‘Give over, love. We ain’t even started yet!’ A new voice. Then laughter. She felt her legs pushed back around so that she was facing back the way she started. The bag was tugged from her head. It hurt her nose and pulled her hair as it lifted.
Jenny blinked. The breeze in her face and the artificial light meant it took a second to focus. She was sitting on the edge of the pier. She recognised it immediately: Langthorne’s harbour arm. They had walked it as a family just a few days earlier. It jutted out into the English Channel. The old port on the east side was hidden behind a tall stone wall and there was a sandy beach on the west side — the side she was facing. It had restaurants and bars down its length, but they were open only at the weekends. She’d learnt that the hard way. It was all silent now. She didn’t know what time it was but the night was well established. The sea was calm but, at some 600 metres out, the surface still bobbed and frothed. The water seemed to repel the artificial light of the arm from its surface rather than reflect it. It had a black infinity to it. It was terrifying.
Jenny tried to get her breathing under control. She felt surrounded. She had her head and her eyes down; she didn’t want to look around, to make eye contact, to antagonise anyone. They were speaking amongst themselves. She wasn’t tuned into the words. Someone stood next to her, close enough to be touching her left side.
‘Please, I don’t know what this is about. I don’t know why you want me here. What do you want from me?’ she sobbed. The sobs were sudden; she hadn’t been expecting them herself.
‘We don’t need anything from you!’ Another voice, this time behind her. She heard footsteps walk round to her right. ‘Look at me, Jenny.’ Jenny turned her head but she kept her eyes down. She was aware of where the man was standing; she saw his dark trousers. ‘I said LOOK AT ME!’ The sudden increase in volume caught her out; she jerked her head up and her tears now fell freely.
‘What do you want from me?’ she said again. It was all she could manage. The man walked away from her. He bent down. Jenny noticed someone else on the edge that she hadn’t noticed before. Their figure was lying down, a long back towards her. She narrowed her eyes to try and pick out some detail in the gloom just as the figure was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled into a sit. The man’s head hung as if he wasn’t conscious. Faint light fell on him as he was turned towards her.
‘Joseph!’ Jenny put her hand to her mouth; she hadn’t meant to say anything but she couldn’t stop the words.
‘So we were right!’ the man replied. Joseph moaned and his eyes flickered open. They were still rolled back. Another man bent down; he leaned over the edge and pulled something up on a rope. Jenny could see it was a bucket. He immediately tipped its contents over Joseph. Joseph reacted: he shouted without making sense; his head snapped up; his eyes opened and he shivered violently; his mouth gaped open and he rushed large gulps of air.
‘Yo, Joe! Guess what? Your girlfriend’s here!’ Joseph’s head moved from side to side. Finally he settled on looking over in her direction. His head leaked blood, the water had washed him but already he had a thick stream of red down his left side and over his ear. His eyes were severely swollen and his face was peppered with a red, bloody rash. His lips were swollen and blood trickled from his mouth. It was smeared on his teeth too when he grimaced.
‘I don’t know her! You boys messed up.’ He immediately looked away, out over the sea.
‘Oh really? Seems she knows you, Joe. She said your name the second she saw you. And look at her now! She looks like she’s seen a ghost!’ The man moved towards Jenny, his eyes fixed on her. He crouched down so he was more on her level. ‘You really don’t know what’s going on, do you? I got a good nose for these things, see.’
‘No.’ Jenny shook her head; her nose dripped with moisture. She tried to look beyond the crouching man to Joseph. He was leaning away from her now and seemed to be vomiting.
‘Well, that’s not fair, is it? I know who you are, Jenny, so you should know who I am. My name, well what everyone calls me, is Jimmy, and I’m a man who runs a business. I have employees, Jenny, as any business does, and Joseph, here, is one of my employees. He is the cash man, Jenny. He looks after the cash, makes sure it stays safe. My relationship with Joe here is based on trust — much like yours, I would imagine. Does it bother you if I say that Joe here is not someone you can trust?’
Jenny shook her head and sobbed quietly. Joseph still wasn’t looking over.
‘Joseph here is not an honest man. I guess I knew that. You see we all go out and we take from the rich. Like Robin Hood only with a better business model. ’Ere boys, Jimmy Hood! You havin’ that?’
Jenny heard some sniggers. She couldn’t tell how many people were around her in total.
‘So we don’t give any of it away, obviously. Joseph, though, has been taking what he wants from off the top. Skimming, I think you call it. Maybe I shouldn’t hire thieves and then be upset when they steal, right? But I’m here to ask for what is mine to be returned — that is all. I have already asked, of course, and so far he has not been willing to help.’ The man stood back up. ‘I wonder if he will be more willing to help now that you are here? Assuming he knows who you are, of course!’ Jimmy chuckled. He turned away to face Joseph. Jenny took in Jimmy’s form. He was tall and solidly built. In the dimly lit environment she could still pick out dark hair and dark features overall.
‘I don’t know anything.’ Jenny called out to his back. ‘I just want to go and get my daughter. Joseph, whatever this is about, whatever you have, give it back. Just give it back, Joseph, so we can go home.’
Jimmy turned back to face her. ‘Well, now, I didn’t say that, did I? And the child is something else that Joseph had been keeping from me, but then I can understand why. If you are going to steal from a man like me then I suppose you best keep quiet about your family. Or at least not use them to hide what you steal — right, Joseph?’ Jimmy grabbed Joseph’s hair. He pulled it firmly so that his head faced up. ‘Your mother would probably agree, don’t you think? If she could, of course.’ He let go of Joseph’s hair and his head lolled forward. Jimmy moved back towards Jenny and he stepped over her outstretched legs.
‘Here we are then, Joe!’ Jimmy called out, then made an exaggerated grunt as if he was straining. Jenny looked up to see that he was holding something that took both his hands to lift. It looked to her like an iron dumbbell, but bigger than any she’d seen. Jimmy struggled with the weight before putting it on the ground next to Jenny. She could now see the length of rope that was tied off through its middle. She froze. The rope was short, just enough for it to fold back on itself, but it finished around her ankles. Joseph looked over and he saw it too. His eyes flashed wide. A man appeared on the other side of him; he was holding an identical dumbbell. He put it down on the ground and it made a heavy, metallic sound against the stone pier. It had a rope tied off round its middle too. Joseph’s ankles were together. They also trailed a length of rope.
‘Jesus, Jimmy!’ Joe groaned. ‘This is nothing to do with her.’
‘I agree, Joe. But this is everything to do with you. You need to make a decision now about what happens next.’
‘What decision? There’s no decision here.’
‘Beating on you did nothing. Threatening to go and get your girlfriend did nothing. So I did it. I’ve brought her here, to the deep sea with a weight tied around her ankles. I don’t think you need me to explain where this ends up next, do you? Unless you now feel like talking.’
‘There’s no choices here, you’re going to do this anyway. You were always going to do it!’ Joseph’s words were rushed suddenly, breathy with panic.
‘You might be right. You were always going to die, Joe. You let me down, and I can’t have people thinking that is okay. It is not okay, Joe. But the missus here . . . she’s your decision.’
Jenny’s attention was dragged to her left where there was movement. The weight scraped against the floor and someone picked it up. They st
epped right to the edge, where the water rippled below. She braced herself and held her breath. In front of her was a thick chain that ran between two steel posts, a sort of fence, she reached out and wrapped her arms around it.
‘How long do you think that will help you, Jenny?’ Jimmy leered over at her. ‘You do have a bit of fight in you, though. I’ll give you that. You gave us the right run around. But we have you now, Jenny, and I won’t be giving you an inch.’ His attention turned back to Joseph. ‘So, decision time, Joe.’ Jenny suddenly felt something solid in the back of her head, pushing down. She jerked her head enough to get a view of the man that had been at her hotel holding a pistol to the back of her head. She met his eyes and he stared back. Jenny didn’t reckon she could see a flicker of doubt or of humanity there. He was ready to pull that trigger.
‘Turn away, Jenny,’ he growled. ‘Face out to sea. NOW!’ He pushed the solid barrel more firmly into her skull. She squealed in pain and turned away. She could just see Joseph in her peripheral vision. Jimmy was standing directly behind him. He had his own pistol and pushed it into the back of Joseph’s head.
‘Here we are then, Joe. Tell me where my money is and this fate is only yours. Refuse me one more time and you get to see the lovely Jenny there go first. How long can she hang onto that chain for, do you think?’ He chuckled. Behind her she could hear more laughter. These bastards would like to see that; she reckoned they were praying for it. Joseph shut his eyes. Jimmy reached down, he had big hands. He gripped the top of Joseph’s head and wrenched upwards, forcing his eyelids wide open. ‘That won’t help you, Joe. My money, Joe. Make your choice.’ Jenny’s eyes snatched to the left, the solid dumbbell attached to her rolled towards the sea. It stopped right on the edge, resting against a slightly raised lip.
Joseph was breathing hard, but through his nose. Every breath was loud and rushed.
‘Fuck it, drop it!’ Jimmy called out. There was movement to her left and she took another big breath.
‘Wait!’ Joseph shouted. He was looking over to her.
‘Wait for what, Joe? I am not a patient man.’
‘I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you where it is. All of it.’
Jenny felt the pressure against the back of her head ease off. The weight rolled back a couple of inches away from the edge. Another second passed before she saw Joseph gulp. Then he started talking.
‘You let her go. A ten-minute head start. Then I tell you.’
‘You bartering with me, Joe? You setting rules now? You lost that chance a long time ago. Fuck this, drop her in!’
‘WAIT! Okay! It wasn’t at the house. There’s a stable block on their land. I’ve been keeping it there, in a horsebox, parked up. There’s a lock box in there, we welded it to the chassis. The key is in the house but with the right tool you can get into it. You’ll need to take the whole thing. The land is separate from the house. They don’t even know about it. It’s got nothing to do with them and it’s got nothing to do with her. You can let her go. She doesn’t even know what I’m talking about.’
‘Separate where?’
‘You got my phone from the hotel room, right? The notes section has the address for the yard.’ Everyone went quiet. Jenny heard the sound of a phone being unlocked. She strained to look sideways. The phone was being lowered to Joseph.
‘Yeah — that’s it. You’ve got everything you need. You got issues with me we can talk about it, but she doesn’t need to be here.’
‘She doesn’t need to be here? She doesn’t even know what we’re talking about, you say? Well, maybe we should educate her. Why don’t you tell, Joe? Why don’t you tell her what you’ve been doing — why she’s sat on the end of a pier? You brought this on her. The least you can do is explain.’
‘She doesn’t know nothing, Jimmy. She’s got nothing to do with it.’
‘So you keep saying!’ The man called Jimmy suddenly stepped over Jenny’s outstretched legs. He lowered himself down so he was facing her. She could see him up close now. He looked at her intently and she stared right back.
‘Quite a pretty little thing, aren’t you, Jenny? Wasted on this piece of shit.’
‘What do you want from me?’
‘Nothing from you. You’ve done everything I needed.’ Jimmy stood up. Suddenly there was a loud bang! Jenny shook as Joseph slumped forward. He was leaking blood from the back of his head. In the dim light it was like a thick, dark shadow that quickly consumed his back. Jimmy kicked out at the dumbbell next to Joseph’s hip and an instant later she heard a splash. Joseph was moving forward, but slowly. Suddenly he jerked forward. She got a flash of his open eyes as he slid over the edge. She heard a second splash. Some of it flicked into her face. It made her flinch again.
Jenny was flushed with panic. She was alone now. They hadn’t tied her hands, the rope already felt looser round her ankles and yet they couldn’t let her survive: the man had said his name and then murdered someone right in front of her. She was acting instinctively. There was only one way she might get away from this. She had to run.
Her bound feet kicked out at the weight and an instant later it hit the water. Somebody shouted something — she couldn’t make out what. She leaned back so that her body was straight, her right hand lifted to her nose to squeeze it shut and she slammed her eyes tightly shut. She was wrenched forward as if the sea itself had reached out for her.
The chill of the water took her breath away. She let go of her nose; she wanted to flail her arms, to thrash against the freezing water, but she knew she couldn’t let panic take over. Somehow, in the pitch black and freezing water with an invisible force dragging her lower she managed a moment of calm.
She reached down to her ankles. They were still tied together, she could feel herself sinking, the pressure building in her ears. She had her eyes open but it made no difference. Her hands were so cold they weren’t working properly. She couldn’t hear any sounds. The rope felt slippery. She tried to focus on yanking it upwards. It was too heavy — it just kept pulling her down. She concentrated again on staying calm. A few seconds later, she could feel the steel of the dumbbell. It was resting on the bottom. Her hands moved over it, she had seen the locking screw on the side that held the weights on the threaded bar. It ought to unscrew but it didn’t budge. She needed a breath. She tried to ignore it, tried to calm her mind. She knew that was the key. She twisted the metal again, focussing all of her strength into her grip. She thought it moved but she couldn’t be sure. She kept tugging at it. It was turning. Her panic came back in waves but she twisted faster and the screw came free. The weight was too heavy to pull off the end of the bar, she tried tipping it up but the metal dug into the soft seabed. She planted her feet and tugged it upwards with the last of her strength. Suddenly it was lighter. She was still trying to feel with her hands, then she got hold of the rope and it came free.
Jenny’s lungs were bursting. She was a strong swimmer and she could hold her breath, but she was running out of time. She tried to focus on her swim. She pushed off the bottom as hard as she could. Her ankles were still tied together and she tried to kick the rope off but it wouldn’t budge. She couldn’t afford to panic; she would die if she did. She focussed on trying to kick with her legs together as she pulled upwards with strong strokes. She used her own desperation to power her arms.
Her hand bashed against something firm, she reached out, it felt like stone but it was slimy with weed. It must have been one of the legs of the pier. She pushed off from it, she was desperate for a breath and could do no more to stop her mouth from reaching for the oxygen it craved. She took a huge gulp but she was still under water and it was still pitch black. She took in water — she coughed and swallowed but there was nowhere for it to go, she just took more in. She was drowning.
She could see a flicker of light and she kicked her legs towards it. The light grew bigger — and then she broke the surface. Straight away she tried to take in the air but it still couldn’t reach where it needed to go. For a mome
nt, she thought it was too late, that her lungs were filled, but she gagged up some water and managed to keep her mouth above the surface enough to suck in some oxygen. Her arms were flailing, and she tried again to focus on her technique. She calmed her movements, grabbed the bottom of her jumper and scooped a pocket of air like she had been taught in school. She tried to relax and lay back to float. She kicked her shoes off and wriggled her feet together. She felt the rope slipping down and her legs came free. She could hear shouts. Her return to the surface hadn’t been quiet. She had recovered enough to tread water but was still coughing as she looked around to take in her surroundings. The pier was in front of her but she had come up on the other side. She could see the tall wall and she knew the men would be behind it. She must have gone right underneath. She didn’t have much time. She looked around for an escape route. There was a pebbly beach some five hundred metres away, but they would surely make their way back there and there would be no quick or quiet way of getting out. She had seen a sandy beach further away on the other side. The coast curved away from the pier — maybe another fifty metres — and she wouldn’t be able to swim straight for it. She would have to go round the end of the pier, giving it a wide berth, and then head for the beach, as far away as she could manage. She didn’t know if she had the strength. She was struggling just to stay afloat and it was freezing cold. She had to focus. She fixed on a point to swim out to. When she got there the plan was to turn and fix on a point to swim back to on the shore. She conjured images of Isobel in her mind, she imagined holding her again. She moved onto her front and kicked her legs.
Chapter 23
Stanley beamed the moment he set eyes on his daughter. To George he looked immediately like a completely different man. He finally showed some colour and some warmth.
The George Elms Trilogy Box Set Page 42
