Everything to Lose (21 page)

Zoe
pulled Gavin up onto his feet and told him they were leaving. She told Scott to stay in the flat until the forensic people took over. She told Toni to provide cover back to the flat.

33

Reagal
Close
,
Cosham

While Zoe and Gavin drove back to their flat they argued about whether they could eat food after what they had just seen. Gavin was adamant he couldn't eat anything. Zoe insisted he put the trauma out of his head as soon as possible. She said food would give his body something to work on and help him deal with losing Rolley.

Zoe's skinny chilli con carne was no longer an option.
She decided they would have a Chinese carry out meal so he dropped her off at a local restaurant shop and drove to the flat in Reagal Close then parked his car. As Gavin walked across the road towards the flat he thought there was only one pair of eyes watching him as he waved to Toni parked up the road. He was wrong. Just before he opened the entrance door to the stairs leading to the flat he saw a face he didn't expect to see.

"Hi
Gavin."

"Sharon.
What on Earth are you doing here?"

"Something
terrible has happened to me. Can we talk please?"

Sharon
Bonny looked distressed and upset. Normally she dressed well and took great pride in her appearance. Gavin saw she was dressed down in uncharacteristic unkempt casual clothes. She had none of her usual make-up on her face and her hair needed the attention of a strong brush. If she hadn't spoken and stood in his path he would have walked passed her.

"Of
course come on up to the flat. I'll make you a cup of tea. You'll feel much better," Gavin opened his hand to the door.

"I
can't I don't have much time. I've got a flight to catch. Can I have just a couple of minutes please?"

"Sure."

She gestured with her arm over to a large black VW Sharan MPV. There was a middle-aged man with short neat white hair, beige sports jacket and green tie in the driver's seat. Her chauffeur Gavin assumed as he followed Sharon and they got into the back seat of the VW. He nodded an 'I'm okay' nod to Toni parked up the road.

Gavin
knew her family were wealthy and the VW looked very expensive. Sharon was clearly distraught. Her driver seemed emotionless, robotic even. The back of Gavin's mind started to analyse.

She
didn't look the same, she didn't sound the same and her New York drawl seemed more smoothed out. It was an impressive chauffeur-driven car. His mind was rounding on the idea that someone very important and very close to her had died.

"Gavin
this is Herman," Sharon said.

"From
the family brewery?"

"Kind
of I guess."

"Sharon,
what happened to you?"

"About
your nightmares Gavin. Have you told ...," Sharon started.

"They've
gone now. What's happened to you?"

She
gave him a look to let him know she knew he was lying. It didn't occur to him how she could possibly have known that. He stared at the car door trying to think what was unfolding. What she was trying to do. He always pegged her as a very manipulative person.

"Something
in your past has surfaced. It's at the root of these nightmares. Some folks back home are worried about you. Herman needs to know if you've told anyone about ...," Sharon said and her tone was different.

"Surfaced.
Back home. What's it got to do with you or him or anybody else?"

Gavin
pulled at the door handle beside him but he couldn't open the central-locked door. The more he pulled on the door handle the more distressed he became.

"Keep
calm Gavin. This is important."

"What?"
Gavin said and his voice sounded panicky.

"Have
you told anyone anything of what you saw in your nightmare?"

"Let
me out Sharon. I want out of here."

Herman
Vindanson turned around to face Gavin. Gavin couldn't see his hands so he didn't see the compact Glock 19 with SWR Trident-9 suppressor he'd retrieved from the driver's door storage pocket. Before he could bring his handgun over the car seat she said loudly.

"Wait."

She nodded ahead and Herman looked around to see a marked police car with blue lights flashing. It drew up in front of the VW. Two uniformed policemen and one large detective in a smart suit got out of the police car and walked to the VW.

Herman
slipped his Glock back into the storage pocket and casually pressed a button for the driver's door window to slide down. The man identified himself and showed his police ID to Herman it was Detective Inspector James McVickin. Herman stared at the ID as if he was taking in every single letter.

McVickin
told Herman he had a warrant for the arrest of Dr Gavin Shawlens. Herman gave McVickin a look that sent a cold shiver down his back and caused him to take a step back. One uniformed policeman tried to open the VW door beside Gavin.

"If
you don't mind sir," McVickin said.

Herman
contemplated for a moment then deactivated the central locking.

The
uniformed policemen handcuffed Gavin and transferred him to their police car.

"Have
a good night sir," McVickin said to Herman.

As
McVickin walked back to the police car he nodded to Tyler Wattsin who had watched Gavin's flat from a garden across the road. He was waiting for Gavin to arrive back at his flat. Tyler smiled as he shuffled back into the shadows. He knew Lisa McVickin would be well pleased with his work this night.

Herman
Vindanson stared straight ahead at the police car.

"They're
unarmed. I can finish this now. Quick and clean," Herman said.

"The
collateral is too high. A police inspector for God's sake. Besides I need to know if he has told anyone."

"Your
call."

Jim
McVickin stared at Herman through the windscreen. He felt uncomfortable. It was a strange feeling like being in great danger. He told the police driver to get going.

Sharon
Bonny was annoyed but also relieved. She was ordered to spot for the specialist called in to execute Gavin Shawlens. A few more minutes and it would have been done. In her heart she was glad Gavin had a little bit more time to live. She was relieved her cover was blown. Her work was done. Herman could finish the job without her help.

"Boss
where are you?" Toni asked Zoe.

"I'm
in the Chinese on the High Street waiting for my order. Why?"

"I'm
up the road from your flat. Looks like Shawlens has been arrested by three LEOs. Two uniforms and one suit."

"Follow
them. Let me know where they take him."

Twenty
three minutes later Toni phoned Zoe.

"The
patrol car stopped at a large nightclub called the Old Bards. It's on Elm Grove in Southsea. SLIP One and the suit have gone inside. Uniformed LEOs have left. Not sure what the hell is going on. Handcuffs were on now they're off. Shawlens looks troubled. He's holding his face I don't know if he got a bit of a slap."

"It's
okay Toni I know what's going on."

"
Boss what kind of trouble is he in?"

"These guys are not you
r friendly law enforcement officers. They are bent. Maybe we should call them BLEOs."

Toni didn't appreciate the humour.

"Should I update Lambeth Group control that Shawlens is off our radar?"

"Negative.
No need to get their knickers in a twist. Shawlens will be fine where he is. I know exactly why they've taken him. Pick up Scott and come over to the flat.

34

Southsea
,
Hampshire

In the factory attached to the rear of the Old Bards Club Gavin Shawlens sat on the bottom bed of a wooden bunk bed nursing a bruised jaw. It was a reward for not turning up at the factory at the agreed time and necessitating a police arrest. It was after nine o'clock in the evening when Jim McVickin delivered Gavin Shawlens to the factory reception behind the Club.

The
doorman Big Eric searched Gavin, removed his phone then took him to an empty bunk bed to wait. Four nervous looking customers waited in the reception for a working bed to become free. They eyed Gavin with annoyance thinking he had somehow jumped the queue.

At
that time of night the factory was buzzing. The prostitutes were busy and some of them were noisy because that's what their customers wanted to hear. It seemed many hands were also involved in a cannabis harvest. He saw Lexy busy harvesting cannabis and at the same time instructing other girls what to do. A strong feeling of anger surfaced as he thought about Lexy's part in helping Lisa to trap him in this nightmare.

He
had been in the factory only ten minutes and already he worried that going along with the scam was a bad idea. He had no choice given the fabricated evidence the McVickins had and the fact that Zoe want to know if any University staff were involved in illegal steroids. He looked up to see a friendly face looking down at him.

"Hi
I'm to show you the ropes," the man said.

"I'm
Gavin."

"You're
the chemist. I'm the Manager," the man said.

"Okay."

"Do what you're told. You won't get hurt and we'll all get along," the Manager said.

"Can
I have some food and water?"

"Follow
me. Do you have the methods?"

Gavin
Shawlens handed over the USB stick to the Manager. He led Gavin to the steroid bay and they met Tokai. The Manager said he would print out the methods so they could start to gather the materials required.

For
a few seconds Tokai and Gavin stared as they sized each other up. Gavin wandered around to see what equipment and chemicals were available. Everything needed to start production was there and ready to go. Gavin told Tokai he had done a good job getting things ready.

The
first production run would be oxandrolone tablets. Steroid tablets are popular and from Gavin's perspective much easier to produce from the raw material DHEA that Tokai had in plenty supply.

Oliver
Mansole had left a twenty-five-litre drum of DHEA. Gavin had no idea how pure the DHEA was but he was thankful it was there. The hard part of the synthesis was cholesterol to DHEA. The second step DHEA to oxandrolone was easier. Gavin started to relax a little as he felt this production would be easy enough to deliver.

The
Manager returned from the office and handed Gavin the printed methods and he took them back to his bunk bed to review the procedures. He made notes and did calculations at each the stage when chemicals and equipment were required. He thought about the harm the drugs could do on the street. Some ideas ran through his mind on how he could make them harmless. He dismissed them in case Tokai was smarter than he looked.

When
he stretched his neck and looked around he noticed that the Manager had a bed at the end of the row. It was his personal space between his crib and the wall. He had a makeshift table and bookshelf. He had a three-drawer cabinet for his clothes with a small table lamp on top. Everyone else had carrier bags or old backpack bags under their bed.

Gavin
Shawlens didn't sleep much that night. There was too much noise in the factory and too many people moving around the beds in the early hours. At six a.m. the Manager took Gavin to the kitchen area for breakfast. He sat Gavin at a long wooden table with bench seats of the type used in beer gardens.

The
open plan kitchen had no hobs, ovens or hotplates. It did have a fridge, a large freezer, three microwave ovens, two kettles and two bread toasters. All of the food in the fridge and freezer was microwave food. The only drinks were tea, coffee or bottled water. Some fruit was stored in the fridge.

Gavin
browsed the freezer and found a microwave meal he liked and while the microwave droned he made himself a cup of coffee. Beside the freezer was a large washing machine tumble drier. The Manager said he operated a strict rota for the machine. Missing your allocated slot for doing your clothes was a major incident certain to cause distress and pain.

As
Gavin sat on the bench with his quick meal he saw a queue of women waiting outside the one and only toilet that had a shower. The Manager told him men had priority for the shower and that if a female occupied it he could tell her to get out. He warned Gavin to shower regularly and keep his clothes clean. If Lisa smelled body odour from him he would feel her anger. No one was allowed to offend Lisa's nose. Gavin thought about smelly Tyler for a minute. Either he was insanely stupid or very smart to keep his body odour on full blast.

The
Manager asked him if he had all the ingredients and equipment he needed for a production run. Gavin told him he did. The Manager told him Lisa would arrive around eight in the evening. He warned Gavin that he'd better have the production up and running if he didn't want a beating.

Gavin
watched the Manager cut all of the meat on his plate into regular sized cubes before eating one of them. He discarded a couple of small pieces that would not cut into neat cubes.

"Does
that taste better?" Gavin asked.

"What?"
The Manager asked.

"The
cubes?"

"Yes
it does."

"My
sister cuts her food into rectangular strips. She says it tastes better. I think she's kidding me on."

"No
she's not."

"How
long have you been here?"

"None
of your business."

"Oh
shit it's that little witch," Gavin said.

Lexy
walked into the kitchen and started to rummage through the freezer. She gave Gavin an icy stare as she waited for the microwave to heat her food. She sat at the opposite end of the bench on her own. The Manager saw their exchange.

"How
do you know Lexy?" The Manager asked.

"That
little McVickin witch helped force me into this mess."

"Lexy
isn't a McVickin so don't hold it against her. Whatever she did, she did because that's what Lisa told her to do."

"I
thought she was Lisa's daughter," Gavin said.

The
Manager looked at Gavin as if he had two heads. Gavin was thinking Lexy might be Lisa's adopted daughter and the Manager was thinking Gavin had no idea what Lisa was like.

"Lexy
is Vietnamese, she's a victim like the rest of us here," the Manager said.

"What
do you mean a victim?"

"She's
a traffic casualty."

Over
breakfast the Manager told Gavin Lexy's story. It was a story familiar to the other girls in Lisa's business.

Lexy
wasn't her real name. Lisa didn't like her Vietnamese name so when she arrived at the factory Lisa re-named her. Lexy was head gardener and supervisor of five other young girls who tended the cannabis plants. They were in their early teens and unable to speak much English.

He
said they had all been trafficked from Vietnam on the promise of well-paid work so they could send money home to support their families. Lexy's family took out a loan to pay for a six-month course at a nail academy in Vietnam for her to train as a nail technician. An agent promised a well-paid job at a nail bar in a top beauty salon in London. She started out with dreams of living in London and making enough money to send home for her family to pay off the loan and help them to break out of poverty.

The
McVickins paid the agent in Vietnam to organise a flight from Vietnam to Russia and lorry transport from Russia to France. The McVickins took possession of their purchases in France and smuggled them into the UK.

The
journey took two months and girls were raped by Vietnamese men travelling with them and brutalised by each set of hands they passed through. When they arrived in the UK they were traumatised, pregnant and suffering ill health from sexually transmitted diseases. All hopes and dreams and their childhoods stolen from them.

When
Lexy started working for Lisa tending the cannabis plants one of the Vietnamese prostitutes told Lexy that her cannabis farm had been busted by police and she faced drugs charges and jail.

She
told Lexy if police raided this place they would all be sent to jail. She said she'd been lucky because Jim McVickin helped her to disappear from police and jail. The Vietnamese girls were told that jail in the UK was worse than jail back home, which they knew was a cruel place for young people.

The
only mention of home for the Vietnamese girls was a regular reminder that if they didn't comply with every one of Lisa's demands then the agent in Vietnam would use his machete to hack feet off their sisters and brothers. Lisa had posted a photo of a decapitated child's foot near the kitchen as a reminder of the threat to their brothers and sisters. No one working in the building, including the Manager had been outside in the fresh air since they arrived.

The
Manager said tending cannabis plants was hard, backbreaking and lonely work with a pair of gardeners doing two four-hour shifts every day. Working under blazing lights that roast your hair, head and arms and standing against air conditioning units that blast cold air through your legs was hard on the body.

Unbelievably
Lexy looked forward to the time when she would move over to 'the beds' as the previous head gardener had done. At least she would have contact with other humans and the shifts were easier. She longingly watched the pole dancers practise their routines. One of them promised to teach Lexy the best moves to keep the
sai
nghia
happy.

Lexy
had one comfort, the same vivid dream every night. A tornado sent from Vietnam by her father makes a big hole in the wall so everyone can escape into the sunshine and fresh air. She decided that jail would be a better life for her because jail terms end then she would be free.

Gavin
pushed the remainder of his food away. His face contorted with anguish. He felt sick with despair as he looked along the bench at frail and lonely Lexy. He could have choked the life out of her when he first saw her. His rage melted. Now he wanted to pick up and take her out of this place. She noticed him staring at her. She saw a very different expression on his face this time. She saw kindness in his eyes, his face showed empathy and the beginning of a friendly smile.

She
bowed her head so her hair fell forward and hid her little face. A minute later she moved her head back slightly to look at him. Her funny little eyes strained to get a peek. He was still looking. He smiled at her. She tried to smile back but couldn't, instead she gave him a tiny wave with her small hand.