Cold and hungry, she peered out through the broken window to make sure that no one was nearby, then climbed out and, hood pulled low, set off for her mum and dad’s house. It had been months since she had seen them, and she doubted she’d get a rapturous welcome because her mum had made it quite clear at the custody-court hearing that she blamed Amy for losing the kids. But if they realised that she was clean of the drugs now and desperate to make amends, they might find it in their hearts to help her.
Please God.
An alarm was going off in the distance when Amy turned the corner onto her parents’ road, and she hesitated when she saw a police car parked across from their house. For a moment, she thought that Kelvin’s sister had reported her for knowing who had shot Kelvin. But she reminded herself that, apart from Yates, none of the people she’d met since this nightmare began knew her maiden name, much less her mum and dad’s address.
Reassured, she put her head down and walked quickly down the road. But just as she was passing the next-door neighbour’s gate, the front door opened and Phil Nolan stepped out. He spotted her and said something to the policeman who was right behind him, and Amy squeezed her eyes shut when the copper called, ‘Just a minute, miss. Can I have a word?’
Her first instinct was to run, but she knew she’d stand no chance of getting away. So she turned and gave him a questioning smile. ‘Yes?’
‘I believe this is your mum and dad’s place?’ the officer asked, nodding towards the house. ‘Don’t suppose you’ve got a key?’
Amy shook her head. ‘No, sorry, I haven’t lived here for years. Why, what’s up?’
‘That!’ Phil pointed at the flashing alarm box on the wall. ‘It’s been going off all flaming morning, but this lot reckon it’s got to have been going off for twenty-four hours before they can authorise entry.’
Amy stared at the box. She hadn’t realised that the alarm was coming from her parents’ house until now, and she felt her stomach flip with dread. ‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘Where are they?’
‘Oh, don’t worry about them,’ Phil said with a scathing edge to his voice. ‘They’re off on their jollies in Torquay, them. Won’t be back till Wednesday.’
‘Oh.’ Amy’s heart sank.
‘Sorry.’ The officer gave Phil an apologetic shrug. ‘Nothing else I can do.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Phil sighed. ‘Thanks for coming, anyway, son.’
He waved the officer off, then turned back to Amy and gave her an exasperated look. ‘I could bloody throttle your mam and dad. I’ve been trying to ring them all morning to see if they’ve left a spare key anywhere, but it keeps going to voicemail. It’s driving me and Fran round the flaming bend.’
‘Do you know what set it off?’
‘Yeah, some little bastard tried to jemmy the back window this morning. I heard it and called the cops, but the bugger legged it when he heard the sirens. That’s what you get for blabbing your business to all and sundry. I told your mam. I said, if you advertise that your house is going to be empty, you’re asking to be burgled. But she just had to let everyone know they could afford a nice holiday.’
Amy couldn’t argue with that. That was her mum all over: always showing off, always bragging.
‘Oh, well.’ Phil shrugged in a gesture of defeat. ‘Nowt I can do about it, so I suppose I’ll just have to keep the telly turned up to drown it out. Bye, love.’
Amy bit her lip when he turned to go back into his house. Then, blushing deeply, she called, ‘Phil . . . you couldn’t lend us a couple of quid, could you? My money hasn’t gone in yet, and I’ve got an interview in town. I’m going to be late if I don’t go now.’
Phil sighed, reached into his pocket and tossed her a fiver.
‘Thanks,’ she murmured shamefacedly. ‘I’ll drop it round later.’
‘Forget it,’ he said, pushing his door open. ‘I’ll get it off your dad when he comes back – along with compo for putting up with this flaming racket.’
When he’d gone inside, Amy shoved the money into her pocket and walked away quickly. Phil hadn’t given her a description of the man he’d seen trying to break in, but she would bet her life that it was Yates. In which case, the police obviously hadn’t connected him to Kelvin’s shooting, and he was still free to hunt her down – so she was still in serious danger.
She stopped at a shop and bought an Evening News, some cigarettes and matches, and a couple of packets of crisps. Then, using her last fifty pence, she called the hospital. But they wouldn’t tell her anything, so she went back to the gatehouse and scoured the paper for news of Kelvin.
There was no mention of the shooting at all, and she hoped that meant he was still alive. She wished she could see him, to thank him for everything he’d done – and apologise for the trouble she’d brought to his door. But she decided that the best thing she could do for him now was leave him well alone.
32
Too scared to go out into the open again, Amy hid in the gatehouse for the next three days. She had intended to stay there until Wednesday, and then sneak out and make a reverse-charge call to her mum and dad. But by Saturday she felt so weak and sick that she was afraid she might die if she didn’t get out of there.
The crisps were long gone by then, and her stomach was growling continuously. There had been plenty of times in the past when she’d gone without food so the kids could eat, so she wasn’t bothered about that. It was the lack of sleep she couldn’t handle. And only one thing would help: heroin.
She tried to resist, but the craving took hold and before she knew it she had climbed out of the window and walked into town. Sick to her stomach at the thought of what she was about to do, she stood on the corner of a dark backstreet and waited. Less than ten minutes later a car pulled alongside her. A vision of Kelvin’s smiling face flashed into her mind as she climbed into the passenger side and her heart wept, because she knew how disappointed he would be if he could see her. But she pushed the thought aside, telling herself that he couldn’t see her – and never would again.
The punter drove her to a parking lot at the rear of a derelict factory on the outskirts of Ancoats. He switched off the engine, lowered his seat, unzipped his fly and lay back with his arms behind his head.
‘Start with a hand job and a quick suck, then get on top. I’ll give you fifty for the lot.’
Amy swallowed sickly. His penis was already erect, and it would be so easy to just do it and get it over with. But her hand refused to move. She’d done this a thousand times before, but never when she was straight, and never of her own free will.
‘I’m sorry,’ she cried, scrambling to open the door.
‘What you playing at?’ The punter jerked up in his seat.
‘I can’t do it,’ Amy told him tearfully. ‘I thought I could, but I can’t. I’m really sorry. Please let me out.’
The man raised his hands into the air, and Amy winced, sure that he was going to hit her. But he just slapped his fists down on his thighs, and then zipped his fly back up before releasing the central locking.
‘Get out. But don’t let me see you out there again, or I won’t be so fuckin’ nice next time.’
Muttering, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t,’ Amy jumped out and ran.
Stopping when she reached town, she swiped at her tears and gazed at a tramp sitting in a doorway up ahead, swigging from a bottle of cider. There was a paper cup on the floor in front of him, and it gave her an idea. If she couldn’t get money the other way, she would beg instead.
She walked further into town, to a street that was busy with nightclubs, and stood in the shadows of a doorway. Before too long, a couple came around the corner. They were sharing a bag of chips and her stomach growled when the scent of hot vinegar reached her.
‘Excuse me . . .’ She stepped out as they passed. ‘You couldn’t spare a bit of change, could you?’
‘Fuck off!’ The man glared at her with disgust in his eyes.
‘Aw, don’t be mean, she’s o
nly a kid,’ the woman scolded, reaching into her jacket pocket. ‘Here you go, sweetheart. Don’t spend it all at once.’
Pride almost made Amy refuse the pound coin, but she took it and mumbled ‘Thank you’ before rushing away.
Absolutely mortified at having been forced to sink so low, she rushed around the corner. But her shame quickly turned to fear when a group of singing women stumbled out of a karaoke bar and started walking towards her arm in arm. The one in the middle stopped singing when their stares met, and then she stopped walking, too.
‘Come on.’ One of the others tugged on her arm. ‘I need a kebab.’
‘You go,’ Marnie said quietly. ‘I’ll catch up with you in a minute.’
When her friends staggered away, she stuffed her hands into her pockets and gave Amy an uncertain smile. ‘All right?’
Shaking like a leaf, her gaze flicking every which way in dread of Yates being close behind, Amy said, ‘Yeah. You?’
‘Not bad.’ Marnie gave a little shrug.
Neither of them spoke again for a few seconds, and Marnie felt awkward. They had fallen out way before she stole Lenny off Amy, and she’d convinced herself that she had done nothing wrong. But now, face to face with the girl who had once been her closest friend, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
‘You know I never meant to hurt you, don’t you?’ she said quietly. ‘Me and Lenny . . .’ She paused and sighed before continuing. ‘Well, you can’t help who you fall in love with, can you?’
‘Love?’ Amy nearly choked on the word. ‘You think he loves you?’
‘I know it’s been hard for you,’ Marnie went on. ‘But you’ve got to admit that you and Lenny weren’t right for each other. It’s different with me, we understand each other. And we’re going to be a family now,’ she added proudly, ‘so I hope you can let it go and get on with your own life.’
Amy’s gaze dropped to Marnie’s stomach and she felt sick all over again when she saw the bump. ‘Oh, God,’ she moaned. ‘Not with him . . . please not with him.’
‘Oi, Marn, what’s taking you?’ one of the women from the group called out before Marnie could answer. ‘We’ve got a cab!’
Marnie looked at Amy with pain in her eyes. Things had been pretty toxic between them towards the end, but that didn’t mean she hated her or wished her ill.
‘Oh, Amy, why are you doing this to yourself?’ she asked. ‘You look terrible.’
Amy’s eyes immediately started to smart, but she determinedly held back the tears. She wanted to warn Marnie that Lenny was dangerous, and that one day he would hurt her just like he’d hurt Amy. But she’d tried that once before and Marnie hadn’t believed her. So she raised her chin, and said, ‘I’m fine – don’t worry about me.’
Marnie didn’t believe that for one second, but there wasn’t much she could do or say. Lenny had already tried to help, only for Amy to throw his efforts right back in his face. She didn’t want Amy to think that she was offering the hand of friendship and risk the girl turning up at the house and messing up her and Lenny’s new life, but she couldn’t walk away without doing something.
‘Look, I know I probably shouldn’t do this,’ she blurted out. ‘But here . . .’ She pulled a twenty-pound note out of her pocket and shoved it into Amy’s hand. ‘Get yourself something to eat, you look half starved.’
‘I don’t want your money,’ Amy protested, offering it back.
But Marnie stepped out of reach and scuttled away with her head down. Sighing, Amy pocketed the money and walked in the opposite direction.
A few streets on, she ran into another group of women. But this time they were street girls, and they weren’t about to let her pass through their territory without a fight.
‘Oi, Blondie, fuck off while you can still walk,’ one of them warned, stepping in front of her and pushing her hard in the chest.
‘I’m not working,’ Amy told her, wincing when her head hit the wall. ‘I’m just trying to go home.’
‘Find another way,’ spat the woman, pushing her again. ‘This is our street, and we say who gets to walk on it. Now do one before I glass you.’
Terrified when the woman snatched an empty beer bottle up off a step and smashed it against the wall, Amy put her hands out in front of her and took a staggering step back.
‘Please don’t,’ she cried. ‘I’m going.’
‘Put that fuckin’ bottle down before I stuff it right up you!’ another voice suddenly barked. ‘She’s me mate, and if anyone touches her they’re dead.’
Amy almost fainted with relief when Ella pushed her way through the group and stood in front of her to shield her.
‘Thanks,’ she gasped when the girls backed away. ‘I thought she was going to kill me.’
‘Probably would have, knowing her,’ said Ella, still eyeing the group. ‘What you doing round here, anyhow? Thought you were too good to work the streets?’
‘I needed some money,’ Amy admitted.
‘Rattling?’ Ella gave her a knowing look.
Amy nodded and dipped her gaze, thoroughly ashamed of herself.
‘Yeah, I can tell,’ said Ella. ‘You look fucked. How long since you had a fix?’
‘A few weeks,’ Amy told her miserably.
‘Yeah, right.’ Ella gave a disbelieving snort. ‘Been locked up, have you?’ she added, that being the only reason that she had ever gone without for any length of time.
‘No, I stopped using,’ Amy told her. ‘But things haven’t been going too well, so I thought I’d get a little bit to tide me over.’ She paused and licked her lips. ‘Don’t suppose you’ve got any, have you? I’ve got money.’ She held up the twenty-pound note that Marnie had given her.
‘Not on me, no. But I can easy get some. Might take a bit of time to find my guy, though. Where you going? I’ll drop it off.’
‘Can’t I come with you?’ Amy asked. ‘Only I’m not really staying anywhere just now.’
‘What d’ya mean?’ Ella frowned. ‘You’re not sleeping rough, are you?’
Amy nodded and wiped her nose on her sleeve. ‘Look, can you get it for me, or not? Only I don’t really want to be out in the open just now.’
‘Yeah, course.’ Ella snatched the money out of her hand. Then, pursing her lips thoughtfully, she said, ‘Why don’t you come back to my place? I’ve only got one bed, but you can kip on the couch.’
‘Really?’ Amy’s eyes widened. It hadn’t even occurred to her to ask, but it would be the perfect solution while she sorted herself out. ‘God, that’d be great. I’ll need to go and get my bag, but it’ll only take twenty minutes.’
‘Where is it?’
‘In the old house in Alex Park,’ Amy told her, relief loosening her tongue. ‘I’ve been sleeping in there for the last few days.’
‘Tell you what, you go and get it while I find my guy,’ Ella suggested. ‘I’ll meet you at the back gate in half an hour and we can catch the bus on Prinny Parkway.’
Amy nodded. Then, lurching forward, she gave Ella an impulsive hug. ‘Thank you so much!’
‘Leave it out.’ Ella shoved her off. ‘I might have turned the odd trick with a bird in the past, but that don’t mean I’m into pussy.’
Sure that she was joking, Amy grinned and walked away backwards, saying, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t try and jump into bed with you. See you in a bit.’
Happier than she’d been in days, she turned and rushed off to pick up her stuff. Ella was the only friend she had in the world right now, and she couldn’t believe her luck at having bumped into her.
Ella was thinking much the same thing as she watched Amy go. When Mani had decided to temporarily close Hawaii after Kelvin got shot, she’d had no choice but to start working the streets again, and she hated it with a passion. Hated being out in the cold, hated having to stand around for hours on end, and especially hated the freaky bastard punters, because they were a different breed from the soft touches who frequented Hawaii. Brothel punters asked for wha
t they wanted rather than demanded it, because they were on the girls’ territory with a security guard to keep them in line. But when a girl got into a punter’s car she never knew if she was going to get out alive – or even if the freak would pay up when he’d had what he wanted.
Ella, like a lot of the girls, had a habit to feed, so she was forced to take the risk. But there were plenty of ways to earn cash if you had a bit of savvy about you – you just had to have the right merchandise to sell. And, as luck would have it, a valuable piece of merchandise had just landed right in her lap.
Smiling slyly now, she pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and dialled a number.
‘This is Ella from Mani’s place,’ she said when her call was answered. ‘Remember that little chat we had when you came in a while back? Well, I’ve found what you’re looking for. And if the price is right, I can tell you exactly where she’s going right now . . .’
Amy was out of breath by the time she reached Alexandra Park fifteen minutes later. She was shaking all over, her legs were aching, and her head was pounding. But the thought of sleeping on Ella’s couch, having a cup of tea and her first hit in weeks, gave her the strength to pull herself through the gatehouse’s broken window and up the rickety stairs to the bedroom where she’d been sleeping.
She pulled her bag out of the cupboard where she’d stashed it, then looked around to make sure that she hadn’t left anything before running back down the stairs. But just as she had climbed back out and was making her way to the gate to wait for Ella, a car turned onto the road, and her legs almost gave way when it screeched to a halt.
Unable to go forwards or backwards, Amy dived sideways into a clump of bushes and watched in terror as Yates climbed out of the passenger side, followed by Keith when he got out from behind the wheel.
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