Текст книги "Dangerous Promises"

Автор книги: Roberta Kray

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Текущая страница: 20 (всего у книги 31 страниц)

Wayne gave a laugh, his mouth opening to reveal a row of brown stained teeth. ‘You’re finished, bitch.’

‘Get back!’

He shook his head and kept on moving forward. ‘Finished!’

And it was at that very moment when she could almost see the whites of his eyes that she aimed the gun down towards his legs and fired. The sound was explosive, a sudden loud bang that seemed to shake the very air. She felt the recoil run the length of her arm. She saw the shock on Wayne Gissing’s face before he dropped to the ground and rolled on his side, his hands madly clasping his right thigh. A weird thin animalistic noise escaped from his throat.

‘What have you done?’ Sharon screeched. ‘You’ve shot him! You’ve fuckin’ shot him!’

Sadie stood there, paralysed, unable to move. She could see the blood on his trouser leg, an ever expanding circle. She seemed surrounded by a sudden cacophony of noise: the echo of the gunfire, the sound of the birds rising from the trees, Wayne groaning, Sharon screaming. The gun slipped from her fingers, fell on the concrete and skittered away.

And still Sadie stood there, incapable of running. Her legs had turned to lead. She stared down at Wayne Gissing writhing in agony. Oh God! Horrified she raised her hand and clamped it over her mouth. Was he dying right in front of her? Oh Jesus! Sharon was kneeling at his side, trying to help, trying to stem the relentless flow of blood. Everything had gone into slow motion. Nothing felt real. She had pulled the trigger and now…

She was only faintly aware of the man running towards them from the gates. She could hear his pounding footsteps on the path and yet they seemed oddly muffled. It was all like a bad dream, a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. It was the police, perhaps. Yes, the police were coming to arrest her.

‘Sadie!’

She stared blankly back at the man, his face gradually coming into focus. Nathan Stone. She didn’t understand. What was he doing here?

‘Come on,’ he said, grabbing hold of her arm and trying to pull her away from the scene.

‘What?’ she said stupidly.

‘Shift it!’ he said. ‘Run! For fuck’s sake, what’s the matter with you?’

Sadie looked down at Wayne again. ‘I’ve shot him.’

‘I can see that.’

‘I can’t just…’

‘Can’t just what? Stay here and wait for the bloody law to arrive?’ Stone started to drag her along the path. A few feet on, he let go of her arm, bent down, scooped up the gun and shoved it in his pocket. ‘Come on,’ he urged again. ‘Sadie!’

The urgency in his voice eventually got through to her. She gave a start, her survival instinct kicking in, and began to run. He grabbed hold of her hand and together they sprinted to the exit. The Daimler was parked in the street, a few yards from the gates. He opened the passenger door, bundled her inside and then dashed round to the other side. Jumping in, he quickly started the engine, put his foot down and roared away from the kerb.

‘Let’s get the hell out of here,’ he said.

36

Sadie sat huddled in the corner of the Daimler, shaking like a leaf. She could hardly take it in. It had all happened so fast, a moment of craziness, a moment that could never be changed. She had shot Wayne Gissing. This bare brutal fact would never go away. She would have to live with it for ever. A wave of fear and despair washed over her.

‘Oh Christ! What have I done?’ She wrapped her arms around her chest and began to rock back and forth, her voice rising in pitch. ‘What have I done? How did I… Christ! What will I do now?’

Nathan Stone kept his gaze on the road. ‘You’re already doing it.’

Sadie started to cry, huge gulping sobs that racked her body. ‘We can’t just leave him there.’

‘Sure we can. He’s not on his own. She can drive him to the hospital.’

Sadie shook her head, not understanding how he could be so calm about it all. ‘I don’t want him to die!’ she wailed.

Nathan Stone winced. ‘Jesus, can you stop doing that?’

She turned her tear-stained face to look at him. ‘What?’

‘That noise,’ he said. ‘That bloody awful squawking noise you’re making. It’s going right through me.’

Sadie’s eyes widened with incredulity. ‘How do you expect me to sound?’

‘Quieter,’ he said.

‘But I’ve just shot a man.’

‘Yeah, I’m aware of that. But can we skip the histrionics, please?

‘He could die, for God’s sake!’

Nathan Stone heaved out a sigh. ‘He’s not going to fuckin’ die, all right? You shot the bastard in the leg. It’s going to hurt for a while but it’s not going to kill him.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Look, if the bullet had gone through an artery, you’d have known about it. Those things spurt; it comes out like a fountain. And, just out of curiosity, where the hell did you get a gun from?’

Sadie was still trying to get her crying under control, taking big deep breaths. She bit down on her lip and stared out of the window. A few seconds passed before she answered his question. ‘Someone gave it to me.’

‘Someone?’

She gave a shrug. ‘It’s not important.’

Stone gave her a quick sidelong glance. ‘It’s a good thing Eddie wasn’t blasted or I’d start to wonder.’

‘I had nothing to do with Eddie’s death,’ she snapped.

‘Yeah, yeah, you’ve already said. What happened to your hand?’

Sadie gazed down at it. The blood was congealing now, closing the wound. ‘He cut me. He had a knife.’

Stone raised his eyes to the heavens. ‘What did I tell you about going to the funeral?’

‘Not to do it. Not to go.’ She glared at him. ‘You really think this is the time for I told you so?’

‘Can’t think of a better one.’

Sadie rubbed at the dried blood between her fingers. ‘Yes, well, you were right. Happy now?’

‘That’s not exactly the word I’d use.’

The exchange with Stone had, she realised, halted her spiral into hysteria. The wild ravings had subsided to be replaced by an aching sense of dread. It settled over her like a shroud, a thick heavy blanket of despair. She was quiet for a while, trying to properly process the morning’s events. After several minutes she said softly, ‘What were you doing at the cemetery anyway?’

‘What do you think? Keeping an eye on things, on you. Making sure that you didn’t cause me even more bother.’

‘That didn’t work out too well.’

Stone barked out a laugh. ‘You can say that again. I reckoned I’d got all the bases covered, but then you pulled that damn gun out of your bag and —’

‘So you were there all the time?’ Sadie interrupted. She threw him an accusing look. ‘You saw what was happening and did nothing. You let him… How could you? Why didn’t you stop it? Why did you have to wait until —’

‘And do what? Ride up on my white charger and gallop off into the hills with you?’

‘He could have slit my throat.’

Stone grinned as if it was all one big joke. ‘To be honest, I was hoping you might outrun him, save me the trouble of getting involved.’

‘And what if he’d killed me?’

‘He was never going to do that.’ Stone left a short pause. ‘Not in the cemetery at least. Wayne might not have the brains he was born with but even he’s not that stupid. No, I figured I’d see how it panned out and take it from there. But then of course you went all Wild West on me and…’ He gave a shrug of his shoulders. ‘Shit, I wouldn’t have seen that coming in a thousand years.’

‘I’m just full of surprises,’ she said dryly.

‘And all of them bad. How do you manage that? It’s quite a talent.’

There wasn’t much Sadie could say and so she said nothing. Instead she turned her face away and gazed out of the window. The traffic was choked up and they were crawling along behind a number 73 bus. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Euston,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘Why do you think? You’re getting on a train and going home.’

She spun her head round to look at him again. ‘What? I can’t do that! I can’t go back to Haverlea.’

‘Why not?’

Sadie’s eyes widened in exasperation. ‘You know why not! The police are going to be waiting there. They’ll arrest me. I’ll go to prison and… God, I shot a man, in case you’ve forgotten.’

This outburst seemed to cause Stone even more amusement. ‘You’re not on the run, Sadie.’

‘And how do you figure that one out? He’s going to tell them, isn’t he? He’s going to tell them that I shot him.’

‘And why would he do that?’

‘Why wouldn’t he?’

Nathan tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. ‘Okay,’ he said in the tone of a patient teacher talking to a slightly dense pupil. ‘Listen carefully. This is how it works: Wayne Gissing goes to the hospital with a hole in his leg. While the doctors are busy patching him up, a member of staff calls the law. They’re obliged to do that, see, it being a gunshot wound and all. So Old Bill show their faces and what do you think Wayne says to them?’

Sadie, presuming it was a rhetorical question, waited for him to continue.

‘Well, I’ll tell you what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Hey, officers, there I was in the cemetery, just quietly attempting to abduct this girl, and suddenly she gets out a gun and tries to shoot my leg off.” Not going to sound too good, huh? So he tells them some cock-and-bull story, something he’s cobbled together with Sharon on the way to the hospital, a line about a mugging or such like – and there you go.’

‘And what if they don’t believe him?’

‘Of course they won’t believe him. Wayne Gissing doesn’t open his mouth without a lie coming out of it. But what can they do? Sod all, other than ask Sharon – and she’s going to come out with the same pile of bullshit.’

Sadie leaned her head against the window while she thought about what he’d said. A tiny glimmer of hope was blossoming inside her. ‘But what if he doesn’t? What if he says it was me?’

‘Why would he do that?’

Sadie screwed up her face. ‘I don’t know. Because I shot him? I don’t imagine he’s going to be too happy about that.’

‘No he isn’t, but he’s still going to cover his back. Believe me, the best thing you can do is to go home and pretend that nothing ever happened.’

‘I can’t,’ she said.

‘You have to.’

‘And then?’

‘And then what?’

Sadie rubbed her face with the palm of her hand. ‘He’s going to come after me, isn’t he? I’m going to be looking over my shoulder all the time.’

‘He won’t be doing anything for a while.’

‘How long is a while?’

‘Just go,’ he said. ‘I’ll sort it out.’

Sadie didn’t ask how he was intending to do that. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. The bus in front of them shifted forward and a few minutes later they emerged on to Euston Road. He turned into the station, drove down the ramp to the underground parking area and pulled up.

‘You’ll be okay,’ he said.

Sadie unlocked the car door but didn’t get out. ‘What do I say if the police ask me about it? I mean, I was there at the funeral. What if they question me? I was standing in the cemetery with Sharon. What if my story doesn’t tally with hers?’

‘Just keep it simple,’ he said. ‘Tell the truth as much as you can. You went to the church, you went to the cemetery, you stood with Sharon and then you left on your own. Is there anyone who can say different?’

Sadie thought about it. The two cops had left before her, and most of the mourners had drifted off at the same time. Had there been any witnesses to her leaving with Sharon? The Wises perhaps. Or the priest. ‘I don’t know. Someone might have seen us.’

‘Well, it’ll be their word against yours.’

Sadie suddenly thought of something else. ‘My holdall,’ she said. ‘It’s still at Oaklands. And I haven’t even checked out. I still owe for last night.’

‘I’ll get Velma to sort it. Is there anything important in the bag?’

She shook her head. ‘Not really. Just clothes and make-up and stuff.’

‘No worries, then.’

Sadie opened her bag and took out her purse. ‘I’ll give you the money,’ she said. ‘You can pass it on to Velma.’

He waved the offer away. ‘Keep it. I’ll square up with her.’

But Sadie didn’t want to be in his debt any more than she already was. ‘No,’ she said firmly, taking out a couple of notes and pressing them into his hand. ‘You have to take it.’ She went to get out of the car but then hesitated and turned back to look at him. ‘And thanks,’ she said. ‘You know, for…’

‘For saving your arse?’

‘Yes.’

‘It’s a pleasure. Oh, and before you go you might want to… er, fix your face. No offence, babe, but I’ve seen you looking better.’

Sadie flipped down the sun shield, stared at herself in the mirror and grimaced. ‘God,’ she murmured. Her mascara had run, leaving dark circles under her eyes and long grey streaks down her cheeks. She found a tissue, put it to her mouth, dampened it and set about trying to repair the damage.

While she was doing this, Stone got out of the Daimler, went round to the back of the car and opened the boot. He came back with a first-aid kit and took out cotton wool, antiseptic cream and plasters. ‘You need to clean that cut,’ he said. ‘You don’t want it getting infected.’

Sadie glanced across at the small white box with the red cross on the front. ‘Are you always this organised?’

‘Be prepared,’ he replied. ‘Isn’t that what they say?’

‘Like you were ever a boy scout.’ Sadie, having done the best she could with her face, turned her attention to the wound on her hand. The antiseptic stung as she applied it and she drew in a breath. ‘How am I going to explain how this happened?’

‘Just say you caught it on something. I don’t know, a nail, a piece of glass. It’ll heal up in a couple of weeks. Shouldn’t leave too much of a scar.’

She laid a long thin plaster along the length of the cut and gently pressed it down. She thought of Wayne Gissing and the knife and a shudder passed through her. ‘This isn’t over, is it?’ she asked, her eyes widening as she looked at him again. ‘This isn’t going to go away.’

‘Let me worry about that. Might be best to cover that hand up,’ he said. ‘Have you got any gloves?’

Sadie nodded, pulled them from her pocket and slipped them on. ‘What if he comes after me? Or tries to hurt Joel?’

‘Is that the boyfriend?’

‘None of this is his fault.’

‘Is any of it yours?’

The question caught her off guard and she quickly glanced away, unable to meet his cool grey eyes. ‘No,’ she lied. ‘Why should it be?’

Stone gave a shrug. ‘If there’s anything you want to tell me?’

‘There isn’t,’ she said.

‘You’d better be going then.’

Sadie got out of the car and leaned down to look at him. She had a sudden urge at that moment to get back in, to tell him everything, to let it all spill out of her in one almighty torrent. How much longer could she keep her secret? It was gradually tearing her apart. She needed someone to talk to, someone to confide in.

Stone raised his eyebrows. ‘Was there something else?’

She hesitated, the words on her lips, but then shook her head. Even after today, she wasn’t sure that she could trust him. He might have saved her skin, but was that for her benefit or his own? Nathan Stone was the kind of man, she suspected, who always had an agenda. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Just thanks, thanks again for what you did.’

‘Have a safe journey.’

Sadie shut the car door and walked away. She heard the smooth purr of the Daimler as the engine started up and was tempted to look back, but didn’t. She was too scared of changing her mind.

37

Petra Gissing sat back in the chair and lifted the glass of whisky to her lips. She had been on a rollercoaster of emotions since hearing that her son had been shot. First there had been the shock, the horror, the disbelief, quickly followed by the fear that he would die. Then came the relief – the wound wasn’t a serious one – and then the pity, the confusion and anger. On top of all that had been her frustration at the endless questions from the filth. Now she was left mainly with a feeling of indignation. Wayne was lying to her and it pissed her off big time.

‘What do you think I am?’ she said, glaring at him. ‘A bloody mug? You can say what you like to Old Bill, but don’t try it on with me.’

Wayne gazed back at her, scowling. ‘Do we really have to do this now? I’m in bleedin’ agony, in case you hadn’t noticed.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with your mouth. You can still talk, can’t you?’

‘I’ve already told you what happened. How many times? Jesus, just leave it alone.’

But leaving it alone was the last thing Petra was going to do. ‘Who was it? One of Terry Street’s goons, I bet. I told you about stirring up trouble. And do you ever listen to me? No, of course you don’t, because Wayne bloody Gissing always knows best.’

‘Give it a rest, can’t you? I’m sick of it.’

‘I’ll give it at a rest when you tell me the truth.’

Wayne tipped back the bottle of beer and took a long pull. ‘They jumped me, right? In the cemetery, by the car. Three of them. Coloured geezers. I ain’t never seen ’em before. Well, not so I’d remember. They all look the same, don’t they? They wanted cash and I wouldn’t give it to them. Junkies, maybe, after a fix. How would I know? One of them had a shooter; the thing went off and…’ He gestured towards his leg. ‘Then they scarpered, did a bunk. That’s it. That’s the goddamn truth.’

Petra curled her lip. ‘You wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped you in the face.’

‘Oh, leave him alone, Mum,’ Kelly said. ‘He’s been shot, for Christ’s sake. He doesn’t need all this aggro.’

‘And you’re no better,’ Petra retorted, turning to her daughter. ‘Covering up for him. You think I haven’t seen the two of you plotting and scheming this past week? I’m not bleedin’ blind. If it wasn’t for the fact that we buried Eddie today…’ She raised a hand and dropped it into her lap. ‘It ain’t right, lying to your own mother.’

‘It’s all in yer head,’ Wayne said stubbornly. ‘There ain’t been nothin’ going on.’

Petra made a clicking sound with her tongue. ‘Yeah, right, and I’m the Queen of flaming Sheba.’ What really got her goat was that she knew Sharon had been in on it too. She’d seen her cosying up to that Sadie, walking with her to the graveyard. And where had they disappeared to after the burial? One minute they’d been there and the next… And then Wayne saying he was going to get the car, and Kelly suggesting that he take it straight to the Fox instead of coming back for them, that she wanted to walk to the pub, that she needed the fresh air.

‘It’s Wayne you should be worrying about,’ Kelly said. ‘Those bastards could have killed him.’

Petra opened her mouth, about to say something on the subject of Sadie Wise, but at that very moment the phone started ringing. No one else moved and so she put down her glass and hauled herself to her feet. ‘I’ll get it, shall I?’

Wayne gestured towards his leg. ‘What do you want me to do, hop there?’

Petra raised her eyes to the ceiling and went out through the door to the hall. She picked up the phone and put it to her ear, hearing the pips go before she could speak. She waited until the caller came on the line.

‘Sharon?’

It was Roy ringing from the nick. Hearing his voice again made her wince, reminding her of times she’d rather forget. ‘She ain’t here.’

‘What do you mean, she ain’t there?’ he asked roughly.

‘What do you think I mean? It’s plain English. It ain’t that hard to understand.’

‘Where is she then?’

‘How should I know? I’m not her keeper. Out with her fancy man probably.’

Roy sucked in an audible breath. ‘Just can’t help yourself, can you? Even at a time like this. The screws told me about Wayne. He’s all right, yeah? They said he’d been released from the hospital.’

‘About an hour ago. I reckon he’ll live.’

‘So what the fuck happened?’

Petra, aware that the conversation was probably being recorded by the prison, had the nous to stick to the story that her son had told the law. ‘Tried to mug him, didn’t they? Three of them, the cowardly bastards. ’Course Wayne wasn’t having any of it. He put up a fight and one of them took out a shooter and… Anyway, it ain’t as bad as it might have been. A few weeks and he’ll be back on his feet again.’

‘Put him on. I want to talk to him.’

‘And how am I supposed to do that? He can’t walk, for God’s sake. You want him to crawl into the hall?’

‘I want to make sure he’s okay.’

‘I just told you he was. You want a word with Kelly?’

‘How’s she doing?’

‘She’s had better days.’

‘Yeah, put her on.’

Petra called out through the open door, ‘Kelly, it’s your dad,’ before laying the phone on the table and going upstairs for a pee. She grinned as she thought back to what she’d said about Sharon. The tart had only nipped out for a takeaway but he wasn’t to know that. Roy knew she was stirring, trying to cause trouble, but that wouldn’t stop him from thinking about it. She had planted a seed of doubt and when he was banged up this evening, when he had too much time to dwell on stuff, he might just start to wonder…