BREAK ME FREE
S u m m e r J o r d a n
Copyright © 2014
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter One
A ghostly sea mist drifted in between the stacked containers. Tanya shivered under the yellow glow of the street lamp as she typed into her phone. Her eyes glanced from the brightly lit screen to the security gatehouse. Kicking her heels on the damp tarmac, she swung her bag as she patrolled the gloomy street corner. She tucked her phone into her handbag as a car crawled past with its passenger window down.
A face with rounded features smiled at her. “Ever take a night off?”
“The bills don’t pay themselves.”
”I’m not looking for business, Love.”
“Yeah, what is it then?”
The man flipped his wallet open and raised it by his face. “I’m detective Bentham of the Metropolitan Police—Clubs and Vice.”
Tanya tucked a hand under her long platinum hair and rubbed the back of her neck. “Shit.”
“You don’t sound too pleased to see me.”
“Look, there’s plenty of other girls around here for you to harass.”
Bentham tapped the top of the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. “You, don’t look like the usual girl you find around these parts?”
“Appearances can deceive.”
“Plus I’ve seen you turn down client, after client.”
“What are you? Some kind of voyeur?” Tanya shrugged and rolled the gum in her mouth. “They are just time wasters so far tonight…. A bit like yourself.”
“You’re no street girl. You have a full set of teeth for a start.”
“Look…. Do you think I’d be doing this if I had a choice?”
“Everyone always has a choice.” Bentham glanced around. “I want to know the real reason you’re prowling gate to Container yard?”
“Look, you’re bad for business. If you’re lonely, go and find someone else to fucking talk to.”
Bentham unlocked the car door. “Get in.”
“No… I can’t.”
“I said, get in the car.”
Tanya leaned through the open window. “My rates start at forty five quid. For that, you get a quick wank and can cum on me tits….”
“All I want is a quick chat over a coffee and a bacon sandwich at the all night cafe. Either that or we go the station and make it formal?” Bentham reached over and opened the door. “Let’s go.”
“You’re buying?”
Bentham flashed a smile. “Depends if you tell me what I want to know.”
Burly men sat around the trucker’s all night cafe. The tinny sound of a portable radio played heartbroken country songs. A greasy smell of fried meats hung in the air. Sitting opposite the detective, Tanya smiled as he handed her the steaming mug of coffee. “Thanks.”
“Got you a fry up, is that okay?”
“Nice one.”
“So, start talking.”
Tanya took the gum out of her mouth and stuck it to the bottom of the table. “What about?”
“What’s so interesting about the gatehouse?”
“Look, I chose that stretch of road because there are bright lights and it’s busy.”
“I know you’re one of Vladimir Petrovic girls.”
“I don’t even know who he is. I work for myself.”
“All the girls walking the street within five miles of here are working for Vladimir Petrovic. There’s no way his goons would let an outsider on his turf.”
“I don’t know anything about a Vladimir.”
Bentham rested his elbows on the table as he leaned towards Tanya, “Well, I’ll tell you what I know, shall I?”
“Go on.”
“I know your name is Tanya Watson, I know your history, in fact me and you go way back.”
“We do?”
“Yeah, one of my first ever jobs on the force was supporting a certain social worker called Sharon Jones, remember her?”
“I … Don’t know her.”
Bentham showed the scarred tissue above his thumb. “It was my hand you sunk your teeth into as I tried to rip you away from your dead mother.” He watched the colour drain from her face.
Tanya wiped a tear from her eye. “Stop it.” The memories took her back to a fly infested house. The stench of death still haunted her nostrils.
“You’re not the only one who cried yourself to sleep that night. I still have nightmares to this day.”
“Thankfully I have moved on.”
“You moved on all right.” Bentham stared into Tanya’s reddened eyes. “Once you were rescued you spent the next ten years going from one set of foster parents to another.”
“I had my issues as you can imagine.”
“But the only true home you knew was the youth court. However you eventually found your real calling when you started escorting at seventeen…Or was it sixteen?”
“I was only supporting my modelling career.”
“Working in that game, you were bound to fall into Vladimir’s hands eventually. Look, I know who you are, Tanya. And believe me, I feel sorry for the shit hand you were dealt.”
Tanya glanced away. “I don’t need anybody’s pity, especially from a wannabe big guy like you.”
“I know trouble sticks to you like shit on a dogs arse. So when I find that you’re involved with Vladimir Petrovic and you’re suddenly patrolling the gates of the container port, I know something bad is about to happen. What is it? Crack, heroin, slave girls? What’s going down, Tanya?”
Tanya jumped to her feet. “Look, I’m going.”
Bentham grabbed her wrist, causing her to sit back down. “You’re staying here, or you’re coming with me to station.”
“This has to be classed as harassment, or something?”
“Get out, before you get too involved, Tanya. You’ve already had too much trouble is this short life
of yours.”
“What do I need to get out of?” Tanya’s wry smile betrayed the conviction in her voice. “I enjoy what I do?”
“If you’re scared of what he might do to you. I can arrange a safe house for you.”
Tanya shielded one side of her face with her hand and stared down at the table. “Look … it’s not as easy as that.” Tanya glanced at the waitress who brought over the breakfast. “Thanks, love.”
“Why, what’s stopping you?”
“I can’t say.”
“I know there are bad people out there. Very bad people.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve met every single one of them.”
Bentham watched as Tanya shovelled the food into her mouth. “I was going to pinch a slice of toast, but I’ll let you have it.”
“Sorry.” Tanya talked with her mouth full. “Here, have the mushrooms, I don’t like them.”
Bentham leaned over and whispered. “Look, let me help you.”
“I bet you told Caz the same thing.”
“Caz?”
“Yeah, the girl they pulled out the Thames the other week. She had her breasts hacked off.”
“It was her fault, poor girl.”
“Well, I know my life isn’t great. But I sure as hell don’t want to end up like her.”
“Look, Caz didn’t follow the house rules. She got back involved with her old friends. You have to make a clean break … from everybody.”
“I have to go.” The chair screeched on the tiled floor as Tanya stood up from the table. “Thanks for the grub.”
“There’s a better life waiting for you. You know what you have to do?”
Tanya glanced over her shoulder as she left the through the glass door. “Don’t worry, it’s hard to miss what you’ve never had.”
Chapter Two
Serge cruised the roads on a low gear as he searched the dockland streets for his girl. “Where the fuck has she gone?” He had his mobile phone wedged against his shoulder and ear, but sighed as it rang through. The phone dropped to the floor as a silver Jaguar caught his eye. “I know who that car belongs to.”
Parking his Range Rover across the street, he didn’t have time to switch off the engine, as the door of the all night cafe swung open. Serge watched Tanya storm out, but waited for her to walk off into the night before driving to pick her up.
Tanya opened the door before stepping inside of the warmth of the vehicle. She shyly glanced at the handsome Serge. “Thanks.”
“Are you stupid? What the fuck are you doing talking to him, he’s a fucking copper.”
“I….”
“I saw you with Bentham in the Cafe.”
”Tanya’s heart filled with fear. “I had no choice.”
“I don’t need to tell you what Vlad would do if he finds out you’re a snitch. You know what that fucker is like.”
“I’m not a snitch, the detective felt sorry for me. He bought me something to eat. That’s all.”
Serge glanced at Tanya as he changed gear. “Look, Tanya, That’s how they manipulate you.”
“I didn’t say anything about Vlad, or what he’s involved in. The detective thinks I’m just some hooker, down on her luck.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“Did he mention Vlad?”
“No. Well, he asked me if I worked for him. I said no. I’m doing it by myself.”
“Look, I don’t think you’re a liar, I know I can trust you…. It’s just I know how manipulative the police can be.”
“Don’t talk to me about manipulation. Now, Vlad, there is a man who knows how to manipulate.”
“I wouldn’t mind him manipulating me, if it meant buying me a penthouse. I’ve seen the size of your jewellery box, too. I grew up in a hut smaller than that.”
“I’m not saying he isn’t generous. But he thinks that because I’m his special girl, he can do what he wants to me.” Tanya began to sob into her hands. She pushed the tears from her eyelids with the palms of her hands. “I love him, but I hate him, Serge.”
“You hate him?”
“I know he is with other girls when I’m out. He doesn’t even look at me when we make love anymore.” Tanya sighed as she crossed her arms. “I blame his drugs, they’re controlling him now, but he won’t stop.”
“He never did like listening…. He likes it even less now.”
Serge drove the empty streets, listening to Tanya’s sobbing. He glanced at her and rubbed her thigh just below her short denim skirt. “Hey, don’t cry.”
“Sometimes I just want to escape.”
“Don’t we all.” Serge smiled as he chewed on a gum. “When I was a boy and needed cheering up, my mum used to tell me to think of the positives in my life.”
“There aren’t any for me.”
“I would often say the same. But she would then tell me to describe her a dream.”
“A dream?”
“You know? Like, what I would want to be when I’m older.” Serge stared for a moment into her glistening eyes. “So go on, tell. What’s your dream?”
Tanya scratched behind her ear, the large gold earrings sparkled as the car passed under the street lights. “To be happy, I suppose.”
“That’s a given. Come on, everyone has a dream. When you were at school, what did you want to be?”
“A Spice Girl.”
“Oh my God.” Serge laughed and slapped the steering wheel. “I hate their music.”
“Girl power and all that? I thought they were great back in the day.”
“Gerry would have got it… Maybe Posh, too, when she had a bit of meat on them bones of hers.”
“Then, I wanted to be a successful model.”
Serge took a fleeting glance at her long slender legs that disappeared into the foot well. “You certainly have the right kit, Tanya.”
“That’s how I met Vlad… He told me he would make my dreams come true. He told me he had the contacts. Now I’m living a nightmare.”
“Hey, be careful what you say, he’s a brother to me.”
“You see how he treats me. Would you treat a woman you supposedly love, like that?”
Serge bit his lip. “What’s love anyway?”
“Good point. I don’t think I’ve ever truly experienced it?”
“That makes two of us. Let’s leave it for the poets and film screens, hey?”
The Range Rover slowly drove through the crowded street full of drunken clubbers and night-time revellers. Serge grimaced as he watched a girl vomit at the foot of a phone box. “This kids of today, hey?”
A little further on, a gang of police threw a bloodied man into a waiting van. At the end of the street they passed a popular strip bar called Puss N Boots. Serge opened the window and waved at the doorman. “Everything ok?”
“Sound as a pound, Boss.”
“Good, I’ll be around tomorrow.” Serge closed the window and smiled at Tanya. “I bet you don’t miss working there?”
“Why do you think I looked the other way?”
“That bad, huh?”
Tanya chewed on her scarlet thumbnail. “Terrible.” She threw her head back into the headrest.” You never told me about your dream?”
“Well, you always want what you don’t have, don’t you? Me and Vlad grew up dirt poor. When I say poor, I mean a hand-to-mouth existence.”
“I know he tells me that all the time. Always finishes it by saying I should appreciate what he gives me.” Tanya sighed. “Sorry, go on.”
“So naturally we wanted to be rich. Only problem is, there aren’t many ways to make that happen, especially in Moldova.”
Tanya rubbed the leather arm rest of the plush SUV. “Not done too badly have you?”
“Thing is, recently I’ve been seriously thinking of going back home.”
“Vlad tells me Chisinau is wrapped up tighter than a mummies arse.”
“It is. You think we’re brutal here, those bastards back home make us look like dinner lad
ies.”
“So, what will you be doing then? I can’t see you going straight.”
“Well….” The night hid Serge’s blushes. “I was thinking of farming.”
“Fucking hell, I can’t see you in a pair of wellington boots with a flea bitten dog to keep you company.”
Serge took a hand from the steering wheel and felt the back of his head. “I just want a quiet life. I’m sick of all this. Every time there is a knock on my door, I shit myself.”
“Mostly it’s you doing the knocking though, isn’t it?”
“I could deal with it when I was young. In fact, I thrived on it. The excitement and adrenaline suited me. But I’m middle-aged now, and I want to have a normal life.”
“Vlad has never mentioned you wanted to quit.”
Serge felt uncomfortable and rearranged his collar. “I’ve not told him, that’s why.”
“I think he’d be devastated if you weren’t around.”
“I know.” Serge wiped his forehead, “I’m not looking forward to that conversation.”
At the penthouse, Serge typed the security code on the keypad causing the large, heavy reinforced doors to open. Vladimir stood in the hall way, wearing a drunken grin. “There she is, my special girl.”
“Hi Vlad.” Tanya leaned into Vladimir as he embraced her. Despite the stench of whisky, she could smell the perfume of another woman. Suddenly, she was twisted around by Vladimir’s muscular arms. Held in his grip and breathing heavily, she screamed as he lifted her skirt.
“What do you think, Serge? Do you think she has been up to her old tricks?”
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