“Anthony is not the problem. He was a pawn, that’s all. I need you to find Warren and tell him to leave me alone.”
“Do you have an address for Warren?”
Scott shook his head. “I’ve got his email, it’s inactive.”
“You’ve tried messaging him?”
“I wanted to end our…agreement, tell him I’d pay it all back if he gave me time.”
“Do you still have the £100,000?”
Scott shook his head. “It’s all gone. He didn’t directly pay it to me –”
“Where did he pay it to?”
“It’s not important anymore. The point is, I don’t have it. I’m doing as much as I can to pay it back, but it’s going to take time.”
“Doing as much as you can?”
“With clients.”
“Right.” Her eyebrows jumped up, then settled again. “I see…”
“He’s not going to be civilised about this. He knows what he wants, he knows what I said he could have. I can’t meet up with him and talk about it, that will end up one way. He’s going to really fucking hurt me.”
Pauline sighed. “The thing is, we can’t charge him for something he hasn’t done.”
Scott’s eyes started stinging. “He will do it.”
“But he hasn’t. He hasn’t directly threatened you. You’ve got no evidence he put that collar on you. We don’t have the collar. You don’t know his real name. You haven’t even told me what he looks like?”
Scott closed his eyes. “He looks nice. He's handsome. Black hair. Hazel eyes. Chiselled jaw. Stubble. Dimple in his chin. Great body. I’d say he was in his late thirties, early forties. He looks after himself. He wore expensive clothes, had an expensive watch. The apartment he booked for that night was… It was almost as much as he paid for me. He was a great cook, and the whole time I was with him, I was praying it would become a permanent gig. Then he took me into the bedroom. It wasn’t what he did to me; it was what he said while he did it. It was the snarl on his lips, and the look in his eyes, like he meant every word.”
“But he didn’t physically hurt you that night?”
“No.”
“You contacted him, offered him a service, which he paid for…”
“Out of desperation.” Scott lowered his head. “Look, I just need you to tell him to back off. I’m going to pay back every pound he gave me, but I need time. I need to be able to work without being scared that he’s set another trap for me. I need you to remind him that rape is illegal, no matter what I promised him.”
Pauline nodded. “I will contact Anthony tomorrow, see what information he has on Warren.” She gave the back of his hand a comforting pat. “We’ll find out who he is and talk to him. If he contacts you first, or threatens you in any way, you need to come back to the station to file a complaint.”
Scott bowed his head, nodding in acceptance.
“Andrew on the front desk will call you a taxi to take you home.”
“Thank you,” he replied numbly, getting to his feet.
He left the box room, trudged down the corridor, and pushed the door open to the reception. Andrew nodded to him, and Scott nodded back before sitting down on his chair.
Twenty minutes later, a taxi pulled up outside.
“That’s you,” Andrew said.
“Thanks,” Scott replied, hesitating before stepping outside. He couldn’t see anyone else out there, but his skin prickled like he was being watched.
The driver wasn’t one for small talk, and Scott was content to sit in silence in the back, keeping his face turned away from the window.
