Sugar And Spice – Part 5
"He's hiding something!"
"You'll have a job of proving it though…"
Smithy sighed and folded his arms as he stood at the side of Gina's desk. "He just kept getting more and more defensive!"
"People lie to us Smithy…" Gina watched him, cigarette in hand. "It's terrible, isn't it."
"Have you spoken to the DI?" Gina lifted her coffee mug, taking a sip.
"Well," Mickey exchanged glances with Smithy and looked back at Gina. "No…Thing is, we'd like to give him a scare…"
"And you don't think Neil would let you…" She chuckled dryly. "Good to know I have my uses."
"So you'll-"
"Be as quick as possible, I don't want you to causing more distress to his wife or daughter."
"They won't have to know…" Mickey reasoned.
"Michael, if you don't find anything – it could be turned around as entrapment, so you better hope you're not barking up the wrong tree, else you'll have something else to worry about."
"Ma'am." Smithy sighed and nudged Mickey's arm to get him to leave, "Let's just hope this works."
"It has to." Mickey scratched his chin. "Else we've nothing to go on."
"Mr Parker." Mickey stood between the car and Parker, his arms folded.
"What now?"
"Going somewhere, Mr Parker?" Smithy climbed out the CID pool car, pulling his hat on, having followed him from the station, admittedly keeping their distance.
"I'm going to look for my daughter." Paul glared at both men.
"Then you won't mind us joining you…" Mickey said brightly.
Paul's expression fell further and he shook his head, pointing between them. "I'll have you for this – you can't keep harassing me!"
"Mr Parker, with all due respect – I hardly see how helping in the search for your daughter is harassment…unless of course, there's something we don't know….?"
Paul's glare grew in intensity and he glanced nervously at his watch.
"…Something wrong sir?" Smithy asked, his polite tone clipped.
"Of course not…" Paul swallowed. "I was going to look by the canal at the end of Lasser Street, I'll take the north if you want to take the-"
"We don't mind accompanying you…"
"Nah, course not – we'd be able to spread out a little more." Mickey agreed.
"I don't think it takes the three-"
"Mr Parker." Smithy took a step forward, looking down at him. "We have reason to believe you're not giving us the full story…" he lowered his tone, leaning forward into Paul's face. "Now, unless you want us to nick you on suspicion of being involved, you'll start being a little more co-operative. Won't you?"
Paul looked incredibly torn, glancing to the side a little at the house where he could see his wife watching through the curtains. "Not here."
Mickey exchanged glances with Smithy and gave a small smirk, following the men back towards the car.
"Go on…" Smithy encouraged, turning a little more in the seat to look at him. "This Jeffery, he's the leader?"
Paul nodded, "You have to believe me, I'm out of that, I never did anything! I didn't even know the kids age!" He sighed. "Jess and I were going through a rough patch, we weren't even talking, never mind sleeping in the same bed…I thought-"
"A Tom would make it all better…"
Paul's eyes narrowed at Smithy but he gave the slightest hint of a nod. "I just wanted the physical side, you know…I wasn't, and I'm not interested in kids – I honestly thought she was older – she was all made up, she looked at least 18!"
Mickey sighed, "They lose the childhood fast these days…" he agreed.
"I was gonna take her for a drive…pay her and bring her back to where she wanted to be, I'd never have hurt her…"
"But you were picked up…"
"Some jobsworth from Barton St arrested me…" Parker nodded. "I was charged with Kerb crawling…I thought it'd be the end of it though – but I was sent a picture…through the post."
"Picture?"
"It was…me." He swallowed. "The picture was of me talking to the girl, trying to get her to get in the car…written on the back was a mobile number, I rang it…and that's when I first spoke to Jeffery… He told me if I didn't give him money…he'd tell my wife." He looked down, suitably embarrassed. "I paid him…it seemed easier. Then Jess and I got back on track, and I tried to stop. ….Then he threatened the kids."
"Do you still have the picture?"
Paul nodded. "It's in my desk at work; I wanted it away from the house so Jess and the kids wouldn't find it."
Smithy nodded. "…What did he threaten?"
"He said…" Paul's face crumbled with pain. "He said if I didn't keep paying him, and I didn't 'help' him, ….he said he'd take my kids, and they'd end up like that girl…the 13 year old."