Lethal Instincts (9 page)

After another hour she took a break and walked into a coffee house that opened till late. Patrons filled the premises, the smell of brew wafted in the air. She ordered a coffee and wondered if she should be coming up with plan B. Walking the streets was not working. She wasn’t surprised. It was likely that even if they did know something, they wouldn’t talk. The risk was too great, especially for fifty pounds. They were in this lifestyle for life, and there was nothing Lexi could offer them to get them out.
 

She considered the familiarity of the place. Back home there wasn’t a red-light district per se, sure there were certain spots women and pimps operated from but nothing of this magnitude. The major capitals were another story, they had their own areas where it was better to keep away from once the sun went down.
 

“Word’s going round you’re looking for someone.”

Lexi turned to see a woman looking her up and down. She stood maybe five foot five in heels, wearing tight leggings and a gold singlet that accentuated her frontal assets. Her eyes didn’t wash over like the others. The woman didn’t look high, and if she was, she knew how to handle it without getting noticed. She could’ve been a prostitute but she could have been a pimp. It was hard to tell. Once upon a time she may have even been a looker.

Lexi took the picture out of her bag and handed it to the woman. She took it and looked at it without saying a word. Lexi waited. And waited. The woman’s eyes remained fixated on the picture for a moment too long before returning her attention to Lexi.
 

“I might ’ave seen ’er,” she said flicking the picture back.
 

“Are you sure?” Lexi asked.
 

“Yeah I’m sure. What’d I just say?”
 

“Do you remember where?”
 

“I’ll give you an address.”

Lexi listened as the woman gave her the directions. Her first break. Maybe she might find Tatiana Petrenko alive after all.
 

Chapter 15

Lexi decided to walk. She made her way out of the Soho district passing clients and pimps, suspicious glances followed her, she kept her eyes down and avoided making eye contact. She looked behind her, checking for anyone suspicious but each time she looked there was no one there.

So, just as a safety precaution she phoned Cara. The call went to voicemail. Lexi left a quick message. Given what had happened to Hannah, she was erring on the side of caution. Not that it might matter. If someone wanted her dead it didn’t have to take more than a few seconds. A gun shot in the back, a knife slashed across the throat, her neck snapped. God, get a grip, Lexi, she thought trying to remove the images from her mind. She shivered at each possibility and wondered which she’d prefer. She shook her head. Yes she was aware of all the alternatives but there was no need to imagine them as she walked the streets at night.

The scream in the night sent chills spiralling down her spine. She looked to the left, to the right. Where had the frightened call come from? Standing on the bridge she could see Big Ben up ahead, lighting the sky, the clock ticking, tick-tock, tick-tock, as the time clicked on ten and the clock began to strike ten times. Traffic passed slowly, there was no congestion at this hour but the amount of cars that zoomed by was still noticeably more than back home. Thoughts of home came to mind – but no, this was home now and she had to focus on the task at hand.
 

Lexi was certain the scream had come from the left and under the bridge. She moved down the steps and towards the darkness. This was a bad idea. She knew it and yet she couldn’t stop herself from moving away from the safety of the curb, the street lights and the passing traffic. She ignored them all, ignored the instincts screaming, ‘Danger! Danger!’.
 

She felt to her back pocket, her phone still sat there waiting to be used. She should be calling the police, the paramedics, any form of back-up. One step, two, three, and then a cold object plunged into her and she fell to the ground.
 

Chapter 16

He stood over her body, taking in her presence. She was so close to him. So precious and in need. He had played out the scenario of them meeting a hundred times in his mind. Then the opportunity had come and he could play the knight in shining armour. If he rescued her then she’d have no reason not to trust him.
 

The knife he used had only a two-inch blade. It wasn’t meant to cause terminal damage. He had read up on knife attacks and the anatomy of the human body. He knew very well where to puncture the skin so that no serious organs were damaged.
 

The plan wasn’t too kill her, not yet anyway. Whoever this Lexi Ryder was, she was definitely not just a business interest to the boss. And so he had done some research of his own and realised that he had not only been lied to but used. Someone had to pay and the only way to do that was to get close to the woman.
 

She still lay unconscious. The stab to the side of her back was nothing but the slam to the head that followed, forcing her to the ground. He needed her unconscious for a few minutes for the plan to work.
 

He knelt down beside her and with two fingers he brushed the strands of hair off her face. It would be a shame to kill her. But maybe he’d have some fun with her first. Eventually death was inevitable.

Sirens blurred in the distance. He ignored them and picked up her fallen phone. The phone was locked so he couldn’t check the last number dialled. Then the sirens drew closer. He cursed and realised she must have called the cops before following the scream. But it hadn’t been a woman screaming. But a recording he had in his pocket. Everything had to be orchestrated perfectly. Even the pimp who had easily been persuaded with enough cash.
 

Once again he disappeared from under the bridge leaving Lexi bleeding on ground. When he was far enough not to be noticed, he ducked behind a car and watched as two police cruisers and an ambulance pulled up, blocking traffic across the bridge. They’d find Lexi in seconds. She’d come to in minutes, and wouldn’t have a clue what had just happened. The game would have to wait.
 

Chapter 17

Cold. Damp. Sore. She was alive. If she were dead she would feel nothing. She felt water around her. Heard it too. Was that the river flowing? A boat sounding its horn? No, that was definitely a car beeping somewhere from above. Her head throbbed but she was alive. Thank god she was alive. Her side, stomach, rib cage, everything hurt like hell.
 

“Lexi,” a familiar voice was saying, “how are you feeling?”

She opened her eyes and they adjusted to the lights around her. She was still outside. Blue lights flashed to the side of her. The Thames to her right.
 

A man was leaning over her, tending to her side. She tried to sit up. The man told her to relax before helping her to an upright position. Then he returned to the ambulance, having been dismissed by Cara.

“The girl. Is the girl OK?” Lexi asked, looking around her. They were still underneath the bridge but other than her, the police and the paramedics, there was no girl. She hadn’t seen anyone but she had definitely heard the scream.

“What girl?” Cara asked, looking around and back to Lexi.

“I heard her screaming. Down here. I followed the screaming and then someone must have–” she didn’t get to finish the sentence as she touched her side, the pain finally registering.

“What were you doing here?” Cara asked.

Lexi told her about the woman in the red-light district. The lead that she had to follow. The hope of finding Tatiana alive. Now that she thought back it all sounded too good to be true.
 

But the woman had given her no reason to disbelieve her. She seemed genuine in her desire to help out. Lexi should have known better. Her instincts had failed her and almost gotten her killed.

“You fell for a con. The woman you described is a pimp. She’s been running the show for almost a decade. She runs more girls than half the male pimps combined. She’s a businesswoman and she doesn’t appreciate outsiders on her turf. She played you well. There’s nothing at this address but an abandoned building that shelters the homeless on cold and rainy nights. I’ve had a couple officers check it out and there’s definitely no sign of Tatiana Petrenko or anyone else. Even the homeless have made themselves scarce.”

“At least they didn’t kill me,” Lexi said, standing up.

“Yes, that’s definitely a consolation prize,” Cara said.

“Believe me, every scenario went through my head as I walked here.”

“Not enough to wait for the police.”

“You didn’t answer your phone,” Lexi said.

“I was working.”

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Yeah, when I don’t have criminals to chase after.”
 

“Thanks for showing up.”

“As soon as I got your message I got my ass down here. Who knows what trouble you could be getting yourself into, Lexi Ryder. Have you checked your bag?”

Lexi shook her head. Her phone and purse were gone. She hadn’t had more than a hundred pounds but it was a hundred more than someone else had. She was more concerned about her missing phone. There was a lock on the SIM that wasn’t necessarily a deterrent to a professional thief. She’d have to call the phone company and get it cancelled and moved to another SIM. Everything was backed up so it was just going to be an inconvenience more than anything.
 

“I need to get some sleep.”

“Later, first stop is the hospital. You’re going to need stitches. These fine paramedics have cleaned you up but it’s best if a doctor checks you out. You don’t want an infection.”

Cara was right. Lexi hadn’t even considered it. Her only thought was of the girl that was never there.

“You can drive,” Lexi said turning towards the car as she held her hand to her side against the bandaged wound.

Cara got into the driver’s side and started the vehicle. Lexi struggled with the sea belt; once it was buckled in place she sat back and closed her eyes. What the hell was she doing?
 

There was a fine line between doing her job and getting herself killed. Had she just crossed it? Her instincts had failed her. She should have known better then to trust the woman on the street. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t even known where the woman had appeared from. She could easily have been followed.

“We’ve received information of a shipment heading out of the port tonight. At 02:00 hours,” Cara said, breaking the silence.

“A shipment?”

“Apparently the cargo is being moved. If we don’t get them tonight we don’t get them at all. We have several officers staking out the shipyard as we speak. I’ve asked for satellite images and cooperation from the dock owners. So far it’s going well, as long as none of the officers get noticed we should be OK.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I figured you might want to tag along, given your earlier visit there.”
 

“Someone saw me?”

“You spoke to one of our undercover officers.”

The first man, Lexi assumed, the one acting as the manager but really keeping an eye on things. That explained why he wasn’t impressed when she had starting treading a fine line suggesting trafficking. At least the info from Hannah had been legit. She wanted to see the takedown and it was kind of Cara to offer, but first the hospital. The ambulance may have expedited the procedure but maybe with Cara with her they’d do it on the spot. Her body ached, she was lucky, no doubt about it. Then she noticed that they missed the hospital exit.
 

Chapter 18

The wound was superficial, the knife hadn’t penetrated any vital organs. Either it was a short blade or the intention was not to kill her. The knock on the head would leave a solid lump.
 

She had left Soho on foot and headed for Westminster Bridge, the woman had given her an address that was not far from Waterloo. Walking had been a great idea at the time, then there were the screams underneath the bridge. But how could the pimp set up the attack so quickly?
 

“How did you get to me so quickly?” Lexi asked.

“You weren’t out for long.”

“How do you know that?”

“You left me a message within the last hour. So between then and now, you weren’t out for long,” Cara said, keeping her eyes on the road.

Lexi sat in silence. She was just being paranoid. Everything Cara said made sense.
 

Lexi closed her eyes and opened them again. They were heading away from the city. Wasn’t the hospital in the opposite direction? She didn’t know the layout of the docks in comparison to the city centre but she was certain they were going in the opposite direction, away from the river. She saw Cara tapping on the steering wheel, catching glances in the rear-view mirror, her gaze shifting constantly.

How could she have been so stupid?

Lexi began weighing up her options. They were driving at about sixty miles an hour. If she jumped out of the car there was a high probability that she would be seriously injured. The road they were heading on was lit to the sides; there were buildings that housed people and businesses. A few windows shone in the distance but they were few and far between.
 

The other option was to wait it out.
 

Lexi pretended to relax, she glanced at Cara, her body language, both hands on the steering wheel, her jacket reaching up her arm, baring her wrist. What was that? A scratch, a fresh one at that.
 

Her phone, she needed her phone but whoever had attacked her had taken it, possibly thrown it in the river.
 

She was trying to understand it all. She may have even suspected it at one point but it hadn’t come together. The two police officers. Someone following her. Keeping her close.
 

A knot turned in her stomach, the pain in her side was growing worse, travelling all the way up and down her spine. The tension in her neck was converting to a massive migraine that she fought. Now was not the time. She needed to think.