Chapter Eleven

Joey was on edge for the entire walk home. She saw shadows everywhere and suddenly the world felt very cold. Letting herself into the building she called home, Joey hung around in the dingy lobby, waiting to get Heath's attention. He was drinking on the job as usual and chatting up one of the girls performing that night. Darryl 'Brax' Braxton had inherited the business from his late father, a man that Joey had grown up despising. Now, Brax was in charge of the whole production – a strip club on the outside and much more than that if you looked hard enough. She thought Heath was a sweet guy in his way, although he was definitely not the brightest spark. For the sake of family loyalty, Brax hired his younger brother as the muscle on the door.

"Hey, Jo," he greeted when the girl, a blonde called Tegan headed back through the doors and into the main arena of the building.

"Hey," Joey said weakly.

She couldn't get the image of Martha's dead body out of her head and it was making her sick.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," the middle Braxton brother remarked.

"Sort of have," Joey sighed.

Heath looked puzzled.

"Is Brax around?" Joey asked.

"In the office, I think," Heath told her. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later," Joey said.

She knew better than to give vital information to anyone before Brax.

"Is there any chance we could take your details down, please?" Charlie asked.

She and Angelo had hung around the cafe and ordered another cup of coffee, talking the case through in as fine detail as they could. The curly haired man behind the counter looked horrified.

"I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

"We're not accusing you of anything," Charlie said gently.

Angelo remained quiet. So far this evening, every time he'd opened his mouth he'd made a mistake.

"It's just that it sounds like you know these girls," Charlie ventured.

Miles's eyes widened, looking panicked.

"I don't do anything with them!" he said quickly. "I'm not like that..."

Angelo shifted, looking distinctly uncomfortable. He just hoped Charlie would never find out that he was like that.

"I just look after them," Miles continued. "You know... give them a place to go that's warm. With hot drinks and... and food. Some of them are so skinny. They don't eat properly. I just try to help them."

Charlie offered her kindest smile.

"And that's really good of you," she said sincerely. "I'm certainly not accusing you of anything inappropriate. It's just that because you help these girls, because you look after them, you might be useful to our investigation. Is that okay?"

Miles nodded uncertainly.

"So, could we maybe take your name and number?"

Miles nodded again, grabbing a piece of paper and writing his details down.

"Thank you, Miles," Charlie said, making eye contact.

He nodded once more. Charlie led Angelo out of the cafe.

Joey sat on the other side of Brax's desk. They were in his small office on the second floor. He poured himself a shot of whisky and offered her one too. Joey shook her head. She wasn't about to start any bad habits now.

"She's definitely dead?" Brax asked.

Joey nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. Brax sighed heavily and took another shot.

"What is this fucker doing?" he wondered. "I mean... why? Does he have some sort of Jack the Ripper complex or something?"

Joey shrugged. She had no idea what to say.

"The police are trying to catch him," she ventured.

Brax looked alarmed.

"You've been talking to the cops?" he asked.

"Just about Martha," Joey said. "Nothing else."

"Do they know what you do?" Brax enquired.

"I haven't announced it but they're not stupid," Joey said. "Don't worry. They don't have my details or anything. I just told them what I knew about the guy who..."

She shook her head, feeling sick again.

"I haven't made any mistakes," she promised.

"You'd better not have," Brax warned.

"I'm not an idiot," Joey said darkly.

She hoped the memory of Miles calling her by name at the cafe didn't show on her face.

"Well, you'd better not become one," Brax replied evenly.

She watched him for a moment before excusing herself. On the landing, she considered breaking the news to Heath. He and Martha had been rather fond of each other in their time. Shaking her head, she crept up to her room instead. Letting herself into the tiny space she and Martha had occupied together for years, Joey flopped down on the bed. She closed her eyes tightly but the tears finally began to flow.

As soon as Charlie returned to the police station, she called together a meeting with every available member of her team.

"I have a project for a few of you," Charlie said.

Angelo sat near her, looking tired and almost bored. Sometimes she wondered if he was even aware that there was a serial killer on the loose.

"We have a name for tonight's victim already," she explained. "Her name is Martha MacKenzie and she was identified by a friend of hers. That friend might also have nearly been a victim last week. She was followed home by a stranger and she was able to give a very vague description."

"Was she a... you know?" Watson asked curiously.

"She's a prostitute, yes," Charlie said. "And I think she could be a key player in bringing this guy down."

"And do we have a name for her too?" Avery wanted to know.

"That's the project," Charlie explained. "We overheard someone calling her 'Joey' this evening. Obviously, it's not a huge amount to go on but using obvious names like Joanne or Joanna, plus the description I'll give you, I need a team to try and track her down through our database. Any volunteers?"

Next time… Charlie suffers parental guilt and the police finally get a break in the case…