That was a bad idea. They got hold of him as he had left the police station; worse still they had their father with them. He was a nasty bastard who scared the shit out of him. He looked dangerous and what the officer had since found out about him—a Serb paramilitary and war criminal suspected of multiple killings over the years—meant he was right to be scared. A mate on Interpol had looked into him and what he found out was shocking: Branko was a sadistic psychopath.

It was fine when he used to just keep the Branko brothers informed of any police activity into their brothels, but this was different; this was big league.

He had got caught up with the Brankos when he found himself invited to one of their party nights. It was just so decadent that he couldn’t help himself, and he recalled the incident with the impossibly-young girl who had sidled up to him after a brief conversation with Mira.

‘Hey, baby. Mira tells me I show you good time,’ she whispered sexily, showing even, white teeth in a broad smile. He had pretended not to notice that her pupils were as wide as saucers, evidence of recent use of a stimulant. He recalled the lurch of excitement in his stomach as she spoke. He just couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to be so weak; in his heart he knew they were trafficked girls and he was behaving like a fool.

He shuddered at the memory of one of the big minders, Aleks, smiling at him while studying the warrant card that he’d plucked out from his discarded trousers. ‘Well look what we have here: we have a Detective with us, and a senior one, as well.’ He had guffawed drunkenly, showing his crooked teeth.

‘We won’t tell a soul, my friend. Just keep us informed of any interest in us and maybe check out an enemy if we need you to,’ had said the big, ugly bastard Aleks.

It had gone on for a little while; he would periodically check the databases but got no signs of them being investigated, which reassured the brothers. Once or twice they had asked for vehicles to be checked, but nothing too serious and he had started to relax. He had even allowed himself a couple of visits with one of the prettier young girls, Ana, who always made him feel wonderful and who the brothers allowed him to visit for free. More recently he had tried to pull away from the Brankos and hadn’t visited any of their brothels for a few months. He had started to believe that maybe he was free of them, as he hadn’t heard anything for a while.

And then it happened. Out of the blue the father, Zjelko, had pinned him to the wall outside the police station in a side street.