“Mr Ellison, we have reason to believe you fled a crime scene on the fifth of October, twenty-seventeen. That property was identified as a controlled address linked to a county lines network. You lived with a known dealer, Reid, who had established links to organised crime. Whether you were actively complicit or simply present, the investigating team at the time couldn’t determine. You disappeared. No statement. No trace.”
Jude’s stomach plummeted.
“When this operation began, we recovered a library card in the original case exhibits. That gave us a line of enquiry. Imagine our surprise when it led to a Mr Jude Ellison, now a respected history teacher in Worthbridge Academy… a school that subsequently became a hub in an active trafficking investigation involving one ofyourstudents.”
The heat drained from his face.
“You were not our primary target. But you were categorised as a person of interest. Once intelligence confirmed Reid was in your orbit, in Worthbridge, we needed to establish whether you had re-engaged with him willingly, whether you were compromised, or whether you remained a victim. Covert contact was the most effective method to establish that.”
Jude’s stomach flipped. “So you sent in an officer to… what? Befriend me?”
“In a word.”
His vision stung. His throat closed.Fuck.All those words Warren had given him about trust, about safety…they hadn’t meant what Jude thought they had. Not to him. Not to the man behind the mask. And it hurt. God, it hurt so badly Jude couldn’t find anywhere inside himself to put it.
His voice cracked when he forced the next question, one that tasted like betrayal just saying it. “So you knew Callum had broken into my house?”
“No.” Patel shook her head. “We knew he wascirclingyour address. You might have let him in.”
Jude shook his head violently, heat flaring under his skin. Fury, shame, disbelief. They’d left him there. They’d justwatched.
Except… Warren had watched. Warren had followed. Warren had pulled him out.
He dropped his gaze to his hands, knotting his fingers tight and sniffed back the sting in his nose. He wasn’t sure what hurt worse? That Callum had used him for sex for years and destroyed his faith in men, or that the first man he’d let near him since then had used sex to get close enough to do his job?
“Why didn’t you report Reid’s presence?” Patel leaned back.
“Considering you already know my history, you tell me.”
“Because you feared repercussions. From Reid. From his associates. Because you had been in a violent, coercive relationship with him, knew exactly what he was capable of, and had been trapped in that cycle for years. You were, and still are, a victim of domestic abuse. Victims often believe silence is safer than disclosure, because in their experience, silence buys survival.” She paused, eyes fixed on his. “And because you knew that if it became public you once lived with and harboured a known offender, your career, your entire livelihood that you’d built up since fleeing Reid, would be at risk.”
Jude hung his head. “Well done. Gold star. Ten house points.”
Patel exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of her nose. “At any point in your involvement with Reid, were you aware of who his associates were? Who he was taking orders from further up the chain?”
Jude swallowed hard. “No.”
“You knew nothing?”
“I knew what he was,” Jude admitted quietly. “A dealer, at first. Then… something else. Muscle, maybe? Forgive me, I don’t know the official job titles or pay scales for organised gangs. I learned fast it was safer not to ask. He knew I wasn’t built for that life. I paid my way in… other things.”
“Sex.”
Jude’s jaw tightened. “Yes.”
“Did he ever send you on errands? Pick things up? Deliver messages?”
“Not really. Nothing illegal, not in the way you mean. Groceries. Cigarettes. Takeaway. Food.Actualfood, before you start thinking that’s a code word. I think he wanted me clean. My hands clean.” Jude rubbed his palms together as if scrubbing them. As if they weren’t, nor would ever be clean.
“Why would that be?”
“I don’t know. So there was always a fallback. A safe face. A name he could use.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. You’re the expert. I was just a kid. A scared, hurt, lonely kid who wanted…” Tears tracked down before he could stop them. He ripped off his glasses, scrubbing his sleeve across his eyes. “I just wanted to be left alone. To not be hurt. And when I had the chance to run, I ran. I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough to stay.”
Patel gave him a moment to gather himself before speaking again, her tone even. “But you stayed for Alfie Carter. You pulled him out of that fire. You rescued him.”
Jude slid his glasses back on. Said nothing.
“Jude, I’d like to level with you. We have an opportunity here. A significant one. Callum Reid is in custody. And we don’t believe you were the only reason he came back to Worthbridge. We believe he came chasing money owed to him.”
