Free Strangers by Paul Finch

goatee beard and a pair of antlers, it would be a perfect spit for the Devil.
    ‘As I say, the Crew have many rackets,’ Slater said, ‘and one of the most lucrative is the sex trade. So this is their pimp-in-chief, the ludicrously named Nick Merryweather, more accurately known as “Necktie Nicky” thanks to his preferred method of despatching those he doesn’t like. For the record, Serious Crimes Division has two unsolved murders on its books wherein the APs, both of them underworld players, were found with their throats cut and their tongues pulled out through the wound. They’re suspected to be Crew hits, and Necktie Nicky, though a Crew lieutenant rather than a soldier, was almost certainly the assassin. So this is someone to be especially wary of, though most likely, if you do your job properly, you’ll be a flyspeck beneath his notice. That’s assuming he bothers coming out to check on business. He has lots of madams and under-pimps to do that for him.’

    He moved along to the third and final mugshot.
    ‘Now … prostitution being what it is in the age of Internet-fuelled home industry, not even a terror like Necktie Nicky can exert ownership over the entire field. He doesn’t actually run any brothels – he protects them, in other words he takes a big share of all their profits. That’s the way the Crew work, which makes it hard if not impossible to hit them with any real criminal charges. But as I said, there’s so much sex-for-sale out there now that even Nick Merryweather can’t cover the entire spectrum. So to help him, he relies on this charmer, fellow Crew lieutenant Frank McCracken.’
    McCracken’s face was in some ways the scariest on show, because it was the most normal. There was a hardness about it, for sure, but he was also a handsome man, square-jawed, dark-eyed, his lightly greying hair worn in a sharp crew-cut. His eyes were chips of glass – there was no doubt that this character would kick you to death if you said a word out of place. But he too was in his fifties, and if you weren’t on the look-out for villainy, it was possible you could pass him in the street without giving him another glance.

    ‘Anyone know what McCracken’s official role in the Crew is?’ Slater asked.
    Another girl put her hand up. ‘The Shakedown.’
    ‘Correct again,’ Slater replied. ‘And you even use the underworld terminology, so ten out of ten. Frank McCracken’s role in the Crew, ladies and gentlemen, is what they call “the Shakedown”. If ever a lucrative theft is committed in the north-west area, like a robbery, a high-end burglary or fraud, or if pimps, dealers and bookies are active who aren’t “officially approved”, it’s McCracken’s job to ensure the Crew gets its cut. And trust me, he’s very good at it. Some of his methods, at least those reported to us as hearsay, are beyond imagining. On the upside, McCracken is another who only comes out to play if the opposition gets serious. It’s unlikely that small-time operators like you will actually encounter him.’
    He paused to look them over. Everyone was maintaining a suitably serious aspect, but quite a few of the girls, again mainly the young ones, had noticeably paled.
    ‘I’d imagine none of you are feeling any the less nervous after what I’ve just told you,’ Slater said. ‘Sorry about that, but how would it help if I lied? This just underlines the importance of the front you put out when you hit those streets. As I said, the Crew don’t control all the sex-for-sale in the north-west. It’s too diverse, involves too many people and is too technology-driven. From your POV it’s a good thing that you won’t be the only freelancers out there. But it’s important that each one of you gets a good cover story and gets it right – who you are, where you live, why you’re on the game, etc. In the first instance, you won’t be going out there cold. Vice have loaned us one or two working girls who also happen to be