Page 120 of In Too Deep

“The scenery?”

A grin tugged at Brodie’s mouth. “The men.”

“That why you came here?”

“Just for the one man.” Brodie held his gaze, tight and knowing.

Harrison glanced around the flat again, refusing to give him the satisfaction of reacting, though his chest tightened anyway. Apparently Jake Whitton was going to find his way into this conversation whether Harrison invited him or not.

“I’ll save us both some time.” He turned back to Brodie. “I’ve read your file.”

“Lucky you.”

“No. Unlucky me. Last time we met, I lost half a day discovering everything you neglected to mention.”

Brodie scoffed. “You were after a missing girl then, not a prossie.”

Harrison let the comment pass to get what he needed. “When you worked Hessle Road, were women regularly offered private bookings?”

“If they were lucky enough.”

“What made them lucky?”

Brodie shrugged. “Age. Looks. How desperate they were.”

“So vulnerable girls became commodities.”

“Aren’t vulnerable people always?”

Harrison observed him. “Were you involved in any of that?”

Brodie crossed one ankle over the other before uncrossing it again. Defensive discomfort hidden beneath practiced indifference.

So Harrison softened his tone. “Look, I appreciate you may have left Hull because you wanted distance. But a young woman is dead. If there’s any chance someone exploited her, moved her, pressured her into coming here, then I need to understand how those circles operated.”

Brodie studied him for a moment. Then laughed. “You think it were me?”

“I think you understand that world better than most people in this town. Once again, I have read your file, and it’s not exactly a huge leap to connect the two of you. You both worked Hull. You both moved in the same circles. You both ended up in Hartswick.” Harrison sighed. “She, unfortunately, ended up in the river.”

Brodie waggled his foot as if contemplating that, then he glanced back up and tilted his head. “You moved here an’ all, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Thought you were getting yourself a quiet life?”

“Hoped for one.” Harrison slipped his hands into his coat pockets. “Policing rarely cooperates.”

Brodie huffed a small laugh.

“That the reason you came here?” Harrison studied him. “Quiet life?”

“I thought I’d get fewer visits from your lot.”

“Why Hartswick specifically?”

Brodie gestured ironically to his poky flat. “Like I said, the scenery.”

“Bullshit.”