by Gemma Rogers
‘Addington, my mate John has a spare room.’ She hadn’t mentioned John before, was he just a mate, or something more?
‘Haven’t you managed to get your own place yet?’
Karla narrowed her eyes. ‘I’m saving to get out of here, aren’t I? Two weeks left of probation. It’ll be my last visit with Barry next week; another month or so and I’ll be gone. Out of this dump.’
Karla turned and walked towards the warehouse. I hurried after her, still fixing my tabard.
‘Doesn’t anyone stay on after?’
‘Would you? Knowing what went on? That’s why there’s such a high turnover of staff, as soon as their probation is up, they’re off.’
‘Where will you go?’
She shrugged but didn’t answer. I shook my head; it was like getting blood out of a stone.
‘Where did you grow up?’ I asked, realising quickly I’d pushed too soon.
‘What is this, twenty questions? I ain’t in the mood,’ she snapped, grabbing a large trolley of laundry and wheeling it towards one of the machines. I hadn’t even checked the rota, but whoever was stuck with Karla was not going to have the best day.
‘Morning, ladies, good weekends?’ Our heads snapped around as Dan walked in from the yard, bowing his head under the open shutters.
‘Yes, good thanks,’ I replied for both of us.
‘Big delivery today from St George’s, needs a fast turnaround. That’s priority one. I can see you’ve already started. Excellent, cheers, Karla.’
She managed a nod but didn’t stop pulling the sheets out of the trolley.
Dan shoved his hands in his pockets. Dark denim jeans today with beige desert boots and a moss-green jumper. He looked gorgeous and I turned away to stop myself drooling. Since sex had come up as something I might possibly get to participate in, voluntarily, I hadn’t thought of much else in Dan’s company.
‘Jess, can I borrow you a minute.’ Our eyes locked, his twinkling mischievously.
Karla’s hostility forgotten, I followed Dan into his office, my mouth suddenly dry.
‘How’s the new place?’ I mumbled, filling the silence.
‘Good, it’s great thanks. I didn’t have much to move in, so it’s all done. You’ll have to come over for dinner or something.’ He blushed, edging closer.
‘I’d like that,’ I managed as the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention.
‘We probably shouldn’t, I mean, I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage, but I like spending time with you.’
I giggled, like a dumb schoolgirl.
‘Taking advantage how?’ I asked, genuinely perplexed. Did he mean the age difference?
‘Well, me being your boss, I guess, and, well, obviously a few years older.’ His ears were pink now and I could tell he found this excruciating.
‘I won’t tell anyone,’ I offered.
Dan took another step closer, an arm’s-length away. ‘That may be a good idea.’
‘Okay.’
‘Tomorrow maybe?’
My eyebrows shot skyward.
Picking up on my surprise, he admitted, ‘I meant to take your number on Friday, but I had an errand to run and when I got back, you were gone.’
I nodded, my stomach churning.
‘Did you want me for anything else?’ I asked, my tone light as I remembered the chase I was supposed to be inciting.
‘No, no, sorry. I’ll let you get back.’ He gestured with his hand I was free to leave, so I did, hoping he was going to watch me go. I exaggerated the sway of my bony hips as I sauntered back to the warehouse, my head floating in the clouds.
According to the rota, I’d drawn the short straw and had been paired with Karla, who was already grunting with exertion, her brow glistening. The air temperature had shot up since the machines had gone on and my underarms dampened in protest. She threw the sheets around like they had upset her, and I stepped in when one got tangled in the trolley.
‘Fucking thing.’ She kicked the wheel, sending it flying as it was half empty.
‘Let me do it,’ I said, winding the fabric back on itself.
She huffed, disappearing outside for a cigarette. Once I’d loaded the machine and put it on, I joined her in the yard.
She was sat on the gravel, knees to her chest, flicking the ash of her cigarette into the air and watching it get carried away on the breeze.
‘You had anything else delivered? More photos?’ Karla asked.
‘No, thank God. I’m hoping that’s it. I was thinking, if they’ve got photos of that, they’ve got photos of everyone with him,’ I said.
‘Yep, that would be some horrific viewing.’ Karla rubbed her eyes, the circles beneath darkening as the day went on.
‘I got a new phone yesterday; I friended you on Facebook, did you see?’
Karla shook her head, not meeting my gaze, though I registered a flicker of surprise. ‘Not yet, I had to do an Apple update yesterday and now the bastard thing won’t switch on,’ she huffed.
I wasn’t sure she wasn’t telling the truth, although Karla spoke convincingly. Maybe she wanted to keep work separate from her friends, but after what we’d done, we’d forever be connected.
I chewed the inside of my cheek as I considered what to say. There were things she wasn’t telling me, I was positive. Something was bugging Karla, and it wasn’t just a hangover.
31
‘You having a smoke?’ she asked, breaking the silence.
Realising I was standing there awkwardly, I nodded, pulling my cigarettes out of my pocket and lighting one.
Karla didn’t wait, instead going back inside. Normally she would have had another one with me.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and opened Facebook. We weren’t allowed them in the warehouse, but I hadn’t wanted to leave the most expensive thing I now owned in a locker which had already been broken into once.
I found Karla quickly and scrolled down on her page, through some of her photos and uploads. A second later, the app crashed, throwing me out and back to the home screen.
‘Shit,’ I muttered, taking a drag of my cigarette and clicking into Facebook again. This time, Karla’s profile photo of her pouting was the only thing I could see. Access to her other photos and her wall had gone. Had she changed her privacy settings? Just now? But why?
I chucked my half-smoked cigarette to the ground and headed back inside, meeting Karla at our station as she came from the opposite direction. The direction of the toilets and the lockers. I frowned and took the empty trolley back to the holding pen, pulling a full one back again.
‘What’s up with you?’ Karla said, taking in my face, her tone dripping with attitude.
‘Nothing,’ I replied, hauling the sheets into an empty machine.
We didn’t speak much for the rest of the day, there was no light conversation and I stared over at Hanna, envious of her working with Laura, swaying to tunes blasting out from her radio. Everyone was happier with Terry gone. Everyone except Kim and Dan, the voice in my head piped up.
Before I left for the day, I wrote my number on a scrap of paper and left it on Dan’s desk. He’d gone out to see a supplier and Karla and I were the last ones left in the building. The load we’d done from the hospital all pressed and packaged, ready for collection. We’d worked hard, my joints ached, and stomach rumbled, but I’d decided I wasn’t going straight home.
Instead I loitered down the road from the entrance to Bright’s, managing to get out while Karla was in the toilet. I’d shouted goodbye through the entrance to the ladies’, saying I was rushing to my mum’s and not waiting for a reply. Watching from behind a postbox, I saw Karla come out and head towards the bus stop where I’d normally catch the 407 to get home. I straightened up, my back aching, but I didn’t have to worry she’d spot me; her head was bowed, staring at her phone. I wanted to see where she went after work, sure she was hiding something.
I’d intended to follow her on foot, keep my
distance, but I hadn’t anticipated she’d get the bus, especially not the one going in the same direction as me. Now I was stuck. Should I walk back to the bus stop? Say I’d forgotten something at Bright’s? I couldn’t even see the board with the bus arrival times from where I stood.
After ten minutes of deliberating, just when I’d decided to give up on the mission and walk home, a 407 arrived and Karla got on it. I moved around the postbox as it passed, shielding myself from view as I watched her head to the back of the bus.
Back at the bus stop, another one rumbled up. I raced to jump on it. At least I’d be able to see if she got off ahead of me, for part of the journey.
Wherever Karla was going, it wasn’t home to John’s spare room, she was heading in the wrong direction for Addington. I craned my neck to look ahead, my face pressed to the glass, to see if she got off at any of the stops. Where was she going? The 407 went towards the St Helier estate, not all the way there, but in that direction. Her bus moved through the traffic and the bell rang on mine for every stop, so someone could get off. Before long, hers was out of sight.
At the closest point to home, I jumped off and began walking. I could only guess as to where Karla was going, perhaps meeting a friend? I wasn’t particularly good at playing detective. I could try again another day, but it was virtually impossible to follow someone without a car. There had to be another way to find out what was going on with her?
When I got in after a brisk ten-minute walk, the place was quiet. Stuart was likely still at work and I microwaved a curry I knew would stink the small room out, but I didn’t care. I was starving. As I waited for the machine to beep, I thought about the ring left in my locker. Terry’s wedding band. It was now in Karla’s possession, but could it have been all along? The microwave sounded, signalling dinner was ready, but my thoughts were elsewhere.
Shoving the mattress aside, I pulled out the images of Terry and laid them on the bed, flattening the creases as best I could. In the second one, you could just make out Terry’s left hand, limp, by his head. Squinting at the picture, I could see a ring on his third finger. Fuck. I stood and let it sink in for a second, the smell of tikka masala permeating the room even before I’d released it from its plastic carton. If Terry was wearing the ring when he died, then it should have been incinerated with the rest of him. The only person who could have removed his ring other than me was Karla.
My brain was firing, I was skittish, adrenaline pumping around my body making my heart thump. Shit. Karla had planted the ring. Why though? To scare me. To make me think someone knew what we did. None of it made any sense, yet it was the only logical conclusion. If she planted the ring, then she must have sent the photos too. Perhaps I didn’t know Karla at all. Which, of course, I didn’t when I thought about it.
Head spinning, I wolfed down the curry without tasting it, too busy trying to sift through the scenarios that popped into my head, but nothing seemed to fit. I couldn’t confront her; because letting on I’d found her out would get me no answers. Better to pretend I was clueless.
I stood outside with the door open to air the room as I smoked, almost jumping out of my skin when a text message came through. Still not used to the random tinkle I’d chosen as the message alert. Was it Karla?
Snatching the phone from the bed, I saw it was Dan and my chest fluttered.
Dinner at mine tomorrow? Do you eat sea bass?
I replied that was fine, although I’d never eaten sea bass before. It didn’t matter, I’d eat anything if Dan was going to the effort of cooking for me. It would be my first real date and I needed something to take my mind off things. I had to pretend everything was fine. Just until I’d figured out what was going on and if Karla was my enemy.
32
Karla still seemed stand-offish the following day, but I avoided her. I managed to get in before nine and look at the rota. I’d been put with Agnes, and even with her constant chattering, it was a much better option than Karla’s mood. Laura lucked out there and every time I looked over, Karla was scowling at her cheerful co-worker.
Around mid-morning, Dan confirmed arrangements for dinner, calling me into his office to help find something he wasn’t looking for. He seemed nervous, struggling to get his words out as he offered to come and pick me up at around half six. I hoped the evening would end differently to the last time I saw him.
What might happen made my insides fizz, like tiny electric shocks pulsed beneath my skin. I wouldn’t have a lot of time to get ready after work, but it was better than making my own way there. I’d be even more harassed if I got lost and arrived all sweaty and dishevelled.
I chewed my nails all day, worrying what to wear, whether to be presumptuous and sneakily pack a toothbrush and a clean pair of knickers? If we ended up in bed, would I be staying the night, or would he bring me home? Perhaps he’d call me a taxi? How would it all work?
My stomach churned with nervous energy and I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Taking my eye off the ball, I burnt my hand on the pressing machine as I fed a sheet in.
‘How you say… careful, careful,’ Agnes berated me as I sucked on my thumb.
‘Sorry, miles away,’ I explained, trying to ignore the searing pain.
She tutted but fussed around me like a mother hen, ensuring I wasn’t badly hurt.
‘You have thing for boss?’ Agnes tilted her head to the side and my eyes widened.
‘Jesus, does everyone know?’ I glared at Karla, who caught my eye and glared back, even though she was unable to hear what I was saying. What was with her?
‘Ignore her, she’s jealous,’ Agnes said, glancing in Karla’s direction.
I snorted. I was sure her mood couldn’t be because we liked the same guy.
‘It’s way he looks at you,’ Agnes continued, pulling a sheet from the machine, smoothing out the fabric and folding it neatly. I hid my smile beneath the sheet, surely Agnes hadn’t seen Dan look at me in any kind of way. Although the notion made my insides flutter.
I went for a walk at lunchtime to stretch my legs, desperate to get away from listening ears as I rang Ashley, bursting to talk to someone. Just as the call was about to go to voicemail, she came on the line, sounding like she’d been for a run.
‘Sorry, Jess, the phone was in my bag,’ Ashley said by way of explanation.
‘Are you busy?’
‘No, I’m just about to head to a lecture, but I can walk and talk.’
I heard the jangle of keys and the slam of a heavy door.
‘I’m hoping tonight’s going to be the night,’ I said, trying to sound cool and keep myself from squealing. It must be weird to Ashley that I was years behind, only experiencing things now she’d faced ages ago.
‘Tell me everything!’
I described how Dan had invited me for dinner, which surely meant it would lead to more. ‘He’s cooking sea bass,’ I gushed.
‘Fancy!’ she replied and we both laughed. I was grateful she was humouring me. I didn’t have anyone else I could talk to. Not Helen and I wasn’t sure Karla could be trusted. ‘Be safe okay. Make sure he wears something. If it doesn’t feel right make an excuse and leave. Call me or text an SOS if you need it, like if you need me to ring with some fake emergency.’
‘I hope I won’t need that. Oh, Ash, I’m bloody terrified,’ I admitted.
‘You’ll be fine, have a glass of wine, relax, and if he’s worth his salt, he’ll take it slow. Does he know this is your first time?’
‘Yep.’ I squirmed, remembering the awkward exchange before he practically ran away.
‘Well then, I’m sure he’ll be the perfect gentleman.’
I changed the subject and asked if she remembered anyone called Karla Grant from the old days, but she said the name didn’t ring any bells.
‘Is something troubling you? You know you can tell me anything,’ Ashley said.
My heart swelled, as the years apart seemed to shrink. Ashley always knew when something was bothering me. ‘No, maybe, I d
on’t know. I need to check some things out first,’ I replied, not wanting to let on there was anything to worry about until I was certain.
We chatted for a few more minutes until she had to head off. I took a slow walk back to Bright’s, going around the back to the yard, where Barry stood beside his BMW, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he scrolled on his phone.
‘Watcha,’ he said, his brown leather jacket collar tugged up around his ears.
‘Hi,’ I replied, moving to join him until I finished my cigarette. It would be impolite not to and unfortunately it was important to keep Barry onside.
Being around him now made me uneasy, I was convinced him and Terry had a ruse going. Was it any surprise Terry was only too pleased to take Barry’s girls on when he could pay them minimum wage and exploit them for more than just financial gain? He had a hold on them as soon as they arrived. Since Barry had let slip Terry owed him money, it was clear Barry was doing all right out of the scheme. I could be barking up the wrong tree, but I doubted it.
‘When’s Karla’s last visit?’ I asked, remembering her mention she only had one left.
‘Next week, she’ll be signed off and someone else’s problem.’ Barry sighed.
‘Is she difficult?’ I asked.
‘Too smart for her own good that one. Any news on Terry? Seems to have gone quiet here?’
I nodded, thinking the same thing. Perhaps I could ask Dan about it tonight?
I went to flick my ash and Barry wrapped his fingers around my wrist, tiny red hairs visible on his knuckles. I tried to snatch it away, but he held firm.
‘You would tell me if you’d heard anything, wouldn’t you, Jess? I need to find out where Terry is.’
‘Get off me,’ I spat, wrenching my arm away, but Barry’s face darkened further.
He chuckled, taking a long drag of his cigarette, his eyes never leaving mine. ‘Don’t forget who I am to you.’
