Linda looked across at Bella as she left with her Chinese punter. From the back, with their overcoats and short black hair, they looked incredibly similar. Linda grinned to herself as she opened the drawer in her desk and got out a new bottle of vodka.
Chapter 11
Arnie Fisher poured two glasses of champagne, then took both of them over to the leather sofa where Carlos was sprawled out reading a magazine. He sat close to him and put his hand on his thigh. Carlos took the glass and, laying his arm across the back of the sofa, silently invited Arnie to sit back into it. The men chinked glasses and sipped their champagne.
Arnie was looking very dapper in a new cream silk suit. He got up, admired himself in the mirror, turned and smiled at Carlos. ‘Would you like one made up, too?’ he asked. ‘It’d really suit you.’ Arnie loved to dress Carlos, like a toy doll or a dog who had no opinion of their own. Carlos didn’t mind, in fact he quite enjoyed being pampered. He nodded seductively and sipped his drink.
Gloria buzzed to come through and, without waiting for an answer entered, dressed up to the nines, her huge tits bursting out of the 46 C cup. She leaned on the door. ‘Boxer’s outside, wants a word... let him in, shall I?’
Arnie adored Gloria. If he had been straight, he would have had a scene with her. They got on well, he could yell and shout at her and she didn’t give a toss. She was a good girl was Gloria, been with him for years, used to be a hostess downstairs, got a bit old for the racket, and went upstairs to the office. Her typing was still haywire, and she couldn’t spell, but somehow she got things in order, and she looked good out there at her desk.
Gloria crossed to the champagne and helped herself to a glass before joining Arnie and admiring her figure in the mirror alongside his. She thought Carlos was a gorgeous-looking fella and didn’t know how he could stand Arnie pawing at him, but then she decided that poofs were all the same — just out for what they could get. She’d no doubt let Arnie paw her as well if she got silk suits and nice motors out of it. Yes, Carlos was doing very nicely out of Arnie, especially with all the added business going his way at his garage. She wondered how long he would last, though. Usually Arnie’s boys never made it beyond two months. He was a fickle bastard, but this one, this Carlos, it’d been near that already and they still seemed to be going strong. And if Carlos ever did get dumped by Arnie, well, she’d be there to comfort him.
‘I’m off home now,’ Gloria said, necking her drink. ‘Shall I let Boxer in or what?’
Carlos stood up to leave.
‘Stay. It’s only Boxer Davis,’ said Arnie. ‘Wheel him in,’ he told Gloria.
Gloria wiggled out and Boxer entered, his appearance catching Arnie off guard slightly. He’d had his hair cut, parted and flattened down on one side, which made his ears stick out, but more than that, Boxer was actually wearing a near-decent suit.
‘So, what you got?’ Arnie asked, lighting a cigar.
Boxer blurted it out. He’d been at the Rawlins’ place and had some information, which was worth a lot of money, but it was private stuff. Boxer looked at Carlos, hoping he would leave the room.
Arnie gave Carlos the nod to get another bottle of champagne. As he left, Boxer sat down without asking. This was a surprise. Boxer never pushed his luck with either of the Fishers, but today he seemed very confident about something. Arnie let Boxer’s disrespect go for now. He was intrigued to hear what the big oaf had to say.
‘I got news about Harry Rawlins, Mr. Fisher. I been with Dolly, gaining her trust back and, well, she confided in me.’ Boxer left a dramatic pause and then dropped the bombshell. ‘He’s alive. Harry Rawlins is alive.’
Arnie’s reaction was not what Boxer had expected. He sat at his desk, leaned back, took his glasses off and suddenly started to shriek with a high-pitched laugh. Then he looked up, glaring at Boxer with icy eyes as his face turned nasty. ‘Alive! She’s spinning you a yarn, you stupid little prick.’
‘Straight up, Mr. Fisher. He wants me to work with him. Offered me a job, he did. She give me his jacket on his say-so. He wants me looking respectable for him.’
‘You really are pathetic. I was at his soddin’ funeral, along with the law. Who does she think she’s kiddin’, eh? I watched them bury him!’
‘It wasn’t him.’
Arnie got to his feet, making Boxer flinch. ‘It was him! And you’ve just blown it, Boxer. You’re through, you hear me! You had your chance and you fuckin’ blew it. Get that rag of a suit off and go back to cleaning beer crates — it’s all you’re good for. And watch your step from this day forward, speaking to me like you own the place, sitting down without being invited to. You watch your back. I’ll deal with that bitch now; I’ll find out if Harry bleedin’ Rawlins is alive. I’ll fucking well dig the bastard up if I have to!’
Boxer stood, raging at the way he was just being dismissed. Arnie was an arrogant prick who made Boxer feel dirty and useless. Well — he wasn’t useless. With Harry back at his side, they’d wipe this little gay turd Fisher out. ‘I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Fisher,’ Boxer spoke in what he hoped was a calm, threatening tone. ‘Tony turned his place over and Harry didn’t like that one bit.’ As Boxer continued, eyes fixed on Arnie, Carlos came back into the room with a second bottle of champagne. ‘Harry’s furious, I’d say. Tony even done over their dead baby’s nursery, so you can tell him that Harry’s very, very angry with him. I’m not the one who needs to watch his back. Harry’s watching my back, so I’ll be fine.’
Through gritted teeth, Arnie whispered, ‘Piss off.’ Boxer left without another word.
Arnie’s eyes were practically popping out of his head. Carlos stood in the middle of the room like a spare part, holding the champagne bottle. He could see that Arnie was ready to explode, so he put the bottle down and put his arm round Arnie’s shoulders. Arnie pushed Carlos away, then quickly corrected himself. ‘Not now darlin’, that’s all. Not now.’
When Shirley arrived at the lock-up, Linda was sitting on one of the orange boxes looking dreadful, make-up smeared all over her face. Shirley raced across. What if Tony Fisher had been to see her and done something terrible?
‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ Linda said, flapping her hands at Shirley. ‘Keep the noise down a bit. My head’s banging.’
‘Well, what are we here for, then? You know we’re not meant to call meetings, only Dolly. What’s happened that was so important, Linda?’
Bella came out of the office and handed Linda a cup of coffee. Shirley stared, mouth open, not knowing what to say or where to look. ‘Tea?’ Bella said. Shirley couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Who was this woman? Why was she here? And, most importantly, what the bloody hell had Linda told her!
‘This is Bella,’ Linda said, casually sipping her coffee. ‘She’s our number four.’
Shirley’s mouth opened even wider, which just made Linda laugh. ‘Don’t be like that, Shirl. Bella’s as good as gold and as hard as nails. She’s just what we need. I know what you’re thinking, but Dolly’ll be fine once she’s met her. And if she ain’t, well bollocks. Bella’s worth ten of her.’ Linda nudged Bella to get her attention. ‘She is loaded, mind, so in truth, she’s probably worth ten thousand of you!’
Shirley finally spoke up, ‘She’ll go absolutely mad, Linda, and you know it.’
‘Bella’s got just as much right to take Dolly’s money as we have. She deserves some good luck for a change... and she’s a widow, just like us. Dolly’ll love that.’
As Shirley shook her head in disgust and disbelief, they heard Wolf yapping at the Alsatian next door and the Alsatian growling back. All three women looked toward the door, then Shirley scurried off toward the office, dragging Bella away.