It was a cold night. The winter winds were howling and Gil Messin was in a hurry. He had parked his white van in the Rumilaw of Main close to Cabe the butchers. He checked the time. The middleman was supposed to be waiting for him. He had been told not to hang around if he didn’t turn up. He was just about to climb back in the van and leave when he saw a tall, lean man approach. He wore a purple ribbon around his hat. That was the middleman. Messin was relieved.
“You here to confirm?” he asked.
“I am.”
Dennis Platt had been acting as middleman for the Nan Harvester Foundation for years. The titular founder of the charity herself had appointed him. He was discrete. He had a lot of connections at the docks at Swantin. He even had his own vessel called the ‘Lily Ann’ upon which certain packages could be swept away.
“I have some strawberry ice cream,” the foundation worker told him.
“Seems to be the most popular,” was Dennis’ reply.
“Can you just confirm that and I’ll be on my way.”
Transporting goods was always a bit of a process. When he first started with the foundation Gil had been told he would be taking donated goods to factories in Hollyburn to be packed, distributed and donations given for them. It was difficult to pin point when his job became so risky but the pay was incredible. A wind howled around his face causing him to shudder as he watched Dennis take out his phone and arrange the final destination of the highly coveted strawberry ice cream.
As they waited a boy of around thirteen approached. He had dark hair, a fresh face and was wearing a sports jacket that was too light for the weather.
“Excuse me,” he said politely. “Do you have a cigarette?”
Dennis looked up from his phone. “No I don’t. Move along kid,” he warned.
Messin had been thinking of the pay that was waiting for him. It was going to be sweet. Looking at the boy, alone, a little scruffy in appearance, that payday could become even more lucrative. Mint choc chip tended to be a little more difficult to come by.
“What age are you kid?” Messin asked. “Are you even old enough to smoke?”
The boy looked between them both.
“Does it matter?” he asked.
“What’s your name?”
“Benny.”
“Are you alone?”
Dennis remained silent during this exchange but he could see where Messin was heading. He hadn’t been signed on for picking up new products. Messin was keen though. Those big paydays were plenty to appease the conscience and stir the greed for more.
Benny wasn’t a member of the Loyal at this time. As a young teen he had found himself on the streets, escaping an abusive home. He wasn’t alone though. Whilst he distracted the foundation worker and the middleman, his elder brother Jamie had slipped into the front of the van. Jamie could hear Benny’s voice outside keeping them focused on him as he pulled out the car radio, stuffed what little cash had been left in the dash in his pocket, and collected a packet of cigarettes that had been stuffed down the side of the door.
He stole a quick glance out of the window. Benny was facing him. The van driver had stepped a bit closer to him. Benny had stepped back. He looked a little threatened in his body language. Jamie’s brow furrowed. Benny smiled confidently. That was when he heard a moaning from the cargo of the van. He had to duck down as Messin looked back over his shoulder.
“It’s nice of you to look out for my health, like,” Benny teased, turning the focus back on him.
Jamie stole a quick look into the cargo and he could see two little girls. They were leaning against each other. Both were heavily drugged. They were still dressed in pyjamas. Strawberry ice cream – code for the sale of a little girls less than sixteen years old.
“You need a ride somewhere?” Benny was being asked.
It had been Messin who had been doing the talking. However, Dennis’ silence throughout was what left Benny ill at ease.
Mint choc chip – code for an underage boy on the foundation’s depraved menu. Dennis knew Messin was considering picking up a little extra as the opportunity arose but he had been in the business long enough to know that was far too risky. For Messin the greed prevailed.
“Do you live around here?” Messin asked Benny. “I can give you a ride home.”
Benny lost sight of his brother. They all heard the driver door of the van slam closed. Turning to the noise Messin wasn’t given much time to react when Jamie came charging round the van with a knife in hand and plunged it in his chest. Jamie’s attack had taken Benny unawares too. They only had the knives to use if necessary. Benny pulled his own one from his pocket. Jamie plunged the knife into Messin’s chest again. He was screaming with rage. Messin gargled the blood from his punctured lung. Jamie stabbed into his neck. Benny called to him but he wasn’t hearing him. He stabbed again, over and over.
Dennis tried to dash. He pushed Benny aside, Benny lashed and cut his arm. He ran off. Benny was going to chase after him but his immediate concern was his brother. He managed to pull Jamie from the body of Messin. Jamie dropped his knife. He was breathing heavily.
When he managed to calm himself he took Messin’s keys and opened up the back of the van. The two girls had stirred through their drugged daze and looked up with widened eyes. One of them was now shivering really badly.
“What have they given them?” Benny asked.
“Rohipnol probably,” Jamie replied. “Those fucking nasty cunts.”
“Where do you suppose they were taking them?”
“Chamberlain Docks,” Jamie surmised. “They’d get on a boat there and never be seen again.” They took off their jackets and wrapped them around the girls. Benny hugged the one shivering close to him to help warm her up.
“We’re going to need to go to CPD,” said Benny.
“The police? You must be kidding,” was Jamie’s reply. “You don’t know who you can trust there. For all we know it might have been someone in the department that bought them. Besides, I’ve left a body out there. We’ll stay here to make sure someone gets these girls to safety but as soon as they get here we’re going to need to scatter.”
The disturbance quickly reached the ears of Loyalists nearby. When Benny spotted the black and belt approach he and Jamie scattered. The girls had been told to ask to be taken to Rita Penn. She would know the ones to be trusted within CPD. They agreed they wouldn’t mention the boys that had helped them. The drugs and the trauma of the situation meant they didn’t have much recollection of what happened to Messin either when questioned.
It was quite a memorable night and even after he joined the Loyal, Benny never really discussed it. The girls’ safety was the important thing. He did remember Dennis though. He remembered him clearly. He was the reason those girls had been snatched, still in their pyjamas, shivering.
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