‘Here you go!’
She could feel him close beside her, his body almost pressing against her as he poured the wine. She backed away slightly as she picked up her glass.
‘Well, here’s to you, Tony.’ Linda swallowed a mouthful of the wine and instantly felt like she was going to vomit. She put down the wine glass as the room began to spin round.
‘Ahh, excuse me for a minute, will you? Aw, Christ, I’m gonna chuck up!’ She ran out of the lounge and began to drag herself up the staircase, holding on to the banister to stop herself from falling. Tony followed her out of the lounge and stood leaning against the doorway, calmly sipping his wine and watching.
In her bedroom, Linda didn’t even turn on the light, just tumbled into the bathroom. She fumbled for the cord and pulled it, and the light almost blinded her. When she was able to open her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a single drop of blood on the side of the washbasin. Then she saw the broken glass. Heart racing, Linda staggered to the cistern, lifted the lid, reached down into the water and pulled out the plastic bag.
Thank God, her money was safe. Clutching the dripping bag tightly, she went into the bedroom. Her nausea had disappeared, but it had been replaced by fear. She saw the drawers pulled out, the mattress half off the bed. Someone had been looking for something. What if they’d taken her money and just replaced the bag? She began ripping at the heavy black plastic and there, underneath it, in another see-through plastic bag, was her precious money. She opened it to make sure it was all there, sighing with relief as she walked out onto the landing. Tony was almost at the top of the stairs. He still had the wine glass in his hand.
‘There you are, Leenda. Hey, what have you got there?’
She took two steps back, clutching the bag to her chest. ‘What are you doing up here? Just get back down the stairs, you hear me? You go back down those stairs!’
He put on a hurt expression. ‘Come on, Leenda, why don’t you be nice to me, eh?’
Linda retreated toward the bedroom. She was holding the bag upside down and money began to spill out. She made a frantic grab for the tumbling notes, but then she saw Tony coming closer, with that creepy smile on his face, and rushed through the door, slamming it behind her and quickly locking it.
On the landing, Tony looked at all the money on the floor, wondering if Christmas had come early. He picked up a handful of notes, held them to his nose and breathed deeply. Yes, that was the smell of money. He knocked gently on the door.
‘Leenda, open the door. Come on, Leenda...’
Inside the bedroom, Linda could hear his voice — soft and wheedling — and the sound of the doorknob turning round and round. ‘Leenda, open the door for Tony. Come on, Leenda...’
The only way to escape was over the balcony. Linda pushed open the louvre doors and started to climb over, but hampered by her long evening dress and still clinging on to the money with one hand, she wasn’t sure she was going to make it.
Below, Rawlins looked up. The crazy bitch was teetering on the edge of the balcony. He saw her hesitate for a moment, then there was a crash as Tony broke through the bedroom door, and she jumped.
Linda’s breath was knocked out of her as she landed with a thud in the flower bed. Her head was throbbing and her shins felt as if someone had kicked them with hobnailed boots, but the pain was nothing compared with the desperate voice screaming inside her to run, run for her life. Kicking off her high heels and hiking up her dress with her free hand, she sprinted toward the shrubberies. At least there in the dark she could hide and maybe get her breath back.
Suddenly a figure loomed in front of her, his white shirt gleaming in the moonlight. She screeched in terror but managed to keep her footing, veering off to the right, toward the swimming pool.
Seeing Tony jump down from the balcony, Harry paused in his pursuit and called out, ‘Turn the taxi round and wait by the gates, you hear me?’
Tony pointed at the figure in the red dress disappearing round the corner of the villa. ‘Look, she has money, much money! Don’t let her get away!’
Harry grabbed him and manhandled him over to the cab.
‘You listen to me. Get in and start the fucking engine, all right? You wait for me!’
Tony pushed Harry away and Harry took off, following Linda toward the swimming pool. Tony got down on his knees and began picking up the money. So many fifty pound notes — it was crazy. He started stuffing it as fast as he could into his pockets, following the trail of money as it led toward the swimming pool.
At the edge of the pool, Linda turned. Harry was walking toward her.
‘Stay where you are, Linda. Just stay where you are!’
She shook her head. ‘No, leave me alone. Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me!’
He held his hands out to calm her. ‘Linda, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to know where she is. Where’s Dolly?’
She heard him, but she was so panicked that his words made no sense. She backed away and tripped over one of the loungers. Whimpering in terror, she picked herself up and started edging along the side of the pool.
Harry kept on coming.
‘I just wanna talk to you, Linda. Can you understand me? Linda?’
Linda started to run, but her dress, now torn and flapping round her ankles, got caught under her feet. She felt herself losing her balance. She flung an arm out to steady herself, dropping the almost empty money bag, then the world seemed to spin in front of her eyes, there was an almighty splash and she was underwater. Coughing and spluttering, she rose to the surface, her dress outspread around her. Thrashing the water desperately with her arms, she found the breath to scream: ‘Stay away from me! Stay away from me!’ before going under again.
Harry shoved the chair out of his way and knelt down at the edge of the pool.
Linda bobbed up again, gasping for air. ‘I can’t... swim... I... can’t...’ she spluttered in between heaving gasps.
‘Give me your hand!’ Harry shouted, but one hand was still holding on tightly to what was left of the money, while the other flailed desperately round in the water. ‘Give me your hand, for Chrissake!’
Harry leaned as far as he could over the pool, hand outstretched. She went under again, her dress weighing her down, and he made one last grab, catching hold of her hair. Now she was scratching at his wrist, screaming, screeching over and over again: ‘No! No! Leave me alone!’
He pulled as hard as he could, her head crashing against the side of the pool, but her hair slipped out of his grip.
Linda went under again, a stream of blood from her nose clouding the water. She’d finally let go of the money, and Harry reached for her hand and managed to pull her toward him, then got hold of her hair again. Holding her head out of the water against the side of the pool, he leaned down and put his mouth to her ear.
‘Where’s Dolly, Linda? Understand me? Where’s Dolly?’
Linda couldn’t hear, couldn’t think. Her vision was blurred and her throat was raw.
‘Listen to me, you stupid bitch: where’s Dolly?’
Linda tried to say something but all that came out was a strangled croak.
Suddenly she felt him pressing her head down, under the water. Desperate for air, she tried to take a breath and water started filling her lungs. Her vision went black, she felt herself drifting away — and then her head was yanked out of the water again.
‘Just tell me where the fuck Dolly is, you stupid bitch!’ She felt her head crash against the concrete again.
Tony had seen enough. He scooped up a few last notes and got into the taxi. He started to do a U-turn, then saw the headlights of a car approaching the villa. He shouted out of the window to Harry, but there was so much screaming he doubted that he could hear. He glanced back down the drive as the headlights came closer.