MIDNIGHT - HarperCollins NZ

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