Jail Bird

didn’t want him thinking she was a complete washout; she couldn’t bear the idea of him going off her, going with one of the many others who were just waiting for their chance with him.

Sometimes in life you have to make instant choices, Oli knew that, and she was impulsive by nature, she liked to make her decisions quickly.

She made this one without any further hesitation. She tore off her knickers, leaned back, parted her legs, lifted her skirts.

‘All right. But only put it in a little bit, okay?’ She was panting.

He put it right in. Way in. She gasped as it slipped into her wetness like an eel through water. Oh, it was good.

But too quick, too quick again, leaving her throbbing, not sore but restless, unfulfilled. And afterwards she felt more sober. Her period was already late and she knew that until it came, she’d be in a state of horrible anxiety. An unplanned pregnancy didn’t figure in her Bohemian dreams of the future. Not at all.

10

The bells were ringing and so was Si King’s head as the Silver Phantom rolled up at the church, him and his lovely niece resplendent in the back, him wishing he hadn’t bothered with the pub last night. Trust Freddy to start acting up because that bitch Lily was on the loose again. Jesus, his head was throbbing. He’d have to tap Maeve up for some aspirin. She always carried a stash of supplies in her handbag.

Patience was Simon’s forte. It wasn’t Freddy’s, and it hadn’t really been Leo’s either. But Si always played the long game. And he was going to get Lily sorted, but not unless he could be one hundred per cent certain that he could fix it to look accidental. He’d been thinking about it, and he thought that maybe he could. He didn’t want to upset the girls in any way, not if it could be avoided; there was always that to be considered.

‘Now what the hell’s Oli up to? She’s going to ruin her hair,’ said Saz from behind her veil.

Si looked. Oli was outside the vestibule with Jase, one of his boys. Jase and a couple of the other security guys were acting as ushers today. She was trying on his top hat, knocking her flowered headdress askew, laughing up at him as he grinned back down at her.

Si thought that Oli’s hair was beyond ruining. It was wild, dark and curly, and nothing would tame it – a bit like Oli herself. He frowned as he gazed out at the handsome couple indulging in shameless flirtation. Maybe he ought to mark Jase’s card for him today, tell him to back off a bit. He’d been considering this for a little while; he’d noticed the play between the two of them was getting a bit more serious. Jase was a smart youngster, a good worker, but a chancer; he’d see Oli as a good ticket to advancement in the King organization and Si could tell that he was working the old charm on his gullible niece like a pro. Yeah, definitely time to have a word. Didn’t want the silly little git getting Oli up the duff or anything drastic like that. Then he’d really have to step in, and Jase would be sorry.

‘She looks beautiful,’ Si said smoothly to his flustered niece.

‘She looks tatty, just like she always does,’ fretted Saz.

‘She looks lovely, and so do you. Now relax. Enjoy the day.’

The vicar was standing just inside the porch now. Jase had gone back inside.

Smart move, you little arsehole, thought Si, his headache making him irritable.

Oli was there by the vicar, patting her headdress back into place, rosebuds and bits of greenery tumbling out of it, her expression one of extreme innocence as she smiled over at her uncle and sister. Looking like butter wouldn’t melt. Si wasn’t fooled. Saz was cool; Oli was the hot one. He guessed that Saz’s Richard wasn’t in for much fun tonight, but if he’d been marrying Oli, it would have been quite another story.

The uniformed chauffeur was opening the car door.

‘Well, here we go,’ said Si, and gallantly helped his niece alight from the car. ‘Time to get married, young Saz.’

It was a lovely ceremony. Everyone said so. All the mob boys and their wives were there, decked out in their best. The church was overflowing with cream floral arrangements to match Saz’s dress, and when she walked up the aisle there were audible gasps from among the guests, she looked so astonishingly beautiful. Many of them thought, so like Lily, but they would never have said that aloud. Some things you just didn’t mention, not on a day like today. Not unless you wanted to get your teeth back in an ashtray from one of the King boys. The Kings were crim royalty, you didn’t upset them, it wasn’t wise.

Richard stood at the altar, beaming with pride as Saz walked towards him. His smile remained all through the reading of the vows, which he stumbled over endearingly. But Si – and Oli – caught the slight frown of irritation on Saz’s brow as he did that.

Little Miss Perfect, thought Oli. Jesus, Saz was such a spoiled madam.

Maeve stood there beside Si and watched the whole thing with a tear in her eye. She’d caught the frown too. She knew Saz had been spoiled, far more so than Oli, because Saz had been more affected by what had happened all those years back. She’d been older; she’d understood more of what was going on. And so Maeve had tried doubly hard to help the little girl come to terms with her loss. Tried to give her as normal a life as she could.

Then came the signing of the register, and the newly married couple emerged from the vestry looking so happy.

‘She’ll have his bollocks on a skewer before the year’s out,’ muttered Freddy King to his mate.

Richard was a quiet guy who did small jobs for Si and Freddy; he was a good worker, but needed to grow a backbone. You only had to look at Saz King to see she was a ball-breaker extraordinaire. Gorgeous, though. But Saz’s mum was a nut job. How far could the apple really fall from the tree?

Organ music was echoing around the church and now the couple were walking back down the aisle, smiling at their friends and relatives, Saz looking as stately as a queen, nodding around at the sea of faces like a ham actor taking plaudits.

‘How long do you give it?’ hissed Freddy.

His mate shrugged. ‘Six months? Maybe nine if she drops a sprog quick.’

Saz and Richard went out into the sunshine, the guests piling out behind them, throwing confetti. Saz was giggling and picking bits of multicoloured paper out of her hair when she saw the figure standing nearby, very still, just watching.

The woman standing there had Saz’s own face, but it was calmer, sterner, older but no less beautiful. She was shabbily dressed in a creased and rumpled cream linen suit that fitted where it touched. It looked as though it had been made for someone a foot taller than her, and it hung around her like a shroud. She was perched on high white stiletto heels that had sunk into the grass and were now muddy from the soft earth. Her blonde hair was scraped back into a careless ponytail. She wore no make-up.

Saz froze. The woman smiled slightly. Saz went sheet-white.

Richard was looking at her, wondering what had happened.

She’d gone from laughing to dead-faced and looking on the verge of fainting away, all in the space of seconds.

‘Saz? What’s up, sweetheart?’

‘Oh my God,’ mumbled Saz, clutching at her throat, looking like she might actually throw up.

‘What…?’ Oli had come forward, wondering what sort of drama-queen act her big sis was putting on now, Jase trailing behind her. Si and Maeve came out, chattering and smiling, and then abruptly the chattering and smiling ceased, and the only sound was the bells ringing, and even that sound was no longer cheerful and joyous. Now the bells sounded like death knells: ominous, threatening.

‘Jesus, it’s her,’ hissed a woman in the crowd.

The whole party stood stock-still and looked at the woman standing there, her eyes full of desperate love, her face naked with longing as she looked at the beautiful bride, the stunning bridesmaid.