Heading towards the lounge, I can hear the television and I pause before knocking lightly and pushing the door open. Sophia is on the leather couch, her legs drawn up next to her, holding a mug. She’s wearing clean jeans and a loose powder blue jumper, her hair pulled back into a thin tail at the nape of her neck.
I search her face quickly. She looks much better, some colour in her thin cheeks. Her eyes are clear and although still troubled, no longer hold the look of blind panic that was sitting in them. She does feel safe here.
As soon as she sees me, she puts the mug onto the low coffee table and clicks off the television. She gets to her feet as I walk over, Shona coming in behind me with my abandoned brew and I thank her. She closes the door behind her and when Sophia reaches me, she pulls me into a quick hug.
I’m not really a hugger, not unless I know the person well, but my arms go around her immediately. This poor woman has been starved of so much human comfort, even the basics that she needs to survive, she’s been through so much.
She keeps hold of my hand as we both sit down on the sofa and I pick up my coffee, dropping my bag at the side of me. I take a sip, grinning at her now.
‘You look loads better!’ I exclaim and for the first time, I see a smile from her. Despite Tony’s flying fists and feet, as she described him, she still thankfully has all her teeth and they’re lovely, small and white.
‘I can’t thank you enough, Pearl,’ she starts, picking up her own coffee and sipping it. ‘Justin came to see me yesterday, he talked to me for nearly three hours.’ I give her a soft smile, resisting rolling my eyes as I see the thread of want in hers, despite her desperate situation.
‘He’s wonderful, isn’t he?’ I say and she nods.
‘He really is,’ she replies wistfully. ‘He said that I can stay here until he can make arrangements for me go somewhere permanently, outside of the city. Start a new life.’ She shakes her head in confusion. ‘Everyone’s been so kind to me, I…’
‘Sophia.’ I squeeze her hand. ‘Do you feel up to telling me a bit more about what’s happened to you?’
There’s a bloated pause as she considers my question and she’s chewing the inside of her cheek again. She wants to tell me, I know she does, but I can feel her fear again. The atmosphere has tightened, along with all her muscles, whatever it is that she’s yet to inform me of is going to be painful for her, yet again. She eventually nods, taking her hand gently from mine and picking up her mug again. She wraps her hands around it, as if drawing comfort from the warmth, staring down into it as she gathers her thoughts.
‘I was raped repeatedly by the two men who broke into the house that night, Pearl, but thankfully that’s all they did. They didn’t hurt me, at least not physically,’ she whispers. ‘Tony rocked up the next morning, and when I told him what had happened, he disappeared for three days. I was elated at first, my stupid brain told me that he’d gone to sort them out for violating me, but when he came back, he told me that he’d gone crawling on his belly, begging for more time to pay his debt. He didn’t even mention the rape, he never said another word about it.’
She gives me a ghastly smile. ‘I thought for a few days that I was pregnant Pearl, I was utterly terrified, but thankfully it was a false alarm. Worse was to come though, when the landlord evicted us. The neighbours had made complaints to the council, noise nuisance and Tony’s antisocial behaviour and we were served with a Notice to Quit.’ Her hands are trembling now and she puts the mug down.
‘We ended up on the streets for three nights, and then one of Tony’s new drug dealing mates offered us the box-room at his house, on the say so that Tony became a runner and general gofer for his boss.’ Her mouth twists in disgust now. ‘As usual, the stupid bastard fucked that up within ten days and he’d snorted another shitload of coke that he had no money to pay for.’
She leans back against the leather now, closing her eyes slowly, remembering. She keeps them closed when she speaks again.
‘One night a week later, we were asleep in the single bed at Garry’s house and were woken up by a bloke sticking a gun in Tony’s face. There were two more downstairs and they dragged us out of the back of the house and threw us both into a Transit van.’ Her eyes blink open. ‘I was absolutely terrified, Pearl. They took us into an abandoned warehouse and tied Tony to a chair. They…’ she swallows hard. ‘They beat the shit out of him, he was almost unrecognisable. I thought they were going to kill him and Tony obviously did, too. When they started taking off his fingernails with pliers, he couldn’t take anymore and he screamed ‘take her! take the bitch.’’
I feel a thud of horror at her words. The man she’d married, and once loved very much had handed her to monsters to wipe out his two grand cocaine debt. Jesus Christ…
‘It was instantaneous, Pearl. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I was bound and gagged and thrown into the boot of a car. I was kept there for hours and when they dragged me out, it was dark and I was shoved into a house. I had no idea where it is, I still don’t.
I was locked in a room with just a bed and a bucket in the corner. I’ve been there for nearly seven weeks, Pearl. They’ve offered me drugs to try and dull the pain of the sick bastards that they wheel in every day to fuck me, but I’ve resisted. From day one, all I’ve had in my head is escape and there’s no way that I’d have managed it if I’d have been out of my skull on smack.’
She turns to look at me now, her unusual eyes reservoirs with her tears and she gives me a ghastly smile.
‘I accepted the alcohol they offered,’ she admits quietly. ‘I needed it. The men who came to fuck me…’ She gulps, her hand coming up to swipe the tears as they start to drop down her face, ‘…they were sadists, Pearl. Men who are aroused by extreme pain.’ She shakes her head roughly and I can see her slam the lid on the box of memories, she can’t think about them anymore.
‘I was lucky,’ she mutters. ‘I didn’t give them a moment’s trouble and they let their guard down. The security guard left my door unlocked one night after bringing food and when he was upstairs, having a shit, I wriggled out of a broken window and ran like hell. It was dark, I just ran blindly, which is why I don’t have a clue where I was being held. I didn’t think,’ she finishes sadly.
I grind my teeth. I understand completely, but it’s bad news that she doesn’t know. How are we going to find out who’s behind this without something more to go on? Apart from Powell, we have nothing.
I eye her carefully. I have the feeling that she hasn’t told me everything again.
‘I ran into a Petrol Station, hysterical,’ she says. ‘They called Paramedics but I panicked. I couldn’t risk Tony finding me, all hell was about to let loose when they discovered I’d gone and I needed to hide. Before the ambulance arrived, I ran again. I bunked down in an abandoned building for a few nights, did some begging, but got fuck all. It was hunger that made me go to the soup kitchen in the end, I was literally starving and when I was in the queue, Tony came in. I ran like hell but he saw me and chased me, into The Guardian.’
She drops her head. That’s it, her whole awful, heartrending tale and I take her hand again. She’s got her knees up again, her feet on the couch and her forehead touching her legs. She uses this position when she’s feeling vulnerable, she’s reverted to how she was a few days ago and I pang at poking at her like this. But I need to. I need something else, something that I can give to Justin.
‘Sophia, do you know who’s behind this?’
She raises her head wearily and regards me with dead eyes.
‘No, I haven’t got a clue,’ she says. ‘The only people I saw were the guards who brought my food, changed the slop bucket and shoved degenerates in, and they never said anything to me at all.’
But, as I lock with her eyes, I get the impression that she’s lying.
Twenty Eight
I walk quickly down the pavement to my Mini, my sharp eyes scanning the still quiet residential street. Seeing nothing of concern, I
blip the alarm and slide into the leather, starting the engine immediately.
Pulling out onto the road and heading back to The Guardian, my mind churns.
There’s something that Sophia isn’t telling me, I’m convinced of it, but despite another five minutes gentle poking, she wouldn’t be further drawn and I backed off. After all the woman’s been through, I can’t sit there and interrogate her. I’ll try again in a few days.
I approach a junction, moving out onto the road as it’s clear and shove my sunglasses onto my nose. The clouds have parted and the sun’s finally out. I tap my fingers agitatedly on the wheel as I drive, my mind casting me back two years.
Caleb McLeod.
Although his sickening organisation mainly involved the kidnap and trafficking of teens, there’s something about the situation Sophia’s been forced to endure that’s ringing a distant bell. In fact, it’s fucking clanging and as I pull to a stop at a set of red lights, the hairs on the back of my neck stiffen.
Sadists. Men who like sex with a woman in pain beneath them. That’s not the sort of thing you’re going to find from a mainstream prostitute and Sophia was no sex worker. She was a slave, held against her will and forced to fuck sickos.
This has got the dark-web written all over it.
Oh shit.
Like a tidal wave, it hits me. That’s why she was so terrified, not of her rat-faced runt of a husband, but of being dragged back into slavery. If that were ever to happen, she’d probably die in that room. They’d never let their guard down again, and she’d be abused so badly, her body would eventually stop recovering.
My hand comes to my mouth as the lights change and I make a thick sound as my belly hitches. I put my foot down. I need to talk to Justin, and now. I know that this is nothing to do with McLeod, the fucker’s dead, but there’s plenty more perverts out there on the dark-net and it looks like we might have discovered another nest of black vipers.
Sickness swirls as I drive as quickly as I dare without breaking any limits and I’ve broken out into a fine sweat. I thought all this was behind us, we all did, but I can’t ignore this and neither can Justin. It’s not an option, so the first thing we need to do is talk it through.
Parking the car quickly when I get back to The Guardian, I hurry through the lobby and into the admin office. I glance at my watch. It’s mid-morning and I hope he’s not in a counselling session, I won’t be able to disturb him if he is. No exceptions unless in the case of an absolute emergency.
Diane’s on the phone but she nods at me when I cock my head at Justin’s office door, telling me he’s free. I don’t bother knocking, Justin never stands on ceremony around me and he’s finishing a call as I walk into the office. His eyes light up as he sees me and he beckons me over, indicating for me to take a seat.
‘Cheers Dan. Thanks. You sure Holly’s alright with this?’ He nods. ‘Okay, we’ll drop him round tonight then, it’ll save time in the morning.’ Justin looks at me now and winks and I try to keep my expression neutral and not the stressed out mask it wants to slide into. What I’ve heard from Sophia this morning is roaring through my mind like a dark nightmare and I’ve got an awful sense of foreboding suddenly. I shiver. I’ve been so soaked in Carter emotions for the last week, I’ve felt so little of anything else, but icy fingers of fear are now stroking nastily down my spine and I clench my hands, digging my nails into my soft palms.
Stop it! Grow a pair, nothing’s happened yet!
Justin ends the call and hangs up the phone. He leans back in his chair and hikes a brow. I decide to just let him have it.
‘Powell snorted two grands of someone else’s coke up his own nose and sold Sophia to wipe the debt,’ I start. ‘She was kidnapped and has spent the last two months locked in a room and made to fuck sadistic perverts. She escaped and ran to The Guardian.’
Justin’s mouth drops open, his handsome face slapped with shock but then I can see his mind start and within a second his lip’s in his teeth and he’s chewing it, thinking.
‘She has no idea where she was being held, Jus, she legged it at night. I’ve tried poking her, asking her if she knows anything else that might give us a leg-up, but she’s staying tight-lipped.’ I cock my own eyebrow now, running my hand through my long hair in frustration.
‘I’m not buying it, though. There’s something else. I can see it in her eyes, but for whatever reason she can’t tell me yet. I can’t push her too hard.’
Justin’s still said nothing, but he sits forward now, leaning his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers in front of his mouth. He’s miles away.
‘Justin,’ I say and his eyes clear, locking with mine. ‘Powell is not going to let this go. She knows something more, and as such, he’s going to be in deep shit if she spills the beans. I think that we could do with another guard at the house, at least until firm plans can be made to get her out of Liverpool.’
He nods, finally speaking. ‘I agree.’ He looks at me for a long beat. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Pearl.’
Well, at least we’re on the same page. ‘Me too, Jus. But one thing’s for certain. If whoever’s behind this get their hands on that woman ever again, she’ll be begging for death within a week, I can guarantee it.’
Justin’s pupils blow out at my words, his eyes darkening. ‘I mean it, Jus. She didn’t go into any detail as to what they’d done to her, but it’s bad. I know it is.’
‘Fuck!’ he barks, shooting up from his chair now and raking a hand through his blond locks. I look up at him.
‘This isn’t your run-of-the-mill sex, Justin. It’s sadism, and as such, it’s got to be buried on the dark-net.’
‘I know,’ he says, turning and gripping the back of his leather chair. ‘But we’ve fuck all to go on. Dammit!’ He burns me with a look.
‘I understand you can’t push her, but go and speak to her again after the weekend, Pearl. She trusts you, that’s clear – try and get through to her how important it is that she tells us everything, that the things that were being done to her are still being done to other helpless women. See if you can get a name, a place, a weblink, anything…’
I stand up. ‘I will Jus. What are you going to do about Powell?’
‘Nothing,’ he says, scratching his head. ‘I’ve got extra security here and the police are on speed-dial. If he rocks up, and I don’t give a fuck who with, he’ll either leave immediately or be arrested.’ He gives me a cold smile now. ‘Something tells me the last thing this prick wants is to be arrested.’
I give him a relieved smile. There’s no way that Justin would risk the safety of any of his staff, their wellbeing is always a priority for him. I pause as I go to return to my desk but his voice stops me dead in my tracks.
‘Aaron came in before. Does he seem alright to you?’
I drop my head, my shoulders slumped and turn back to face him. I can either lie to him and tell him that I have no idea, or I can tell him the truth. I can never lie to Justin Walker, the man saved my life and it would be the worst possible insult to him after everything he’s done for me.
‘There was a bit of an incident at the pub last night,’ I say, going onto explain to Justin what had occurred when Aaron and Carter came face to face for the first time.
Justin winces. ‘Shit.’
Yes, shit.
There’s very little else to say really, it’s an awkward situation, but I can’t turn Aaron’s evident feelings off like a light-switch. I wish I bloody could, I already miss him as a mate, the knob-head, but I’m still angry with him. He behaved appallingly last night.
‘What are you going to do?’ Justin asks and I shrug.
‘Keep out of his way for a few days, until I calm down for a start. And then, if he doesn’t wind his neck in, I’m not going to see him for an extended period. If he ever speaks to Carter again the way he did last night, I’m likely to assault him.’
Justin gives me a wan smile. ‘Sure you can handle it, Pearl, but you know where I
am if you need anything?’ he says, hiking a brow and I nod, smiling.
‘I will Jus, thanks. It’ll sort itself out, I’m sure.’
I hope it will anyway but Aaron’s got far more to lose than I have. Worst case scenario, and if he really pushed his luck, he could lose his job. I’m part of Justin’s family and Aaron’s an employee, those are the facts.
Justin winks at me. ‘Fancy winding Diane up for five?’ he says wickedly. ‘I could do with a laugh!’
I roll my eyes as he strides past me into the admin office, calling loudly over his shoulder to me, as if finishing a conversation that we’ve been having.
‘…so, you think they’re smart, then?’ he asks me, winking as his head’s over his shoulder. ‘My new skis and salopettes?’ I crease inside with mirth, he sounds so bloody convincing and when Diane hears him, she leans back in her chair, stretching like a cat and she gives him a self-satisfied smirk.
‘Yeah, Jus – they’re great! Cost a fortune as well, didn’t they?’ I say, joining in with this eagerly. I can’t wait for tomorrow, it’s going to be class and I’m determined to get it on video and splatter it all over my own Facebook.
He nods. ‘Yeah, God – they did, but it’s top of the range stuff,’ he says, giving Diane a beaming grin and she shakes her head at him slowly.
‘You’re going to stand out like a sore cock,’ she says tauntingly, looking at me now. ‘He’s got the gear but no idea!’
I snort as Justin looks comically affronted.
‘You think what you like, Wallace. I mean, seriously – how hard can it be?’ He eyes her questioningly and so bloody genuinely even I find myself believing him for a second. I know Justin hasn’t blatantly lied to Diane and told her that he’s never skied in his life – she’s just assumed, never actually asked him and she’s going to make a prize arse out of herself tomorrow.
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