Time to Play (North East Police) (32 page)

Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she pulled the file towards her and focussed in properly. She couldn’t stop the scream that escaped her mouth as she realised who the picture was of. It was a very dead Nita Thress. She stumbled backwards, crashing into the filing cabinet behind her, sending trays and paperwork flying.

In the back of her mind she could hear someone saying ‘no’ over and over. It took her a minute to realise that person was her. As Marlo reached her side, rapidly followed by Ali, she sank to the floor in a dead faint.

19
^th
November, 0920 hours – Sunderland City Police HQ

‘Easy, love,’ said Ali softly as Elvie opened her eyes seconds after falling to the floor. ‘You’re OK. Take it easy.’

He had to grip her as she scrambled to her knees in panic, her eyes darting about wildly.

‘Nita. I saw Nita,’ sobbed the girl, falling forward into his arms and wrapping hers round his neck so tightly he thought she might actually stop the circulation. He gave her a few minutes to cry, then pulled back and looked at her.

‘Where? Where did you see Nita?’

Elvie turned and pointed at his desk, her face bleak. ‘In file.’

‘Wait a minute, what? Which file?’

Marlo quickly scanned the file that was open and glanced at him – ‘It’s one of the reservoir girls, the first one we got out.’

‘Elvie, listen to me. This is very important. Are you certain that the girl in that picture is your friend?’

Elvie nodded firmly. ‘Nita dead. Is my fault, Nita dead. I forget the road, I forget to tell. My fault.’ Elvie started crying again.

Ali knew the whole office was watching him. He was kneeling on the floor cuddling a girl who looked so much like the girls they’d pulled out of the reservoir.

‘Do me a favour: phone Mum? Ask her to come down?’ Ali asked Alex. ‘She’s now a witness in a murder investigation, I’m not handing her over to immigration, not yet.’

Elvie pulled away from Ali. ‘You will find bad men, yes? Bad men do this. Rocko and Gaz they do this to Nita. I see them in house.’

Alex paused, his mobile in his hand, and looked up. ‘Did you say Rocko?’

‘Yes Elvie say Rocko. I think pronounce correct. He bad man.’

‘Where did you see this Rocko?’ Alex asked. Ali knew he was trying to keep the urgency out of his voice.

‘Elvie not see. Elvie hear of Rocko. First at big house where Yolanda kept Elvie and Nita. Then at dirty house. Gaz hurt Nita, Rocko tell Gaz hurt Nita. Danny help Elvie, stop Gaz and bad man hurting Elvie. Gaz tell Danny Rocko will kill him.’

The words Elvie were saying made little sense to Ali, he knew he needed to try and structure her answers so that they made sense. Flashing Alex a look, he got to his feet.

‘Elvie, come with me. I need to ask you some questions and write the answers down, OK? Marlo can come too. And Alex.’

Elvie nodded and clambered to her feet, wiped her tears on the back of her hand and stood there with a renewed look of determination.

‘Elvie will help.’

Once they were seated in one of the old interview rooms, Ali took the lead.

‘When you were brought here on the container, who got you out of it?’

‘Danny and Gaz get Elvie and Nita out. Other girls too but Elvie not see them again.’

‘Where did they take you?’

‘Take Elvie and Nita in van to big house. Then we eat food and wake up much later.’ Elvie’s eyes dropped to her lap, ‘We wake up in different clothes. Wet hair. Smell of soap.’

‘So they cleaned you while you slept,’ said Ali. He sidled a glance at Alex.
Drugged.
They didn’t need to speak the word – they were both thinking the same thing.

‘What happened then?’ asked Ali, keeping his tone soft. He was almost afraid of the answer.

‘Yolanda bad lady. She made Gaz and Danny take Nita, say Elvie will bring much money. Yolanda not know Elvie understand English. Noni teach Elvie English. Speak little, understand more. She say Elvie bring money because pure. Elvie not know what she mean but not like.’

‘Where did they take Nita?’

Elvie thought for a minute, obviously trying to recall the exact details. Tears pricked her eyes as she couldn’t remember. Determinedly, she closed her eyes and tried harder. ‘Real Street, maybe? Real not right though, sound like real.’

‘Do you mean Wear Street?’ asked Alex, standing and putting his hands on the desk.

Elvie nodded swiftly, ‘Yes Wear. They take Nita to Wear Street. Take Elvie too later. House dirty. Smell bad. Danny put Elvie in room but Elvie see Nita. Gaz hurting Nita.’

‘Then what happened?’ asked Ali.

‘Danny tell Elvie not to be virgin. Say man no want if not virgin. He kiss me and man shout at Danny. Man punch Danny then leave.’

‘Wait a minute, was Danny a dark haired lad, about 25 years old? Would you recognise him again?’

Elvie nodded, ‘Yes. Elvie would know. He nice man. Help Elvie escape later. You know where Danny is?’

Her voice was so hopeful that Ali felt bad for having to tell her the truth. ‘I think Danny was killed, possibly by Gaz and Rocko from what you’ve told me.’

Elvie started to cry again quietly.

‘Think that’s enough for now, bro,’ said Alex softly, pulling a tissue from his pocket and handing it to Elvie. ‘Here you go, pet.’ Turning to look at Ali, he said firmly, ‘I think it’s safe to say our cases are now officially linked. Take care of her? I’ll go brief the super and the teams upstairs.’

19th November, 1200 hours - High Dependency Ward, Sunderland Royal Hospital

Connor tried to fight waking up. He didn't want to, it felt good floating on the clouds that the morphine left him on. His throat felt sore, and his tongue felt like it was coated with a thick carpet. Groaning, he forced his eyes open a slit, but the room was blurry and he couldn't focus.

His memory of what had happened taunted him, just out of reach. He knew it had been bad, but that was all he knew. He wanted to go back to sleep and not remember at all.

He went to turn over and curl back into the covers, but his stomach protested. It was tight and pulled painfully, causing him to gasp.

Feeling around with his hand, he managed to find the button that released his morphine. He vaguely remembered an angel in white telling him about it the last time he'd woken up. He pressed it several times, not conscious enough to realise it was on timed release anyway so repeat pressing wouldn't affect the amount entering his body.

As his mind drifted again, he saw horrible flashes of things that could have been memories. His dad swinging from a rope, smiling eerily. His uncle cutting the rope with a rusty old knife and laughing evilly as his dad fell with an oomph. He couldn't decide which bits were real and which were made up by his drug-addled mind.

He felt something between his lips – the nurse had put a straw there. For a second he forgot what he was supposed to do, but then recalled and sucked hard as though his life depended on it. The cool orange juice slid down into his tummy smoothly and he welcomed it gladly. He hadn't even realised he was thirsty.

'Thank you,' he said, though it came out more as a muffled groan. The nurse knew what he meant though. She patted his arm gently and told him to rest.

Drifting again, he closed his eyes and fell back into slumber.

19th November, 1320 hours - Marlo's flat, Sunderland

Marlo didn't know what to do.

Agnes had gone to Cass's cottage, but Elvie hadn't wanted to go. Since they'd gotten back to the apartment, all the kid had done was sit on the sofa staring into space, her eyes so full of pain that Marlo wanted to gather her up into the biggest cuddle ever and never let her go. She felt wholly unqualified to deal with the situation, if she was honest. Agnes had told her that all Elvie needed to know was that Marlo was there, that she was safe and that she could talk if she wanted to.

Marlo trusted Agnes: she'd brought up eight kids practically on her own, so she obviously knew what she was on about. Besides, Marlo had no other point of comparison. Her growing up in and out of children's homes hadn't taught her how to handle kids. She'd generally just stayed out of the way absorbed in whatever book she was reading at the time.

Marlo had tried with Elvie, she really had. She'd tried talking but Elvie hadn't spoken back, listening but Elvie was just not open to replying. She'd tried interaction – asking Elvie to help her in the kitchen and with some chores – but the kid had just sat on the couch and shook her head. She looked small, and so very sad sitting there lost in her lonely world.

Deciding they needed to get out of the house, Marlo decided to try another tactic. She got to her feet and passed Elvie her shoes and one of Marlo's thick jackets. 'Come on, love. We're going out.' She kept her tone firm so Elvie knew she had to go, and Marlo had to stop herself grinning as Elvie reluctantly pulled the shoes on and stood.

The drive to Seaburn would have been completely silent if not for the music coming from the radio.

Marlo parked up the car, still not quite knowing what to say, but she'd felt the need to show Elvie the sea. When Marlo had been growing up, the ocean had been a constant. The care homes she'd spent most of her time in had been a stone’s throw from the beach, and she'd become a frequent visitor, the soothing sound of the waves helping her cope with the crap she put up with at home.

On a whim, she bought two ice creams from the shop and led the way down to the sand. She didn't know if Elvie had ever seen the sea, or sat on the sand, but it had always helped her.

Feeling the soft sand beneath her shoes, she felt calmness wash over her. Finding a raised dune, she sat down and looked out towards the sea. Elvie took the offered ice cream with whispered thanks, and sat down beside Marlo. It was bitterly cold, the sea breeze mixing with the already low temperature for the time of year and Marlo was glad of the heavy coats they both wore. There were still people on the beach though, dog walkers, joggers, and even a bunch of teenagers larking about. She hoped the calming sound of the waves crashing on the sand was helping Elvie to relax.

When Elvie finished her ice cream, Marlo said, 'Talk to me. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong.'

Elvie hung her head. It was almost as if she was too scared to speak.

'Whatever it is, sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere. No matter what happens you will always be able to talk to me.'

'Why Marlo nice to Elvie? Elvie not nice person.' She sounded devastated, and tears filled her eyes.

Carefully, Marlo asked, 'Why do you think you're not a nice person? From what I know of you, you're a lovely girl with a big heart. I think you're nice.'

'Elvie leave Nita, not help her. I leave her in house. I bad person. Why Marlo like Elvie when I bad person? You no want me to stay. Send me back.'

'Is that what you think? That I'd send you back because of what happened? Now you listen to me, young lady, I'll not have this self-pity. What happened to you and Nita was awful, but you couldn't help her, sweetheart, not then. You had to make sure you stayed alive. You told me and Ali about Nita as soon as you could. I don't want you to go back, not if you don't want to go. I've even been looking at bigger houses so you could stay with me. I don't want you in a children's home, love. If you have family at home and you want to go back, then I'll help you do that, but if you stay, I'd like you to stay with me.'

'Marlo really want Elvie to stay? I not want go back, only my aunt there and she not nice, always shout at Noni. She hate Elvie.'

'Yes I want you to stay. I want you to go to school and learn, and later do a job you really want to do. I want you to be happy.' Now Marlo felt her eyes fill with tears, she wanted Elvie to stay more than anything. But it had to be a decision made by Elvie.

Elvie didn't speak for a moment, but then moved suddenly and threw her arms around Marlo's neck and squeezed tightly.

'Thank you,' she whispered in Marlo's ear.

'From now on, missus, you tell me when something's bothering you, OK?' Marlo sounded gruff, she felt really emotional. Elvie just nodded, and kept hold of Marlo. They must have looked strange, sitting hugging on a freezing cold beach in the middle of winter, but Marlo didn't care. It felt right.

19th November, 1625 hours - Sunderland City Police HQ

Ali rubbed a hand over his face - so much for days off. He'd ended up being involved in searching the house on Wear Street with Alex and the NCA, National Crime Agency. His need to see the crime scene for himself was not that strange, though. The girls who'd been found were his cases, not Alex's. He had a responsibility to speak for them when they couldn't speak for themselves.

He'd never seen anything so dingy and horrible as the house, and he'd seen some shitholes. The whole place was damp, mould had covered the walls and ceiling corners, and any wallpaper that had been left behind was from the seventies, aged manky patterns peeling and hanging in the midst of cobwebs. The whole building had felt like it should have been condemned.

The attic room had been the most awful, he didn't think he'd forget it in a hurry. Sparsely furnished and decked out with a torture chair similar to the one Alex had described in the shed of Connor's dad. And the whole attic was fully soundproofed so the screams couldn't be heard outside. A large stash of liquid heroin and syringes had been found in a small fridge situated beside a small computer. The computer had gone to Jacob Tulley in the digital forensics lab for examination - Ali hoped Jacob would be able to get information off it that would aid the investigation.

They'd found six girls inside, all high as kites and out of it completely. The two men located engaging in sexual activity with the barely conscious girls had been arrested, and the girls removed to a specialist centre for people trafficked into the country. He didn't know what would happen to them yet, but they were safe.