Crystal pulled up outside her parents’ home in the battered old Fiesta that she’d recently acquired. She was dressed for work in a short skirt and a see-through top but she’d slung a coat over the top so her parents couldn’t see what she was wearing. She didn’t want to arouse their suspicion; they still believed her story that she worked in a nightclub, and their reaction to that had been bad enough.
She looked at her daughter, Candice, sitting across from her in her second-hand booster seat. ‘Right, sweetheart. Here we are,’ she said.
Candice stuck her bottom lip out and Crystal could tell the tears would soon follow. ‘Don’t wanna go,’ she said.
‘Come on, Candice, love. Nanny and Grandad will have lots of nice treats for you.’
‘Don’t care. Want to stay with Mummy.’
As Crystal had predicted, Candice began to cry, her tears accompanied by a loud piercing wail. How she hated having to leave her, especially when they’d had such a lovely day. After picking her up from nursery she’d taken her to the park and then they’d returned home and done some painting, using a set of paints she’d picked up from the pound shop, before Crystal had given Candice her tea.
Crystal got out of the car and went round to the passenger side, undoing Candice’s booster seat. It was a tricky operation. The clip on one side didn’t work so she’d had to secure it in place with some string, which she’d fed through the buckle and underneath the seat and then tied it at the back. The knot took some undoing and whilst she clawed at it with her nails, the sound of Candice’s loud shrieks penetrated her eardrums.
She lifted her daughter out while Candice struggled to break free. Her parents were already at the door before she had chance to knock and she was relieved to part with her screeching daughter.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll soon cheer her up,’ said Crystal’s father, holding out a bar of chocolate to tempt Candice.
‘OK, thanks. I’ll see you in the morning,’ said Crystal, giving Candice a quick peck on the cheek before she got back inside her car.
Crystal was desperate to escape her daughter’s anguished cries. She knew that the longer she prolonged her departure, the more upset Candice would become. It was always awful having to leave her like this. She should be the one to put Candice to bed; to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in before giving her a goodnight kiss.
But she knew she had no choice in the matter. Crystal needed the money and she knew of no other way to get hold of the large amount of cash it took to feed her and Gilly’s drug habit, as well as keeping her and her daughter housed, fed and clothed.
Crystal hated this life and what it had done to her, and the effect it was having on her daughter. She often dreamt of a better life. A life where she didn’t have to sell her body to strangers. Where she didn’t have to feed the perversions of sick and depraved men. Where she wasn’t worried every time she took on a new client in case he abused and beat her. And a life where she could be with her daughter properly, and she, Gilly and Candice could be just like a normal family.
But she knew that was never going to happen, especially with Gilly. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe it would ever be more than a dream. She and Gilly would never be equals. She was his property, just like all the other girls who sold their bodies so he could profit, more so, in fact, because she was his first recruit.
There was a time when she had felt special to him. But not any more. Not since he’d set eyes on the journalist. But even though his interest in her as a person was waning, he was still interested in her as a money-making machine. So, for now, her dreams would have to remain as nothing more than that – just dreams.
*
Andy was sitting in a coffee shop and across from him sat Clare, who was currently taking a gulp of her cappuccino. She put down her cup and looked up, meeting his gaze.
‘Thanks for coming, Andy,’ she said.
‘That’s OK,’ said Andy, managing a thin smile.
Clare then cleared her throat and began explaining why she had brought him here. ‘I don’t want to worry you,’ she said, ‘but I’m a bit concerned about Maddy. Now, before I say anything further, I want you to promise me that this is just between the two of us. I’d hate Maddy to think I’d betrayed her and, well, to be honest, things already aren’t too good between us.’
‘You as well?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing.
Clare sighed. ‘Yes. We were due to meet for lunch only Maddy didn’t show up. When she was almost an hour late I rang her and, it seems, she’d completely overlooked the fact that she was due to meet me.’
‘Strange,’ said Andy.
‘Oh, it gets worse. Apparently, the reason she’d overlooked meeting me was because she had had to deal with some graffiti on her front door.’
‘Really?’ asked Andy.
‘Yes, somebody had written the word “bitch” and Maddy had got herself worked up over it. Not only that, but she thinks someone has been watching the house; two different cars, apparently.’
Andy looked at her quizzically with creases forming on his forehead. ‘Hang on a minute. Did Becky see the graffiti?’
‘Maddy thinks she might have done.’
‘Shit!’ he cursed.
Clare carried on speaking, as though she was keen to get it all out in the open now that she had started. ‘But it isn’t just that, Andy,’ she said. ‘Maddy has changed. I rarely see her these days. She seems to spend most of her time with Aaron and, from what I can make out, she doesn’t always have a lot of time for Becky either. She’s even admitted to being a bit short with her.’
‘Really?’ Andy asked again, while Clare paused to take another sip of her cappuccino.
‘There’s more,’ said Clare, ‘but please don’t tell Maddy I told you this.’
‘Don’t worry. This stays between us,’ he said.
Clare continued. ‘Well, whatever’s going on, it’s affecting her work life too. She’s missing client appointments and she’s even lost work because one of her articles wasn’t up to scratch.’
‘That doesn’t sound like Maddy,’ Andy chipped in.
‘I know. She’s lost the whole of the Sunshine group.’
‘Bloody hell! That’s a big client.’
‘Tell me about it. But, the thing is, she didn’t really seem fazed when she told me about it. She sounded more annoyed that they’d stopped working with her on the strength of one article, rather than concerned that her poor standard of work had caused them to do that.’
When Clare finished speaking, Andy stared at her, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Jesus!’ he said. ‘It’s worse than I thought.’
‘So, you’ve got concerns as well?’ asked Clare.
‘Oh, yes,’ he said, but he didn’t elaborate.
‘You mentioned that things aren’t good between you and Maddy either?’ she asked.
‘No…’ said Andy, but he didn’t tell Clare about the school ringing him. Even though she was a friend, it was something he didn’t really want to share. Instead he said, ‘Same sort of thing. She’s always running late and seems to be behind with things all the time. I spoke to her about it and, well, things got a bit heated, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Clare. ‘It’s strange that she seems to be alienating everyone round her.’
‘Yes,’ said Andy, but he didn’t continue.
For a few moments they remained silent, the atmosphere between them now a bit awkward. They both sipped at their coffees, each occupied with their own thoughts.
It was Clare who broke the silence. ‘Thanks again for sparing the time to meet me,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry to have had to tell you all those things. I don’t really know what you can do about the situation, to be honest, but I just felt that you should know.’
‘No, that’s fine,’ said Andy. ‘I appreciate you telling me all this. I mean, obviously I’d rather not have heard it, but I think it’s best that I know.’
‘OK. Well, I’ve got to get going now,’ said Clare, getting up from her seat, and Andy noticed that her coffee cup was still almost half full.
‘No need to rush on my account,’ he said.
‘No, no, it’s fine. I’ve got things I need to do.’ She looked at him with a sympathetic smile on her face before adding, ‘I hope that me telling you all this does some good. I’d love to see Maddy back to her old self.’
‘Me too,’ said Andy. Then he fished inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card, quickly scribbling his mobile number on the back of it. ‘If you have any other concerns, Clare, please let me know.’
‘I will do, and please let me know how things go,’ she said. ‘I’ll text you with my mobile number.’
Once she was gone Andy went over everything in his head. Jesus! It was even worse than he had thought. Why the hell would someone scrawl such an offensive word on Maddy’s front door? He couldn’t understand it. And then there was all this carry-on about somebody watching the house. Could that really be true? Or was Maddy jumping to ridiculous conclusions?
The more he thought about everything Clare had told him on top of the concerns he already had, the more he became seriously worried about the environment his daughter was now living in. He wasn’t sure what kind of an influence this Aaron person had on Maddy but, whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
Just who was he exactly? He recalled Maddy telling him about Aaron a few weeks ago. She had been full of it, all excited about this new businessman she was seeing. He ran an electrical goods wholesale company, apparently, called Lecco. The name had stuck in his mind because he remembered thinking how corny and unoriginal it was.
Maybe he could make a few enquiries and see if he could find out anything more about him. He didn’t have a surname for him, but he had the company name and that was a start. Maddy had also told him that Aaron had found a warehouse in Manchester after the first one he was after had fallen through. Andy wished he could recall the name of the industrial estate, but he hadn’t really taken much notice at the time. Something beginning with W.
For a few minutes he sat sipping the last dregs of his coffee and trying to bring the name of the industrial estate to mind, but when he couldn’t think of it, he decided to finish his coffee and set off for home.
It was while he was leaving the city centre that the name finally came to him. Witney. Yes, that was it. Like the singer, Whitney Houston, except it was spelt differently. He knew this because he was already familiar with that particular industrial estate, having dealt with a few firms located there in the course of his employment.
Witney industrial estate. So now he had the name of the firm and the location for its new warehouse. It was a good starting point. Armed with that information, he intended to find out as much as he could about Aaron before he decided what to do next.