MIDNIGHT - HarperCollins NZ
MIDNIGHT - HarperCollins NZ
MIDNIGHT - HarperCollins NZ
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JOSEPHINE COX<br />
‘I’ll go when I’m paid what she owes me. And fifty<br />
quid on top!’ His smile widened, to show a crooked<br />
row of yellowing teeth as he eyed her up and down.<br />
‘Happen you’d prefer me to take part payment in other<br />
ways . . . if yer know what I mean?’<br />
Libby knew exactly what he meant. ‘Like I said, we’ve<br />
got nothing for you. So, if you don’t leave, I’ll have no<br />
choice but to call the police.’<br />
‘Go on, then!’ he goaded. ‘Call ‘em now! I can soon<br />
explain how I found this poor, deluded old dear<br />
wandering the streets, prostituting herself to any man<br />
that took her fancy. Being a proper gent, I managed<br />
to find an address tucked in her pocket, and I made<br />
sure she got home safely. That’s what I’ll tell the police,<br />
I reckon they’ll get the Social out and she’ll be banged<br />
up in a home, where she belongs.’<br />
‘No one would take any notice of a man like you!’<br />
All the same, Libby was worried. If he really did what<br />
he threatened, the officials would be all over her, asking<br />
questions and snooping around. And if that was the<br />
case, who knows what might happen? Her mother must<br />
not be taken from her.<br />
‘Oh, and don’t forget, there are any number of<br />
witnesses who’ll back me up,’ Scott boasted. ‘They all<br />
saw how she offered herself on a plate to any man<br />
she came across – promising money and everything.’<br />
He added cruelly, ‘Only it seems they didn’t need the<br />
money as much as I did.’<br />
Lowering his voice, he leaned forward. ‘Like any<br />
decent bloke, I took pity on her, an’ the fact that she’s<br />
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