by Neale, Kitty
They seemed to be talking about importing something. That must be the sort of thing embassy staff had to deal with all the time. She listened more closely.
The next big consignment was due tomorrow. There had to be complete secrecy about it. It was top quality and so they could all expect to make a lot from this, provided the authorities didn’t get wind of it.
‘You’ve made the necessary payments?’ asked one.
‘Of course. What do you take me for, an amateur? They’ll look the other way when it comes through and if not, I have taken the precaution of finding out where their children go to school,’ said another voice, as calmly as if he was discussing the weather. ‘If there’s any trouble we step in and remove the kids one by one, and then they’ll get the message.’
Penny’s blood ran cold. Were they saying what she thought they were saying? Had she heard it wrong, or mistranslated it in her nervousness?
‘You’d better have this all confirmed by tomorrow or Eduardo will see that you end up like the last one who messed up,’ the first voice warned. ‘And there wasn’t much left of him. Tonight he told me he’s planning a little recreation. Then from tomorrow he’s going to be checking every detail of this. If we can set this up we’ll be the prime importers of cocaine for all of Western Europe. Think what that will mean. So there’s absolutely no room for mistakes.’
‘Recreation, isn’t that we’re all about?’ said the other voice, and there was a round of laughter.
So there was no misunderstanding. This wasn’t some embassy trade delegation, these were hardcore cocaine smugglers and Eduardo appeared to be their boss. And if anyone slipped up, then their families were hurt. Penny thought she was going to be sick. The smell of the tonic and lime made her gag.
‘You all right?’ asked Frankie. ‘If you’re going to throw up then don’t do it here. I’m not clearing up after you, I’ve done enough of that already.’ He dashed off to mix another cocktail.
Penny shook her head, unable to speak, and tears came to her eyes – of disappointment, but mostly of terror. What should she do? Eduardo still wasn’t here – she could just leave now, slip through the side hatch to the bar and out that way. But then would he seek her out for the punishment the others talked about so casually? Her lovely, kind, charming Eduardo oversaw the kidnapping of children and the routine punishment of anyone who crossed him. Would he do the same to her if she let him down? Think, think, she told herself. His friends hadn’t seen her yet. They wouldn’t know she’d overheard them. Had she told him she spoke Spanish? No, she didn’t think so. So they wouldn’t know that she’d worked out what they were doing. But how could she get away without making him angry or suspicious?
‘Ah, there you are!’
Before she could make a decision, there was Eduardo, even better-looking in a blue shirt open at the neck, his curly dark hair swept back, smiling his heartbreaking smile. Penny tried to imagine that beautiful mouth giving the order to get rid of children and gagged again, trying to hide it by covering her mouth.
‘What is the matter?’ he asked, all concern. ‘You are so pale this evening.’
She couldn’t speak, just swallowed hard.
‘You’re looking very special in that dress,’ he went on. ‘I am a lucky man. Everyone will be looking at us.’
That was worse than ever. She couldn’t be seen with him now she knew what he’d done, what he was planning to do. She managed to find her voice.
‘I’m … I’m so sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I’m really not very well. I don’t think I can eat anything. I … I feel terrible.’
Was that her imagination or did his eyes narrow in disbelief? Had he taken one look at her and realised that she knew everything? Was he going to force her to come with him?
‘What are you still doing here?’ said Frankie in exasperation as he came to collect the tray of glasses. ‘Pardon me for interrupting a private conversation, but the sooner you go home the better. Nobody will thank you for spreading a bug around the place. I certainly don’t want to catch it.’ He was off again, all smiles at the new customers.
She shrugged. ‘I only came here so you wouldn’t think I’d stood you up. But I’m really not up to going anywhere. I’d better go straight home. Or,’ she tried to laugh, ‘the barman will kill me.’
‘Oh, that’s so sad!’ said Eduardo, and he really did seem to care. ‘Of course you mustn’t force yourself if you don’t feel well. I am dreadfully, dreadfully disappointed, but maybe another time, when you are better, yes?’
‘Maybe,’ she gulped.
‘Shall I walk you home? Do you live far away?’
No, no, he mustn’t find out where she lived. She’d be an easy target and then Maureen would be in danger as well. If they could kidnap children she dreaded to think what they’d do to a grown woman.
‘I … I couldn’t let you do that. You might catch what I’ve got,’ she improvised. ‘I’d never forgive myself if you did that. Really, I’ll be fine but I have to go now.’ Now, before I’m actually sick in front of everybody, she thought.
‘If you insist,’ he said, his eyes all kindness. He kissed her hand again. ‘Until the next time, then.’
‘Yes, until the next time,’ she said, and turned and almost ran through the door. Her only thought was to find Mark, but first she hurried to the toilets and shut herself in the stall. The coldness of the tiles sent a wave of shock through her and she was violently sick, even though she’d hardly eaten all day in anticipation of the meal to come. Ugh, she thought, that’s disgusting. I’m never going to be able to even look at a vodka and tonic again, let alone drink one.
Penny crouched on the floor until the nausea passed and gradually the line of tiles grew steadier. Eventually she pulled herself to her feet, at first holding on to the wall for support. This is no good, she thought, I’ve got to get out of here. Mark will be looking for me. What if he finds Eduardo and asks where I am? Will that make him a target as well?
That idea was so frightening that she forced herself to go back into the corridor and along to the worktable. To her huge relief he was still there, doing a last-minute repair to Fifi’s headdress, all red feathers and gold sequins.
‘You still here?’ he asked. ‘Not meeting up with lover boy after all? Got cold feet? Because it’s a shame for such a good-looking fellow to be lonely, so maybe I’ll …’
‘Mark, shut up,’ she hissed urgently. ‘I have to talk to you but not here. Can you leave that?’
‘Blimey, what’s rattled your cage?’ he demanded. ‘Yes, all right, this is finished anyway. I’m sick of the sight of it.’ He tucked the pile of feathers under the table, grabbed his coat from the back of a chair and stood up. ‘Shall we try Bar Italia?’
‘No, someone might see,’ Penny whispered. ‘We’ve got to get out of here and back to the flat without anyone seeing us and I’ll tell you then. It’s not safe before that.’
Mark rolled his eyes, clearly thinking she was crazy, but he went along with it. ‘Must be something important then. You’d better not disappoint me. If we go out of the fire exit we’ll end up in the side alley, so no one coming from the main or stage door will know we’ve left.’
‘That should be okay,’ she said, taking his arm to hurry him along. ‘Quick as you can, without drawing attention.’
They made their way to the fire exit and into the alley, which smelled of rubbish, discarded takeaways and worse. From there they could slip into a side street that led away from the club, and work their way around to the entrance to the flat.
Penny just about managed to get up the stairs and then collapsed on the sofa. The tears which she’d somehow held back since overhearing the group of men’s conversation now gushed out and she buried her face in a cushion as the sobs shook her body. Mark fetched a glass of water and waited.
At last she calmed down and sat upright, gratefully reaching for the glass. ‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. I was so terrified, you wouldn’t believe.’
‘For God’s sake, what is it?’ he asked, seriously worried now. ‘Are you ill or something?’
‘No, it’s worse,’ said Penny, and she told him what had happened in the bar less than an hour before.
For once Mark was speechless. He just stared at her, as if he couldn’t believe it. ‘You sure?’ he finally asked. ‘Sorry, stupid question. But it’s incredible. Hey,’ he said, attempting a smile, ‘most girls find their first date is married, or something boring like that. It’s not everyone who can say he was a homicidal cocaine smuggler.’ Penny didn’t laugh. ‘Sorry, bad taste. But you’ll be okay, because he doesn’t know that you know, and you were clever, pretending to be ill.’
‘I didn’t exactly have to pretend,’ she said.
‘Well, he won’t be suspicious. You did the right thing. God, I was completely taken in, I thought he looked like a total sweetie.’ Mark shook his head. ‘Just goes to show. Oh, you poor thing, all got up in your beautiful dress, and you didn’t even get your lovely meal. I wish I had the money to take you there. I would if I could, you know.’
‘I know,’ she said, managing a smile, ‘and I’d love that. But what do we do now? Do we tell someone? Do we call the police?’
‘I don’t know if Prescott would like it,’ said Mark. ‘He gets all sorts through those doors and plenty of them wouldn’t welcome a visit from the police. Anyway, what can you say? A group of men whose names you don’t know said something you can’t prove. And you don’t even know if Eduardo is his real name. You don’t know if he really has any connection to the embassy. Hell, you don’t even know if he’s Mexican.’
‘But they might harm the children!’ she wailed. ‘How can we stop that? Should we tell Maureen?’
‘But then won’t you have to say that you were going to go out with a punter?’ Mark pointed out. ‘Have you thought about that? So, do you still want to tell Maureen?’
‘Tell Maureen what?’ asked Maureen, who’d come in without either of them hearing. She wanted nothing more than to slump into a comfy chair and take off her shoes that pinched, but clearly there was a crisis. ‘What’s the big secret?’
Penny glanced at Mark but she didn’t have any energy left to pretend any more. So she confessed everything – being asked out, the idea of the date, and what had happened earlier that night.
Maureen sat and nodded and acted as if she’d heard it all before, even if this was one step beyond anything even she had experienced. Penny had feared she’d do her nut when she learnt about the date but it seemed as if Maureen took it in her stride, almost as if she’d expected nothing else. When she’d taken it all in, she straightened her shoulders.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘It’s not up to us. We tell Dave. It’s his club, so it’s his decision. We don’t tell him why you were hanging around the bar, just that you happened to overhear what was said and thank God you knew Spanish. I’ll do it right away. You stay here. We don’t know where Eduardo and his mates are so you wait until morning before going out. Mark, you okay to stay here?’
‘Of course,’ said Mark, offended, ‘where else would I be?’
‘Good,’ said Maureen, not even stopping to take off her coat, ‘and have lots of hot sugary tea, that’s good for shocks.’ She went across to Penny and hugged her. ‘It’ll be all right. We’ll talk properly tomorrow, but you get that lovely frock off and get into bed and let Mark look after you. I’ll see you in the morning.’
It had started to rain, and all the streets of Soho were shining and reflecting the coloured shop signs, the drains blocking up with wet cardboard, newspapers and all the dropped wrappers and beer cans of the day. Maureen picked her way through them, cursing her uncomfortable shoes. They’d seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the evening but now they were agony. Maybe she was reaching the age where she’d have to choose her footwear for comfort, not fashion. She shuddered. No, that was never going to happen.
Maureen turned over in her mind the best way to proceed. Part of her was mortified that the girl had had such a shock, and she knew that if anything had happened to her then Lorna would have had her guts for garters. But had she really been in danger? Could she have been exaggerating? No, Maureen thought, she wasn’t the sort to do that. If it had been any of the others – Michelle, say – she’d have wondered if she was lying to get attention or show off, but Penny wasn’t like that. All right, she shouldn’t have agreed to date a customer but the temptation of a meal at L’Escargot would have been hard for anyone to resist, let alone in the company of an interesting and attractive man. Still, they could talk about that tomorrow and she was willing to bet this would put the girl off men for a long while to come.
So how best to speak to Dave? He could hardly be surprised that criminals had been visiting his club – everyone and anyone passed through Soho and not all of them were going to be legit. So what would he want to do?
He’ll want to gain something from this, Maureen thought, use it to pay off a favour or make sure someone owed him one in the future. And if that was the way he’d approach it, then that was what she’d do as well. He’d thought he could threaten her with losing her position or sacking Penny. Here was her chance to show him just how indispensable some people could be. Right, Dave, you miserable drunken bastard, she thought. We’ll see how much you need us after this.
She paused at the corner of the street, pretending that she had to adjust her collar, checking the club’s main entrance and stage door for any signs of Eduardo and his friends, but the coast was clear. It was late and the bar would have shut a while ago, so presumably they’d gone off to somewhere that opened later or to get a good night’s sleep before the consignment arrived. The light in Dave’s office was still on, though, which was good, as long as he hadn’t had so much whisky that he’d fallen into a stupor at his desk. But that was unlikely. He seemed to be able to put it away steadily all day and keep functioning, God alone knew how.
Maureen opened the stage door and made her way to the office to confront him.
‘Let me get this right,’ said Dave after he’d heard what she had to say. ‘Our youngest, most wet-behind-the-ears dancer has uncovered an international drug-smuggling ring right under our noses? Do you really expect me to believe that?’ He’d definitely been drinking but still seemed able to think. ‘She’s not trying it on, is she?’
‘Give me some credit,’ snorted Maureen. ‘I know the girl and she’s no liar. Naïve, yes, but she wouldn’t make it up. She’s terrified. But you should be glad we got someone like her on board. Who else would have understood? Not only understood, but had the nous to know what it could mean and then tell me all about it? That took some nerve. And she hasn’t gone running off, she wants to be back in here tomorrow.’ She thought there was no harm in laying it on thick, even if the girl had said no such thing.
‘Hang on, let me work that one through,’ said Dave, rubbing his sweating forehead. ‘No, she is not coming in here tomorrow. If what you tell me is true and that’s when it all kicks off, it only takes one of them to think back and she becomes a target. We become a target. I’m not having anything disrupting the show. She can work behind the scenes if you like, have her help that poofter who does the costumes that she’s so friendly with. You think I don’t know nothing about what goes on but I know they’re thick as thieves. Or have her work in the office. She can translate this stuff’ – he picked up a handful of flyers – ‘into Spanish. Pull in some different tourists for a change. Yes, in fact that’s not such a bad idea. Let me sleep on that and we can sort something in the morning. Meanwhile, I’ve got some calls to make.’
He paused and moved around to sit on his desk, which groaned under his weight. ‘We can make this work for us, Maureen.’ Oh, so it was ‘we’ now, she thought. But she said nothing. ‘Yes, it’s occurring to me that this is a very useful piece of information. A word in the ear of the right authorities could be very handy. Oh, they’ll love us. We’ll be slap bang in their good books. A reputable business, eager
to work with the law. Unlike that bunch of shysters doing the Ashdown development.’ He smiled, showing brown stained teeth, and Maureen thought she preferred him when he was angry. ‘Yes, we can turn this to our advantage and get one up on that sorry load of bastards. You know what? I love it! I absolutely love it! I knew you’d see me right!’ He smiled even more repulsively. ‘Don’t suppose you’d like to make a night of it and celebrate properly?’
Maureen felt her stomach heave at the very idea but kept her revulsion from her face. No point in getting back in his favour and then blowing it after two minutes.
‘Afraid I’m completely bushed, Dave,’ she said, which happened to be true. ‘Me feet are killing me. I got to get back and check that Penny’s okay, if you don’t mind.’
‘Shame, Maureen, we was good together, wasn’t we?’ he said, attempting to put an arm round her. But before she could give him what for there was a piercing scream from the direction of the stage door.
‘Help! Let me in! Let me in!’
Chapter Thirty-One
‘What the bleedin’ hell is it now?’ growled Dave, making no move to help whichever woman was shouting. ‘Leave it, Maureen, come on, we was just getting interesting.’
But Maureen couldn’t ignore a woman shouting for help, and ran out of the office and towards the stage door. Flinging it open, she was greeted with the almost unrecognisable sight of Michelle. Her clothes were torn, her face was beaten and there was blood pouring from her mouth. If it wasn’t for her curly brown hair Maureen would have struggled to know who she was. She had never seen a woman so badly battered.
‘What the hell has been going on?’ she demanded, as if she didn’t know. With a sinking feeling, Maureen guessed that what everyone had warned Michelle about had just happened.