by Sarah Flint
The process should be relatively easy. The vehicle would then be tracked, both by cell-siting and the surveillance team, straight to the new brothel in Lewisham, the exact location of which was still unfortunately not forthcoming. Only then would they strike. They couldn’t risk intercepting him earlier and losing the opportunity to free his previous captives. All in all, they had enough to at least get them started.
‘That’s brilliant, Angie,’ Charlie enthused. ‘Any chance you could keep us updated throughout the day if anything changes? We could really do with a vehicle, or the address of the brothel.’
‘Mate, I’m hoping so, but don’t forget the information is tight. There are very, very few people who will know these details, so don’t slip up. A traffic stop, a drugs stop, anything to throw our man Dimitri off the scent of how he’s landed on the police radar. Even when you have him, you’ll still have to be careful; let on too much and he’ll know someone’s been talking.’ Her voice tailed off. Angie was clearly as nervous as Charlie that the job be handled correctly.
‘I understand, Angie. And don’t worry. I promise to deal with the information as sensitively as if your CHIS was my own relative.’
If her suspicions were correct and Caz was indeed Angie’s informant, they would really have to be extra careful. Caz was already at risk from Razor. If she had knowledge of Dimitri, either personally or through a contact, then both she and the contact would face added danger. Both were dicing with death, literally. Razor and Dimitri were brutal men who would think nothing of crushing Caz or anyone close to her if they got in their way and it was now Charlie’s responsibility to make sure that did not happen.
She finished the call and closed her eyes, her imagination taking her to two crime scenes, both bloody and shocking in their own ways.
If she didn’t do this right, she would risk causing another.
*
‘He’s on his way,’ Hunter shouted out, just under an hour later. ‘The phone’s on the move. The first masts have it on the M20 now, about twenty miles from Folkestone. It won’t be too long before it merges into the queues of traffic waiting for the shuttles.’
Having completed the paperwork to get cell-site authorisation in record time, Charlie had hoped they’d be quick enough to establish the address in Lewisham from which Dimitri was leaving. If they could place exactly where the brothel was before he got going, it would take the pressure off having to follow his every move.
She checked her watch and swore under her breath. They were already playing catch-up. Dimitri had clearly made an early start, before even their information had arrived. She glanced at her colleagues, all the team having turned up for work early. Like Charlie, the impetus to catch Dimitri and identify the baby’s mother had prevented each of them getting a solid night’s rest.
A surveillance team was already out on the ground, one half remaining in the vicinity of Lewisham and the other half travelling towards Folkestone. An armed Trojan unit also waited in the wings, the DCI having arranged for its presence the night previously. There was no direct intelligence that Dimitri was carrying a weapon, but they had to be prepared for every eventuality. Organised crime groups involved in human trafficking didn’t mess about.
Charlie, Paul, Naz, Sabira and a couple of other detectives were to form an arrest squad, split between two vehicles, taking their orders directly from Hunter. Initially assisting with enquiries in the office, they would be on hand to move out and make the arrests once the location of the brothel was identified, unless it transpired that Dimitri was armed, in which case the Trojan unit would clear the way first.
Bet, as usual, was to be in the communications cell. Everyone knew she had the safest pair of hands when it came to liaising with each unit and keeping everyone abreast of the situation. She was also to have a direct link with a member of the Border Force; there was no time to be wasted in identifying the car in which their suspect would return with his newest victim.
Charlie checked the calendar on her desk, suddenly feeling uneasy. It was 19th December and with less than a week until Christmas Day the whole of Folkestone was likely to be rammed, with hundreds of day trippers heading for the Christmas markets.
There was an awful lot that could still go wrong.
*
Dimitri pulled into the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone and parked the car up. He had an hour and a half to wait until his train was due to leave and with the queues long and tedious he knew there would be no chance of jumping on an earlier one.
‘Let’s go and find a restaurant,’ he said. ‘We’ll have something to eat before I go.’
‘Please let me come with you,’ the girl said. ‘I promise to help and it would be fun.’
Dimitri clenched his teeth. Half an hour into the journey he’d known it had been a mistake to bring the girl. She was young and annoying and was spoiling his anticipation of the new foreign woman he would soon be collecting. But it had to be done. The care-home girl was just as crucial to his plans as the Slovakian and she was on the brink of offering her own nubile body to fill the final space.
He felt the girl’s hand on his knee, her fingers lightly caressing his leg, each touch spidery and unsure. He placed his hand over hers, stopping the movement, even though her touch was having an effect. She had to really want to be his, to yearn to do as he demanded, to beg for his attention. Unlike his other workers from foreign lands, this girl would have to remain living at her present address. He couldn’t risk the authorities being alerted to her new circumstances. She would have to come to him willingly and keep her mouth shut, but it wouldn’t be long before he could start her training in earnest, and he was looking forward to doing just that.
‘I’d love to be able to take you with me, my darling, but you know I can’t. You would need a passport and you don’t have one. And I need you to look after the car and everything in it.’
He thought about the knife and the small paper bag containing several vials of GHB hidden in the glove compartment; the drugs to keep the Slovakian girl quiet if she quarrelled and the knife to reinforce his threat. He would have preferred to have the knife with him, being more secure when armed, but he didn’t envisage any problems and besides, the sortie into France would only take an hour at most.
The girl was pouting sulkily. ‘Why do you want another girl, when you could have me?’
He lifted her hand from his leg and kissed it, letting his lips linger against her skin. She smelt good. ‘It is just business. The girl I am collecting will go straight to work for me. She is ready.’ He slid one of her fingers into his mouth and sucked on it gently. ‘You know I want you, but you are still young and inexperienced.’
‘But you could teach me.’ ‘And I will, but at the moment I am busy. I want the chance to spend more time with you, but because of the move I have none. That is why I have brought you along today, to keep me company and so that I can be with you.’ He smiled and let her hand drop, kissing his own fingers and blowing the ends toward her. ‘So let’s go and find a nice restaurant and I will treat you to whatever your heart desires.’
The girl perked up at the idea, although her expression remained morose. Dimitri switched the engine off and watched as the girl gathered her belongings together. She was easily bought. A ride in an exquisitely expensive car, a meal of her choice, a few items from the duty-free shop to keep her occupied while he was gone was all it took. He turned away from her knowing that she was his. In a couple more days he would make her his own.
*
‘The phone signal has disappeared. He must have boarded the shuttle.’ Hunter passed on what the lab technicians were telling him.’
‘So, we have to assume that he is probably on the 13.50 or possibly the 14.16 departure.’ Charlie had the timetable set out on the screen in front of her. ‘I’ll get Bet to phone her Ports contact and arrange for the passenger lists for both shuttle services.’
The wait was excruciating, especially knowing the journey to Calais took on
ly thirty-five minutes. If Dimitri was on the 13.50 and his contact was ready and waiting in the terminal, he could potentially be returning with his new girl on the 14.50 and arriving back at Folkestone at 15.25. They might have less than an hour and a half. They had to hope that he would take longer, but they were still painfully aware they had no time to lose.
Nearly thirty minutes had already passed when the manifests eventually came through and the two lists seemed endless. Each passenger shuttle had the capacity to hold one hundred and twenty cars and twelve coaches and each one of these vehicles could potentially be carrying a full load. They had hundreds of names to look through. At this point they couldn’t even be sure Dimitri was in a car. It was a possibility he was travelling across on foot and the car was parked up.
Charlie could feel the tension intensifying in the office as the list churned out of the printer. It had all seemed so simple until now. She dialled Angie’s number again.
‘Any updates?’ she asked. ‘We could really do with finding out what car Dimitri is driving, and whether he’s definitely taken it across to France. The passenger lists are huge and we can’t afford to miss him coming back.’
‘I’ll see what I can do mate, and get back to you.’
‘Thanks, Angie.’ She picked up the lists and divided them up, staring down at the reams of names on the printout. ‘You might just be the person to save the day.’
Nothing stood out on the two lists. Charlie was working on the 13.50 time slot with Paul, while Naz and Sabira worked on the 14.16. Women’s names were crossed through and the men’s names analysed, but many were foreign-sounding and the team weren’t even sure they knew from which nationality they derived. A third list containing any possible matches and the vehicles linked to them was being compiled and checks were then being completed on each number plate to try to establish which were on hire. So far there was at least eighteen, all of which were registered only to the head offices of each hire company. When they tried to contact the various head offices, many of the staff members with whom they spoke were not exactly helpful, if not downright obstructive, in revealing which local office loaned out the cars.
Time was slipping away and Charlie was at boiling point. They could not lose Dimitri, not now they were so close.
*
Dimitri stepped off the 14.50 shuttle in Calais and took a deep breath. The air always seemed different in France for some reason, even though it was just as full with the stench of diesel fumes as on the English side. Maybe it was because France was part of the same landmass as Russia, and Russia was home. Perhaps just having this connection was all it took to make it feel familiar.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and switched it back on, waiting for the new French network provider to take over the service. He’d switched it off while in the restaurant with the girl. There were no updates from his contact and the girl was being difficult, asking why he only had a cheap phone and wanting to use it to play ‘Snake’ while he was gone. Her whining had irritated him. She already had her own phone and use of the sound system in his car, his decision to leave the vehicle at Folkestone on this occasion being a good choice. The shuttles were so busy at this time of the year and it only took one breakdown to slow his progress, however quick the port authorities were at dragging the faulty cars to one side.
No, today his trip was to be short. He had only to collect the Slovakian girl from the usual cafe in the terminal at Calais and return. Her belongings were apparently sparse, fitting comfortably into two small bags, the promise of being kitted out with uniform and clothes by her new employer, allowing her to keep her own belongings to a minimum. He smiled as a seagull screeched overhead, swooping low to cast its beady eye across the arrivals. The uniform she would be required to wear would not be of the sort she would be expecting, but he would enjoy seeing her reaction when produced.
He checked his watch and started to make his way slowly towards the cafe. There was half an hour to kill before he would meet the girl, but he always liked to secrete himself at the rear of the seating area and try to guess the correct one. He was normally right. They were the young, vulnerable ones with fresh faces, ruddy cheeks, eyes alight with hope and adolescent bodies still plump and rounded.
He ordered himself an espresso and sat down to wait. At ten minutes to four a text message pinged into his phone, informing him that his contact was on time and asking for confirmation that he was there. He answered the query and then scanned the car park, watching as a black Lada Largus Cross 4 x 4 pulled into the entrance. He recognised the girl immediately as she stepped down from the passenger seat and pulled her bags close. She had all the virginal qualities he had come to expect and he would enjoy teaching her what was required. At 16.05 he took her bags and held out his hand, taking her small pale fingers in his.
‘Hello,’ he said, speaking slowly so that she understood. ‘You must be Michaela? My name is Dimitri. I am your new employer and I will look after you.’ She smiled up at him coyly, before dipping her head to him in respect.
The next shuttle was due to leave at 16.20 and they would be on it.
*
‘The phone’s on the move again, and it’s back in England.’ Hunter shouted the update across to the team.
‘Dammit,’ Charlie checked her watch. It was only just gone 5 p.m. and as yet they hadn’t been able to identify the car Dimitri and his new girl were in. Now it seemed he was already on his way. The surveillance team and armed Trojan units would be left idle, waiting for their orders and they would be no nearer to catching Dimitri red-handed or locating the brothel.
‘We could get the passenger lists for the last few inward-bound shuttles and see if we can find any names that reappear from the earlier outward-bound?’ Paul frowned.
‘That’s assuming he took his car to France,’ Charlie closed her eyes. ‘Besides, it’ll take too long to manually check all the names on each list. We only have paper printouts don’t forget. He’ll be home by the time we find a match.’
‘We still have the cell siting.’ The vein on Hunter’s forehead was prominent. ‘Carry on working on the enquiries we have on the possible hire cars and in the meantime I’ll get the Folkestone surveillance team back up here. Maybe if we can track which roads he’s using when his phone pings up at each mast, we can get both teams plotted up at junctions into Lewisham and they might just be able to spot him.’
Charlie opened her eyes again and stared around at the blank faces of her friends. They all knew that the chances of the surveillance teams being able to peer into every car moving past them on a busy main road into London, and recognise a total stranger was negligible and cell siting always ran behind time. A phone had to pass a mast before a signal was read and by that time whatever vehicle the phone was in would again be one step ahead. Dimitri and his precious female cargo could be hidden away in the brothel and their chance to prove his full culpability would be gone.
Charlie suddenly felt the weight of the investigation on her shoulders. It had been her idea to go to the DSU. Her initial hunch had proved right, but now the operation seemed doomed to failure. Even with the teams’ joint efforts, they had failed to identify a vehicle. There was only one person who could provide the information they so desperately needed.
Charlie picked up her phone and tapped in Angie’s number again, suddenly anxious. Had something happened to prevent Angie’s CHIS passing on the necessary information. Perhaps providing this final piece of the jigsaw had been one risk too many.
Chapter 39
Caz shifted sleepily on the settee and tried to open her eyes, but they remained firmly glued shut. She forced a dry tongue from her mouth in a vain attempt to lick moisture back into her chafed lips, but all she could feel was the skin cracking painfully at each movement. The ringtone of her phone sounded somewhere in the background, its noise becoming louder and more insistent as she concentrated.
She pulled herself upright and listened for its location. All her limbs ached and she was
aware of a dull pain at the base of her spine, where her final punter from the previous evening had shoved her hard against a wall. Razor had put an end to his violence swiftly, but she was still smarting at having been forced out on to the street at all. There was no need.
When Ayeisha had finally left her that morning after excitedly recounting her likely activities for the day, Caz had fulfilled her responsibility to Angie. The information had been passed across and was Angie’s to do with as she wanted. It was time to allow her body to finally rest and if she needed half a bottle of Smirnoff to help her sleep, well, so be it.
The phone stopped ringing but restarted almost immediately, the sound vibrating out from under a cushion. Somebody was clearly keen to speak. Locating the handset, she stared at the screen, noting the numerous missed calls from both Angie and Ayeisha. Shit! Could she have slept through the chance to earn more cash legitimately? Angie’s name was flashing again now. Her handler would not be happy.
‘Where have you been, mate?’ Angie’s voice was clipped. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for hours.’
‘I’m sorry, Angie,’ Caz stammered, her head clearing at the rebuke. ‘I ’ad an awful night last night an’ crashed out after we spoke this mornin’. I gave you all I ’ad and didn’t think you’d need nothin’ more.’
Angie’s voice softened. ‘Sorry to hear that, mate. I hope you’re all right?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘What you gave us earlier was great, but we really need Dimitri’s vehicle. Any chance you can get it?’
Caz concentrated, trying to recall her friend’s earlier conversation. Ayeisha had said she’d pop round when she got back and she wasn’t there yet, which meant she must still be with Dimitri. ‘I dunno,’ she said. ‘It’s too risky.’
