I’d fully expected to endure another outburst, but for whatever reason, Alfie decided to abandon intimidating me and paced down the corridor towards his suite. After the door slammed behind him, I turned to Nathan and exhaled. I hadn’t realised I’d been holding my breath until then.
Nathan and I were sitting opposite each other on the white leather chairs while Tommy, Frankie and Knuckles prepared the yacht for departure.
‘I’m going to pack our bags, so we’re ready to go,’ I said when they were out of earshot.
‘Only bring the essentials – we don’t want to carry too much,’ Nathan replied under his breath.
*
Once inside the privacy of our room, I placed some spare clothes and our forged documents in the bottom of our rucksacks, then put them back in the cupboard with our jackets over them. Before I went back outside to join Nathan, I changed into my trainers and warm black clothing, so I was ready to make a quick getaway when the time was right.
‘You should get changed while nobody’s around,’ I said when I returned to the saloon and found Nathan sitting alone. ‘Wear something black; we’ll be harder to spot in the dark.’
Nathan nodded. ‘OK, I’ll be back in a minute.’
While I was waiting, Alfie reappeared from his room, carrying a rucksack. I summoned every bit of strength I had and looked him in the eye. Without saying a word, he put the bag down on the polished table next to me, walked over to the bar and fixed himself a neat Jack Daniel’s.
‘Listen, Gemma, I’m sorry about earlier,’ he said, fixing me with his intense blue stare.
Relieved that his mood had improved, I took a deep breath and hoped my voice stayed steady. I didn’t want to give away how scared I was feeling. I hoped Nathan would come back soon, so I didn’t have to be alone with Alfie. I didn’t feel safe around him. He was far too unpredictable when he was stressed.
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,’ I replied after a lengthy pause.
Alfie sat down next to me and started taking the plastic bags out of the rucksack, placing them all over the table. ‘These are the most valuable assets you can have. You wouldn’t think something so small would be worth so much money, would you?’ Alfie grinned.
‘No.’ I smiled politely and tried my best to appear relaxed. I didn’t want Alfie to know a knot had formed in the pit of my stomach.
‘And they’re much harder to trace than cash. You could easily hide a stone worth a million pounds in your pocket, and nobody would know it was there.’ Alfie’s face broke into a huge smile.
That’s good to know, I thought. Information like that might come in handy in the future.
Alfie stretched out his long legs and examined a bag of diamonds. He took out a handful and held them up to the light. ‘Look at the way they sparkle. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?’
‘Yes.’ I nodded and gave him a half-smile. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Alfie was turning soft.
‘No two diamonds have exactly the same characteristics. Did you know that?’ Alfie tilted his head to one side and looked at me.
‘No,’ I replied before taking a stone out of his hand and studying it.
‘Each one is totally unique. They’re just like snowflakes.’
‘Or fingerprints,’ I slipped in.
Alfie raised an eyebrow. In an attempt to suppress the panic that was beginning to rise in me, I swept my hair over one shoulder, hoping to appear casual. Fingers crossed, he wouldn’t read too much into my stupid comment.
‘Why did you say that?’ Alfie glared at me.
‘I keep wondering what will happen to us when we get caught.’
‘We’re not going to get caught.’
I had to hold in a sigh. I should have known that would be his response. Alfie thought he was above the law. He considered himself bulletproof.
‘Terry will be here soon to pick this lot up, and then we’ll be on our way. We’ve got cargo to deliver.’
I’d completely forgotten about the hundreds of packages of cocaine that were stashed on board.
‘But how are you going to get away with smuggling the drugs into another country?’
‘I can assure you, it’s easy enough – we’ve done it loads of times before.’ Alfie laughed. Nothing fazed him.
Alfie peered out the window, so we stopped talking. I turned around when I heard footsteps on deck and saw Terry heading towards us.
‘Sorry, I’m late.’
I glanced at my watch; it was quarter past six.
‘What took you so fucking long?’
‘The traffic was heavy.’
‘It must have been some tailback. We’ve been waiting for you for days.’
Nathan came back into the saloon and took a seat at the table. I got up and went to stand behind his chair. We watched while Terry ran his beady black eyes over the jewellery before Alfie put it back in the rucksack.
What happened next was surreal. The sound of machine-gun fire spraying outside caused panic to rip through the room. Shaking with fear, I dropped to my knees and crouched down behind Nathan’s chair. Listening to the fast-firing weapons sent terrifying thoughts coursing through my mind. Nathan had to drag me from where I’d become rooted to the spot and force me under the table. Then he covered my head with his arms.
‘The cops have got us surrounded,’ Tommy shouted down the stairwell.
‘For fuck’s sake, Terry, you’ve led them straight to us. You dopey bastard.’ Pulling out a handgun, Alfie pointed it at Terry. Then he pushed the jeweller in front of him, using him as a human shield. ‘You two stay there,’ Alfie said, looking over his shoulder to where Nathan and I were huddled under the table. He stepped out on deck, and disappeared from sight.
The moment I’d been dreading for months had finally arrived. As Nathan and I held each other close, I suddenly became aware of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. This must have been how Bonnie and Clyde felt when they were ambushed by the police, I thought. Their dramatic and untimely end made them into glorified legends, the same wouldn’t be said for us. Being detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure wasn’t something to be proud of. To think, Alfie always used to brag that he’d never get caught. Looks like he was wrong about that.
‘Now’s our chance,’ Nathan said as the gun battle began.
The sound of his voice made me put everything else out of my mind. Nathan held my hand and pulled me out from under the table. Grabbing Alfie’s rucksack, he swung it over his shoulder.
‘Let’s go, Gemma.’
We’d had everything crossed that an opportunity would present itself to allow us to jump ship. But now that it had, I wasn’t sure I was ready to disappear into the night. I never imagined our lives would lead us down this path. I just hoped we weren’t going to spend the rest of our days living in fear.
‘We need to get going.’ Nathan squeezed my hand to get my attention.
‘OK.’ I heard myself answer, but my mind was elsewhere.
‘We haven’t got much time.’
I tried to focus, but the noise of the gunfire was deafening. We were only going to have one chance to escape, so everything needed to be perfect. We couldn’t afford to forget anything, but there was so much to remember.
‘Wait, Nathan, we haven’t got the passports. You get our bags and jackets from the cabin, and I’ll get the cash.’
Luckily for us, Alfie hadn’t locked the safe after he’d taken the jewellery out. He’d left the door wide open, and bundles of notes just lay there stacked in piles. Using both hands, I placed all the money in an empty rucksack, leaving only the gold bars behind. They’d be too heavy for us to carry. Our confiscated mobile phones were also there, so I took those along with the charger on his bedside cabinet.
‘Are you ready?’ Nathan said from the doorway.
All of a sudden, the shots ceased, and everything fell silent. Nathan came across to where I was standing and took the rucksack from me.
‘Gemma, we need to get out of here.�
�
Who would have thought it? After all the months we’d spent following Alfie’s orders, just like that our time together had come to an end.
‘Torch the yacht,’ we heard Alfie shout.
‘Oh my God,’ I gasped as I tried to process Alfie’s words.
He knew we were still on board, but he was prepared to set the yacht ablaze to destroy any evidence it contained. Even though I knew he was capable of cold-blooded murder, I was shocked that he’d go that far. Alfie was willing to burn us alive to stop himself from being linked to his crimes. I’d always known Alfie had an unpredictable nature and was difficult to read. But now that he was cornered, he was showing his true colours, and that made me feel sick to my stomach.
Nathan and I listened to the drama unfolding out on deck. It wasn’t long before we heard the sound of the fire crackling as it started to take hold. Then a car’s tyres screeched before it sped away. Police cars followed, their sirens wailing loudly before they trailed off.
Harbour staff fought to control the blaze as thick black smoke filled the air above the marina, but the back of the yacht was quickly engulfed in flames.
‘This could explode any minute. Let’s get out of here,’ Nathan said. Swinging the rucksack full of cash onto his back, he took me by the hand.
Stepping out of Alfie’s cabin, we could see there was no way to get out on deck from the stairs as flames were licking the rear of the yacht. I turned to look at Nathan. My breathing became rapid as the reality of our situation hit home. I tried to remain calm, but it was like fighting a losing battle. I was a complete bundle of nerves.
‘Don’t be scared,’ Nathan said. He pulled me towards him and kissed the top of my head. ‘It’s going to be OK, Gem.’ Nathan spoke to me the way a parent would when they were reassuring a frightened child. ‘We’re going to get out of here now.’
‘How are we going to do that? The stairs are on fire.’ I had to summon every bit of strength I had to hold back my tears.
‘We’re not going to use the stairs.’ Nathan took me by the hand and led me back into Alfie’s suite. Then holding on to my shoulders, he looked into my eyes. ‘Nobody knows we’re on board and we want to keep it like that. If we can get to the dinghy, we can use it to get away.’
‘But how are we going to get to it?’ I reached forward and grabbed onto his hands.
Nathan’s brown eyes swept across the room. ‘We’ll have to use this hatch.’ Letting go of me, he opened the vent in Alfie’s cabin. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes.’
I drew in a deep breath, and Nathan helped me climb out. He signalled to me to crouch down and keep quiet. Covering my mouth with my trembling hands, I sat in silence, for what seemed like an eternity until he joined me.
Paying no attention to the chaos going on around us, we crawled along the deck, hoping nobody would spot us. Thankfully the smoke provided us with cover, but it was difficult to breathe as the toxic air filled our lungs. Edging our way to the far end of the yacht where the dinghy was moored, we lowered ourselves onto it. Nathan untied the inflatable and pushed it away from the burning vessel with the oar.
Looking out into the darkness, we sat side by side on the bottom of the boat. Even though we were off the yacht, my pulse was still racing. Nathan grazed his thumb along the side of my mouth and stared at me from beneath his dark lashes.
‘So far, so good,’ he said.
Nathan got on to his stomach, crawled to the front of the dinghy and lent over the edge. Gripping one of the oars with both hands, he plunged it into the inky water, first on one side, then the other, like he was paddling a canoe. After a few moments, he stopped, and staying low, he looked over his shoulder towards the burning yacht. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he waited to see if anyone had noticed the dinghy slipping away into the night.
‘We’re almost there,’ Nathan said.
I managed a weak smile, but a feeling of unease swept over me as he inched the dinghy further away from the jetty. Despite Nathan’s encouraging words, we still had a long way to go before we’d be out of sight.
As I sat huddled in the dark, I could hear police sirens all around me, and that made panic rise up within me. I needed to block out the sound, so I closed my eyes and listened to the water gently lapping on the side of the dinghy. If I focused on that, I might be able to slow my breathing down. I had to get a grip and stay strong, but that was easier said than done. A voice in my head kept telling me this wasn’t going to end well. Alfie would never surrender. That wasn’t his style.
‘Have we got much further to go?’ I asked, peering out into the darkness as my pulse pounded in my ears. This was pure torture.
‘No, we’re nearly there.’ Nathan turned and looked over his shoulder at me, then flashed me a bright smile.
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I smiled back anyway.
The frantic car chase continued through the busy streets of Boulogne while we battled to make it to safety. The sound of wailing police sirens carried out to sea, on the cold December breeze, and gave Nathan and me an eerie reminder that Alfie was still at large.
‘Where are we heading to?’ I asked, realising we hadn’t discussed this part of the plan.
‘I’m going to moor up in the next marina.’
Nathan continued lying on his stomach, paddling the dinghy with gentle strokes to avoid drawing attention to us.
‘We’re nearly there now. Are you OK?’ Nathan asked, pausing to stretch out his shoulders.
I could see his breath in the cold night air, but had to strain to hear what he was saying over the fire engines’ sirens. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’
I hoped I sounded more convincing than I felt. I was terrified, and to think, running away from Alfie was all my idea. No wonder Nathan had been reluctant. If I’d known it was going to be like this, I would have been as well.
‘How adventurous are you feeling?’ Nathan asked, looking at me over his shoulder.
‘Why?’ I asked, studying his profile.
Amused by my question, Nathan smiled. His white teeth shone out like a beacon in the darkness. When he turned around to face me, I narrowed my eyes, dreading his reply.
‘I’ve just had an idea,’ Nathan began, having adopted a neutral expression. ‘How would you feel about crossing the English Channel?’
‘In this? Please tell me you’re joking.’ I searched his eyes for reassurance.
‘You want to go back to England, don’t you?’
‘Yes, but we’d never make it. It’s miles away, Nathan.’
‘Before you dismiss the idea, just think about it. Alfie would never expect us to do something like that.’
‘Even so, it’s a terrible idea.’ I shook my head in disbelief. ‘We’ll never be able to cross a busy shipping lane in a flimsy little dinghy in the pitch black.’
‘I just thought it might be worth a try. Boulogne is swarming with police.’
‘I know it is, but we’ll have to think of something else. It’s too risky.’
‘It was just a suggestion.’ Nathan shrugged his shoulders before plunging the lightweight oar back into the icy water.
‘Anyway, we’d probably die of hypothermia on the way. It’s absolutely freezing tonight.’
‘You don’t need to tell me that. The water’s so cold, it’s made my hands go numb.’ Nathan put down the oar and rubbed his fingers together to try and get the feeling back into them.
I wished we could get away from here. The air was thick with the smell of burning fibreglass. Hopefully, Nathan would manage to navigate us out of this marina soon. Then we could continue on foot.
We were making slow progress. The flashing lights of the fire engines had attracted quite a crowd to the marina. People had gathered along the jetty to watch the crew attempting to put out the blaze. With hundreds of pairs of eyes trained on the yacht, we couldn’t afford to draw attention to ourselves. But once we were far enough away from the Lady Nora not to be spotted, Nathan put both the oars into the
water and started to row the short distance to Le bassin Napoléon.
We’d made it out of the harbour undetected, and luckily this marina was deserted. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody witnessed our arrival, we moored up and began walking in the opposite direction as quickly as our frozen limbs would allow.
‘We need to get as far away from here as possible,’ Nathan said, intertwining his fingers in mine.
‘Where are we going?’
‘I’m not sure, but let’s keep moving.’
‘We could go somewhere on the train,’ I suggested, knowing how lax the security was.
‘That’s a good idea. We’ll head to the station and get on the first train out of here.’ Nathan stopped and looked at me.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘We should put our hats on. They’ll be security cameras at the station, maybe even police. We don’t want to risk being spotted.’
‘I’m scared, Nathan.’
‘Don’t be. Even if the police are at the station, they aren’t going to take any notice of us, they’ll be too busy looking for Alfie.’
For our sake, I hoped they’d already caught him. A shiver shot down my spine at the thought of Alfie being on the run. When the firefighters put out the blaze on the Lady Nora, he’d know we’d escaped. I wondered how far he’d be prepared to go to find us. We’d have to make sure we covered our tracks and left him no leads if we wanted to vanish into thin air, or we’d spend the rest of our lives running scared.
In some ways, Alfie had done us a favour when he’d made us leave home with little more than the clothes on our backs. We had nothing personal with us that connected us to our old lives, and that would make us harder to identify if we did get caught.
88
Gemma
To avoid walking right past all the activity at the marina, we took the long way round to the station. Pacing along the pavements with our hearts pounding, we didn’t have time to admire the glittering festive displays and Christmas lights; we were too busy trying to keep our heads down.
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