Black Widow (28 page)

Jimmy Bond was waiting for them back at the car, leaning against it with arms folded, looking smug.

Annie stiffened when she saw him.

Her right-hand man. Yeah. Very funny.

‘Wait for me in the car, will you Doll? You too, Tony,’ she said. She looked straight at Jimmy.

‘I want a word with you,’ she said.

He pushed himself away from the car and followed as Annie walked off along the gravel pathway. It was starting to rain again, and the sky was gunmetal grey above the fresh lime-green budding on the trees around the graveyard.

‘Well,’ he said, falling into step beside her and pulling up his coat collar, ‘you bollocksed that up good and proper.’

Annie shot him a glance. ‘Yeah, and thanks for your support,’ she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. ‘There was I thinking you were on my side, too.’

Jimmy stopped walking and stared at her.

‘You really are bloody shot away, ain’t you?’ he remarked. ‘I
told
you what would happen if you started stirring things up by working Charlie over. I
warned
you that the shit would start to fly, but would you listen? No. And now I suppose you’re in deep shit with the Barolli clan and you want me to get you out of
that
pile of crap too.’

Annie stopped walking. She stepped in and stared hard at Jimmy.

‘It must be marvellous to be so fucking clever, Jimmy,’ she said coolly. ‘Only you see, it ain’t your kid who’s in the hands of villains, it’s mine.
My daughter
, my flesh and blood. She’s all I have left now Max is gone…are you hearing me, Jimmy?’

‘Oh, I’ve heard you. I’ve heard a lot these past weeks and I don’t like the sound of none of it. You’re a fucking loose cannon. You’re causing trouble with the Delaneys, you’re upsetting the boys, and closing the clubs, and fuck knows what will happen to them now. You’ve gone cap in hand to the sodding
Mafia
—Christ knows what sort of shit-storm that’s going to set off in our direction.’

‘Jimmy.’

‘What?’

‘Just
shut the fuck up
, will you? I’m getting tired of listening to you whining on. All it boils down to is the fact that you don’t like me being here at all. Fact is, Jimmy, I think you wish I’d got hit too
when Max and Jonjo did, and that would have solved all your problems for you.’

Annie was breathing hard with fury and staring balefully at him. Jimmy was saying nothing.

‘Yeah, that’s it, isn’t it? You could have taken the manor straight over. Run the clubs into the ground and picked over the rest, grabbed all the money and lived like a lord.’ She thought with fury of the cosy set-up he already had with Jeanette, all paid for—she was sure—with the firm’s money,
her
money. ‘And then—oh dear—
I
show up. Ruined all your plans, didn’t I? It was all real sweet, then I come around and want things done my way, not yours. Well, it’s time you realized certain things, Jimmy. Time you got with it. The big news is this: I’m in charge—not you.’

Jimmy looked at her, his face tense with anger. ‘Finished?’ he asked.

‘Oh no.’ Annie gave a tight, furious smile. ‘Not by a long shot. Listen up. You’ve been having a fine old time of it. Having the whole manor at your beck and call. Having Kath waiting on you at home, looking after your kids, shit-scared of you, the poor mare, and Jeanette tucked up in your love nest for a little afternoon delight on tap whenever you wanted it. You thinking all the time that what Kath don’t know won’t hurt her…But what if she
did
know, Jimmy? What if things got said somehow or other, and Kath suddenly started
to see the light? She’s not alone any more, Jimmy.
I’m
here. I’d help her walk away from you. I’d pack her sodding suitcase myself. And what about the rest of the boys?’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ asked Jimmy roughly, but she could see he was rattled. Kath was no loss to him but the kids were, she could see that.

‘What would they think of a man who beats up women, Jimmy?’ Annie paused, seemed to ponder. ‘I think I know. I think they’d say he was a yellow-bellied fucking
coward
, and I don’t think they’d take many orders from a man like that.’

Jimmy’s face had flushed brick red while she talked. ‘You threatening me?’ he spluttered.

‘Just stating facts,’ shrugged Annie. ‘See, I don’t think Jeanette’s the maternal type, do you? Can’t see her looking after your two kids part time when Kath kicks you out. Maybe she’d let you see the kids, but I sort of doubt it. It’s a shame; I think you really love those kids too. But then, I can’t really see Jeanette playing happy families at the weekends, wiping up baby sick and playing with Jimmy Junior while you’re off down the dog track looking for another little blonde with a twinkle in her eye…I dunno, Jimmy, your whole, well-ordered world could come crashing down if someone was to say a word in the wrong place to poor old Kath.’

‘You want to be careful,’ said Jimmy, looming over her with rage flashing in his eyes.

‘Careful? Me?’ Annie gave an ironic bark of laughter. Then her face grew stony. ‘Get real, Jimmy. I’m beyond being careful. I’m hanging out over a cliff with sharks trying to snap my arse in half, or ain’t you noticed? You really think that I’d quibble about blowing the whistle on you?’

Jimmy was breathing hard. ‘You vicious cow,’ he said flatly.

‘Yeah, you got that right. You remember that, Jimmy, and next time you see anyone disrespecting me, you fucking well shift yourself and
do something about it.’

Annie turned on her heel and walked back to the car. After a few paces she paused and looked back at him.

‘Oh yeah—and get the boys together for a meet at the Palermo tomorrow morning at eleven. Nice and discreet, no rolling up mob-handed, got it?’ she said. ‘I’ll see you there.’

‘Basically, Vee, you’re just a fucking moron,’ Danny was saying.

Vee sat at a different kitchen table this time, in a house that was no better and no worse than the last—in other words, a shit-heap. She was getting very, very tired of shit-heaps. And also of Danny, who did not believe in letting bygones be bygones. He was
still
going on about the fact that she had once—
just once
—left the sodding door unbolted, and the kid had tried to do a runner.

‘Look,’
she said suddenly, losing it. ‘She didn’t get out.’

‘Yeah, but if she had—’

‘If she
had
, that would be a different matter, wouldn’t it? But she didn’t. So can you please now for fuck’s sake let it
drop
!’

‘Why do I always have to work with fucking
fools?’ asked Danny morosely, downing another can of beer.

‘Hey, don’t include me in this,’ said Phil Fibbert, who was also sitting there and who was also getting pretty damned tired of the way Danny kept carping on about ancient history, about things that nearly happened, but didn’t.

‘And you can shut the fuck up too,’ said Danny.

Vita looked at Phil. Phil was built like a brick shithouse and Danny shouldn’t keep talking to him like that, or one of these fine days he might just get his teeth back in an ashtray. Right now Vita was looking forward to the day when Phil finally snapped. Phil winked at her and she half smiled back.

Actually, she was sort of beginning to like Phil.

Sure, they’d had their moments, but this was a tense situation. They were all on edge. And Danny didn’t help. She wished he’d stop it with the drink. He was a tetchy bastard anyway, but when he had a few pints down his neck, he was like a bear with a sore head.

Vita looked at Phil. She liked his dark good looks and his muscular physique. She didn’t notice that he hadn’t really defended her, he had only defended himself.

‘Ain’t it time you checked on the kid?’ Danny said to Vita, while eyeing them both with a critical eye.

Vita stood up. ‘I’ll be so glad when all this is
over,’ she groaned, reaching for the hood and pulling it on, tucking her blonde hair up under it. ‘You really think she’s gonna play it straight now?’

‘What else can she do? It’s all going good.’ Danny downed the dregs of the beer and crushed the can in his fist and grinned. Then he frowned.

That was Danny—happy to crazy mad in a single bound. Vita had long ago got used to his sudden switches of mood.

‘And this time, lock the fucking door, okay?’ said Danny sharply.

Boy, could her brother hold a grudge.

But then—so could she.

When Annie came downstairs next morning, thinking,
Oh fuck, it’s Tuesday already
, a stony-faced Ross handed her a slip of paper.

‘What’s this?’ she asked.

He shrugged, uninterested. ‘Chap just handed it to me. Said it was a “pizzi,” or something. For Mrs Carter.’

Annie felt her heart thud sickly in her chest. The last unexpected delivery here had been Layla’s severed finger. She didn’t want any more surprises.

‘Thanks, Ross,’ she said, and took it through to the empty kitchen and spread it out on the table. It was a
pizzino
from Constantine, using Caesar’s code. She quickly deciphered the line of numbers. The note read:
Sorry.
C.

Annie stared at it in bewilderment. She thought of their last meeting, when she had behaved like a vestal virgin being propositioned outside the
temple. She groaned aloud. Christ, what a fool she’d made of herself. Turned him right off the whole idea; ruined everything. But now this.
Sorry.
Meaning what? Meaning that there still might be a chance he’d go ahead with it, that she could still, somehow, get Layla out of this?

Dolly came in, clipping on discreet diamond stud earrings. She looked at Annie.

‘Any news yet?’ she asked, indicating the note.

Annie shook her head and folded the piece of paper.

Dolly’s face was grave. ‘They’re phoning back this Friday, ain’t that right?’ she said.

‘I don’t need reminding, Doll,’ said Annie, the panic eating at her. Time was running out fast now—it was all but gone. And so far she’d achieved nothing. Not a damned thing.

‘I thought you were going to get a loan off the Barolli mob?’

‘I was. Um…there were strings attached.’

‘What sort of strings?’

Annie got up and closed the door into the hall. She turned and looked at Dolly.

‘Constantine Barolli wanted to sleep with me,’ she said.

‘And?’ Dolly looked at her blankly.

Annie returned her stare. ‘What do you mean,
and?
He wanted to
sleep
with me, Doll, and then and only then would he hand over the money.’

Dolly leaned back against the worktop and studied Annie closely. ‘Sorry. You’ve lost me. Barolli wanted to sleep with you…?’

‘Yeah, that’s what I said.’

‘For half a million quid.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Then what the fuck are you waiting for: hell to freeze over? Why ain’t you done it?’

‘Jesus, Doll, I was going to.’ Annie clutched her head in her hands as her mind replayed the whole embarrassing experience in detail. ‘I offered myself on a plate. Which was what he wanted. And then he changed his damned mind.’

Dolly nodded at the note on the table. ‘That’s from him?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Saying…?’

‘Saying sorry.’

Now Dolly looked bewildered too. ‘Sorry for what?’

‘I don’t know. How the hell should I know? Sorry for changing his mind, I suppose.’

‘Look,’ said Dolly reasonably, ‘if he’s saying sorry, then at least he’s still talking to you, so maybe it’s not too late. You could still get over there, do the deed, get the money, get Layla back.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Annie, her mind in turmoil. The thought of going through that again was humiliating, but she’d do it for Layla.

‘It’s a bit of business, that’s all.’

‘What?’
Annie let out a mirthless laugh. ‘It might be a bit of business to
you
, Doll, but not to me. I’m a married woman.’

‘You’re a
widow.’

‘You want me to go and shag some—some
stranger?
For money? You think that’s easy?’

‘Got it in one,’ said Dolly, filling the kettle. ‘And no, I don’t think it’s easy, but tough. Do it.’

‘Look, you may have some experience of selling your body like a farmer sells his pigs in a market, but I don’t,’ snapped Annie.

Dolly’s face was suddenly a picture of hurt. ‘Oh, and you think I enjoyed being a brass? You think I
liked
being a brass? You know damned well that I was only on the game because of what happened to me at home. I went out on the streets when I was fifteen, and it was only Celia being so kind and giving me a roof over my head that saved me from those filthy rotten pimps out there. You
also
know that I jumped at the chance to stop all that, to become a Madam. You know it.’

Annie took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry, Doll,’ she said, contrite. ‘It’s just…it’s a really sore subject. Fact is, I tried. I really did. I bottled it, turned him off the idea. I just couldn’t do it.’

Dolly switched the kettle on and eyed her friend. ‘Oh don’t be bloody daft. It’s a business fuck, that’s all. Have a brandy, take the plunge.’

‘Don’t drink,’ said Annie.

‘You know what I mean. Christ, it’s not as if he’s flipping ugly.
I
wouldn’t kick him out of bed, that’s for sure.’

Annie eyed her in disbelief. So far as she knew, Dolly had no one in her bed and that had been the case for a very long time. She didn’t know what the fuck she was talking about.

‘One little indiscretion—just one; and if he’s like most men I know, it’ll be two minutes then out the door—and then you get the money, and Layla’s safe,’ Dolly rolled on.

One little indiscretion.

Annie stared at the floor. Angry words, spiteful words poured into her brain.

Words like,
And who are you to tell me about my love life? You ain’t got one.

She swallowed the words whole. Getting arsy with Dolly wasn’t going to help anyone.

‘Or am I missing something here?’ asked Dolly, taking down the teapot and fishing out the tea caddy.

‘Meaning what?’ Annie looked up at her.

‘Meaning—I dunno—maybe you think it wouldn’t end there? Meaning, maybe you might actually
like
it, and how would you square that with your conscience about Max?’

Annie looked at the floor again.

‘That’s it,’ said Dolly in triumph. ‘I
knew
it.’

‘That is
not
it,’ said Annie.

‘The fuck it ain’t. You fancy Constantine Barolli,
that’s
the problem. You’re terrified you might actually enjoy it.’

‘You’re off your head, Doll,’ said Annie.

‘There’s nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade,’ said Dolly, pouring boiling water into the pot. She stopped pouring and looked up at Annie. ‘Come on, Annie love. Get a fucking grip. Max is gone. Layla’s life’s is at stake here. You got no choice.’

‘No?’ said Annie stubbornly.

‘Nope. Not as I see it. You were ready to go ahead and do it last time, but you put him off by having a fit of the vapours, you idiot. But he’s still interested, or else why the note? So you can do it again—and this time for fuck’s sake be a little more damned
inviting
, eh?’

The phone was ringing in the hall. Ross picked up and poked his head around the kitchen door.

‘For you,’ he said to Annie.

Annie went out into the hall and picked up the phone. ‘Hello?’

‘What have you said to him?’ Kath’s voice shrieked at her. ‘What have you
done?’

‘What?’ Annie frowned. ‘Kath? That you? Calm down, for God’s sake.’

‘How can I calm down? He’s taken them away. He’s
taken them away!’

‘Kath, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Slow down. What’s happened?’

‘Jimmy’s taken the kids away from me, you cow. It’s all your fault, he’s
taken my kids away.’