who thinks.’
Martha had left. Mike had connected the phone to the laptop and was downloading the data from Erjon’s phone. I leaned over and watched. There were half a dozen phone calls and twice as many text messages. We listened to the calls – all in Albanian or Bulgarian and couldn’t, of course, understand a word being spoken. The same occurred with the texts.
‘Well,’ Mike said, ‘not exactly helpful. I suppose someone can translate. I’m going to create a log of all the numbers he contacts, maybe a pattern will emerge.’ He tapped away at the keyboard and looked up. ‘The one good thing is we can keep a track on his movements.’
‘That didn’t help us earlier,’ I said peevishly.
‘That’s true. He caught us on the hop, there.’
I didn’t have an answer for that one. It was the truth. And neither of us had predicted Erjon’s swift return to the Merchant Building. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
Mike looked again at the laptop. ‘At the moment he’s in Bedford Street.’
‘That’s a good distance away. Think he lives there?’
‘I’m not going to speculate.’
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘Could be he’s running a brothel. It’s the right area for it.’
‘Shall I leave the phone with you?’ Mike asked. ‘At least then you’ll know if he moves this way.’
‘Do you think he’d do that?’
‘I don’t. It’s for your safety, that’s all.’
‘Don’t think I’ll have time to be keeping an eye on that thing,’ I said. ‘I’ve three appointments coming up.’
‘Still,’ Mike said. ‘We’ve been caught out once. Erjon acted more swiftly than we’ve anticipated.’
‘No, that’s not right. We haven’t anticipated anything. We shouldn’t’ve been meddling in this whole damned business. I’m not involved—’
‘Sorry,’ Mike said, ‘but you are.’
I narrowed my eyes, put a hand on my hips and glared at Mike. ‘In three months time I’m out of here. Exams over.’ I glanced around the room. ‘The lease will be up and I’ll be gone. No more shitty clients, no more hairy balls slapping against my bum, no more lying, no more hiding.’
‘Way to go. But, that’s three months down the road. And in the meantime—’
‘Yeah, in the meantime Ivonne’s at the hospital seeing if they can salvage Markus’s knee. Martha reckons there’ll be a police raid – I do too. This Erjon guy is up to something nasty. And I’ve got a good idea what it is.’
‘Go on.’
‘Erjon wants to set up in this building. It’s a good spot, you name it; masses of apartments, loads of students, people coming and going. No one knows each other, let alone their own neighbour. It’s perfect for the clients. Anonymity; lo ts of multi-storey car parks about. And close to all the offices.’
‘All right,’ Mike said. ‘Follow it through. What’s Erjon up to? What’s he going to do?’
‘That’s pretty obvious isn’t it? Get us independents to move out. Exactly what Martha is predicting – a raid. Then Erjon steps into the vacuum. That’ll let him open up two or three apartments filled with girls, all of them coerced or trafficked.’
‘Then you had better keep the phone here. Erjon will be back.’ Mike sat down on the sofa and exhaled loudly. ‘The police are the only option. We will just have to start above that man Driscoll.’
I shook my head. From Mike’s point of view he was correct, but he had no idea how the police viewed the escort trade, or at least how some of them viewed it.
Mike contin ued; ‘There is only one thing that puzzles me.’
‘What’s that?’
‘The CCTV system,’ he hooked a thumb in the direction of the outside passageway, ‘must have captured Erjon entering and leaving the lift. If Markus and Ivonne were to present our footage to the police it would be corroborated by the CCTV. That would be enough for Actual Bodily Harm, at the least. It would get Erjon out of the picture—’
‘What if he’s not the
Martha had left. Mike had connected the phone to the laptop and was downloading the data from Erjon’s phone. I leaned over and watched. There were half a dozen phone calls and twice as many text messages. We listened to the calls – all in Albanian or Bulgarian and couldn’t, of course, understand a word being spoken. The same occurred with the texts.
‘Well,’ Mike said, ‘not exactly helpful. I suppose someone can translate. I’m going to create a log of all the numbers he contacts, maybe a pattern will emerge.’ He tapped away at the keyboard and looked up. ‘The one good thing is we can keep a track on his movements.’
‘That didn’t help us earlier,’ I said peevishly.
‘That’s true. He caught us on the hop, there.’
I didn’t have an answer for that one. It was the truth. And neither of us had predicted Erjon’s swift return to the Merchant Building. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
Mike looked again at the laptop. ‘At the moment he’s in Bedford Street.’
‘That’s a good distance away. Think he lives there?’
‘I’m not going to speculate.’
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘Could be he’s running a brothel. It’s the right area for it.’
‘Shall I leave the phone with you?’ Mike asked. ‘At least then you’ll know if he moves this way.’
‘Do you think he’d do that?’
‘I don’t. It’s for your safety, that’s all.’
‘Don’t think I’ll have time to be keeping an eye on that thing,’ I said. ‘I’ve three appointments coming up.’
‘Still,’ Mike said. ‘We’ve been caught out once. Erjon acted more swiftly than we’ve anticipated.’
‘No, that’s not right. We haven’t anticipated anything. We shouldn’t’ve been meddling in this whole damned business. I’m not involved—’
‘Sorry,’ Mike said, ‘but you are.’
I narrowed my eyes, put a hand on my hips and glared at Mike. ‘In three months time I’m out of here. Exams over.’ I glanced around the room. ‘The lease will be up and I’ll be gone. No more shitty clients, no more hairy balls slapping against my bum, no more lying, no more hiding.’
‘Way to go. But, that’s three months down the road. And in the meantime—’
‘Yeah, in the meantime Ivonne’s at the hospital seeing if they can salvage Markus’s knee. Martha reckons there’ll be a police raid – I do too. This Erjon guy is up to something nasty. And I’ve got a good idea what it is.’
‘Go on.’
‘Erjon wants to set up in this building. It’s a good spot, you name it; masses of apartments, loads of students, people coming and going. No one knows each other, let alone their own neighbour. It’s perfect for the clients. Anonymity; lo ts of multi-storey car parks about. And close to all the offices.’
‘All right,’ Mike said. ‘Follow it through. What’s Erjon up to? What’s he going to do?’
‘That’s pretty obvious isn’t it? Get us independents to move out. Exactly what Martha is predicting – a raid. Then Erjon steps into the vacuum. That’ll let him open up two or three apartments filled with girls, all of them coerced or trafficked.’
‘Then you had better keep the phone here. Erjon will be back.’ Mike sat down on the sofa and exhaled loudly. ‘The police are the only option. We will just have to start above that man Driscoll.’
I shook my head. From Mike’s point of view he was correct, but he had no idea how the police viewed the escort trade, or at least how some of them viewed it.
Mike contin ued; ‘There is only one thing that puzzles me.’
‘What’s that?’
‘The CCTV system,’ he hooked a thumb in the direction of the outside passageway, ‘must have captured Erjon entering and leaving the lift. If Markus and Ivonne were to present our footage to the police it would be corroborated by the CCTV. That would be enough for Actual Bodily Harm, at the least. It would get Erjon out of the picture—’
‘What if he’s not the
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