Dangerous Promises (27 page)

‘What did I tell you? That ground’s going to be a bleedin’ quagmire. If these heels get stuck, love, you’ll have to pull me out.’

‘Perhaps we could stay here,’ Sadie suggested. ‘We won’t be that far away.’

Sharon looked at her. ‘You think?’

‘Why not?’

And so it was decided. Sadie was more than happy to keep her distance, but her pulse had started to race at the thought of what would happen after the burial was over. ‘So… er, what is it that Kelly wants to know exactly?’

Sharon glanced at her and gave a shrug. ‘I’m not sure, to be honest. She’s pretty cut up about it all. She and Eddie were close, going steady and all… but she’s not looking to cause any bother. I’m sure of that. You don’t have to worry. Only you were there, just before… I mean, I think she needs to get things sorted in her head. It’s hard for her. She’s a nice kid, though. You’ll be fine.’

Nothing of this put Sadie at her ease. Sharon’s description of Kelly Gissing was in direct contrast to Velma’s. What was it Velma had said? Something about Kelly being happy to scratch your eyes out soon as look as you. And then there was Wayne to worry about too; brothers could be overly protective of their little sisters. She scanned the mourners until she found the two guys who might be cops. Like her and Sharon, they were standing off to the side, apart from the main group.

‘Do you know those men?’ Sadie asked. She gestured with a tilt of her head. ‘Those two over there.’

‘Old Bill, love,’ Sharon said. ‘You can smell ’em a mile off.’

‘Ah, I thought they might be. What are they doing here?’

‘Poking their noses in where they’re not wanted, that’s what.’ Sharon looked closely at her. ‘Maybe they reckon Eddie’s killer will show up. Maybe they’re hoping someone’s conscience will get the better of them and they’ll break down and confess.’

Sadie lifted her eyebrows, trying to make it appear as though her conscience was whiter than white. ‘What are the chances?’

‘Slim,’ Sharon said. ‘Still it gives the bastards something to do, don’t it? If they weren’t with us, they’d only be hassling some other poor sods.’

Sadie stared over at the two officers again. They seemed bored and disinterested, as if they knew they were wasting their time. One of them kept glancing at his watch as if there was some place he had to be. Were they paying her any particular attention? She didn’t think so, but she could be wrong.

She shifted her line of vision to the group gathered at the graveside. Stan was standing with one arm around his wife, the other hanging loose by his side. His hand, a tight fist, thumped relentlessly against his thigh. Kelly Gissing leaned against the older woman. Wayne stood staring hard at the hole in the ground.

The voice of the priest floated on the air. ‘We have but a short time to live. Like a flower we blossom and then wither; like a shadow we flee and never stay. In the midst of life we are in death.’

Sadie, even if she wasn’t entirely comfortable in Sharon’s company, was glad to be away from the main group of mourners. She was sorry that Eddie was dead, truly sorry, but she still felt as though she didn’t belong here, that she was intruding on the family’s grief.

‘It’s a crying shame,’ Sharon said. ‘And he was no age at all, not really. Why would anyone do such a thing?’

‘I’ve no idea.’

‘So were the two of you, you know, on good terms when it… it happened?’

Sadie threw her a quick sideways glance. The woman was fishing and not with much subtlety. ‘We weren’t on any sort of terms. I hadn’t seen him in years.’

‘He was an easy-going sort, though, wasn’t he? A good laugh.’

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, Sadie thought of the first time she’d met Eddie Wise, their eyes meeting across a crowded bar in Kentish Town. He’d been everything her mother had warned her against: a good-looking older man with a wandering eye and a bucketful of charm. Love at first sight? Perhaps. She suspected now that it had been more of an infatuation than anything deeper. She’d been too young to understand what true love was.

‘Someone with a grudge, that’s for sure,’ Sharon said.

Sadie didn’t reply. The priest was intoning those familiar words: ‘Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…’

There was a general shuffling among the mourners and then the dull thud of soil falling against wood. Sadie imagined Mona going round to Eddie’s flat, a bright smile on her face as he answered the door. What had she said to him? Nothing to cause any alarm because he must have invited her in. But of course the worst Eddie had ever had to fear from a woman was a paternity suit.

‘That’s it, then,’ Sharon murmured. ‘Let’s hope they catch the bugger who did it.’

The two police officers leaned in towards each other, speaking softly. One of them gave a nod. Sadie felt a sudden impulse to walk over to them, to admit what she knew, to unburden her soul. Why not? It was better, surely, to face her demons in the company of the law rather than the Gissings.

‘There’s a nice little caff on Paladin Street,’ Sharon said. ‘We’ll go there, shall we? We can have a nice cup of tea and a warm-up while we wait for Kelly.’

The group around the grave began to disperse, their heads bent, their voices barely more than a whisper, until only the Wise family and the Gissings remained. Sadie glanced towards the cops again. They were walking back down the slope, heading straight for where she was standing. She felt her heart skip a beat. Jesus, maybe it was too late to confess. Maybe they were going to arrest her. Perhaps they had just been waiting until the funeral was over before they made their move.

Sharon hissed out a breath as they drew alongside. ‘Pleased with yourselves, are you? Can’t you even leave a family in peace when they’re burying their loved ones?’

The shorter one, the watch watcher, lifted his eyebrows. ‘Just doing our job, love.’

‘Oh, yeah, and what would that be exactly?’

Sadie found herself wishing Sharon would shut up. Her desire to confess had drained away. There had to be a better way of bringing Mona to justice than blurting out the story of a random meeting on a train. She waited, her heart in her mouth, but the cops said nothing else. They just grinned and walked off towards the gates.

‘Typical!’ Sharon said. ‘Mugs, the lot of them.’

Sadie watched them leave, feeling nothing but relief. Then she looked back towards the two families still huddled round the grave. But now Wayne Gissing was gone. She gazed all around but couldn’t see him anywhere. She wondered whether she should go and talk to Stan and Marcie. There would never be a good time to express her condolences but this, she suspected, would certainly be the worst. ‘Let’s go and get that tea,’ she said.

‘Yeah, let’s do that.’ Sharon raised her voice a little so the departing cops could hear. ‘I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth.’

They retraced their steps to the willow tree where Sharon, instead of turning right along the main thoroughfare towards the exit, took a left instead.

‘Oh,’ Sadie said. ‘Isn’t it the other way?’

‘No, love. It’s up the other end. Paladin Street. Didn’t I say?’

Sadie was less then happy to find herself walking in the opposite direction to Oaklands and away from the safety of the busy streets. Most of the other mourners, including the cops, had already passed through the wrought-iron gates and disappeared from view. She kept glancing over her shoulder but the path behind them remained empty. ‘Should we wait for Kelly?’

Sharon shook her head. ‘Best meet her there, hon. She won’t be long, though. Her mum will probably give her a lift, save her walking.’

By the time they were in sight of the other set of gates, Sadie could no longer see Eddie’s grave. The view was obscured by a line of yew trees. The path at this end of the cemetery was deserted; the morning commuters had come and gone and everything was quiet. It occurred to her that there must be other cafés much closer to the main entrance, like the one she’d visited last time she was in Kellston.

‘We could have gone to Connolly’s,’ Sadie said.

‘It’s always busy there, hon. Can’t hear yourself speak. No, it’s better where we’re going.’

‘And how far is it exactly?’

‘Just round the corner. We’re almost there. It won’t take us more than two minutes now.’

Sadie felt a flutter of anxiety in her chest. Why had she agreed to this? Surrounded by other people, she’d felt that nothing really bad could happen but away from the grave, away from the other mourners, she was aware of how vulnerable she was. Ahead of them, to their right, an empty red Capri was parked up on the side of the thoroughfare. Further on she could see the road through the smaller set of gates. The odd car went by but there wasn’t much traffic. Still, it was a road at least, a public place where there would be witnesses if the Gissings had more in mind than a friendly chat.

Sadie upped the pace, eager to escape from the graveyard.

‘Hey!’ Sharon protested. ‘Hold yer horses. I can’t be jogging in these heels.’

It was just as Sadie drew adjacent to the Capri that it happened. The back door was suddenly flung open and a man leapt out. She stifled a scream, the breath catching in her throat. It only took a split second for her to recognise Wayne Gissing. After the black eye and the split lip, the next thing she noticed was the glint of metal from the knife he was holding.

35

It was fortunate that Wayne’s timing was off and he stumbled as his feet made contact with the concrete path. Sadie took the opportunity to try and make a run for it, but Sharon grabbed hold of her coat and held on tight. The two of them struggled with each other, teeth bared, arms flailing wildly, before Sadie finally managed to break free. With her route out of the cemetery blocked, she sprinted across the grass and between the graves. Where was she going? She had no idea. Instinct had taken over and she was simply running for her life.

Her heart was racing, the adrenalin coursing through her veins, as she sidestepped the tombstones and scanned the horizon. There must be someone, somewhere… Jesus, where was everyone? Panic and fear swept through her body. It didn’t occur to her to scream or shout; she needed every ounce of energy to keep on going. Her bag slipped from her shoulder and fell to the ground. She left it there, abandoned by a black marble headstone.

And now she was aware of the footsteps behind her, of the thick boots squelching down into the earth. She tried to pick up speed but the ground was soft and wet and slippery. Faster, she had to go faster, but already her lungs were pumping, her breath coming in short shallow gasps.

Sadie had barely covered thirty yards when he caught up with her. She heard his heavy panting, his muttered curses, just before she felt his hand clamp down on her shoulder. The pressure spun her around and she went tumbling on to the grass. Instantly he was on to her, yanking her up and wrapping his arm around her throat.

‘Bitch!’ he spat into her neck.

Sadie lashed out, trying to free herself from his grasp. She wasn’t going to die in this damn graveyard. Not today. Not like this. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t. She dug her fingernails into the soft flesh of his arm and heard him yelp. Seconds later she felt a sharp stinging pain along the back of her hand.

‘Do that again,’ he hissed into her ear, ‘and I’ll slice your bloody throat open.’

It was only then that Sadie realised she’d been cut. She stopped struggling, went limp and stared down at her hand. The knife had traced a diagonal line from the knuckle of her forefinger to the bone of her wrist. It was bleeding profusely, long scarlet ribbons running down between her fingers and dripping on to the ground.

‘Please,’ she begged as she felt the cold steel of the blade press against her throat.

‘What’s the matter, hon? I thought you liked knives. Isn’t that how you wasted Eddie?’

‘It wasn’t me. I swear it wasn’t.’ She was trying to speak without moving, terrified that the blade might slip. Her chest was heaving, her heart thumping furiously. ‘I didn’t do it.’

‘You, Stone, one of Terry’s goons. It don’t make no difference, babe. The end result is the same. Eddie’s six foot under and someone has to pay.’

‘It wasn’t me,’ she repeated, her voice a hoarse whisper.

‘We’ll see. Now are you going to behave, Sadie, or am I going to have to get nasty?’

Sadie let out a groan. Wayne Gissing wasn’t a big man but he was a solid one and, as she’d already discovered, he was quick on his feet. She didn’t have a chance in hell of getting away of him. ‘I will. I swear I will.’

‘You’d better, babe, ’cause if you try another stunt like that, you and me are going to fall out big time.’

‘I’ll do whatever you want.’

‘Sure you will.’ He released his hold on her and stood back. ‘Start walking,’ he ordered, brandishing the knife. ‘Over to the car. Try and make a run for it again and it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.’

Sadie gave a nod. ‘I won’t. I promise.’

Wayne Gissing flicked shut the knife and put it in his pocket. ‘Go on then. We ain’t got all day. And remember, I’ll be right behind you. No second chances, babe. This is it.’

Sadie set off obediently across the grass, retracing her earlier steps. There was no doubt in her mind that he meant what he said; she had seen the cruelty in his eyes, the desire to hurt her. As she walked she raised her hand to her mouth and sucked on the wound. The cut was starting to throb, a hard angry pain that helped focus her mind. This was just the beginning, she realised. Unless she did something fast, there was far worse to come.

When they reached the marble headstone where her handbag was still lying, she glanced over her shoulder. ‘Can I pick it up?’

Wayne smirked. ‘So long as you ain’t got a brick in it.’

‘No,’ she said, still trying to catch her breath. ‘No bricks.’ Sadie slowly bent and retrieved her bag. The blood from her hand ran down the soft black leather. Damn it! The handbag had been expensive, Italian, and now it was probably ruined. She frowned at the irrelevance of the thought, aware of how unimportant it was in the present scheme of things.

In a couple of minutes they were back on the main path where Sharon was leaning against the Capri, smoking a fag. ‘Caught up with her then?’ she said casually.