Summer Holiday/Spain Day 6 I'm in

As if on cue, Mary came back. “Have you told him,” she asked.

“I was just warning him about Dmitri and his friends,” Bob said.

“A group like ours needs a bit of muscle to fall back on in the event of problems,” Mary said. “On the upside, there are perks beyond the sex.”

I stopped thinking about Russian enforcers; “like?”

“You work for the council don’t you,” she asked.

I nodded. “I’m the guy in charge of potholes would you believe.”

“How would you like a transfer to someone with access to kids; child protection would be a good move I think,” Molly said. She looked at Bob. “You think we can manage that,” she asked.

Bob shrugged. “Don’t see why not,” he said.

"Why me," I asked.

"You're young and good-looking," Mary said. "A lot of the men in our group are getting on a bit and we need new blood. "From what Molly told us about yesterday, you will fit in really well."

So that was it; I was part of the paedophile group. Everyone knows they exist; occasionally one gets busted, but it’s a fair bet that for every one that gets caught, there’s a dozen more operating quietly.

Bob stood up, took something out of his pocket and gave it to me. It was a small silver medallion, a bit like a Saint Christopher, but with three intertwined hearts engraved on it. “All our members have one of these,” he said; “there’s a number on the back and I’ll give you a phone number to memorise, so that if you need to check whether someone wearing one is genuine you can just make a call with the number and get an instant response.”

Mary stood up too. “We better go up to the kids; I don’t really like leaving them on their own. We’re all going out tomorrow so you’ll have to find your own amusement.” She came round the table, bent down and kissed me on the lips. “Remember,” she said; “promotion - or Dmitri…”

What do you do?

After a sleepless night I take the day off.

xxx