by Jacqui Rose
Julian smirked.
‘I don’t want you to do anything at the moment. Not yet anyway.’
‘Then there’s no need to be here is there?’
Julian lowered himself onto Alan’s large leather office chair, spinning himself round.
‘This is some place you’ve got here. You must charge your clients a fortune.’
Alan bristled. He didn’t like the way the conversation was heading. ‘I do all right.’
Putting his feet up on the desk, Julian kicked the pile of files onto the floor, scattering the papers everywhere. ‘I’d say you do more than all right, wouldn’t you?’
‘What’s this about, Millwood? Just tell me what you want and then get the hell out of here.’
Julian’s mouth curled up to one side. ‘That ain’t a very nice way to talk.’
Alan’s shoulders tensed up, but he spoke in a quieter tone. ‘I’m sorry, but I haven’t had a good day.’
‘That’s better, now we’re getting somewhere.’
‘Just tell me how I can help you.’
‘Okay, so I lied. I do want something. What I want for starters is some money.’
Alan laughed scornfully. ‘I don’t think so.’
Julian narrowed his eyes. ‘Don’t be a fool, Alan. I’d pay up if I were you.’ Julian winked at him. A long pause followed, before Alan spoke in a fluster.
‘Fine, how much do you want?’ Alan went into his pocket and brought out a small bundle of fifty-pound notes. ‘Two hundred? Three? Here, take the lot.’
Alan threw the money down on the office desk in front of Julian, who picked it up and promptly took his lighter out of his pocket to begin to burn it. He watched Alan’s stricken face.
‘You insult me, Alan. I thought you could do better than that.’
‘Then how much? How much do you want?’
‘That all depends.’
Julian reached inside his jacket, pulling out a brown envelope. He opened it up and brought out some photographs. One by one, he laid them on the table.
‘How much do you think they’re worth, Alan?’
Wide eyed, Alan Day sprang into action and leapt forward, gathering them up in his arms.
‘What the fuck are you playing at?’ He twisted his body towards the door. ‘Anyone could come in and see.’
Julian sniffed, picking up one of the photos Alan hadn’t managed to scoop up. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you take a good photo? Couldn’t say the same for the girl. Looks a bit miserable to me. Doesn’t seem to want to give the camera a smile, can’t see why not. Perhaps it’s the position you’ve got her in. How old was she, Alan?’
Alan Day clutched the photos against his body. He could feel a shooting pain running down his arm. His chest began to tighten. ‘Get out.’
‘Oh Alan, you’ll have to do a lot better than that. You can keep the photos by the way. I’ve got copies. Shall we say one hundred grand by tomorrow?’
‘I haven’t got that sort of money!’
‘There you go again. The defence barrister in action. You really are good at your job. If I didn’t know you better I’d actually believe you, but lucky for me I know what a lying cunt you are. I’ll be back round for the money.’ Julian tapped Alan Day on the shoulder.
Julian walked into the waiting area, whistling, banging into a man who seemed to be having a row with the receptionist as he did so.
‘Watch where you’re going, pal,’ Del Williams scowled. He pushed past the receptionist and Julian, shutting the door behind him with a bang.
‘Alan, I was trying to get hold of you. What the hell do I pay you for if I can’t get in contact when I need to?’
The shooting pain hit Alan again but this time it started from his left arm, making its way up to his chest. His hand involuntarily spasmed, cramping his knuckles into a clawed ball. The bundle of photographs Alan was trying to gather up tumbled down onto the floor.
The stress of seeing the photographs made Alan’s chest tighten even more. He bent over, twisted in pain, unable to get to the fallen photos before Del. Watching in horror, he saw Del pick them up, but he couldn’t move; Alan was sure he was having a heart attack.
Del kept his eyes on Alan, not bothering to look at what he was picking up from the floor. The man looked so grey and waxy. He had come to help him out, but seeing Alan now with things strewn everywhere and looking like a man under pressure, he thought he might leave it. The man looked terrible.
Del looked around and picked up a stray photo from the floor. Glancing at it, he saw it was a picture of a little girl and froze. He felt sick.
‘What the fuck is this?’ Del snarled.
‘I … I can explain. It’s not what you think.’
‘It’s exactly what I think.’
Alan gasped, ‘But let me explain.’
‘There’s nothing to explain. I don’t want to know.’ With that, Del slammed the pile of photographs in Alan’s hand.
Alan chanced to look more closely at the photo. Facing up was a photo of a naked girl, but the other person in the photo with her wasn’t him.
‘What sort of twisted fucks do you represent?’
Now it was Alan’s turn to feel sick. Sick with relief. He wanted to laugh and cry all at once. Visibly shaken, he let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘I know … I know, but what can you do? Someone has to represent them. Innocent till proven guilty and all that.’
‘But stone me mate, do you really need to keep all the evidence in the office?’ Del shook his head. ‘Fuck me.’
Alan scrambled the photos together, gathering them back into his arms and ignoring the pain in his chest. He went across to the safe and quickly stuffed the photos into it, instantly feeling more relaxed.
He turned to Del, giving him his best smile.
‘Now, what can I do for you?’
An hour later, Del Williams stalked out of Alan Day’s office. Walking down Theobalds Road towards the West End, he answered his ringing phone. It was Edith. He gave it five seconds before holding the phone away from his ear, not wanting to hear the usual list of moans and complaints from his wife.
He wasn’t in the best of moods; Christ knew he needed all his patience to have any sort of communication with Edith and today he didn’t have any. Lawyers, especially crooked barristers, had that effect on him.
He’d never liked Alan but then he didn’t have to. He was good at his job and when you were looking at a five-year lump, liking someone didn’t ever come into the equation. Over the years Alan had managed to get him off several charges – although he’d paid him his weight in gold for it – and as much as he was grateful to Alan for the way he did his job, that didn’t mean he’d allow him to take the piss.
Sighing and feeling hot, Del put the phone back to his ear, just in time to hear Edith asking for more money. ‘I’m like a bleedin’ beggar. I’d be better off selling the Big Issue. How am I meant to keep a roof over me head? Clothes on me back? I’ll be six feet under with the stress of it all.’
‘I’ll get one of my men to drop some money off to you, but I’m coming across in the next couple of days and I’ve got some business I need to deal with, so I need you to be out of the way for a while.’
Del pulled the phone slightly away again as Edith shrieked down the other end. ‘Oh yeah, that’d be bleedin’ right. Treat me like a fucking dog with fleas why don’t you? First off I’m having to phone you up ’cos you leave me without a pot to piss in, now you want to throw me out. What am I? A fucking scrag end of meat?’
Del’s tone darkened. ‘Listen Edith, you can go on one of them cruises you’re forever going on or you can come over here or even stay at one of them fancy hotels. The choice is yours. Whatever you do or don’t do I don’t give a shit; I’ll pay for it, like I always have. All I’m saying is I want you out of the villa. Non-negotiable, darling.’
‘Don’t you bleedin’ tell me to get out of me own house Del Williams. This villa is as much mine as it is yours.’
&nb
sp; ‘I think you’ll find it’s not.’
‘Oh yeah? Let’s see if they say that in a court of law when I tell them exactly how you bought this bleedin’ place.’
‘Are you threatening me, Edith? Because both you and I know that would be a very silly thing to do.’
Standing in the air-conditioned villa in Marbella, Edith Williams swallowed hard as she listened to Del’s tone. She’d be a fool to forget her husband was a dangerous man, but the feeling of him getting one over on her was stronger at that moment than the fear of antagonising him.
She’d been a good wife to him at the beginning of her marriage, but he’d been too busy wanting to make a name for himself. Within months of being wed he’d begun to build his empire, leaving her alone a lot of the time.
She’d been lonely at first, but then the local fishmonger had paid her some attention and after a few months she’d taken him as her lover. The first of many. Even though she was a large woman, she’d never had any problem attracting men. Maybe it was her money they were attracted to or maybe it was her confidence; whatever it was it didn’t really matter as long as her insatiable sexual desire was satisfied. Of course Del had never known or even suspected. She was too careful and he was away so much, it was easy to hide it from him. And he was mug enough to think she’d wait for him like a virgin bride. She’d had her fun and doubtless he’d had his.
‘Think what you like, Del. Just don’t forget I know everything about you.’
Del closed his eyes for a moment. He kept his voice steady and spoke slowly. ‘Just be out of my way when I get there.’
He clicked off the phone and kicked the wall he was standing by.
A bullet in her head.
As he crossed Southampton Row, Del Williams tried to put the ever-growing thought out of his mind.
13
Bunny Barker sat on the end of her bed, the warm summer breeze blowing through the room. Her grey silk dressing gown hung off her shoulder, exposing her soft pale skin. Her blonde hair was fixed up into a loose bun on her head and her lips were painted red.
For some reason she wasn’t feeling comfortable, though she knew she didn’t have anything to worry about; Claudia was just outside the door if she needed her. It was silly, but the reason for her discomfort wasn’t because of a strange request by the punter sitting opposite her – it was because there was no request at all, which made the whole situation stranger than ever.
‘You sure you don’t want anything, babe? You know I’ll still be charging you a monkey.’
‘I know, but all I want to do is sit here and look at you.’
‘I don’t really do that.’
The man smiled. ‘What, you don’t want people to admire your beauty? You do know how beautiful you are, don’t you?’
Bunny tried to stop feeling more uncomfortable than she already was. She lit up a cigarette, trying to look in control. ‘It’s just strange that’s all, I don’t usually have people wanting to just come and stare, but if that rocks your boat, babe, be my guest. Stare away.’ Bunny smiled warmly, not wanting to be hostile in any way.
‘Would it help if I touched you?’
Bunny shuddered although the heat in the room was stifling, requiring the chrome fans to be turned on high. There was something about his voice that she didn’t trust. Perhaps she was tired, but she’d been in this game long enough to trust her instinct and know there was something unsettling about this man.
Bunny spoke, keeping her voice lighter and steadier than she felt. ‘Do what you like darlin’. You’re paying for it.’
The man reached out to touch her, but his fingers hovered in the air millimetres away from her skin. He cocked his head to one side, his brown hair flopping over his forehead.
‘No, on second thoughts, it’s okay. Perhaps next time. I’m a bit old-fashioned like that. I like to get to know a girl first before I screw her ass off.’
With that, Teddy Davies threw five hundred pounds on the bed before getting up and walking out of the room.
* * *
‘Are you okay Bun?’ Claudia looked at Bunny with a worried frown as she watched her pack her suitcase, folding and unfolding the clothes lying scattered on the floor.
‘That last guy, he got me a bit on edge.’
Claudia’s frown became deeper. ‘Why didn’t you call me?’
‘Thing is, there wasn’t nothing to call about. He just … Oh, forget it, it’s me being silly. I’m just a bit tired. Poor sod probably can’t get a shaft on and that’s why he only wanted to talk.’
Claudia smiled affectionately. ‘If there is anything you wanna get off your chest darlin’, you know you can chew me ear off as much as you like, don’t you?’
Bunny nodded gratefully. ‘It’s this holiday. I’m a bit nervous. I dunno why Del won’t go on his own, but he’s insisting I go with him. You know I like me home comforts. I’ve tried to get out of it but he’s hearing none of it. Plus I’m not looking forward to flying; worried we might crash.’ Bunny shrugged her shoulders then looked forlornly at Claudia.
‘See, I told you it’s me being silly. But you asked and that’s what’s on me mind.’
‘Are you sure it’s only that, Bun? It ain’t nothing to do with Star?’
‘Star?’
‘Drop me out girl. Don’t give me that wide-eyed look of yours, missy. It might work with Del boy but it ain’t going to work with me. I know when you’re telling me porkies. Listen love, nothing’s going to happen to Star; not on my watch.’
‘I know, but I think if it can …’
Claudia grabbed hold of Bunny’s hand. ‘Don’t, Bun. I don’t want you thinking about anything bad. Go out there and enjoy yourself. Bleedin’ hell girl, if I had some fella taking me away for a few days I’d be biting his hand off. Trust me, she’ll be fine. I’ll look after her as if she was mine.’
Walking down the street, Bunny held onto Star’s hand. There was nowhere she’d rather be. It wouldn’t matter if they’d been walking through a monsoon or waist high in mud; as long as she was with her daughter, it didn’t matter.
She turned her head to look at Star who was happily chattering away to herself. It was a funny habit her daughter had. When she was little Bunny was sure Star would grow out of talking to herself, but she hadn’t. Her daughter’s imagination and her sense of adventure seemed to grow with each passing year, happily submerging herself in a secret world full of pirates and cowboys. A world where no one ever really got hurt or ever died; a world that Bunny could only dream about.
‘Fancy some sweets, baby?’ Bunny interrupted her daughter as they walked past the newsagents on Old Compton Street.
‘Yes please, and can we get some for Dad and Claudia?’
Bunny smiled warmly. She loved that part of Star. She was a generous little girl, in both her material possessions and her thoughts; always thinking and wanting other people to have what she did.
‘I’ll take a packet of buttons for me dad, oh and some jelly babies. He loves them.’ Bunny grinned as her daughter carefully studied the row of sweets.
‘What about Claudia?’
‘She loves them sherbet dip dabs, so I’ll take a couple of packets of them.’
Bunny handed Star a five-pound note and watched as she went to pay. She could feel herself bristling as the middle-aged man behind the counter winked at Star. Her body went to grab her daughter but her logic forced her stay still. Star wasn’t in any danger, she was here with her.
She had to stop this. Nothing could happen to Star while she stood here. Although knowing it was purely innocent, Bunny turned her head away, unable to watch the man grin at her daughter. Her phone rang.
‘Hello?’
‘All right, doll?’ It was Del.
‘Hello sweetheart.’
‘What you up to?’
‘I’m with Star, bringing the usual supply of sweets home for you.’
Del laughed affectionately down the phone.
‘Put her on for me, will you?�
��
Bunny turned towards the counter. She froze. Star wasn’t there.
‘Bun? Bun?’ Del’s voice continued to be heard as blind panic took over her.
Bunny looked to her left, seeing only an old lady standing choosing between Rich Tea biscuits and Fig Rolls. To her right a group of boys chatted, pushing each other in a boisterous manner.
‘Where did she go? Where did my daughter go?’
The newsagent shrugged.
Running out of the shop into the busy street, Bunny was met by a throng of summer visitors, milling slowly in dense crowds along the Soho streets.
Her head whipped from side to side, darting searching, desperate glances along the sleepy street. Bunny’s heart raced. Sweat began to prickle under her armpits. Her mouth went dry.
‘Star, Star. Where are you?’
There. Two feet ahead of her, Bunny got a glimpse of a mop of blonde hair. ‘Please be her. Please be her.’
Bunny pushed past the couple in front of her who blocked her view. ‘Star! Star!’ She felt sick as she saw her daughter talking to a grey-haired man.
Star Barker-Williams turned round, happily chewing on a candy bar. ‘Mum, this is …’
Before Star could say another word, Bunny launched into a relieved tirade. ‘What have I told you about going off on your own? Don’t you know how much you frightened me? Frigging hell, Star.’
‘But Mum …’
‘No, Star; no buts. I ain’t having it. You’re always doing this. You and your adventures. That imagination of yours will get you into trouble.’
Star’s eyes filled with tears. Her mum was always so over the top. ‘Mum!’
‘I don’t want to hear another word. What were you thinking of, talking to strangers?’
‘He’s not a stranger. It’s Mr Moore, our headmaster from school. I was only showing him what sweets I bought Dad and Claudia.’
Bunny stopped and looked properly at the grey-haired spectacled man who stood a few feet away, watching with a frown as the drama unfolded in front of him. Bunny could feel herself turning red. She felt foolish and angry that once again her past was affecting the present.
Too embarrassed to say anything, Bunny grabbed hold of a scowling Star’s hand, hoping for a time, both for her sake and her daughter’s, that she wouldn’t see a monster hiding around each and every corner.