Gangster Girl

by Dreda Say Mitchell

  ‘I’m waiting.’

  Without showing a shred of emotion Ricky swung his long legs over the side of the sofa. ‘You read the papers don’t you? Racism, poverty, poor education, it’s a miracle any of us black kids stay on the right side of the law.’

  ‘Yeah, take the piss, that’s helping.’

  Ricky settled back into the softness of the sofa as if he didn’t have a care in the world. ‘Why don’t you put the piece away and then I’ll tell you what I’m allowed to.’

  ‘Cough up, “officer”, I’m getting very upset.’ Daisy’s finger curled around the trigger.

  Ricky leant forward resting his hands on his knees. ‘You might be Frankie Sullivan’s daughter, but you ain’t going to . . .’

  He never finished because she dipped the gun. Pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed into the wall beside his head, the noise echoing against the cabin walls. The door burst open. A startled Jackie and Misty stood nervously in the doorway.

  ‘Stay out of this,’ Daisy yelled without looking at them or taking her eyes off an unfazed Ricky.

  The two women continued to hover in the doorway. Looked at each other. Then retreated and closed the door.

  ‘Want to know how old I was when my dad taught me how to use a gun?’ Daisy said calmly. ‘The day after my fourteenth birthday. You don’t think I’d shoot you? A few weeks ago I wouldn’t but I’ve been trained in a hard school since then. So don’t rile me.’

  Their blue and black eyes clashed. Suddenly Ricky leant back and began to speak. ‘The name’s Ricky Smart, as you know, or Detective Ricardo Smart. For the last two years I’ve been undercover, investigating the Kings. They made a fatal error the day Tommy King murdered Elaine Matthews, daughter of Clement Matthews, a high-profile company director and close friend of the commissioner himself. We knew he did it but couldn’t prove it. So my job was to get inside the Kings’ organisation and find something that would bring them down for good.’

  ‘But you were in prison.’ She didn’t lower the gun.

  ‘All part of the set-up. I was “transferred” to Belmarsh while doing a bogus sentence and my job was to get friendly with one of Tommy’s cousins, Paul King. I looked after his back and Bob’s your uncle, he’s putting in a good word with Tommy for me to join the crew when I rejoined the outside world.’

  Daisy lowered the gun by half an inch as she stepped forward, hitting the low table in her haste, jogging the vial of Midnight Blue. ‘So all that stuff about your sister was a cover story?’

  Ricky laughed, a humourless sound that sounded hollow in the room. ‘No, that bit was true. Misty can verify that.’ For the first time his gaze looked troubled. ‘But I never told my superiors about my connection to the Kings. That was why I was so eager to take the job. You don’t volunteer for Belmarsh just to get plus points on your service record, believe you me. Jenna did disappear twenty years ago and I’m sure that it’s somehow linked to Stella King. So while I was finding the evidence on the Kings I hoped that I would find out what happened to her.’

  ‘But if you told your people about the bank job surely that would have been enough for them to arrest the Kings?’

  ‘Someone saying they’re going to do something and actually doing it are two different things. We needed to catch them in the act of doing the job and anyway, as I said, I had motives of my own.’

  ‘But the police weren’t waiting for us at the bank.’

  Ricky rubbed his hand across his chin. ‘Stella’s change of plans for the robbery caught me on the hop, so I didn’t have much time to contact my handler, but I sent him a message. But the signal was shit, so the message obviously didn’t get there.’ He paused and gazed at her intently. ‘Mind you, I’d been having a little battle with myself about whether I wanted them to turn up or not.’

  ‘Why?’ she cried, dropping her gun hand.

  Ricky’s hand dropped from his chin. ‘Because if they’d come storming in I wouldn’t have been able to get the deposit box, which I know has got something in it that will tell me what happened to Jenna. This was maybe my last chance to find out about my sister.’ He shook his head. ‘And maybe I could finally put her to rest if she was gone.’ Daisy watched the sadness take over his face. She knew exactly what he was feeling because hadn’t she been trying to put her Dad to rest for years?

  Suddenly he sprang to his feet making her step back. ‘What does it matter now anyway? The only person who could’ve told me about Jenna has been blown to bits. And the deposit box turns up empty.’ He pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his mobile. ‘I need to call my superior. Go ahead and pull the trigger because the pain is going to be nothing compared to the bollocking I’m going to get when he realises the game I’ve been playing.’

  As he punched away at his mobile Daisy stepped towards him. ‘You might not want to do that.’

  Ricky’s fingers stopped moving as he gazed at her. ‘What?’

  ‘If I could help you find out what happened to Jenna would you promise to keep my dad’s name and Charlie’s out of everything?’

  He took an aggravated step towards her. ‘How the hell can you help me? Stella’s dead and the deposit box . . .’

  ‘I heard you the first time. You’ve got to promise me before I say anything else.’

  Ricky tilted his head, staring hard at her and weighing up what she wanted. He shifted his head straight. ‘Alright.’ He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘So why don’t you tell me how you’re going to help me out?’

  Daisy swallowed. Then spoke. ‘The deposit box was empty . . .’

  ‘Yeah, I know that.’

  Daisy’s eyes formed like blue ice as she looked him squarely in the eye. ‘I know who has got the stuff that was inside the deposit box.’

  Ricky took an incredulous step towards her. ‘Who?’

  Daisy whispered, ‘Me.’

  Chapter Forty-four

  Daisy emerged onto the deck of the Miss Josephine. The darkness was well settled in. High-grade dance music pulsed from one of the neighbouring council blocks. Victoria Park, to the side, lay still and quiet. The five women on deck turned to face her as the cool evening wind laced its breath around them.

  ‘Is he Old Bill?’ Jackie asked, breaking the expectant silence.

  ‘Come inside and we’ll tell you all about it.’

  She turned back into the warmth of the cabin, quickly followed by the other women.

  ‘I’ve made you all some tea,’ Daisy said waving at the table in the middle, where five mugs, half-filled with tea, sat next to Misty’s box of extra strength hay-fever tabs. Ricky was already seated, lounging in the single chair by the far window. The women seated themselves while Daisy quickly passed each of them a mug. Jackie began to open her mouth but Daisy got there first. ‘I know you all want some answers but I haven’t had a drink in hours so if you don’t mind can we just stop for awhile so I can take a breath.’

  No one said anything back but the women let Daisy have her space. They sat there in silence. It was Daisy who broke the silence a good five minutes later with a bit of small talk. ‘How’s Uncle Schoolboy?’

  Jackie’s face screwed up at the mention of her husband’s name. She averted her gaze from Daisy. ‘Alright, I suppose.’

  The other women looked at Jackie as she quickly tucked into her drink. Their expressions were troubled. Daisy knew that there was something going on between Jackie and her husband that wasn’t quite right. What it was she didn’t know, and now wasn’t the time to find out.

  So everyone drank in silence again, Jackie eying up Ricky with a you-don’t-fool-me expression on her alert face. Misty shuffled forward, a perky expression lighting her face. ‘You like my New York Mafia impersonation when I forced you two into the car.’ Everyone looked at her. ‘Get in the back,’ she said huskily in her best gravelly Godfather accent, ‘I frighten myself sometimes.’

  No one spoke for the next five minutes. As soon as Jackie finished her drink she ploughed into Ricky. ‘So,
you a boy in blue or what?’

  ‘I have that honour,’ Ricky answered brazenly. ‘Is your tax disc up to date?’

  Jackie curled her lip. ‘Don’t give me any of your back-chat, sonny. I don’t care what happens just make sure you keep my Daisy’s name well out of this. Now piss off back to the Yard.’

  Daisy leant tentatively forward. ‘Ricky is a cop but he also needs to find out what happened to his sister. I can help him . . .’

  ‘No way.’ Jackie rapidly shook her head. ‘I don’t know or care who his sister is. You’re back with us now and that’s where you’re staying young lady.’

  ‘I knew his sister,’ Misty joined in. The other women looked at her in surprise. She drained the dregs in her cup. ‘She worked for Stella King. She went to work one day twenty years ago and never came home.’

  ‘That ain’t Daisy’s problem,’ Jackie persisted. She stopped when Roxy let out a huge yawn. Irritated, Jackie twisted to face her. ‘I’m so sorry I’m boring you.’

  ‘It isn’t that,’ Roxy continued, her voice groggy. She laid her cup on the table and settled back in her chair. ‘I just feel so tired all of a sudden.’ Her last word was quickly followed by another yawn. Her eyes fluttered closed as she eased her head back onto the back of the chair.

  Jackie dismissed her and turned back to her adoptive daughter. ‘You ain’t going.’

  ‘All we need is the rest of tonight,’ Daisy pleaded. ‘If we haven’t found out anything by tomorrow we’ll be—’

  ‘You need to clear the wax out of your ears,’ Jackie cut furiously in, her face taking on the red colour of her hair. ‘You’re stopping with us and . . .’ Jackie’s voice wobbled on the last word. She ran her hand over her eyes as she shook her head as if clearing it. ‘I . . . I . . . I . . .’ she stammered.

  ‘You alright?’ Misty asked, leaning towards her. Suddenly Misty wavered in her chair and fell sideways. She didn’t get up. Jackie moved forward, but her head slumped against her chest as the mug slipped from her limp hand. She slipped out of her chair unconscious onto the floor.

  Ricky shot to his feet, ‘What the fuck . . . ?’ but he never finished as he watched Ollie and Anna go the same way as Jackie and Misty.

  ‘What did you do?’ he demanded rushing over to Daisy.

  Daisy calmly stood up. ‘I put the Midnight Blue in their tea.’

  Ricky grabbed her by the arms. ‘You’re nuts, do you know how dangerous that is?’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s only going to knock them out for a couple of hours. I checked it out on the Internet connection on my phone while I was making the tea. Apparently it’s a nice way to come down after you’ve done too much E. If I didn’t do it there’s no way they would have let us go.’ She gave him a pointed look. ‘You do still want to know what I found in the deposit box?’

  He gave the unconscious women one last look, then nodded at her.

  Ricky moved towards Jackie. Bent down and started rummaging in her pockets. ‘What you doing?’

  ‘One of them has got my gun.’ He moved on to a slumped Misty. Eased back on his heels when he found it stashed at the back of her trousers. Plus he had her car keys.

  ‘Come on,’ Daisy urged, already rushing towards the door.

  She turned back when she realised that Ricky wasn’t following her. Instead she found him looking at the sleeping women.

  ‘I thought you wanted to find out about your sister?’

  ‘Are you sure they’re going to be alright?’

  ‘They’re east end birds. They’ll be fine.’

  Finally he moved towards her. She flung open the door, the cool wind lacing around her instantly.

  ‘So where have you stashed the stuff from the safe-deposit box?’ he asked.

  Without looking around she replied, ‘I’ll tell you once we get inside the car.’

  Her mum would have been proud of her. Jo-Jo smiled as she walked away from the police station. The cops had questioned her this way and that, but she’d kept to the ‘I don’t know nuthin’’ line. Even the big cop, the one with the sharp suit and sharper eyes who’d been particularly interested in Ricky, hadn’t worn her down. Then she’d gone in for the kill and played her trump card – shown them her scars. She’d got the effect she’d wanted. They’d all been stunned, uncomfortable. So she’d prattled on and on about being under the doctor for having mental health problems. Her voice had risen to high pitch hysteria until she knew they’d decided she was a nutter not a doer. They couldn’t wait to see the back end of her.

  She’d played her part brilliantly, but it had taken its toll. All she wanted to do was get to her place in Bow, so she could feel the touch of the razor’s blade kissing the inside of her skin.

  Less than thirty minutes later she shut the door on her sixth-floor flat. Leant against it for a while. Lowered her head and bit into her arm, just above her previous bite. Seconds later she was inhaling the stuffy, cool air as the blood dripped down her arms. Then she noticed the bag of money Billy had given her the other night. She smiled – at least that evil old letch was gone for good. She stood up. Walked towards the bag and gave it a vicious kick across the room. It skidded, falling on its side, making a pile of cash fall out. She smiled at it, her mind clearing as she began to make plans.

  ‘So how did you do it?’

  Ricky’s question came a good ten minutes after they were cutting through London in the navy blue Ford Escort, the motor that the women had abducted them in. He’d insisted on driving despite his injured arm. She knew what he was talking about. How had she got the contents of the deposit box? She gave him a sidelong look as she ran her hands through the strands of her hair, fanning her face, which had escaped from the knot of hair at the back of her head. ‘The day I went into the bank disguised as Charlie’s daughter, of course . . .’ Her mind whizzed back to the events in the small room in the bank . . .

  Adam, the bank employee, came back into the room. Daisy’s mouth ran dry, eyes sparkled when she saw what he was finally holding. Charlie’s deposit box. She almost leapt out of the chair and grabbed it from him. But she remained in her seat. Her tongue flicked across her bottom lip. Stay cool, stay cool. The sweat leaked from under the itching blond wig onto her forehead. Did a circuit around her ear. Her breathing became shallow. Her eyes never left the deposit box. Then Adam started moving towards her. It was almost as if he were moving in slow motion. One foot slowly after another. Her body became more rigid as the box got closer and closer and closer to her.

  Then Adam stood in front of her beside the desk. Her eyes moved eagerly with the box as he laid it on the table. In front of her. Her pulse was running so fast, it made her ribs vibrate. Then the movement of the man’s hand beside her made her raise her head. She almost blew out a joyous puff of air when she saw it in his hand. The key. The key to all those secrets.

  He held it out to her. She took it, hoping that he didn’t notice her trembling fingers.

  ‘I’ll be waiting outside,’ he quietly informed her, his voice echoing in the almost empty room.

  He turned to leave. She grabbed the box with one hand, slotted the key into the lock with the other. That’s when she heard them. Footsteps – click, click, click – coming quick-fire down the corridor. Instinct told her that it was Adam’s manager. Maybe she’d rumbled that the power of attorney papers she’d held on to were fake? Maybes, maybes, maybes took over Daisy’s mind.

  Click, click, click, they were getting closer.

  She had to act fast. She twisted the lock. Flipped the lid up. Didn’t even look inside. She tore the handle of her bag off her shoulder. Shoved the bag on the table. Opened it.

  Click, click, click.

  Grabbed the deposit box and tipped the contents into the bag. She zipped her bag up. Placed it quickly back in the same position hanging from her shoulder. Slammed the box shut. Slotted in the key. And turned.

  A female voice called strongly behind her, ‘I’m afraid I can’t let you have access to the box . . .’ />
  ‘They all assumed,’ Daisy ended her tale, still looking at Ricky, ‘that because the key was still inside the lock that I hadn’t had a chance to open it. After that it was easy. I left the bank, went home, got dressed. Hid the stuff. My dad taught me that you never keep everything together, always scatter it around, so that’s why the deposit box papers were in my car.’

  Ricky let out a low whistle as he took the car into a smooth right. ‘But if you had the contents of the box why get involved with Stella?’

  ‘Stella got involved with me not the other way around,’ she flung back defensively. Her fingers rubbed against her left bracelet. ‘I’d just got the stuff inside the deposit box when she stormed into my life. But I tell you this much, when you’re hanging upside down in a tub of water fighting for your life you learn to think real quick. If I’d have backed out of her plans, Stella might’ve smelled a rat and turned the dogs on me and I know I would’ve told her that I had that stuff from Charlie’s box. Everything rested on everyone believing that my trip to the bank was unsuccessful.’ She quit rubbing her bracelet. ‘All I had to do next was make sure that Stella believed me when she found the box empty in the bank. And Tommy, unwittingly, helped me to do that today. The plan was that after she left the bank empty-handed she’d go gunning for her mates and let me go. Why should she keep me? The deposit box coming up empty had nothing to do with me now did it?’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘There was no way I was ever going to let them get anything on Charlie. I don’t care if he was dead or not, that was never going to happen.’

  ‘You played a dangerous game.’

  ‘Well I wasn’t the only one playing games.’ He half shrugged his shoulders at that. Winced when the movement caused pain to shoot up his arm. ‘The only thing I didn’t figure out was that I was going to become part of a family that was riddled with jealousy and hate.’ Her mind shot back to the bank again. This time to the image of Tommy and his dead associates on the floor.