Hannah and Callum made their way through the typically large crowds of young people gathering around the club considering that it was a Saturday night and entered the building without being stopped by the bouncers. Johnny Dean, the owner, was an old friend and highly effective informant of the Superintendent's and had agreed to allow Hannah to 'operate' from his premises. His slightly dodgy reputation provided the perfect cover for her fictional line of work.
"Evening, Johnny." Callum said gruffly, leaning on the bar and glancing around.
Johnny nodded, clutching a bottle of champagne in his hand and three glasses in the other. "Alright?"
"You entertaining?" Hannah asked, arching an eyebrow and nodding at the bottle.
"I thought we were supposed to be having a meeting in my office, Hannah."
She laughed and nodded, following him as he made his way along the bar and held open a door marked 'private' ushering the two officers through. "You've done this before."
"More times than you know." He agreed, turning to the tall, thick-set man standing beside his office door. "Anyone asks for me or Ms Edwards, give us a knock, Bri." Turning back to the two officers he uncorked the champagne, pouring it and handing the glasses around. "Now then, what are we supposed to be discussing?"
"We're having a meeting about me using your bar as a backdrop for my escort agency." Hannah reminded him, taking a sip of champagne. "We split the profits seventy-thirty in my favour and we've been in business for the past five years. This particular meeting is because you want to change the percentage split and I am less than impressed."
"I won't take less than fifty per cent, Ms Edwards." Johnny told her with a grin.
Hannah shook her head grimly. "I'm sorry, Mr Dean, that's not going to happen. I am more than happy with our current arrangement. If you refuse to play ball then I'll be forced to set my tame… Callum… on you."
"Less of the tame." The Sergeant responded, smirking.
There was a knock on the door and the trio exchanged a look. As Hannah took a deep breath, crossing her legs and ignoring the smoking ban to light up a cigarette, Callum sent her a look which she coolly ignored. Johnny crossed to the door and opened it quickly, having a hushed conversation with whoever was outside before shaking his head and pushing the door closed.
"Westlake's here." He told her. "He wanted to see me, but I said I was in an important meeting and he'd have to wait."
"He won't like that." Hannah pointed out with a grin. She flicked the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray the bar owner pushed across his desk towards her. "It'll drive him mad that I'm suddenly more important than him."
"So what do we do now?" Johnny asked, taking his seat behind the desk.
"I think we should have another glass of champagne and leave him to stew for a while." The red-head suggested. She grinned at Callum as he looked at the alcohol in his glass with distaste. "I know you'd prefer a lager, love, but I'm afraid you'll have to slum it with champers for now."
They finished their drinks and chatted for a while. Then Hannah nodded at Callum and the officers stood. Shrugging her bag back onto her shoulder, she grinned at Johnny and moved to open the door, setting her face into a slightly annoyed frown. Almost as soon as they stepped out of the office and began to walk across the room, the woman found herself accosted by Jared Westlake.
"Oh…" She looked at him, as though surprised to see him. "Jared, hi."
"So your meeting was with Johnny, then?"
"Yeah, it was." Hannah agreed vaguely.
He glanced at Callum, looking him up and down slowly, before turning his attention back to the woman. "Can I get you a drink?"
"I don't think so, Jared, not tonight. I've got to check in with my girls before I go home." She informed him casually. "Maybe another time."
Smiling and leaving him staring after her, Hannah stalked towards the booth where Mel was sitting with Smithy. She leant against the back of the seat, putting most of her weight on one foot and lifting the other off the floor, wincing slightly.
"What's wrong?" The young woman seated with the Inspector asked, looking at her expression in confusion.
"My feet are killing me." Hannah informed her. "I think Westlake's taking the bait, Guv."
"What did he say?" Smithy asked, taking a sip from his pint and trying to remain casual.
"Asked whether my meeting was with Johnny and then asked if he could buy me a drink. I said no, obviously, then came over to check on my girls."
Callum grinned. "She's employing the 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen' strategy, I think."
"It'll work, trust me. Westlake will be badgering Johnny for information as we speak." Hannah said with a shrug. She glanced over her shoulder and smirked triumphantly as she saw the two men talking in the doorway of the office. "Told you."
"Now what, then?" Mel asked, looking between the other three.
"Now we have to wait for Westlake to approach Hannah and offer her some kind of deal." Smithy said firmly. He looked at the red-head. "I don't want you going after him; he has to come to you."
"Of course." She agreed.
"Go and talk to someone else before he gets suspicious." The Inspector instructed. "If you're just supposed to be checking in on the girls you don't want to spend too long with any of them."
Hannah laughed. "Alright, Guv, I'll see you in a bit."
She and Callum headed away, spotting Kirsty and Leon at a table a little way off. They briefly filled them in on how it was going so far, before moving away again to where Ellie and Ben were. Hannah couldn't resist putting an arm around her daughter as she spoke, acting instinctively. Callum raised an eyebrow at her, but the woman just shrugged.
"I'm supposed to have a daughter, right? It was in my original cover story." She reasoned. "If Westlake says anything then there's an explanation. Besides, everyone always says Ellie looks like me, so he'll spot the resemblance and work it out anyway."
"So you're prostituting your own daughter?"
"Ben might be her boyfriend." Hannah replied with a small smile. "If you're my right-hand man, Ellie could be my second in command. The cover story's flexible at the moment."
The Sergeant shrugged and glanced around, before quickly turning back. "Watch out, he's coming over."
She nodded, almost unnoticeably and turned the conversation to something unrelated. She was rambling about the next holiday she was going to take, when Callum cleared his throat and she turned.
"Hannah."
"Yes, Jared?" The woman replied, almost sighing. "What can I do for you this time?"
He didn't reply, looking between the two red-heads with interest. "This must be your daughter; Ellie wasn't it?"
Hannah nodded, raising an eyebrow meaningfully at Callum as she was proved right about the resemblance. "You've got a good memory. This is Ellie and that's her friend, Ben. Ellie, Ben, this is Jared Westlake a former business acquaintance of mine."
"Have you got time for that drink, now?"
Glancing quickly at Callum, who shrugged and nodded, Hannah smiled. "Alright, but I've only got time for one."
She followed him towards the bar and allowed him to order her a glass of wine. Taking a sip, the woman glanced around, nodding slightly at Smithy to assure him she was alright. She listened to Westlake talking for a couple of moments, punctuating his chatter with meaningless comments, before he obviously decided that it was time to discuss business.
"So, Johnny told me about your dealings."
"Did he now?" Hannah asked, not giving anything away. She had guessed that Johnny probably had told him, but she wasn't going to assume that.
"He informed me that he allows you to run your business here for a reasonable cut of the profits."
She arched an eyebrow. "Did he also inform you that we're currently in negotiations about that cut?"
Westlake smirked. "He did." The man took a sip of his whiskey and swivelled on the bar stood to look at her properly. "What if I were to offer you a better deal?"
"A better deal?"
"What if you were to run your business out of my club and only pay me twenty-five per cent?"
Hannah paused for a moment, looking at the alcohol in her glass and apparently considering his offer. "Why should I agree? What's in it for you?""
"It means you're keeping more of the money and it'll give me the chance to rebuild my business after prison. It also means you and me working together again, Han. We could be partners."
"I already have a partner."
He scoffed. "What? That Callum? He looks like he could throw a good punch, but I wouldn't reckon much to his business sense."
"No, not Callum." Hannah said, shaking her head. "It's a silent partner. They prefer to stay out of the limelight. It saves… awkward questions."
"So am I wasting my time?"
Considering him for a moment, Hannah shook her head. "No… let me think about it. Have you got a card? I'll phone you tomorrow and we can discuss this further."
He handed over his business card and she stood, saying goodnight and striding back to the table where Callum had stayed with Ellie and Ben. The four left the bar quickly and headed back to the station, taking a very roundabout route to ensure they weren't being followed. Slowly the rest of the team arrived and everyone went into the debriefing which was led by the Superintendent. With the new information, Smithy, Callum and Max headed off to discuss their next move and everyone else went home.