Souvenirs: Lena's Friends, #2

By Chris Graham

Trafficked girls. Unwilling brides. A deadly crime.

 

Having solved one crime, DC Steve Anderson discovers evidence of more people trafficking. Having locked up a criminal for one lot of crimes, it seems that more may have been committed. And this time someone is willing to kill to cover them up.

 

Following up a lead from a friendly informant, Anderson discovers that there are more women being trafficked into Britain. But this time the stakes are high enough to kill to keep the crimes a secret.

 

Can DC Anderson find the suspect in time to prevent his death?

 

Souvenirs is the dramatic second book in the Lena's Friends crime series.

 

If you like your crime gritty and your criminal sleazy, then you'll love Chris Graham's Page-turning story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Selfishgenie Publishing
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224712823

Book preview

Other books by Chris Graham

The Lena’s Friends Series

Transactions: Lena’s Friends Book 1

By The Same Author

Lena’s Friends Novels

The Transactions Trilogy

Transactions

Poetry

A Walk On The Mild Side

Prologue

Trinity Road police station, Bristol.

Detective Inspector Nigel Ratcliffe shuffled the papers on his desk in an attempt to find an address. There was a knock on his door.

Yes? He called out, Come in.

Detective Sergeant Wilson came in and sat down opposite his boss and old friend. He casually threw a folder onto the desk.

There you go, Guv... The report you asked for. He reached over and stole one of his boss’s Polo Mints, So? That’s Dixon-Johnson and his slimy lawyer on their way then...  I guess it ties it all up ’til the court case.

Ratcliffe shrugged, Yeah, Nick... I guess it does. He paused, Well probably, anyway." He rocked his chair back against the filing cabinet with a loud clunk.

Wilson looked puzzled, You’re not sure, are you?

Dunno The Inspector replied, He’s guilty alright... but I’m still not sure he’s on his own with this... It’s too big for him. Far too wide ranging.

DS Wilson interrupted, Yeah, we know that... but that’s down to Interpol now. The Frogs have arrested those on their side of the Channel, it’s now down to those countries further back in the chain.

Ratcliffe shook his head, No, I don’t mean that, Nick... I mean this side of the operation. I’m sure there must be someone else, but Dodgy Roger isn’t saying anything.

Maybe he doesn’t know anything, Guv. Wilson suggested. Would you trust a man like him with any more than you have to?

Ratcliffe laughed, No... I guess not, but I reckon he knows more than he’s letting on. He picked up the folder Wilson had given him and thumbed idly through it as he was thinking, I reckon he’s scared of something He paused, looking up at the Sergeant, Or someone.

Wilson nodded, I know what you mean... He looked like he was crapping himself all through the interviews, didn’t he?

Yeah... I was worried I was pushing him too hard, but when I glanced across at that lawyer of his, he didn’t seem bothered and that’s not like him. Selwyn Woodward never lets an opportunity pass. The DI shook his head and sighed loudly, I dunno... What’s he scared of? Who’s he keeping his mouth shut about? That’s what I wanna know.

Is this why you’re still keeping tabs on him? Wilson asked. Is it why you didn’t oppose bail? He grinned, Woodward was giving all the verbal about why we should allow bail, but the look on his face when you didn’t object was an absolute picture. He was gobsmacked. He was obviously expecting a fight on his hands.

Ratcliffe nodded, Yeah... I saw it... but don’t underestimate Selwyn Woodward. He’s no fool. He wasn’t expecting to get bail for his client. He was squaring up for a fight he didn’t hold much hope of winning... Like most lawyers, he’s a suspicious bastard so he’ll be wondering why I didn’t oppose.

I doubt he’ll be the only one, The Sergeant commented, What with his international connections... He owns that travel agency, doesn’t he? He could book himself on one of those package holidays they sell... under a false name, of course... and sod off to almost anywhere. I’m sure he can get hold of an iffy passport. It ain’t hard. If he can smuggle in a load of tarts, he can probably smuggle himself out of the country... or at least that’s how the brass’ll see it.

Maybe Ratcliffe replied, But I think I was right. He pulled open a drawer and dropped the file into it, It might be a long shot, but I want to see who he goes to see... even who he deals with in his normal business. It might give us a lead... Trust me... This might not be as cut and dried as our superiors believe. They might think we’ve got our man... Another result for them to chalk up on the board... But while we’ve not got anything really big on, I’m gonna keep quietly looking. He smiled, Just in case.

Wilson shrugged, Oh well, Nigel... At least we’ve got someone in the bag. It’ll keep your Guvnor off our backs... an’ his Guvnor off his back too. He grinned, It’s not as if we’ve got an innocent man in the frame. Dixon-Johnson’s as guilty as sin, and he’s goin’ down for it. He nodded slowly, Yeah... I’m OK with that... In my book, that’s a result. He glanced across at the wall clock, C’mon... Pub? I’ll buy the first round, OK?

Ratcliffe said nothing. He simply stood up, took his jacket from the back of his chair, and headed for the door.

Nick Wilson rocked his chair back onto four legs, and rose, So that’s a ‘yes’ then, is it? He followed the DI out of the room.

Chapter 1 - New Case, Old Case

Bristol International Airport.

The two girls were giggling uncontrollably as they crossed the airport concourse.

You were so flirting with that Customs officer, Sue... You’re, like, totally, totally shameless. Anyone would think you hadn’t been anywhere near a feller for the last month. Anna Young grinned at her friend, Have you forgotten that Jason lad already? Or the other one last week... That blond Australian... What was his name?

Sue Lee’s pretty oriental features broke into a wide smile, You mean Guy? My hunky surfer dude? Or his mate Tommo?

Anna looked shocked. Both of them? You so didn’t, did you? Sue grinned, as Anna continued, You kept quiet about that. Did they know about each other?

Sue shrugged, Who knows? They probably do now. You know how fellas like to brag, or swap stories, so I ’spect they’ve already compared notes, She grinned, I’m sure neither of them’ll have any complaints... I certainly didn’t, they were both pretty good in the sack... Who cares anyway? We’re not gonna see them again, are we? She sat her roller suitcase up on end and fumbled in her shoulder bag for her smart phone, He was rather cute though, wasn’t he? She held out the phone to show a photo of a well-built young man, laying naked on his back on a large bed.

O... M... G! You took his picture too? I mean, naked like that? Anna shook her head, No, Sue... That’s too much... You’re such a slapper sometimes... S’posin’ your dad wants to see your holiday photos? Or worse still, your mum... She’s bound to notice if you click past a picture without stopping.

Nah... No problem. I’ll download all the ones for public consumption into a separate album, an’ show them that. Sue laughed, You don’t think that’s the only hunky bloke I’ve ever photographed without his keks on, do yer?

I guess not, knowing you, Anna replied, And at least it wasn’t a selfie

Oh no Sue interrupted, I so hate blokes sending selfies of their cocks... It’s so totally gross... Ugh... An’ it’s never the ones with nice cocks either.

Anna was almost out of control with laughter, No, you idiot She shook her head, That’s not what I meant... I meant you taking a selfie with him, with all his bits on display in the picture... an’ probably yours too.

Sue shook her head. No way... I learned my lesson as far as revealing selfies are concerned when that photo of me at Jenny’s party got shared around. Something caught her eye. She looked up, Oh look, babe... It’s your big brother... He’s here already. Over there, waving. She grinned, Shame he’s taken... He’s, like, really, really cute, isn’t he?

The two girls waved back to a tall slim man in his early twenties wearing faded jeans and a martial arts T shirt. Alongside him stood his girlfriend. The older couple shared the same golden skin and oriental looks that both girls had. All of them were from second, third, or even fourth generation Chinese immigrant families who’d been in the UK for a long time. Anna’s grandparents on one side were descended from immigrants who’d arrived in the 19th century.

Come on, you two, Anna’s brother called out, Don’t hang about... Parking here’s costing me a bloody fortune.

But you’re, like, early, Joey. Anna shouted, as she hobbled towards him dragging her misbehaving suitcase behind her. One of its castors had become jammed, causing it to weave around.

I checked your flight online... It said it was expected early, and when I looked at the met charts, it looked like there were favourable tail winds, so we headed over. He walked towards the two returning holidaymakers, reaching out for his sister’s case, Besides... This is hardly early really... You were supposed to be back here a fortnight ago. Only you two freeloaders could swing yourselves an extra two week’s free holiday. How the hell did you manage it?

Simples, Hun... ’cos we’re so fabulously gorgeous, that’s why. Sue said, flirting outrageously. It wasn’t missed by his girlfriend, who glared at the younger girl.

Anna laughed, I guess being students has its compensations, bruv. She explained, They had to get someone back early, but there weren’t any spare seats on the charter flight. They said a short notice scheduled flight would’ve been a whole heap more expensive than getting someone else to stay on a bit longer, an’ as we’re students, we could extend our stay ’cos we didn’t have to be back at work like the other girls they asked first.

Yeah Sue said, Like... If they’re offering an extra fortnight’s full board in Phuket for free, we’d be totally stupid not to take it, right? Doh!... It was so a no brainer really.

But what about money? Joey asked, Y’know... for drinks and stuff like that... Did you have enough?

Anna grinned, Derr... Don’t be stupid... When you’re as drop dead gorgeous as we are, you never need to spend your own money to get totally ratted every night. There’s always plenty of guys climbing over themselves, only too pleased to get you a drink.

The four of them were still laughing and swapping gossip as they headed for the car park where Joey had parked his car.

* * *

Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre.

Geoffrey Waddington was less than happy as he left the court building. He stopped outside the door to light up a small cheroot. Striding down the steps in front of him, he could see the solicitor who’d successfully countered his claim, followed at a more leisurely pace by the two defendants: one, the manager of the travel company, the other the attractive woman he’d first seen working for the matrimonial introductions agency and who, he now knew, owned the business. To the lawyer, no doubt, it had been just another day’s work, but to Waddington it now meant a hefty legal bill from his own solicitor.

Long serving Police Constable Matt Davies walked along Redcliff Street towards the Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre. As he approached the steps, he saw a face he thought he recognised coming out of the building. He was sure he’d seen the man before, maybe at the police station, but couldn’t put a name to him.

Davies shrugged. It wasn’t uncommon for those who visited the station to also be seen at the court, though usually it would be at the Crown Court, rather than here at the County Court, and they’d be there as a defendant. The other likelihood was that the man was a solicitor who’d been at the station representing a client. His suit didn’t look right for a defendant. A little too formal, Davies thought.

The man stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned to face the two people following him. The three shook hands and parted, with the man Davies had decided was a lawyer crossing the street while the others each left in opposite directions along Redcliff Street, the woman passing him on her way. As she passed by, Davies caught a waft of her perfume. It matched her well-groomed classy good looks perfectly. Although she was clearly no youngster, she was maybe just a little younger than him. Matt Davies found her extremely attractive.

Glancing back at the woman’s shapely backside, he smiled to himself, before turning around to follow her with his eyes as she walked away from him. He saw her raise her hand slightly, holding something small. The action was followed by the flashing of the hazard lights on a parked Mini as she unlocked it remotely with a key fob. Davies waited to watch her get into the driver’s seat, placing her shapely behind carefully on the car’s low seat, her equally shapely legs following as she swung them inside to tuck them under the steering wheel. Turning away, the show now over, he climbed the steps and entered the building, immediately heading for the admin offices where he was picking up documents.

Waddington stood at the top of the steps, thinking as he puffed at his cigar. Thankfully, the court hadn’t awarded costs against the plaintiff as they felt there had been some merit in his claim, but not enough evidence to find against those he’d been claiming against.

It had been judged that any fault or blame lay with those at the overseas holiday destination, possibly acting in good faith in the belief they were providing what the client required. Any further claims would need to be made through the Thai courts if indeed any breach of local legislation had occurred.

The two UK businesses were both deemed to have fulfilled their side of the contract: one by organising the trip itself, and the other by finding a company who could put together an itinerary that provided the best chance of meeting suitable women. Waddington’s claim had been that he hadn’t been introduced to eligible young women for marriage, which had been the prime reason for his trip, but instead had been provided with a succession of what appeared to be nothing more than prostitutes, whom he suspected had been arranged and paid by either the trip’s organisers, or by the hotel owners.

The organisers had successfully convinced the court that it wasn’t anything to do with them, and that there was no proof these women had been prostitutes, to which the court concluded that if it had been the case, it was entirely down to those in Thailand contracted to provide accommodation and introductions.

* * *

Trinity road police station, Bristol.

Detective Inspector Nigel Ratcliffe walked into the CID office, looked around at the various officers going about their business, then banged down hard on a desk with his hand.

Right... Listen up... Let’s have a bit of hush. Almost as one, the officers looked towards him. Ratcliffe continued, All of you... in the briefing room in five minutes, OK... The Super’s got a new job for us all, and it’ll include uniformed as well as us, so I might as well brief everyone at once.

You Guv? A voice called out from the back. What’s up? Has the Super got fed up with the sound of his own voice?

Ratcliffe stifled a laugh. Normally the Superintendent liked to brief his officers himself when he came up with one of his bright ideas.

Let’s have a little respect for rank, Sergeant Wilson... he’s asked me to brief everyone because he’s been called away to the ACC’s office.

As the officers filed out of the room, some turned towards the car park for a quick smoke, while others went to the coffee machine before heading for the briefing room. Ratcliffe went into his own private office and hung his jacket on his chair.

Five minutes later, in the briefing room, the air was buzzing with conversation as DI Ratcliffe came through the door.

OK ladies and gentlemen... Let’s have a bit of quiet. I’ll try to keep this brief so we can all get on with our jobs.

The room fell silent, apart from one question from an older long serving police constable who Ratcliffe had known for years.

So Guv... What’ve we done to deserve you briefing us?

Ratcliffe replied, The Super would’ve liked to have held this briefing himself, but he’s having a little tête-à-tête with the Chief Super and the ACC this morning, so he’s asked me to brief you all. He paused, to check his notes, Right then... Listen up... The Superintendent is concerned... or to be more accurate, the Chief Super is concerned so the Super has to be concerned. He grinned. His audience followed suit, knowing exactly where he was coming from. Ratcliffe continued, They’re concerned that we’ve been having a lot of trouble with organised gangs of bag dippers, bag snatchers, and pick pockets in the various shopping precincts and tourist spots recently. The Chief Superintendent wants us to crack down hard on it... and so do I, so we’re mounting a combined operation with CID and uniformed officers working together in the way we do best. It’ll mean some of you uniformed officers will be working in plain clothes, either with your own colleagues, or with my officers. The plan is to cover one target area at a time, with teams of three officers watching out for, and apprehending these predators who make our citizens’ lives a misery. A hand went up. Ratcliffe responded, Yes, Constable.

How are we going to work it, Sir? An officer asked, I mean, teams of three? How’s that work?

Good question. The DI replied, The plan is for teams of three officers, each team working as a tight knit unit, to mingle with the shoppers, or tourists depending on the location, watching out for any suspicious activity. If one of the team spots a dip or a grab taking place, he’ll move in He was interrupted by a female voice from the floor.

Sorry, sir, but you said ‘he’ll move in’? It might have escaped your notice, but there’s a few of us with these The woman PC pointed to her breasts as the assemble officers began chuckling to themselves. So does this mean all the training we female officers have undergone is to no avail? Are we going to be left behind to make the tea?

Ratcliffe held his hands up, I’m sorry PC Disley... er, Elaine, isn’t it? It was a slip of the tongue, though in fact I’ve got a different role in mind for you lady officers, and no, it isn’t making the tea... These lazy buggers can brew their own tea. No, it’s a far more important part than that, in the thick of it, so to speak.  

The officer smiled, Sorry Guv... but you understand how it is... In my position as fed rep I have to keep an eye on things or I get canned by those ‘lady officers’ as you refer to them.

Nigel nodded, Of course, Elaine... I understand. I’ll explain the role of female officers in a moment... Now, as I was saying... Whichever one of a team spots anything dodgy going down will move in on the thief, at the same time signalling to the rest of his team so all three officers can target and apprehend the offender, while watching for any of the thief’s own team of villains, who he Ratcliffe grinned across at the Police Federation representative, Or she... may try to toss the stolen item to. Make no mistake... These gangs are organised, we suspect from Eastern Europe, and either the same gangs, or others like them, have been running amok in cities and tourist spots all over the continent... At least with teams of three officers, it should lessen the opportunities for our quarry to get away. He turned to face PC Disley, Now PC Disley... regarding the female officers... the female of the species always being far more deadly than the male There were nods from several officers of both sexes, along with a few laughs as he continued, You’ll be out there on your own... though not really. What I mean is, you won’t be in teams like the men, you’ll be working singly... or possibly in pairs, but I’ll come to that in a moment. I want you to be tempting targets for these thieving sods, with nice open shopping bags with boxes and packages, empty of course, clearly either belonging to desirable consumer items or with the logos of expensive shops. Likewise purses and handbags will be openly visible to inquisitive eyes and in reach of the sticky fingers of all and sundry... You get the picture? There were nods around the room as he went on,  Not to put too fine a point to it... and at great personal risk from the assembled female officers here... what I’m saying is that you’ll be bait... but you’ll be bait that can bite back. You’ll all have your ASPs, also those authorised will carry PAVA, and likewise Tasers for those who’ve had the training... If the attacker really wants to take the bait bag, let him... it’s worthless and it’ll free your hands to help make an arrest, though if reports are correct, you’ll not notice ’til it’s almost over and done with because most of the current bunch try to take valuables without the victim noticing... and they’re experienced enough to be good at it. He grinned, But not this time, ’cos those very tempting goodies will be tied to the bag itself by a thin cord, so nicking it sets off an alarm... There’ll be no excuse for you not noticing the attempted theft, OK? He looked around the room, Right? Any other questions? A hand went up, Yes, Sally?

Sir... You said something about pairs, that you’d explain later. The young woman PC smiled, Is this later enough?

Thank you for reminding me, PC Vaughan, Ratcliffe had forgotten his earlier words, from an idea which had only come to him at the time he’d been speaking, Yes, pairs... I’m aware that some of our female officers are physically small... petite... and certainly in the case of younger officers, could easily be dressed and made up to look younger still. Now as I’m sure you all know... some might even remember, He grinned, that these shopping malls are extremely popular with older school kids and students as places to meet and hang out, particularly the girls who like to go fashion shopping with their mates, or more often in pairs with ‘best friends’. Suitable officers He glanced across at a middle aged officer who usually manned the desk and rarely worked outside the station, I’m sure PC Pullen won’t be offended not to be included in those He grinned.

No offence taken, Guv. Jean Pullen replied, with a laugh.

Nigel continued, As I was saying... Smaller, suitably young-looking officers can work in pairs for the purposes of both those officers’ own safety, and the added credibility it gives their cover. They can act as their own apparent distractions by seeming to behave like pairs of best mates out having fun shopping together, looking like they haven’t a care in the world, and as if they don’t appear to be watching their bags too closely... but that’s only for appearances, OK? You’ll be minding each other’s backs, while watching like hawks for these little scrotes who’re out to nick all your stuff. It’s not going to be just a pleasant day out at the shops for you girls... but it’s got to look like it is to those we’re out to catch.

A few other questions were asked, and answered, before the briefing was wound up and the assembled officers went their own ways.

As Ratcliffe headed for the door, he was joined by Nick Wilson and Steve Anderson.

Well, Guv Wilson began, I guess this’ll give us a bit of breathing space to keep an eye on Dodgy Roger... after all, it’s not the most complex of operations, is it? It’s not so much an investigation... more of a numbers game, and uniform can supply the numbers.

Yeah... That’s what I was thinking, The DI replied, Until we get a fucking murder or something else major landing on our plate.

But I can see why the Chief Super’s so keen on it. Anderson added. It’s the kind of thing he loves, ’cos it’s visible and it affects the man in the street.

The DI laughed, Yeah... Quite literally, Steve... and it’s good press for the police. He loves all that ’cos it makes him look good at his job. The press themselves prefer a juicy murder, or better still a serial killer or rapist story to report on ’cos lurid stories sell papers.

Yeah Wilson said, Especially if we make a cock up of some kind, or we don’t have the bad guy behind bars immediately if not sooner.

So when’s this all kicking off, Guv? Steve asked. When do these gangs of three, and these fake teen temptresses, hit the mean streets of Bristol’s shopping malls?

Ratcliffe shrugged, If our Super’s got any say in it, then ASAP... His Guvnor wants policing to be seen, and there’s no better way to be seen than by arrests taking place in well populated public places, is there?

* * *

The Rose and Crown pub, in a village near Bath.

Two leather jacketed bikers, an off-duty policeman, a gay vicar, and two very different women, sat around a table in the beer garden, sipping pints of good locally brewed cider and passing the time of day in the afternoon sunshine.

One of the women was tiny, pretty in a slightly mousy kind of way, and was sat snuggled next to an extremely tall biker. Her head rested on his upper arm. Despite the fact he was slouching in the wooden bench seat, Louise Peters was too small to rest her head on her husband Terry’s shoulder.

The other woman was a stunning redhead, with looks that could, and often did, stop a normal red-blooded man in his tracks.

As a high-class escort, Lena Fox was accustomed to getting repeat bookings from her varied and usually extremely wealthy clientèle, but the call for a repeat booking that she’d just received had surprised her.

Her last and only previous booking with the man had been as a dining companion, accompanying him at a business dinner with one of his potential customers and his wife. Lena had been there purely for appearances sake, to bolster the man’s