some business deal. That possibility was made all the more likely by the fact that Simone, according to Claudia, was already investigating the Eastern European brothers who Brady now believed were operating an international sex trafficking operation using St Mary’s Lighthouse as a drop-off point.
He agitatedly ran his hand over the dark stubble covering his face.
He had a small, over-stretched team doing everything in their power to find some information on the Dabkunas brothers, to lead them to Melissa Ryecroft’s whereabouts. Appeals had been made to the public for any information regarding the abducted teenager. Brady had decided it was better to go armed with as much information as possible to throw at the public. Then, hopefully, they’d get some kosher calls connected to the murder rather than the crazies who wanted instant fame and notoriety, regardless of how they came by it. As of yet, nothing concrete had come back about either the car used for her abduction or the two men seen placing her in the back of it. Her friends had all been interviewed but there had been no contact from her since her disappearance. Nor did they have any information on the victim’s boyfriend, Marijuis Dabkunas. Either from her friends, or from any other police authorities.
Brady reluctantly accepted that the Dabkunas brothers’ military background gave them the skills and knowledge to cover their tracks and elude detection. He shuddered to think how large their operation actually was and how many girls had ended up like Edita Aginatas.
He looked at the other missed call: Claudia. Davidson had obviously told her that Brady had rung.
He pressed call and waited, hoping that he wouldn’t hear DCI Davidson’s voice.
‘Claudia?’ questioned Brady when the call was answered.
‘I haven’t got time to talk, Jack,’ agitatedly stated Claudia.
Brady supported the phone against his hunched shoulder as he used his free hand to rub his eyes. He was tired and hungry and in need of a drink. But he knew his night was just beginning.
‘Claudia,’ Brady began, ignoring her exasperation, ‘when you searched Macmillan’s club did you thoroughly search all the rooms on the first and second floor?’
‘Jack, Ronnie Macmillan has nothing. He’s clean. Just like his brother, Mayor Macmillan. You’ve got to let this obsession of yours go before it costs you your job.’
‘Answer the question.’
Claudia sighed wearily.
‘No. Alright?’
‘No,’ repeated Brady. ‘I thought you had a warrant? I asked you specifically to search the cellar and all the rooms above the club.’
‘To check out whether the girls he had employed there were legal. Yes. But we didn’t have a warrant to go poking around in the disused rooms upstairs. There’s only so much I can do, Jack. Unlike you, I play by the law. Remember that? You need a good reason to search his private premises. His work place is a different matter. We went in on the principle that we’d had reports that he was employing illegal immigrants. Nothing more.’
‘Personal premises?’ questioned Brady.
‘That’s what I said. Supposedly he occupies the upstairs rooms. Said he likes to live above the club to keep an eye on his business.’
‘Shit, Claudia!’
‘What?’
‘You’ve given him ample warning to get rid of whatever women or evidence of sex trafficking and imprisonment he has there. Including Nicoletta,’ Brady agitatedly pointed out.
‘Come on, Jack. You can’t lay this at my door!’
‘Can’t I?’
‘You know you can’t,’ replied Claudia firmly. ‘I did everything I possibly could within the constraints of the law.’
‘Yeah? Tell that to Nicoletta’s family and Melissa Ryecroft’s parents. And God knows who else these bastards are holding.’
Claudia was silent.
‘Look, I’m sorry. Alright? It’s just …’ Brady faltered.
‘Don’t you think I feel the same way? I deal with this kind of crime day in, day out. But unfortunately there are procedures to be followed whether we like it or not.’
‘I know,’ muttered Brady.
‘Look, I’ve got to go. Keep me updated?’
‘Sure,’ answered Brady before the line was disconnected.
He started the engine up and pulled the Granada out from Brook Street and turned right into the Promenade.
He narrowed his eyes as he slowed down for the zebra crossing ahead. He looked to his right and watched as what looked to be a hen party staggered across the road, the scantily-clad women walking arm in arm, four-inch heels clattering as they went.
Brady double-checked the rear view mirror again, making sure he wasn’t being followed. Despite his feeling that someone was tailing his every move, the road was clear. He pulled away, heading along the coast in the direction of the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth. Adrenalin was coursing through his veins at the thought of what was coming next.
He had two girls missing.
One Lithuanian sex slave who he only knew as Nicoletta, taken by Ronnie Macmillan, and the other, a sixteen-year-old sixth-form student who had been abducted by the Dabkunas brothers.
Brady pulled up opposite the Grand Hotel. It was now 8:13pm. All he could do was wait. He switched the Granada’s engine off and looked at the steps leading up to the hotel. Red lights burnt on either side of the imposing hotel. A doorman in gold braid and a top hat stood erect, looking official.
Mayor Macmillan was out to impress, noted Brady.
He took out his Golden Virginia tobacco and started to roll himself a cigarette.
He had too many thoughts going through his head.
Always there, weighing him down, was the thought of Nick and what his brother had become involved in.
Brady sat smoking cigarette after cigarette as he watched and waited.
What exactly for, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that the Lithuanian Ambassador would be here soon and that something was going on. From what Conrad had said, the Ambassador had hired extra armed security. So evidently he was expecting trouble in the North East. But from who, Brady had no idea. And then there were his connections with the Dabkunas brothers and Mayor Macmillan.
Brady sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. He knew exactly why he was here. On the off-chance the Dabkunas brothers turned up in the capacity of ex-military bodyguards, accompanied by Nick. He needed to get hold of Nick first. Give him time to disappear before calling in for backup. Brady knew that he was risking everything for his brother right now. But he had no choice. Nick, excluding Madley, was his only connection to his past. They were the only two people who really knew Brady. And he wasn’t going to let that go. There was also the fact that Nick was the only family he had left. His old man in Durham Gaol didn’t count as family.
Brady tried to ignore what had been troubling him. He had been pushing it to the back of his mind but now, as he sat outside the Grand Hotel waiting for Nick, it was torturing him. If Visa and Delta had heard his old man’s accusation that Brady and Madley had set up him up, then it would come as no surprise that Nick had heard as well. Brady didn’t want to think it but the thought kept coming back. What if Nick was intentionally trying to sabotage Madley as payback for the old man? After all, it had been Nick on the security camera, caught dumping Simone Henderson in the toilets. And it was Nick’s voice on the 999 call reporting the mutilated body of a copper in Madley’s nightclub, the Blue Lagoon.
Brady inhaled deeply as he tried to forget the CCTV image of Nick stood leaning against the black Lithuanian-plated Mercedes, waiting to tail him when he left Rake Lane Hospital with Conrad. Not long afterwards,
