by Anna Smith
Rosie noted he said it tongue in cheek, as she shook both their hands. She felt as though she was nearly home.
He turned to Ismal.
‘Good to see you, Ismal, and Asima. Come in. Let’s get your man fixed up, and we can sit and you can tell me all about your drama.’ He walked ahead. ‘Bring him in. I have a room all set up.’
*
In the early morning, Gerry drove them to the airport in his Mercedes, and was waved through check-in all the way to final security. They got out and took their bags.
Ismal’s phone rang and he looked grim as he listened, then hung up.
‘There’s trouble. They know Laila is with us and they’re looking for Asima and me. They’ve been to our house.’
‘Jesus! What now?’ Rosie asked.
‘You can’t go back now, Ismal,’ Gerry said.
‘I know.’ Ismal looked resigned. ‘But I’ve left everything at my house. And what about the people at the camp . . . it’s leaving people short-staffed.’
‘Not your problem, you’ve done all you can. Time to go home now.’
‘We’ve no passports.’
‘Well, you’re with the British Embassy – we’ll sort that out for you. Give yourself a day or so, then we’ll get the paperwork done.’
Ismal turned to his wife.
‘We can’t go back, Asima.’
‘I know.’
‘Look,’ Gerry said. ‘Once we get the passports, then we’ll get a flight, and we’ll look after you. I honestly advise you not to go back up there and to get out of the country as soon as possible. Have you got money?’
‘Yes. I keep a UK bank account so I have access to money.’
‘Then you should leave. I can protect you while you’re here, but if you go back in, I can’t.’
Rosie, Matt, Omar and Laila said their goodbyes, hugging Ismal, then Asima, who was tearful. Rosie watched as they disappeared out of the airport. The four of them were on their own now. They approached final security and handed over their passports. The guard looked at all of them, then, when he came to Laila, went off to converse with two armed guards nearby. Rosie’s stomach hit the floor when she saw them making a phone call.
‘Oh shit, Matt! Something’s wrong,’ Rosie said.
‘Don’t let them take me, Rosie.’ Laila grabbed her arm.
‘Sssh. Just stay calm. Nobody’s going to take you.’ She tried to convince herself that what she’d said was true.
‘I’ll offer them money,’ Omar said. ‘That’s what they’re after. It’s all corruption.’ He went into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of twenty-dollar bills as the uniformed guard came across to them.
Omar turned his back and showed them the tip of the notes in his hand. The big guard shrugged and slowly nodded. Omar handed him the wad of dollars, and he went across to the desk. The guard waved them over and handed them their passports, then jerked his head dismissively towards the departure gate. They pushed through the barrier and walked briskly. Rosie wanted to break into a run. They were safe. The notice board showed the British Airways flight to Heathrow was boarding in half an hour.
‘Coffee, anyone?’ Rosie said.
‘Is it too early for a drink?’ Matt asked as he hugged Rosie and Laila.
Chapter Twenty
Nikki was only half listening to Julie explaining all the details to her. It was a bit like a sales pitch, and not unlike the one her best friend made to her a few weeks ago, when she’d convinced her she could earn a few extra quid a week as an escort. Look where that had got her, she thought, glancing down at the bandaged stump. Since they’d taken her off the morphine, Nikki was swiftly discovering why half the country was hooked on heroin. With the morphine drip, even though she’d been aware of how much shit she was in, there was a euphoric sense that she was hovering somewhere above it all, and that this was really happening to someone else. The stump was always a stiff reminder, but when they’d changed her bandages every couple of days, and the surgeon had inspected her, declaring how fast she was healing, Nikki had always managed to summon a grateful smile. At least she was alive. But the last couple of days, she’d been feeling wiped out, depressed and had hardly slept. She was still on strong painkillers, but they were nothing like the warm blanket of morphine, which had soothed away all her pain, inside and out.
‘Nikki, you’re not listening to me.’ Julie sipped tea from a polystyrene cup.
‘I am,’ Nikki protested, propping herself up and picking up the cup from her bedside table. ‘I’m just a bit out of it the last day or so. That morphine is the business. Makes everything a bit easier.’
‘Aye,’ Julie said. ‘Plenty will testify to that.’ She pulled her chair forward. ‘But, listen, now that we know for sure what we’ve got on our hands . . .’ She paused, biting her lip.
‘Hands?’ Nikki snorted. ‘Aye, nice one, Julie, just don’t expect me to applaud your patter.’
‘Sorry, pal. You know what I mean, the rough diamonds. I went to the Mitchell Library and had a look at a book on diamonds from all over the world to see what they look like. Apparently it all depends on the colour of them. White, brownish, etc.’
‘Yeah? So what does it mean?’
‘Well, white ones are the most valuable. They’re the ones that, once a diamond expert polishes them down and cuts them, are likely to have a decent carat or two in them. Brownish ones aren’t so valuable, but still worth money.’
‘So, the ones in the pouch . . .’ Nikki screwed up her eyes, trying to remember. ‘I can’t even think straight. What colour were they?’
‘White.’ Julie’s eyes lit up. ‘The most valuable.’
Nikki gave a soft whistle.
‘Christ! There were two pouches and quite a lot of them, were there not?’
‘Yep. Plenty. Enough to know we’d never be poor again.’
‘Yeah, but you’re forgetting one thing, Julie. They’re not actually ours, and I have this to prove it.’ She held up her injured arm. ‘How am I going to live my life like this? I haven’t even thought about that.’
‘I know, pal. I know. But we can work this through in time. We just have to lie low, as long as possible, and, don’t worry, there’s enough money in the case to keep us for a while, until the time is right. Then maybe we can start looking for a diamond dealer.’
Nikki sighed.
‘Yeah. It all sounds great, Julie. But I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to get away with this . . . if it will ever die down. Especially now you’re saying we’ve got really valuable stones. These guys will stop at nothing.’
‘We’ll just take our time. The ward sister told me when I came in earlier that you could be out of here in a couple of days, so we need to work on a plan. The cops haven’t been around for a few days, so I reckon we just blow town when you get sprung from here.’
Nikki nodded slowly, trying to get her head around the next twenty-four hours, never mind the rest of her life, with a disability, on the run with someone else’s diamonds.
Suddenly, Nikki saw the colour drain from Julie’s face as she turned her head towards the corridor. She let out a gasp as she saw big Gordy walking towards the open door, with Paul behind him.
‘Fuck me!’ Julie whispered. ‘What the fuck?’
‘Oh Christ, Julie. Will I press my alarm?’
‘No,’ Julie said quickly. ‘Do nothing. He won’t do any shit in here. Let’s just calm down, let me deal with it.’
Big Gordy’s burly frame filled the doorway, and he stood for a few seconds and looked at Julie, then at Nikki, his eyes wandering down to her stump. He said nothing, and Nikki could see he was lost for words. He looked different from the last time she saw him in his office. Less threatening.
‘Nikki.’ He took a step inside, his face full of sympathy. ‘Listen, darlin’, I’m sorry this had to happen. Are you alright?’
Julie leapt to her feet.
‘Is she alright? Are you having a fucking laugh, you big prick?’ She stood, hands o
n hips, face ashen. ‘Look at her. She’s lying there with half her arm off, and you’re asking her is she alright! After you set her up, you useless fuck of a man! Is she alright? What do you think, you cunt?’
Nikki was aghast at Julie’s outburst. She knew she had a temper and could always fight her corner. But this was big Gordy MacLean she was ripping apart. Julie’s lip twitched a little as Gordy stood there, looking too stunned to speak.
After a few beats, he stretched out his hands in a pleading gesture.
‘Listen. Just give me a minute. Let me talk.’
‘I can call the fucking cops right now, and you can talk all you like to them,’ Julie spat, prowling the length of Nikki’s bed, her face set in anger.
Gordy’s lips curled a little and Nikki saw the expression of the ruthless bastard she knew he was.
‘Well, why haven’t you, Julie? Why have the cops not been to accuse me of setting this up? Eh?’ He stepped towards her and leaned in, rasping in a loud whisper, ‘Listen, you fucking tart. You are up to your arse in this. Both of you. Now, I’ve come here to try to make the peace, because the fact is, I’m the only one who can get you out of this. And you’d better believe that.’
‘It’s a bit fucking late,’ Nikki said, holding her arm up, suddenly feeling Julie’s bravery rubbing off on her.
‘Look, Nikki.’ He turned to her. ‘That was a total mistake. Honest to Christ! I didn’t know that was going to happen to you. I know I’m a cunt, but I had no idea they were going to do that to you.’
‘So you did set her up, you arsehole?’ Julie interrupted.
‘Look, I was told she was going to get a bit of a slap, roughed up. A wee frightener. It was something that came from one of the big guys down south. The suitcase belongs to them. The Paki guy who died was only delivering it. He smuggled it in, I told you that before.’
‘So you allowed some bastard you don’t even know to come up here and do Nikki over? So much for Mr Big Baws.’
‘It wasn’t supposed to have been like that. I’ve already made my feelings clear to the big man down south . . . believe me.’
‘Aw, cheers for that, Gordy. I’m well moved that you stood up for me.’ Nikki shook her head. ‘Because what the fuck am I going to do for the rest of my life now that I’m disabled? Can you maybe give me a wee job at the tills, or something in the club? I won’t be much use as a hooker with one hand.’
Silence fell over them. Nikki watched as Gordy shifted from one foot to the other, surprised at his awkwardness.
‘And what’s he doing here?’ Nikki jerked her head towards Paul, standing sheepishly behind him.
‘He was staking the place out for me. Waiting for Julie to arrive. He’s been here two days.’ He paused. ‘Look. Just give me a minute. I want to explain something to you. Plant a wee idea in your head. As I say, you’re both in the shit. I know, and you know, that you’ve got that case, so this is not going to go away. They were up here the other day and they’re going apeshit about it. So, just hear me out.’
Another silence. Nikki and Julie exchanged a long look, and she knew that between them right now they had two options. One was to go to the cops and spill everything and the other was to listen.
‘Get that ratbag out of here.’ Julie gestured towards Paul.
Gordy turned a little, but didn’t look directly at Paul.
‘Blow,’ he said.
Paul backed out of the room, catching Nikki’s eye as he scurried away along the corridor.
‘Right.’ Gordy turned to Julie. ‘Sit down a minute.’
He pulled a plastic tubular chair from the stack in the corner and sat down. Nikki shifted her body a little in the bed, pulling the sheet over her pyjamas.
They sat in silence for a few seconds, then Gordy took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
‘It’s all about the diamonds.’ He paused for effect, giving both of them a long, slow look. ‘I assume by now you’ve been inside the case and you’ve seen all the shit in there. I know there was a lot of money, but nobody gives a shite about that. And passports. But it’s the rough diamonds they want. Did you know that’s what they were?’
Julie said nothing and glanced at Nikki, who could feel her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth with nerves. She wanted to reach over to the bedside locker and pick up the cup, but her hand was trembling. She pushed her arm under the sheets in case Gordy could see. Julie’s face was blank.
‘Julie. I know you, pal. Don’t tell me you haven’t opened the case.’
‘I’m not your fucking pal, and you don’t know me. So let’s get that straight.’
‘Okay. Have you seen the diamonds?’
Julie glanced at Nikki, and nobody spoke for so long she thought she was going to explode.
‘Gordy, what’s your game here? I mean, are you suddenly riding in here on a white horse like a knight in shining armour, saving these two poor birds? What’s the game? Get to the point, and get to it quick, or I’m going to ring for the nurse and it’s game over for you.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘And if you know me, then you know I’m fucking serious, you prick.’
Nikki bit her lip, terrified at the way Julie was speaking to Gordy. There would be payback for this, one way or another, because he was sat there getting his arse kicked by one of his tarts. Beads of sweat broke out on his top lip. Nikki wished she still had the morphine to take the edge off this.
‘Right. Here’s the story. I got a visit from Johnny Vanner. You don’t need to know who he is—’
‘I know who he is,’ Julie snapped.
‘Fine. Then you’ll know how much of a big player he is. He comes up with some Paki bastard on the rampage because the case with his diamonds has disappeared, and the guy who was delivering them can’t tell him anything because he’s fucking lying in the mortuary.’ He turned to Nikki. ‘And believe me, I gave that Paki cunt pelters for what happened to you. I was going to cut the bastard’s throat, and I might still do it. In fact, Johnny had to haul me off him. I went for him. Honestly, Nikki, I didn’t know they were going to hurt you like this.’
‘Aw, give me a fucking violin. I’m tearing up here,’ Julie interrupted. ‘Get to the point.’
‘They’re desperate to get the diamonds. They’re putting so much pressure on me to find them.’
‘So what did you tell them?’
‘I told them I was all over it. I’d find you. I’d get the diamonds back to them.’
‘Oh. Just like that, Columbo.’
‘I’ve got a deal to put to you.’
Julie looked at Nikki and said nothing. The air was thick with tension.
‘We’re all ears.’
‘I can protect you. You’ve got two pouches of rough diamonds that you’ll never in a fucking month of Sundays be able to shift. Not tomorrow, not next year, or in the next five years. You’re way out of your depth, and you don’t know who you’re dealing with. I can fix this for you. I can look after you. If I’ve got the diamonds, I can work it all out and we can split things three ways. I know a good fence in the town. Known him for years. An old pal of my da.’ He turned to Nikki. ‘No way in the world am I going to give them back the diamonds after what they did to you, Nikki. Listen. I know you hate me right now, but trust me on this one thing. I fucking despise them for doing that to you, and I’m going to make them pay. Because I can make them pay. They’ll pay for it with their diamonds. Call it compensation or whatever the fuck you want. But you deserve it. Fuck them, I mean that. You have to trust me.’
They sat in silence. Then Julie spoke.
‘And we’re supposed to trust you, Gordy. Just like that. Because you’re suddenly the straight guy? You couldn’t lie straight in bed, you prick.’
Gordy put his hands up.
‘I know what you’re saying. Listen, Julie. I deserve a shed-load of shit dumped on me for not seeing what these bastards were capable of, but I honestly didn’t expect it. Chopping women up isn’t what I do. It’s against everything I am. Just let
me make it right for you. I can fix this. Please, just trust me. Because, believe me, you don’t have a lot of options right now.’
‘Like you give a fuck!’ Julie spat. ‘Don’t give us any of your shit, Gordy. You’re not doing this because you care. You didn’t come here to help us out. You came here because you think we’ve got diamonds and you want to fuck your pals over down south and get your grubby paws on the money. At least don’t treat us like fucking halfwits.’
‘Okay. The money is part of it, I’ll admit that.’
‘So how do you propose to fuck these guys over? If they came up here and told you to hunt us down, what are you going to tell them?’
‘I’ll work that out. I’ll give you money and you can set yourselves up somewhere out of the way, where nobody will find you. We’ll keep in touch, and once it’s all settled down we can get the diamonds moved on. I’ll take care of that.’
‘Oh, so you mean like a life insurance or something. Like a policy that will come good in a few years. We hand you the diamonds – if indeed we have the diamonds – and hope for the best? It’s not as if we can go to a lawyer and make it legal, is it?’
‘I hear what you’re saying.’
‘So it’s all on trust?’
How could they trust him? It was like walking out of the lions’ den and stumbling into a nest of vipers. But right now, she knew he was right. They were running out of options.
They sat in silence. Nikki could tell by the expression on Julie’s face that she felt the same way.
‘Right, Gordy. Disappear for ten minutes till we have a talk. Go.’ She stood up.
Gordy stood up, and gave Nikki what looked like a pleading look as he left.
Chapter Twenty-One
Rosie watched, delighted and perplexed at the same time, as Laila began running as soon as she spotted her mother and sister among the crowd at the arrivals hall in Glasgow Airport. So much for her instructions to stick together in case any of the story had leaked out and there was a media scrum. Matt sprinted after her, determined to get the reunion pictures that would make a historic splash and spread for the Post. Omar had told Rosie it was best if he walked off the flight on his own and disappeared into the crowd. He didn’t want to run the risk of being spotted with a reporter, or with Laila, by one of his own. That way, he could pick up all the inside information discreetly. There would be some ructions in the Asian community once Rosie’s story hit the front page, and it would be best if Omar was able to quietly keep his ear to the ground.
