was still being held by the cops, just Cindy and Sandy, their repertoire severely cut down from not having Michelle. He looked about to see if there was anyone else he recognized. No, he was pretty sure no one would know him. He had chosen just the right look to blend in: open-necked shirt, high-waisted jeans, wire-rimmed glasses. His hair was parted differently, roughed up a little but not quite stylish. His wedding ring was large and loud.
He looked at the few lone girls sat at the tables around the bar. He made eye contact with one of them. She got up and walked away. For a moment he thought it was Lilly with a caramel-coloured long wig and short skirt. She disappeared somewhere behind him. His eyes settled on another. They played the game: look up, look down. Shrimp fiddled with his fake wedding band. He made sure he kept up the staring. He had to look desperate. He pretended to check his phone and then placed it on the bar. He ordered a Coke from the barman with the gelled hair. He put Shrimp’s drink on the beer mat and scribbled the amount on his tab.
‘Thanks for your help, buddy. You’re doin’ a great job.’
Shrimp looked up to see a girl watching him from one of the side tables. She had thick black hair. In the subdued lighting it was hard to see her face. He smiled. She smiled back. He looked away and looked back to make sure the signals were loud and clear. She was still looking his way. She’d kept her eyes focused on him. She was pretty, thought Shrimp, she was keen. He slid from the stool and walked over to her at the same time as he whispered into his wire, ‘Contact made, am on the move.’
Shrimp’s heart hammered. ‘Can I buy you a drink?’
‘Okay,’ the girl tilted her head to one side and giggled.
Chapter 84
They walked to the lifts. The girl obviously knew the layout to the hotel. She knew where the lifts to the rooms were. She kept her head down. She didn’t make eye contact with him; instead she turned her back on him and read the adverts on the walls of the lift. Shrimp tried to engage her in conversation. She wasn’t keen on doing anything but hiding her face and giggling. Even if they had cameras in hotel lifts, which would cause a riot if they tried, the amount of businessmen who played away, they still wouldn’t have caught a proper look at this girl. He opened the door for her to walk in before him.
‘Shall I make you a drink?’ she asked, hovering by the minibar.
‘A Coke will be great.’
Shrimp watched her closely. If she was going to try and drug him, this was her chance. He watched her open him up a mini Coke and pour it straight into a glass. If she had managed to get anything in his drink she would have had to be some magician. Still he didn’t touch it.
She was looking ill at ease now. She sat on the bed and stared at him, a sickly smile stuck to her face. Shrimp wasn’t sure if she was nervous or smug.
‘Do you want me to pay you now?’ he asked.
She shook her head, embarrassed, and smiled shyly. ‘That’s okay. You can give me a present later.’
Shrimp needed to push her on a couple of vital points. He felt his face heat up. Now, alone in the room with her he was struggling not to show he was a novice and he was acutely embarrassed. ‘Do you want me to use a condom?’ She giggled behind her hand and nodded. ‘Do you do any bondage, you know, S amp; M?’
The girl’s eyes opened wide, she shook her head. She got up to go to the bathroom. He spoke into the microphone. ‘I don’t think she’s the perp.’
‘She may have changed her MO,’ the reply came back from the undercover agent listening in the next room. ‘Whatever happens you have to hold on to her for at least an hour. You can’t be seen going back to the bar too early. You have to make it look like you are still on the prowl.’
‘I’m a real sleaze bag.’
‘Yep.’
The girl came back in her bra and pants and giggled coyly as she stood holding on to her clothes. Nope, no sign of a whip anywhere, thought Shrimp as he sat back down on the edge of the bed and handed her a game controller.
‘It’s your turn-Super Mario.’
Chapter 85
Mann’s mouth tasted like a dog had shat in it. He had been dreaming of drinking a gallon of water. His head was so hot he was sweating hard. He pushed back the sheet that covered him and realized he was lying next to someone. He reached out a hand. His hand lingered as it touched a woman’s body and then it moved up over her waist, along her ribcage, up over her arm and froze. He realized it wasn’t the body he was expecting. He thought he would feel Miriam’s familiar curves but he didn’t, instead it was a skinny little body. He withdrew his hand sharply and opened his eyes. Lilly was lying on her side smiling at him. Mann jumped up. He had his boxers on. That was a tiny consolation. Lilly lay there, naked.
‘Shit…what the hell? Lilly, get up. Put something on.’ Mann backed away from the bed.
‘That’s not what you said to me last night.’
Mann shook his head. He tried to remember he couldn’t. ‘There’s no way, Lilly. How the fuck did you get in here?’
Lilly laughed, she leant up on her elbows. Mann felt sick. Her skinny ribs stuck out, her pierced navel, her tiny breasts. She was a child. Mann turned his head away, sick to his stomach. Lilly got out of bed and picked up her clothes as she went. She paused as she passed him. ‘You couldn’t get enough of it last night. Practically forced me to do stuff I didn’t want to. I just wanted a place to stay. Come home with me, you said, you can sleep in the spare room, you said.’
Mann closed his eyes, his heart was racing, he felt the bile build in his throat.
‘Lilly, do this. Lilly, do that.’ Lilly stayed where she was and made sure Mann had no choice but to look at her. ‘Tut, tut, tut, Inspector Johnny Mann. You should be ashamed.’ Lilly grinned. ‘Well, I can’t hang around. I got school to go to. Thanks for a very nice evening though. I am sure we’ll see each other again.’
Mann heard the door bang behind her and the sound of her laughter as she walked down the corridor. He stripped off and stepped into the shower. He closed his eyes as the water streamed over his face. He leant against the side of the cold cubicle. His head was banging; he rested it on the cold tiles. Could he really have had sex with Lilly? The only sound in the flat was the ticking of the clock coming from the bedroom. He needed to get dressed. He needed to sort his life out. He walked along the wooden floor, staring straight ahead at his open bedroom door. He nudged it with his foot. It glided open. The clock’s ticking was so loud now it blocked out everything else. Mann stepped inside and looked to his left, his bed unmade; he pulled off the sheets and threw them in a heap on the floor. He swore out loud so many times it became part of his breathing. He picked up his socks from the floor, as he bent down he saw a bag under his bed. He pulled it out, opened it, peeling back layer after layer of plastic. He peeled back the last layer. A familiar face stared back at him.
Chapter 86
‘Give me the clothes you were wearing earlier, before you showered.’ Daniel Lu stood in Mann’s bedroom and handed Mann a forensic suit. ‘Touch nothing.’
Mia was hovering outside in the hallway. Ng was suited up and helping with the search of the bedroom. He’d been the first to arrive after Mann’s call. Mann looked behind her-no Sheng.
‘Don’t be fucking ridiculous. This is my home. I’ve touched everything in here.’ Mann took the suit all the same and slipped it on over his t-shirt and boxers. He hadn’t got very far with dressing.
Ng emerged from the bedroom and stepped over the officer on his hands and knees searching for hairs on the
