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  Blowing another bubble, Steve, with cutting derision, stared at Bree. ‘I don’t know, let’s see, shall we?’ His voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Steve then proceeded to get up from his swivel chair and search under the counter, before reappearing to lift up the leaflets and plastic bags on the side. He turned back to Bree, coldly. ‘Doesn’t look like they’re there.’

  ‘Please, I’m in a real hurry.’

  ‘Look, darlin’. Everyone’s in a rush, but it ain’t everyone who’s chewing me off about it. Only you.’

  ‘Don’t speak to her like that.’

  Steve stared aggressively. ‘What’s it to do with you, mate?’

  Alfie Jennings grinned as he stepped forward from behind Bree. ‘Nothing, not a damn fucking thing, but unfortunately for you mate, I’ve made it my business. Problem with that … Steve?’

  And as Steve gulped hard, unwittingly swallowing his chewing gum, he turned red before only managing a quiet voice to simply say, ‘No.’

  Alfie stood in the supermarket’s tree-lined carpark in Saffron Walden – a medieval market town located in northwest Essex – listening but not really concentrating on the gratitude the woman was offering him. For a start, she was a sort. A proper sort. Soft pale skin, long tumbling waves, slim yet a curvaceous body … Oh shit. He had to stop. He was getting a boner. Not a good look in the first five minutes of speaking to her. But Christ, it’d been a while since he’d made love to a woman.

  Before he’d left Spain, he hadn’t seen Franny properly for at least three weeks whilst he and Vaughn got the last lot of the money together, and then when he had seen her it’d been for less than five minutes when he’d just handed the money over to her. Shit! He suddenly felt the anger rise up in him. Franny was the absolute last person he wanted to think about now. It hurt like hell. Not that he’d let on to the others how angry, how gutted he was with her, because if he did, he knew he’d end up winding himself up and no doubt arguing with Vaughn and Janine about it even more, and that was the last thing he needed.

  The other reason he found himself not being able to concentrate on what this woman was saying, was the fact it’d just dawned on him that this was the woman he’d seen in the woods, looking terrified, looking like she was trying to get away – though it still hadn’t come back to him how else he knew her.

  ‘… so anyway, thank you so much.’

  ‘Sorry?’ Alfie shook himself out of his thoughts.

  ‘Just thank you, I’m really grateful. Anyway, I’ve really got to go.’

  Carrying her shopping, Bree began to jog towards her car.

  A sudden thought hit Alfie. Pounding his being. ‘Stop! Hold up.’

  Looking at her watch, Bree, trying not to be rude, gave a tight smile as she waited.

  ‘I know you, don’t I?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. Sorry, but I really have to go.’

  Bree turned but was held back by Alfie as he gently grabbed her arm. ‘Don’t give me that.’

  Confused, Bree looked worried, agitated. ‘What … what are you talking about?’

  A large grin crossed and stayed on Alfie’s handsome face. ‘Bree O’Neill. You were mates with my little sister. God, I remember picking you both up from school. Drove me mad. There’s me, a spotty teenager wanting to give it large, but instead I’ve got two little kids in tow. Wasn’t great for me image …’ He stopped to laugh before saying, ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’

  Bree stared then a small flicker of recognition turned into a shy smile. ‘Alfie … Alfie Jennings.’

  ‘That’s right girl. It’s Alfie.’

  The warmth with which Alfie said this hit and ripped at Bree. Unexpectedly, she burst into tears.

  Alfie, taken aback and slightly embarrassed, joked, ‘Fuck me, girl, I knew I had an effect on women, but I was hoping it was more about the magnetic than the misery. Come here, you soft cow, give us a hug.’

  A hug which was watched by Ma Dwyer as she sat in her car opposite.

  ‘And did you let him touch you … here? Did he touch you here, Bree?’ Johnny grabbed Bree between her legs as he whispered into her ear. Pressing his body hard against hers. She gave out a small, painful yelp.

  ‘Did you like it, Bree? Did you ask him for more?’

  ‘Johnny, you got to believe me. I only spoke to him for a moment.’

  ‘Liar!’ Johnny punched the wall, centimetres from Bree’s head. ‘Ma told me she saw you in the car park.’

  Bree nodded, speaking breathlessly. ‘Exactly! I only talked.’

  Johnny whispered back. ‘Don’t lie to me. Don’t make it worse.’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘What was it like, Bree?’

  Terrified, Bree turned her head to the side. Her words were almost inaudible. ‘Nothing happened.’

  Staring at her, Johnny suddenly dropped to his knees. Sobbing as he buried and pushed his head into Bree’s stomach. Wild-eyed, he gazed up at her. A ghost-like look on his face.

  ‘How many times, Bree? Why, why, why did you do it to me? How many times did you let him fuck you?’

  Bree closed her eyes, praying, trying anything she could to let her imagination protect her from what was about to follow. As Johnny began to undo his belt, she imagined the crystal-blue waters of a faraway ocean, the sparkle of the sea as she dived in. And as Johnny roughly pulled at her clothes she saw the racing dolphins. And as his hands touched her body she saw herself leaping out of the cooling ocean into the mirrored blue sky to soar over the mountains and high above the trees over the planes and fields to a place far away.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it, Johnny.’ Ma Dwyer smiled at her son as she opened the door and left the room.

  17

  ‘Diamonds, all those bleedin’ diamonds. Whoever those belong to ain’t going to be happy.’

  Putting Bree to the back of his mind, Alfie snapped. ‘Fuck me, Janine, could you be anymore insightful?’

  Janine sniffed. ‘Don’t start getting sarcastic with me, just cos you’re hungry.’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t be hungry, would I, if you’d brought me a bleedin’ burger? Everyone else gets one.’

  ‘You weren’t about, were you?’

  ‘No, because I was in the bleedin’ carzey having a piss!’

  Wanting to stop a row, Lola chipped in. ‘These must be worth a couple of mill. Problem is, whoever they do belong to will come looking, and once that happens, there won’t be any hiding place. It’s not like the coke, with these, there’s no way to knock them out without anyone getting wind. And then there’s Lloyd, if he finds out, he’ll think you mugged him off good and proper. There’ll always be a trail and eventually Vaughnie, it’ll come back to you. I’m worried. You sure you shouldn’t just cut your losses and—’

  Vaughn interrupted. ‘Give them back?’

  ‘Exactly. Maybe if you had people around you, but until you get some money, you won’t be able to pay anybody, so it’s a different ball game. Why don’t you just duck out now while you can. Then once you get back on your feet you can do what you like.’

  ‘What about Reenie though? We can’t let this opportunity slip through our fingers. To own that business would put us right up there.’

  Lola smiled. ‘I know, darlin, but arrange to do another job. Call Franny again, go look for her, anything but this Vaughn. Playing with somebody else’s diamonds is only going to lead to trouble. Even Lloyd didn’t know about them, so whoever they do belong to, they obviously wanted to bring them into the country without anyone knowing, and now that their diamonds have disappeared, they’ll come looking, they probably are already. Stay well away from this, sweetheart.’

  ‘Hang on, hang on. Ain’t no one giving them back or staying away from them,’ Janine mumbled, her mouth full of a greasy cheeseburger. ‘We need this, Reenie ain’t going to wait, she’ll sell the business to someone else and we can’t let that happen.’

  Lola frowned. ‘Come on Janine, how can just Alfie and Vaughn take on
the boys behind this. They’d be stupid to. It could be anyone. Russians. Eastern Europeans. Triads … Mafia.’

  Janine scoffed. ‘The Mafia! Do me a favour, Lola. You’re talking out of your bum hole.’

  ‘No, I bleedin’ ain’t. I don’t trust it and like I say, even Lloyd thought it was one thing but then it turned out to be another. They don’t need to be involved in this. There’ll be another job out there for them.’

  ‘Not like this there won’t.’

  ‘For starters, Janine, how are they going to get rid of them?’

  Oblivious to the ketchup running down her chin, Janine haughtily said, ‘Lola, they’ve been in the business long enough to know people.’

  Lola sighed, irritated at her attitude. ‘And they’ve been away, and people aren’t happy that they’re back. They’ll be watching them, so any move they make will draw attention. One phone call from Vaughnie or Alf trying to sell this lot and every single crime family from here to the Costa will know about it, which means the people who own them will find out too.’

  ‘When did they make you their bleedin’ keeper?’

  ‘And when did they make you someone that doesn’t give a shit about her friends … Actually, don’t answer that, Janine. But there’s no way they should be touching them. It’s like playing with fire.’

  Vaughn nodded. ‘Unfortunately, as much as it would be sweet and solve all our problems, I have to agree with you, Lola. We’d be mugs to go near them.’

  Alfie, who’d been sitting silently, looked across and smiled at Lola. She was a cracking old bird. Fiercely loyal and always looking out for both him and Vaughn. He’d known her for years and they’d never really fallen out, mainly because he always seemed to agree with her. She spoke sense … but not on this. This was different and sometimes, just sometimes, the only thing to do was play with fire.

  18

  Janine Jennings was pacing. She was beside herself. In fact, she hadn’t been this agitated since Great Aunt Ethel on her deathbed had bequeathed the Cowdray pearl necklace she’d had her eye on to her sister.

  Sighing, she chewed on her nails, tasting the bitter gel polish she’d used earlier. How the hell did Vaughn think he could let this job slip through his fingers? She wasn’t so worried about Alfie. He hadn’t said anything, but she knew him well enough to know he’d want to do the job. He was a greedy bastard when it came to money, plus he was desperate to get back to what he knew best, to get back to the life he loved, so there was no way that Alfie would want to let this one go.

  But the problem was Vaughn. If he thought he was going to impress Casey and get her back by being skint and spineless then he was mugging himself off. He didn’t impress anyone. Women wanted real men. Flash cars and a bit of bling not a gutless muppet and a pub lunch with a ten-year-old Ford Focus parked outside. And come to think of it, Lola hadn’t helped. What was she playing at, doing her caring Mary act? She would do well to remember it was her roof that she was living under.

  Sighing again and coming to an eventual halt by the end of her pink satin-draped bed, Janine plonked down on the mattress. She understood what Vaughn was saying about there only being the two of them. But there must be a way … there must be.

  Staring at herself in the mirrored wardrobe, Janine bit into a Snickers bar. And then a thought came to her. Why not? What could be the harm?

  Smiling to herself, Janine picked up her phone. If this didn’t work. Nothing would. And at least it would put the cat among the pigeons.

  Janine Jennings wasn’t the only one who was pacing. Eddie Styler was treading the carpet fibres out. He was in trouble. Big time.

  ‘Eddie! Eddie! Have you seen Barrie?’

  Looking down at Barrie, who’d come to wrap his grey fluffy tail around his feet, Eddie quietly picked him up, throwing him out of the back door. ‘No!’

  Storming into the kitchen, her face covered in a white clay face mask and her hair tightly done up in rollers, Sandra shouted, ‘Well you better go and find him then.’

  Eddie gave a tight smile. He hadn’t been allowed out since he’d been to see Johnny, and Sandra was not only giving him grief, but was watching his every move as well as screening his phone calls.

  He stared at his wife, caked in the dried, clay mask, cracking and splitting on her face, and he couldn’t help but think of the Mexican death masks. He shivered and wondered, as he so often did, how the hell he’d ever thought marrying her was a good idea.

  Sandra glared at him. ‘Go on then, what are you waiting for? Go and find him.’

  ‘Whatever you say, my love.’

  Narrowing her eyes, she looked at him suspiciously. ‘What are you up to?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘You better not be, otherwise it won’t just be Jason Robinson you have to worry about, it’ll be me.’

  Eddie, not wanting Sandra to change her mind about letting him go out, edged for the door. ‘I should hurry, I want to find Barrie before it gets dark.’

  The coldness in Sandra’s voice chilled Eddie. ‘You do that Ed, but remember, this is your mess, not mine. You should pray that you can get the money you need. Get it sorted, cos I swear, I ain’t going down for you, paying for you or begging for you. And when they come looking for you, I’ll point them in your direction.’

  Eddie, trying but not able to hold his temper, shouted, ‘You’re my wife, Sandra. For better, for worse. In sickness and in health … We’re in this together.’

  ‘No Eddie, that’s where you’re wrong. You’re on your own, from this day forward, until death do us part.’

  19

  ‘Open the window! Come on!’

  It was pitch black on the mobile home site and Bree whispered as loudly as she felt was prudent. She looked around at every sound, ducking down behind the bushes the minute she saw any passing car. She knew she had to be cautious, the last thing she wanted was Ma appearing. She hadn’t seen her for a long while. Not since the day of the woods. She’d hidden and avoided, rarely venturing up to the caravan site. Hoping that eventually the unexplained hatred Ma felt towards her would subside.

  She glanced round quickly before picking up and throwing a handful of whitewashed pebbles at the window. The wind whipped and spun the small twigs and leaves.

  Bree, worried her hushed tones would go unheard, raised her voice slightly.

  ‘It’s me! Open up! I need to talk to you.’

  The window remained shut with no sign of life and Bree, despondent, turned to walk away.

  ‘Hey! Psssst.’

  She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she smiled, spinning back round.

  ‘What are you doing, Bree? You shouldn’t be here.’

  ‘I know, but I couldn’t wait. I need to speak to you.’

  ‘What’s so urgent it couldn’t wait till Friday? Are you okay?’

  Bree shook her head, as she spoke into the dark. ‘Not really … I’m pregnant.’

  There was a long pause before Bree spoke again. ‘Did you hear me? I’m pregnant.’

  She didn’t know if it was the shadows of the night or the eeriness of the woods but the answer sounded strange. Remote and strained.

  ‘I heard you.’

  She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but she could feel herself fighting back the tears. Her words cut at the back of her throat. ‘Is that all you have to say?’

  ‘Bree, I’m sorry … I … It’s just a shock, that’s all.’

  The silence fell again and all that could be heard was the calling of the wind to the trees with the rain hitting the leaves.

  ‘I thought we were careful.’

  The icy rain seeped its way into Bree’s clothes and she shivered. ‘We were, but I guess not careful enough … I’m sorry.’

  ‘You don’t have to say that.’

  ‘But you’re angry with me.’

  ‘No, I’m not. I couldn’t never be with you, Bree … I love you …’

  ‘And I love you too, and that’s why we’ve to get away if we�
�re going to stand any kind of chance. We can’t stay here.’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  The impatience hit Bree’s voice. ‘Why? I thought this is what you wanted. You’re always saying how we need to go.’

  ‘I know, but … Look, maybe in a few weeks we could …’

  ‘No! You’ve been saying that for the past couple of years. And I’ve waited and I’ve been patient, and every day I hope it’s going to be the day you say “let’s go”. But I’m not waiting anymore. If you won’t leave, fine. But I’m going. I don’t want to be around here. I’m not risking it. I won’t.’

  ‘Bree, you can’t go without me.’

  ‘Then you come. Come with me. We can have this baby. Start a new life. That’s what you want, ain’t it?’

  ‘You know it is, but I can’t.’

  Bree walked closer to the window. ‘You can. You ain’t a kid anymore. You can do what you like.’

  ‘I can’t Bree, you know I can’t.’

  ‘No, that’s what Ma wants you to think. That’s what she’s told you all your life, but all you have to do is walk out of here. Come with me now.’

  ‘But she needs me.’

  Bree snapped, ‘Listen to yourself, it’s crazy. What she does is control you. You hate it here. The way she treats you is wrong. It always has been. You don’t have to put up with it anymore. Come on.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘No buts. You love me and I love you. Let’s start somewhere new. Somewhere no one knows us. If we stay we won’t have a chance and that frightens me.’

  ‘And Ma?’

  ‘She’ll be fine. I promise.’

  And in the darkness a pact was made. ‘Okay, Bree. Let’s do it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to leave Ma for good.’

  20

  Alfie Jennings was ruminating – big time – as he sat having a sneaky cigarette in the unused stable block of Janine’s mansion, the beautiful manor house outside Wimbish in the parish of Uttlesford, he never forgot he bought. Jesus, it was a hard pill to swallow and God, didn’t it stick in his throat waking up on a mattress next to Vaughn each morning, knowing that the gardens and every brick, and every garish ornament had once been his. All paid for out of his pocket.