She's Out

by La Plante, Lynda

  ‘Yes, I told you.’

  ‘Where’s he taking you?’

  ‘Dinner at his place.’

  ‘Good. Slip him a couple of these sleeping tablets. You can have a good search around his place. Maybe he’s got papers or something that’ll give us the alarm codes.’

  Connie took the two tablets wrapped in a bit of tissue and slipped them into her pocket. ‘I’ll be down the gym first, check on the shotguns.’

  ‘Good girl.’

  ‘Thank you, Dolly,’ she said, without a smile.

  As she was walking out, Dolly caught her hand. ‘Something bothering you, is there?’

  ‘What do you think? But, like you said, I owe you for Lennie so I’ll do whatever you say.’

  ‘You make sure you do.’

  Connie wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, she continued out, closing the door behind her. Dolly rubbed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. God, they infuriated her. She was always having to check up on one or the other – it was like having a house full of kids. Well, she had kids for real and she wouldn’t let Kathleen down, but she knew it was going to be tough to keep the girls at the manor. She would have to start thinking about what she would do with them after the robbery. She felt tired out.

  Angela was in the kitchen when Dolly came in. ‘Want to go into London, love? Only I got to drop Gloria off, got her usual visit with her husband so you might as well keep us company.’

  It was not until they had left Gloria at a tube station that Dolly told Angela what she wanted her to do. She said it so quietly that Angela didn’t get nervous or even ask too many questions, she simply agreed. She was scared about going into the police station but Dolly stood outside waiting, encouraging her.

  Angela asked at the desk to speak to Mike Withey. The duty sergeant asked her name and then called the incident room. What did you say your name was, love?’

  ‘Angela Dunn.’

  When Mike was told she was waiting in reception he marched straight out to her, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out on to the street.

  ‘I told you I didn’t want to see you again.’

  ‘Please, Mike, I just want to talk to you, just for a minute. Look, I bought you a present, I don’t want to make you angry.’

  ‘I don’t want anything from you, Angela. I just don’t want to see you ever again.’

  Angela held out the pen box but he turned away so she took it out and showed it to him. ‘It’s a pen.’

  ‘Great, Angela, just what I needed.’ She slid it into his top pocket, and he turned away from her. ‘I don’t want it.’

  ‘Please, just give me a few minutes, please, Mike. I got to tell you something – it’s important.’ He rubbed his jaw. ‘Mrs Rawlins said she’ll call you tomorrow morning, she wants to know what would be a good time.’

  Mike faced the wall, feeling as if someone was about to ram his head into it. ‘What else did she tell you?’

  ‘Nothing, just that she would be in touch but for you to tell her what time.’

  He licked his lips. ‘Tell her I’ve nothing for her, not yet, but I’ll be at home – say in the morning about ten.’

  Dolly sat in the car, the briefcase open on her lap. She adjusted the channel and could hear Mike as clearly as if he was sitting next to her. She reckoned it was going to be quite a long night but she had to know if she could trust him – or Angela, for that matter. So far she had said exactly what she had been told to say, and the added plus was that they were even in Dolly’s sight. She hadn’t reckoned on them coming outside to talk.

  Angela watched him hurry back into the station before she headed towards Dolly. She could see the aerial stuck on the side of the car. ‘Was that okay?’

  Dolly beamed. ‘Yes, love. Get in, I’ve a few things I want you to do for me. Can you stay at your mother’s?’

  ‘Why? Can’t I stay on at the manor?’

  ‘Yes, but I want you to do a few things for me first thing in the morning. Have you got a passport?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well, first thing tomorrow I want you to get one and I want you to take mine, with this letter. I’m the girls’ legal guardian and I want them put on my passport, just for a holiday. Then you come straight home. And, Angela, you don’t say a word about this to any of the others or they’ll go apeshit – you know the way they feel about you.’ Dolly gestured for her to leave there and then.

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Oh, drive around a bit. Go on, off you go.’

  ‘My mum won’t let me stay, Dolly.’

  Dolly counted off some twenty-pound notes. ‘Well, here’s money for a hotel – just the one night, love, then you get home first thing.’

  She watched her walk off down the street. Angela turned and waved. Dolly acknowledged her, then saw the channel light blinking in the briefcase and put in her earplug. Mike was making a phone call. The pen worked perfectly, and she could hear him clearly; marvellous little invention. She smiled to herself as she listened to Mike talking, arranging to meet someone, and the more Dolly listened the more she smiled. She was sure she was right. She’d got the smart little bastard right by the balls. But better to be safe than sorry.

  Gloria saw that Eddie was all wired up the moment he was let through the gate to the visits room. She’d brought a few odds and sods for him, not much, and fifteen quid. He took them without so much as a thank you.

  ‘So, how you keeping?’

  ‘Oh, I’m havin’ a really good time in here, Gloria.’

  She had known it would start.

  ‘You look different,’ he muttered.

  ‘Yeah, well, it’s all the fresh air.’

  ‘So you’re still at the farmhouse then?’

  ‘It’s a manor house, Eddie, and yeah, I’m still there.’

  He began to roll a cigarette. She waited for him to ask about the guns but he continued with the cigarette.

  ‘Anythin’ gone down there?’ he asked nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on his roll-up. She sat back, watching him, and then he looked up, and she knew, but she never gave so much as a flicker. In that moment she also knew she was stronger than him, and maybe she always had been.

  Mike had no notion that he was wired up and Dolly Rawlins was taping every word he said. She was even right behind him when he went to visit an old mate from his days in the army, leading her directly to the security firm that handled the money for the mail train.

  He had brought a bottle of Scotch and was shown into the security firm’s office. His friend Colin had been a bit surprised to hear from Mike as he hadn’t for quite a few years and he wondered what he was after. But Mike soon got over that, saying he was putting out feelers for work if he was to leave the police force and a friend of a friend had told him that Colin had a cushy job.

  Dolly had to hand it to Mike, he was quite a smooth operator. She listened as he chatted on about his army days, about how badly he was paid and how, with a wife and two kids to keep plus a mortgage to pay, he was getting sick and tired of the Met. She was parked fifty yards from the security firm’s main depot and would have remained there if she hadn’t seen a police patrol car cruise by. She did one slow tour round the block and then she was out of range of the transmitter. She decided to call it quits for the evening. Most important was that she felt secure that if anything was to go down from Mike’s home, she’d be ready for it. She headed for home, everything she was planning playing over and over in her mind. She became more disheartened as the miles clocked up. Was she in over her head? Did she really believe she could go through with it? Just thinking about it exhausted her. Had it been like this with the widows? What the hell was she playing at?

  Then he began to talk to her. It didn’t take her by surprise – Harry’s voice often came to her, not like some whispered menace, nothing like that. In fact, it was the normality of the sound of his voice in her head that had often soothed her. She used to talk to him, silent conversations as if he was in the room with he
r, his deep, warm tones as clear as if he was sitting in their old drawing room in their house in Totteridge. He used to sit up late many nights. Sometimes she’d take him in a warm glass of malt whisky with just a sprinkling of sugar. ‘You all right, darlin’?’

  ‘I am, sweetheart, but there’s nobody else I can depend on as much as myself so I just make sure I’m covered back, front and sideways, because there’ll be nobody else looking out for me.’

  Harry never discussed what he was working on so diligently. It was a game they had played, and she would sit close and ask him if he wanted to talk about it … how she loved those times. Harry would sip his drink and often be sitting close enough to have a hand resting on her shoulder.

  ‘Well, darlin’, I got this tricky little situation. Not sure who to trust with an important delivery and it’s only tricky because it could have repercussions.’

  She never asked names but in a roundabout way, he would tell her about who he mistrusted and why, and the best way to ensure they became very trusting.

  Still driving, one part of her mind concentrating on the road, the other listening to Harry, it wasn’t until Dolly stopped at a garage to fill up with petrol that she lost his voice and listened to her own. ‘Cover your backside, Dolly, your sides and your front, before you make the next move.’

  Mike remained with his pal Colin as they drank their way through the entire bottle. He had not discussed the type of work Colin did, taking his time so as not to create any suspicion. Colin was a little ill-at-ease in case he was caught drinking: as he was the foreman he could get into trouble. But Mike laughed – he was, after all, a copper if anyone should interrupt them. Just in case, Colin slipped out to check no one was likely to disturb them.

  As soon as he left the office, Mike looked over the time sheets on the desk, the lists of officers’ names, but found nothing pertaining to any mail train pick-up or delivery. It was a big firm and Mike was about to try one of the drawers when Colin returned.

  ‘You’re gonna have to go, the night staff’ll be on duty any minute and we’re not allowed to have anyone in here.’

  ‘Okay. When can we do this again? Only – if I leave the cop shop, I don’t want to walk out to nothing. Is the pay worthwhile?’

  They discussed the money and Mike brought the conversation gradually round to what kind of work he would be looking at, if it was boring and involved just driving around the country. Colin grinned. ‘No way, this is one of the top companies, we don’t deal in small stuff – this is big. That’s why they like us army boys, you know, men that can handle themselves. We’re shifting big loads of money.’

  ‘Oh, yeah? What you call big, then?’

  Colin gave a shifty look around and leaned in close. ‘Come and have a look out in the yard, see the new vans. They’re all armour-plated, blow your mind, all work on timers, high-tech stuff. We do the Royal Mail deliveries.’

  Mike looked suitably impressed and followed his friend into the yard. Not until half an hour later did he discover just how much the security firm carried. He was told in an awestruck whisper but had no time to react as Colin hustled him outside. They arranged to meet for a drink the following night. By then Colin would have made enquiries to see if there were any openings for someone with Mike’s experience.

  Dolly switched off the lights and got out of the car. She was exhausted; it had been a long night. She couldn’t wait to get to bed but as usual she toured the house, checking who was in and who wasn’t. Julia was still out, so was Connie, and Ester was watching some late-night movie.

  ‘Julia called, said her mother was really bad and that Norma’s staying over with her.’

  Dolly smiled. Well, that’s good, give them a lot of time to talk.’

  Ester made no reply, concentrating on the film. ‘You’ve still got to sort out those carriage links, you know, Ester.’

  ‘I’ll do it tomorrow, after the morning ride.’

  ‘Okay – and at the same time sort that business out with the tape.’

  ‘Yeah, I hear you, Dolly. Where’s Angela?’

  Dolly was about to go up to bed when Ester asked, ‘Where’ve you been?’

  She swung the door back and forth. ‘Checking out that copper. I think we can trust him.’

  Ester turned from the TV set. ‘Well, I hope you’re right.’

  ‘So do I .’ The door closed silently behind her.

  Ester went back to watching the film, angry that Julia was with Norma, angry that she could never get a hold on Dolly. She didn’t trust her and the more she thought about it, the more angry she became. She reckoned it was all a waste of time.

  ‘She’s back, then,’ Gloria said as she walked in.

  ‘Born in a field, were you, Gloria? Shut the door.’

  Gloria kicked it closed and leaned against it. Where’s she been?’

  ‘You think she’d tell me?’

  Gloria wandered to the sofa and perched on the arm. ‘You think she’s a bit wacko?’

  Ester shrugged, and Gloria slid slowly down from the arm of the sofa to sprawl beside her. ‘How long you gonna give all this riding business? I mean, she’s not serious, is she?’

  Ester switched off the TV. ‘You ask her. I keep trying but she just fobs me off, keeps telling me to do this and that, wants to find out how to unhitch a train carriage.’

  ‘Well, that’s easy.’ Gloria yawned. ‘Get some Semtex and blast them apart, that’s what I’d do. No way could you or me or all five of us lift one of them heavy links. I’m telling you she’s got a screw loose, I thought that when I heard her telling you. All you need to do to get a carriage loose is blow it apart, never mind farting around trying to unhitch it. We’d be there all night.’

  Ester fixed her eyes on Gloria and said, ‘You still interested?’

  Gloria bit her nail, spat it out. ‘Depends, don’t it? Like how much is in it. Right now this is all fantasy, she got us riding up like Annie Get Your Gun – I dunno what’s in her head. Does she expect us to start blasting the train from the horses? Well, lemme tell you, until I know just exactly how she got it planned, I am not saying whether I’m in or out. And if you got any sense you do the same.’

  Dolly listened to them, could hear every word, and she wondered if Gloria was right, if they should use Semtex. She wondered where they could get some and then she sat on the bed looking over the eiderdown. Laid out, just like Harry used to do it, were her notes and plans for the robbery. She took out the small earpiece and tossed it on to the briefcase, no longer interested in the conversation below. Maybe it was becoming crazy, maybe she was crazy, because she had now decided that the best place to hold up the train was dead centre of the bridge. She was about to switch off the channel connected to the drawing room, but stopped herself.

  ‘So how did it go with Eddie?’ Ester was asking.

  ‘Oh, usual, pain in the arse. I’m gonna crash out, see you in the morning.’

  Dolly flicked off the microphone and heard Gloria’s bedroom door bang shut. She concentrated, pulling her own door slightly ajar, certain she could hear muffled weeping.

  Gloria had her face buried in the pillow, trying to cry without being heard. She hadn’t expected it to hurt so much. She physically jumped when Dolly touched her, whipping round. ‘You go creepin’ around like this an’ you’ll gimme a heart attack,’ she said, shrugging Dolly’s hand away.

  ‘What you crying about?’

  Gloria shook her head. ‘Sad movie on downstairs.’

  ‘What happened with Eddie, Gloria?’ Dolly sat down on the side of the bed.

  Gloria sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hand, and then decided there was no point in lying. ‘He knew the guns was here and he said the filth paid him a visit, said they was gonna book me on murder, like they knew I was drivin’ that fuckin’ car. They told him about Jimmy Donaldson.’

  Gloria pushed her head into the pillow. ‘Well, it wasn’t me, an’ if they come after me for that then I’ll tell them it was that cow An
gela. I’m not taking the rap for that – I wasn’t even fuckin’ driving.’

  Dolly straightened the candlewick bedspread. ‘They got nothin’. If they had, love, they’d have sorted us out – and fast. They got nothin’ on that car.’

  ‘And you’d know, would you?’ snapped Gloria.

  ‘Yes, I’d know. So, go on about Eddie.’

  Gloria suddenly deflated and out fell the tears. ‘He grassed us, Dolly, he told them about the guns. He admitted it, said I should get out, like he don’t know what went down here, just that he told the coppers his stash was at the house.’

  ‘I see,’ Dolly said softly.

  ‘No, you don’t see, Dolly, you don’t see at all. He was my husband and he would have got me put away if they’d found them, got us all done, I suppose. But he’s my husband and he stitched me up. All the years I stood by him, probably would have waited you know – I mean, he’s not much but he is my husband.’ Gloria sniffed again, and then shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well, now you know, so you want me to pack me bags? I’ll understand, I don’t wanna walk but I reckon you got a right to kick me out.’

  Gloria didn’t expect the gentle embrace, and it made her want to sob. Dolly held her a moment, stroked her fuzzy, bleached, dry hair and Gloria could hardly make out what she said she spoke so softly. ‘S’all right, love, I understand. You stay on here because I understand.’ Dolly took out a crumpled tissue and handed it to her. ‘Yes, I understand. You’re hurting now, probably always will, but it gets easier, believe me, it gets easier.’

  ‘You’re all right, gel, you know that?’ Gloria said and started to cry again as Dolly left the room.

  Dolly cleaned her hands and then her face, wiping the tissue across her cheeks. There were no tears, she didn’t think she had any left, but she’d felt that hurt, that pain inside like a jagged bread knife. She saw his face again, saw him standing waiting for her in the darkness, the lake behind him as dark as the night. And yet his face was so clear, as if lit by a pale flickering light.

  ‘Hello, Doll.’ He had lifted his arms to embrace her and she had moved that much closer. She didn’t want to miss. She wanted to shoot him in his heart. She had succeeded.