Friendless Lane

by Helen Black

  ‘I hear you,’ Jack replied.

  ‘I didn’t have anything to do with that. You’ve got to believe me.’

  Jack didn’t know if this scumbag had killed Gem in person. Maybe not. But he had been involved in taking her from the club. He had known where she was held. And he had moved her dead body. There was no way he was walking away from this.

  ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘You’ll get your chance to tell us what happened back at the nick. In the meantime, I just want to ask you—’

  ‘If I’d known he was going to do that, I would have stopped him. But I had no idea.’

  Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? So how did you think it was going to play out when you took her from the club?’

  Mujbi shook his head, sending sweat flying towards Jack. ‘Nah, nah, you’ve got it wrong. No one took her, she came to us.’

  Jack was about to point out that there was CCTV footage of Gem being driven away from the club, but what was the point? Anyway, he’d rather spring that on Mujbi in an interview; get him to repeat that Gem had made her own way over to them, then chuck the footage at him.

  ‘Whatever you say,’ he said.

  ‘Seriously, man.’ Mujbi’s voice cracked. ‘She must have been trying to find us, because there’s never any feds out there. Never.’

  Jack stopped dead. He stared at Mujbi.

  ‘She can’t have been on some routine patrol,’ said Mujbi. ‘For one thing, she was on her own.’

  Mujbi wasn’t talking about Gem. He was talking about a policewoman. A policewoman who had been murdered, then her body moved.

  Jack leapt into the van, his hands around Mujbi’s throat before anyone could react. The prisoner’s eyes widened in terror, his mouth gaped. He writhed from side to side, hands cuffed behind his back.

  ‘Where is Razwan Alvri?’ Jack roared.

  [#]

  Lilly opened the car door as silently as possible and slid out.

  Even in the rain, the ground felt crunchy under her feet. She hobbled slightly as something stuck to the heel of her boot, and bent to pull it off. In her fingers she could feel the odd texture of a small rock, light and porous, the size of a cherry tomato. She flicked it away and crept towards the house.

  It was big. An old farmhouse that had once been the heart of a family who made their living on the land, now sliding into decline, the woodwork rotting, tiles missing from the roof.

  It was in darkness except for one light shining from a small upstairs window that looked like it might be a bathroom.

  Lilly skirted around a storm porch, the steps crumbling and covered in moss, and peered through the nearest window into a square room. There was a ratty sofa littered with empty pint glasses and cigarette packets. An ashtray overflowed on to the floor.

  She went around to the back of the house, dodging a cascade of water pouring from a broken drainpipe, and found another window. It was the kitchen, every surface covered in crockery and takeaway containers and empty vodka bottles.

  Without warning, the kitchen door opened and the light went on. Blinded by the sudden glare, Lilly couldn’t immediately make out the features of the figure who entered. She blinked furiously, then froze. It was the man in the navy coat, rummaging in a cupboard, his back to her.

  She stifled a scream and ducked beneath the window frame.

  Had he seen her?

  She waited, half expecting him to come storming out of the house. Instead, she heard the slam of a cupboard door, muttering, and then the light was turned off.

  Plunged into darkness, she crouched under the window in the rain, her heart hammering in her chest. She shouldn’t be out here playing detective. She’d done that before and been caught by this man. She needed to get back to the car and call Jack.

  On bloodless legs, she wobbled to the Mini and locked herself in. She could barely hold her mobile, her hands were shaking so much.

  ‘Jack?’ she hissed. ‘It’s me.’

  ‘Where are you?’ he asked.

  ‘Listen, don’t get mad, but I think I’ve found the bloke who killed Gem.’

  ‘Razwan Alvri?’

  ‘I don’t know his name, but he’s been driving Hussain’s BMW,’ she said. ‘And trust me when I tell you he has a real look of Hussain.’

  ‘That’s because they’re cousins,’ Jack replied.

  ‘Thing is, I think this is the place where he’s keeping Velvet,’ she said.

  ‘What place?’

  ‘It’s a house in the middle of bloody nowhere,’ said Lilly. ‘A street sign up the way said it’s called Friendless Lane.’

  There was a cold silence before Jack spoke.

  ‘Lilly, I want you to get out of there now.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ said Lilly. ‘I’m in my car. He doesn’t know I’m here.’

  ‘I don’t care,’ Jack replied. ‘Leave that place right now.’

  ‘Jack, I’m fine waiting here.’

  ‘Mary Mother of God, would you listen to me for once, woman?’ Jack shouted. ‘This man murdered Gem and Lauren. He’s beyond dangerous and I am not going to lose you. Do you understand what I’m saying here?’

  Lilly gulped. ‘I’m leaving now.’

  Chapter 13

  You have to get out of here. If you don’t, you’ll die here.

  ‘Please, Leah,’ you say. ‘They’re going to kill us.’

  You’re upstairs in the bedroom, but you can hear Raz banging about downstairs. Leah slumps on to the bed.

  ‘I’m so tired,’ she says, and stares straight ahead, her eyes unfocused. ‘I don’t think I can move.’

  You want to shake her and make her see; instead you take her by the hand and drag her to her feet.

  ‘What the fuck?’ she shouts, but you keep pulling her, out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. ‘What the fuck are you even doing?’

  You let go of her arm and open the washing basket. The clothes smell disgusting, but you fish your hand inside anyway and pull out the hoodie and the shirt.

  ‘Look.’ You thrust the clothes under Leah’s nose. ‘Can you see that?’

  She pushes them away. ‘Fuck off.’

  ‘Look.’ You hold them up to the bulb. ‘It’s blood.’

  She squints at them.

  ‘They’re covered in blood,’ you say. ‘And it’s not from that girl you told me about. This is fresh.’

  Leah squeezes her eyes shut and presses her thumb in between her eyebrows.

  ‘They’re all right,’ she says. ‘A bit lairy sometimes, that’s all. You just gotta know how to handle ’em.’

  This time you do shake her. Hard. Like your mum did the first time you came home stoned and you told her to piss off. She grabbed you by your shoulders and shook you, but you just laughed in her face because Raz had told you that you shouldn’t respect anything she said or did because she was just jealous and racist and she didn’t really care.

  ‘Listen,’ you say. ‘If you don’t want to get out of here, then that’s fine, but I’m not staying.’

  Leah’s eyes shoot open.

  ‘That’s right.’ You nod at her. ‘I’ll leave you here on your own.’

  ‘No.’ Leah’s eyes fill up with tears. ‘You can’t do that.’

  ‘I can. You take your chances with this lot coming from Birmingham, but I’m not.’

  She lets out a little sob that turns into a burp that smells of sick.

  ‘I’m gonna throw up,’ she says.

  You’ve still got hold of her shoulders but you don’t shake her now, you sort of rub them up and down to show that everything’s going to be all right.

  ‘No you’re not going to throw up,’ you tell her. ‘You’re going to climb up there and jump out.’ You point to the window.

  She looks over at the window then back at you and laughs. ‘Don’t be stupid.’

  [#]

  Lilly got out her car key, ready to drive away.

  Jack was right. It was one thing to follow Razwan Alvri here, but bloody stupid to stick arou
nd. The guy had murdered at least two women in cold blood. Jack would arrive any second with the troops and arrest him.

  She’d started the ignition and released the handbrake when something flashed across the lane.

  Oh my God, what was that?

  She fumbled with the headlights, trying to turn them on. Something thumped against the bonnet of the car. She screamed. Hit the lights. Screamed again.

  It was a kid. A girl. Captured in the tunnel of white light. Blonde hair plastered against her scalp, eyes wide in terror.

  ‘Help me.’ She banged on the bonnet again. ‘Please.’

  Lilly hit the release on the central locking and jumped out of the car.

  ‘He’s going to kill us,’ the girl howled.

  ‘Who’s in there?’ Lilly asked, though she knew the answer.

  ‘Raz and Velvet,’ said the girl. ‘He’s got a knife.’

  Lilly felt dread run through her like an electric current. It fizzed then radiated then burned.

  ‘Get in the car and lock it,’ she told the girl. ‘The police are on their way.’

  The girl got in the passenger side and Lilly heard the clunk of the lock.

  ‘Stay there,’ she said and placed her palm against the window. On the other side of the glass the girl mirrored the movement.

  Lilly gave a tight nod and ran towards the house.

  At the entrance, she looked up and saw that the light was still on in the bathroom window, but that it was now open wide. A man’s shouts could be heard through it, and a girl’s screams. It must be Velvet.

  She glanced behind her, hoping desperately to see flashing blue lights. How long would it take Jack to arrive? Five minutes? Ten? Another scream rang out into the black night. However long it took, it would be too late for Velvet.

  Lilly scrabbled on to the porch, slipping on the moss-covered steps. The front door was oak, solid, locked tight. She ran around to the back of the house; this time she was showered by the filthy water pouring from the gutter. She wiped it out of her eyes and headed to the kitchen door. That too was locked, but like the window frames, it was rotting, the wood disintegrating. She took a step back and kicked. The wood cracked and the door flew open.

  She entered the kitchen. It smelled of decaying food and damp. Kelsey would have a field day in here with her scouring pads and Domestos.

  Grabbing an empty vodka bottle as a weapon, she hurried to the foot of the stairs and listened.

  The screams had subsided to a pained wail.

  Carefully Lilly ascended, stair by stair, wincing at every creak of the bare boards. At the top, she paused, bottle held by its neck at shoulder level. The sound of crying floated down the corridor from a room at the end of the landing.

  She crept towards it and pushed open the door.

  [#]

  Jack pelted through the country lanes with full blues and twos.

  Byron, who was in the passenger seat, kept giving him anxious sidelong glances, but Jack didn’t give a shit.

  As he rounded a tight bend, he almost hit Lilly’s car. He slammed on the brakes and Byron flew forward, smashing his shoulder on the dashboard. What was her car doing here? Hadn’t he told her to get out of there?

  He jumped out and ran to the car. Inside, the driver’s side was empty, but there was a girl in the passenger side, half dressed, shaking, curled into a ball.

  ‘Open the door.’ Jack hammered on the window. ‘Open the door, now.’

  The girl tucked tighter into herself.

  ‘It’s the police,’ Jack shouted.

  The girl raised her head slightly to the side and looked at Jack, terrified.

  He realized what he must look like: angry voice, face covered in cuts and bruises from the tussle in Bury Park. He dropped his voice. ‘It’s okay, I’m a policeman. Please, love, open the door.’

  She lifted her hand hesitantly and Jack nodded encouragement until she released the central locking. He yanked the door open and the hot smell of urine unfurled towards him.

  ‘I wet myself,’ the girl said, unnecessarily.

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ he said. ‘Just tell me where Lilly is.’

  ‘Lilly?’

  ‘The woman who owns this car,’ said Jack. ‘Curly hair, loud voice.’

  The girl pointed towards a gap in the hedge. ‘She went to find Velvet.’

  ‘What?’ Jack realized he was shouting again and making the girl cower. ‘She went into the house?’

  The girl nodded.

  Jack slammed his hand down on the top of the car and the girl wrapped herself once again into a ball. He ought to say something to her, reassure her, but there wasn’t time.

  [#]

  Lilly took a step into the bedroom.

  The socket dangling from the ceiling had no bulb, so the only light was coming from the bathroom at the other end of the hallway. In the gloom, Lilly could see that the room was empty but for a bed, the mattress on it bare. And on the bed was Velvet.

  Her face was bloody, her head hanging limply to one side. Her wrists were tied to the rusty bed frame.

  Lilly rushed to her, touching her head gently. It was damp with sweat.

  ‘Everything’s going to be okay,’ she said.

  Velvet rolled her head slightly and let out a choked sob that splattered Lilly with blood. Up close, Lilly could see that her lip was split and at least one tooth was missing.

  She put the bottle on the mattress and began pulling at the ropes. They were thick and heavy, the sort you might expect to see on a ship. She tried to get her thumb into the knots to loosen them.

  ‘We’re getting out of here,’ she said. ‘Do you hear me, Velvet? We’re getting out of here.’

  The ropes wouldn’t budge. Whoever had tied them knew what they were doing. She looked around for something to cut them with, but there was nothing. Only the bottle, but if she smashed it, the noise would alert Alvri.

  ‘Your mum’s desperate to see you, Velvet,’ she said and slid off her jacket. She wrapped it around the bottle, hoping the material would muffle the sound of breaking glass. ‘She’s planning a shopping trip for that top we talked about.’

  Velvet made a groaning sound. Lilly had to believe she could understand what was being said to her. That it was giving her some hope that she was getting out of this terrible place.

  She held the jacket-encased bottle at arm’s length and readied herself to slam it against the wall.

  ‘We’ll see her very soon, Velvet.’

  ‘No, you won’t.’

  Lilly snapped her head up towards the voice. Razwan Alvri was silhouetted in the doorway. She couldn’t make out his features, but she knew it was him. Her arm was still outstretched, holding the bottle.

  He took a step towards her so she could see him. And he could see her.

  ‘You?’ he said, and let out a laugh. ‘I knew you were up to something outside the club.’

  She remembered the way he had unnerved her that night, his eyes hinting at violence. He had already killed Gem by then, squeezing the breath from her without a care. And he already had Velvet under his spell, and the girl who was now in her car. Probably many more besides.

  ‘The police will be here any second,’ she said.

  Alvri cocked his head to one side, then cupped his hand around his ear. ‘Can’t hear anything.’

  ‘They’re on their way.’

  Alvri shrugged, as if he didn’t much care one way or the other. Then he pulled out a knife.

  ‘No one’s coming to help you,’ he said. ‘You’re on your own.’

  Lilly stared at the point of the knife. It seemed to draw her in, as if it expected her to fall forward on top of it. She shook her head to free herself from the thought. He would kill her, she was sure of it. Then he would kill Velvet.

  ‘Is that what you told the girls?’ she asked. ‘That they were on their own? That you were the only friend they’d got?’

  He took a step towards her, the point of the knife glinting.


  ‘I suppose they’re easy enough to impress.’ Lilly’s hand was still up, her palm sweating. ‘Second-hand BMW, knock-off designer clothes. Innocent kids fall for that sort of stuff, don’t they?’

  Alvri threw back his head and laughed. There was madness in it.

  ‘You think girls like this are innocent?’ He shot Velvet a disgusted look. ‘Trust me, they know exactly what they want.’

  ‘Not like grown women, though, are they?’

  ‘Women like you? Is that what you mean?’ Alvri narrowed his eyes. ‘I wouldn’t touch someone like you with someone else’s dick.’

  Lilly watched the knife. Tried not to imagine it piercing her throat. She still had the bottle in her hand under the jacket. Could she pounce at him? Take him out? Or would he kill her first?

  ‘Of course you wouldn’t.’ She dropped her voice, forcing him to listen carefully, forcing him to lean in her direction. ‘Because you like having sex with children.’

  There was a moment between them. A moment where only silence and cold filled the room. Lilly knew that when that moment finished, he would stab her. That would be the end. No more time left. She shook the bottle from the jacket, held it as tightly as she could and wheeled it in an arc over her head, smashing it into the side of Alvri’s face.

  Alvri’s head swung wildly, but he recovered quickly. Lilly went to hit him again, but he lashed out with the knife. The blade sliced through the sleeve of her jacket, ripping the skin beneath. The pain swept from her elbow to her fingertips.

  He lunged again, but this time she scrambled backwards, hitting the wall. There was nowhere left to run.

  Alvri gave a small smirk and lifted the knife. ‘You brought this on yourself, just like the rest of them.’ He pointed it at Velvet. ‘No one forced you to come here, did they?’ He kissed his teeth when the bloody mess didn’t reply, and turned his eyes back to Lilly. ‘Just like no one forced you.’

  Lilly closed her eyes. She couldn’t breathe. This was it.

  ‘Lilly!’

  Jack’s voice rang out through the house. Lilly’s eyes snapped open.

  ‘Lilly Valentine,’ he shouted.

  Alvri turned instinctively to the sound, and Lilly knew this was her last chance. She raised the bottle high and brought it crashing down on Alvri’s skull. Glass, blood and bone exploded.