Chapter 7

Green Street in East London was predominantly an Asian area and Saim's haunt. The streets, lined with rows of shops selling brightly coloured Sari's in all sizes, went on as far as the eye could see. All hanging proudly, displayed on hooks in the windows and on clothes rails in the street. Young shop owners were blasting out Bhangra music, advertising the newest technology in car stereos and bass bins, fully fitted for £399. Turning the corner towards Upton Park the overpowering smell of spices for sale, in the open market, seemed to draw people in like rodents to the pied piper.

Dan's stomach grumbled as a thought of a decent curry started to make every taste bud in his mouth come alive.

"No time for food now", he says to himself pushing the thought from his mind. There was work to do.

Tracking down Saim was no easy task and usually meant trudging around several addresses. He was either entertaining a lady in some love nest he acquired cheap, or in the process of convincing another to join his sordid escort service, so it was not going to be easy. Phoning was pointless as he had more numbers than fake addresses, so for now, the search was on.

Into the third hour of pacing up and down Green Street like a nutter on exercise in the asylum, Dan felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. His gut instinct was never usually wrong and had helped him out of many scrapes in the past. Not wanting to show apprehension, he continued walking. Focusing on the shop windows, searching for anything out of the ordinary in the reflections, he quickens his pace and ducks into an alley.

What am I doing? He asks himself. I do not have any enemies here.

Standing up from behind the rotting dumpster, that he had crammed himself behind, he rubs him-self down and starts to walk back into the street. He had only moved about two feet from the bin when a hand grabs his shoulder.

"Time to put you out of your misery" came a voice from behind

Dan's heart skipped a beat as he was spun around to face two mountains of pure Asian muscle.

Instantly images of the next morning's headlines flash through his mind: Mutilated body found in East London alley.

"Saim's been watching you walk up and down for hours. You've given him some great entertainment. You look like a bloody tourist" King Kong snorts between laughs

"Come on he's waiting"

Hanging back a few paces behind King Kong, Dan tries hard to compose him-self. The adrenalin hit his system so hard in the alley he could feel his body physically shaking.

Stopping at a double fronted house, King Kong opens the door and steps inside.

"Well! Get in here then. The boss don't like to be kept waiting"

The Victorian hallway with its mosaic-tiled floor had several closed doors that led off to different rooms. He could hear sounds of enjoyment coming from the rooms and could only imagine what perversions of the mind where happening inside.

A voice from upstairs echoes in the hallway "Dan up here"