[Macchiarulo]

The Uzi was pressing into her ribs as she entered the restaurant. She glanced quickly at the man standing behind the counter and passed him, continuing to the toilets.
With deliberate slowness, she took out the weapon and looked at it. Then she vomited. It took her a few minutes to get enough nerve to do what she had been told. Grabbing the Uzi, she emerged from the bathroom and scanned the restaurant. There was only one couple at any of the tables. Her gaze returned to the man behind the counter and she rushed forward, not giving herself time to think.
The man remained motionless as she thrust the Uzi into his face, "I don't believe you really want to do this."
She fired and she watched him fall.
Afraid that she may have killed him, she advanced to the counter. She was grabbed from behind by the couple as the man stood up and disarmed her.
He instructed the couple to release her. Once she was free, he offered her the chance to take back the Uzi. "I'm Philip Reese. I won't try to stop you leaving, but I would hate to see you end up like Stacy Quinn."
It took her a minute to take in what he had said. Then she turned away, hiding her face as she began crying.
Motioning the couple to leave, Reese walked round to face her. There had to something she knew that would help find this monster. "Her body was found early this morning. We have reason to suspect that she was murdered."
She thought about revenge. The first thing she learnt that she joined Angel's gang was that they looked after each other. "Who did it?"
"We don't have any suspects yet." Reese had been hoping for a lot more, "Is there anything you know that might help catch this maniac?"
"Angel gave Stacy to her..." Jennifer stopped abruptly, afraid to implicate her friends.
He sat at one of the tables, "Listen, I don't want to sound like I'm ganging up on you, but if this guy is what I think he is. Then by keeping silent, you could be causing the deaths of your friends."
Jennifer broke down, more tears soaking her face as she nodded. "Adrian. He's Angel's fence. Everything we get, she sells to him."
There was just one last piece of information he needed, "And his last name?"
She shook her head, "I don't know. Angel never told any of us."
Reese smiled, "Okay. You can go."
It surprised her that he was letting her go, she had been sure he was a cop. "You're not going to arrest me?"
"No. If you need to talk to someone you can trust, call me." Reese scribbled his telephone number on a slip of paper, "That's my private number." He once more offered her the Uzi, "Tell your friends that you killed Mr Thomas, I'll arrange for it to appear like you're telling the truth."
After she had gone, Reese headed into the back room and up the stairs. Stopping by a sealed metal door, he typed in a long code on a small panel. He was inside as soon as the door opened.
Ignoring the mass of weapons all around him, he watched Linda emerging from the small office. "I suppose you heard all that?"
She nodded, "What's your next step?"
Reese thought about it for a minute, knowing that he also had to keep the rest of the police from getting too close to the truth. "I was hoping the girl will help us." He smiled, thinking about the irony of how easy this had been. It had been a lucky break that the gang had been extorting money from one of the Trust safe houses for the last few months.

Her fingers trembled as she still held the Uzi, Jennifer entered the warehouse. She carefully placed the weapon on a table, ignoring Angel and several girls partying on the other side of the room.
Angel approached her the instant she saw that she was back, "Is it done? Is that bastard dead?"
Jennifer nodded without saying a word. The next thing Angel said made her feel scared.
"You may be ready sooner than I thought."

Reese descended into the bowels of the police station. Entering a small room full of computers, he approached a dark haired woman sat at a desk.
He smiled, "Mel, I need a list of every fence with the first or last name of Adrian."
Melissa Pike nodded, "I'll get on with it as soon as I can." As soon as he was out the door, her skin began to blister.

He turned from the view of Liverpool and leaned against the railing of his balcony as he heard the front door opening.
Melissa closed the door behind her, "We may have a problem."
Returning inside, Adrian gave her a long drawn out kiss, his hands sliding over her body. "What could possibly be wrong? We have a steady supply of victims coming from the various gangs around this wonderful country. That is more than adequate to fulfil our hunger and to increase our numbers."
She shook her head, "One of the detectives at the station has requested details on your background. I won't be able to delay him for long."
Adrian didn't consider a routine police officer to be much of a threat, "So we kill him."