Dead of Winter

Chapter 21

The Lansdown had a suite waiting for Carmichael. He’d left his bike back at the Velvet Lagoon in Shoreditch and bought a brand-new silver Jaguar XKR on the way. He had it valet parked at the Lansdown and then carried his own bag up to his suite.

As he slipped his card in the lock and opened the door it brought back memories of his life with Louise before Sophie came along. He had wooed her with weekends away. He had been romantic. He’d almost forgotten that. Yes. . he’d pre-ordered the specific room, the meal. He’d done everything to win her love. So many regrets: he wished he’d never met her. He wished for her sake that he’d never come into her life.

Carmichael showered and hung his new suit in the steamy bathroom to get rid of the creases. Once he was ready he looked at himself in the mirror. He stood tall and stared at himself as if he were looking at a stranger. He hadn’t worn a suit since the day of the funeral. It was a long time since he’d looked at himself, in a suit or otherwise. He only ever saw his face when he bothered to shave. The years working on the farm had turned his body into a lean and muscled machine. There was no fat left on his body or his face. He looked at his expression and hardly recognized the darkness he saw there.

The music from the piano bar drifted across to him as Carmichael walked through the lobby. He walked across to the bar and ordered a Scotch then checked his phone. He had a missed call from Ebony. He knew what she wanted to ask him. She wanted to ask what his relationship with Chrissie Newton had been. He had watched her type up her thoughts. He knew that she’d been to see Harding. Ebony was his eyes and ears. He saw by the GPS signal that she was on her way back to Fletcher House. He flicked his phone back to regular settings and a weather report flashed across the top of the screen. His phone was still giving him a weather report for the farm.

Carmichael swallowed his drink, signed the bill, and left. Outside, the snow was steadily falling. He jumped in a cab and got it to drop him at the end of Brewer Street. Then he walked along the narrow street, listening to the Christmas music and the sound of people: a mix of shoppers and party revellers in the build-up to the Christmas holidays. The streets were decked out with Christmas lights and lanterns. He kept his head down as he approached Cain’s nightclub and ducked inside the door.

Cain’s club was open from nine in the evening until four-thirty in the morning. It was a gentlemen’s club that had gone a little bit shabby. The door was opened for Carmichael by two doormen while two hostesses in bras and suspenders hovered in the warmth of the inner entrance hall. They escorted Carmichael down a short hallway, past a flight of stairs leading to VIP lounges and private rooms, and into the main bar area. It was a mix of old exposed brickwork and swathes of red velvet curtain. Its leather couches and exposed brick pillars divided the club into intimate areas where small groups of men could enjoy a private dance while sitting around drinking.

Carmichael took a seat at the bar. ‘Good evening, sir.’ The barman came across to him. ‘My name is Ray. What can I get you to drink?’

‘Evening, Ray. I’ll have a large measure of good Scotch and have a drink yourself. Tell Mr Cain that Mr Hart is here, please. He’s expecting me.’

‘Of course, Mr Hart, and thank you.’

Carmichael then went to sit in one of the booths. A woman in a black lace corset was dancing on the podium stage where three poles were set in a triangle. She wrapped her thighs around the centre pole and whipped her sleek ponytail through the air in circles. Carmichael was only half concentrating on her, the other half mentally working its way around the club, matching the layout Micky had emailed to him with what he saw in ‘real time’. He knew that at the far end of the bar was the door to the cashier’s office and a link to the clip joint, Crystal Blue, next door. He knew that somewhere past the three poles was the door that led to the upper two floors, the back entrance to the next floor of the club, and Digger Cain’s private apartment. He knew what Digger Cain looked like. It had been many years since he saw him in the flesh. Not since he had attended a firearms situation when he first joined the Force. A man had threatened a customer in the building opposite Cain’s nightclub. He’d talked to Digger briefly then. He saw him now emerging from the door at the far end of the bar.

When the dancer finished her set she came over to Carmichael. He watched her walk across. She sat next to him, her body turned towards him.

‘What’s your name?’ asked Carmichael.

‘Tanya.’

When Ray brought Carmichael’s Scotch she ordered a glass of champagne.

‘Where are you from?’

‘Just outside Kiev.’ She had beautiful strong features and her body was as lean and muscled as a racehorse.

Beneath the heavy makeup it was clear she had been pretty once but her skin had suffered from the lifestyle. Her eyes were dead.

‘You’re a long way from the Ukraine. What brings you here?’

‘I came to study English.’

‘You find this is a good place to learn English?’

She studied Carmichael. ‘Not bad. You meet nice people. Nice men like you. Men who might want to see me dance and pay twenty pounds.’ She smiled.

‘Very good. Not quite perfect. You need to work on your intonation. But here.’ He took out two twenties and gave them to her. ‘Maybe later.’

She smiled. ‘Thank you. Are you a tourist?’

‘Sort of. Tell me. . Is this what you came to the UK for?’ He flicked his head towards the podium.

‘No, I didn’t come here to be a dancer. I came to work with children. I joined an agency to work as a nanny for children but. . I had to pay the agency back for my flights, accommodation.’ She looked around and stopped talking, smiled nervously as Ray watched. ‘The agency was not truthful.’ She kept smiling.

‘Let me guess. . you’re still paying?’

‘Of course.’ She looked at Carmichael, deep and long. She kept a smile on her mouth. ‘Please. I hope I can entertain you some time.’

Carmichael caught a glimpse of the inside of her left arm; it was bruised. She shook her head when she saw him looking at her arm. ‘I’m not a junkie.’ She stopped as she saw Carmichael’s eyes flash and focus on a man walking their way. Digger Cain was heading towards Carmichael’s table. Tanya got up to leave. Digger sat down and called Ray over to bring him a drink. Ray arrived with a bottle of Scotch and two glasses.

Digger scrutinized Carmichael. ‘Have we not met before. . Mr Hart?’

‘I don’t think so.’

Digger had already added up the worth of the man sitting opposite him: a grand for the watch, nearly that for the suit. Five hundred for the shoes. The man had bought the best and he wore it well. His body was muscled and lean. His height gave him power. His face was tanned and rugged. His hair black, neat, short, understated. He could have been an older Armani model.

Carmichael looked across at the bar. Ray the barman was talking to a man sitting on a bar stool who was rhythmically swilling the contents of his brandy glass as he turned his head and watched Carmichael and Digger in conversation.

Digger sat back in the seat. He stretched out an arm on the back of the alcove as he sipped his Scotch.

‘You come highly recommended, Mr Hart. I hear you’re interested in recruiting dancers? You want to join our network?’

‘Yes. That’s right.’

‘Have you got the premises?’ Carmichael sat back. Digger continued: ‘I looked at your club. You had trouble in the past; you lost your licence?’

‘Not me. It belonged to others. They got careless. They irritated the wrong people and weren’t respectful to the right ones. I’ve made sure it won’t happen again. This is a fresh start, a brand-new venture, and I don’t foresee any problems with licensing restrictions or visas. The local police and I have come to an arrangement. I am paying into their pension plan.’

Digger gave a gesture of approval. ‘And. . the last owners? What happened to them?’ He fixed Carmichael with a look that said he already knew the answer but wanted to see if Carmichael would lie to him.

‘They flew back to Sarajevo, in the hold.’

‘What if I said they were friends of mine?’ Digger eyeballed him.

Carmichael leaned forward and picked up his Scotch. ‘No offence. .’ he held up his drink in a small salute. ‘Then you’d know they deserved it.’

Digger coughed, rattling phlegm in his chest.

‘Yes. They were a thorn in my side. They gave people like myself a bad name.’ He grinned at Carmichael. ‘I prefer dealing with the English. I would be happy to offer you girls.’

He looked around the booths; the club had yet to fill — it was early, not quite ten. He nodded his head towards the man at the bar and he disappeared for a few minutes. When he reappeared he had a young girl with him. Her bony frame was skinny and tall; she had on a silver bikini. Her legs wobbled in five-inch heels. The man dragged her forward towards the last of the three poles and tried to make her dance.

Digger kept his eyes on Carmichael as he inclined his head towards the podium: ‘As you can see. . we have the merchandise. . for the right money. Alright, Mr Hart. . let’s talk business.’’

The girl hung onto the pole as if it were a rope dangling over a river of crocs.

‘We have someone who gets us girls. He has good agents over in the Eastern bloc. They groom the families, neighbours, work mates, anyone who wants to make money from selling to us. There’s never any shortage of girls because there’s always a shortage of money.’ He looked back at the girl.

‘This girl? What’s her story?’

‘Her name is Anna. She went to help a neighbour in the market. Anna is an orphan. There is no one to come looking for her. He sold her as well as his potatoes. Enterprising, these people. This is Anna’s second day.’ She hung off the man’s hands like a crying rag doll as he hammered his hips against hers and simulated sex. Her mouth opened to cry but no sound came out.

‘Every day there’s a new lesson,’ Digger explained.

Carmichael watched as Tanya came out and draped her arm around the man’s neck and tried to kiss him. It was only a temporary distraction; he pushed her off and continued tormenting the young girl.

‘In a few days’ time she’ll learn to use her mouth for something more. . useful.’ Digger’s laugh cracked. He coughed phlegm into his mouth and spat into a cloth handkerchief. He looked at its contents, folded it and put it back in his pocket. The man pushed Tanya away.

‘How does it work?’

‘They start their working life here in London. After we acclimatize them we provide them with various job opportunities. Some of them come into the UK legitimately and have no problems working, others need a little discretion. We have something for each of them besides finding work in clubs. We have: live sex chat, web rooms, escort agencies and massage parlours. We move them around the clubs in our network every couple of months. . we move them on to other cities: Leeds, Manchester, Bristol. We get a new shipment in about once every few months. Would you like to try Anna or Tanya?’

Carmichael shook his head. ‘I never touch the merchandise.’

Digger nodded and flicked his head towards the man with Anna. ‘Neither do I. I leave that to Sonny over there.’