by Susan Lewis
‘Not since I threw him out. Has he mentioned it at all?’
‘No, but I wouldn’t expect him to. Something’s up though, because he did one of his disappearing acts last night.’
Laurie’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Do you know where he went?’
‘Not a clue. He’s back now, but whether he’s managed to calm Andraya down yet is anyone’s guess. She’s convinced he was with you.’
Laurie sank down on the bed and tried to think. ‘Is he still going to New York?’ she said.
‘As far as I know. Put it this way, he hasn’t cancelled.’
‘Do you think he’s likely to?’
‘I’m afraid only he knows. I just thought you’d like to know that things might not be quite as rosy as they seem between those two.’
Though it was exactly what she wanted to hear Laurie suddenly felt very tired. ‘You know, right now I couldn’t care less what’s going on between them,’ she declared. ‘I’ve been too hurt, it’s too confusing, and I desperately want to make contact with Sherry.’
‘Then I hope she calls,’ Rachel said, and after wishing her a warm good night she rang off.
Though it was well after midnight by the time Laurie finally went to bed, there was still no call from Sherry, and when she tried again in the morning the answering machine was still on.
‘She’s been out all night,’ she told Rhona, when she called at seven to wake her up.
‘No, I heard her come in, around one. Sounded like she watched TV for a while, so she’s probably still asleep.’
‘Can you go and knock? Make sure she’s all right?’
A few minutes later Rhona was back on the line saying, ‘She’s fine. Apparently she went to some magazine party, and was too wired to sleep when she got home so she put on a video. She said to have a good trip and to forget everything here, it’s all in hand.’
‘Maybe I should just give her a quick call.’
‘Maybe you should just do as she says and have a good trip.’
As Laurie rang off she was picturing Sherry in her apartment, probably wrapped in her dressing gown and bleary-eyed from not enough sleep. What was she thinking, Laurie wondered. How was she feeling? Without speaking to her it was impossible to know, yet she didn’t imagine Sherry would confide in her anyway. She wanted to ask her about the women, if there had been any news, but even that was feeling like an intrusion now.
Hating what was happening, on every level, Laurie picked up her suitcase and began to struggle with it down the stairs. She desperately wanted to stay here and retake control of the programme, but she couldn’t think how to do it without offending Sherry, or disappointing Rhona. If only she didn’t have such a guilty conscience about Nick she was sure she’d know how to handle this, but right now it was clouding everything.
She had no idea how much Sherry knew, but the way she was ignoring her calls had to mean she knew something, so was it wise to leave her programme – or more importantly, the fate of those women – in the hands of someone who must hate her? Instinct was telling her she shouldn’t, but were her instincts to be trusted right now?
She didn’t seem able to think straight about anything, but at least she knew Rose was flying back on Friday, by which time the dreaded wedding day would be about to dawn and there was absolutely no way in the world Laurie wanted to be in London for that.
Though the time spent filming the women last night would remain forever in Sherry’s mind, and had upset her beyond anything she could ever have expected, this morning she was resolutely refusing to allow her emotions free rein on what she had seen. If she did, they would drag her into a quagmire of pity and confusion that simply wouldn’t help her now. She needed to stay aloof, completely detached from that nightmare prison on the upper floor of a derelict engine shed between the East London gas works and an abandoned rail depot.
The hysteria that had greeted them as they’d prised open the door had taken a while to calm down. Just thank God they had employed an interpreter who was blessed with a level head, or the entire mission would have been doomed. The woman with the camera meant them no harm, he’d rapidly, but soothingly explained, she wanted only to take pictures, then she would come back to set them free. Sherry wondered now if their terror of a camera was a cultural inheritance, or if they’d already been exploited that way? Maybe she should have asked the interpreter, but he’d had his work cut out reassuring them that she really would come back.
She knew now that there were ten women in there, most of them no more than twenty, if that, and one small child. Whether this was Daya’s daughter she had no idea, but it didn’t matter, she still had to be rescued, as did all the others. The young girl holding the child had begged her to take the child now, but Sherry had to refuse.
‘We will be back,’ she’d made the interpreter promise as they left.
‘When?’ the girl had wanted to know.
‘Soon. Very soon.’
One or two more nights surely wouldn’t make a difference when they’d already suffered so much.
Now, even though she couldn’t stop herself being haunted by those faces, or the unimaginable helplessness that afflicted them, she still wouldn’t allow herself to be turned from her goal. She needed to focus on the next step, which was to put the videotape she’d shot into an envelope, together with two typed pages detailing everything the police would need to know should anything go wrong.
That done, she sat down at her computer to type out a brief set of instructions for the lawyer, telling him that if more than seventy-two hours passed before she returned to collect the envelope, it should be opened and appropriate action taken.
After printing the letter out she glanced at her watch. Still only nine fifteen, so plenty of time to feed and water the plants before she dropped into the lawyer’s office on her way to Cinnabar Wharf, where hopefully Eddie Cribbs would be waiting.
‘If this is a joke, Perry, my son,’ Eddie Cribbs was saying into the phone, ‘I’m not laughing.’
‘I wish it was a joke,’ Perry responded. ‘But I’m afraid it’s not.’
Eddie took the drink Gentle George was handing him. ‘So what happened?’ he wanted to know. ‘How the fuck did the cops even know what plane the nonces was going to be on?’
‘We’re just starting to get wind of what they’re calling Operation Comet,’ Perry answered. ‘According to the first news broadcast, a couple of minutes ago, the police have been working on this for months. Whether it’s just us they’re focusing on, or if it’s part of something wider, we don’t know yet. All we do know right now is our clients were arrested the minute they set foot in the country.’
Eddie fixed George with his flinty eyes and spoke to both of them as he said, ‘I told you the kid should have been sent to Italy. It was a mistake letting them come here. Boy, was it a fucking mistake.’
‘We don’t know the damage yet,’ Perry said. ‘It could be they’ll keep their mouths shut and not let on where they were going. Or who they’ve been dealing with.’
‘Don’t be obtuse, Perry. The cops must already know that or the Eyeties wouldn’t have been arrested, would they?’
‘Not necessarily. If they knew, they’d have come here first.’
Spotting Cheryl putting her head round the bedroom door Eddie growled, ‘Get the fuck back in there until I tell you to come out.’ As she disappeared he said to Perry, ‘Talk to Karima. We’ve got to get those bimbos moved.’
‘To where?’ Perry asked.
‘How the fuck do I know? Just find somewhere.’
‘But, Eddie,’ Perry protested, ‘only one of the Italians actually knows where they are, and he’s not amongst those arrested. He’s being taken care of, even as we speak, so I say keep the women where they are. If we start moving them around now we’re going to end up with an even worse situation than we’ve already got.’
‘He’s right,’ George said, able to hear. ‘We got to keep cool. Don’t do anything now that might draw attention.’
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p; Eddie was glaring at him as he said to Perry, ‘They were paying me a hundred grand for those women, and twenty for the kid. Have we got any of it?’
‘No,’ Perry replied. ‘But we have to forget that now.’
Eddie’s face turned even darker. ‘I take it that website’s off the air,’ he growled.
‘Already done,’ Perry assured him.
Eddie sniffed and started to pace. ‘I don’t like it,’ he grumbled. ‘I don’t like it one bit. First we got this fucking reporter ringing up demanding to see me this morning, and now the Eyeties are arrested coming in through the airport. So what’s going on here, Perry, my son? Have we got someone grassing us up, because that’s how it’s fucking looking to me?’
‘I admit, it could be the case,’ Perry responded.
‘Well you better get on it, boy, or we’re all going on a journey we won’t want to be taking.’ He looked round as someone knocked on the door.
‘It’ll be Douglas with the cash you wanted,’ George reminded him.
‘Let him in,’ Eddie snarled, looking at his watch. ‘The reporter’s due in ten minutes, keep her waiting outside when she gets here, let her know I don’t appreciate being told what to do and where to be. Meantime,’ he continued to Perry, ‘fuck keeping those bimbos where they are. Put the emergency plan into operation right now. I don’t want any trace of any one of them left. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Crystal, Eddie,’ Perry assured him. ‘Absolutely crystal.’
A warm, welcome breeze was drifting aimlessly over the hillside, wandering like a tourist through the narrow cobbled lanes and quaint little archways, around the gleaming white houses with their red tiled roofs and clinging bougainvillea, moving up towards the rustic stone terrace of Rhona’s family villa, where she was lying alone, next to the pool. The view down to the azure bay, where luxury yachts, ferries and tour boats were gliding in and out of their moorings, was as spectacular as it was soothing. Inside the shady living room, however, where Laurie was framed in an open window with vivid flowers tumbling from a long, terracotta pot, neither the view nor the sluggish heat of the day were helping to ease her tension.
Her foot tapped impatiently as she waited for her call to go through. It was beautiful here, but torture, when she was feeling so wretched for walking out on her responsibilities and so desperate to know why Elliot had disappeared on Andraya two nights ago. Please God let there be a rift. Please, please, please God.
At last she heard a ringing tone at the other end of the line, followed, to her unutterable relief, by Stan’s gruff voice saying, ‘Yup!’
‘Stan! Thank goodness,’ she cried. ‘Where have you all been? What’s happening over there?’
‘Nothing special,’ he answered casually. ‘Why, what’s up?’
‘I’ve been trying to get hold of Sherry for days. Do you know where she is?’
‘Yeah, she’s gone to a meet with someone this morning, back around lunchtime, she said. I’ll get her to give you a call.’
‘What about the women? Have you made any progress? Do you need me over there? I should be there …’
‘What for? We got it all taken care of. No need for a panic.’
She took a breath. Was that how she sounded, in a panic? ‘Have you heard from Rose?’ she demanded.
‘Not yet. She’s not due back till tomorrow.’
‘So no delays?’
‘No delays.’
Laurie flinched as a cannon in the bay boomed.
‘Having a nice time over there, are you?’ Stan enquired.
‘Trying to,’ she answered. ‘Just finding it a bit difficult to switch off.’
‘Give it a few more days,’ he counselled. ‘Always takes a while to wind down, when you goes on holiday. We’ll keep you posted if we need to, but everything’s fine over here.’
‘OK,’ she said. ‘Thanks. And don’t forget to tell Sherry to call.’
After ringing off she wandered back out to the pool and went to perch on the low stone wall to gaze down over the jungle of wild shrubs and hibiscus that spread like a carpet between their villa and the one below. She could hear the sound of a donkey’s hooves approaching, the jangle of its bell and murmured song of its rider. A butterfly came to land on the valerian next to her, a gecko darted back from the edge of the pool.
‘Everything OK?’ Rhona asked, putting up a hand to shade her eyes.
‘I think so,’ Laurie answered, turning to her. ‘I spoke to Stan. He told me not to panic.’
Rhona laughed. ‘Then let’s hope you listen to him,’ she said, sitting up. ‘What time are Nick and his daughter coming?’
‘In about half an hour, which means we should think about getting dressed.’
‘If it weren’t for the daughter I’d stay like this,’ Rhona responded, admiring her own nudity. ‘But you look good in that bikini. Why cover it up?’
Casting her a wry look, Laurie lifted her legs and lay out along the wall. Talking to Stan had helped ease her conscience over the programme, at least to some degree, though it still hadn’t done much for how she felt about Sherry. Nor had it even begun to address what might be going on with Elliot and Andraya. However, there really wasn’t anything she could do about any of it right now, and with the sun feeling so good on her skin, and the prospect of a rift between Elliot and Andraya warming her heart, she decided to lie there just a little bit longer and try not to think about how disloyal she was being to Sherry for looking forward to Nick’s arrival.
Chapter Twenty-Three
SHERRY’S EYES FOLLOWED Eddie Cribbs’s to the bearded giant seated on the chair adjacent to his own. It was the man who’d checked her for recording devices when she’d arrived and kept her waiting downstairs for over ten minutes, though he hadn’t introduced himself, so she had no idea of his name. The same went for the sullen-faced individual in the corner, who was apparently paid to sit glowering in the background, like some token mute from a James Bond rip-off.
Likening this scene to a movie was working well for her, because certainly nothing about it seemed real. It could have been a scene from one of the bad – or even good – scripts that had come and gone from her father’s study over the years. The gangster boss and his henchmen, and the heroine fighting to save the helpless victims he had in captivity. However, the script was about to take a radical turn from the norm, and even now, as she sat here with it all running around in her mind, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d find the courage to go through with it.
As Cribbs’s eyes came back to hers her heart gave a thump of unease. She’d just told him the address of where the women were, and that she had video footage of them, taken last night, stamped with the date.
‘And you say this video is with a lawyer now?’ he said, linking his fingers.
She nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘So you brought me no proof of its existence?’
‘No. But I’ve just told you the address, so even if there weren’t a video, which there is, I clearly know where the women are.’ Telling him about the lawyer was, she hoped, her insurance for getting out of here.
His piercing eyes were fixing her so hard that after a while she felt herself starting to sweat. ‘All right,’ he said gruffly in the end, ‘so what’s the deal? You obviously want something from me, or you’d have gone straight to the police with what you’ve got.’
Not allowing herself even a moment’s hesitation, she said, ‘There’s someone …’ She cleared her throat. ‘There’s someone I’d like you to … get rid of.’
At that Cribbs’s left eyebrow rose. ‘And by get rid of, you mean what, exactly?’ he said.
Sherry’s insides were like water. Could she spell it out? Could she actually say the word that was buzzing wildly in her head now?
‘All right, I think we both know what you mean,’ Cribbs said, ‘so who is this someone?’
‘Her name is Laurie Forbes,’ she told him. ‘She’s a reporter.’
He nodded. ‘I know who she is.�
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‘She’s on Hydra at the moment,’ she added.
He turned to the man next to him. Neither of them spoke, but some kind of communication seemed to pass between them. In the silence that followed she could almost hear her heart banging against her ribs. ‘And here was me thinking,’ he said, sounding vaguely amused as he turned back, ‘that you and Laurie Forbes was friends. Or colleagues at the very least.’
She didn’t reply, merely stared at him with unblinking eyes.
Cribbs tilted his bulk forward and picked up his drink. ‘So she’s in a place called Hydra,’ he said. ‘Now where in the fuck is that, if you don’t mind me asking?’
Having to clear her throat again, she said, ‘It’s a Greek island. Roughly a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland.’
His fleshy bottom lip jutted forward. ‘As it so happens, we got a lot of friends in Greece, haven’t we, George?’ he said.
George nodded his bovine head.
‘I’m intrigued to know,’ Cribbs went on, settling himself more comfortably, ‘why a nice girl like you would be making such a request. Not that I’m saying we can’t help you, you understand, I’m just interested to know what’s behind it all.’
‘It’s personal,’ she answered, her breath so tight in her chest it was hard to speak.
‘Yeah, well, it usually is,’ he grunted. ‘But it’s OK, if you don’t want to tell us your reasons you don’t have to. What you do need to tell us though, is why we should trust you. I mean, we could do as you’re asking, and what’s to stop you going straight to the cops anyway?’
Though she was prepared for the question, her bravado was faltering badly. Even so, her voice sounded perfectly steady as she said, ‘You know where my mother is.’
‘Ah, yes, your cranky mother,’ he said. ‘I was momentarily forgetting. Bluebell. Wouldn’t want no harm to come to her, I suppose.’
Sherry shook her head.
‘And if you don’t get out of here, this lawyer you’ve left the tape with has instructions to open it?’
She nodded.
He mulled it over. ‘So,’ he said finally, ‘we do as you ask and pop off Laurie Forbes, you give us the videotape, then we all go merrily on our way and forget we ever knew anything about each other?’
