She's Out

by La Plante, Lynda

  At twelve fifteen, one of the officers at long last returned to the wall they had first checked, but it wasn’t until almost one o’clock that they found the pouch of diamonds. There was no time to record it, just to get it driven at top speed to Donaldson’s house on the Ladbroke estate. It was handed over to DI Palmer, who snatched it with hardly a thank-you.

  ‘I’ve not logged it yet, Gov.’

  ‘I’ll do it, thanks.’

  Palmer looked up and down the street, afraid the exchange might have been seen, but there was no new vehicle parked so he hurried into Donaldson’s house.

  DCI Craigh was standing in the hall. ‘They got them,’ Palmer gasped.

  Craigh relaxed. ‘Talk about cutting it fine. Let’s have a look at them.’

  ‘They’ve not put it on record yet.’

  ‘I’ll do it when I go in,’ Craigh said, as he eased open the velvet pouch. ‘Holy shit, look at the size of some of those stones,’ he said in awe, then pulled the drawstring tight. ‘Look, we don’t let these out of our sight – that’s your job and yours only, you watch these babies, okay?’

  Craigh walked in and held up the bag to Jimmy Donaldson. ‘Saved by the bell, sonny Jim, we got them.’

  Donaldson looked over with baleful eyes. ‘Just so long as you get her. She plugged her old man and I don’t want her loose and after me.’

  Craigh smirked. ‘That’s the whole point of the exercise, Jimmy. We want her back inside for nicking these.’

  Mike stared blankly from his position by the window. He’d just about given up on them finding the stones in time but he couldn’t say anything, daren’t risk going back to Donaldson’s shop or it would look suspicious. All he hoped for now was that Rawlins would arrive, get nicked, and whatever happened about the diamonds could be laid at Donaldson’s feet, or somebody else’s. Anyone could have switched those stones over the past eight years and he and his bloody mother would be in the clear.

  ‘What time is it?’ he asked. Everyone looked at his watch, including Donaldson.

  ‘We’ve almost an hour to wait until she collects.’

  As expected, Angela and Ester were in London with time to spare. They were parked close to Ladbroke Grove tube station, eating hamburgers. Well, Ester was, Angela couldn’t stomach anything. She was in a state of nerves, wondering if she would have to face Mike.

  ‘I don’t drive.’

  Ester turned to her with her mouth full. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said I don’t drive. Well, I do, but not very well. I never passed my driving test and now, with my nerves I – I just don’t think I’ll be able to drive.’

  Ester tossed the half-eaten hamburger out of the window. ‘Well, it’s a fucking brilliant time to tell me.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  Ester sighed. ‘Okay, we switch. You collect, I’ll drive.’

  Angela chewed at her nails. ‘I don’t think we should do this, Ester. I’m scared. What if we get arrested?’

  ‘For what? For chrissakes, stop bleatin’. All we’re doing is picking up some hot gear. Now shut up, it’s one thirty, we can start to head up the road soon.’

  ‘It’s one thirty,’ squawked Gloria.

  ‘You tell me the time just once more …’ snarled Julia, and then looked up ahead. ‘Oh shit, look at the traffic! It’s a bloody jam.’

  Dolly slowed down, took a look at the clock on the dashboard. ‘We can still make it. We get on to the flyover, it’s only about fifteen minutes from there.’

  ‘We’re nowhere near the bloody flyover,’ yelled Gloria, and Julia reached over and whacked her one. Gloria pressed back into the seat as they inched forward, a long line of cars up ahead, bumper to bumper. ‘This is not what I call very professional. You should have made a better arrangement, Dolly. I mean, just saying you’d pick ’em up at two o’clock.’ She yelped as Dolly pulled out and drove up alongside the rows of orange cones and signs depicting workmen on the road. ‘Fuckin’ hell, you’ll get us arrested next,’ she screeched. But they made it to the head of the traffic, nudged into the line of cars as an irate driver gave the V sign, then one finger and a flow of verbals. Gloria wound down her window. ‘I got a pregnant woman here, you prick, fuck off.’

  The man stared as Dolly pressed on, horn blasting, as she cleared the rest of the traffic and headed towards Edgware Road.

  Ester checked her watch. It was ten minutes to two. She eased into first gear. ‘Let’s go for it. We wait any longer and you’ll be chewed down to your knuckles. It’s at the end of Ladbroke Grove and off to the right.’

  They drove down Ladbroke Grove, passing the police station on the right-hand side. ‘Police station,’ Angela whispered.

  ‘Thank you, I might not have noticed it,’ Ester said, but she drove carefully, not wanting any aggro at this stage.

  Heading from the opposite direction, racing off the Harrow Road, came Dolly. Now she asked for a timekeep every two minutes as they headed down the road.

  ‘It’s off to the right. If they keep to two o’clock, we’ll just catch them.’

  Craigh looked at the clock. It was nine minutes to two. Donaldson was sweating now and Craigh leaned towards him. ‘When she rings the doorbell, you answer, bring her in here, bag is open, and all she’s got to do is …’

  Mike turned from the window. He pressed his radio earpiece closer. ‘Nothing yet, road’s still clear.’

  The two officers outside waited, eyes to the front, eyes to their wing and rear view mirrors. The road remained empty.

  Then it happened. The Range Rover was coming towards them just as, screaming up from the opposite end of the road, was the red Volvo but they couldn’t see it clearly because the Range Rover obstructed their view. They saw Angela get down and then all hell broke loose. The Volvo mounted the pavement, Gloria hanging out of the window. ‘Get back, get out of here!’

  Angela was hauled into the Volvo, Julia legged it after the Range Rover and jumped aboard, and the two cars disappeared, the exchange taking no more than half a minute. The two officers got out. They turned this way and that, as DCI Craigh hurtled out of the house.

  ‘What the fuck is going on?’

  ‘We dunno. Woman ran from one car, driven off in another.’

  Craigh started to swear. ‘Was it her? Was it Dolly Rawlins?’

  Mike was at the window, shouting, ‘What the hell is going on? It was her – it was Dolly Rawlins, for chrissakes. Why aren’t they going after the goddamned car?’

  Palmer turned on Mike. ‘What the fuck for? Drivin’ too fast? We dunno if it was her or not. Just stop actin’ crazy.’

  Mike ran out of the house. It was a total cock-up and it was at this moment Jimmy Donaldson saw his chance. He saw the stones, he saw Palmer with his back to him, and he was alone. He picked up the heavy glass ashtray, whacked Palmer over the back of the head, picked up the bag of diamonds and he was out, closing the door. The kitchen door closed as he let himself out the back way, leapt over a fence and took off down the narrow alley running between the houses.

  Craigh leaned into the patrol car. He couldn’t believe what had happened. They had three digits of the index on the vehicle, but the two officers were just as confused as to what they’d seen.

  ‘We saw a Range Rover, right? Cruised up behind us, I mean, it wasn’t a blonde at the wheel, right? But a reddish-haired woman. We saw it stop, young kid gets out, sort of walks a few paces, next minute this fucking car screams up.’

  Craigh rubbed his head. ‘You see the driver at all?’

  The officer pulled at his collar. ‘Yeah, it looked like a friggin’ car full of women, one was blonde.’

  The second officer peered across to the sweating Craigh. ‘No, two were blonde. There was one hanging out the window doin’ all the screamin’. Two blondes.’

  Craigh breathed in, told them to see if there was any police car within the vicinity.

  ‘What you want, Gov?’

  Craigh turned in a fury. ‘Not this fuckin’ mes
s for starters. Just see if we can get a full reg on the car.’

  ‘Which one? One with the blondes or the Range Rover?’

  The Range Rover was already moving out on to the Shepherd’s Bush flyover, Julia panting with fear as Ester pressed her foot down. ‘Not too fast, slow it down, keep in the near lane.’

  ‘What the fuck happened?’ Ester screamed.

  Julia was white-faced with fear, eyes to the front, to the back as they could hear sirens. ‘Dolly sussed she was being set up, that’s all I know.’

  Gloria screamed that Dolly was out of her mind. She had gone right round the Shepherd’s Bush roundabout and was heading back the way they had come. ‘You’re crazy! You’re driving us right back to Ladbroke Grove – you should have gone up on the motorway.’

  Dolly said nothing. She turned left on to Ladbroke Grove again and began to move into the side-streets crisscrossing Ladbroke Grove.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘What we supposed to have done, Gloria? If we get stopped we was just up in London shopping, now shut up! Besides, if they’re trying to find us, they won’t be looking for us right on his bloody doorstep, will they? I’m going back on to the Harrow Road and then to the station. There’s a train at three and I’m gonna be on it.’ Dolly knew that if she was picked up, they must have Donaldson and he must have talked. She could be arrested.

  Palmer was sitting with a damp cloth held to his neck. DCI Craigh was out in one of the cars searching for Donaldson. It was now bordering on utter farce and one they would all be in heavy trouble about.

  Mike sat on the stairs, shaking his head in disbelief. His radio crackled. There was still no sighting of Jimmy Donaldson, who was at that moment running for his life with a bagful of fake diamonds. But only Mike knew they were fakes.

  Jimmy Donaldson didn’t know he’d risked everything for a bag of glass. He was running and dodging down the alleyways, hugging the pouch bag to his chest. He reached the end of Ladbroke Grove and he was still in the clear. He ducked and dived down Portobello Road, in and out of the stallholders, catching his breath in antique shops. He was making his way towards a back link road that led on to Harrow Road, and he knew he’d be able to nick a motor easy. They were sometimes being worked on by blokes he knew so he reckoned if he made it there he’d be away.

  Dolly forced Gloria into the back seat of the Volvo as she knew they’d be looking for a middle-aged blonde. Then she dragged Angela out of the car and shoved her into the driving seat. ‘Get in and drive.’

  Angela had never driven an automatic in her life. Dolly crouched in the back seat with Gloria. ‘Just put the gear into “Drive”, Angela, and take it nice and easy. Go up to the end and you take a right. There’s a small slip road, we can ease through it onto the main Harrow Road.’

  Dolly was calm, quiet until Angela took a left instead of a right, then she almost punched the back of Angela’s head.

  Donaldson was panting, sick with having run himself into the ground as he wove in and out of the parked cabs and trucks. He saw the car, saw the door open with the keys inside, and his heart lifted. He got another surge of adrenalin and was ready to make a charge for the parked car.

  As he did the run, Angela careered down the alley, terrified, still shouting that she couldn’t control the car, that she had never driven an automatic and hadn’t even passed her test on an ordinary car. Dolly gritted her teeth with fury. She knew they’d only be looking for a middle-aged blonde woman.

  ‘Stay fucking calm,’ screamed Gloria. ‘I dunno where we are. Where the hell are we? It’s a dead end, Dolly.’

  Dolly knew exactly where they were and told Angela to keep going straight ahead. Either side of the road were garages, some with their doors open, mechanics working on vehicles, but no one was paying them much attention. By now they were moving more slowly. As they turned at the top end of the narrow yard and Dolly told Angela to put her foot down on the accelerator, Jimmy Donaldson, scared he was being followed and looking back over his shoulder, didn’t see the car and ran out straight into the Volvo.

  His body took the full impact of the car side on. It threw him up into the air, he rolled across the bonnet and slithered to the ground on the opposite side. Angela rammed on the brakes, both Gloria and Dolly lurching forward in their seats. ‘What the bloody hell was that?’

  ‘A bloke! You’ve gone an’ hit a bloke, for chrissakes!’ bellowed Gloria. She then screamed as Donaldson, still alive, tried to stand, his face pressed against the window, clawing at the door.

  ‘Back up,’ shouted Dolly, ramming the car into reverse. Angela slammed her foot down on the accelerator again and as the car lurched backwards, Donaldson’s body disappeared.

  ‘He’s under the fucking car,’ shrieked Gloria. She leaned over and pressed the car into ‘Drive’. Angela was sobbing hysterically as the car bumped forward. They all felt the hideous bump and heard the sound beneath the wheels.

  Donaldson’s chest was crushed. He lay face down in the gutter and, as Dolly ran from the car, two mechanics from one of the nearby garages, hearing the women screaming, began to look over. They were too far away to see who was in the car or what had happened.

  Dolly almost fainted when she turned the body over and recognized Jimmy Donaldson. As she felt his pulse, she saw the black velvet pouch containing the diamonds. It was half in, half out of his jacket. She didn’t miss a beat. She snatched them, stuffed them into her pocket, and returned to the car. Neither Gloria nor Angela saw her do it. Both were in a state of shock.

  ‘Get out of here and fast. Move it, Angela!’ Now the watching men were more interested in what was going on at the bottom of the yard. The Volvo’s tyres screeched as it hurtled round the corner and disappeared. Not until they stood in the centre of the road did they see the body.

  By the time the police arrived at the scene, Donaldson’s body was covered and being lifted into a stretcher. No diamonds and, for DCI Craigh, useless witnesses who could not say for sure the exact make of the car or even give a description of the driver. All Craigh did know was that it had been a major cock-up. Jimmy Donaldson was dead and no one had seen Dolly Rawlins anywhere near his home. If she had been in the car that killed Jimmy, they had no evidence. They had, as he put it to DI Palmer, fuck all. What was worse, they could all get into very deep trouble over what had taken place, and they all knew it.

  Dolly made it to the train just in time. She had to run along the platform and opened one of the doors as the train was moving. The guards shouted but she was on it and she hauled Angela after her. They sat in the compartment heaving for breath. Dolly felt the pouch bag in her pocket sticking into her stomach. She leaned back, closing her eyes.

  ‘We made it.’

  Angela was still panting, scared to death. ‘That – that man I ran over.’

  Dolly opened her eyes. ‘Not your fault – you couldn’t stop. Eh, this is where we both get arrested for not having tickets.’

  She smiled, but Angela couldn’t. All she could see was that grey object as it hit the windscreen, felt that hideous bump as she ran over him, not once but twice. She started to cry.

  ‘Pull yourself together, Angela, we don’t want anyone to … remember us. So I’ll sit up front, away fro m you, all right, love?’

  Dolly made her way up the train, slipped into the toilet and held the bag of diamonds tightly to her chest. She’d got them and she’d still make the meeting.

  Gloria took a steady, almost scenic, route back to the rental garage, first stopping at a car wash and checking for any signs of damage or blood on the bumpers, but the car didn’t even have a dent. The windscreen wasn’t cracked either. She was impressed with the Volvo. It dawned on her that there were no diamonds, and she was depressed and fed up by the time she collected her Mini and drove back to the manor. She had Eddie’s guns, though – they’d make a nice packet. Gloria decided she should have stuck with what she knew, not been drawn into the diamond scam by Ester Freeman and her big ideas – she’
d get the hell away from that Dolly Rawlins. She reckoned she was unlucky anyway.

  Dolly went into the washroom at the town hall and told Angela to see which room they should go to. When she returned, Dolly had carefully stashed the bag of diamonds on top of one of the old toilet cisterns. She reckoned she might have a visit later: if some bastard set her up, they wouldn’t leave it as it was. Somebody was bound to come sniffing around at the manor.

  She turned as Angela slipped in and whispered, ‘I said we’d been here for fifteen minutes waiting down the hall. They said they’re running a bit behind and for you to go into the waiting room outside the boardroom.’

  Dolly examined her face in the mirror. She looked a bit ruffled but she put on some lipstick and only then did she realize she was shaking.

  Angela was biting her nails as she sat next to Dolly in the waiting room. Ten minutes ticked by, during which two women came in and walked out, Dolly making a point each time of saying, ‘Good afternoon.’

  Angela suddenly started to cry again and Dolly squeezed her hand tightly. ‘Don’t. Just hold on.’

  ‘I think he was dead, Dolly. I’m sure I killed him.’

  ‘You did, love.’ Angela gasped with shock but it calmed her, just as the boardroom doors opened and Mrs Tilly walked out.

  ‘I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting, Mrs Rawlins, but please do come in.’

  Dolly smiled and straightened her jacket. She noticed Mrs Tilly looking at her watch and she said quietly, ‘We got here early. I didn’t want to be late, this is too important for me.’

  Mrs Tilly held open the door, allowing Dolly to walk into the boardroom ahead of her. As the door closed behind them, Angela sniffed and pressed her hand to her mouth. She’d killed that poor man, she’d killed him and she couldn’t face it. She pressed her hands to her mouth, then got up and hurried out.

  Mike’s wife picked up the phone. She could hear someone sobbing on the other end. ‘Look, whoever this is, don’t keep calling here, do you hear me? Leave us alone.’