There really was no need to kick the door open, it wasn't as if it was locked, but Gene just liked doing it. Inside some people were sitting at a table and looking up at them now, most of them somewhat surprised and confused. Annoyingly, Sam's ex was only looking mildly entertained, if anything. Spoilsport.
Barty got up, saying something to a man next to him that Gene couldn't quite catch and then he approached them, smiling. "DCI Hunt, DI Tyler. Was I supposed to be expecting you?"
The man Barty had talked to before was heading for a backdoor while Gene answered. "Nah, just a routine visit. We like checking in, seeing how things are going. Do you need all of those clowns here or is there a chance of talking without the whole circus listening in?"
"We don't really need an audience, it isn't a raid. We were going to knock." Sam murmured as he watched the man go to the backdoor, wondering why he was fleeing so quickly. Was he going to get weapons or was he just scared of them? Either way, Sam didn't make a move to follow. He just held up his badge to show the men in the room. It was procedure.
"We're looking to talk to you in regards to a suspected human trafficking ring case."
Sam didn't smile or drop his professional persona - in some ways, it was a nice guard to have. It kept distance.
"I see..." Barty gestured for the remaining people around them to disperse, then he led them over to the table. "Sit down, we can talk in private. What do you want to know?"
"Question number one, asshole." Gene didn't like Barty for a variety of reasons, not least of all because he'd hurt his Sam so much. Insulting him was therefore quite satisfying. "Are you kidnapping girls to sell them off?"
"...no. We aren't in that business." Barty turned his head to look at Sam as he added, "I wouldn't."
He did want Sam to know and understand that he had morals. He wasn't pure evil. "What age are we talking about? I assume teenagers, given they come here." At least he assumed that was the link. "I haven't heard about many disappearances."
"Because we are trying to keep it on the down-low. Don't want a panic breaking out in the city." Gene just wanted it handled and stopped, quickly.
"The girls are usually between the age of 15 to 18. The last girl to go missing was 16. Which does pose a question of why their are underaged girls in your club to begin with. Clearly lax ID checking." There was a nice, hefty fine for that and he intended to pass all those details on to another department. At least, if he couldn't ever really get revenge and move on, he could be petty. And he was petty. "Putting that aside, the girls all have a pattern. Young, party girls, come out often and frequently to your club."
He pulled out the pictures of the girls and came over to the table, spreading the pictures out so Barty could look at them.
"I doubt you recognise them. We will be showing them to any staff before we leave, hopefully they jog someone's memory." They had information from parents and friends but no one seemed to be able to trace what happened after certain points in the night. They needed more witnesses for sure.
"Thank you for the heads up. I'll tell my people to do a better job on IDs. But you know how kids are, Sam. They always find a way to get fake IDs. You and I certainly did." Barty smiled pleasantly and Gene scoffed.
"That's DI Tyler for you, yeah? You can sod off with your familiarity, this is all business." There, he would take care of Sam. "Do you recognise the girls?"
"No, I don't. But I'm not really in the habit of closely inspecting teenage girls that come into my club."
"Yeah, I heard. More about the boys in their twenties, aren't you?" Gene shook his head, leaning back. "We'll need you to cooperate. Full access to the club. We want to send in some operators."
"What Gene is saying is we would like to have a cop on the inside here, just for a while, to try and work out what the girls know. They won't talk to cops, for obvious reasons, but they might talk to a friend. They might be able to give us some information. There must be a man, or group of men, who come here often to lure women in and we need to find out who." Sam explained in a less demanding way that Sam, sidestepping the familiarity too. No, he wasn't going to go down memory lane and have a good old time.
Barty was a lying bastard. A fucking radical criminal arsehole.
"It's going to be bad for your business, clients going missing like that. Bad for your reputation too. Even some of your lot hate this sort of business. It's a dirty business." And hopefully, they could put a stop to it. "We need to be able to monitor so we'd need access to the club."
"I agree it's bad for business. I want it stopped." What he doubted was that the cops were going to be any good at stopping it, but hey. If this was going to lead to Sam actually working with him, he wasn't about to complain. So he nodded, looking at Sam. Of course. "You'll have to send in a man and a woman. Different people talk to different genders. It's all still very cis and heteronormative in here, alas."
"Cis and hetero-what now?" Gene blinked, not really following. "Whatever. We will do our job the way we want to. All we need is you agreeing to cooperate."
"I'll cooperate fully," Barty said before adding a stipulation, "As long as I know that DI Tyler is involved. I trust him to run a smooth operation."
"Fuck, you really are a little shit, aren't you?" Gene almost admired the balls. Almost.
"I am good at my job, thank you." Sam didn't see any point of giving into bait. He didn't offer Barty a smile or any positive or negative reaction because he knew Barty wanted something from him and he liked to annoy him. Barty might have seemed cool and aloof but he wanted to be loved, he wanted attention and affection. And Sam didn't have to give it.
"We can see who we want to go undercover and we will sure up plans. We want to start by next Friday as the weekend is the usual time the girls go missing." Of course, weekends were busy and packed, it was easy to lose track of your friends or meet new, strange people.
He looked at Gene and then nodded to Barty. "We'll be in touch."
"I can't wait, detective. I love working with you." Barty said it as neutrally as he could, then watched as the two policemen were escorted outside. This would be interesting.
"Damn, he's an arse." There, Gene could acknowledge it, patting Sam on the back as they headed to the car. "Good on you, Samantha. That bloke's so not over you. Who'd have thought you'd be such a catch?"
"Yeah, I'm a real pull." Sam mocked as he got into the car and sighed, tilting his head back. He didn't want to miss Barty or have to play all these games but his one hope is that one day, he would move on. He'd move on and never have to deal with him again. Bastard. "Let's just get everything in motion, shall we?"
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no subject
Barty got up, saying something to a man next to him that Gene couldn't quite catch and then he approached them, smiling. "DCI Hunt, DI Tyler. Was I supposed to be expecting you?"
The man Barty had talked to before was heading for a backdoor while Gene answered. "Nah, just a routine visit. We like checking in, seeing how things are going. Do you need all of those clowns here or is there a chance of talking without the whole circus listening in?"
no subject
"We're looking to talk to you in regards to a suspected human trafficking ring case."
Sam didn't smile or drop his professional persona - in some ways, it was a nice guard to have. It kept distance.
no subject
"Question number one, asshole." Gene didn't like Barty for a variety of reasons, not least of all because he'd hurt his Sam so much. Insulting him was therefore quite satisfying. "Are you kidnapping girls to sell them off?"
"...no. We aren't in that business." Barty turned his head to look at Sam as he added, "I wouldn't."
He did want Sam to know and understand that he had morals. He wasn't pure evil. "What age are we talking about? I assume teenagers, given they come here." At least he assumed that was the link. "I haven't heard about many disappearances."
"Because we are trying to keep it on the down-low. Don't want a panic breaking out in the city." Gene just wanted it handled and stopped, quickly.
no subject
He pulled out the pictures of the girls and came over to the table, spreading the pictures out so Barty could look at them.
"I doubt you recognise them. We will be showing them to any staff before we leave, hopefully they jog someone's memory." They had information from parents and friends but no one seemed to be able to trace what happened after certain points in the night. They needed more witnesses for sure.
no subject
"That's DI Tyler for you, yeah? You can sod off with your familiarity, this is all business." There, he would take care of Sam. "Do you recognise the girls?"
"No, I don't. But I'm not really in the habit of closely inspecting teenage girls that come into my club."
"Yeah, I heard. More about the boys in their twenties, aren't you?" Gene shook his head, leaning back. "We'll need you to cooperate. Full access to the club. We want to send in some operators."
no subject
Barty was a lying bastard. A fucking radical criminal arsehole.
"It's going to be bad for your business, clients going missing like that. Bad for your reputation too. Even some of your lot hate this sort of business. It's a dirty business." And hopefully, they could put a stop to it. "We need to be able to monitor so we'd need access to the club."
no subject
"Cis and hetero-what now?" Gene blinked, not really following. "Whatever. We will do our job the way we want to. All we need is you agreeing to cooperate."
"I'll cooperate fully," Barty said before adding a stipulation, "As long as I know that DI Tyler is involved. I trust him to run a smooth operation."
"Fuck, you really are a little shit, aren't you?" Gene almost admired the balls. Almost.
no subject
"We can see who we want to go undercover and we will sure up plans. We want to start by next Friday as the weekend is the usual time the girls go missing." Of course, weekends were busy and packed, it was easy to lose track of your friends or meet new, strange people.
He looked at Gene and then nodded to Barty. "We'll be in touch."
no subject
"Damn, he's an arse." There, Gene could acknowledge it, patting Sam on the back as they headed to the car. "Good on you, Samantha. That bloke's so not over you. Who'd have thought you'd be such a catch?"
no subject
The sooner they started, the better.