A man walked to the naked woman at the bar. the man was eddie. the woman was..

to the dais and join Luke. I’ll take care of everything.”

Fiona hugged her back. “You have been so great through all this. Tonight wouldn’t be happening without you.”

Hayley ran her fingers through her electric blue wig. “Go. We’re starting.”

Up at the dais, Luke was looking around for Fiona. He caught her eye and smiled.

“Okay, I’m going.” Fiona walked a few steps, and then turned back. “And you’re sure video clips are in the proper order? I haven’t even had a chance to screen them, and I always do that several times.”

“There’s been no time,” Hayley said. “The Fox network held up the footage of Eddie Rivers’ joints, until the lawyers could tell them categorically that they wouldn’t be sued. Stop being a nervous nelly. It’s all good. Now let me go and change into my party clothes.”

“You look fine, Hayley. Really. I’m getting to like the blue hair.”

“It’s a statement. But I’ve got something else in mind for tonight,” Hayley said, hurrying away. reporting had largely curtailed the activities of Eddie Rivers and his thugs.

It was only a matter of time, the Governor remarked, before someone came forward with the evidence that would put him away for a long time.

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words,” the Governor said, “so rather than telling you the kind of reporting Luke Thompson’s team turned in, let’s watch the actual footage they captured, mostly with hidden cameras, from around the globe. I need to warn you that what you are about to see is disturbing, shocking, and very real. If you do not feel up to viewing it, this might be a good time to step into the lobby.” Nobody moved. After a moment, a huge screen slid down from the ceiling and the lights were dimmed. Fiona looked nervously at the spot where the video machines were, hoping Hayley would press the right button and not panic, as she had many times in the past.

What she saw in that video booth shocked her.

Hayley’s eyes met Fiona’s, and a little smile spread across her face. Instead of the usual simple black jump suit and comfortable shoes she wore to every event, Hayley was wearing a gorgeous black-and-white outfit that was so chic it had to be couture. And on her feet were Christian Louboutins.

But that wasn’t the biggest shock of all. Gone was the insane blue wig and, in its place, Hayley’s hair had been perfectly styled into a sleek pixie cut.

“OMIGOD!!!” Fiona mouthed to her friend, but the message was lost as the huge screen filled with images of women and young girls being loaded into trucks in some faraway place.

There were shouts as someone was ordered not to return until she had earned two hundred dollars. A girl, who couldn’t have been more than 14, was seen opening the door to the street, keeping her head down, so as not to show that her eye had been blackened.

Nude, or nearly nude, women were being pushed out on a stage to dance for a bunch of booze-swilling men, who clearly felt touching was permitted.

For a price, anything was permitted. A naked young girl was swinging to and fro over the bar, in a red velvet swing. The camera zoomed in to the bruises that covered her body.

Luke’s narration, which accompanied the film clips, made it clear that one man, and one man alone, ran this worldwide network of human misery.

In the huge close-up on screen, Eddie Rivers didn’t look like the kingpin of a sex-for-profit ring. With his boyish good looks and easy charm, he could be mistaken for the spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America.

Yet he had run this seemingly impenetrable worldwide organisation for 20 years without an indictment.

“One day, and soon,” Luke’s voice said, “Someone will have the courage to speak the truth, to put this man away.”

The lights began to come up, and the Governor rose and introduced Luke to loud applause. Luke helped Fiona to her feet, so that she could share in this moment with him. But the film did not stop. The quality of the film changed, became a little grainy, but the image was clear. It played on the big screen above the beautiful couple, Luke and Fiona.

The scene was shot in the joint called the Velvet Swing.

A woman walked out of the dressing room, removed her robe and took her place in the swing. Her luscious body was naked except for a little silver belt with tiny bells attached. She began to swing, moving to the music, tossing her mane of blond hair, seemingly lost in a different place and time, accompanied by the sounds of the little bells.

The film showed a man coming over to her section of the bar, smiling at her.

He tossed some bills at her and blew her a kiss. The man was Eddie Rivers.

The woman was Fiona Chambers.

■■Extracted from TREACHEROUS published by HarperFiction © Barbara Taylor Bradford