by P. R. Black
‘I’m in charge,’ Cramond told Vinnicombe. ‘Get that right, from the start. I don’t want any of this shit on the job. You step out of line, and I’ll make sure it’s your last job. Tell anyone about what we’re doing, and the same applies.’
‘I’ll be in touch,’ Vinnicombe said, turning towards the door. ‘Think it over. Give me an offer.’
‘And one last thing – you’re taking your life in your hands, you behave like this.’
‘No, I’m not,’ Vinnicombe said, just before the door swung shut behind him.
37
Vonny’s heart had taken on absurd beats and unusual rhythms. It was out of time again, as Seth laid out, with a terrible clarity and calm, what could and could not be done, stood in the kitchen doorway of the cold, alien house.
‘There is absolutely no way I can move the stuff. That’s a definite.’ Seth stood at the head of the kitchen, hands by his sides, his expression blank. He had become an automaton in a matter of days – it could even be measured by hours – and Vonny feared what might happen if she had to break that uncanny composure.
‘Then destroy it,’ Vonny said. ‘That’s the only way out of this.’
‘I can’t. I’ve already told people that I have it. Serious people. We might bring them down on our heads, as well as whoever the other mob are. We have to follow it through. I’m just not sure how.’
‘You’re not thinking straight. We’ve already gotten ourselves into a nightmare, an absolute disaster… Say it’s been stolen. Say anything. Put a light to the whole thing. Scatter it into the pond. Anything but this. I’ve already spoken to a solicitor. We can get this place put up for sale soon. Break-even money is fine – so long as we get out of this place and never, ever have to think about it again.’
‘You’re forgetting about my brother,’ Seth said. ‘He’s looking at being murdered even if he manages to pay off his debts.’
‘Then take out a credit card. Get him to take out a loan. Go to a loan shark, if he has to.’ Her voice grew loud, and brittle. ‘This was never your problem.’
‘It’s my brother, Vonny. I can take care of it. I can sort out the problem.’
‘Fuck your brother!’ she shrieked.
That almost did it. ‘Don’t ever say that about him. Ever. If he’s in trouble, I sort it out. That’s the way it goes. That’s how family works. Surely I don’t have to actually explain that?’
Vonny tried to master her words, although she couldn’t quite do the same with her voice. ‘Seth, we are talking about murder, drugs… This could put us away for a long time. On top of that, we are now messing with people who will kill us. I’m going to say it one more time, then I’m going to have to take action.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, destroy the stuff, or turn it into the police.’
‘And then what – hope they don’t find what’s left of the two people I burned?’
‘I think you mean the two people we burned Seth. I’d be going to prison, too, whether you lit the match or I did.’
The statement seemed to reverberate around the surfaces of the room, the shiny marble effect of the tabletop.
‘Destroy it, Seth. You know this is the only possible way out.’
‘No. The way out is to go on with what we said. The way out is to get rid of the gear, take the cash, leave this place, put it up for sale, and forget it ever happened.’
Vonny slid off the chair and walked towards him. ‘You’re dreaming, Seth. I don’t know what this is… You want to be a hard case, or something? You want to dabble in that world? You produce records, Seth. That’s as far as it goes. This is absolutely insane. I am sorry your brother is in trouble, but we can’t make this mess any worse than it is. For pity’s sake, destroy the stuff – or I will.’
‘I can’t. It’s too late. The only problem is getting it off this property. For the time being, anyway.’ The blank expression had come back; his downcast eyes, the burgeoning laugh lines in his face smoothed out. ‘I’m sorry, Vonny. It’s the only way. We were landed with this, remember. It’s an accident. A problem we’re taking care of in a way that doesn’t put us in jail. As for the two guys…’ He shivered, in spite of himself. She saw tears forming in his eyes. Before she could reach out to him, he turned away. He closed the front door quietly.
Heading to the windows looking towards the front of the house and the woods beyond, she saw him moving down the garden path, the clang of the gate swaddled in the double glazing. She saw him shimmer and dissolve into the woods through her tears.
Then the intercom sounded, an inch or two away from Vonny’s ear. She flinched; hesitated, and then left it. It buzzed again, and she said, timidly: ‘Yeah?’
‘What do you mean, yeah?’ a familiar voice said. ‘Get the door open, lass, and show me this bloody castle of yours!’
*
Chloe Bayley had barely changed her look since university days, and Vonny, who usually felt like an overstuffed sausage no matter what she wore, usually envied this. Her ensemble was generally a short dress with some boots underneath. She was short but she had amazing legs – seemingly chunky from a distance, until you saw the muscle move. Seth once mentioned that he could see her yanking heifers out of a shed somewhere green and remote with those thighs – and the boots usually accentuated them. This time, as she tottered up Vonny’s driveway with a bottle of wine in each hand, she was sporting wellies rather than boots, with a short but very furry coat seemingly pilfered from the set of a cavemen versus dinosaurs movie on top.
‘You look great,’ Vonny said. ‘Especially in wellies. That is so annoying.’
‘C’mon then, it’s icy up here, you silly mare,’ Chloe said. ‘Let’s get these opened. Jesus Christ, is that a house, or the mother ship? I knew your gaff was big, but holy Jesus…’
‘What are you doing here?’ Vonny spluttered. ‘I didn’t even tell you when the move-in date was!’
‘Saw it online. The report. Great car! I thought I’d come along and help you get settled… By that I mean, I thought I’d come along and have a really good nosy and poke around in your cupboards.’ Then she noticed. ‘Hey… What’s going on? Are you all right?’
The bottles of wine were deposited on the driveway. Then she stole forward and wrapped her arms around Vonny. Vonny let her head sink onto the faux-fur coat, and took a breath of the same perfume Chloe had worn since the day they’d first met as freshers. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, after allowing a sob to escape. ‘The stress of getting the house ready… It’s amazing, but it’s been hard.’
‘Sure? No problems with Seth?’ Chloe drew back and locked eyes with Vonny.
‘No. Not really. Hard to say.’
‘C’mon. Into your fortress of penitence, or whatever the hell you call it. That – that is your dream house?’ She chuckled. ‘It looks like it’s begging for someone to throw stones at it.’
*
Vonny felt marooned in the centre of her kitchen while Chloe padded around the gleaming tiles in her bare feet. ‘You remember that time we were temping and we both got a gig in this old manor house? And we played desk polo with office chairs on castors?’
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Vonny said, sipping her wine. ‘Don’t think that. The floor’s brand new. And the castors squeak.’
‘Aw come on. You must have a couple of office chairs up here, Mrs Stationery Fetish. Let’s roll up some old bills and get a game going.’
‘Not today,’ Vonny said, sighing.
‘Surely you’ve got some croquet mallets, at least?’ Chloe pirouetted – she could be disarmingly nimble when the occasion called for it. ‘Perhaps you have one in the study? Or in the annexe? Just above the dinette?’
‘I’ve missed your absolute mockery,’ Vonny said, sincerely.
‘I’m not joking, though. Look at this place! You’ve built a moon base in the middle of the forest. And you say this is your ideal home?’
‘Pretty much just how I imagined it. I built
it in my head, years ago. I think I saw something on a property show on the telly. Tall windows, trees outside. It blew my mind.’
‘It’s gonna go for a fortune.’
‘We’re not selling.’
‘Guess you basically won the lottery. Building it must have cost you, though?’
‘We got the land for nothing, the plot… But the building took all our savings. Everything we had. But if we play our cards right, and we both land new projects, things can work out nicely.’
‘Personally, I’d have put up a little brick house a kid would design. You know, tile roof, chimney, four windows and a door. A little bubble cat in the garden with a flick of a tail. Then skedaddle with the cash.’
‘They say that’s what you should do. Don’t put in anything fancy. Keep it simple. I got carried away, I admit it. But it does look good.’
‘And a pool!’ Chloe banged both hands against the tall windows, and pressed her forehead against the glass, like a child awaiting the postman on her birthday. ‘Let’s get naked and jump in!’
‘In December? Please, love.’
‘You did it Windermere. That time with the cold shock, I think it was…’
Vonny shuddered, then smiled. ‘If you do, you’ll only find leaves and maybe a dead badger. We’re not putting the water in just yet.’
Chloe came back to the table and hopped onto the seat. ‘Not sure I like these chairs, all the same. It’s OK for you, you’re above five feet one. And in my case, the “one” is an addition. Like when guys say they are five feet ten on their dating profile. I think I’ll bring mountaineering equipment next time, never mind wellies.’ She sank her round little face onto the palms of her hands. ‘All right, enough chat. Talk. What’s going on with himself?’
‘Nothing,’ Vonny said. ‘Nothing with him, exactly.’
‘What, then? Exactly?’
Vonny sipped at her wine. ‘It’s kind of complicated.’
‘If it’s not to do with him, then it’s to do with something else. And as you’re obviously not working… Then it’s to do with this house. How much are you in for, really? You in debt?’
‘It isn’t that, either.’ Vonny wanted to spill it. If she had a best friend any more – the concept had become laughable after she’d turned thirty, before it became perverse – then she supposed it was Chloe. ‘It’s difficult to explain.’
‘Whereabouts is he, anyway?’
‘Out in the grounds.’
‘Mighty regal! Surveying the scene? Hunting with dogs?’
‘Not quite. He’s just checking out fallen trees. Water drainage. Something. I left all that to him.’
‘If you’re not wanting to talk… mind if I ask you something?’
‘Sure?’
Chloe grinned. ‘Can I have a little look at your woods?’
*
Vonny had downed half a glass of Chablis in double-quick time, and its warmth had spread its treacherous fingers through her belly. She was somewhat annoyed to leave the glasses behind – and she noticed Chloe hadn’t drank any of hers, yet. But she indulged her visitor, and donned heavy boots while the other put her wellies back on.
‘Bought these buggers at the farm shop up the road,’ Chloe said. ‘Expensive, too. Might as well get the use out of them.’
‘Are you driving?’ Vonny asked, as her friend stamped her feet down into the green rubber.
‘Don’t worry. I’m only having half a glass when I get back. It’s still allowed. I think.’
Vonny placed a hand on her arm. ‘C’mon. You’re joking. Surely.’
‘Wish I was.’ Chloe patted her tummy. ‘Not showing yet. I kind of want it to, though. I want people to open doors for me and offer seats. Then I’ll say, “I’m not up the pole, I’m just fat.”’
‘My God! Congratulations!’ She hugged Chloe close, burying the little face in her Gore-Tex.
‘Easy! I’m a respectable woman!’ Chloe giggled.
‘That’s awesome! Scott chuffed?’
‘Over the moon. Always wanted kids.’ Here Chloe grew serious, and teared up. ‘He was up-front. Never hesitated to talk about it. No matter how many times I laughed in his face. And I guess… I felt the same way. That’s the truth. Now! That’s the news out of the way. Let’s have a walk around the moat and flirt with your guards.’
The inspector had been right – snow had arrived, though only enough to dust the pathway and lawn. The trees looked the part, for a change – the pines and spruces in their absolute element, she supposed, the perfect weather, the perfect time.
As they crunched down the path, Chloe pointed towards the shed – which Seth had ripped apart, even having dragged the wooden panelling inside away. ‘What’s going on with that?’
‘Still a bit to go on that one,’ Vonny said. ‘We’re having it finished off soon.’
‘Funny – it looks like someone’s broken in,’ Chloe said, peering at the dark, open doorway. ‘As if it was finished already, and it got trashed.’
‘Nah, ’fraid not. Another project to tick off. Feels like it’s never-ending.’
‘I’m not sure I’d like sleeping there, with the door open like that. I’d imagine all sorts hiding in there.’
‘It’ll be finished soon.’ Vonny guided her friend towards the woods. ‘It’s a fair old walk, this, I have to warn you.’
‘Just a little peek at the trees would be good. I can’t believe you own your own woods! And in the snow and frost, as well… Isn’t it scary?’
‘I wouldn’t say so. You get used to it.’
‘I’ve seen too many scary films. I’d imagine all kinds of people hiding out here.’ Chloe shivered and drew the collar of her heavy coat tighter. ‘Or things.’
‘Too cold for stalkers, I think,’ Vonny said – although she kept a close eye out, all right. The snow on the branches gave the forest path a picture-perfect look, as did the red berries on the holly bushes. But every branch seemed to quiver with tension, wherever Vonny looked. She had to stop herself, suddenly sure that every naked tree bough hid an assailant. It was like swimming over deep water at night. The minute you started imagining something stalking you from below, it was a big step towards losing your mind.
‘Still, bet you’ll be glad to sell up. Anyone ever kill themselves here?’
‘Why in Christ’s name would you say that?’ Vonny said, alarmed. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say.’
‘Ease up, Vonny.’ Chloe laid a warm little hand on her arm. ‘I was just being Mrs Flippant. That’s my role in life. I didn’t mean to freak you out…’ Then she grinned. ‘So someone did kill themselves, here?’
‘Apparently. I’m not sure where, exactly. They wouldn’t tell me. Just as well.’
‘Look at that thicket, over there… I’ve never seen nettles that high and that thick. Even this time of year. Are they still alive? They’re like a giant eyebrow creeping after you. Whereabouts was it you found the car?’
‘Just beyond that treeline… It was hidden under a tarp.’ Vonny frowned. ‘How did you know about that?’
‘Oh, I cyber-stalked your ass,’ Chloe said, offhandedly. ‘Every single frame of it on online maps. Every scrap of detail on property websites. Had you been sunbathing I’d have zoomed in close enough to count the fleas in your armpits, sweetie. The classic car was quite high on the search list. Beefy-looking number. A Datsun, was it?’
‘That’s got a lot to do with…’ Vonny lowered her voice, and checked around for Seth. Worried about Seth, now. Her life partner. She was anxious about bumping into her husband in the woods. ‘It’s got a lot to do with my problems just now.’
Chloe shook her head, perplexed. ‘I don’t follow. That rusty old bucket caused you a problem – how? Let me guess, Seth wanted to keep it and fix it up. I didn’t think he was a boy racer, but you never can tell – until you catch him watching Top Gear on a laptop at two in the morning.’
‘No, it’s more to do with things that came with the property.’
�
��What?’ Chloe whispered, theatrically. ‘Dodgy things? Creepy things? Sexy things? Is this a dogging hotspot? Wouldn’t surprise me, love. The things that go on in places like this at night… Public parks, you name it…’
‘It’s complicated.’ Vonny sighed. She so badly wanted to share it; to share something. This afternoon, Chloe had gone from being a deadly interruption to salvation. It was a slice of normality; and Vonny hadn’t had that for a while.
‘Did you find something? A body, or something like that?’
Vonny’s mouth twitched, alarmingly. ‘No, nothing like that.’
‘Was it drugs? Because if it was drugs, you know, I could help you with that.’
Vonny stopped. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Just making conversation,’ Chloe said, brightly. ‘I can help you if you found something like that. Like drugs.’
‘I didn’t find anything like that. I think we should forget it.’
‘Like if you found drugs in the car. The old car. I could help you with those.’
Vonny’s voice creaked as she spoke – the creak of an ancient door swinging open, the creak of an old lady trying to speak from her deathbed. ‘Chloe… Have you spoken to someone? About this house? And the land?’
‘Not really. Just offering my services. If you had to get rid of something quickly. Like right now.’
‘Chloe… I need you to leave. Right now.’
Then, something happened to Chloe’s composure. A ripple seemed to cross her features, and her focus hardened into fury for a second. ‘Vonny, they spoke to me two nights ago. Tracked me down through social media. They came to my house, they… Vonny, for God’s sake, you’ve got to give them what they want! They’re going to come back here and they’re going to hurt me, hurt the baby. I told them about the baby, and they said they would… I had to come. And if you don’t do what they say, they’re going to kill you.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Vonny struggled to breathe. She wanted to run; simply take off into the woods, let the branches whip her if they must. ‘Chloe, you’ve got to go home.’
‘Call me. Please, Vonny. They came into my flat. They waited till Scott had gone to work… The things they threatened me with. You can’t imagine. They can get in any time they like, anywhere… You’re dead if you don’t give it to them, Vonny, you’re dead! They’re coming, and when they do, you have to give them what they want. Have it ready. That’s what they said. Be ready!’