Black Widow (13 page)

With Jimmy gone, there was nothing for Annie to do. Seething and restless, she took the box, gold locket, and broken chain upstairs to Dolly’s bedroom. Dolly had let her stay in here, refusing all Annie’s offers to move into one of the other rooms, or even to kip down on the sofa in the front parlour.

‘Stay where you are,’ Dolly had told her. ‘You’ve got enough on your plate as it is, you might as well be comfortable.’

Annie went in, shutting the door behind her, keeping the world out. She lay on the bed with the little box on her chest, and wondered what sort of animals she was dealing with here. Wondered what Layla had suffered, and what she was suffering now.

Maddened, groaning at the images that were crashing about in her brain, she turned her head
into the pillow and curled up into a ball and screwed her eyes shut, trying to block it out.

But she couldn’t.

Because Layla didn’t have that luxury.

And if Layla was suffering, then she was suffering too.

Got to get a grip. For Layla.

But there was a horror movie running in her brain and she was caught up in it, unable to get free.

A living nightmare.

Annie sat up. Couldn’t rest. Couldn’t even think. Had to do something. Walk, or yell, or
something.

She picked up the box with shaking hands. Looked at it, and at the broken chain, the fallen heart.
Love you forever
, the inscription said. Max had bought it for her.
Love you forever.

Her life was officially in the toilet. She felt the beginnings of a scream building at the back of her throat. Turning, she swept the brush set from the top of the dresser with one hard swipe. Dolly’s treasured silver-backed brush set.

Shit
, she thought, and instantly fell to her knees and scrabbled about. The brush and comb were okay, but the mirror, had she broken the hand mirror? That was seven years’ bad luck. Her heart was in her mouth; she felt sick with panic now.

No. It was still in one piece.

Dimly aware that tears of terror and despair were slipping down her face, she carefully picked
up the brush set and placed it with trembling fingers back on on the dresser.

Sorry, Doll.

She looked in the large dressing-table mirror. Saw her own haggard reflection there and barely recognized herself. Angrily, she brushed the tears away, picked up one of Dolly’s lippies from the dresser and quickly rubbed some colour into her cheeks and applied it to her mouth.

She looked again at her reflection.

Better
, she thought.
Not a fucking mark on me.

She raised a mirthless smile at the woman in the mirror. Then she went back to the bed and sat down. Gently, she opened the box.

Careful not to disturb its gruesome contents, she tucked the broken chain and the gold heart in beside Layla’s finger. Then she slipped the box into her pocket, pushed her hair back out of her eyes, and took a breath. Stood up. Went to the door. Opened it and went out on to the landing, closing the door softly behind her.

‘Fuck, not you again,’ said Una, wandering past wearing her white PVC outfit and trailing her feral scent of cheap perfume and stale sweat. ‘Thought you’d be gone by now.’

Annie turned and stared at her. Una was six and a half feet tall in her four-inch heels, staring straight back with her weirdly pale blue eyes, the pupils dilated.

Druggie
, thought Annie.

Annie suddenly felt very calm. ‘No, you lucked out,’ she said. ‘I’m still here.’

Una stopped walking. ‘You see, there it is again. That
attitude.’
Una turned and came back to where Annie stood near the top of the stairs.

Una leaned in very close to Annie’s face.
Not
a pleasant experience.

Annie locked eyes with the bigger woman, aware that there was movement along the landing, near Darren’s room. Ellie had come out to see what was going on, and Darren now followed.

‘Annie’s upset,’ Darren said too loudly to Una, nerves making his voice harsh. ‘She’s had bad news about her daughter, Una, go easy…’

Una turned her head and looked at Darren. He fell silent.

‘She don’t know the meaning of bad news yet,’ said Una. ‘But if she keeps up with this
attitude
of hers, she’s going to find out.’

Darren looked uncomfortable. Ellie was silent, watching.

Trust Ellie not to put herself in harm’s way for a friend
, thought Annie.

In the end, all you had was yourself. Hadn’t she learned that over the years? You had to fight your corner. You had to dig deep, and stand alone.

Una’s head turned back and her eyes were on
Annie again. Her face was close to Annie’s.
Trying to intimidate me
, thought Annie, almost amused.

Annie’s brow hit Una square in the nose and the blonde reeled back, blood spurting out. She slammed up against the wall and then tried to turn to the side, clutching at the top banister, hand slipping, blinded by sudden and unexpected pain.

Into Annie’s brain came Max’s words:
‘If you get in a fight, finish it. Don’t stop until they’re down and no longer a danger to you. Get them down, and make sure they
stay
down.’

Annie brought Tony’s kiyoga up out of her pocket in a high arc, whacking Una’s shoulder, knocking her off balance. Una tumbled backwards and shot down the stairs, end over end, coming to rest at the bottom. Ross stood there, open-mouthed, looking down at the toppled blonde.

He looked up.

Annie came down the stairs like the wrath of God and threw herself on to the squirming woman’s chest. She gave Una a hard smack on the side of the face with the kiyoga and felt the woman’s screams reverberate around the house. Then she grabbed her waistcoat and shook her violently, cracking Una’s head on the floor, before she spoke.

‘Now listen,’ said Annie as Darren and Ellie came pounding down the stairs and stopped near to where the toppled Una lay sprawled beneath her.

Annie gave the woman another vicious shake.

‘You’ve broken my fucking
nose…’
burbled Una, blood and tears all over her face.

‘I’ll break your fucking
neck
next time,’ Annie promised her. ‘Now, are you listening? Nod if you are, or are you so spaced out you don’t understand me? Because if you don’t, I’ll spell it out r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y for you.’

Una nodded, wincing.

‘Good. Now listen. You got another single word you want to say to me, you write me a fucking letter, okay? You don’t talk to me, not a
single word.
You got that, you cheeky cow? You keep out of my way, that’s all you need to do, and we’ll get along just fine. And you don’t give my friends a hard time or you’ll be very sorry. You watch your behaviour with them, you got that? Nod yes, you still with me?’

Annie gave Una another shake.

‘Now you show Dolly respect,’ Annie went on. ‘She’s the boss here, not you. You remember that and act accordingly. Got it?’

Una groaned.

‘Got
it?’ Annie gave her another shake.

‘All right, I got it,’ Una moaned.

‘I hear any more trouble coming from you and you’re out that door and walking the streets. So you keep a really low profile now and everything will be just fine. Yes?’

A shake.

‘Yes,’ mumbled Una.

‘See, now was that so hard?’ Annie dropped the waistcoat and Una’s head thumped back on to the floor.

Annie stood up and looked at Ross.

‘Help her get cleaned up,’ she said, and walked off into the front room and shut the door behind her.

Darren and Ellie looked at the groaning and bleeding Una, who was being dragged upright by Ross. Then they glanced at each other.

‘See that?’ said Darren. ‘Told you she still had it.’

Jimmy Bond was back two days later. He found Annie in the kitchen and she went straight to work.

‘So, what’s the news with Barolli?’ she asked urgently.

‘That’s what I came here to talk about.’

‘Okay, so talk.’

Jimmy sat down and stared at her across the table.

‘This is a dangerous thing you’re thinking of doing,’ he said carefully.

Annie shot out an exasperated breath.

‘Jimmy, we’ve had this conversation.’

‘Yeah, but Annie—’

‘It’s Mrs Carter to you,’ Annie pointed out coldly.

‘Sodding hell. All right. Mrs Carter. Look, if you let Constantine Barolli know Max is dead, there’s every chance that fucker’s going to move in on us. On the manor.’

Annie stared at him. ‘I won’t do that,’ she told him firmly. ‘I’ll tell the Barollis that Max had to take off, do some business.’

Jimmy was shaking his head.

‘You ain’t got a fucking clue, have you? You really don’t know what you’re playing around with here,’ he warned.

‘I know they’re the only ones with this sort of cash at their disposal,’ said Annie irritably. ‘What else is there to know?’

Jimmy suddenly lost it and thumped the table.
‘Look
, for Christ’s sake. They’ll kill her anyway. Whatever you do, they’ll kill her anyway. But you know that already, don’t you?’

Annie went white.

‘No,
you
listen. You think I’d do this off the top of my head, like a whim or something? Wrong. Constantine Barolli and Max were friends and business associates. The Barollis have big money. I need big money. End of conversation.’ Annie jumped to her feet, throwing back the chair. It toppled. She leaned back against the worktop, breathing hard, furious. She looked at Jimmy still sitting there and suddenly she knew. ‘You haven’t been to see him, have you? You haven’t given him Max’s ring.
Have you?
’

Jimmy’s eyes were on the table. He said nothing.

Annie nodded slowly.

‘Okay, give it back to me. Give it back
right now.
’

Jimmy looked up at her face. Then he reached into his pocket and drew out Max’s ring and placed it on the table.

‘Now fuck off,’ said Annie.

Jimmy went, brushing past Dolly in the hall.

Annie was setting her chair back up, grim-faced, when Dolly came into the kitchen and closed the hall door behind her. Dolly took in the room at a glance and then went to put the kettle on.

Annie picked up Max’s ring, clutched it tightly in her fist.

Oh God, Max, help me will you?
She thought desperately.
Help me do the right thing. Help me save Layla.

‘Hey, what the fuck did you do to Una?’ Dolly asked brightly. ‘Darren told me Ross had to take her into Casualty yesterday. Darren and Ellie were like little kids who saw Santa Claus. They said you beat the crap out of her.’ Dolly turned and looked at Annie. ‘And now here she is today, creeping around like a church mouse with two fabulous shiners on her ugly mug, being all polite and helpful. What happened?’

‘I had a word with her,’ shrugged Annie.

‘Ah.’ Dolly rummaged in the cupboard for tea, put a couple of spoonfuls into the teapot and then added boiling water.

Annie turned and looked at what she was doing.

That noise again.

‘Tea?’ offered Dolly.

Annie turned away, shaking her head.

‘Got to go out, Doll. Bit of business.’

Annie huddled into the black coat and hurried along the pavement toward Max’s car.
Her
car now. A gust of cold wind caught her, making her eyes water. She missed the warm sun of the Med. Spring was coming here, but not fast enough. Above the crowded buildings and the hurrying people the skies were grey and full of rain—the light was going, soon it would be evening. People would be tucked up warm indoors with their families, huddling together against the night.

But not me
, thought Annie.
My family’s gone.

Now she was back here, alone, her husband dead, gone from her forever, trying to save her daughter’s life—haunted by the constant feeling that she was failing in her task. She knew she had to get over that feeling, quash it somehow. To fear failure was to invite it to come calling. She had to stay positive, somehow. To hope for the best.

But I fear the worst
, that hopeless voice inside her cried out.

She put her head down against the buffeting wind and hurried out into the road. Tony saw her coming and got out from behind the wheel and opened the rear passenger door for her. Annie looked up, gave him a nod, and then he
came charging toward her and knocked her backwards.

What the fuck?
thought Annie angrily.

They cannoned into a parked car. Annie took the brunt of the impact. Tony’s huge weight knocked all the wind out of her. She was aware of a jumble of things. Losing her footing, slipping to her knee, a crack of pain—another pain to add to all the others, she thought dimly. A blare of horns, headlights blinding her, then Tony hauling her upright and grabbing her shoulders and looking at her.

‘You all right, Mrs Carter?’ he gasped.

Annie nodded. Couldn’t get her breath.

‘Sure?’

‘Fine,’ Annie managed.

‘That fucking car nearly had you. Didn’t you see it?’

Annie shook her head. Straightened. Checked herself over. Her tights were laddered. Yeah, she was okay. Shaken, but okay.

‘He pulled out down the road. Came straight at you, revving up fast. Would have knocked you flat if I hadn’t seen him coming.’

Annie looked up the road to where the car had shot off around the corner with a mad squeal of tyres. Long gone now, of course.

‘Did you catch the number plate? Did you recognize the driver?’ she asked.

Tony was shaking his head.

‘No, Mrs Carter. Sorry.’

‘Don’t be sorry, Tone. You did good.’

Better than good. You saved my damned life
, she thought. If Tony hadn’t spotted her coming across the road and got out of the car to open the door for her, he wouldn’t have seen the car coming. And she had been distracted, worried, head down, not thinking…
not thinking that anyone would try to kill her.

She was shaking slightly with the shock now. Realizing that she could have been mincemeat. Realizing that someone had tried to take her out. Not a nice feeling. And who the hell would want to do that?

She didn’t have a clue.

Tony escorted her back over the road to the Jag and settled her into the back, closing the door gently as if she was a precious package, safely retrieved.

God bless Tony
, thought Annie. What would have happened to Layla if anything had happened to her?

But Jimmy thought Layla was dead meat anyway.

Annie shivered and huddled down. She had the box in one pocket, Max’s ring in the other, and she clung tightly to both for reassurance. Tony restarted the engine and the big car purred into life. The heater blasted out hot air, reviving her.

‘Where to, Mrs Carter?’ asked Tony.

‘Do you know the Barolli house in Holland Park, Tony?’

‘Yeah, I do. Mr Barolli’s over here at the moment to give his daughter away. She’s marrying a stockbroker or something like that.’

Annie closed her eyes, feeling the aftermath of the shock she’d just had, feeling suddenly that she might even cry. Would she ever see Layla grow up, get married, have children of her own? She squashed the sudden weakness and her eyes met Tony’s in the rear-view mirror.

‘Take me to the Barolli house, Tony,’ she said.

Tony looked at her doubtfully. ‘Is Mr Barolli expecting you, Mrs Carter? Has Jimmy okayed this?’

Annie sighed wearily. She didn’t know what the hell Jonjo had been up to, but it was clear that Jimmy had for some time felt that he was running things—and so had all the boys.

But then Jonjo would have been off screwing blondes, not taking care of business
, she thought. Max shouldn’t have trusted him. But then, didn’t you always trust family? Weren’t you supposed to be able to do that?

‘Yeah,’ she told Tony. She didn’t feel strong enough right now to argue the toss. ‘Mr Barolli’s expecting me. And Jimmy okayed it.’

Her soul was never going to get to heaven,
wasn’t that what her mother Connie had always told her? It was bad to lie, she was a
wicked
girl. Maybe that was it—maybe this was what they called karma, payback for what she’d done to poor Ruthie. Annie had lost Max and her child had been taken from her. Maybe she deserved all this shit. Certainly there had never been any hope of Annie achieving her mother’s approval—all that had been reserved for her good sister Ruthie. Not for Black Sheep Annie.

Yeah, a black sheep
, she thought as the Jaguar slid smoothly through the streets.

Now, of course, a black widow.