by Jacqui Rose
‘We need to meet.’ The voice on the other end of the phone gave Del Williams pause for thought. Lying in the darkened bedroom of his friend’s country estate in Kent, he couldn’t quite place the caller.
‘It’s Milo.’
‘How can I help you, Milo?’
‘I would’ve thought it was obvious. We have a lot of things to sort out, but not on the phone.’
Del raised his eyebrows. He’d known this would come eventually. The call had been inevitable.
‘If not on the phone, where?’
‘I have the perfect place. In fact I’m here now. Sitting in a lovely front room overlooking acres of land. Cream leather sofas, though sadly they’re not as comfortable as they look. Still, it helps having these big green velvet cushions.’
Del sat bolt upright. He hissed down the phone. ‘Where the hell are you, Milo?’
‘From your reaction, I’d say you’ve already guessed.’
‘I want you out of my house.’
‘Not the response I was looking for.’
‘Get out!’
‘Again, not the right response. It seems you’ve forgotten what you did. It seems you have a selective memory. So let me refresh it. You owe me.Your life is in the balance, Del, so I would’ve thought showing a little bit of hospitality was in your best interests and the least you could do.’
‘Don’t cross the line with me, Milo.’
‘Or what, my friend? You’ll come after me? That would be a very foolish thing to do.’
Del got up from the bed, pressing the remote control to open the curtains. As daylight burst into the large lavish bedroom, Del took a deep breath to try to calm himself. He was playing right into Milo’s hands by letting him wind him up. He needed to play this cool.
‘Okay Milo. What do you want me to do?’
‘I want you to come and see me.’
Del frowned. ‘How do I know it’s not a set up?’
‘You don’t, and I’m sure you know it probably is, but what other choice do you have? You of all people know how it goes.’
Del said nothing for a moment. That was the problem. He did know how it went. And he also knew there was nothing he could do. If he didn’t go and see him, Milo would find him, maybe not as easily as he’d found his house in the countryside, but eventually he would and then there’d be no talking. No sorting it out. It’d be simply do or die.
Knowing he was cornered, Del spoke matter-of-factly.
‘Just you and me?’
‘Now you know I can’t promise that. But I do expect you to come alone.’
‘Wouldn’t that make me stupid?’
‘No more stupid than you’ve already been.’
‘It wasn’t like you thought it was, Milo. All of this is a huge mistake.’
‘Then that’s the one thing we do agree on, Del. It was a huge mistake. A very huge one.’
Del rubbed his head. It was pounding from all the alcohol he’d been consuming since he’d had the ruck with Bunny. Fuck. He didn’t want to think of her. He didn’t want her name anywhere near his head, especially when he had to deal with Milo. She was too distracting.
‘Okay. I’ll come and meet you.’
‘Good. Now you’re beginning to talk sense. Perhaps there is hope after all. Ten o’clock tonight shall we say?’
Unenthusiastically, Del answered. ‘Ten o’clock … but Milo, before you decide what to do, hear me out, pal. Let me sit down and talk. You and I, we go back a long way. Once you hear everything I’m sure we’ll find a solution that makes you happy. Whatever it takes to sort it out.’
‘Whatever it takes.’ The line went dead.
Edith Williams pressed her stomach hard and farted, smiling with satisfaction. She’d been trying to dispel the trapped wind since yesterday afternoon when she’d eaten two double cheeseburgers.
Feeling more comfortable, she leant over to answer her ringing phone, almost immediately breaking into a smile as she listened to the caller on the other end.
‘Edward darlin’. I’d thought you’d forgotten all about me. I imagined you’d be buzzing about like a fly on shit but you’ve proved me wrong. What news, Ed?’ Edith paused, pushing her stomach again. Her eyes began to glint as she took in the information being recounted. ‘I knew I could rely on you, Edward, but really babe, you have to stop being so bleedin’ prickly about your name. I’ve told you before, no one respects a man named after a bear.’ Edith cackled, not bothering to say goodbye.
Gloating to herself, Edith dialled another number.
‘Yeah? What do you want? What’s the deal?’ Alfonso’s voice was gruff.
Haughtily, Edith replied, ‘I was calling to say I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Everything’s sorted. I want you to pick me up at the airport.’
‘And why the fuck should I do that?’
‘Because I told you to, Alfonso.’
‘I ain’t your poodle any longer, Edith. We’re in this together. We’re partners.’
‘Partners? We talked about this before, Alfonso. Del has no interest in what I do or don’t do anymore.’
‘I just want what’s mine.’
‘Well that’s just it, ain’t it Alfonso? Nothing is yours.’
Alfonso shouted angrily down the phone. ‘That wasn’t the deal, Edith. You know it wasn’t.’
‘Oh you mean the deal I made with you when you had me on the floor? Well I’ve been thinking about it, and I suppose you refusing to pick me up at the airport does me a favour darlin’. Saves me waiting to tell you. You’re surplus to demands now, Alfonso. I don’t need you anymore.’
‘What?’
‘You heard. I don’t know what I was thinking. There was me making plans with you when I didn’t need you at all. You’re useless, Alfie baby. You’ll never see a penny of my money, babe.’
Alfonso could hardly believe what he was hearing. ‘You’ll regret this.’
Edith continued to admire herself in the mirror, adding a touch more red to her already heavily made-up cherry mouth. ‘No. No Alfonso, I don’t think I will.’
‘You’ll pay for this.’
Edith sniffed. ‘Again, Alfonso, I don’t think I will. Now, it did cross me mind to get Del’s men to throw you out, but I ain’t a monster. I have a heart. So I’ve decided to let you stay on at the villa, for the time being anyway. I can’t say fairer than that, can I? I’ll even give you your old job back. You were so good at cleaning the toilets, Alfie. Oh and get your stuff out of the main house. I want you back in the west wing … you know, the servants quarters.’
Alfonso Garcia threw the phone across the room and watched as it landed on his bed, bouncing several times before it lay still. If it was the last thing he did, Edith Williams would get hers.
32
Del Williams sped towards his house just outside Rettendon in Essex. The electronic gauge on his bulletproof Range Rover showed ninety-five miles an hour. At first, he’d been driving well under the speed limit, hoping to delay his arrival and the inevitable showdown with Milo. Besides, he needed to collect his thoughts. But now he needed to get there.
The best approach was to offer Milo both the coke and the money. It’d be a massive loss, but in the long term what he’d lose would be nothing to what he’d gain. Being on an even keel with Milo was worth the loss of a couple of million pounds or so.
By sacrificing everything, Del would show Milo it’d all been one massive fuck-up. He’d even offer to push a couple of hundred thousand to the man he’d shot. Whatever it took to show the Russian mafia boss there were no hard feelings.
It might take some doing, but Del Williams was convinced that by tomorrow morning, he and Milo would be back to top drawer. Pressing his foot harder on the accelerator, Del turned up the radio.
Bunny Barker walked into her daughter’s bedroom. She sat down on the end of the bed, giving Star a sad smile. She’d really been looking for Claudia, wanting to confront her about calling Del about the pregnancy when she’d given Bunny her word sh
e wasn’t going to get involved. She would’ve spoken to Claudia sooner but for the past couple of days she’d been staying with an old friend, so today was the first time she was going to have the opportunity to tackle her. To be truthful, she was dreading it. Bunny sighed. She still couldn’t credit it that Claudia had betrayed her.
Bringing her thoughts back to her daughter, Bunny looked at Star. The freckles that were usually so tiny in the winter were now reappearing on her face, owing to the summer sunshine. Her blonde hair was even blonder. But her blue eyes – usually dancing and mischievous – were sad and almost lifeless.
‘Hey babe, can I come in?’
Star didn’t bother looking up from the treasures she’d tipped out onto her oversized four-poster bed. ‘You’re already in ain’t ya?’
‘Star, you don’t have to be like that, doll. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right. Can I give you a hug?’
Star shrugged her shoulders as her mum gave her a cuddle. She hated feeling like this and being rotten to her mum, but she didn’t know how to get rid of the horrible feeling she had in her tummy. It was also in her chest. In fact all of her felt horrible, and the only time she didn’t feel horrible was when she was asleep. But she wasn’t tired. So all she could do was try to pretend the feeling wasn’t there, but no matter how much she pretended, it didn’t go away.
‘Daddy will be back, Star.’
At the mention of her dad, Star put her hands over her ears and threw herself back on the bed. She didn’t want to think about him because when she did all she could see was the front door shutting in her face. Him leaving. And that had frightened her. How could she tell anyone she was scared? Explorers didn’t get scared and that’s what Star wanted to be when she grew up. An explorer.
Star felt her mum touching her leg. ‘Star honey, how can I make this better for you?’
Star said nothing. The only thing that would make it better was her dad coming back, but her mum couldn’t make that happen. The only person who could do that now was her friend, Teddy. But she hadn’t heard from Teddy like he’d promised and when she’d kept calling him, like her dad he hadn’t picked up the phone.
‘Maybe we can go to the movies, Star. How about going to see that new Pixar movie?’
Star sat up, her face contorted with rage. ‘I don’t want to see a bleedin’ movie with you. I want to go and see it with me dad, but you made him go. You made him unhappy. I hate you. I hate you.’
‘What’s all this shouting?’ Claudia stood by the door. She looked at Bunny sympathetically, then turned her attentions to Star.
‘Star. You know Mummy didn’t make Daddy go.’
Tears poured down Star’s face. ‘She did. She did!’
Claudia shook her head and spoke quietly as she sat next to Bunny. ‘No baby, she didn’t.’
‘Then why did he go?’
‘Sometimes adults are silly.’
Star shouted furiously. ‘He’s not silly. He’s not.’
Claudia put her hand on Star’s. ‘I’m not saying he is.’ She raised a glance at Bunny who was staring at her coldly.
‘Claudia. I’ll handle this. She’s my daughter and I’ve always been there for her.’
The puzzlement on Claudia’s face was so apparent even Star stopped and looked at her mum curiously to see what would happen next.
Claudia stammered. ‘I … I … I ain’t saying you haven’t. I was only trying to help.’
Bunny’s eyes were steely. ‘It’s a bit late to help now. You had your chance.’
‘What’s this about, Bun?’
Forgetting Star was sitting next to her listening, Bunny launched into an attack. ‘It’s about you Claudia and you know what, that’s always been the problem. You’ve always thought it was about you. You thinking you know best. Making decisions without thinking about the consequences. Letting other people pick up the pieces for your mistakes. Well I’m done with them, Claudia. I’m not going to let you hurt my daughter as well.’
Claudia’s eyes were full of tears. ‘I would never do that, Bunny.’
‘No, because I won’t let you … I want you to go.’
‘Go?’
Bunny couldn’t bear to look at Claudia, to see the pain in her face. ‘Yes, go. Until I decide what I’m going to do, I don’t want to see you.’
‘Please, don’t do this … Bronwin.’
Bunny’s head shot up. Her face contorted just like Star’s had only a few moments ago.
‘Stop it … stop it! You always do that. You always call me that when you want something, but it don’t work, Claudia. There is no Bronwin don’t you get it? Bronwin died in me a long, long time ago. Now go. Get out!’
‘No, not until you tell me what this about.’
‘You told him. You told Del about the baby.’
Claudia looked stunned. ‘I didn’t. I told you I wouldn’t. Please, you’ve got to believe me.’
‘But I don’t, Claudia. I don’t. He as good as told me when he was smashing up the place the other day. You should’ve seen his face. I told you. I begged you not to say anything but you just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’
‘Bunny, you’ve got to believe me. I wouldn’t lie to you.’
Emotionally exhausted, Bunny’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Please, get out.’
Claudia silently got up and walked towards the door. She hesitated as if to say something but changed her mind, exiting the room without looking back.
A few seconds of silence passed as Bunny sat, her head bowed down. She kept her eyes closed before springing them open to look at her daughter, feigning a smile as her heart broke.
‘So, tell me about these treasures then. What’s this one?’
Bunny picked up a marble as Star looked at her mum. She didn’t know what had just happened between Claudia and her mum, or rather she didn’t know why it had happened, but she did know by looking at her mum’s face not to ask any questions. For now, anyway.
‘That’s a pirate’s eye.’
‘What happened to his other eye?’
‘He still has it.’
‘What about this? What’s this?’ Bunny held up a piece of cotton wool.
Star stared at her mum. Her voice was impassive as she said, ‘It’s a piece of cotton wool.’
A wry smile came to Bunny’s face. Her daughter was something else. ‘And this … Star what’s this?’ Bunny picked up a card with a number on it. Seeing what her mum had in her hand, Star tried to grab it but Bunny was too quick, holding onto it as she looked at the writing she didn’t recognise.
‘Give it me. It’s mine.’
‘Star. Whose number is it?’ Bunny lifted her daughter’s face to her. ‘Star. Is it one of your friends from school?’
Star shook her head.
‘Well, whose number is it?’
‘Someone’s.’
Bunny’s voice pushed Star. ‘Baby, this is really important. Whose number is it? You can tell me.’
‘It’s the man from the woods.’
Bunny grabbed hold of the bedside table to steady herself. Her head spun. Bile rose in her throat. Cold sweat prickled out of her pores.
‘Mum?’
With great effort Bunny spoke, her eyes full of fear.
‘What man? What man in …’ She couldn’t say it.
‘That day you were looking for me, he was there.’
‘A man?’
Star nodded. ‘Yeah.’
Bunny knew she had to try to stop the panic taking over her completely. ‘Oh my God. Can you remember what he looks like so I can call the police?’
Star was puzzled. She didn’t know what all the fuss was about. But her mum always fussed. Always. ‘Yeah, but he’s my friend.’
Bunny shook her daughter. ‘No, Star. Whoever it is, he’s not your friend.’
Star raised her voice again. ‘He is. He is my friend. He’s been here to see me.’
‘What? … What? Here? …’ Breathe. She couldn’t have a panic a
ttack. She had to breathe. Bunny stared at her daughter.
‘What do you mean he’s been here?’
Star shrugged. ‘He just has. He’s Daddy’s friend too. Daddy knows him.’
Bunny shook her head. This wasn’t making sense. ‘I don’t understand, Star. Who is he?’
‘I’ve told you, he’s my friend. He’s going to give Daddy a surprise for his birthday and then …’
‘And then what, Star? What then?’
‘And then Daddy will come back home because he’ll be happy.’
Bunny grabbed hold of Star, hugging her tight in a loving embrace. She spoke again, trying to sound calm for her daughter. ‘Star, why was he talking about Daddy’s birthday? Daddy’s birthday isn’t till November, babe.’
Star, having got distracted by her treasures again, spoke absentmindedly. ‘He said he was going to give him a party he’d never forget.’
‘Where, Star? Where did he say he was going to do it?’
‘At the house in Essex, that’s why I wanted to know where it was. Have I done something wrong?’
Bunny kissed her daughter on her forehead. ‘No Star. No, you’ve done nothing wrong.’ Bunny got up from the bed with the card in her hand. ‘I don’t suppose you know his name?’
Star nodded. ‘Teddy, like my bear.’
A moment later, Bunny Barker vomited everywhere.
33
It was the fourteenth time Bunny had heard the ringing switch onto voicemail. None of them were answering. But she needed to speak to them – any of them. Del. Teddy. Claudia. It didn’t matter who, as long as one of them answered.
She tried again. ‘Hello?’
‘Hello?’
‘Del?’
‘Nope.’
Bunny pulled the phone away for a moment to check which number she had dialled.
‘Teddy?’
‘Yep.’
On the other end of the phone, Teddy Davies lay staring at the ceiling.
‘Teddy?’
‘Mmm?’
‘Teddy!’ Bunny shouted down the phone, snapping Teddy out of his torpor.
‘What?!’
Bunny’s voice was dark and threatening. ‘You listen to me. I want to know what the hell you’re playing at.’