She shook her head. A spark of anger firing within.
‘I
Brady narrowed his eyes at her, clearly not believing her.
‘Don’t you dare turn this on me, Jack! This was a malleable – gullible even – rookie who was desperate to impress you. And what did you do? You took her to bed!’
Brady clenched his fists trying not to react.
‘You shared with her your paranoid, delusional suspicions about Mayor Macmillan and his drug-dealing brother, Ronnie Macmillan, who you claimed procured prostitutes for his politician brother. Young girls, like the ones we try to help off the streets in the West End and down by the quayside in Newcastle. Girls as young as eleven being worked by pimps. But the problem is, Jack, it was all hearsay. Nothing has ever been substantiated against Mayor Macmillan. He has no connection with his brother. Nothing. You should be more careful when it comes to listening to idle gossip. Politics is filled with lies and rumours, all aimed at bringing a man down for the sake of the opposition. Mayor Macmillan has made it very clear that he’s not responsible for his background or the family associated with it. He’s a man who has made good for himself, regardless of the odds stacked against him—’
Brady interrupted her furiously. ‘What the hell has this got to do with Simone being attacked? You’ve already suggested that you think she was targeted by this Nietzschean Brotherhood you were talking about,’ he pointed out accusingly, his eyes dark and threatening.
‘I know exactly what I implied. And I still stand by that – it’s why she’s been branded with the “N”. However, it was a combination of what you had told her about Ronnie Macmillan and the new information she had that he was branching out from drugs into the sex trade.’
‘What new information?’ demanded Brady.
‘I got word from some of the women I deal with about what Ronnie Macmillan was up to. He’s a nasty piece of work and gets a great deal of pleasure out of humiliating and beating up his girls. Likes them to “respect” him, allegedly. Anyway, he’s creating quite a cartel for himself. He has other pimps and drug dealers working hand in hand with him. And he’s buying up a lot of local businesses and unused land—’
‘What for?’ interrupted Brady.
He had no idea that Ronnie Macmillan was capable of running such an empire. Then again, thought Brady, was it really Ronnie Macmillan or was he just the front man? The target if it all went wrong. His brother, Mayor Macmillan, had the brains and the looks in the family, whereas Ronnie had always been the ugly one with a lot of muscle. Too much muscle by the sounds of it.
‘I don’t know,’ answered Claudia uneasily.
She shook her head as she thought about it.
‘It doesn’t make any sense to me … but it’s all kosher. We can’t get him for anything. And believe me, we’ve tried. Which is what I told Simone. But …’ Claudia faltered.
‘What?’ questioned Brady.
‘Well … when Simone contacted me and told me about the Russian girl’s murder and how she had heard talk that two of the men involved with the Brotherhood had moved up North, she wanted to know if I had heard anything.’
‘And had you?’
Claudia nodded reluctantly.
‘Macmillan … Ronnie Macmillan has seemingly got involved with some Eastern European gangsters who deal in sex trafficking.’
‘Since when?’ Brady asked, his mind reeling from the news.
‘Fairly recently. From the intelligence I have, maybe the past two months, even three.’
‘And Simone knew this?’
Claudia nodded.
‘The problem was, Simone was too keen. Too eager. Had something to prove. Whether it was to her old colleagues here at Whitley Bay station or even you, I don’t know. But she started doing some undercover work without my knowledge. She’d been up here on annual leave for three weeks before … before this happened to her. She made connections … connections that she didn’t share with me which led to her arranging to meet with the two men that Carl, the Blue Lagoon bartender, described.’
Brady had been intending to catch up with One-Eyed Carl and find out what he’d seen. He now saw it as a priority.
‘What did he say?’
Claudia shrugged.
‘Not much. Just that she was stood at the bar with two guys. Well dressed, in suits, throwing their money around. He said that she looked like she was enjoying the attention.’
Brady thought back to last night when he’d seen her in the Blue Lagoon with the two men. And Carl was right, she didn’t look as if she was out of her depth.
‘I can only imagine that Simone was trying to sell herself as a high-class hooker who had come back home from the South and needed to re-establish her career in the North East, with the help of Ronnie Macmillan and his associates.’
Brady nodded. He hated to admit it, but it made sense. The problem was, where did they go with it?
‘Have you told Gates all this?’
Claudia looked at him and shook her head.
‘What do you take me for? A fool?’
‘I don’t know. I thought you and he were tight? More so since your new role.’
Claudia frowned at Brady.
‘I’m careful, Jack. Always have been. If Gates believes I’m in his camp then fine by me. But the person I have loyalty to now … is myself.’
Brady knew that was intended for him. And it was intended to hurt.
‘What does he know then?’
‘That Simone came up here on some lead connected with the Russian girl’s murder. That’s it.’
Brady frowned.
‘So, he doesn’t know that she arranged to meet you?’
Claudia shook her head, causing some curls to fall over her face.
‘No …’ she replied.
‘Why not?’ questioned Brady.
‘I’ve got too much to lose. If they think that I somehow set her up to infiltrate Ronnie Macmillan’s goings-on then what do you think would happen? I’d be suspended while an internal investigation took place. If there’s any suspicion that I sent her in without any backup, let alone authorisation, what do you think would happen? Christ, Jack! Ronnie Macmillan’s a dangerous man. I may be career orientated but I would never sacrifice someone for my own gain. Especially another woman.’
Brady looked at her.
‘Come on, Jack! You know how hard I worked to set this project up; how much I need to do it … Without me, it would …’
She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
‘You know what you’re asking me to do, don’t you?’ asked Brady, taken aback.
‘I know … but if I get suspended the cases that I’m working on would be affected,’ she explained, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. ‘Jack, lives are involved here. Young girls’ lives … it’s not just about me.’
Brady sat perfectly still, thinking.
If he didn’t speak up, it would be him in front of a firing squad. He’d be the one to be suspended; he could even lose his job.
But then there was Nick. Whatever was going on there was guaranteed to fuck up Brady’s career anyway.
Brady thought about the message he’d received from Melissa Ryecroft’s murderers.
A severed head left in a black bin liner in his car with the chilling words:
