Dolly looked at each of them in turn. ‘You want out? Well, so do I. The sooner I see the back of the lot of you, the better.’ She walked out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
For a moment they just looked at each other, then Shirley suggested that someone should take the pan off the cooker before they burned the house down. She followed Dolly out, giving Linda one last, filthy look before she went.
Linda stood there, still clutching the dummy. ‘I didn’t mean any harm...’
Bella took the pan off the stove and turned it off. ‘It showed us one thing, didn’t it? We’re all scared of him.’ Her face was tight. ‘I hate him.’ She thought for a moment. ‘You leave first, don’t you, Linda? D’you remember where it is? In the boot of the second or third car, just by the door.’
Linda looked confused. ‘What d’ya mean? What’re you talkin’ about?’
Bella looked at her. ‘When we leave tonight, you go first, you go to the lock-up, and you get that gun.’
‘But... But Dolly said no guns, Bella.’ Linda hugged the dummy.
Bella’s voice was harsh. ‘Yeah, she said a lot of things. But I want bloody protection. If that bastard Rawlins tries anything, I’m gonna kill ’im — so help me God, I’ll kill ’im! Now will you get the gun, Linda?’
Linda swallowed. ‘OK.’ Like a child, she put her hand out for Bella to shake. ‘Friends?’
Bella walked out of the kitchen.
Linda started to feel that old, clammy fear, the one at the orphanage, when Mummy didn’t come — when nobody came — and she knew she was all alone yet again.
Rawlins sat at the small table by the telephone, drumming his fingers impatiently while he waited for it to ring. Next to the phone was an A — Z and a notepad. Rawlins checked the time on his watch. He wondered if he’d been wrong; perhaps Dolly wasn’t going to call. But then he relaxed in the chair. No, he knew his Dolly; he knew she’d call.
The girls were all sitting in the lounge, eyes on the clock. Bella gave Linda a slight nod.
Linda got to her feet. ‘Right, it’s best if I go now, Dolly, so I can check out the area.’
Dolly looked at her watch, as if she didn’t trust the clock. ‘All right, Linda, off you go. But remember, if you see anything, anything at all—’
‘I know.’ Linda nodded. ‘I’ll call it off. But don’t worry, if I get a move on, I can give that place a really good once-over.’ She marched to the door, then came back with a sheepish grin and picked up her dummy. ‘Good luck, everyone — see you all there!’
At the door she changed her mind, went over to Dolly and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Take care, Dolly.’ Then she went to Shirley and gave her a kiss. ‘Take care,’ she said. She turned hopefully to Bella, but Bella gave her one of her looks, then, as Linda bent down, she whispered, ‘Just get the gun.’
Micky Tesco was wearing black leathers and a motorbike helmet, the visor raised. He looked over at Murphy, who was sitting calmly, reading a trashy women’s magazine.
‘I can’t take much more of this hanging round. If I’d known we were goin’ to be this long, I’d have brought me bleedin’ camp bed! I’m not waiting all fuckin’ night!’
Murphy didn’t look up from the magazine. ‘For sixty grand, you’ll wait, Micky.’
Dolly tried to keep her hand from shaking as she dialed. Bella and Shirley stood over her, watching the phone as if it were a live thing.
Dolly’s back suddenly went rigid. ‘It’s ringing!’
Bella whispered, ‘I’m with you. Go on, do it, girl...’
The phone was picked up.
‘Harry? This is Dolly...’
That was the signal. Shirley and Bella nodded to Dolly, gave her a last thumbs-up, and left her to make the deal with Harry.
Linda drove toward the lock-up, the dummy propped up on the passenger seat. She drove fast, concentrating hard on not making any mistakes, and she could feel herself beginning to sweat. She turned the radio on and fiddled with the tuner until she found Radio Luxembourg. There was a ballad playing, a heartbroken girl singing, ‘We will meet again, when the night is over, we will meet again...’ It sent chills up Linda’s spine, so she turned it off and drove on toward the lock-up in silence.
‘Fifteen minutes? You must be joking!’ Harry protested. ‘I’ll never make it! All right, all right. Now, you wanna go over the details one more time, Doll?’
While he spoke, Harry was carefully tracing a route with a red felt-tipped pen across the map. ‘OK now, this car park, Dolly...’ He ringed it with his pen. ‘I don’t know any car parks on Hampstead Heath, Doll... All right, OK, just take it easy, I’ll find it.’ He traced the roads surrounding the car park. ‘OK, yup, I’ll find it, but it might take more than fifteen minutes, all right?’
Dolly’s voice at the other end of the phone was tense. ‘Fifteen minutes is all you’ve got. And I want the headlights off, interior lights on. If I see any sign of anyone, anything suspicious, I’ll drive straight on by.’ She found her mouth had gone dry. ‘I want you to step out of the car. We meet out in the open.’ Up to this point she’d managed to stay calm, but now suddenly she could feel her voice cracking, tears welling up. She wanted more than anything not to cry, and she gritted her teeth, trying to keep her emotions under control. ‘Harry, if you try anything — if you come after me, if you try and follow me — I’ll talk. I’m prepared to lose everything, you understand me, Harry? Everything. You’ve got to leave us alone, all of us.’
Harry was on his feet now, the book and maps bundled together in his pocket. ‘It’s a deal. You’ve got my word. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes, then, Doll? You there, Doll?’
But Dolly had already hung up. Harry slammed the phone in its cradle, then quickly picked it up and began dialing.
Linda let herself into the lock-up and looked round at all the half-wrecked cars. Then she saw the light coming from an open door and heard the muffled voices. She looked round in panic, dropped her car keys, and bent to pick them up just as Micky Tesco ran past her, his visor over his face. He fired up his motorbike, which was parked near the main doors. He was followed by Gordon Murphy.
Linda crawled behind one of the cars, trying to make herself invisible. She peeked out to see Gordon Murphy walking toward the main doors. As he started opening them, he yelled, ‘Just you make sure you get the money!’
Micky was revving up the bike. ‘I hear you!’ he shouted back. Then the bike sped away.
The place went dark as Murphy closed the doors. Linda stood up and began to search frantically round the floor for her keys.
The car park was dark, silent and deserted.
Shirley dropped Bella by the phone booth next to the cinema. Bella looked round the empty streets toward the car park. ‘It looks pretty quiet, but have a good check round and come back.’
Shirley drove off.
Bella checked that the phone was still working. She stepped out of the booth and stood in the cinema entrance. Hidden from the street, she watched.
Eventually Linda found her car keys and started searching the boots of the old cars. She found the small velvet bag in the third one, just where Bella had told her it would be. She felt inside and there was the gun.
She was scared that Murphy had put a chain on the door, but her luck was in. The door opened and she slipped out.
Harry had a quick look round the flat, seemingly in no hurry, before shutting the door behind him. He calmly crossed the road to his Jaguar and drove away.
Dolly checked her watch for the fifteenth time and picked up the bag containing the £60,000. She turned off all the lights in the house and went out to her car.