Bliss sat upright, swallowing down his earlier unease. ‘Hello, Lewis. I’m sure you remember us, but for the record, I’m DS Bliss; this is my colleague, DS Chandler. We’d like a chat with you.’
The prisoner didn’t so much as blink, nor did he look Bliss’s way. ‘Is that right? Well, I suggest you leave me and Sergeant Chandler here all alone for ten minutes while we get reacquainted.’
‘Most men only last two minutes with me, Lewis,’ Chandler said. ‘I’m that good. I reckon you’d need no more than thirty seconds. At best.’
Drake leaned forward across the table, seemingly unruffled. Light bounced off the thin film of sweat covering his head. ‘You think it’s wise to disrespect a man like me?’
Chandler grinned. ‘Why not? I helped put you in here, after all. Besides, what are you going to do from there?’
This time it was Drake’s turn to smile. He wore a relatively new set of false teeth, and Bliss wondered if he’d lost his own in some random act of violence. ‘You think my reach extends only as far as these chains?’ Drake rattled the cuffs on his wrists for emphasis. ‘That would be a big mistake.’
Chandler opened her mouth to respond, but Bliss caught her attention and gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head. He understood her motivation: proving she would not be cowed by such a man. But he needed her not to take it too far. He wanted information from Drake. Also, the prisoner was not wrong about his influence outside of this prison.
‘I think any talk of respect is premature,’ Bliss said. ‘That has to be earned. And it cuts both ways. So, are you happy for us to continue?’
The corners of Drake’s mouth curled upwards as if drawn into a smile by an invisible string. ‘I’m never exactly happy when I’m in the same room as the filth, but I’m up for it, yeah. I can handle you pair of arseholes, that’s for sure.’
Bliss eyeballed him. The gamble of forcing Drake into a corner seemed to have paid off, the man’s ego taking charge as he’d intended. The voice was raspier than he remembered it, and he wondered if that was due to lack of use. But he was talking, and Bliss hoped that would continue. Moreover, he needed to make sure the man remained in the room long enough to listen.
‘Good. We’d like to talk to you about one of your old businesses, Lewis. And let me make it perfectly clear that we don’t expect you to rat out any of your family or friends or even those workers you don’t give a toss about. If you don’t believe me, or you suspect we’re trying to take you for a fool, let me ask my questions, after which you can choose to answer them or not. How does that sound?’
After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Drake’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. Still he did not avert his gaze, his eyes fixed steadily on Chandler, who had remembered the advice not to try matching the stare.
‘Excellent,’ Bliss said, adjusting himself to get a little more comfortable. The tension in the room was palpable. ‘I’m going to begin by reading out a few names. When I’m done, I’d like you to tell me what your current connection to them is. That sound okay, Lewis?’
‘Just get the fuck on with it. I haven’t got all day.’
‘Somewhere else to be?’
This drew the man’s gaze. His eyes formed tight slits. ‘Yeah. Chess club. And Pointless is on the telly later.’
Nodding, Bliss read the names printed on a sheet of paper he’d taken from his breast pocket. ‘EZEscorts. Galaxy Escort Agency. Glamour Pussy Escorts. Dark Desires.’
Only the last provoked a reaction. It came and went in an instant, and you had to be looking for it – which Bliss was. What he saw bothered him enormously.
‘What’s in this for me?’ Drake asked, stretching out his legs. ‘I’m not sure what you hope to get out of it, but I’m bloody certain there’s fuck all reason for me to say anything to you.’
‘I’d say that depends on how cooperative and useful you are, Lewis. Even in this unit you’re allowed certain privileges. I can have a word in the right ear to ask about extending one or two of those for you.’
He had Drake’s attention. Being in jail stripped a man of so many things, and high-security units like this one took away even more. Gaining something significant in exchange for giving up so little was an offer worth considering. Bliss thought of sweetening the pot, but instead opted to go another way. Drake might not believe him if he offered too much in one go, but honesty was a currency all prisoners understood.
‘I’m making no promises. You need to understand that. But if you open up to me, I will do what I can.’
Drake’s chest expanded as if he’d plumbed himself in to an air pump. He held the breath for a moment before releasing it in one long sigh. ‘All of those except the last one are familiar to me. They were my agencies. Legit businesses, I’d remind you. Various members of my organisation run them for me in my absence. But you already knew that, so why ask?’
‘Let’s call it a test.
