traffic.
Brady knew he had to cross the bridge heading south. Putting as much distance between him and the North East as physically possible.
‘The Dabkunas brothers?’ asked Brady.
‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ answered Nick.
‘The Ambassador?’
‘Contracted me to find his daughter,’ Nick replied. ‘Unofficial of course.’
Brady waited.
‘A month back she was drugged and kidnapped from a nightclub in London. Held for ransom. No police involvement or she ends up dead. Small mercy given what the Brotherhood would have done to her first,’ stated Nick.
‘Why? For money?’ questioned Brady.
He knew from Conrad’s research into the Lithuanian Ambassador that he was a multi-millionaire.
Nick narrowed his eyes as he studied Brady.
‘You call yourself a copper, Jack?’
Brady looked puzzled.
‘The Dabkunas brothers and whoever it was that was controlling them wanted a piece of his container line.’
Brady remembered that Conrad had said he had an international cargo business. One now contracted to the North East shipping Polish goods in. But Brady now realised what kind of cargo the Dabkunas brothers had intended on shipping.
‘Skin traders?’ questioned Brady.
Nick didn’t answer. There was no need. His eyes said it all.
‘Mayor Macmillan?’ Brady asked, all too aware that he had gone into partnership with the Ambassador. ‘What’s his involvement?’
Nick shook his head. ‘I’ve done my job. Like you said, yours is to tie up the loose ends.’
He pulled out a brown package from his jacket.
‘This might help,’ he said, handing it over to Brady.
He then opened the throttle.
‘Be careful, this Brotherhood is more powerful than you know,’ he warned.
Brady didn’t need the warning. He had witnessed what they were capable of doing.
‘Tell Madley I didn’t mean to fuck him over. It was simply a means to an end.’
Brady nodded.
Nick stretched out his hand and touched Brady’s shoulder.
He in turn grabbed Nick’s arm and held it tight, not knowing when he’d see his brother again.
‘Nick?’ Brady said staring into his brother’s determined eyes.
‘No …’ answered Nick.
He then let go of Brady’s shoulder, pulled his visor down and revved the engine.
Brady stood back and watched as Nick sped off. No turning back.
He waited under the bridge. Waited to hear the roar of the Ducati as it took the Tyne Bridge out of Newcastle.
Brady closed his eyes as he heard the sports bike disappear. Where Nick was going, Brady had no idea. Better that way, he thought.
Brady had tried his best to avoid people when he made his way to his office. The station was buzzing. It was Monday, late afternoon, and the news of Nicoletta being found in time had gotten round. She was currently in Rake Lane Hospital receiving medical attention. Much to everyone’s relief she hadn’t suffered any serious complications from her injuries. She had various broken bones, hypothermia, but nothing more. Shock seemed to be the main concern. But with time, and the right people helping her, Brady was certain she’d recover.
Claudia and her team were already working with Nicoletta. Trying to piece together the events that had led to her being sex trafficked by the Dabkunas brothers.
Macmillan’s boys, Visa and Delta, had both suffered fatal injuries. The only injuries Ronnie Macmillan had suffered were to his face after Brady had apprehended him.
At least, that’s what Brady had told Gates.
It was enough.
Nobody was going to question how much force it took to restrain him.
Rubenfeld had already been in touch. Brady had filled him in on the events. He had to keep him sweet. After all, he was one of his best snitches. And anyway, they had both agreed this was a huge coup for Northumbria Police.
The problem was Ronnie Macmillan had already told him he would never talk. And Brady believed him. He would go down with a damming sentence and still never utter one word in his defence or against his politician brother. No deal would be brokered for information. He would, out of family loyalty, serve without question whatever the courts threw at him. And given what they had, he’d be put away indefinitely.
Gates or O’Donnell weren’t overly concerned by Ronnie Macmillan’s silence. They were more than happy with the outcome. Brady and his team had intercepted a sex trafficking and slavery operation right under everyone’s noses. And then there was the Lithuanian Ambassador who only had the highest accolades for the Chief Superintendent’s force.
Ainsworth and his team were already forensically examining the Jag and the abandoned Mercedes van. Brady was certain that there would be forensic evidence linking the van to Macmillan and the Dabkunas brothers. And then there was the Ambassador’s daughter’s testimony. Not that Brady had been there to take her statement. DCI Gates had dealt with that, along with Chief Superintendent O’Donnell in some disclosed location. After all, this was the Lithuanian Ambassador who had diplomatic immunity. Right now, Brady was certain that his daughter, accompanied by the Ambassador and his armed security, would be flying home in a private jet.
They also had Melissa Ryecroft’s statement detailing how she had been kidnapped by the Dabkunas brothers for the Nietzschean Brotherhood’s nefarious purposes.
Brady swallowed hard. He didn’t want to think about Edita’s decapitated body washed up on the beach. Had the Lithuanian girl been sold to the highest bidder in the Nietzschean Brotherhood? Brady didn’t know and had to accept the chances of ever finding out were slim. He knew that Claudia’s team would be working all hours to find the Dabkunas brothers and the other members of the Nietzschean Brotherhood. But whether they would was another matter entirely.
Brady was certain others were involved. There was a covert brotherhood out there, but he knew that he wouldn’t find out. Not yet, anyway. With some time and investigation he might just add some names.
Nick’s name of course was never mentioned. He hadn’t officially been on the Ambassador’s payroll. In fact, he officially didn’t exist. Job over with, and he had disappeared. The Ambassador would have had money paid in hard, untraceable cash.
Brady didn’t want to think about the Dabkunas brothers. They were still at large. And he knew they would have a price on Nick’s head.
He picked up the brown envelope that Nick had given him.
An unlabelled DVD was inside.
He opened his laptop and put the DVD in.
He watched as it started to play.
A masked man could be seen holding a pistol to a girl’s head. Brady recognised her as Edita, the decapitated Lithuanian girl.
Brady watched, feeling sick as the masked man, ignoring Edita’s pleas, pulled the trigger, firing the captive bolt into her brain. He turned away, unable to watch as her brutalised, heavily bleeding body began to spasm and convulse.
He had seen enough. He had seen what Nick had wanted him to see.
