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  ‘Look, I’m not over-fussed. Any reduction will be a blessing, but I’ll help you nail those bastards if you can do me a favour, and it’s an urgent one.’

  ‘Well, we have an urgent question to ask you first, and if you can help us on this, then not only will we consider your favour, seriously, but if your answer to our question helps us, then we will have something tangible to give your sentencing judge which should have a significant impact on your outcome,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘You first, then,’ Sadiq said.

  ‘Babik has kidnapped someone. All we know is that it’s a female, and she represents some kind of insurance. Although we don’t think she is under any immediate threat, things can change. Have you any idea who she is, or where Babik might take her?’ Vinnie said.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Babik was glad Susan had come through, she was a serious asset and he hoped they could get more personal at some stage, down the line, when immediate business had been taken care of. Plus, having her on board again would take some of the grief from his shoulders, which he was starting to feel; from one individual in particular. He also had a plan for Susan; he needed to be able to put her back into the cops. They left the pub by taxi and were dropped off around the corner from a row of lock-ups in the Frenchwood area, south of the city centre. Not a million miles from where he’d surfaced from the river. He toyed with the idea of going to the lock-up alone first, but knew Susan was aware of it, so he took her with him. Babik needed to convince himself of her loyalty before he wandered into a further ambush. He kept her close. Human shield if needed, but no one approached them.

  Inside the garage was an old, nondescript, 10-year-old blue Vauxhall saloon. Bonehead used to drive it around the block once a week to keep it ticking over; it was his emergency set of wheels. No one had ever seen him in it and it was registered to a local scrapyard mate of Bonehead’s. And now that he was gone, the trail ended. Clean wheels; a rarity.

  Once away from the garage, he told Susan where they were going, it was another emergency asset, but this time it was an address. One that even Susan wasn’t aware of. It was an end terrace at the close of a short cul-de-sac off London Road in Walton–le-Dale, just south of the River Ribble. It was next door to a boarded-up address and opposite a further two boarded-up houses of the same appearance. It wasn’t just the cops who had safe houses.

  It only took five minutes to drive there and once inside — via the back door — Babik nodded at the large, middle-aged man with a prison inmate’s complexion seated in the kitchen. Another emergency asset that Susan knew nothing of. Babik introduced Susan without explanation or informing her of Bob’s name. Then asked, ‘How’s she been?’

  ‘Fed, watered and re-gagged. No dramas, boss,’ Bob answered.

  ‘Watch out the back while we have a chat. Susan, follow me,’ he said.

  In the upstairs bedroom he had to wait for a couple of seconds, for his eyes to attune to the darkness. Cardboard covered the window and he had no intention of turning the electric light on. Laid on a filthy mattress on the floor was the woman. Her hands were tied in front on her and her ankles were also tied, but with some slack. Bob was all heart.

  Babik ripped the gaffer tape from her mouth and the woman yelped, before spitting, ‘Bastard!’

  ‘It’s the least painful way of removing the tape, believe me,’ he said. He realised that Susan was standing, almost hiding, behind him. He wasn’t sure what she thought he was about to do. ‘Look, it’s not personal. Just a bit of insurance.’

  ‘Well, it certainly feels personal; you’ve kept me for days without any explanation. You’ve moved me twice, and for what?’ she said. ‘What on God’s earth have I done to you?’

  ‘Like I say, it’s just insurance, and as soon as I can release you, believe me, I will.’

  ‘Insurance? What does that even mean?’ But before he could answer, she carried on. ‘Who’s that behind you? Oh God, I saw her at the first house. That’s it, you’ve come to kill me, I’ve seen your faces, look please—’

  ‘Stop! No one is going to kill anyone. Once we know that everything is sweet you will be released. And we are almost there,’ Babik said.

  ‘Please, I don’t understand.’

  ‘Listen Mrs Sadiq, we just need to know that your husband is keeping his mouth shut and all will be fine.’ Babik could see a look of genuine surprise on the woman’s face. ‘What, you believed his bullshit that he was just helping an old friend with some house stuff? That he would never have got involved with such business normally, that it was a one off?’ Babik enjoyed seeing her eyes widen even more.

  ‘But…’ she started to say something, but didn’t finish.

  ‘You still thought he worked at a cousin’s jeans factory, didn’t you?’

  The woman nodded.

  ‘He worked for me, and he’s helped traffic many people, mainly women, into the UK. He’s not the man you think he is. Now as soon as he’s been sentenced, I’ll know whether he’s kept his mouth shut or not, and as long as he does, you’ll be free to go.’

  ‘How will you know?’ she asked.

  ‘A legal friend of mine has told me what sentence he expects your husband to receive, plus I have plenty of friends on the inside.’

  ‘How do you know I won’t tell?’ the woman asked.

  Babik thought it was a dangerous question to ask, almost foolish, then he saw the fear in her eyes and realised that the question had been instinctive. ‘He knows that I can get to you whenever I want, so as long as he does his time with no problems, you will be safe. More than that, I’ll make sure you are taken care of. But remember, I can get to either of you at any time I choose.’

  ‘I don’t want your money. Anyhow, how can he know that you have me here?’

  ‘Suit yourself, but trust me, he’ll know, if he doesn’t already. Now, I have told you all this so that you can behave. You know in a day or two, you will be free and unharmed once your husband has been sentenced. Like I said, it’s not personal, you are just insurance.’

  ‘But if he doesn’t know I’m here, how can you be so sure he has not already said something?’

  Another stupid question, Babik thought, before he answered. ‘He was certainly considering it, which is why you’re here, but you’ll be glad to know he saw the light.’

  ‘How can you know?’ she repeated.

  Babik wondered how many more stupid questions she was going to ask. It was as well for her that he’d already decided not to harm her. He sighed before responding. ‘Because I know he eventually told the cops to get lost before he could have possibly known about you. All bodes well, so relax. Just so long as hubby doesn’t have a further change of heart.’

  Babik turned to leave. He knew the last remark was a bit cruel, but it wouldn’t hurt to leave a little fear in Mrs Sadiq’s heart.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ‘Looks like we want the same thing,’ Mohammed Sadiq said.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘The woman you are seeking is called Amal, in her late thirties and comes from Preston.’

  ‘How do you know this?’ Vinnie said, as his concern grew.

  ‘Her second name is Sadiq. She’s my wife.’

  Vinnie hadn’t seen that coming. He was starting to understand Sadiq’s change of attitude. ‘But why?’ he asked. Then Sadiq told them. Told them in abridged form what he used to do for Babik — he certainly knew enough to bury him — and that he’d been told she would be released unharmed if he kept his mouth shut.

  ‘Who told you this?’ Harry asked.

  But Sadiq ignored the question and continued. ‘You’ll see now that I’m not bothered if I only get a small reduction in sentence. Anything too big would set alarm bells ringing. I have to put Amal first. Then, when she’s safe, I’ll help you nail that bastard.’

  Vinnie could now see how they could make this work. Maybe, after Sadiq had given evidence down the road at Babik’s trial, he might even have grounds to a
ppeal his sentence and get it reduced further. He voiced as much.

  ‘Look, if that happens, great, but my main worry now is Amal.’

  Harry repeated his question.

  ‘I know, because my fears about my brief were accurate.’

  ‘Go on,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Because my solicitor, Mr Grant Fletcher, passed on the message.’

  Vinnie instinctively glanced at Harry and could see his arm start to move towards his head. He turned back to face Sadiq. ‘So, to be clear, you are telling us that your solicitor, a certain Grant Fletcher, told you that your wife had been kidnapped by Babik to ensure you kept your mouth shut?’

  ‘In one. That’s obviously why he was all over me when I first said I wanted to trade.’

  ‘And why you had to blank us in front of the screw,’ Vinnie said.

  Sadiq nodded, then Harry spoke. ‘Christ, bent screw, bent cop, bent brief; what the hell is going on?’

  ‘That’s why I didn’t want local officers to come and see me; I never thought my own brief was on the payroll, but it makes even more sense now,’ Sadiq said.

  ‘More sense?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘He always was very well informed about just about everything.’

  ‘And you’ll give evidence against Fletcher, too?’ Harry asked.

  Sadiq didn’t answer, and Vinnie could see fear return in his eyes.

  ‘I’m sure that would help any appeal on sentence application,’ Harry added.

  Sadiq still didn’t answer, though he looked like he wanted to.

  ‘I’ve got an idea,’ Vinnie continued. ‘You give us three separate statements, one about Babik, one about Grady and one about Fletcher, but leave them all unsigned. You get sentenced as soon as we can arrange it, and once your wife is free, you can sign them then. We’ll also make sure the judge is made aware.’

  ‘I think I’d rather just get a normal sentence, unless you find Amal first. Then, I’ll write and sign everything.’

  ‘Any idea where she will be?’ Vinnie asked, but Sadiq said he didn’t know. He said it would obviously be somewhere he didn’t know about, now that he’d been told, but reckoned it would still be somewhere local. Vinnie asked him when he’d received the hard word from Fletcher.

  ‘Yesterday. About an hour prior to your visit I had an unscheduled legal visit from the bastard. I wanted to do him there and then, but knew I had to keep my cool. I’m just so glad you manged to produce me over here so quickly. And on that, the sooner you can get me back to prison, the better it will look.’

  ‘We can go one better that that,’ Vinnie said. ‘We can give you a fake charge sheet with a fake court date on it. One which is a long time into the future. When this current mess is sorted out we can say that “CPS have ceased proceedings due to fresh evidence” or something else that’s plausible.’

  ‘Deal,’ Sadiq said.

  *

  Thirty minutes later Vinnie had knocked up a fake charge sheet, saying that Sadiq had assaulted someone a while ago. Vinnie explained that it would be easier to have that sort of case ‘dropped’. They could say that the aggrieved, who had not been badly hurt, had decided to withdraw their complaint, and with no supporting evidence to prove the offence the CPS had been forced to drop charges. It would also help Sadiq enhance his own credibility inside, as he could claim that the aggrieved had been ‘got at’.

  That done, Vinnie arranged for Sadiq to be transferred back to HMP Preston as soon as was practicable, and they would arrange for him to be sentenced as soon as the courts could manage it. Harry was on with the latter. Vinnie walked back from the cells to the SIOs’ office as Harry was just ending a phone call.

  ‘All done downstairs?’ Harry asked.

  ‘All done, no problems. How have you got on?’

  ‘I’ve spoken to listings and we can get Sadiq in for sentence the day after tomorrow. The judge has left a note on the file that he wants an update from us first.’

  Vinnie expected this, but wondered just how much they should tell the judge, and said so.

  ‘We’ll have to tell CPS everything and take advice, I suspect we can get away with giving him a broad outline of what is being offered. After all, Sadiq’s not actually done or given anything yet.’

  ‘That might make it even easier for the judge,’ Vinnie said. Harry nodded. Then Vinnie added, ‘What about the bent brief bit?’

  ‘We’ll have to tell him so that he can instruct the defence barrister to treat Fletcher with the utmost caution. He’ll not be best pleased with that part of it,’ Harry said.

  Vinnie knew what he meant. It was one thing having the occasional bent cop or prison officer, but judges always liked to think that officers of the court such as solicitors and barristers were above corruption. It always jarred heavily with them when the exception occasionally ruled. ‘But look on the plus side,’ Vinnie said.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Harry asked.

  ‘It means I’ve not misled the judge at our earlier meeting with him, after all.’

  ‘That’s lied, not misled. You are one lucky sod,’ Harry said. ‘I think we should move on from that, don’t you?’

  Vinnie didn’t answer.

  ‘So next, where the hell is DS Susan Grady, and what the hell do we make of her now?’

  Vinnie didn’t answer. He’d absolutely no idea how to. Then his phone rang. It was Grady. He answered with, ‘Where the hell are you?’ before miming her surname to Harry, who nodded his understanding.

  ‘Back at home now, and on my own, but not for long,’ Grady answered.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘It means Babik has dropped me off so I can have a shower and collect some clean clothes.’

  ‘Going anywhere nice?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Look, I know how this can seem, but you’ve got to trust me.’

  ‘You don’t make that an easy thing to do. With or without a tracker.’

  ‘I know, and I’m sorry about that, but I’ve got Babik’s trust now so I can’t risk that. I don’t think I’d get another chance if his suspicions were raised.’

  ‘Not sure if you remember the operational objectives or not? Find and free the kidnapped woman, then arrest Babik.’ Vinnie nearly used the woman’s name, Amal, but managed to stop himself. He didn’t trust Grady and she would wonder how he knew.

  ‘You mean Amal Sadiq,’ Grady said. Vinnie was shocked.

  ‘If that’s her name? But how …’ he started to say.

  ‘Because I’ve seen her and she’s fit and well. A little frightened, obviously, but otherwise ok. Her husband is Mohammed Sadiq, who has just been convicted of running one of Babik’s brothels, and as soon as he is sentenced Babik will release her unharmed. As long as he keeps his mouth shut. I was wondering if you could check to see if anyone is talking to him from our side?’

  I bet you would love to know, Vinnie thought, and also wondered what ‘our side’ actually meant. ‘Harry and I were asked to have a word but he told us where to go. In fact, I think he is to face extra charges for not cooperating.’ He could see Harry’s eyebrows rise as he spoke. But working off the cuff, he reckoned whatever he said would get straight back to Babik through this bent bitch, and it gave him an opportunity to cement Sadiq’s cover story. ‘You’ve not answered my question,’ he added.

  ‘What about?’

  Vinnie had to dig deep to control his rising anger before he carried on. ‘If you’ve seen Amal, or whatever her name is, tell us where she is and we can free her. No need to await her husband’s sentencing, then we can nab Babik too.’

  ‘Too dangerous, but she is local, and as I say, unharmed.’

  ‘Dangerous, why?’ Vinnie asked.

  ‘When Babik took me to see her, there was one of his goons there, but he has no idea who the woman he’s guarding is. If I give you the address and you send a team in, he’ll know it will have come from me.’

  ‘How will that matter, if we nick him straight after we have freed her? The first he’l
l know about it is when we tell him, after we have jumped all over him,’ Vinnie said.

  Grady didn’t answer straight away. Vinnie could almost hear her thinking. He had her in a corner; she’d no plausible answer. Well, none if she was a genuine undercover officer, which he now knew beyond doubt that she was not. He was as sure as could be that she had simply rung in to try and find out if Sadiq was talking or not.

  ‘Well?’ Vinnie said, filling the silence.

  ‘How were you going to get your hands on him?’ she asked, ignoring the question.

  ‘Simple. You give me the address, we free the hostage and then you tell us when Babik turns up and we nick him.’

  ‘I can’t tell you where she is because I can’t let you nick Babik yet. I need to stay undercover with him a while longer.’

  ‘What the hell for?’ Vinnie’s anger exploded into his phone.

  ‘There are secondary objectives you are unaware of,’ she said.

  ‘Utter bollocks! If you want to prove to us that you are not some rotten rogue slime ball that has leapt into bed with Babik, then tell us where the woman is, now. That’s an order.’

  ‘I can’t. Look, I’ll make sure that Amal is well looked after, and if Babik doesn’t release her as soon as her husband is sentenced, I’ll find a way to let you know where she is. Irrespective of the secondary objectives. Sorry, got to go.’ Then the line went dead.

  Vinnie couldn’t help but notice the hypocrisy of her last remark. A point Harry picked up on after Vinnie quickly briefed him on what she had said.

  ‘So, it’s too dangerous to tell us where Amal is, but if Babik breaks his word it suddenly won’t be. As if?’ Harry said.

  Vinnie grabbed from his desk the keys to the CID car he’d borrowed, and said, ‘If we are quick, Harry, we can get to her address before Babik turns up, it’s only around the corner.’

  Harry nodded and followed Vinnie quickly out of their office. Vinnie could hear Harry on the radio as they rushed to their car, summoning up the nearest ARV to make to a street next to Grady’s address and to await further instructions. And to do so quickly, but quietly.