Choked

78

‘Well I wish we’d stopped. That’s all I’m saying.’ Jessie looked sulkily out of the car window.

Deepak sighed and shook his head. A reply felt unnecessary. She knew what he was thinking, what he would say. They were working, they might lose Helen Hibbert if they stopped now, the fish and chip shop would still be there once they had finished … all that. She knew what he would say because she had heard it all before. Many times.

‘Look,’ said Deepak, staring through the windscreen. ‘If she goes any further down there, we’re going to lose her.’

‘Then we get out of the car and follow her.’

Deepak didn’t look happy about that.

‘What, now you don’t want to follow her?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s cold. I didn’t bring appropriate clothing.’

Jessie smiled, looked away.

After leaving the Sloane house, they had gone back to Helen Hibbert’s flat to question her and found her leaving, pulling a suitcase behind her. They had followed her, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Deepak was very good, she had to give him that. All the way down the A14 to Harwich. Sometimes he had been one car behind her, sometimes two or three. At one point he was even in front. But he never once lost sight of her. And never let her know she was being tailed.

They had pulled back as she had negotiated the old narrow lanes of Harwich, waiting until she had parked and got out before bringing their car alongside her. They had watched as she set off walking, pulling her suitcase behind her.

‘Looks like she’s got a hot date,’ said Jessie, then turned to Deepak. ‘Sorry. Cold date.’

‘Very funny,’ he said, face straight.

They watched her walk towards the stacked old boats.

‘Very brave,’ said Deepak.

‘Or stupid,’ said Jessie.

‘Maybe she’s meeting someone there,’ said Deepak.

‘Let’s hope it’s who she wants to meet.’

Deepak leaned over to the glove compartment, took out a pair of miniature binoculars.

‘You think of everything, don’t you?’ said Jessie. ‘Apart from bringing warm clothing, of course.’

Deepak ignored her, watched Helen Hibbert.

‘She’s stopped,’ he said.

‘Let me see.’ Jessie made a grab for the binoculars. Deepak held her off.

‘Just a minute.’ He kept watching. ‘There’s somebody with her.’

‘Let me see.’

Again he stopped her. He smiled. ‘Well, well, well … ’

‘What? What?’ Jessie scowled. ‘I hate it when you do this.’

He put the binoculars down, turned to his superior. ‘This gets better.’

79

Right at this very second, Tyrell had never hated himself more. Never could hate himself more.

They had arrived there with no trouble. Once Amy saw what kind of venue it was and what was happening there, she had become angry. Striding up and down in the car park, swearing, ranting to herself that she had allowed herself to be duped, played. Josephina and Tyrell had just stood there, silent. She had then hurried them inside, pulled them to the back of the hall, hidden from the rest of the punters by the huge hay bales. And that was when she had handed him the gun, told him to hold it against Josephina’s head. The little girl had just stared at him, her eyes brimming with tears, threatening to spill over.

‘Tell her,’ Amy had said, ‘that if she doesn’t stand still and do what she’s told, she won’t get to see her mother. Ever.’

Tyrell had stared at the gun in his hand, felt its cold heaviness, then looked at the girl and back to Amy. He had shaken his head. ‘No. I won’t.’

‘Really?’ Amy had smiled then. It wasn’t pleasant. ‘One of us has to do it. You want me to? Shall I? Do you trust me?’ He didn’t have to answer her. She knew what he was thinking. She smiled, seeing he had no choice. ‘Thought so.’

He had looked between Amy and Josephina and reluctantly held on to the gun. ‘I hate guns,’ he said to Amy. ‘And I really, really hate you.’

She shrugged. ‘Not the first time you’ve told me that. Just do as you’re told. And make sure she does what she’s told. And don’t get clever. Don’t even think about using it on me.’

He hadn’t. Not until she had said it. And by then it was too late.

‘Just do it. We get this done, go back to the house, get sorted and it’s all over.’

Tyrell’s hand was shaking. He really did hate guns. The sound they made, the look of them, the heft of them. They were cold, hard. Dead to the touch.

And now he was standing there, holding the automatic on a child. A child he had made promises to, who trusted him. Now she couldn’t look at him. She was shaking too. The threatened tears had never happened only because she was too frightened to cry.

‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘I’m not … not going to hurt you. You know that … ’

He didn’t know if he was speaking to the child or to himself.

‘I know … you won’t believe me, but please … I want you to go back to your mother. I want you to go home.’ He sighed. ‘I want to go home too.’

All around were too many people making too much noise. Screaming and braying. Worse even than the worst nights in prison. At least then he was on his own, just listening to the noise. Here he was right among it. In the thick of it. He didn’t know what to do, couldn’t think.

So he just stood there, holding the gun. Hating himself. Josephina wouldn’t even look at him. That really hurt. Knowing he had let her down, betrayed her trust. And he had done it by being weak. Making the wrong decisions, the wrong choices.

And that made him angry with himself.

He looked again at the gun. At the child. At Amy next to him, talking on the phone.

At the gun. Again.

Yes. He was hurt. Yes. He was angry.

It was time to do something about it.

80

‘You bitch … ’ Marina started to move through the crowd.

‘I’ve told you already. Stay where you are.’

Marina knew this wasn’t the time to antagonise the woman, so she did as she was told and stopped moving. She kept the phone clamped to her ear.

‘That’s better,’ said the woman. ‘I just wanted you to see that she’s still alive, that she’s unhurt. That I haven’t been lying to you.’

‘I need to see her,’ said Marina.