The Ladykiller

by Martina Cole

  Now her mother was worried about her and, if he was really honest with himself, so was he. He understood her much more than she had ever realised; she was a ponce of Olympian standards, but she had never missed an opportunity to pick up her allowance. She should have been at his offices the night before to pick up the money, but she had been a no-show. That was not like his daughter at all – she craved money like a junkie craved a fix. She spent like a woman with no fucking arms – on clothes, shoes and, unfortunately, men. His Jessie never missed her cash payment; she had her credit cards as well, but he could monitor them, so she knew the value of a pound. Jessie was a druggie, a drunk and a waste of space, but she was never late for her allowance. He made sure that it was far too lucrative for her to turn down.

  So where the fuck was she?

  Jessie Flynn opened her eyes, and fear enveloped her once more.

  It was pitch dark, and she was aware that she was bound, both her hands and her feet tied. For all her exploits, she had never found herself in a predicament like this. She was racking her brains to work out not only who the fuck she had upset recently, but who would have the guts to do this to her knowing who her father was. She knew, on one level, she was in serious trouble, but she was still having a problem accepting that.

  She was Jessie Flynn, for fuck’s sake! Her dad was the biggest Face in town! That had always meant she was immune to aggravation of any kind – even when she caused outrageous problems for herself, those problems were automatically negated by her father’s timely intervention.

  She strained her eyes to see where she was being held captive, but the darkness was total. There was nothing to see at all – just a pure blackness. She was actually truly frightened, and that shocked her. She had never felt real fear before – it was an alien concept – and she swallowed down the scream that she could feel building up inside her throat. She would never let anyone know that she was scared or worried about anything. All her life she had lived behind a mask of defiance, and she was not going to let this situation freak her out.

  She took a few deep breaths to calm herself; her heart was hammering in her ears, and she could hear it so loudly it was like a drum beating in the room. It bothered her more than she liked to admit. It was too quiet, that was the problem; there was literally no other sound than her own breathing, her own heartbeat.

  Instinctively, she knew that was not a good sign. This was not a situation that she could interpret or make any sense of. She was not unused to waking up somewhere strange, and without any memory whatsoever of how she had arrived there. She would often see a man asleep beside her and have no idea who he was or where she had come across him. But she would find out eventually; she would talk to them and gradually she would get the gist of how she had arrived in their bed and, somewhere in the back of her mind, she would eventually dredge up something to explain the events of the night in question.

  This was different. She was tied up and she was in pain. Her arms felt like they were being wrenched from their sockets, and her ankles were tied so tightly she couldn’t feel her feet.

  She felt the fear rising inside her once again, and she fought it down; whoever had done this to her would never get the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in the darkness, or calling for help. She was shrewd enough to know that, wherever she was, crying out for help would be futile. If there was any chance of being heard, her mouth would have been taped shut. The silence around her was complete, like the darkness; wherever she was, she was not somewhere random passers-by would stumble across, let alone somewhere where noise would cause people to panic or phone the Filth. She was being held captive for some reason; she just hoped that the reason would be explained to her sooner rather than later.

  She was cold, and she could smell the mustiness of the mattress she was lying on – the place was damp, so she could even be underground. The silence and the stench made her think that might be the case. She knew, deep in her guts, that wherever she was, she was not there for any reason that might benefit her.

  She closed her eyes tightly because, once more, she was feeling the urge to scream her lungs out. She needed to use the toilet, she felt a sudden urge to open her bowels; she was coming down fast, and she could feel it. She had not eaten for a few days and, now that she was sobering up, she was becoming even more afraid of the dangerous predicament she had found herself in. She tried to bring her hands out from behind her back, but she couldn’t. They were tied so together tightly, every movement caused burning pain. It occurred suddenly to her that she was still fully clothed, so whoever had done this to her had not touched her in a sexual way. She was not sure that was a good thing either – that was something she could understand, could even control. Everything in her life until now had always been about using her feminine wiles to get what she wanted.

  She took a few more deep breaths, but the panic lingered close to the surface. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to relax her body, but it was hard. Her arms were screaming; she had probably been tied up for a good few hours, and her trying to move around was causing the pain. She tried to wiggle her fingers – a voice in her head was telling her to keep the circulation going. Tears formed in her eyes, and she blinked them away furiously. She was not going to show her fear to anyone, that was not in her make-up.

  This had to be a kidnapping. The thought actually gave her a thrill of anticipation – if that was the case then her dad would pay them and that would be it. Though she also knew her dad would never rest till he had tracked them down – not for taking her hostage, of course, but for trying to have him over. She suspected he wouldn’t actually bother to pay them if it was left up to him – it was her mum who would insist. Her mum was all he cared about really, and his grandson, of course. Her son was the only saving grace she had; her dad couldn’t control her life, so he was determined to control his grandson’s. He loved him though. She saw that, and it hurt her somehow.

  She managed to turn over on to her belly, and that eased the pain in her shoulders. Jessie had never in her life felt so vulnerable or so alone, and she was craving a drink. Not water – though even that would be welcome. No, she was craving a real drink. She needed a large vodka, or a Scotch, just something to take the edge off. Valium at least would help her relax and work out what she was going to do. It occurred to her that, for the first time in years, she was stone-cold sober, without the crutch of either chemicals or alcohol.

  She heard the scraping sound of a heavy door opening somewhere in the distance, outside the room where she was tied up like a kipper, and she felt the unmistakeable prickle of genuine terror.

  Detective Inspector Timothy Branch was annoyed even though he had always known that this day would come. He was not a fool – no matter what Michael Flynn might think. He had been aware from the first moment he had taken the man’s money that he was, to all intents and purposes, now owned by him. He would be called on at some point to repay the favour, he had just not expected it to come so fucking soon. In fairness, this was actually a police matter – a missing daughter was not something to take lightly. He shouldn’t feel so angry about being summoned into his offices by Flynn, or about the man demanding in a loud and threatening manner that he wanted results.

  ‘Take the opportunity to earn your fucking keep, you useless fucking ponce!’

  That hurt. Timothy knew when he was being taken for a cunt, and the man he was dealing with was not someone who could be palmed off with legal jargon, more’s the pity. He knew he had to deliver, and deliver sooner rather than later.

  Michael Flynn was like a man demented. ‘She disappeared three days ago, Branch, and I have it on good authority that she was last seen in a pub in Upney. She scored some coke and grass, and she left around nine, and no one has seen her since.’

  Timothy Branch nodded, as if he was in full accord with everything he was hearing. His carefully modulated pseudo-posh voice was like a red rag to a bull, though he wasn’t aware of that just yet. He was a snob, and a social-climbing
arsewipe who had no qualms about taking money on the side to bankroll his wife’s pretentious upper-middle-class lifestyle, and who had believed that his expertise would never be compromised by his association with a known villain. His stupidity and his arrogance were exactly the reasons why he was on Michael’s payroll in the first place; without someone like Flynn on his side, he had no chance of hitting the big time.

  ‘I will put out a missing persons report, Michael, but, in all honesty, she will probably turn up as per usual, we both know that.’

  Michael looked at the man he had been paying handsomely for a long time, and it occurred to him that he had been paying out a decent wedge to a complete fucking moron. Timothy had to have known that at some point he would be called on to deliver, that the day would come when he would be asked to do a favour of some description. Now he was being asked to do something that he should be doing anyway – looking for a missing girl – but he was not really demonstrating the level of interest that Michael’s regular payments should have guaranteed. In fact, he was not showing the least bit of willing, and that alone was irritating. He was showing no consideration of how much he had pocketed over the last few years, or how his rise through the ranks of the police force had been orchestrated by the same man he was now attempting to mug off.

  Michael Flynn was not in the mood for this kind of aggravation; the last few hours had been a revelation to him as to how deeply his daughter and her fucking lifestyle had impacted on him personally. He was now being treated like a fucking tourist by a no-mark who relied on him for a second wage, and that was not something he could allow. ‘You useless fucking cunt! All the money I have slipped your way, and you treat me like a fucking greebo! Like a fucking no one!’ He dragged the terrified man from his chair, savouring his fear, and his dawning comprehension of exactly who he was dealing with. ‘I expect the best, because that is what I have paid for over the years. And you are two seconds away from making me regret my decision to put you on my payroll. A decision that I can easily rectify – and that, my friend, would of course mean that you would have to return every penny I fucking shoved your way over the years. You avaricious useless fucking ponce! I hate dishonest Old Bill. If I ever get a capture it had better be from one I couldn’t buy. That’s an honest nicking, and I could swallow that. But Filth like you are only there to do what I fucking request.’

  Timothy Branch lay on the floor of his office, with his arms over his head to protect himself from any other onslaught from Michael Flynn. He was well aware that everyone in the station could hear the conversation and they would all know exactly what was going on. He was waiting for the beating that he was convinced was going to come. He had made a mistake of Olympian standards, and he had brought the situation on himself. He had honestly believed that his being a policeman, a senior policeman, would have guaranteed him immunity from this sort of behaviour. He had assumed that Flynn, for all his money and his reputation, would have thought long and hard before he raised his hand to a member of the police force. But he had been very wrong. Flynn’s power went far deeper than he had ever anticipated. The fact that no one had come to his aid was a real lesson for Timothy Branch. The outer offices were now deathly quiet; everyone out there was listening to this exchange and he knew his humiliation was complete.

  Then the office door opened with a bang, and Chief Superintendent Dennis Farthing came into the room like an avenging angel, all cigarette smoke and false teeth. Timothy Branch felt the relief washing over him, until he heard the man say with mock sincerity, ‘A sorry business all this, Michael, but don’t you worry, my friend – I will have my best men on it, of that you can be assured.’

  Michael Flynn felt the anger seeping out of him. This was what he wanted – a guarantee that everything that could be done to find his daughter was being done. His wife needed that, she needed to know that Jessie was being treated as a priority, that he was using all his considerable power to locate her child. But, deep down in his gut, he knew that something was not right, that this was far more serious than anyone really thought. Jessie never missed a pay day, and she never went twenty-four hours without ringing her mother. Even drugged out of her brains, she still rang her mum for a chat, because she knew that if she didn’t get in touch Josie would worry herself sick. Jessie knew that her mum needed to hear from her, that she wasn’t a well woman in her own way. It was Jessie’s only real saving grace that she never let a day go by without a call to her mum.

  Now it was almost four days since anyone had seen or heard from her. If Michael was honest, he was feeling more uneasy by the hour.

  Josephine Flynn was having trouble breathing. It was a warning sign before she got one of her panic attacks, so she sat down in her chair and tried to regulate her breaths. She hated herself for her weakness, but she had always suffered with her nerves. She could feel her heartbeat slowing down, and she closed her eyes in relief.

  She savoured the calmness that washed over her, the feeling of normality and the knowledge that she had conquered her demons if only for a little while. She opened her eyes slowly, and looked around her sadly; she knew she should motivate herself, tidy up, do something constructive. But she wouldn’t because she never did. No matter how many times she convinced herself that she was ready to finally do it, to finally take control of her life and her surroundings, when it came to the crunch, she never did anything that made a real difference.

  She noticed that the curtains were open; Michael must have snuck in and opened them while she was sleeping. If he had not opened them, she wouldn’t have bothered. She liked them closed, she liked to shut out the world, the real world. Michael always argued that they had such wonderful views – all farmland and no other houses in sight. He thought that would make her feel better, make her feel easier in herself. But he didn’t understand that the view outside the windows was irrelevant, she had no interest in it whatsoever. She had no real interest in anything other than her immediate surroundings.

  She got up slowly and went to her dressing table. Michael had left her a pitcher of fresh water, and she smiled at his kindness. She poured a glass out for herself, and then she meticulously counted out her medication. She swallowed the pills quickly, savouring the feel of them in her mouth as she forced them down with huge gulps of the fresh water her husband knew she needed. She felt better immediately; she had taken her first step into the day, a day that was as fraught for her as every other day in her life.

  She went back to her chair, and settled herself down once again. Everywhere she looked was cluttered – piles of photographs, newspapers, or used jars. Shoes were piled in the corners, and her clothes were strewn all over the floor. Rubbish was kept in bin bags, and she had placed them lovingly against the walls. The clutter was her armour against the world – it made her feel safe. She could look at something that she had kept for reasons known only to herself, and she could smile in remembrance of a memory long gone – a memory no one cared about but her.

  Now her darling Jessie was gone. No word at all for four long days, and Josie knew in her gut that something bad had happened to her daughter.

  She opened up her make-up bags which were never far from her side and, pulling a large mirror towards her, she began the long and painstaking artistry she used to create the image that allowed her to face the world as best she could.

  Michael Flynn was tired. He had not slept properly for days and, even though he had not believed it possible, he was deeply concerned for his daughter’s safety. She was selfish, greedy, manipulative and devoid of any real morals, but that was exactly why she never failed to turn up for her allowance. She had very expensive tastes, and she liked to be able to indulge herself; she wasn’t as low rent as she made out.

  She was never off his radar, no matter what anyone else might think or what he might let them think. She was always going to be his baby. She was a girl who made it very difficult to love her, who knew exactly how to rattle his cage. It was something she had made her mission in life; hurtin
g her father was something she enjoyed so much she had even left her own son behind in her pursuit of his unhappiness. He had taken on the child’s responsibility, along with his wife and, to his daughter’s chagrin, it had not been a chore for them. In fact, it had been almost like a rebirth for them both, inasmuch as they had adored their grandson from the moment he had entered the world. Jessie, on the other hand, had not been miraculously changed by giving birth to her own flesh and blood as her mother had been convinced would be the case. Instead she had abandoned her little son at the first available opportunity, and she had drifted in and out of his life ever since. Michael hated her for that – even more than he hated her for how much she had hurt her poor mother.

  Jessie thought she was the only person who was worth a day’s interest. But that was his daughter – an arrogant fucker, who had no moral compass whatsoever. She saw everyone around her as someone to be used for her own ends, and that included her own child, her own flesh and blood. He had been forced to accept that about her over the last few years and it had not been as easy as everyone had believed. It had been very hard for him. Because he had loved her with a vengeance. She was his baby girl, his only child. She was also a selfish, vicious, bitter, manipulative, avaricious, devious two-faced ponce, whose only interest in life seemed to be getting drunk, drugged, laid, or a combination of all three. She had been the apple of his eye once, and now she was someone he had to live down on a daily basis. It was only his standing that stopped him from hearing the real gossip concerning her, and he knew that was a good thing, because if she pushed him too far, he might finally do something to get himself nicked.