Ghost Detectives Bk. 01: Discovery

When he arrived at his flat there was a note from Debra and Jennie telling him they had waited all day and when he didn't show had returned home and to phone them when he got back. He checked the internet for developments; quite a few things were happening but he didn't intend to do anything about them. He text Debra asking if they could both meet at his flat around midday thinking it was far too late to phone that evening and settled down to a few hours sleep. Midday both were at his flat. He asked them if they'd heard any more news about Sandra but after leaving her at her flat nothing further had come to light.

James thought it better to get right to the point. "We need to do the same with Frank." The two women looked at him with uncertainty. "If we don't, think of all those women that'll suffer. You two are safe, Courtney as well for the present but we need to close the whole of his stinking operation. He could well come for you three just for the fun of it even if he leaves it for a while. Now that Sandra is gone this could destabilise Frank and to leave that danger intact is ludicrous. Our only sure way is to take him out permanently."

"I could get the Silver raided, if he's into drugs as big as you say then we're bound to find something to hold him."

"What if you don't. His solicitors will have a field day feeding the press and there could well be a lawsuit against the police. He has only recently been investigated and came up clean." He needed to guild the lily a little. "With him out of the way, I have enough information to destroy his whole drug and human trafficking operation and to keep you three out of it. No way will Frank leave you alone long term you'll always be looking over your shoulders, do you want that for the rest of your life?"

They knew his wisdom was correct but needed that little extra push. "His people are always around him. How can you get close to him?" said Jennie, "we are risking everything."

"You already have but without closure. He has politicians, government officials, judges, foreign governments in his employ. The dark man we saw at his table was the finance minister of one of the Eastern European countries and his operation has links to corrupt officials in others. I have enough information which I will anonymously release after Frank is taken out and we can walk away unscathed. Are you with me?"

"We have no choice," replied Debra. "I want my life back and not to be looking over my shoulder waiting for the hammer to fall."

"I agree, let's close it now and let the chips fall where they will."

James opened a bottle of wine and they toasted each other. "How about letting me treat you ladies tonight at a top restaurant with expensive wine? You can either get a taxi home, again my treat, or stay the night, your choice?"

"I'll phone my husband and tell him I'll be away for the next few days." Looking towards Jennie for her reply.

"I'll phone and stay the night also."

At seven thirty that evening they alighted from the taxi outside the restaurant asking for a discrete table where they couldn't be overheard. After an excellent meal and wine, they discussed different ways of how to get Frank alone but came to no conclusion. A taxi back to James's flat where they enjoyed a late night whiskey before retiring for the night. The two women looked at each other and towards James, their body language telling him they wanted to play.

"I need to take a shower," said Jennie.

I'll join you," Debra sidling closer to Jennie, "better that way it saves water," smirking, fondling her friend's breasts and kissing her lips. "James?"

"As you say, saving the environment by saving water, I'm in."

"I do hope so."

"I'll get my vibrating toothbrush to fill in and help with the scrubbing."

Jennie giggled. "You've got it right, Debra."

"If I'm one what does that make you?"

"Another one that likes to vibrate."

"I prefer the real thing scrubbing me, better than when I'm scrubbing myself, but where needs must I'll take what I can."

"Stop the scrubber metaphors you two. You are two professional, sexy ladies, besides, there'll be no shortage of us all being scrubbed into orgasmic oblivion tonight. We all need a little relaxation after the trauma of the last few weeks."

The large shower easily accommodated the three of them and soon they were washing each other, laughing, touching, lathering, three busy beavers stroking away at each other, the toothbrush left on the shelf forgotten.

Debra knelt in front of James her hands grabbing and working his flaccid member soon to find her mouth as his muscle hardened, water cascading off James and flowing over her hair and face, her hands circling around his testicles pumping away swallowing and gulping filling her mouth and throat as his penis continually increased in size, wet and slippery, warm and soft. Jennie, standing behind him, rubbed her breasts into his back, hands around his chest feeling his hardened small male nipples with the tips of her fingers, her pubis tight against his bottom, her body rhythmically swaying from side to side, water splashing her face, mouth opening and closing catching droplets of water as Debra's tongue circled the top of his bulbous joy licking his pre-seminal fluid.

Debra rose, turned, spread her legs while resting her hands against the wall tiles for balance and arched her body. "Fill me James," she screamed, begging him to release her body from the ache inside her pulsating vagina. James, both hands holding the top of her thighs started to push into her as she pushed back against him building their joint rhythms. Jennie, behind him, matching her rhythms with his as she ground her body into his bottom building her own friction. Three bodies locked in ecstasy moving in unison towards the lustful beat of orgasm as the water cascaded over them, Jennie finding nirvana first but still needing to savour the aftershock of her post orgasmic euphoria carried on moving adding her own dampness to the mix as her love juices honoured his bottom with her personal wetness. James thrusting, building speed, stiffening his body, face contorted and drove home his release deep into Debra's writhing body as he orgasmed followed a few seconds later by Debra. The strength of her release buckled her legs and she collapsed onto the shower floor taking James with her with Jennie toppling afterwards, her breasts squashing into his back as the three of them burst into laughter as the water continued tumbling over them.

The following morning, they dressed and sat together drinking coffee planning their next move. They waited for James to speak. "Frank will recognise you two and that will make him suspicious and know something is afoot, and when he realises Chantelle has turned into a babbling idiot he will connect the dots. She's his anchor, a type of reverse moral compass, and with her gone, there is a good chance he'll become unstable."

"You are saying we wait?" said Jennie.

"I'll book a hotel up there for us and we'll wait it out and plan how we are to handle Frank. Jennie, I need you to get me a stun gun."

"I already have two in my case."

A few hours later they booked into a hotel. James took a stroll passed Chantelle's flat and sat at a nearby coffee shop reading a paper. Between taking short walks and more cups of coffee three hours had passed, and still nothing. He was at the point of returning to the hotel when Chantelle stumbled onto the pavement stark naked and strolled into the road. Pedestrians pointed and laughed, traffic honked, some shouting abuse as cars swerved and stopped trying to avoid her erratic perambulating. Soon a patrol car pulled up, a blanket wrapped around her which she tried to pull off, the two patrol officers took her into the back of the patrol car and was gone.

Later that evening at the Silver, James was at the bar when Frank walked in with four people none of whom he had seen before and sat at a table. He contemplated whether to approach him and ask after Chantelle, but the decision was taken away from him when two men approached him, pointed towards Frank telling him he needed to go to his table. They escorted him over and he took a seat opposite Frank and they disappeared.

"You were with my partner Chantelle a few days ago."

"Yes, I'm waiting for her. She told me she didn't have a boyfriend, I'm not after trouble."

His face leaned close to James. "When was the last time you saw her?" His voice hard and menacing.

James leaned back. "A few days ago, she took me back to her flat. I've done nothing wrong and she was happy, offered me a drink and you know..." his voice nervously resonating, needing to show Frank respect and defer to his sense of inflated superiority.

"When you left her how was she?"

He looked perplexed. "Fine, you can ask her yourself, I'm due to meet her here. Have I done something wrong?"

"She won't be here tonight or for a while. She been taken to hospital."

"An accident?"

"We're not sure, but it's best you be on your way."

"Can I stay and have a drink. If I order a bottle of wine will you join me?" His four colleagues at the table looked at James as if he were dirt.

"Alright, stay, but you need to leave this table we have business to discuss."

"Please, when you see Chantelle, say hello to her for me, say James is asking after her." He stood and walked back to the bar.

"Frank is not a man with whom you mess," the barman advised, handing him a beer.

"I know his business partner Chantelle better than him."

"That's what she's calling herself now, is it?"

"Does she have other names?"

"A few first names but it's not important, forget I mentioned anything."

"I was supposed to meet her here later."

"I doubt it. Gone a bit mad, walking nude in town, I'm surprised you haven't heard. She and Frank are close."

James had him on a roll. "Close as in lovers?"

Close as in everything. She's the one that wears the trousers, we're all aware of that."

"He didn't seem that cut up about it."

"You better believe it, he's gutted. They are close and spent a lot of time together at his flat. He did have a large house but it got destroyed."

"He must have a key to her place then if they are that close."

"I've said too much already, have a good night," and he walked to the other end of the bar.

It hit James. The four people with Frank were there to protect him, so he must suspect something was afoot. He held up his empty glass, the barman returned, filled it, and he handed him a fifty pound note telling him to keep the change. "The four with Frank, they are new here."

"Not new to Frank, they're here to watch his back. There are new boys on the patch and he's taking no chances."

That is what he wanted to know, but it would hinder his efforts in getting him alone so Debra could work her magic on him.

He walked over to the table. "Mr Ellis, sorry to interrupt you but you did say Chantelle was in hospital and I would like to pay her a visit and say hello."

He looked contemptuously at him. "Little men like you she eats for breakfast. Get him out of here."

Two of the men stood up and shuffled him towards the door and when outside one punched him in the chest while the other threw a few punches into his face. He staggered back against the wall losing his balance and when floored they kicked him a few times and walked back inside telling him if they saw him anywhere near the Silver again he was a dead man.

He forced himself to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, both eyes bruised and swollen, one closed, a throbbing headache, body aching, suspecting he had a few cracked ribs and his body tomorrow would show a mass of bruises. He made his way back to the hotel using the fire exit to stay out of the way. When in the room he collapsed exhausted on the bed. Debra administering a pain killer and soporific injection and he was soon asleep. She removed his clothes, washed his wounds and applied an antiseptic cream and covered his body with a sheet.

Waking the following morning with two shiny eyes, one still shut, every part of his body ached and Debra administered another pain reducing injection. At least he hadn't broken any ribs as he had suspected, but was right about the bruises and grinned to himself thinking small mercies are better than none and hobbled into the shower. They ordered breakfast to the room and he explained what had happened.

"Where do we go from here?" queried Jennie. "With four guards around that monster we have no chance."

"Let's look at the positives, we know where he lives, we have his personal telephone number from Chantelle's phone and he lives alone." The women incredulously stared at him thinking his positives amounted to little less than zero. "Come on let's have some enthusiasm."

"Look what happened to you for just enquiring after the witch. You are lucky your injuries are not more serious. If he sees you again they'll be fishing you out of the river and what they've given you so far won't matter."

"In your poison bag of tricks how quickly can you put someone under?"

"Depends how it's administered, with an injection less than a minute to kill, perhaps a little longer to send someone into sleep and then death, but I can't be positive. What's your thinking?"

"When he's in his flat he's alone. If I can get in and wait for him..."

"He's meticulous and will have security measures in place so how can you get in without being seen? He's bound to have a gun and flanked by his protection goons I can't see it happening. We don't even have a sling to protect us and with the shape you are in a puff of wind would blow you over."

He started to feel inadequate. He wasn't a killer, didn't hold the skills John and Carolyn held, only partially trained in handling a gun, but he did possess intelligence and an ability to never give up on a project. He focused his mind and soon an embryonic semblance of an idea formed. The Silver served food, food needs preparation, that was the weak point.

Deliveries to the Silver were always early morning for the lunch time trade when the club doubled as a restaurant. The cleaners started at six in the morning and the back doors were unlocked with people moving back and forth. Each morning the beer pipes were blown and cleaned and the kitchen restocked with food. James asked Debra if she could come up with something that would make people sick by adding something to the food and the drinks.

She smiled wryly. "I think I can come up with something."

"A mass sickness among the clientele will cause panic and Frank will wish to keep it secret. I'll say I'm from the Food Standards Agency and ask for an urgent interview with the owner of the place or it will be immediately closed and the press informed about the danger. This will impact on his other establishment so he'll be keen to keep everything under wraps."

Both immediately picked up on the obvious flaw. "He knows you and you'll be dead before lunch."

"Not if I pay a professional beautician and disguise artist. I will ask Frank for a confidential private interview and then we'll have him alone. I will hint I can make it all go away and he'll be straight in with a sweetener. I will say we need somewhere private and we take it forward from there."

The following morning, just before six, his van was parked outside the back entrance to the Silver. James, with the two women, the van filled with merchandise and fresh produce waited for the cleaners to open the back door. James sat on the step waiting for them. A few minutes after six two people arrived and opened the back door.

"Your early," mentioned one of the cleaners.

"I have a lot of deliveries to get through today."

"Can't let you in until seven, so you'll have to wait."

"Come on, I'll get your order in and I'll be out of here in twenty minutes. I've even brought two of my friends along to help me unload. I have a funeral to attend at two this afternoon and need to get all my work done by lunch time. This is my second stop. The other guys were fine about early delivery, please, give me a break, I can't afford to take a day off and who's to know?"

"I shouldn't but alright. You owe me."

"Will you sign the delivery note? I'll alter the time by an hour."

Get yourself sorted, I'll check your order and sign the delivery note."

Jennie and Debra jumped out of the van, opened the back and carried boxes of fresh produce into the Silver. "I'll leave you to it, shout when you are finished for me to check off the delivery."

The two cleaners went into the club and started wiping down the tables and floor from the night's activity, paying them little attention. James checked the fridges and laced the contents with the powder Debra gave him, went into the cellar and tipped a liquid vial into the beer kegs and soft drinks pipes, confident enough that the lunchtime clientele would be sick so he could arrive unannounced to make his call believable. He called one of the cleaners to check off the merchandise and sign the delivery note. The cleaners would be finished and gone before the fulltime staff started.

After having a suitable disguise applied, he returned to the Silver just before lunch and waited across the street for developments to unfold, the two women waited in the van nearby. James had his own car adapted for the purpose. He felt bad about what would happen to many of the lunchtime clientele but had assurances there would be no long term effects from the sickness and it would last no longer than a day; still, there was a risk that something could go wrong and it constantly played upon his mind. The commotion had started and he walked over and entered the mayhem, introduced himself and asked to speak with the owner. Twenty minutes later Frank appeared, out of sorts and annoyed and started to bluster.

"If that is your attitude, sir," James took out his phone and began to dial. "I'll get an order to close the place and have your other establishments immediately tested. I have a list here."

Frank calmed. "I'm sorry, can we discuss this and see what's needed to be done without closing us down."

"That's why I'm here but it looks bad. I haven't reported back yet, so I need to make a decision in the next half hour to either let you clean up the place or to report and close you down and have all your other places investigated."

"How long will that take?"

"Weeks at least. I have seen investigations like these take months. I sorry but that's the way it goes, the public needs protection over profit."

"What do I need to do to stop you closing me down?" Frank was testing him.

"You need to convince me that you'll clean up and get all your food and drinks tested, or better still thrown out before it become public knowledge and you will you need to submit a report that this was an isolated case."

Frank called over a few of his staff and told them to throw out all the food and order new supplies. James put his hand on Frank's arm.

"I'm doing what you said."

"Mr Ellis, this is a contaminated area, before you touch or remove anything from the premise you need my permission. If I report this as I see it there'll be officials swarming over the place within the hour."

"What do you want to make this go away?"

"I want to make sure the public are protected and it won't happen again. I can't hear myself think, let's go somewhere a little quieter and talk."

Frank got the unspoken message, "my office."

"No, off the premises, we'll take my car and drive around the block."

He was talking the language Frank understood. He would behave the same way, not trusting in case his office and premises were bugged. "Are we talking off the record?"

"That's up to you but we either kill this now or it goes to my superiors and I'll be instructed to close the Silver down and get all your other places investigated. My car is just up the road."