Never Back Down

by Solomon Carter

  “Must be a difficult line of work,” said Eva.

  “Is that the best line you can come up with? Don’t try and empathise with me on this. You haven’t got a bloody clue, love.”

  “I’m just saying, that’s all.”

  “That’s right, you’re just saying. So what do you want from me?”

  Eva sent Jess to the bar with a twenty, so as to absorb the male attention for a moment.

  “You saw Dan Bradley yesterday, didn’t you?”

  “No. I didn’t.”

  “He saw you. And now he’s gone missing. He’s been gone almost twenty-four hours, his car left abandoned at a petrol station on the A127. It looks as if he’s been kidnapped, and as it stands right now it could be any one of three different parties.”

  Laura’s face flickered with different emotions. She saw some sadness, some worry or fear, and then a resolve forcing her eyes to become hard and glassy again, a poker face.

  “Do you love him, Laura?”

  Her face flickered before a bitter smile took control. “Ha! That’s a joke. Am I cramping your style? Jealous of a whore, are you?”

  “Don’t be like that, Laura. This is about Dan Bradley. He’s in serious danger.”

  “And so am I every night, every bloody night!”

  “Laura. I don’t know how long he’s got.”

  “I shouldn’t even be seen with you. Yet here I am, stupid bloody cow, being seen with you in a pub like this. They’ll find out, you know, and then I’m in another load of trouble. But you won’t bloody care, will you? Because all I am is a stepping-stone. Like I was for Dan, and every other bastard I meet.”

  “Don’t make this about me, think about Dan. You liked him, didn’t you? You did at least like him?”

  “I knew him for a year. I saw him almost every day for a year too, well maybe not every day, but almost every day when The Refuge was open, and sometimes outside of it. Of course we became friends. He even tried looking out for me. I didn’t believe he could look after himself, let alone me, until I saw him in a scrap. For a skinny sort he was pretty tough. Good looking guy, ain’t he?” she said guardedly, her eyes glinting with light from the bar.

  “He has some natural looks, in a certain way.”

  “He’s hooked on you. Got it bad I reckon. He didn’t ever talk about you much, but when we saw you up by The Refuge I knew he was into you more than he’d ever be into me. I could see that in a second.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true. Dan’s mainly got a thing for himself. I know he cares about you. He asked me to keep an eye on you. He was worried about the Mitkins. He thought they were beating you, and the Somalis too.”

  Laura withdrew from the table and folded her arms as Jess laid a tall glass of white wine in front of her.

  “They look after me fine. Lee looks after me.”

  Ah, yes. She’d heard about how Lee looked after her.

  “Do you love Lee Mitkin?”

  “When he’s not hitting me and sending me out to fuck strangers in cars, or using me as a disposable shag? Yeah, he’s great, a real honey. On the good side, he keeps me alive, and stops those African guys from making things even worse.”

  “Are they bad?”

  “You don’t know how bad. And it’s not because they’re black. So don’t go getting all bloody judgemental on me. I have known Africans, even a couple of Somalis in my time, but nothing like this lot. These bastards don’t care at all. I know what they can do because I’ve seen it in action. They are the worst kind of evil. They kill each other, let alone anyone else. And prostitutes… they don’t value a working girl more than a condom.”

  “If there was a way I could help, I would, Laura.”

  “Well actually, you can. After this drink you can leave me alone and never speak to me ever again.”

  Jess piped up, frustrated by Laura’s offensive approach, “Laura. Dan was outside the house when you and Lee Mitkin were doing the Jolly Roger, and then he came to see me. And after that, he disappeared. You basically sold him out to Lee Mitkin. Dan heard you totally write him off.”

  Laura shook her head, her mouth open, dumbfounded. “Then Dan broke into his car? Dan heard us?”

  “Yes,” said Jess. “I think he was upset. He was probably jealous.”

  “Jealous?”

  “He was looking out for you again, like he always did, then he heard you two. That’s the way I read it.”

  “Oh… shit. I always just say stuff to keep Lee sweet. You don’t know how it is with them. The Mitkins are a bit like good cop, bad cop, except there is no good cop. There’s just bad cop and really bad cop. Lee is a nasty piece of work, and Rob is cold. They are nasty people. I have to play their game or be like the rest of those tarts who end up looking like burnt-out ninety-year-olds from crack and heroin, with veins full of HIV. I have to play the game. Dan shouldn’t have been there, the silly sod. What he did to that car got Lee the maddest I’ve seen him in years. He went out carrying a gun, running around the roads near the flat, for nearly half an hour.”

  Eva played it cool, but she gulped. What was a novelty shaped stun-gun going to do against a real weapon?

  “You really think he was looking out for me?”

  Eva nodded.

  “I thought he was smitten with you.”

  “You really think he digs me that much?”

  Jess nodded with conviction and added, “For sure,” in a way that told Eva she was bullshitting and wanted Eva to know it. Eva almost smiled.

  “Look. I don’t know what’s going on here. I don’t know who kidnapped Dan, but those two bastards were on about him being the latest one, whatever that meant. The latest one to push too hard, the latest to keep playing with fire… They’d already been keeping an eye on him for months, but they did that with quite a few supposed tough guys in the area. They have to watch in case anyone fancies putting together their own little mob to take them on. And on the other hand, I know they have something going on with the Gypsy mob and Gillespie. I know that, I heard it. But Rob - well, Rob could be up to anything. He’s not been round so much lately – not the last couple of months. Says he’s moving up the chain, preparing to grow the business. That’s what Rob and Lee always talk about, the people snapping at their heels, and the plans to grow the business, like it’s a bloody mobile phone shop or something. They are just hoods. But both of them are ambitious hoods. That’s all I know.”

  “Do you think this Gillespie could be responsible for Dan’s kidnapping? Or do you think it could just be Rob or Lee?”

  “They don’t know a thing. They called me up about it. Lee’s been on my case, asking about him, asking where he was. It was clear Rob didn’t know either.”

  Jess nodded. They exchanged a glance. Gillespie was back in the frame again. But Marka couldn’t be ruled out either.

  Laura gulped her wine and let go of a small sob.

  “I didn’t think he liked me at all. We’ve never even been together, you know, not like that. We barely kissed once. I wanted to, but he was supposed to make the move. I thought it was because I was a working girl, but I suppose he was… trying to play the gent, wasn’t he? The silly bastard.” A tear broke through the mascara and slid down her face. She caught it with her finger and dabbed it away, pulling herself together with a sniff.

  “Is there anything else… anything you can tell us, anything at all, Laura?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve got to go. They’ll be looking for me soon, making sure I am on my rounds.”

  “Where are they?” asked Jess.

  “They’ve gone with a couple of the Somali boys. To a meeting, they said.”

  Jess and Eva’s eyes met again.

  “Do you know anything about this meeting?”

  “No. But it must have been important because they don’t do meetings together, not Lee and Rob, and those Somali boys. That’s a one in a million.”

  “Something big?” said Jess.

  “Yes.”

  “
Is there anything you can think of… it could seem random to you, not remotely useful. Just throw it to us.”

  Laura stood up and downed her drink. A room of male eyes turned towards her.

  “I’m going. I hope you find him. I really do.”

  Eva stood. “Is there anything else? Think.”

  Laura’s dark eyes met hers. She hesitated and then whispered, “Money. There’s much more money around.” She waited.

  “Go on,” said Eva.

  “They bought some new properties about six months back… now they are always buying properties, and selling them. And cars, they’ve been going through new cars like a dose of salts lately.”

  “Thanks, that’s good,” said Jess, with encouragement, scribbling away in her jotter.

  “And Rob has been having more and more meetings lately, more time apart from Lee than he used to. He always was a snotty bastard, but he’s acting colder with Lee lately. Not that Lee would notice. He’s too dense for that. That’s it. That’s all I got.”

  “The properties. Do they have staff? You know, a manager.”

  “The Turk. Engay, that’s it.”

  Eva nodded and let Jess know she knew who he was with a glance. Eva took Engay’s address, assuring Laura she wouldn’t let on where she got the info. Then Laura was gone.

  “That glass of wine was worth it, even at these prices,” said Jess.

  “But are we getting nearer or just more confused? – there are so many strands of information,” said Eva.

  Jess looked at her pad.

  Eva gulped her white wine down and looked around.

  “Come on. Let’s go and visit this Engay bloke before any of these heroes try and pick us up.”

  “Yuck,” said Jess, knocking back her rum and coke in one sweet hit.

  And as they walked out and left the world of men, sport screens and beer behind them, a few thoughts pinged around Eva’s mind. Dan hasn’t slept with Laura. She then told herself she couldn’t care less what Dan Bradley did with his private parts. But it was a fact all the same.

  It didn’t take long to track down Engay the Turk. He was standing outside one of the properties said to be owned by the Mitkins by one of the noisier drunks loitering nearby. These were the tall and narrow terraced houses near Westcliff station. They had once been grand, owned by people who could afford to care for them. Nowadays many were owned by landlords in the same league as the Mitkins, criminal or not, who drained money from the various victims they housed in small single rooms. Eva had initially thought Engay was a scum landlord himself, but Engay had just been the front man, a kind of manager of the sites. If the story-telling drunk down the road was to be believed, Engay was a busy man these days. New ‘homes’ like these were sprouting up all over the urban sprawls of Westcliff and Southchurch, areas which had both seen better days. Westcliff still had patches jammed with wealth, reinforced by commuter-belt money from the working men and women who packed the trains to the city each morning. There were pockets of trimmed and tidy roads next to pockets of decay and obvious crime. Westcliff was an enigma, charming and punkish all at the same time. Tonight Engay was arguing again, arms waving at a small feisty little man in a bomber jacket, whom Engay was berating about late rent. The small guy saw Eva and Jess approaching, and nodded towards them to re-direct Engay’s attention. A moment later, Engay turned around 180 degrees to see who was approaching. What Engay saw was an odd couple, in skirts which finished above the knee, and these women were relatively glamorous. Engay’s attention was held long enough for the tricky little man in the bomber to escape, promising to “drop the rent money in tomorrow, mate.” Engay cussed loudly and shook his head as the man made off. He spoke to Eva and Jess as they reached him. “This guy, he wants me to break his head. I don’t want to, but what can I do? They make a monkey out of me.” He had a thick Turkish accent and his speech was broken. He had a thick monobrow, and a serious face with a big square jaw.

  “What do you want, ladies? Is this house business, or council business? If so, please call tomorrow.” He shrugged at them and turned away.

  “Excuse me. Do I look like I work for the council?” said Jess incredulous.

  Engay turned back. “No. You look like TV extras from a comedy.”

  “From the council to Hollywood in ten seconds,” said Jess.

  Eva smiled but started on him quickly. A clock was counting down in her mind. “Mr Engay. Dan Bradley was one of your tenants until you evicted him last week. He told me you kept his stuff. What was your reason?”

  “The reason? The man was a trouble-maker. Trying to be a hero in front of the tenants.” Yep. That sounded like Dan all right. “He thinks all wrong. A few years ago, people had rights, but not now. Tenants do what we say or they go. Money talks. Whether you are the government or a private landlord, everyone lives by the bottom line. Rights don’t exist.”

  “You kept his things.”

  “He owed rent. I wanted to get the money I was owed. But there wasn’t anything of value in that bag. It was rubbish, so I kept it to teach him a lesson.”

  “Moral lessons from a slum landlord. Do you know any other tricks?” said Jess.

  Engay screwed up his face as if he was going to spit at Jess, but he held it in his mouth. Eva remembered Engay had used Laura as a punch bag, as the raw anger on his face reminded her.

  “The man had his benefits stopped. He was not paying me.” He shrugged again. Engay liked shrugging.

  “Do you know why?” asked Eva.

  “Because, because, because. It happens all the time. They stop him, they stop her. They don’t need a reason anymore. Like I tell you, there are no rights anymore. Rights are history, along with everything else that costs money.”

  If someone had been able to rig Dan’s benefits, it was very likely under the cover of the government campaign against the work-shy. She had read bits and pieces about it. They called such penalties ‘sanctions’ and just as the Turk was saying, the penalties were often indiscriminate and unfair. Trying to locate foul play against Dan by the Job Centre was going to be a pure waste of time. Mentally, Eva closed the door on that, and moved on.

  “So, do you work for Lee Mitkin or Rob Mitkin,” said Eva, not giving him much avenue for manoeuvre.

  “Who are you? What is this about?”

  “I am Eva Roberts and this is Jess. I am a private consultant looking into some of Dan’s affairs.” At this point it paid to be vague. Consultant covered everything, and it sounded independent and non-threatening.

  “Call my office tomorrow if necessary.”

  “It is necessary, Mr Engay. But I can’t wait until tomorrow. Dan Bradley went missing yesterday night, and we think he was kidnapped.”

  Engay’s face changed twice over, like his head was a Rubik Cube. Eva tried to read him, but apart from aggressive and unfriendly, there wasn’t a whole lot to read. “What do you want with me? I keep his bag, not the man.”

  “We know. But we need to push every door until we find a lead on this. This is very serious business, Mr Engay.”

  “Look. The man was loud, rude and thought he could best me. He had enemies. A few people wanted to stamp him into the ground. He liked pushing my buttons, you understand?”

  “From the look of your temper, anyone could do that,” said Jess.

  “This girl, she needs her mouth zipped up. I will zip it for her if she mocks me again.”

  “Don’t threaten us, Mr Engay,” said Eva, annoyed at Jess for closing him up for further questioning right in front of her eyes.

  “I don’t threaten, I tell. You leave me alone, you are making me upset. Now. You want to ask me about a room, I talk. Unless you want a room or some romance, leave me alone and don’t come back.”

  “How come all these properties are being bought, Mr Engay? Where is all the money coming from?”

  Engay was already walking away down the street. Down the road an Audi’s indicator lights flashed as he pressed the door key.

  “
How are the Mitkins able to buy so much property?”

  He grabbed the Audi door. He was a silhouette against a street lamp glow.

  “You ask too much about the Mitkins. You have a problem? Maybe they are my own places. Or maybe I work for more than just two guys, huh?”

  Eva chewed over the varied lies in his words.

  “I’m going to let the Mitkins know about you. They like talking to nice girls like you. Especially you,” he said, indicating Jess with an outstretched finger. He closed the door and his car engine roared to life. A moment later his tail lights zoomed into the distance along Station Road, and Eva pondered. Who else could be in on this? Laura had almost told her the Mitkins were involved with Dan’s disappearance, but she didn’t know who they were working with apart from the Somalis. Were they in with Gillespie? Or was it the Russian? The odds said Gillespie, but nothing was certain. It could have been the Mitkins alone, but not with this new money on the scene. They were working with others – there was the money, the Somalis, which as far as Eva could tell was like doing a deal with the devil, and then there was Engay’s attempt to get them off the Mitkin’s backs. But the way he said there could be others involved sounded truer than Engay would have intended. So, either the Mitkin property boom was because of a surge in the evergreen drug market, or they were forming a syndicate which could afford a property portfolio. In any case, a syndicate which included the Mitkins, slum landlords and the Somalis was not a gang to be taken lightly. And now the Mitkins would be alerted to their investigations. Eva’s body stiffened in the cold, with just a little fear, and a bit of anger. Day one was almost gone, and Dan would be out there somewhere wondering if he was going to survive. The only advance they had made today had come from Laura.

  We have to rule the Mitkins in - they are involved in Dan’s disappearance, she underlined the thought in her head. They had the motive from the disappearing drug money, and already had spats with Dan. Dan knew they were after him. Laura had confirmed it in a roundabout way. The Mitkins were ruled in, and that was as good as it got so far. If the Mitkins were in, it probably meant she would have to encounter the Somalis, and whoever else was behind them who had the money to snap up Southend property like Smarties.