Downstairs Kate could hear the commotion, she had been drifting in and out of sleep all day; dreaming was the only thing that had broken up her time whilst she had been here, it was the only thing that took her away from this waking nightmare. Tanya’s car pulling up had woken her and Kate could hear the sound of her and Jay laughing loudly now upstairs, obviously both very pleased that they had pulled their plan off. Her brother had paid up, it seemed. Kate could imagine that he would be going through hell, not only because she was missing but also that he had just been fleeced out of a quarter of a million pounds. As long as her brother had breath in his body, Kate knew that he wouldn’t rest until he had it back: every single penny. Tanya and Jay were as good as dead now after pulling this little stunt.
Trying to sit up, she swung her legs round and moved so that her back was against the wall. The whole time she had been here, her hands and feet had been tied; they treated her worse than a dog. She felt filthy: and she was filthy. She wondered when they would let her go; she had heard them say that they would as soon as they had the money, so she hoped that it wouldn’t be long. Wriggling her toes, trying to relieve the cramp in her legs, Kate stretched out and tried to think positively. Soon she would be out of there; soon she would be at home.
“We can dump her in some lay-by, or leave her in a motorway cafe toilet; give Billy a call with the details and then just keep on driving.” Jay was excited about starting their new life; a new start was what he needed. He would always be able to start from the bottom and work his way up, he had done so many a time. With Tanya at his side, the world was his proverbial oyster; he knew they could make it. He loved her so much, he really loved her. It was something he had never felt for anyone else. There was a fuzzy feeling in his stomach when he thought about her, as if he craved her: like a drug, he had to have her. Jay had decided it was a good thing, this love business, that he would finally give in to it and see where it took them. Tanya seemed happy, looking at her tapping her feet to the music playing in the background and sipping her drink, apparently deep in thought, he had never seen her look more beautiful. As if his look had interrupted her thoughts, she glanced up.
“Drive where though, Jay? Where are we going to go? Do you think that Billy is seriously going to let us get away with this? That we can start again anywhere? It doesn’t matter where we go, because he’ll find us. Two wronguns like us, we’d have to change our names, keep ourselves to ourselves, which in our way of life would be hard to do. Reputation’s everything, and if we lay low, what sort of money will we ever be able to make? It’ll only be a matter of time before he catches up with us. We’ll be forever watching our backs.”
“Nah, Tan, he’ll never find us; give it a few months and it will all be forgotten; he’ll be so happy to have his sister back in one piece and me gone for good, he won’t give a shit anymore, he’ll probably think that it was money well spent,” he reassured her.
“You don’t know him like I do, Jay. He will never, ever, let this go; this will eat away at him, he will be looking for us, mark my words, we’ll constantly be playing a waiting game, it’ll only be a matter of time. We’ve just fucked him over with two of his prized possessions, his precious little sister and a massive chunk of his money.” Tanya stared into space, deep in thought now as she downed the rest of her glass. The mood in the room had suddenly changed. She had not stopped to think about what was going to happen afterwards, it had only just dawned on her that there was no way that they could just up sticks and start afresh elsewhere. She had only got as far as her little revenge plan; she had not thought past the provoking Billy bit. The sort of circles that Tanya and Jay mixed in, the sort of dealings they would be doing to make some cash: someone, somewhere, would leak it back to Billy and they would never be free, not really. She had to think of another way forward, something that would guarantee them a way out, she was starting to realise that Jay was a liability, and he really wasn’t seeing the bigger picture at all. Tanya needed to think about the situation before they made their next move; she had an idea, but she decided that this was best not shared with Jay.
“We need to keep her for another night,” Tanya nodded in the direction of the basement door. “Let Billy sweat it out while we sleep on it and tomorrow we’ll decide what our next step should be. I’m going to bed; it’s been a long night.”
She bundled up the cash and took the holdall upstairs with her, leaving Jay sitting in the chair racking his brain for some idea as to what they could do. The mood was bleak; he had thought they would be celebrating, but Tanya was stressed and uptight. Maybe she was right, though, they did have to think about their next move; he would be stupid to take Billy letting this one go for granted.
48
Billy couldn’t believe it: he had been fucking done over by Jay Shaw. That fucking sponger had walked into the club and taken a quarter of a million pounds from him without being clocked; no-one had caught a glimpse of the bloke.
Neither the smoke thing nor the hoax call to the police were rocket science, he supposed, but clever enough. He had wondered how Jay would do it. Billy and Paul had gone over and over the tapes for hours and there had been security everywhere; how the fuck Jay had got in unnoticed, neither could say. Billy should have known that Jay would play silly buggers.
Billy gulped down a shot of whiskey; he was fuming. The only way he would have been able to track the bastard down was to have caught him in the act and followed him, he had got away unseen and now Billy was again at Jay’s mercy, and he fucking hated every second of it. Tomorrow, his sister would have been gone for six days, and he was worried sick about her. If that bloke had done anything to her, he would fucking slaughter him.
He had been at home for a couple of hours now, sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the phone. Like a fucking mug. Jay would be laughing his smug fucking head off at him.
He couldn’t even think about the dilemma of Jay calling his bluff and demanding more money. Billy had made a small fortune from his dealings over the years, and he had wisely tied it up in property all over London. Getting his hands on quarter of a million pounds in just less than twenty-four hours had been a challenge, and one he begrudged to say the least. He had worked hard for that money, made a promise that he would never struggle for anything. He had vowed years ago never to be at the mercy of anyone, like his mum had been.
He realised that he had been quite tight with his cash up until now; he didn’t spend on anything much in particular. He always had cash in his pocket, enough to buy anyone he was with a few rounds in the pub, and okay he had invested wisely, but he could have done more with it. He could have taken Kate on holiday, treated her to nice clothes; they could both have lived life a bit. He smiled at the thought, Kate was almost as stubborn as him in some ways, and her pride would have told him not to waste his money on her, but he should have done so anyway. As soon as she got back, he was going to take her to Westfield on a shopping spree, treat her to a slap-up meal and then maybe ask her about going away somewhere, God knows she would need to go on holiday somewhere after this ordeal; he had no idea what state she would be in.
Emma could come too, of course, and he may even ask Paul. Paul had been a rock over the last few days, Billy was thankful of the support. Paul was the strong silent type but he had a big presence, and he was not a man to be shafted by anyone. Paul had confided that he really cared for Kate, and Billy could tell that he had been genuinely upset when he spoke of Kate, and how he hoped she was okay. Yeah, Billy had a good feeling about Paul. His sister could do with a decent man: one who would look after her; respect her; give her the life she deserved. Maybe, this time round, for once Billy really would step back and let her get on with it.