She's Out

by Lynda La Plante

  Gloria was out of sight at the opposite end of the bridge. She had an artist’s drawing book and was sitting up on the wall seemingly intent on sketching, when the train passed in front of her. However, she wasn’t looking at the blank page but counting slowly, pressing the earpiece into her ear, so she could be heard by Julia and Ester at the other end of the bridge. Connie was the only one left at the house. She was on “listening” duty, recording everything from inside the signal box.

  As the days went by, the rehearsals and timekeeping totally preoccupied them. There was no time for worries about whether it could work; they were all too busy making sure they could play their parts.

  But there was still one thing worrying Dolly: the stopping of the train itself. It would be done by Julia, on the tracks, with a flashlight, wearing Norma’s police cape and hat. She would have to hold her position for some time, giving the driver fair warning that something was amiss. Because the train would be moving slowly, there was no chance of it running into her. The real danger was whether she could hold Helen of Troy steady, standing between the rails side-on, with a massive high-voltage cable beneath her belly.

  Julia had rehearsed the sidestepping move many times. On two occasions Helen had bucked and almost thrown her off. She had not rehearsed on the tracks themselves but on mock-ups she had made from logs, and Helen was getting better all the time. What worried Julia was that when she stopped the train and it paused on the bridge what would make it stay there? If the driver felt any danger, he might start up the engine and move the train forward. “It’s all very well, Dolly, marking out where it’s got to stop, but how do we make sure it stays there while we get the bags out?”

  “Semtex.”

  “Pardon?”

  Dolly was listening to the tapes she had collected from Mike’s house. She was now sure he hadn’t grassed on her. But could he get the explosives? She still didn’t know.

  “Semtex,” Julia repeated.

  “Yeah, we’ll blow it on the bridge.”

  “Oh, brilliant. And if it’s not a rude question, where the hell are you going to get Semtex from?”

  Dolly continued checking the tapes. “I’ll tell you when I’ve got it.”

  Julia shook her head, almost wanting to laugh. “Oh, fine. Which one of us is going to have that job?”

  Dolly packed the tapes away. “I’ll let you know that an’ all, but one thing I will tell you is that I’m not prepared to do anything, not one thing, until I’m sure it’ll work.”

  Dolly felt at times as if she was a juggler trying to keep all the plates spinning on the ends of sticks, trying to keep the women focused, trying to eliminate the risk factors. Nothing could be left to chance, and if she needed a few more weeks, months even, she’d take them. She spent hours with her little black notebook, jotting down things she had to remember, crossing out others she had accomplished. Sometimes she sat in the dilapidated conservatory, wrapped in a coat, staring into space as she pictured each section of the heist. Could it work? Would it work? Was she insane? Sometimes the women seemed more confident about the plan than she was. Even Ester, of late, had simply got on with the job in hand and was no longer pushing for supremacy. Dolly surmised that would probably come. Ester was sharper than the others, more dangerous, and Dolly suspected she was just biding her time. She watched each one closely to see how their nerves were holding up. So far, so good, but it was still like a game. When it became a reality, she would see what they were really made of.

  In her mind, Dolly kept returning to the bridge, the train and the damned explosives they still had not acquired. This was the most dangerous and most daring section of the entire “game,” and without this piece of the jigsaw, it could not commence.

  The missing piece came from an unexpected person. A call came from Mike: he wanted a meeting but not at the manor. Would this be the moment he grassed? Would he be wired up? She traveled by train to London and met Mike in a small café by King’s Cross Station.

  Mike was not obviously nervous but a little tense as he put down two cups of tepid tea. It took him a while before he came to the point, looking around then back to Dolly.

  “What do you want, Mike?”

  “I’m out. I handed in my formal resignation today. It goes without saying they’ve accepted it and that’s thanks to you.”

  Dolly sipped the tepid milky tea with distaste. “So what do you want?”

  “Obvious, isn’t it?”

  “Not really. Why don’t you tell me?”

  Mike again glanced around and Dolly leaned closer. At no time did he mention the train, the robbery or anything illegal, simply that he would be interested in helping her out with the business she had said she was going into, that he had a contact who might help him get the item she had mentioned.

  Dolly nodded, tapping the edge of the saucer with her spoon. “You ever driven a speedboat?”

  Mike breezed into the house where Susan was vacuuming the hall.

  She looked at him in surprise. “What you doing home?”

  He switched off the hoover. “I got something to tell you.”

  Susan followed him into the living room. “I just got fired.”

  “What?”

  “I just got fired. Well, not quite, I handed in my resignation. So that’s it, I’m out of a job.”

  “What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?”

  “I’m out of the Met. They found out about my sister and—”

  Susan sank into a chair. “Your sister? What are you talking about?”

  Mike sighed. “You’ve seen her face often enough, the blonde girl in the photo frame at Mum’s. She was my sister.”

  “Oh, come on, Mike! What’s this all about?”

  “I’m trying to bloody tell you, if you’d just shut up.”

  Susan leaped up. “You tell me one second you’re out of the Met, next you’re talking about some sister you’ve never talked about. How the hell do you expect me to react? What’s she got to do with your job?”

  “She’s dead.”

  “I know—I know she is, Mike.”

  Susan sank back in the chair and closed her eyes. She was just about to say something when he continued.

  “Shirley was younger than me. I’d already signed up when she was still a teenager. I had a brother in borstal so I wasn’t going to lay it on the line about the antics of my family when I joined the Met. A lot of blokes have some member of their family that’s a bit dodgy and Gregg’s just an idiot. I never had much to do with him, even less than Shirley because he was younger than her.”

  Susan leaned forward. “Will you get to the point, Mike? I’m trying to follow all this, honestly I am, but I don’t understand what she’s got to do with your job. She’s dead.”

  Mike put his head in his hands. “She was married to a right villain, a bloke called Terry Miller. He’d done time for armed robbery, then he was on some job, a big raid on a security van, and he . . . he got burned to death.”

  “What? I don’t believe I’m hearing this. If this is some kind of a joke . . . You said she was killed in a car accident.”

  Mike snapped, “Just fucking listen! I don’t know all the ins and outs but after Terry died, Shirley got in with some bad people and . . .” The more he tried to explain, the more insane it all sounded. He was almost in tears. “Shirley was shot during an armed robbery nine years ago.”

  Susan was stunned into silence. Mike’s face was white as a sheet as he stumbled through the rest of the story: how he hadn’t even returned for her funeral, how he had cut her out of his life and tried for years to cut out his mother too.

  Susan’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t go to him to put her arms around him because she was still so confused. “Is this . . . this little tart you’ve been seeing all part of it, then? Is that why you’re suddenly telling me all this?”

  “No, it isn’t. She’s got nothing to do with it. If you must know it’s Audrey, it’s all down to that stupid bitch my mother. She screwed me u
p but I’m going to get out of it.”

  “Does that mean you’re leaving me and the kids? Is that what this is all about?”

  Mike moved to her side and gripped her arm. “Sue, listen to me. I have no intention of leaving you or the kids. I’ve told you that it’s all over between me and Angela. It should never have even started. That was me being fucking stupid and I’m sorry I put you through it. But, Sue, you got to trust me now, really trust me, because I need you. I need you to back me up, not fight against me. It’s very important I have just a few weeks on my own to sort my head out, okay?”

  She pushed him away. “You are leaving me, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m not, but I want you and the kids to go and stay with Mum in Spain.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t start with the ‘what’ again, you heard me. Get the kids out of school. I’ve arranged for you and them to go and stay with Mum.”

  Mike put his arms round her and although she struggled he wouldn’t let her go. She broke down and started to cry.

  “Don’t, please don’t. You got to trust me, Sue, you have to. It’s for all of us. I’m going to get a job, I mean it, but I’ll just need a bit of time before I can join you in Spain. I swear on my life, I’m not lying. I love you and I love my kids.”

  Dolly stood ten yards down the road from Mike’s house. She could hear every word they said and when she heard Susan agree to go to Spain, sobbing her heart out, she removed the small earpiece and slipped it into her pocket. Now she had him exactly where she wanted him.

  Dolly was in a good mood at dinner that evening and after the meal went up to read the girls a story. They had become much more open and smiled freely now. In fact their presence made the entire house more relaxed. No one ever spoke about their plans in front of them and, apart from Ester, the women had become genuinely fond of them, especially Angela, whom little Sheena doted on. They had new frocks and shoes and socks, a big room full of toys and they had even begun to use the word “home” for the manor. Having so many rooms to run free and play in, and so many adults caring for them, had had the desired effect: the little girls were happy and loved.

  Angela peeped in to see Dolly tucking them in. Sheena had so many teddy bears lined up there was hardly room in the bed for her. “I got everything you told me to get so I’ll be in my room if you want me,” Angela whispered.

  Dolly turned off the nightlight—the girls were no longer afraid to sleep in the dark—and went into Angela’s room. She sat on the neatly made bed and checked all the passports. It touched her to know she really was the girls’ legal guardian now.

  Angela pointed to hers. “Me photo’s terrible. I look like I’m scared stiff.”

  Dolly put them back into the envelope. “I’ll keep these safe, love, and not a word to anyone or they’ll all want to come on holiday with us. And if anything happens to me, Angela, I want you to promise me you’ll take care of the girls. There’ll be money provided for you, I’ll see to that.”

  Angela slipped her arms around Dolly. “Have you forgiven me?”

  Dolly stiffened and Angela quickly released her. “Just go about your business here, love. Don’t ask me to say things I don’t mean. You’ll know when I’ve forgiven you. I need you to make up for a lot of trust you destroyed. That’s hard to forgive.” She opened the bedroom door. “Put your TV on, there’s a good film. Don’t come downstairs. I’ll see to the dishes. Goodnight, love.”

  Angela had never known anyone like Dolly before: she seemed so lonely and yet there was something about her that made you frightened of trying to get through that barrier, of breaking the dam holding back her feelings. But Angela had begun to understand how she had hurt Dolly, hurt her more than she could have imagined, because she had shown Angela, and Angela alone, a genuine affection. She was glad they would be going away together. At least she would have a chance to get back to where they had been.

  Ester was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. “You’d better come in and listen to this. It’s got us all anxious.”

  Dolly switched on the speaker so that they could all hear the tapes from the signal box. There was a series of phone calls from the station master to Jim. The mail train was never mentioned but something referred to as the “special,” due the following Thursday, was being rescheduled due to a fault with the engine. The “special” would not be arriving as prearranged but at a later time and, as Jim’s colleague was unavailable, the station master wanted to know if Jim could do the late shift. Jim was heard to moan about his long hours, and then came the big worrying line:

  “Well, we won’t have this bloody problem for much longer. After Thursday it’ll be rerouted to another station, thank Christ.”

  “So what time is it due?”

  “Be late, Jim. Around midnight.”

  Dolly replayed the last line a few times and then switched off the machine. “Shit. I hope that’s not what I think it is.”

  Ester’s hands were on her hips. “You hope? Jesus Christ, if next Thursday is the last mail train through here we’re fucked.”

  The women were tired of discussing the taped phone call from the signal box. They sat wondering why Dolly had suddenly upped and left them at eleven o’clock without a word to a single one of them.

  “I’m getting sick of this,” Ester said.

  Julia yawned and stretched her arms above her head. “Well, she’s a secretive cow, and we all know it, but maybe it’s a good thing. We’ll never be ready by Thursday, so my guess is it’s all off and the question is what do we do next?”

  “Oh shut up.” Ester turned on Julia. “We’ve been working our butts off and for what?”

  Gloria looked at her chipped nails, felt the rough skin on her hands from the horse’s reins. “I can’t believe it, after all we done.”

  Connie pursed her lips. “I never believed it anyway. I mean, I’ve gone along with it, like everyone, but in my heart I never really believed we’d do it. Did you? Honestly?”

  Ester glared at her. “For forty million quid, sweetheart, I’d believe in anything.”

  Dolly was waiting for Mike at the end of the lane, sitting in the Mini, smoking. She saw his headlights flash once, twice, as he drew up and parked a few yards ahead of her. She walked over to his car and got in.

  “I’m just repeating what Colin said, Mrs. Rawlins. Next Thursday he’s got to be on duty so he couldn’t make dinner with me, something about having problems with the engine, so instead of being back in London he was having to do a late-night drop. He never said the time.”

  “Midnight,” Dolly said softly and Mike stared. Dolly rolled down the window. “Did he say it would be the last train coming this way? Anything about rerouting it?”

  Mike bit his lip, shaking his head. He then leaned over to the back seat. “You won’t be needing this, then, will you?” He unzipped the bag. “Mate from Aldershot, owed me a favor.”

  Dolly turned and looked into the bag and then into his face. “You fancy a walk, do you? Maybe a nice quiet row across the lake? I’ll show you where I plan to blow up the train.”

  Mike thought she must be joking, but she wasn’t. Feeling sick, he just nodded.

  “Drive to the end of the lane, we’ll walk through the woods.”

  Mike explained how dangerous Semtex was, handing her a diagram showing how it should be used. Dolly listened attentively, making Mike repeat himself a few times, then quietly talked herself through the procedures. He stressed over and over again that only a small amount was needed.

  They walked on in silence until they came to the lakeside and gazed into the black water.

  “You’ll need money now you got no job. I might be able to get a few grand to you.”

  Dolly stood still as he slowly turned to face her. “Can I ask you, and I want the truth, Mrs. Rawlins, did you have anything to do with that diamond robbery? Did you set it up?”

  She looked into his eyes and lied. “No, love, it was nothing to do with me. I admit I was after t
he diamonds but, then, who wouldn’t be? Even your mother was after them.” Mike kept staring into her face and she held his gaze. “I never would have put Shirley at risk. I know I’ve said things to you in the past, said things about her I shouldn’t have but, believe me, I never knew she was on that raid. It was all down to my husband. It was Harry’s doing. You think I’d have let her put herself in danger?”

  Mike shrugged. “Just from what you said before, it sounded like you set it up.”

  “No, love, it was Harry. All I ever done was kill him. But that was a personal matter.” She could feel him hesitating, and she gestured to the bridge. “You know how much is on that train, don’t you? Now do you want just a few grand in your pocket or a couple of million? Take those kids and that pretty wife of yours to live in Spain forever. Sunshine, sea and sand, good for kids.”

  He was half in shadow, his face caught in the moonlight. “What would I have to do?”

  It was after two o’clock in the morning when Dolly eventually got home. She opened the front door quietly and didn’t switch on the lights, but they were not asleep and, slowly, in their dressing gowns, they all appeared on the stairs and landing.

  Dolly took off her coat and hung it up, picked up the kit bag Mike had given her and walked over to the bottom stair. She leaned on the banister.

  “We do it Thursday. At midnight.” She spoke softly but they could hear every word. “We’ve got two days.” She looked at the mute faces. “Now, let’s see who’s got the bottle. Are you up for it?”

  Ester was the first to say yes. The others hesitated but one by one they agreed.