by Susan Lewis
‘No,’ Sherry answered shortly.
‘I’ve got a contact in Brussels. I’ll give him a call, then one of us should go over there to talk to him. Of course this is all going to change as we go along,’ Laurie said with a smile, ‘but it helps to focus us on what we actually need, so that we don’t waste time going off on tangents that get us nowhere.’
‘So would my undercover role as a buyer qualify as a tangent?’ Sherry enquired smoothly. ‘I only ask because I don’t want to waste my time going over there if it does.’
‘You should keep the appointment now you’ve made it,’ Laurie assured her. ‘It’s just a pity you can’t take a hidden camera in with you, but at this stage I think the risk would be too great.’
‘Isn’t that for me to decide?’
Laurie regarded her carefully. ‘Let’s do it without for now,’ she said. ‘We can always reassess later.’
‘OK,’ Sherry responded, getting to her feet, ‘now you’re here to plug all the holes I’ve left, I should be on my way to meet Stan.’ As she reached the door, she turned round. ‘Isn’t Elliot due back today?’
Laurie’s insides went to jelly. ‘Late this afternoon,’ she replied. ‘I’m hoping he’ll call.’
‘I’m sure he will,’ Sherry responded, and left.
Dismayed by the abrupt departure, Laurie looked out of the window and watched her pass by. She’d been afraid of something like this, and blamed herself entirely. Just stomping in and seizing back the reins, when Sherry had put so much into the story, had been totally insensitive, to say the least. She’d have to think of a way to make up for it, and while she was at it, it might be a good idea to apologize about Nick again too. On second thoughts, it was probably better to leave that particular subject alone now. She didn’t want Sherry blowing up at her like that again.
‘It was pretty heavy,’ she said to Rhona on the phone later. ‘You should have seen her. She’s so sensitive where he’s concerned. And so insecure.’
‘Mm, I’d noticed,’ Rhona responded. ‘It’s like we’re seeing another side to Sherry Mac now he’s back in her life.’
‘That’s what men do to you,’ Laurie commented. ‘Turn you into another person. God knows, it’s happening to me.’
‘Any word from Elliot yet?’
‘No, nothing. But don’t let’s talk about it. Tell you what, don’t let’s even think about it.’
Chapter Eighteen
SHERRY COULD FEEL Karima Ghosh’s eyes boring into her back as she rifled through a rack full of cheap tweed jackets. She’d love to know what was going through the woman’s mind, whether she was intending to up the stakes and challenge Tara Green’s identity, or if she was at all fearful that Sherry might be about to spring something unexpected on her. Maybe she was planning something even more foul than her breath to get rid of Sherry altogether – which was why Stan was keeping watch from across the street.
The phone rang and Karima turned to pick it up. She spoke in a language Sherry couldn’t begin to understand, though her tone was unmistakably sharp, angry even, and when she rang off her face seemed more bitter than ever.
‘I trust your last order was satisfactory,’ she suddenly snapped.
‘Oh, very,’ Sherry responded, moving on to a short rack of sheepskin-lined leather waistcoats. She pulled one out, and was surprised to see it wasn’t half bad.
‘These are very much in demand,’ Karima told her, impatiently.
‘I’m sure,’ Sherry replied with a smile. Though her own manner was calm, beneath the surface she was as agitated and distracted as Karima appeared to be, though for very different reasons. She turned back to replace the waistcoat, giving herself a moment to refocus her thoughts, for this situation needed her full attention.
After talking it all through with Stan and Barry over the past few days she’d been quite clear about how she was going to play this meeting, then suddenly last night, boomph, it was gone, blasted out of the picture by the bombshell Nick had dropped that Laurie had gone flat-hunting with him and Julia. And now there was the added distraction of this morning’s scene, which, OK, might have set her mind at rest about Laurie’s intentions towards Nick, but had done virtually nothing to explain what his intentions might be towards Laurie. True, he was just the type to take pity on a female in distress, but the fear that there was more to it was flaring up again now. This anxiety, combined with the way Laurie had so tactlessly pointed out what was missing from the research, made it extremely difficult for her even to care why she was here, never mind concentrate on what she, Stan and Barry had worked out.
She picked up the waistcoat again and reminded herself forcefully that she must think only of the women they were trying to find. Their suffering was far worse than hers – the two couldn’t even begin to compare. It was hard to keep a passion going, though, for women she’d never met. However, their future, their very lives, could depend on her now, so she owed it to them to summon up the strategy she’d prepared with Barry and Stan and bring this to some kind of head.
‘What if I were to order six hundred of these?’ she enquired, turning back to Karima. ‘In each size, from ten to sixteen. That would be, let me see …’
‘Two thousand four hundred,’ Karima supplied frostily.
Sherry was impressed. ‘You’re very fast,’ she remarked.
Karima’s pinched face rejected the compliment. ‘That’s a very large order for one small boutique,’ she commented.
Sherry’s smile was pleasant. ‘I think I mentioned during my last visit that we were merging with a high street chain,’ she said. ‘It hasn’t gone through yet, but it’s looking likely. So I’m interested to know how your workshop would cope with an order that size.’ She was wandering over to look through Karima’s office window to where the machinists in the room outside were resolutely keeping their heads down as they got on with their work.
‘I would have to make some enquiries and get back to you,’ Karima told her. ‘But maybe you would be happier placing your order abroad. You’ll find the rates much more competitive than anything we can offer here. I’d be happy to make some recommendations.’
Yes, I bet you would, Sherry muttered to herself. ‘I might take you up on that,’ she said. ‘But in the meantime, why don’t I take four in each size? I’m sure your workshop can cope with that.’
‘We are very busy at the moment,’ Karima told her. ‘I would be unable to guarantee delivery.’
‘But you don’t know when I require them.’
Unfazed, Karima said, ‘Our order books are very full. We have commitments taking us to early next year.’
Sherry allowed her surprise to show. ‘You must be the envy of the East End rag trade,’ she said, ‘because from what I hear most other workshops are counting themselves lucky to get one order on the books, whereas you seem to be telling me you’re so overloaded you can hardly cope.’
‘We are very popular with our customers,’ Karima responded tartly.
Sherry looked out of the window again. ‘All those machines unmanned when you’re so busy,’ she said. ‘Amazing.’
‘We have adequate staff to meet our demands.’
Sherry’s eyes reached her at the very instant she realized her mistake.
‘All those unemployed cutters and machinists,’ Sherry said, digging her point home. ‘And all these idle work tables and machines. Why on earth wouldn’t you be willing to fulfil my order? I could take it elsewhere and my hand would be snatched off.’
‘You are most welcome to take it elsewhere,’ Karima snorted. ‘We do not need your business.’
Sherry’s eyebrows shot up at the rudeness, but her response was swift, and charged with meaning. ‘Oh, but I think you do,’ she said, and held Karima’s sharp, hostile eyes with her own.
At last the woman was thrown, for she clearly didn’t know how to react. Sherry wasn’t entirely sure where to go either, for she was way off what they’d rehearsed now, and still boiling with all her other resen
tments. She was aware she should be treading more carefully, but this snotty, corrupt little woman, put together with Laurie’s attitude this morning, was starting to irritate her to a point where she couldn’t give much of a damn about anything.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ she said suddenly, ‘why don’t we cut the crap going on here? You know exactly who I am and why I’m here, so let’s get down to what this is really about.’
Karima’s face twitched with shock. ‘Forgive me,’ she said stonily. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Well, first off,’ Sherry said, battling to keep her voice steady, ‘there’s Daya, the girl you took to Doctor Patel, and where exactly she might be now.’
‘I am told by her family that she has returned to India.’
‘Do I look like a fool?’ Sherry hissed.
Karima’s piercing eyes were turning to slits as her nostrils flared.
‘Where are those women?’ Sherry demanded.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘You’re not even a good liar,’ Sherry told her.
‘I’m afraid I must ask you to leave.’
‘I will leave when I’m good and ready. I want to know where those women are, and you’re going to tell me.’
‘I don’t know anything about any …’
‘I’m sure you’re aware that holding people against their will is an imprisonable offence, and probably the very least of your crimes where those women are concerned,’ Sherry cut in.
Karima’s pocked face was tight with anger. ‘If you are so certain that criminal actions have been carried out on these premises, may I ask why you have not contacted the police?’
Sherry’s eyebrows rose. Mrs Ghosh wasn’t only fast, she was smart. ‘As a matter of fact, I have spoken to the police,’ she responded. It was both a lie, and not a lie, for she had spoken to them, just not specifically about these women.
‘Then I can only assume that the police thought you as foolish as I do,’ Karima said hotly. ‘Or I’m sure they’d have contacted me.’
Sherry was about to shoot back another acid reply when she decided she’d gone far enough – probably too far, so it was time to retreat. ‘Don’t be surprised if they do,’ she warned, and picked up her bag. ‘Before I go,’ she said, turning as she reached the door, ‘I want you to give a message to your boss. Tell him he’s not going to get away with this. He has my word on it, he will not get away with this.’ And turning on her heel she stalked out of the room.
As she emerged on to New Road Stan came jaywalking through the traffic to join her. ‘How did it go?’ he demanded, falling in beside her. ‘Did she let on she knew who you were?’
‘She knows,’ Sherry confirmed. Now she was outside she wasn’t sure she wanted to admit to how far she’d gone.
‘So what happened? D’you place another order, or what?’
‘Actually no. What I did was tell her I know exactly what she’s up to, that I want to know where those women are, and I also sent a message to Eddie Cribbs telling him he wasn’t going to get away with this.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Stan grunted with a chuckle.
‘I’m serious.’
He stopped walking. ‘Tell me you’re not,’ he said. ‘Tell me that was a joke.’
She turned to look at him, more unnerved than she wanted him to know. She’d behaved stupidly and she knew it – not just that, she wouldn’t be the only one to pay, because the women almost certainly would too.
‘If you’ve delivered a threat to Eddie Cribbs,’ Stan said, ‘then you’re gonna need someone watching out for your back every minute from now on.’ He shook his big head in despair. ‘You’re a silly girl, Sherry Mac. A very silly girl. Blokes like that don’t mess about when it comes to protecting themselves, and they’ve got more ways of doing it than you’ll ever know. Jesus Christ,’ he growled, looking like he wanted to shake her. ‘Does Laurie know anything about this? Did she know you were going to do that?’
Sherry walked on angrily, wanting to scream at him that it was Laurie’s damned fault she’d done it, because if Laurie weren’t angling in on Nick, or trying to make her look inadequate as a reporter, she’d have been able to concentrate on what she was doing, instead of being thrown around all over the place by what move Laurie might make next on Nick, or Nick on Laurie. So don’t blame her for what had happened, blame them. No, not them, because that paired them together and she couldn’t have that, she just couldn’t.
Blame Laurie because she was the one who’d got her involved in this story, when it suited her, and now it didn’t any more, she was trying to make her look stupid in an attempt to get her out. Well to hell with that. This was her story now, she was the one who cared about those women, who’d gone undercover to find them, who was leading the hunt to track them down, and she was the one who was prepared to risk her life to save them. So Laurie Forbes could just go back to her broken heart and cancelled wedding, while she, Sherry, consulted her boyfriend Nick on how she should proceed from here.
‘Oh!’ Cheryl exclaimed, coming in the front door to find a stranger sitting on the sofa. ‘Didn’t know no-one was in here. Eddie around, is he?’
‘He’s in the bathroom,’ Barry replied, getting to his feet.
‘Oh. Right. So who are you?’
‘Barry. Barry Davidson.’
Putting her head to one side she gave him a frank once-over. Not bad. Quite tasty, actually, in a Phil in EastEnders sort of way. ‘Got some business with Eddie, have ya?’ she asked.
‘That’s right.’
She nodded, then stuck out her hand. ‘I’m Cheryl. Nice to meet you. Got a drink?’
Barry glanced down at the table where two glasses of Scotch and soda were sitting, barely yet touched. ‘Thanks,’ he said.
‘Right. Well, I suppose I’ll leave you to it,’ and picking up her shopping bags she sauntered on through to the bedroom, glad she had the real low-waisters on to give him a good view of what Eddie had and he didn’t.
She was just dropping her bags on the bed when Eddie came out of the bathroom. ‘What are you doing here?’ he grunted. ‘I thought you was shopping with your mum.’
‘I was, but she went to get her hair done, and then I was missing you, so I came back.’
‘You didn’t even know I was gonna be here,’ he told her, enjoying the feel of her as she slid her arms around him.
‘You said you might,’ she reminded him, testing to see if her fingers would meet behind his back. They did, just. ‘Who’s the bloke in there?’ she asked. ‘Don’t think I’ve seen him before.’
‘He’s no-one. Just a bloke.’ His hands were moving up under her T-shirt. ‘So what d’you get, something nice?’ he asked.
‘I’ll give you a show when he’s gone, if you like.’
He grinned. ‘Then we’d better hurry up and get rid of him,’ he responded, and giving her boobs a hearty squeeze he returned to the sitting room.
‘So where were we?’ he said to Barry, sinking into his favourite armchair. ‘Oh, that’s right, you were about to tell me something I already know.’
Barry’s face showed his discomfort.
Eddie picked up his drink. ‘So here we are, on our regular Wednesday meet,’ he said, ‘and all you can tell me is your friend Sherry Mac’s paid a visit to Mrs Ghosh.’ He took a large mouthful of Scotch. ‘Now, why do you think I wouldn’t already know that?’ he continued. ‘Do you reckon Mrs Ghosh would have kept it to herself, is that what you were afraid of?’
‘No,’ Barry answered, sounding as strained as he felt.
‘Then what?’ Eddie prompted. ‘What have you really come here to tell me? There’s got to be something, so don’t hold it in. You’ll feel a lot better once it’s out.’
Barry cleared his throat and took a breath. He was thinking fast, but nothing was happening. Apart from Sherry’s blow-up with the Ghosh woman, he just couldn’t think of anything that would satisfy the fat bastard, while enabling him to h
ang on to what was left of his integrity.
Eddie sighed and drank some more. ‘Tell me, how’s your old mum doing these days?’ he asked chattily.
Barry blanched.
Eddie looked at him.
‘Yeah, she’s good,’ Barry answered.
‘Get the new video and DVD, did she?’
Barry nodded.
‘What was that?’ Eddie said, cupping a hand to his ear. ‘Thanks? Did you say thanks? No problem, son. Least I could do. I was very upset to hear what happened. Let’s hope nothing like it happens again, with her having a weak heart, and all.’
Barry stared grimly down at his drink. He could tell him more, he could tell him a lot, in fact, but he hated the bastard so much he’d rather cut out his tongue – if it weren’t for his mum.
‘You’re wasting my time,’ Eddie told him, glancing up as Cheryl emerged from the bedroom. ‘Oi, scat,’ he barked. ‘Stay in there till I tell you to come out.’
Obediently she retreated, closing the door and sighing with boredom. She’d only wanted to go and play a game on the computer, that wasn’t too much to ask, was it? It weren’t as if she was interested in what they was talking about, and anyway she could hear from in here, so there wasn’t a lot of point sending her out, was there?
Flopping down on the bed, she put her hands behind her head and stretched out a leg. Idly she wondered who this Sherry Mac was. It was a name that seemed to be cropping up a lot lately, and from the odd snippets she’d caught it seemed Eddie weren’t too happy with her. Poor cow, he weren’t someone to be on the wrong side of, as well she knew, which was why she always did everything he said. No fuss, no anything, just give Eddie what he wanted, keep him happy, then he’d keep her happy too. Which reminded her, she ought to thank him again for giving her friend Marianne a job at the club. She was a really beautiful girl, Marianne, not too tall, but with great tits, a tight little ass and lovely coal-black skin. The punters liked black, and since Marianne was such a fantastic dancer as well as being different and exotic, Cheryl didn’t think she was going to have too much trouble getting her promoted to the star attraction.