‘Must be the worst way to go.’ Becky shivered.

Mann didn’t answer. He was busy watching a Chinese man standing on the other side of the road, behind the house, staring intently at the house and talking on his phone.

Becky rested her head back against the head rest and sighed deeply. She looked across at Mann then she looked past him to see what he was staring at. The Chinese man had disappeared.

‘I just don’t get it, Johnny. What about the man who ran away from the scene? Who could do something like that knowing they couldn’t get out? Even if he didn’t set the place alight, he’s just committed murder anyway.’

‘He definitely didn’t set the place alight. My guess is he was left here to look after the women. When the incendiaries went off he saved himself and destroyed the evidence.’

‘That stinks. Evidence? Is that all these women were?’

‘We both know there is no mercy in the trafficking business, Becky. It’s all about money for people. The women represent a massive investment. Their earning potential was huge; they would have been sold on and around this country and all over Europe, earning money for their traffickers as they went. Someone will be left with a big hole in their pocket after this. A trafficker is being punished right where it hurts. Losing face and losing money, two sides of the same coin. Someone’s done both here. We are in the middle of a global turf war.’

20

Amy looked forward to seeing Lenny. He brought her things—some GCSE revision books, much too hard for Amy but it was kind of him. He bought her another macramé kit to make several bead necklaces and bracelets. After the visit from the Filipino people to the school, she had taught herself to make really intricate and pretty things. He also brought her some felt-tips and a drawing pad. Today he said he would bring her something to draw—fruit or something. She wasn’t much good at drawing fruit. She was better at drawing people. But it was nice of him to think of her.

She lay still and looked around the room. It wasn’t a nice bedroom. It had a small windowless bathroom off it with a smelly shower behind a nasty plastic curtain. It was cold in there. The curtain wrapped itself around Amy when she showered. There was little furniture, just a scruffy old raffia lamp and a chair and table for her to sit at. There wasn’t even a proper bed—just a mattress on the floor. No telly. The curtains didn’t fit properly. Anyway, there was nothing much to see. There was a car park below and a block of flats opposite. So Amy just stared out of the window and counted the planes that went over day and night. Amy would be on a plane soon—going home for Easter, a whole month. She was so looking forward to it. Then she realised that it might not happen if her father didn’t give the men who employed Lenny what they wanted—what they were owed, Lenny said. Then she might have to stay here a long time. Amy sighed. She had never really spent any time with her father, she didn’t really know him. But the one thing she did know was that he was rich and powerful and easily irritated. All this would really bug him. She hoped he didn’t get so mad he just wouldn’t pay. Once, she had seen him when he got mad with her mother. They rowed about getting married and about her spending too much money. Her mother had shouted all the time but her father had said little. He was like stone. He had just said what he had wanted to then walked away and left her mother shouting. They had had no money for weeks until her mother apologised, even though she said it wasn’t her fault. Her mother said she always had to apologise.

Another click of the front door, this time louder. Amy strained to listen. Heavy but precise footsteps, a strong but careful closing of the door…Lenny was back—Amy was pleased. She heard him talking to the Chinese woman in English. Her English was very good, thought Amy, but she had a strange accent. Amy couldn’t put her finger on it. She was giggling again. Footsteps were coming towards Amy’s room. The door opened.

‘Morning, Amy…Here, I brought you these.’ Lenny came in with a bag of pastries and a mug of hot chocolate. He set down another bag on the table.

‘Thank you.’

Amy smiled at Lenny and began pulling the pastries apart. He was watching her. Her eyes flicked back and forth from the pastry to his face. He reached out and patted her leg. Amy stared at the hand. She wanted to knock it off but she knew she had to leave it there.

‘Can I go back to school soon? I am missing my classes and my friends.’ She looked up unblinkingly at him, her eyes enlarged by the thick lenses in her glasses, her face covered in pastry crumbs.

‘Soon, soon.’

‘Thank you,’ she said as she followed his eyes to his hand, which was still resting on her leg. ‘Thank you, Lenny.’

The door opened and the Chinese woman came in. Amy hadn’t seen the face behind the voice before. She had had an image of her in her head, but it wasn’t quite right. She hadn’t expected her to be this beautiful, like a model. She had long black hair down her back like Pocahontas, red lipstick and nails. Amy stopped eating and stared. The woman didn’t look at her. She spoke to Lenny. She was definitely the woman Amy had heard talking but when she was speaking to Lenny her voice became soft. She must be Lenny’s wife, thought Amy. Although she didn’t have a ring on her wedding finger and he did. Maybe she’d lost it and he was getting her a new one.

‘Amy, this is Suzanne. Suzanne will be looking after you for a few days. I have to go away on a business trip. I won’t be long. When I come back, hopefully it will be time for you to go back to school.’

Amy said nothing. She smiled but felt a sense of panic. Lenny was leaving? Who would be nice to her when he was gone? Not that one who stank or the spotty pale one, and

definitely

not Suzanne?

‘Suzanne will get you everything you need. She will stay here in the flat and look after you. All right?’

Amy nodded, but said nothing. It wasn’t all right at all. She felt like crying. She looked at the beautiful Chinese woman and tried a smile. Suzanne smiled back, thin-lipped. The pastry had become stuck to Amy’s brace. The chocolate was all over her teeth. Amy saw Suzanne look away in disgust.

21

Hong Kong

Stevie Ho walked up from Central to the Peak terminal and waited in the tunnel entrance for the tram to come to a stop. There were only a few people waiting. It was too early for the tourists and too late for the few workers who went upwards to the Peak to work. Stevie was going because he had been summoned.

He sat at the back of the school-like wooden benches and waited for the juddering tram to crank itself into life. As it grunted its way forwards and upwards, the gravity coupled with the incline pinned Stevie back to the seat. He felt the wooden back of the bench dig into his spine. He was a big man, broad and carrying a little more weight than he used to. His back ached and he had a touch of gout—he had to lay off the drink completely. He shook his head. Thirty-five, no drink, what a fucking life! But secretly he didn’t mind: the lack of booze had made him smarter, more alert, and he knew that he needed every ounce of intelligence he could muster now. His life was on the line.

The tram ascended, leaving Central behind and inching its way upwards, slicing the Mid-levels in half. Stevie looked about him, peering into peoples’ windows, roof gardens, front rooms, lives, as he went. Plenty of time to stare—the journey was fifteen minutes, it gave him time to collect his thoughts. He knew what CK wanted to say and he knew why he had brought him to the Peak to say it. He wanted to make sure they were alone. He wanted to talk about the taboo subject—the day his son in law, Chan, had died. He would want to know if Stevie had been there and if Stevie could have stopped it.