Strong Women

by Roberta Kray

  The address of the blonde was scrawled on a scrap of paper in his back pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it. Barley Road. It was about five minutes’ drive away. The address was for a first-floor flat. Was that where Silver was being held? Yeah, it made sense. It was close enough to the other house to make moving her relatively simple. He was tempted to pay them a visit but there was no point charging round like a bull in a china shop – and especially a bull armed only with an iron bar. No, there were smarter ways of doing things.

  Suddenly his phone started ringing. Marty checked out the caller. Delaney. He gave a grunt and flicked the phone open. ‘Vic?’

  A roar came down the line. ‘Where the fuck are you?’

  ‘I told you. I’ve been sorting out—’

  ‘Get down the club,’ Delaney demanded. ‘I’ve heard from them.’

  ‘Another text?’ Marty said.

  ‘Nah, a fuckin’ bunch of roses. What do you think?’

  ‘I’m on my way,’ Marty said. He threw the phone down on the passenger seat and nodded. So he’d been right; it was going ahead. What now? He had to figure out how Susan was going to play it. He also had to work out how he could be in two places at the same time. While he was babysitting Delaney, who was going to keep an eye on Barley Road? He snatched up the phone again.

  By the time he had finished the brief conversation, John Devlin was on his way over to Kellston – along with strict instructions to call if anyone entered or left the flat.

  Marty put the car in gear and set off for Honey’s.

  He glanced in the mirror. His face was taut and white. The rage was beginning to simmer inside him again. No one had the right to snatch his little girl away from him. Silver was his and, whatever it took, whatever it cost, he was going to get her back.

  Chapter Seventy-three

  They had zig-zagged through the side streets, keeping away from the main roads, constantly looking over their shoulders. For the entire journey, Jo’s heart hadn’t stopped thumping. She had seen the rage in the crazy guy’s eyes and couldn’t forget it. His name, according to Gabe, was Marty Gull.

  ‘Delaney’s pet rottweiler.’

  ‘Pet?’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, so much for man’s best friend.’

  A wave of relief flowed through her as they finally turned into Barley Road. Rushing up the path to number twelve, she unlocked the door and called up. ‘Susan?’ There was no reply but the faint sound of the television, still tuned to the music channel, floated down to her.

  Jo quickly climbed the stairs. The living room was empty. She glanced towards the bathroom; that was empty too. The bedroom door was ajar. Susan must be in there with the girl. She called out again but there was no reply. Then, spotting a note lying on the coffee table, she snatched it up and read it: Sorry but I’d rather wait at the airport. Call you later. S. No apology for any inconvenience caused. No thanks for the hospitality. Not even a goodbye. Typical Susan.

  She thrust the note towards Gabe. ‘She’s cleared off. She’s gone.’

  ‘What?’ Without even reading it, he hurried towards the bedroom. Jo followed him, her eyes widening as the door swung open to reveal Silver lying on her side on the bed, her wrists cuffed behind her. She had one of Jo’s silk scarves wrapped around her mouth and another tied around her ankles.

  ‘See if you can find the key,’ Gabe said as he bent down to free her.

  Jo dashed back into the living room. It took her a minute to find the tiny silver-coloured key lying on the floor under the coffee table. She must have knocked it off when she’d picked up the note. Running back, she pushed it into his hand.

  By now Gabe had untied the other restraints. He muttered softly to Silver as he took off the cuffs. ‘Sorry, love. I’m really sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t know she was going to do this.’

  She slowly sat up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Jo said.

  Silver gave her a long hard glare and turned her face away.

  Jo wasn’t surprised. The girl barely knew her from Adam and she must be completely shell-shocked. For the past week she’d been shackled in a cellar, then she’d been brought to this flat in the middle of the night, and then – just as she must have thought the nightmare was over – she’d been trussed up like a turkey and abandoned. By now she wouldn’t have a clue as to who could be trusted and who couldn’t.

  Silver rubbed at her wrists. After a while she looked up at Gabe, her eyes red-rimmed and full of tears. ‘You’re going to take me home, right?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘Now? Right now?’

  ‘Soon,’ he said. ‘I promise. A few hours, that’s all.’

  As if she had heard it all before, Silver groaned and lay back down. She curled into a ball and pulled the duvet around her.

  ‘Hey, sweetheart,’ he said, touching her gently on the shoulder. ‘You’re safe now. It won’t be long. I swear.’

  She shifted away from him. ‘Leave me alone.’

  Gabe hovered for a moment, glanced at Jo and shrugged.

  ‘Why not now?’ Jo said as they walked back into the living room. ‘She’s been through enough. Why wait?’

  He shook his head. ‘You know why.’

  ‘But Susan’s gone. No one’s going to have a clue which airport she’s at or even if she’s at an airport at all. And you already have the name you need. There’s nothing to stop you calling Delaney.’

  ‘I gave her my word.’

  Jo sucked in her breath. ‘And your word’s more important than reuniting that poor girl with her dad?’

  ‘We wait,’ Gabe said stubbornly. ‘A few hours. What difference is that going to make?’

  Chapter Seventy-four

  Marty was sitting in the office with his feet up on the desk. The club was gradually filling up, the music growing louder. He could hear the dance beat reverberating through the walls. He would have preferred to be at Barley Road but couldn’t leave Delaney again – at least not without arousing suspicion. Disappearing once today was bad enough; he couldn’t get away with it twice. Anyway, he’d be free soon enough. When Vic left to deliver the ransom, Marty’s time would be his own.

  He had already worked out what he thought was going to happen. Susan, after sending new instructions through to Delaney, would take Miller along to pick up the cash – safety in numbers and all that – while the blonde bit was left to take care of Silver.

  Once Susan and Miller were on their way, he would have the perfect opportunity to strike at Barley Road. He would get rid of Devlin, break into the flat and then … Marty sat back in his chair and grinned. He patted the pocket of his jacket where the gun was concealed. They would come back eventually and he’d be ready and waiting.

  Reaching up his hand, he touched the sore tender spots on his head where the blonde had pelted him with tiles. He was going to make her pay for every single cut and bruise. With a little encouragement, she was sure to tell him everything. And after he’d finished with her, after he’d finished with everyone who’d betrayed him, Silver – and the money – would be his.

  Susan checked her watch. It was ten to ten. She had a grumbling, slightly sick sensation in the pit of her stomach, part hunger, part fear and adrenaline. She watched as the minute hand slid slowly round the face.

  Once the text was sent, it shouldn’t take Delaney more than twenty minutes to get here. His instructions were to stop outside the gates of the primary school, deposit the case in the small bin attached to the lamppost and then drive straight off. The street was long and straight, with clear views in both directions. If he stopped again or if anyone was following, she’d be able to see. But of course no one would be following. Marty Gull would make sure of that.

  He had called her in the afternoon but she had kept her cool. Marty didn’t suspect anything – she was sure of it. He had been stuck in Chigwell all day, too preoccupied with keeping the fat bastard off the booze to suspect her of any foul play. Anywa
y, he was too arrogant to consider that a mere woman might have the nerve to try and screw him over.

  Gabe had been ringing too, seven times to date, but she hadn’t picked up. She hadn’t listened to the voicemail he had left her either. There wasn’t any point. He’d only be having a go about how she’d cleared off and left Silver on her own. She had more important things to worry about. But she would still stick to her side of the bargain. As soon as she had the cash, as soon as she was safely out of here, she’d call and give him the name he needed.

  The clock on the dashboard read five minutes to ten. This was going to be the longest wait of her life. She was sitting, hunched down low in the car she had managed to retrieve from Kellston Station. That the Fiesta had still been there, albeit with a ticket slapped across the windscreen, had come as a pleasant surprise. Now it was parked diagonally opposite to the school. She was facing the direction Delaney would be coming from. Once he’d dropped off the ransom and driven away, she’d be safe to move. After manoeuvring across the street, it would take her only seconds to jump out and grab the case.

  At weekends, when the school was closed, this was a relatively quiet area. It was one of the reasons Marty had chosen it. Quiet but not too quiet. There was a small but steady flow of traffic. Even though she knew it couldn’t be Delaney yet, Susan jumped as every car passed by. Still watching the clock, she tried to focus on something else.

  She thought about Gabe. It had been a shock, him turning up at the flat like that, but it hadn’t taken her long to turn him around. A suitable amount of weeping, an out-pouring of remorse – she had done a terrible thing, she hadn’t been thinking straight – and she had soon had him on side again. He wasn’t stupid but he was sentimental. Although history should have taught him otherwise, he was still prepared to believe whatever she told him.

  It had occurred to her, while she was crying on his shoulder, exactly what she could do next. Why back out now after all her hard work? Vic Delaney might not have killed Linda but the cash was still up for grabs – and she deserved something for her trouble. What if she went ahead with the ransom demand? Marty Gull didn’t know she’d done a bunk – and there was no reason, until he arrived at the house tonight, why he should find out. By the time he was ringing on the bell, she could have picked up the ransom and be heading towards the motorway. When he discovered she was gone, that everything was gone, it would all be too late.

  Susan smiled. She had sat in Jo’s living room, sniffling and nodding and agreeing to every suggestion Gabe made. Could he really get her on a flight to Spain? Yes, that was what she wanted, what she wanted more than anything. She couldn’t say how grateful she was. She just wanted to put this nightmare behind her, to get free of the past and start again.

  While he was on the phone, she had put the final touches to her plan. With half a million quid to transport, she had no intention of going near an airport: too many possible hitches, too many security checks. There was no way she could take the cash through as hand luggage and she wasn’t prepared to take the chance of some sleepy baggage handler inadvertently diverting her suitcase to Dubai. No, she’d drive south instead, dump the car at Dover, find a hotel to stay in overnight and get the first ferry out in the morning. Once she was in France, she could hire another motor and drive across country.

  Susan stared at the clock. Two minutes to go. She tapped her fingers impatiently against the wheel. Suddenly, the phone started ringing. Her heart leapt but then she saw that it was Gabe again and immediately relaxed. Raising a hand to her chest, she took a few deep breaths. Stay calm, she told herself – hold your nerve, girl, and nothing can go wrong.

  She concentrated on the clock. Only a minute to go, forty seconds, thirty, twenty, ten, five … At precisely ten o’clock she pressed down the button on her phone and sent the text.

  Delaney came crashing through the door, his face deathly pale. ‘Connor Street in Kellston,’ he said. ‘Outside the school.’

  Marty stared at him, astounded. ‘Let me see.’ He frowned as he scrolled through the text. It was exactly as they’d arranged – same time, same place, same bloody everything. He didn’t get it. Susan must know by now that he’d found out what she’d done. He didn’t get it at all. Unless … shit, was it possible that she didn’t know? But why wouldn’t Miller have warned her? It was hours since they’d had the run-in at the house.

  Delaney opened the safe and pulled out the case.

  Marty was rapidly reviewing the situation. If Miller hadn’t managed to make contact with Susan, perhaps it was because she was in the process of double-crossing him too. Perhaps the bitch had left him to clear up the mess at Clover Road, to deal with the problem of returning Silver, while she picked up (and then cleared off with) all the cash. And if Susan was sticking to the original arrangements it would still be possible to intercept her. He knew the area of the drop like the back of his hand; he was, after all, the one who had chosen it.

  He passed the phone back. ‘Sure you don’t want me to come with you?’

  Delaney snarled at him. ‘After last time – what do you fuckin’ think?’

  ‘Okay, but take it easy,’ Marty warned. ‘You’ve got plenty of time. Don’t drive too fast. The last thing you need is to be stopped by the filth.’

  Marty gave him a twenty-second start before putting the Saab in gear and accelerating out of the car park. If he really put his foot down, and Delaney was sticking to the speed limit, he should be able to whip through the side streets and get in front of the Jag. He still couldn’t believe that Susan was going ahead with it. He laughed out loud but quickly stifled the sound. Apprehension was creeping over him. No, it couldn’t be this easy. A worried breath hissed out through his lips. What if there was a more complicated game going on, a double-bluff, some trap that he was walking into?

  Proceed with caution, Mr Gull.

  He couldn’t afford to get careless. He had to keep his wits about him, to keep his eyes and ears open. To lose it all now, to lose Silver, would be a tragedy.

  The Saturday night traffic wasn’t too busy and a quarter of an hour later, as he approached his destination, he was pretty sure he had gained at least three or four minutes on Delaney. Marty took a right and then a left until he was parallel with Connor Street. Directly opposite the school was a kiddie’s playground and it was on the far side of this long, grassy oblong that he pulled up the black Saab.

  He got out of the car and under the cover of darkness crept past the ghostly hanging ropes, the swings and roundabouts. The ground, softened by the rain, squelched softly under his feet. Crouching down behind the bushes that lined the iron railings, he made his way towards the two wide concrete pillars that flanked the entrance. From here he could clearly see Susan’s Fiesta. He couldn’t see her though. She was keeping well down.

  Marty pulled back into the shadows. He felt for the gun in his pocket. He would only have a few seconds, a brief window of opportunity as she got out and snatched the case. But that, he acknowledged with a smile, would be more than enough.

  Susan heard the powerful engine slow as the Jaguar approached. She sank even lower into the seat and her heart began to race. It was him, it had to be. Fighting against the impulse to look, she stayed completely hidden as the car drew to a halt. She didn’t move, not even an inch, as she listened first to the sound of the door opening and then the heavy tread of footsteps. The engine was still running. Delaney didn’t hang about; a few seconds later, the door slammed shut again and the car accelerated away.

  Susan waited, her ears alert to any other sound. Before making a move, she had to be sure that she was safe. But she couldn’t wait too long. She had to grab that cash as soon as she could. But, if she wanted to keep Delaney at bay, she would need to keep him occupied for the next few hours. Stabbing at the phone, she sent through the next set of instructions, the orders that would send him on a fruitless journey through Kent. It was only then, cautiously, that she raised her head. The street was empty, the pavements too. She
quickly started the car and swerved across the road. Jumping out, she snatched the case from the bin, turned around and …

  Marty Gull had a gun aimed right at her.

  Clutching the case to her chest, she stifled a scream.

  ‘Hello, Susie,’ he said. ‘I think you and me need to talk.’

  Chapter Seventy-five

  The hours had dragged by with infinite slowness. Silver had spent all of them lying on the bed, silent and listless, staring blankly at the TV. Gabe had spent most of them pacing the living room floor until Jo had pleaded with him to stop. He’d slumped down, lit a cigarette, puffed on it impatiently, smoked it right to the butt but then leapt up again. He had made a call to Snakey asking if he could find someone to fix the doors at Clover Road. He had lit another cigarette. At regular intervals he had tried to call Susan but the result was always the same – straight to voicemail.

  At ten-thirty Jo looked at her watch. ‘It’s time.’

  Gabe was standing by the window. He shook his head. ‘Ten more minutes.’

  ‘What for? Come on, she isn’t going to ring now.’

  ‘The plane could have been delayed.’

  ‘Yes, it could have but …’

  Gabe’s face was strained and white. ‘She promised me. She swore. No, something’s wrong. It has to be. Something must have happened.’

  Jo knew exactly what had happened: Susan had spun him one of her fairy tales where the handsome prince saved the beautiful princess and everyone lived happily ever after. When would he wake up to the truth? She wondered if he would ever see his ex for what she really was – a damaged, single-minded woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Susan had never had any intention of calling him; all she had wanted was a free plane ticket and enough time to get clear.

  But seeing the desperate look of concern on his face, Jo felt a rush of guilt. God, who was she to be criticising who he did or didn’t believe in? When it came to love and marriage, she was hardly in the premier league herself.