Breaking the Circle (26 page)

When the ambulance drove away, Maya pulled the foil blanket tightly round her and, with as much dignity as she could muster, walked up to the officer who seemed to be in
charge.

‘I’m Maya Brown,’ she said.

He looked slightly amused. ‘I know who you are. You did a very brave thing there, diving in and rescuing that girl.’

‘She’s Kay. She’s my friend.’

‘Yes, well. There are a lot of things to be explained, but I think you need to get some dry clothes on first.’

‘There are some young women trapped in that van,’ Maya said, pointing to the tulip van. ‘They don’t know what’s happening. They’ll be so scared.’

She walked towards the van, with the police officer and others following. The van was a wreck, its windscreen shattered, two bullet holes in its side and one back wheel over the water.

Maya put her ear to the side of the van and listened but could hear nothing.

‘Oh no, I hope they’re not hurt,’ she said. Then she gently tapped on the back door. ‘Annika, Annika. It’s Maya. Are you OK? Can you hear me? It’s all right.
You’re safe.’ She pulled at the door handle but the doors wouldn’t open. The van shuddered.

‘Are you sure there’s somebody in there?’ the police officer asked.

‘Yes,’ Maya said. ‘We have to get them out.’

‘We’ll have to wait. The van’s not stable,’ the officer said.

He spoke into his radio, while Maya pressed her face against the back doors.

‘Annika, don’t move. The van is near the water. Just wait a few minutes and we’ll get you out.’ There was silence. ‘Annika, can you hear me?’

An answering shout came from the other side of the door.

‘Hang on,’ Maya yelled. ‘Help is coming.’

Waiting was horrible. Maya imagined the girls inside, traumatised by gunshots and shaken by the van careering out of control. When another police officer arrived with a set of skeleton keys, she
clenched her fists impatiently while he tried several, before at last he managed to unlock the doors and pull them back.

‘Easy does it, easy does it,’ the officer in charge said, holding Maya back.

‘I’m lighter than you,’ she said firmly, squeezing round him. ‘Let me get in.’

Carefully keeping her weight to one side, Maya crawled to the back of the van, where Annika sat huddled up into a ball.

‘Annika, it’s all right, it’s me, Maya. You’re safe.’

Annika looked up, her face white and tear-streaked. She was shaking uncontrollably.

‘Come on,’ Maya said, touching her shoulder gently. ‘We have to get out, the van isn’t safe.’

Annika looked bewildered, but when Maya pulled at her arm she moved forward. Maya backed out of the van, then reached in and lifted a now sobbing Annika onto safe ground.

‘It is over?’ Annika whispered.

‘Yes, it’s over,’ Maya said.

Just at that moment, the van creaked and lurched closer to the water.

‘I have to get the others out,’ Maya shouted to the police. ‘Can you get somebody to stay with Annika?’

The senior police officer, standing by the van, peered into the interior. ‘Nobody else in there,’ he said.

‘Yes, there is,’ Maya said.

Before the officer could stop her, Maya slipped behind his back, carefully climbed onto the lip of the van and slid on her stomach to the front. A tapping sound was coming from the floor. The
noise grew louder and there were muffled cries.

A carpet was tacked to the van’s floor. The van groaned as Maya pulled at it, then there was a loud ripping sound as the carpet came up to reveal a trapdoor. There was no handle or groove
to lift it. The girls had been sealed in.

‘Get me something to lever this door up,’ Maya shouted back to the waiting police officers. ‘But be careful. Keep the weight on this side of the van.’

One of the police officers leaned his head in. ‘Let us deal with this,’ he said. ‘It’s our responsibility.’

‘Just give me some kind of lever and stand back,’ Maya warned.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, and there was no room for argument in the precarious van. When somebody handed her a metal bar, she set to work. Once she’d inserted the end of
the bar, the trapdoor came up easily.

Leaning over the hole, Maya swallowed when she saw a tangle of limbs and several pairs of eyes shining up at her.

‘It’s all right, everything is OK,’ she said.

A bevy of arms and legs all began to squirm at once. The van creaked. Maya threw out an arm.

‘Stop. Be careful!’

But the girls, who’d been cooped up for days on end, were desperate to escape. Maya moved aside while the young women scrabbled past her. When the last woman was out, Maya dived for the
doors, jumping clear as the van lurched towards the water.

Not a moment to spare! With relief, Maya surveyed the van, with its back end now only centimetres from the surface of the canal. She certainly didn’t fancy another swim. She was cold
enough already, shivering in the gold dress that was plastered tightly to her body. She’d left the foil blanket inside the van.

A friendly officer saw her plight and handed her a coat. Maya gratefully slipped her arms into it and tried to do up the buttons, but her fingers were clumsy with cold. The Chinese girls were in
a worse state. Huddled by the side of the van, they were hanging on to each other, shivering and sobbing. They’d been in the tiny space under the floorboards of the van – buffeted
about, suffocated by fumes and unable to stretch their limbs for three days. Their clothing was crumpled and stained; all of them were hunched over, and one girl was rubbing at her legs and arms
and grimacing in pain.

When a police officer approached the group, one of the girls started to shriek loudly and they clung even more desperately to each other. Maya saw that their eyes were full of fear. With her
head down, she moved towards the girls and stood silently by them. Slowly and gently, she put out a hand and touched one of the girl’s arms.

The girl shrank back, her eyes narrowed, and she tensed and frowned. Maya regretted her gesture but then the girl smiled shyly, clasped Maya’s hand, squeezed it and wouldn’t let
go.

‘Maya,’ Maya said, pointing to herself.

The girl looked at her. Tears had formed rivulets down her grimy face.

‘Lily,’ the girl said.

An ambulance, followed by an unmarked police car, made its way carefully along the towpath. Both vehicles stopped and when the doors of the car opened, a tall young man with spiky hair got out.
From the passenger door, a small woman in a long cotton dress emerged, stood looking around, then strode forwards. Instinctively, Maya turned. There was a split second when she didn’t
recognise the woman with dark, bobbed hair, but then she ran, yelling, ‘Mum!’

Throwing herself forward, she dived into Pam’s arms. ‘I forgot you’d dyed your hair,’ she said.

Pam kissed Maya’s wet face. ‘You’re frozen,’ she said. ‘Oh, Maya, what am I going to do with you?’

They watched as the smuggled women were comforted and put into the ambulance to be taken to hospital and checked over. With a massive feeling of relief, Maya leaned on Pam’s shoulder.

‘What will happen to them?’ she asked.

Pam shook her head. ‘I’m not sure – they’ll probably be sent back home. We’ll see.’

‘The gang were going to kill Kay and Annika,’ Maya said. ‘I had to do something.’

Pam hugged her daughter tight. ‘Oh, my love,’ she said. ‘You can’t go on pulling stunts like this.’ She kissed Maya’s head. ‘I should be angry with you
but – two hundred kilos of heroin, one of the biggest drugs hauls ever – I don’t know what to say.’

‘Oh, Mum, I’m so sorry,’ Maya cut in. ‘I won’t ever do this again. I didn’t mean to get in so deep.’ She looked at Pam’s anxious face. ‘I
didn’t mess up your mission, did I?’

‘No, it’s all finished. I was staying on to tidy things up, but somebody else can do that. The main work’s been done.’

‘I was afraid the police wouldn’t get here in time,’ Maya said.

‘Your friend Zac did well. He gave Simon the right information.’

‘Sure did.’

Maya looked up and saw Zac in front of her. He grinned.

‘Your mum told me to stay in the car, but I guess it’s OK to come out now.’

Maya went to him and gave him a hug. ‘Thanks, Zac. Thanks for helping me.’

‘Yeah, well, you know, if your friend Kay hadn’t let me out, I could be a goner. Bein’ your friend is a dangerous occupation.’

Maya bit her lip. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of this to happen, honest. All I wanted to do was to stop Leona and Evie taking drugs. Then everything just
escalated.’

Pam pursed her lips and shook her head. ‘Things have a habit of escalating around you. From now on, you are under close surveillance.’

‘What do you think’s happened back there?’ Maya asked, looking towards the warehouse.

‘I don’t know. Simon’s gone to find out,’ Pam said.

‘I hope they’ve got all the gang,’ Maya said. ‘I hope nobody escaped.’

Pam looked at her daughter, closed her eyes briefly and sighed. ‘I can tell you this,’ she said. ‘Despite your bravery and heroic deeds you are not going to escape a good
talking-to.’

At the warehouse, Maya saw three of Stefan’s heavies bent over the bonnet of their cars, hands cuffed behind their backs. Stefan and Ginger, both badly injured, had been
taken to hospital. The rest of the gang and the men from Amsterdam were imprisoned in an armoured van and more police vehicles were moving in to transport the drugs and other evidence away. Sonja
was sitting under guard in the back of a police car.

Pam spoke to the detective in charge, then motioned for Maya and Zac to join them.

‘I want a full statement from both of you,’ the detective said. ‘I’ll see you at the station tomorrow morning.’

‘Don’t you think the interview could take place at home?’ Pam asked. ‘We’ve got some hospital visiting to do and I want to check on what’s happening to those
poor Chinese girls. Shall we say eleven o’ clock?’

The detective agreed and shook Pam’s hand. As Maya and Zac turned away, he asked Pam, ‘How did your daughter get involved in this?’

Pam shook her head. ‘I don’t know the full story yet but I am certainly going to find out.’

‘Fancy yourself as a bit of an action hero, do you?’ the officer joked, calling over to Maya.

Maya turned to face him, pushed back her hair and gave him a death stare. ‘No,’ she said bitingly. ‘I just wanted to help my friends.’

The detective moved closer and nodded. Then he said, much more respectfully, ‘You risked your life – not to be recommended, but you saved that girl and intercepted a major delivery
of class A drugs. Well done!’

Maya grinned. ‘Do I get a reward?’

Her moment of triumph was short-lived. Grasping her daughter firmly by the arm, Pam said, ‘Come on. You have a lot of explaining to do.’

Maya made a face at Zac, asking for sympathy as they walked to the car. In response, Zac blew out his cheeks and rolled his eyes, indicating there was nothing he could do to help.

Maya stuck her tongue out at him, then asked forlornly, ‘Can we please get home so I can get some dry clothes on before you start questioning me?’

‘Yes,’ Pam conceded. ‘Then we’re off to the hospital, where you’re going to get a thorough check-up.’

Once home, there was also the matter of a big apology to Gran. Maya found it difficult to face Helen, knowing what she’d put her through.

‘I promise you faithfully,’ Helen said, looking at her dishevelled granddaughter, ‘I will never, ever agree to look after you again. You’re more trouble than when you
first came to us at the age of four.’

‘Oh, Gran,’ Maya said, throwing her arms round her. ‘You don’t mean that! I am so sorry, so sorry.’

Tears welled in Helen’s eyes. ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ she said. ‘Never, ever do that to me again.’

‘I promise, I won’t,’ Maya said. ‘No more adventures. I’ve had enough excitement and danger for one year. Now I have to concentrate on my exams.’

‘And your running,’ Helen said. ‘Put your energy into those races.’

‘Good idea,’ Maya agreed.

When Maya and her mum had showered and changed, they set off to the hospital. First stop was to check on Kay. They found her lying on a trolley bed in a curtained cubicle.

Her eyes were wild when she sat up. ‘The police come,’ she said. ‘I think they arrest me.’ She pulled back her gown revealing thick bandages swathing the top of her arm
and shoulder. ‘But the police cannot take me because I have a bullet.’ She settled back down and closed her eyes. ‘The nurse give me a drug for the pain, so now I am happy. Soon I
will have an operation.’

Maya took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Kay, this is my mum, Pam.’

Pam moved closer to the trolley and Kay squinted up at her. ‘Your daughter . . . she save my life.’

Pam smiled. ‘I know. You were both very brave.’

A rustling of the curtain signalled the arrival of the nurse and porter who’d arrived to take Kay to the operating theatre.

‘I’ll see you up on the ward,’ Maya promised, ‘when you’re all fixed.’

Kay’s eyes were closing as they wheeled her away and she started to sing softly, a song in her own language. Maya watched her go and felt suddenly nervous – how near to Kay’s
heart was that bullet?