‘No, you owe it to my boyfriend,’ Chrissie reminded her sharply. ‘Which makes it just as much mine as his.’
‘Boyfriend?’ Tasha repeated scathingly. ‘He doesn’t care about you.’
‘I’d be careful what I was saying if I was you,’ Chrissie warned her. ‘He’s on his way back, don’t forget.’
‘Liar!’ Tasha said defiantly. ‘Do you think we can’t hear you through the wall, you stupid bitch? Just as you can hear us, we hear every word you say to each other. So we know that he’s gone out, and that he wouldn’t tell you when he was coming back. That’s how much he thinks of you!’
Chrissie’s face was scarlet, she felt sick, and her heart was pounding in her chest. ‘You’d best shut your mouth,’ she warned.
‘Or what?’ Tasha repeated. ‘Come on, then. Don’t just threaten me. If you want to do it, do it!’
Elena had been watching all of this in a state of absolute disbelief. Much as they had all dreamed of speaking their minds to their captors, none of them would ever have dared to actually do it.
‘Enough, Tasha,’ she said firmly.
‘Shut up, you coward,’ Tasha sneered, her gaze still riveted to Chrissie’s face. ‘Why don’t you ask your so-called boyfriend about the woman he was screwing in your bed while you were out last week?’ she said.
‘Tasha!’ Elena barked. ‘I said enough!’ Then, reverting to their own language, she scolded her for going too far, reminding her that they weren’t the only ones who would suffer for it.
‘I don’t care,’ Tasha retorted coldly. ‘She makes me sick, and she needs to know that she is not so special.’
‘Stop talking like that just because you know I can’t understand you,’ Chrissie ordered.
‘Why?’ Tasha rounded on her again. ‘Are we being rude? Does it make you feel uncomfortable to know that we can say whatever we like about you? That we can call you names, and tell each other how much we hate you?’
‘I don’t give a toss what you think of me,’ Chrissie told her angrily. ‘I just want to hear about this woman you supposedly saw with my Eddie. Which would be a hell of an achievement, considering you’re locked in here and can’t see anything, don’t you think?’
‘You are so stupid,’ Tasha snorted. ‘I’ve just told you we can hear everything.’
‘And precisely what did you hear?’ Chrissie demanded, her instincts telling her that the bitch might actually be telling the truth.
‘Tasha, please,’ Katya implored. They had all heard Eddie arguing with a woman last week but none of them had paid any attention because they were so used to hearing him and Chrissie bickering. But Tasha had listened through the wall, and now they knew what she had heard – and what the fallout from telling Chrissie was likely to be.
Ignoring Katya, Tasha gave Chrissie a strange smile. ‘You’d really like to know? Okay, I’ll tell you. She was angry with him for not taking care of her and their baby, like he’d promised he would.’
‘Now I know you’re lying,’ Chrissie said triumphantly. ‘He hasn’t got any kids.’
‘Is that what he told you?’ Tasha smirked. ‘And, like a fool, you believed him? It seems that we know more about your man than you do.’
‘You know nothing,’ Chrissie snarled, touching her stomach reflexively.
Tasha saw the gesture and narrowed her eyes. ‘Ah, you thought that you were the first,’ she ventured. ‘You thought that your baby would be his first child. And I bet you even thought it would make him love you!’
She was hitting the nails so firmly on the head that Chrissie’s legs began to wobble and she thought she might actually faint.
‘You’re even more stupid than I thought you were,’ Tasha went on. ‘His other woman has his child, and she looks after his money, his drugs, and his gun. But you still think he’s your boyfriend?’
‘You’re a liar,’ Chrissie hissed. But she knew even as she said it that the only liar was Eddie, because the girl couldn’t possibly know that he stashed all those things elsewhere unless she had really heard what she’d claimed to have heard.
‘And you’re an idiot,’ Tasha retorted gleefully. ‘Is it any wonder he’d rather have a junkie looking after his business than a useless tramp like you? Or should that be trashy tramp?’ she added pointedly, letting Chrissie know that she’d even heard that. ‘I wouldn’t worry too much, though,’ she went on. ‘It didn’t sound as if he thinks any more highly of her than he does of you, so it shouldn’t be too long before he turns his back on her. And when he does, I will be there to step into the shoes of both of you.’
Elena and Katya exchanged stupefied glances. ‘She’s gone crazy,’ Elena murmured. ‘It’s the only explanation.’
‘Why am I crazy?’ Tasha demanded. ‘We all know I’m his favourite. He could have any of you any time he wants, but he always chooses me.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Chrissie asked, her voice as weak now as her legs already felt.
‘What do you think I’m talking about?’ Tasha sneered. ‘Sex, of course.’
‘You’re lying,’ Chrissie mumbled. But one glance at the other girls’ faces told her that she wasn’t. Her mouth dried up. Licking her lips, she looked at Katya. ‘How . . . how long?’
‘From the start,’ Katya admitted guiltily, feeling sorry for her because she obviously hadn’t known any of this.
‘All of you?’ Chrissie asked. She didn’t want to hear the answer, but she had to know the truth.
Blushing, Katya nodded and lowered her head in shame.
‘Get out,’ Chrissie said, finding it hard to breathe now. ‘All of you,’ she insisted, gritting her teeth and looking around at them. ‘Get out of my flat – NOW!’
‘Suits me,’ Tasha said, tossing her hair back and heading for the door.
‘Oh no you don’t!’ Elena yelled, rushing after her and dragging her back. ‘None of us is going anywhere!’
‘Get your fucking hands off me!’ Tasha bellowed, struggling to get free. ‘I’m going to find Eddie!’
Katya couldn’t take any more. ‘No, you’re not!’ she screamed. ‘You might have stopped caring about your family, but we won’t let you get ours killed. We’re all staying until our debts are repaid and we can go home.’
‘That will never happen,’ Tasha reminded her forcefully. ‘And I don’t want to go home, for your information. I’m staying here to make my fortune.’
Katya turned to Chrissie and threw herself on her mercy. ‘Please just leave and lock us in so she can’t get out,’ she pleaded, clutching at the other woman’s hands in desperation. ‘Please – my baby will be murdered if Eddie tells the man that we have disobeyed him. I’m begging you.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Chrissie asked, snatching her hands away. ‘What man?’
‘The policeman,’ Katya sobbed. ‘In my village. He advertised for girls to clean his house, but too many of us applied so he told us that his cousin owned a restaurant in England and that he would pay for us to go and work there. He promised that we would earn good money so that we could repay him and send something home to take care of our families.’
Chrissie gave her a disbelieving look. ‘Why would anyone, never mind a policeman, pay for four of you to go and work in another country?’
‘He said he wanted to help us,’ Katya told her. ‘And we believed him.’
‘No, you’re making it up,’ Chrissie said. ‘Eddie paid for you to come over. That’s why you’re working for him – to pay him back. You wanted to come because you knew you’d have an easier life. You asked for this.’
‘Katya is telling the truth,’ Hanna said quietly, shocking them all because none of them had seen her slink into the room. ‘Eddie is the third man who has owned us since we came here, and they have all warned us that they would tell the policeman if we disobeyed and then he would have our families killed to punish us.’
‘And if they all know the same man they must be telling the truth,’ Elena added.
&
nbsp; Chrissie couldn’t take this in. Their story was completely different from that which Eddie had told her and she didn’t know which one to believe. All she did know was that Eddie had spent his entire life in this area, never straying any further than he absolutely had to, because he’d made a career out of being the self-appointed king of Ardwick. So if he had the kind of international contacts that these girls seemed to think he had, he’d have made damn sure everyone knew about it because that was what he was like – the big I Am.
‘I’ve had enough of this,’ Tasha declared. ‘I need to talk to Eddie.’
‘Shut your mouth!’ Chrissie hissed, giving her daggers. ‘You’re not going anywhere near him.’
‘Bitch, don’t tell me to shut up!’ Tasha yelled, shoving her roughly.
Chrissie’s arms flailed as she struggled to stay on her feet but her heel caught in a frayed bit of rug and she went flying, smashing her back against the edge of the table.
‘Look what you’ve done now,’ Katya cried, giving Tasha an accusing look when Chrissie slithered to the floor with a look of agony on her face.
‘I don’t care,’ Tasha snarled, scooping up the keys which had fallen out of Chrissie’s pocket. ‘You can all stay if you want to, but I’m going to find Eddie. And when I do, things are going to change around here. I’ll be the one living like a queen.’
‘Stop her!’ Katya cried as Tasha marched towards the door.
‘No, let her go,’ Chrissie gasped. ‘Let her find out the hard way that Eddie’s not the big shot she thinks he is. He’s got nowhere near as much money as he makes out, because he gambles most of it away and sticks the rest up his nose.’
‘You’re lying,’ Tasha said, hesitating in the doorway. ‘Of course he has money.’
‘Not enough to keep a greedy cow like you happy,’ Chrissie informed her, gritting her teeth as a painful cramp gripped her stomach. ‘But if you really think he’d finish with me for you, then you go for it. Just don’t forget that I’m the one who’s carrying his baby. And when he hears about it he won’t look twice at you.’
‘He looked at you when he already had a child,’ Tasha reminded her snidely.
‘Just get out,’ Chrissie groaned. ‘All of you,’ she added, rocking herself to ease the pain. ‘I mean it. Go now while you’ve got a chance. Don’t worry about Eddie. Whatever he told you, I guarantee it was a lie to scare you into doing as you were told. He doesn’t know anyone outside Manchester, never mind in another country. He’s full of shit.’
‘But how could all of the men have said the same thing if it wasn’t true?’ Hanna reminded her.
‘Oh, come on, you can’t be that stupid,’ Chrissie snapped. ‘If they were selling you to each other, they would have told each other exactly what to say to keep you in line. It’s obvious.’
‘You’re right,’ Tasha said thoughtfully. ‘It is obvious. But they probably don’t believe it, because they are that stupid,’ she added, flashing the other girls a scathing look. ‘You’ve got your wish,’ she told Chrissie now. ‘I’m going, and I’ve changed my mind about taking your man so you can keep him. There are plenty more fools out there with the money to give me what I deserve.’
‘Oh, you’ll get what you deserve, all right,’ Chrissie muttered as Tasha unlocked the door and stalked out. Turning back to Katya now, she said, ‘The rest of you should go with her.’
‘I can’t risk it,’ Katya said, kneeling beside her and rubbing at her back. ‘Please understand that I am not being disrespectful when I say this, but you obviously don’t know everything that Eddie is involved in and I can’t put my child or my family in danger. I just pray that you will be kind enough to tell him that we didn’t have anything to do with this when he gets back.’
‘I know more than you think about Eddie,’ Chrissie snapped, shrugging off Katya’s hand. ‘And I’m telling you, he does not know this policeman of yours. And, in case you don’t know, this is my flat, not Eddie’s, and I want you out. Now, or I’ll call the police and get them to take you. And they’d be here in two minutes, because there’s loads of them outside right now.’
Elena rushed to the window and squinted out through the grille. Seeing the activity going on down below, spookily highlighted by the faint blue light that was still revolving on the top of the van at the far end of the car park, she said, ‘She’s right.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Hanna squeaked, biting nervously on her knuckles.
‘Go,’ Chrissie said again. ‘Before Eddie gets back and stops you. He’s the only one who can hurt you, not some man thousands of miles away.’
‘We can’t just go and leave you like this,’ Katya said concernedly. ‘You’re hurt. The baby . . .’
‘None of your business,’ Chrissie said assertively, pushing Katya aside and using the edge of the table to haul herself up. ‘See . . . I’m absolutely fine, so you can stop worrying about me. And don’t test me, because I will call the police if you don’t go right now.’
‘Come on.’ Elena jerked her head at the others. ‘We’ve got to do as she says. We have no choice.’
‘Where?’ Hanna wailed. ‘We don’t have anywhere to go.’
‘We’ll figure something out,’ Elena said, pushing her out of the door. ‘Katya, come.’
Reluctantly, Katya turned and followed her friends out.
They had walked out of that flat and down those stairs thousands of times, but it was different now and they were terrified of drawing attention to themselves. Fortunately, everybody was far too interested in the police to be bothered with them, and they were able to get out of the block and off the estate without anybody so much as glancing at them. But just as they had made it out onto the main road, Katya suddenly stopped walking.
‘What are you doing?’ Elena demanded. ‘We’ve got to keep moving.’
‘I have to go back,’ Katya murmured. ‘She didn’t look right. I think she was in real pain.’
‘Good, she deserves it,’ Elena said bluntly. ‘That’s the one thing I agree with Tasha about. She’s never been nice to us, so why should we be nice to her?’
‘But that was before she knew the truth,’ Katya reminded her. ‘She’s only known the lies that Eddie had told her. And he lied to us, too, don’t forget – telling us that he would set us free when we had repaid him. But Tasha was right about that as well, because it was never going to happen.’
‘Maybe not,’ Elena conceded. ‘But we still shouldn’t be standing here like this. What if Eddie comes along and sees us? Or the police?’
‘You go and find somewhere safe to hide,’ Katya said decisively. ‘I’ll find you when I’ve checked that she’s all right.’
‘How will you find us if we’re hiding?’ Elena pointed out exasperatedly. ‘Come on, Katya, this is ridiculous. You don’t owe her anything, and you’re putting us all at risk if you go back.’
‘I have to,’ Katya insisted, already walking backwards. ‘And I will find you. I promise.’
Elena flapped her hands in despair when Katya turned and fled back the way they had come. But there was nothing she could do to stop her, and she certainly wasn’t going to follow her. So, pushing Hanna ahead of her, she put her head down and continued on up the road.
Chrissie had lied when she’d said that she was fine. The cramping pains were getting steadily worse and she’d already thrown up twice. All she wanted to do was go home and lie down, but Tasha had taken the keys so she couldn’t get into the flat. She just thanked God that Tasha hadn’t locked her and the other girls in here, because that would have been truly awful.
Feeling dizzy now, she clutched at the door frame and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Eddie’s was still on answerphone, so she was forced to leave him a message.
‘Eddie, you’ve got to come back,’ she gasped. ‘As soon as you get this. It’s urgent. They – they’ve gone, and I don’t feel too good.’
She slid the phone shut when she’d finished. Then, glancing around hopefully when she
heard somebody coming out of the stairwell, she groaned when she saw that it was Katya.
‘I knew something was wrong,’ Katya said, rushing to her. ‘Come back inside and sit down. I’ll get you some water.’
‘I don’t want any flaming water,’ Chrissie protested. ‘I just want you to get the hell out of my life.’
‘Oh, no,’ Katya murmured, horrified to see blood spots appearing on the floor around Chrissie’s feet. ‘I think you’re bleeding.’
‘No!’ Chrissie gasped, gazing down in disbelief. ‘I can’t be.’
‘You need to go to hospital,’ Katya told her. ‘Let me call an ambulance. Please.’
Chrissie wanted to refuse but this was too important. She’d gone to that clinic this morning to have this baby removed, but now that it was under threat she suddenly knew that she didn’t want to lose it.
‘Okay,’ she said, allowing Katya to lead her back in and sit her down. ‘Here.’ She passed the mobile to her. ‘Call them, then go. Promise me.’
‘I promise,’ Katya agreed.
She made the call and told the operator what was happening but said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know,’ when she was asked for the patients name. ‘I was just passing and saw her.’
‘Go now,’ Chrissie urged when the call was done. Then, clutching at her hand, she said, ‘And thank you.’
Touched, Katya said, ‘I hope everything works out okay for you and the baby.’
She turned to leave then, aware that she had to be gone before the ambulance arrived or the paramedics would undoubtedly ask awkward questions. But before she’d taken a step out of the door she heard a crash, and ran back to find Chrissie unconscious on the floor.
She was still breathing, so Katya covered her with a coat to keep her warm. Then, retrieving Joe’s number from the hole she’d made in her mattress, she took Chrissie’s phone and slipped out of the flat.
A police officer was standing right outside the main door when Katya reached the ground floor. Stopping in her tracks, she thought about going back up the stairs but knew that she couldn’t when she heard the sound of footsteps coming down. Glancing around, she saw that the door to the maintenance room at the far side of the stairwell was slightly ajar. Dashing in there, she pressed herself up against the wall.
The Driver Page 19
