She's Out

by Lynda La Plante

  Julia stood staring at her for about five minutes, and then silently left the room. She no longer felt anger, just utterly drained, and it was then she remembered. Her pace quickened as she went into the bathroom. She had to lie flat on the tiled bathroom floor as she unscrewed the cheap Formica surrounds of the bath, pulling them away and reaching around until she found the tin medical box. Only after she had re-screwed the panel into place did she open the old battered white box with the scratched red cross in the center. She sighed: there was the rubber tube, there were the hypodermic needles, the tiny packets of white cocaine and one small, screwed-up, tin-foil square of heroin.

  The following morning Julia made a list of items she wanted from the house. She had arranged for a local estate agent to come in and had also found a home that would take her mother. It was expensive and Norma suggested they ring round a few others. “Nope. With the money from the house I can pay for it.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just got a lot to get sorted.”

  Norma couldn’t quite understand Julia’s attitude. She was unemotional, all business. She simply put it down to her way of dealing with the situation and never thought for a moment Julia was high.

  Julia didn’t see her mother again. Norma got her ready for the ambulance. Julia refused to help when the ambulance arrived, remaining in the drawing room when they took her away. She was still making phone calls, canceling milk, papers, and the housekeeper.

  “She’s gone,” Norma said sadly.

  “Okay, we can leave in about half an hour.” Julia continued writing, calculating how much the house would be worth. As it had been re-mortgaged three times, there would be little or nothing left from the sale. She was going to need money more than ever, and if it wasn’t from the robbery, she would have to find some other means to finance her mother’s stay at the home.

  Norma did not notice her hat and cape were missing until they left. She didn’t seem unduly worried, blaming herself for forgetting to lock the car. “Probably be some kids. It’s a wretched nuisance because I’ll have to fork out for the replacements but at least they didn’t nick the car.”

  “Yeah, that’s good,” Julia said, picking up the small case she was carrying out to the car. “Just a couple of things I thought I’d take back with me.”

  Norma started the engine. “Well, if you need storage space, I’ve got a huge barn, and your mother has some nice pieces of furniture, antiques even.”

  As they drove off, Julia didn’t look back. The house and her mother were in the past now. Her mother was as good as dead and at least there would be no more lies. She stared out of the window. “Stupid woman. Why did she never tell me she knew?”

  Norma said nothing, knowing that Julia wasn’t expecting an answer. They headed back to the manor and Norma wondered if Julia would thank her for being with her, for caring, for loving her. “I love you, Julia,” she said softly.

  Julia continued to gaze out of the window, not hearing, wondering if Ester was missing her. Then she began to think about the train hijack and started to smile: maybe it was the drugs, maybe it was just the thought of doing something so audacious, so crazy that lifted her spirits.

  “Feeling a bit better?” Norma asked.

  “Yeah, I’m feeling good, really good!”

  Dolly was in a ratty mood. She was running low on cash and John was standing in her office, refusing to budge.

  “I just want to know what’s going on. If I lay the men off, I won’t get them back. You got half a roof, scaffolding up, I got cement and sand out there. I’ve laid out for the equipment, Mrs. Rawlins. I’ve kept my end of the bargain.”

  “Look, I’m sorry about this but there have been a few problems. If you give me another day or so—”

  “But you say that every time I come here.”

  “I know, but I can’t help it if people don’t pay me. It’s not that I like doing this to you.”

  “The place is unsafe, Mrs. Rawlins, and you got kids running around.”

  Dolly opened a drawer and took out the last of the cash from the sale of the guns. Five thousand pounds. Now she was almost cleaned out. “Look, do what you can. If you have to lay a few of the men off then you have to do it but this is all I’ve got right now.”

  John counted out the money, then stashed it in his pocket. “Okay. At least I’ll finish the roof,” he said as he walked out. She scratched her chin. The idea of the robbery was fading fast. They couldn’t manage the horses, never mind hold up the train.

  Gloria yelled from the yard for someone to get Dolly as the truck arrived with the bags of lime. More money had to be paid over to the driver before he would even lift one of the twenty-kilo bags down from the back of the truck. Dolly then had to pay out for the skip that she had ordered. Money was always going out and nothing was coming in.

  “What we gonna do with all this lime, then?” Gloria asked, prodding the bag.

  “Tip it into the old cesspit.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, who’s gonna do that?”

  “All of you. Get them out there.”

  “Bloody hell,” moaned Gloria.

  Dolly clenched her hands. “Just get on with it!”

  Connie, Ester and Gloria changed into old clothes, put on big thick gloves and scarves to cover their faces, and began to slit open the bags and tip them into the pit. The lime clouded and burned their eyes, making their skin itch, so there were further moans and groans. Julia returned, bright and breezy as she stood looking at the three figures resembling snowmen.

  “It’s not funny! You get changed and give us a hand,” Ester snapped.

  As Julia walked off, Connie called after her, “How’s your mother?” and Julia shouted back that it was all taken care of. Ester then hurled a sack aside and followed Julia. “Did Norma stay with you?”

  “Yep, and I got her hat and cape.” Julia held up the case cheerfully.

  “Well, you keep her away from here,” Ester said, and Julia smiled, happy that she was still jealous.

  In the kitchen, she found Angela giving the three girls some lunch, and Dolly sitting moodily at the end of the table with her notebook open. She looked up as Julia walked in. “How was your mother?”

  “Mute,” Julia said, and then leaned close to Dolly. “Got the hat and cape.”

  Dolly nodded, then looked to the three girls. “I don’t want any of you going near the big pit out at the back. If you do, you’ll get a very hard smack and you won’t be allowed to ride Helen of Troy, do you all understand? I see one of you even close to the pit and I will make you very, very sorry.”

  Their expressions were glum, and Angela poured another cup of tea for Dolly.

  “What’s in the pit?”

  “Mind your own business, Angela. Take the girls for a nice long walk up to the woods.”

  Dolly didn’t touch the tea and instead went out to see how the others were doing. She stopped off at the stables to fetch an old canvas bag and walked over to the “snowmen.” “When it’s finished put this in, see how long it takes to disintegrate. Then fetch some corrugated iron. Take it off the stables roof at the back, and put it over the pit.”

  Gloria saluted stiffly but Dolly was not amused and walked off round to the front of the house.

  “She certainly doesn’t get her hands dirty, does she?” Connie said.

  Julia poked at the canvas bag with a rake. The bag was disintegrating fast. “Look, Ester, it works. How was the riding this morning?”

  Ester threw her gloves into the pit. “We’re bloody useless. Gloria almost fell off.”

  “I didn’t,” Connie said proudly.

  Julia slipped her arm round Connie’s shoulder. “That’s because you, my darling, have a good seat!”

  Ester stared hard at Julia. It wasn’t like her to be so jolly. “You been drinking with Norma?”

  “Nope.” Julia then single-handedly lifted one sheet of the corrugated iron and dropped it down over the pit. “Just feeling good,
Ester.”

  Mike knew something was going down when he saw Craigh and Palmer having a confab in the corridor. As soon as they saw him, they turned away.

  “What’s going on?” Mike asked casually.

  DCI Craigh sighed. “A lot, mate. Seems the ruddy estimates that bitch Rawlins sent in are now with the Super and he’s gone apeshit.”

  “Shit,” Mike said ruefully.

  “You said it, and it’s all over us. We got to get it sorted and, Mike, don’t expect to get off with a slapped wrist because I’m not covering for you and nor is he.” He jerked his thumb at Palmer. Palmer gave an apologetic shrug.

  Mike hesitated. “What if I’d got a tip-off about—”

  “We don’t want any more of your fuckin’ tip-offs, we got enough problems.” Craigh prodded Mike with his index finger. “You sit at your desk. This Rawlins business has left us with a lot of aggro and there are old cases that now take precedence. But if there’s to be an internal investigation, I’m warning you, I’m not taking the rap.”

  Craigh stormed off down the corridor and Palmer looked after him, then back at Mike. “Super’s in with the Chief now so we just have to wait. Maybe it’ll all blow over.”

  Mike could feel the pit of his stomach churning. He felt trapped and he couldn’t see any way out of it. When he got to his desk there was a message to call Colin. Mike held the slip in his hands, half of him wanting to come clean, to tell Craigh everything. He wanted to tell him about Angela and about his mother, but the more he thought about just how much there was to confess, the more he panicked. He was trapped, all right.

  Mike took the pen Angela had given him out of his pocket and sucked at the end of it. Then he looked at the clock. He had another couple of hours’ work before he could skive off. Maybe the best plan of action was to see how things played out, go and see his mate again, go and talk to Rawlins, and then make the decision as to whether or not he should spill the beans.

  While Angela was putting the children to bed, the women came in to see Dolly as she sat behind her desk. “Shut the door,” Dolly said quietly.

  They lined up, sensing something was going down. Dolly tapped the desk with her pencil, flicking through the little black book. She pointed at Connie. “You. We have to find out if the numbers you got from the bloke at the signal box are the coded alarms.”

  Connie chewed her lip and sighed. “How do I do that?”

  “Get in the signal box and, I dunno, switch on the alarm, see what happens.”

  Gloria sat down. “Well, we really are professionals, aren’t we?”

  Dolly glared at her. “I want you to scout around under the signal box, see where their main electrical and phone cables are, see if we can cut them.”

  “Then there’s this.” Dolly took out the pen and opened it, slipping in the small batteries. “Connie, give this to the bloke in the signal box. This transmitter you place somewhere inside the box. The tail wire, make sure it hangs loose so we get a clear reception. Shove it on a shelf or somethin’. Shouldn’t be too hard, it’s only just bigger than a matchbox. I’ve got one under the signal box already but the batteries need changing.”

  “We got anything from the signal box?”

  Julia snorted. “Yeah, we know when they eat, fart and go home.”

  Dolly was surprised at Julia—she wasn’t usually so crude. “What’s the matter with you?”

  Julia wiped her nose on her sleeve. “Got a bit of a cold coming on. Apart from that I’m fine. How are you?”

  Dolly raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine, Julia, but we don’t want you in bed sick if we got to ride with you.”

  Ester propped herself on the desk. “Dolly, when are we gonna be told just how we go about the whole thing? I mean, you’re a great one for giving orders but we don’t really know what we’re doing all this for.”

  “I’ll tell you when I’m ready or when I think you’re ready. Now get on with your jobs, all of you.”

  Julia sniffed and looked at Ester. “What do you want us to do?”

  Dolly jerked a thumb toward the receiver and the headphones. “You take it in shifts to listen in at the signal box.”

  “Who’s listening in to the copper?” Gloria asked.

  “I am,” Dolly said as she picked up her briefcase and walked out.

  Ester nudged Julia. “You think she’s listening in on us?”

  “Put money on it,” Gloria said.

  It was a long night, Julia and Ester taking it in shifts, boring hours of listening in at the signal box. It only became interesting when Connie turned up. She hitched up her skirt as she perched on the table and crooked her finger at Jim. “I got a present for you.”

  Jim was hungover and feeling a bit sheepish. “Look, Connie, about the other night.”

  “Forget it, you said a lot of things that maybe you didn’t mean.”

  “No, I meant every word, I just didn’t mean to pass out.”

  She wound her legs round his waist. “Here, this is for you.” She unwrapped the pen and slipped it into his top pocket. “Keep it close to your heart.”

  Ester looked over at Dolly as she walked in. “He’s got the pen. It was a bit distorted to begin with but now we can hear them snogging clear as a bell.”

  Dolly glanced at Julia, who had the earpiece in. “I’m off, be back late. I’m taking Gloria’s car.”

  Julia beckoned to her and she moved closer. “I think they’re having it away, lot of heavy breathing, you want to hear?”

  “All I want to hear is the code for those alarms.”

  Connie pulled down her skirt and stepped out of her panties as Jim closed the gates for a passenger train. He didn’t mess around when it came to his work, even when Connie nuzzled up behind him and wrapped her arms round his chest.

  “Just stay off me a second, I got work to do, darlin’.”

  Connie sighed, moving close to the alarm box and special telephone. “If something went wrong on the rail, Jim, what would you do?”

  “Get the sack if they found you here.” He looked toward the station as the train chugged up the tracks.

  “I mean if there was an accident,” she asked, sliding down so she couldn’t be seen from the station.

  “Well, with the alarms I got a direct line to the local cop shop, fire brigade and ambulance. They can all be here within four minutes.”

  She watched him as he went about his business, pulling the levers down, moving backward and forward across the hut.

  “What about the live-wire cable?”

  Julia switched on the main speaker and she, Ester and Dolly could hear the train thundering past the signal box. Then they heard something else, a third voice.

  John had been playing detective, and now he knew his suspicions were right. He was standing at the gates, his car engine ticking over, when he looked up at the signal box. He knew it was her right away. As the gates opened and the train passed, he saw her more clearly. She was laughing and chatting away. He drove into the yard beneath the box and ran up the wooden steps, then banged on the door.

  “Connie, I know you’re in there. Connie!”

  He burst into the signal box, and Jim whipped round.

  “What you think you’re doing?” John yelled at Connie.

  “Seeing an old friend,” she shouted back.

  John turned toward Jim. “She’s my girlfriend.”

  Jim looked at Connie in confusion. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing!” she shrieked, pushing John back.

  “You liar! This is the second time I’ve seen you up here! I’ll get him the sack, that’s for starters. You shouldn’t be up here.”

  “I can go wherever I like, it’s no business of yours.”

  “Yes, it fucking is!”

  John threw a punch at Jim who ducked, looking down at the station, terrified someone would be watching. He backed away.

  “Look, mate, I dunno who you are but you’d better get out of here.”

  John grabbed Connie. “S
he’s coming with me.”

  “I am not! You don’t own me,” Connie yelled, kicking out at him. She was close to the alarm switch, just inches away.

  Dolly put her hand over her face. “One of you had better get up there, get her out.”

  The alarm went off. Julia winced, the sound so loud it screamed through the room. “Jesus Christ, it’s the fucking alarm!” Ester yelled.

  Jim’s face drained of color. He shouted for Connie and John to get out as he dialed the station to report a false alarm. Connie saw him punch in each number and then closed her eyes, trying to fix the order in her memory as John tried to haul her out. They could hear somebody shouting from the platform below. “Get out of here!” Jim roared. He knew if they were discovered in his signal box he’d lose his job for sure.

  By now a passing patrol car had heard the alarm and was already heading toward the station, siren blaring.

  John dragged Connie down the steps and had only just shoved her into his van when the patrol car hurtled into the yard. The two uniformed officers got out as Jim appeared at the top of the steps. “It’s okay, no problem. It was just a routine test.”

  The officers hesitated, one continuing up the steps while the other crossed over to John.

  “What you doing here?”

  John grinned. “Sorry, mate, just having a quickie with the girlfriend when it went off—talk about being caught short.”

  The officer nodded, looking into the van. Connie tittered nervously.

  “Well, you shouldn’t be in this area, so go on, on your way.”

  John drove out, Connie sitting as far away from him as possible. “You had no right to do that, you know,” she said. “I don’t belong to you. I can have as many boyfriends as I like. You even live with a girl and I don’t get uptight about that.”

  “I don’t live with anyone anymore.”

  “Well, don’t blame it on me.”

  John slammed on the brakes. “I thought you were serious about us.”

  “Oh, do me a favor.”

  “I just did. You could have been arrested for being up there with him, you know, and he’ll probably lose his job.”