‘So she strips?’
‘Sometimes it’s a strip, sure.’
‘On her own?’
‘Sometimes. Holly liked to work with other women, too.’
‘So your girls are doing sex shows, too?’
‘Sex shows can happen. They react to the requests from our members — the ones they want to react to. No one’s forced to do anything they don’t want to do.’
‘Who did Holly work with?’
Freddie’s grin was back. He straightened up and his watch scraped the table again as he did. ‘Mr Harvey, here, tells me that I don’t need to be giving any details out about no other girls. Not without some DPA thing, he said. Is that right?’
Harvey pounced as if he had been waiting for this moment. ‘Yes of course. But the officer here knows about the Data Protection Act only too well. We can’t blame her for chancing her arm now, can we?’ He seemed to have gathered himself again. His expression was so smug that Maddie had a sudden urge to beat on his face until it was gone.
‘Quoting DPA legislation? Again, I didn’t think we were at that point. I thought we were helping each other out? I just need a few questions answered then I can look elsewhere, rather than at Mr Rickman and his prominent businesses. I guess I just thought you would prefer that?’
‘My client will answer any questions about him but he cannot talk for other people. I am sure you can appreciate that some of the people in this industry do not wish for their details to be discussed in open forum.’
‘That’s right.’ Freddie’s grin was back. It dropped away as he leaned back in but his eyes were still alight as if he was enjoying himself. ‘We get all sorts, you know. A lot of the girls are just topping up a salary. They do straight jobs in the day . . . magistrates, estate agents and some who work for the law. Not just because the money’s good either but because they love it! Ain’t nothing a beautiful woman wants more than to be told they’re beautiful. There’s always room on the books.’ His eyes flickered over her again.
‘So tell me about Holly.’ Maddie said.
Freddie sat back. ‘She always just turned up for work, did her thing and left. She was a dream, actually. A good worker. I wish they were all like her.’
‘And was she topping up?’
‘I don’t know if she was doing something else. Nothing that I know of. Some of the girls will do once a week or like a couple of times in a month for their pocket money. She was five times a week. Full time, I guess you could say!’
‘And what does that mean?’
‘Mean?’
‘What were her full-time hours?’
‘You asking for a friend, sarge?’ His grin widened. ‘She does five one-hour shows. Normally goes out live early or mid-afternoon. It can vary.’
‘Afternoon?’
‘You sound surprised.’
‘I assumed it would be a later shift.’
‘Ah yes, because people only like to get wild when it’s dark outside. Actually, I don’t deal much in the UK. The market for this is stronger elsewhere. That’s the joy of the world wide web. So you’ve got to consider time zones.’
‘So you don’t have any UK members?’
‘I got money coming in. I don’t run surveys on where from. But the market’s worldwide.’
‘What’s the site address?’
‘I’m not sure my client needs to be sharing information of private business ventures . . .’ Harvey fizzled out as his client leant across him to take hold of Maddie’s notepad and pen. His writing was oversized and messy. He spun it back to her.
‘And this is your site?’
‘Nope. I just provide some material. Someone else owns the site. They monitor the traffic that goes through the links to my videos. That’s how I get paid.’
‘Who hosts it?’
Rickman shrugged. He lifted the flat cap by the peak and rubbed his closely cropped head underneath in one movement. When he replaced it. the peak fell at an angle.
‘Have a look. And remember what I said . . . it’s good, easy money.’
‘Holly ever come with anyone? Anyone drop her off?’ Maddie said.
‘I set up the business, I sort the rooms and the equipment but I don’t get involved with the workers. I have people who do that for me.’
‘So I would need to speak to them?’
‘I guess you would.’
Maddie picked up the pen he had discarded in the middle of the table. ‘So who do I need to call?’
Freddie shrugged. ‘Like he said, I’m here talking about me. You want a list of employees and what they do, you need to go through this DPA thing. Then Mr Harvey here needs to agree it and then I got ninety days to provide the information. Like he said, I’m happy to help.’
‘I’ll be sure to get that document in.’
‘You will need justification as to why you need that of course,’ Harvey said. ‘That would normally include the offence for which my client is under investigation — or any of his employees, for that matter. Right now I can’t see how you might pass that particular test.’
‘Does Holly have a next of kin that you know of? Friends or family?’ Maddie still ignored Darren Harvey.
‘Like I said, I rarely see the girls. I only met Holly a handful of times, really. In all the years she worked for me, I rarely had reason to see her.’ Rickman lifted his cap to scratch his head again.
‘Who did you buy the taxi firm from?’ The question was quick, an attempt to blindside him.
‘The taxi firm?’
‘You run a taxi firm. I understand it was already established and you bought it?’
‘I didn’t realise the taxi firm was up for discussion?’ Harvey cut in.
‘Is there a problem answering that?’ Maddie said.
Rickman was still leaning back, trying his best to appear apathetic. ‘Nope. A fella called Neil Henners.’
‘Tell me about him.’
‘Maybe he’ll tell you about him. I can’t say I know enough to tell.’
‘Is he still local?’
Harvey cut in: ‘I think Mr Rickman has answered all he can about the previous owner of a firm he has now owned for a good five years or more. Unless you want to inform us all of the relevance, I don’t think we need to be answering any more questions about that. In fact, I would suggest we have come to a natural point of conclusion, would you agree, Freddie?’
Freddie sniffed. ‘Yeah, I think I’m done. I got some business this afternoon. Unless there’s anything more you need to ask? I can’t have you turning up at my places, see. The cops . . . they spook the girls. I need them nice and relaxed for their work.’
‘What do you think happened?’ Maddie persisted. ‘To Holly, I mean.’
‘I heard all about it. It was in the news. She went over that cliff up in Capel. Nasty business. I was sorry when I heard about it. She was a good girl. A good earner, too. The punters liked her.’
‘How do you think that happened?’
Freddie stood up. His bulk nudged the table so it scraped away from him as he did. ‘You obviously know that she’s got a bit of a history for doing a trick or two. I heard maybe she was up there with some punter. I guess it got all hot and heavy and she didn’t see it coming. Or he was some psycho who got his rocks off taking her out with him. Like I said, I didn’t know the girl.’
‘He worked for you, too, didn’t he?’
‘The fella? He worked for my firm. I never met the guy. We did all the checks. He was licensed and done the job before, up the road a bit. You can see it all if you put in the right stuff.’
‘The DPA stuff . . . yeah, I get it.’
‘Well, thank you for speaking with us,’ Harvey said. ‘We were keen to come in here and assist.’ He proffered his hand. His smugness now seemed to be a permanent fixture.
‘Of course you were,’ Maddie said. ‘Just not too much.’
Harvey made a show of putting his notepad and pen back in his briefcase. Maddie used the time for one final question.<
br />
‘You don’t look comfortable in that hat, Mr Rickman? I hope you didn’t just wear it for our benefit.’
‘Your benefit?’
‘It looks brand new is all.’
‘I like to make the effort for the coppers. Look me up on your system and you’ll see that.’
Maddie did manage a smile now. Harvey was finally done and standing in the door, holding it open for his client.
‘I have, don’t worry,’ she said. She waited for the door to click back closed after they had both left. ‘I need a coffee. And out of here.’
Chapter 25
Kelly halted her quick stride to take the phone out of her pocket. She ran her fingers down the side, over the fresh scrapes that were caused when it had been thrown to the floor next to her. It still worked okay; she’d received a solitary message that had given her a time and a place.
She knew the road well enough. It was not far from Langthorne’s central train station. She opened the message to check the house number. It would be the fourth time she had checked. She pushed the phone back into the inside pocket of her coat and set off again. She walked past a walk-in hospital on her right and a pond with some hardy anglers and waddling ducks to her left. The sunlight was freckled on the wide pavement through tall, mature trees that rose up close to the kerb. She took a left and continued for fifty metres. The house to which she had been summoned came up on the right.
Her first impressions were dominated by its impressive size. It was a large townhouse, as wide as it was tall, with a double-sized front door at the top of some steps. There was a more standard-sized door leading to the basement and, as she got closer, she saw an arrow pointing to the side labelled: Flat C. She moved up the driveway to the steps. Slowed by a sense of foreboding, her foot caught on the first step. It was as if every part of her mind and body was imploring her to turn back. But she couldn’t. She knew that. She’d been given a first-hand demonstration of how few options she had. She checked the message for a final time. There was no mention of a flat number. Even that little problem made her breathing quicken and the knot in her stomach contracted so tightly that she felt like she might be sick then and there.
‘You’re early!’ Benny’s voice called out from below. She looked down to see him at the foot of the steps peering up. His face had the familiar sneer that she had come to despise so much and he was pointing towards the lower door.
She walked back down and followed his instructions in silence. The door hung open, exposing a hallway that was decorated in a way that might have been welcoming in another context: earthy colours and a carpet thick enough for her to feel the give through her shoes. It smelled new, too. There were pictures on the walls that all seemed to be seaside references. It had the feeling of someone’s home. She didn’t quite know what to make of that. She slowed, waiting for an instruction.
‘The door to the right,’ Benny said.
She did what she was told. The door opened up to a living room. The carpet was the same in there. The walls looked freshly painted and there were more homely touches. She couldn’t see anything too personal, no pictures of actual people on the wall. The living room was long and narrow. The far end had a large window but there was a clear line of daylight two-thirds up to remind her she was in the basement. In front of that and pointing back out into the room was a camera on a familiar-looking tripod. The usual laptop was over to the right. The sofas were arranged so that the longer one was in front of where the camera was pointing while the shorter one, a double seater, was pushed out of the way entirely. The lighting was set up but the rig was scaled down. There was another monitor too. She hadn’t seen that before. Benny seemed to make a beeline for it. The screen flashed white when he turned it on and he turned his leering smile towards her.
‘He’s on his way.’
Kelly knew what that meant. She felt her heart quicken and her chest tighten at the same time. Those few words pushed her closer to a panic attack. She shouldn’t have come here. She should have gone to the police, not cared about the other people who might have got hurt. She needed to look after herself.
It was too late now.
She heard a noise behind her, the door pushing open. She didn’t turn to it. She didn’t have to. She already knew who it was.
Freddie swept in front of her. His attention seemed forward as if he was looking towards Benny or the screens. He carried what looked like a tradesman’s bag, the sort that carried tools and opened out. He turned so that he was facing her and dropped the bag onto the soft carpet. It made a metallic thud and fell open. Kelly waited for him to speak. He stared at her and a few seconds passed.
‘I worked out that there needed to be some changes.’ Freddie’s voice was low, but both more menacing and more assured than she had ever heard before.
‘Changes?’ Kelly had to swallow first, before she could find her voice.
‘You don’t get to speak.’ Freddie’s reply was instant. ‘I took some time to think and it seems you have given me an opportunity. More money — that’s important. But the really important thing is an opportunity for you to understand that you DO NOT cross me.’ His shout was so sudden and laden with such venom it was like a punch in the throat. Then he looked like he was composing himself. He took his time.
‘The bin . . . I . . .’ The words fell out of Kelly’s mouth before she really knew what she wanted to say.
Freddie’s hand flashed down to reach into the bag, he was on her in a few steps and something swung at her while she was frozen to the spot. There was a huge thud next to her. She opened her tightly shut eyes to a hammer embedded in a wooden table beside her, claw end first.
‘I SAID . . . you don’t get to speak unless I ask you a question. The next time I don’t miss. Do you understand?’
Kelly’s gaze lingered on the hammer, her mouth filling quickly with saliva as if she was going to be sick. She turned away and heaved but nothing came up. She couldn’t swallow; her throat was too tight. She spat in a tissue. Freddie seemed satisfied. He walked back to the monitor, leaving the hammer in place. Kelly took a step away from it. Freddie moved to the shorter sofa that had been pushed back against the wall. He sat straight, adjusting his clothing so it wouldn’t crease, his back rigid as if he had been told to sit up by a headmaster. He stared forward, breathing deeply like he was trying to calm himself down.
Finally he stood back up. ‘This is all you need to worry about from now on.’ Freddie walked the length of the living room to gesture at the monitor. Kelly was too far away to make it out and she was struggling to focus. ‘Come over here,’ Freddie growled. ‘I need to show you.’
She moved forward, each step heavier than the next. She stopped when she was close enough to see the monitor, chancing a look to the left where Benny stared at her, his face still twisted into a sneer.
‘Closer.’ Freddie almost whispered.
She shuffled forward. She could make it out now — all of it. The monitor was divided into four different camera images. The top left showed a live feed of her and the two men, angled down from one of the corners of the room. She looked up and couldn’t see it immediately. It didn’t matter anyway. She could see the movement of her head on the screen with only a second of lag. Next to that was the view from a camera set up under the window and focused on the long sofa. The bottom left screen showed a different room entirely. It was similar to the one Kelly was in but the furnishing was different. The view was also towards a sofa and there was an elevated view with a wider angle of a carpeted area.
‘What is this?’ Kelly whispered. Even as she spoke there was movement in the images on the bottom row. She leaned in a little. A female figure walked in and stopped near the sofa. She looked tiny, she was shivering and she kept looking over her shoulder as if there was someone behind her. It was Libby.
‘What is this?’ Kelly said louder. The blow came as she turned towards Freddie. It caught her out, knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see a blurred image of Freddie
looming over her, a hammer lifted above his head. She threw up her hands. ‘Okay! Nothing! I say nothing! I get it!’ She shut her eyes firmly, her hands still reaching up, scrabbling in the air.
‘Get the fuck up!’ Freddie hissed. She opened her eyes. He still held the hammer high, his nostrils flared, his stare seeming to have no focus. She did as she was told. Her hand lifted to where her cheek stung.
‘Your little friend never made it to the copper,’ Freddie continued through a clenched jaw. ‘She got damned close. Then we had a little conversation and now she understands. You need to understand the same. You are alive because I have decided you can be. You are now in my debt and I don’t trust you. That means I need to be sure you’re doing as you’re told and that ain’t something you’re good at, now, is it?’
Kelly looked back to the screen. Libby was still standing in the middle of the room shaking her head and facing away as if reacting to a voice behind her. There was a blur of movement and she was grabbed and thrown onto the sofa. Kelly could now see a man with his back to both cameras, gesturing as if agitated. Libby covered her face and pulled up her legs, making her look ever smaller. Freddie moved to obstruct Kelly’s view of the screen. She was frozen to the spot, her hand covering her mouth.
‘I’m only going to give you these instructions once,’ Freddie said, ‘so you need to listen. You will work every day until you pay off your debt. Do you understand?’
Kelly nodded.
‘You will do as you are told. Refuse, and Libby takes your place. Understand?’
Kelly didn’t. She tried to make sense of it. Her mind was fuzzy with confusion. There was a rustle behind her and she turned to see two men fill the doorway. Both stood in their underwear, one of them she recognised from before. Her body sagged. A tear fell and ran onto her bottom lip that was trapped between her teeth.
‘You got what you wanted,’ Freddie continued. He moved to stand next to the monitor, to where Libby had started a wobbly dance for the camera. ‘You wanted her left alone — just a solo dance, you said. You got that. But we have her now and she does whatever you won’t. I got you worked out, just like I had your whore girlfriend. It seems that threatening you — even beating on you or whatever — don’t cut it. A worthless whore knows when they’re a worthless whore. You don’t care what happens to you. We could beat on you all day and it would hardly make your day worse would it? But her . . .’ Freddie gestured at the screen. ‘She still thinks she’s something and she’ll have people that think it, too. It’s gonna take a bit longer to break her down. Look at you, Kell. Who have you got now? Even Holly jumped off a cliff so she didn’t have to be with you no more. I mean I’ve heard of some pretty drastic measures but that takes all the biscuits!’ His snorting laughter cut through her like a scalpel and her eyes leaked more tears. She didn’t even wipe them. ‘No one cares about you. You don’t care about yourself. All you are is a camera whore and we’re going to show it to the world, Kell!’
He Knows Your Secrets Page 21
