the room as the Chief Inspector learned he was about to arrest Bella’s killer and solve a crime that had become increasingly likely to end up adding to the unsolved crime statistics. Brown was far from happy at first to learn Powell had been chasing around Europe, trying to locate Dimitry on his own but was pragmatic enough to reign in his feelings, once he realised he was being handed Dimitry on a proverbial platter. The icing on the cake was Afina’s willingness to testify to what she had seen. The Chief Inspector could see he would have a cast iron case.

  Brian had shown his credentials and explained he was a friend of Powell and had been Bella’s Godfather but stressed he was not present in any official capacity.

  “I’m acting more as a character witness, so you take Powell seriously,” Brian explained.

  “So where are you meeting Dimitry?” the Chief Inspector asked.

  “One thing first, I need you to arrest Dimitry but help me make it appear I have managed to escape,” Powell explained.

  “And why might that be?” the Chief Inspector enquired with a quizzical look.

  “There are some associates of Dimitry who are involved in a number of illegal activities and I want to be free to pursue them further.”

  The Chief Inspector was thoughtful for a moment. “I guess we could arrange that. I can’t say I approve of what you’re doing but it certainly appears to have been effective so far.”

  “Powell is always very effective,” Brian added.

  Powell smiled, “I try to be,” he said.

  “And how exactly did you come to know Powell, Mr Cooper?”

  “A long time ago we were in a similar line of work. Suffice it to say, if I was ever in a sticky situation, he would be the first person I would want at my side.”

  “I see where Bella got her guts from,” the Chief Inspector commented. “So is there anything else I should know?”

  Powell responded, “When you interview Afina you are going to find she was trafficked into the country and put to work as a prostitute here in Brighton. There have been many other girls before her and I’ve told Afina I will try and trace what has happened to one girl in particular. Once you have Dimitry, I just need a little time to start looking. Along the way I expect to identify a network of Dimitry’s associates all over the country who are forcing girls to work for them in brothels. You won’t learn anything from Dimitry but think I can leverage his arrest to get even closer into his organisation.”

  “I need to pass this up the line but based on what you’ve achieved so far I don’t see why there should be any opposition. I do need your assurance there is no question of a sudden outbreak of violence on the streets of Brighton,” the Chief Inspector stressed. “After everything that’s happened, I don’t want to have to come arrest you one day. And Bella wouldn’t want that either.”

  “I’m just doing some unofficial leg work. I can go places and do things the police can’t but as you’ve seen with Dimitry, you guys get to make the arrest.”

  “Okay, so where do we make all this happen?”

  “I’m picking him up at ten and driving up the A23 to London. I thought a service station may be suitable, perhaps the first one you hit near the Henfield exit?”

  “It’s a possibility but we need to prepare and keep the public at arm’s length as much as we can.” The Chief Inspector looked at his watch. “We have about two hours to get ready, should be enough time. Do you expect him to be armed?”

  “I think that’s doubtful but I can’t be certain. Given his history, I think we should assume he will be carrying a knife.”

  “Indeed. So have you thought about how we are going to let you escape?” the Chief Inspector enquired.

  “When I go to pay for the petrol you need to move in on Dimitry. I‘ll spot what is happening and just before I enter the shop I’ll jump in the nearest car, which you will have left for me with the keys in the ignition. Dimitry should see me escape and believe I’m not involved.”

  “He might still be suspicious when he thinks about it later. He’ll wonder why you chose to stop where you did and how we seemed ready for him.”

  “You need to make it look like you have been following him.”

  “We’ll have two cars follow you into the service station and just use them to make the arrest. In case anything goes wrong we’ll have other officers pretending to be the public and working in the shop but they won’t show their hand unless it becomes absolutely necessary. I think that’s the best we can do.”

  “I’ll call you later to confirm details, Chief Inspector. With surprise on our side it should all go smoothly.”

  Powell collected Dimitry as arranged and they drove twenty minutes to the service station. The previous evening they had visited the Bunnies club but there had obviously been no sign of Afina and the manager admitted he auditioned so many girls he couldn’t remember one from the other. They had stayed long enough to enjoy a few beers and a couple of dances from very average looking girls before Powell announced he was leaving and saving himself for the next day. Dimitry had also had enough and the agreement was reached to meet at ten outside Stefan’s house.

  Powell and Brian had taken shifts listening to the microphones to make sure Dimitry didn’t decide to start as
king further questions of Mara but the airwaves had remained quiet.

  Powell drove at a steady pace and feigned surprise he needed to fill up with petrol shortly after joining the A23. Dimitry seemed disinterested in conversation and was slumped back in his chair half asleep.

  Powell pulled into the service station and was pleased there were no signs of the ambush that was being prepared. He stepped out the car and glanced behind as a couple of other cars drove in and parked at the adjacent petrol pumps. He put thirty pounds of unleaded in his BMW and then started to walk towards the shop to pay.

  Although he was expecting what happened next it still made him jump as he heard several police officers descend on his car, shouting at the occupant to get out and lie on the ground.

  At least two of the policemen were pointing guns at Dimitry. At the sound of the first shout, Powell had run for the car at the front pump where a man was filling the car with petrol. Powell ignored the man’s protestations, assuming he was in any case a policeman, and pushed him out of the way before jumping into the driver’s seat. He accelerated away and in his rear view mirror could see the police already handcuffing Dimitry.

  One car gave chase as he expected but after a few miles Powell slowed his speed and the car overtook. The driver gave him a wave as he went past and Powell left the A23 at the next exit. He drove a couple more miles then stopped at a bus stop. He took out his phone and called Stefan.

  “Stefan, we have a big problem. The police have taken Dimitry prisoner. I was lucky to get away.”

  “What happened?”

  “They must have followed us because when I stopped for petrol they drove in behind us and grabbed Dimitry, while I went to pay.”

  “How did you get away?”

  Was that a hint of suspicion Powell detected in Stefan’s voice? “I stole someone else’s car and made a run for it. Only the one car chased me and I lost him. Luckily I know the roads real well. Last I saw they were putting handcuffs on Dimitry.”