Lethal Instincts (5 page)

“How can I help you?” she said, looking them both up and down. They wore the uniform, but no gun at their sides, but that wasn’t unusual. The police didn’t usually carry armed weapons, it would have been more suspicious if they had been.
 

“Lexi Ryder?”

“Yes. What is this about? Has something happened?”

“We received a nuisance call.” The shorter one of the two said looking her up and down, she didn’t like it one bit.

“You must have the wrong address.”

“Several business owners have advised that you’ve been bothering them. They are considering pressing charges.” The taller one said.
 

Lexi had to think about what they just said. Charges? That was quick. She didn’t recall harassing anyone. She held the door with one hand, the other taut on her hip.

“That’s absurd,” Lexi said, not believing a word they said. “I haven’t harassed anyone. Who is making the accusations?”
 

“We’re not at liberty to say.”

“You show up at my door in the middle of the night accusing me of god only knows what and you don’t have the decency to explain yourselves. I could file harassment charges of my own,” she said, knowing she was letting them get the better of her. The tiredness starting to show, she felt it even if they didn’t see it, but she had lost control of the situation.
 

“That wouldn’t be recommended, Ms Ryder. Just keep away from the red-light district,” the shorter one said. “Good night, ma’am.”
 

Lexi closed the door and leaned against the wall. This was ridiculous. What just happened? Did two officers really just rock up on her front door to tell her to stop doing her job? What had she stumbled upon? And how were the cops involved? She should have grabbed their identification numbers, their names at the least. For all she knew they could have been anyone, the IDs a fake.
 

She was reaching for the phone when it started to ring.
 

“Lexi, thank fuck you’re home,” Hannah’s voice boomed through the phone. “We’ve got something.”

“Hello to you too,” Lexi said rubbing her eyes. She needed another glass of wine, a lead and a good night’s sleep, not necessarily in that order.

“My computer whiz has figured out where the money came from,” Hannah said with excitement in her voice. Lexi heard someone mumbling something in the background and then Hannah said something but it sounded as if she had her hand over the mouthpiece and was speaking to whoever was with her.
 

“What have you got?” Lexi said, still thinking about the two men at her door.

“The account is linked to a Metropolitan police officer.”
 

Alarm bells went off in her head. She went to the door and double-checked it was locked, then she went to the window. Standing to the side she looked down to the street, a lamp post flickered, a horn beeped in the distance, but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Two cars parked across the road looked empty from where she was standing, but with the shadows from the buildings and trees she couldn’t be sure. The two men claiming to be from the Met were long gone.
 

Why was a Met police officer depositing chunks of cash into Tatiana’s bank account? A list of possibilities entered her mind. Each was plausible but none made sense.

“If someone is paying her off than they have a motive to get rid of her.”
 

“Two thousand pounds a month is a lot of money.”
 

“No wonder she didn’t need to work more hours in the bakery, and could afford the UCL degree as an international student.”
 

“The payments are fairly regular over the past twelve months. Only the last three payments seem to be out of whack. According to the history of the deposits, another deposit should have been made last Wednesday. Surprised that never happened?” Hannah said.

“I’m going to have to call you back,” Lexi said, then hung up.

The clock digits flashed 9:05pm. She stood against the wall looking out the window, her phone still in her hand waiting to dial emergency. Her paranoia radar up a notch.
 

The police were responsible for the money in Tatiana’s account. That just made things even trickier. She hesitated just a moment before finding the detective’s saved number in her phone.
 

No answer. Lexi persisted two more times, letting the phone ring out each time. She was about to grab her keys and head out when finally the detective answered the phone.

“Detective, it’s urgent that I speak with you,” Lexi said.

“I’m working a case right now,” she said. “I’ll have to call you back.”

“Wait, I just need a minute. We found where Tatiana was getting money from. It turns out someone from the Met was transferring money into her account on a monthly basis until last week.”

As soon as the words left her mouth she realised that maybe she shouldn’t have told the detective. It was too much information to give a woman she did not know. Could she be trusted? That was yet to be determined. But it was too late to go back on what she’d just revealed.

“That’s not possible.”

“There are over a dozen transactions from the same account.”

“How did you get that information?”

“I can’t reveal my sources.”

“Bullshit. That’s an obstruction of justice. There’s no way you obtained them legally.”

“The information was passed on to me by a source I cannot reveal, but one I do trust. It’s credible, Detective, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

“You can’t go accusing the Met without proof,” she said. “You can’t use illegally obtained evidence in a court of law, either.”

“I’m not a lawyer, Detective, I don’t need to use anything in court. That’s up to whoever gets the case.”

“I can’t do this right now,” Cara said, annoyance in her tone.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Lexi, I don’t work for you.”

“No, but you do work for the community. You have a duty to look into this,” Lexi said. “To save a woman’s life.”

“Yes. I also have a duty to the murder victim I’m looking at.”
 

“It provides a strong motive to get rid of her. Two thousand pounds a month is not short change. And it’s too much of a coincidence that it suddenly stopped just as she disappeared,” Lexi said pretending not to hear.

“Look, Lexi, I’d like to entertain all your theories but I actually have a job to do. I’m looking at a dead body right now in the red-light district.” Lexi noticed an impatience in her voice.

“We were there earlier today,” Lexi said.

“Who’s we?”

“Hannah and me. We were hoping to find someone who may have seen Tatiana.”

“Why the red-light district?”

“That’s were the evidence pointed. According to her spending habits, she spent a lot of time in the area.”
 

“Those could have been manipulated.”

“They weren’t.”

“Look, I have to deal with this mess,” Cara said. “Wait a minute. Ask your friend if Tatiana owned a locket with the initials TP on it.”

“Why?”

“Just ask her. I’ve got to get back to the crime scene.”
 

TP. Tatiana Petrenko. Could it be? Had the police just found Tatiana dead? No, Lexi didn’t want to believe it. A piece of jewellery didn’t mean a thing. It was a coincidence, nothing more. It didn’t have to mean Tatiana was dead. Did it?
 

Lexi dialled Hannah’s number and after two rings the phone went to voicemail. “Hey you’ve reached Hannah, I’m currently in a compromising position and can’t come to the phone. I’ll endeavour to return your call as soon as my hands are untied.”
 

Lexi shook her head and just said, “Hannah, call Lexi.” She hung up.
 

What in the world was that girl thinking? She didn’t know Hannah at all and she was learning she was all sorts of colourful.
 

Ten minutes later Lexi’s phone rang and Hannah’s number flashed on the screen.

“Did Tatiana wear any jewellery?”

“Why?”

“Just answer the question,” Lexi said, not wanting to lead her with an answer that would suit the situation.

“Yeah, she wore a chain around her neck. It could have been a locket. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was a locket. She liked to fiddle with it when she was talking but thinking about something else.”
 

“Are you sure?”
 

“Yes, it even had her initials engraved on it. TP.”
 

If she had any doubts before about the locket belonging to Tatiana, they were all obliterated now. Lexi just hoped it wasn’t Tatiana’s body that was being stuffed in a body bag to be violated further in the morgue.

Chapter 9

A chain around a neck meant nothing. It was no definite conclusion that Tatiana Petrenko was dead. But Lexi wasn’t prepared to wait till the morning to find out. She put on her coat, tied her hair in a high ponytail, and headed out the door.
 

Cars buzzed along her street, she headed towards the station but hoped she’d pick up a cab rather than grabbing the Tube. She looked behind her several times, glancing from side to side, making sure she wasn’t being followed. She was lucky to find a cab standing on the corner which had just switched its lights on. She didn’t hesitate about grabbing its attention and getting in, but not before having another look around to make sure that no one was keeping an eye on her. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
 

Five minutes later she was instructing the cabby to pull over on the corner of Great Windmill. Up ahead she saw a police cruiser’s lights flashing, blending into the lights on the street. People crowded the scene but that wasn’t a surprise. People had a morbid curiosity especially when they were the spectators and not the victim.
 

Lexi paid the driver and got out. The taxi quickly drove off to pick up another fare a few metres down the road. Lexi glanced around and headed for the crime scene. She felt herself being pulled into the darkness. Her instincts were driving her to find what was wrong with the world and bring it out in the open. Right now a girl lay on the ground. Someone’s daughter, sister, friend. Dead. Gone forever. It shouldn’t matter how or where she was found. It shouldn’t matter what she did for a living. No one had the right to take another life. No one had the right to force these women into this life.
 

Lexi noticed at least three hookers still offering a service, not at all phased by the team of police officers or the dead pro. The job still had to be done as pimps kept an eye from the shadows.
 

“You looking for some action, darling?” a man said, grabbing her arm. “I’ve got something real good for you.”

Lexi tried pulling her hand away but he held on tight. A hungry glare in his eyes. She should have been afraid but with the police only metres in front. Lexi remained calm. He looked familiar somehow but she couldn’t place his face as anyone she knew.

“Let me go.”

“Girls like you shouldn’t hang around here unless you give some meat. You’ve got nice meat on your bones. You could make good money,” he said, pulling her towards the alley.

His grip loosened enough for her to pull away with all her strength, then side step him and run towards the officers. She heard laughter behind her but when she finally stopped and turned around, the man was long gone. She shook the encounter off and concentrated on her objective. But the crime scene she came to see was already being cleaned up. The body was gone, and so was Cara.

The officers that remained were removing the police tape that kept the curious onlookers at bay. Looking around she hoped to spot anything of use. She noticed the Windmill International’s lights to her left, a man stood at the entrance looking at the scene, maybe at her, smoking a cigarette. He wore a black T-shirt, slicked back hair in need of a haircut, at least three days’ worth of stubble, black trousers, and shiny loafers. He could have been a waiter, a dancer or a pimp, or just a random guy out for a good night. He looked so at ease that it would be easy to assume he belonged there.

How long had he been standing there? Had he seen what had happened?
 

She had just been accosted, what was she doing approaching another strange man in Soho’s red-light district? Against her better judgement, she went towards him. He didn’t look like he was going anywhere. Maybe he had been waiting for someone to notice him.
 

“You saw the whole thing,” she said, stating a fact rather than posing a question. It seemed easier just to get to the point.
 

He stared at her, there was no shift in his gaze, just straight at her as he tapped his cigarette, put it to his mouth for one last draw before flicking it on the sidewalk.
 

“I see everything,” he said.

“Did you see who killed the girl?” Lexi asked.

“She meddled, she died.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They’re looking at you too. Seen you around these parts. Asking questions. Poking around where it’s none of your business,” he said.
 

She should have been bothered by his comment, concerned that someone was keeping tabs on her but that would mean giving in and giving up. Neither were an option. She didn’t choose the job for self-preservation.

That gaze still on her, not looking away. She wondered if she should be afraid. With his narrow shoulders, hallowed cheeks, and long pianist fingers, he looked like she could overpower him but she wasn’t prepared to assume anything. For all Lexi knew he could have been the one who murdered the prostitute. Wasn’t it common for murderers to return to the scene of the crime? It gave them an ego boost. Made them think they were smarter than everyone else.
 

“What did she meddle in?” Lexi asked.

“She should have kept her mouth shut. You keep your mouth shut in these parts or you get dead.”
 

“You’re talking.”

“I ain’t saying nothing.”