Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

The path led to the wall by the tower. It was only because he left his headlights on that he could see where he was going. Nita was heavier now he had the cinder blocks tied on too, and he struggled lifting her high enough to pitch her over the fence. Something felt different tonight: it didn’t seem like the sanctuary it usually did.

He pushed her over, listened for the splash then retreated to the car. Something was definitely out of place this evening. Not wanting to be caught, he pulled the car in a circle around the car park and drove off.

Dive Team HQ, South Shields – 15 November

Marlo fought to stay asleep, but her body had other ideas. Her neck ached and slowly she registered two things: she was sitting up and she was way too warm. She remembered having a dream, jumping in the sea to save someone, and being so cold afterwards.

Suddenly she remembered it wasn’t a dream, and her eyes flew open.

The girl was laid on the floor in front of her, sound asleep. She looked so innocent and peaceful that Marlo was loathe to wake her, but she had questions that needed answering.

Gently, she shook the girl’s shoulders.

‘Hi,’ she greeted, smiling at the girl who stared back with distrustful eyes. ‘I’m Marlo, what’s your name?’

The girl just stared back, huge brown pools of fear and fear.

‘Do you speak English?’ asked Marlo, keeping her tone neutral.

Again, the girl didn’t speak, but Marlo was certain she understood.

‘Let me help you, love. I know you’ve been staying here, taking food from the fridge and hiding, but without knowing what you’re hiding from, I can’t help you. If I can’t get any information from you, I’ll need to contact an interpreter, maybe even immigration. But I suspect you know exactly what I’m saying, don’t you?’

Elvie had a decision to make. She couldn’t run, the woman wouldn’t let her. If she didn’t speak, she’d be deported back to the Philippines where she had nothing and no one and would potentially get taken again by the same men. Her fear grew as she contemplated her options. She couldn’t go through all that again. She knew that if they found her they would kill her. There would be no selling her to the highest bidder, nobody trying to touch her. There would be just death. She was terrified and her lips were trembling, but she made the decision.

‘Elvie,’ she whispered. ‘Please, no send me back. Men will take me again. Bad men. They hurt me.’

‘What men?’ said Marlo.

‘Bad men,’ repeated the girl gravely. ‘They take me from house. Bring me here. Many other girls die, but I live. I help Nita from truck. Then they take her, do things to her. They take me to big house. Try to make me marry man. But Danny help me get away.’

‘How old are you?’

Elvie looked confused.

‘Age? How many years?’

‘Fifteen,’ replied Elvie, understanding. ‘Danny nice man. He help me. I need to find Nita, help her. She in bad place.’

The girl’s words were now running into each other. She was babbling, trying to pass information that made little sense to Marlo. She had goosebumps from hearing what had already happened to the girl. Who was Danny? And Nita? She was out of her depth. Marlo knew she needed help. She would have called Sharpie, but he had kids and they would all be tucked up at this late hour. Ali, a little voice niggled in her mind.

‘Elvie, I will help you. I’ll not let anything bad happen, but you need to trust me. Can you do that?’ Her words belied her own uncertainty. The girl had a long hard road ahead of her, navigating immigration and possibly even a criminal investigation. Would she be better off?

‘I trust Marlo,’ said Elvie.

‘I’ll get us some clothes, then we need to go see a friend of mine, OK?’

Despite the fear in her eyes, Elvie nodded.

Ali’s flat, Sunderland – 15 November

Ali groaned loudly, then cursed even louder. Who the hell was knocking at this stupid time in the morning. He pulled on a pair of shorts and headed for the door.

It had been late when he’d got to bed, anyway. He’d found himself listening for movement in Marlo’s flat, so he had an excuse to knock. Which was ridiculous, he knew, but he’d still done it.

Flinging open the door, his face quickly softened from thunderous to much less annoyed when he saw Marlo stood with a young girl beside her. The girl looked ready to bolt, and he instinctively knew it was partially in response to his demeanour when he’d yanked open the door. He stood aside to allow them access, one eyebrow rising up in question as Marlo caught his eye.

‘Sorry to wake you, Ali. This is Elvie. I think you need to hear what she has to say.’

To be fair, the girl had already piqued his interest. He didn’t see Marlo as the type to pick up waifs and strays, so there must be some connection there. He could feel the cogs turn rapidly as Elvie bombarded him with information. It didn’t take him long to realise she’d been illegally trafficked into the country. He should be taking notes, preparing to hand information over to the NCA, National Crime Agency, who dealt with human trafficking, as well as contacting the likes of immigration and his own supervision. But instead, he found himself enthralled. From what she said, it was a miracle the girl was still alive, let alone sat in his living room. And he didn’t want to rush things. Besides, he knew what would happen when he informed immigration. She’d be detained in one of the immigration buildings, pending an asylum investigation. The details of