‘I’m in my room revising,’ Holly told her. ‘Why?’
‘I need you to come over,’ Suzie said. ‘And try not to be long.’
‘OK, but I’ll need to get dressed ’cos I’ve got my pyjamas on.’
‘Hurry up, then,’ Suzie said before hanging up.
Thinking that she probably wanted to do more work on the website, Holly closed the history book she’d half-heartedly been studying and pushed the quilt off her legs.
19
Glancing at her watch as she hurried through the estate, Josie picked up speed when she saw that her bus was due in five minutes. When she reached the alleyway that led to the main road, she hesitated and pulled the zip of her coat all the way up to her throat. Spring had been an absolute washout so far, and the sky was darker than usual for the time of year. That, and the branches of the trees hanging over the fences on either side of the narrow path, made the alley look like a long black tunnel, and she contemplated walking round the block instead. But the buses to her workplace only came once an hour, and her boss would go on the warpath if she was late. So, biting the bullet, she clutched her handbag tightly to her side and set off down the alley.
Halfway along she hit what felt like a brick wall and fell sideways into the fence, clipping her ankle on a brick as she went down. Tears sprang into her eyes and she cursed under her breath as she rubbed her ankle before trying to stand up. Freezing when she heard a shuffling noise, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when she looked up and saw a man dressed all in black and wearing a balaclava looming over her.
‘Keep it shut or I’ll kill you!’ the man hissed, clamping a leather-gloved hand over her mouth as he hauled her roughly to her feet.
Josie’s eyes bulged when he wrapped a muscular arm around her, and she felt the toes of her boots scrape along the path as he half carried, half dragged her towards a broken section of fence a few feet ahead. Guessing that this wasn’t a mugging, because he’d have grabbed her bag and legged it if that was his intention, she tried to dig her heels into the soft earth between the concrete of the alleyway and the overgrown grass and weeds on the other side of the fence. A brain-rattling punch to the side of her head knocked the fight out of her, and she was powerless to resist when her attacker hauled her through the gap and tossed her roughly down into the undergrowth.
Still reeling, Josie blinked to clear her vision, hoping to get a look at the man’s face, but all she could see was the glint of his eyes through the cut-out in the balaclava. And then he brought his fist down again, and she knew she was about to die when stars exploded in her head.
20
Suzie was dressed up to the nines when she opened the door. Surprised, Holly said, ‘Oh . . . are you going out?’
‘I’m not, we are,’ Suzie said, pulling her inside.
‘What d’you mean?’ Holly gave her a questioning look.
‘We’re going to a club,’ Suzie explained, taking the jacket off Holly’s shoulders and hanging it up. ‘And I’ve already booked the cab, so we need to get a move on.’
‘I’m not old enough to go to a club,’ Holly said as Suzie propelled her up the stairs and into the front bedroom.
‘You’ll look old enough by the time I’ve finished with you,’ Suzie replied breezily, pushing her down on the dressing-table stool. ‘Now shush and let me get on with it.’
Squirming when Suzie slapped foundation onto her cheeks, Holly said, ‘But what if my mum comes—’
‘She won’t,’ Suzie cut her off. ‘And it’s time we had a bit of fun, so stop worrying and get your party head on. I’ve arranged to meet someone.’
‘Oh?’ Holly gazed up at her.
‘His name’s Sam, and I used to work at his club between modelling gigs,’ Suzie told her. ‘His wife got cancer, so he sold up and took her home to Ireland where she could be near her family. She’s dead now and he’s back in town, and he rang me this afternoon to ask if I fancied meeting up.’
‘Why do you want me to come if you’re going on a date?’ Holly asked.
‘It’s not a date,’ Suzie said, brushing blusher onto her cheeks before reaching for a tube of lip gloss. ‘But he might think it is, so that’s why I need you there: to make sure he knows it’s just business.’
‘Business?’
‘Yeah, he’s loaded, and I’m going to ask if he’ll invest in the agency,’ Suzie said, slicking the gloss onto Holly’s lips before taking a brush to her hair. ‘Truth is, I’m running a bit low on funds, so I was thinking about trying to get a bank loan. But it’ll be a lot easier if I can get Sam to come on board.’
‘Do you think he will?’
‘No idea. But he’s generous, so we’ll get a good night out of it if nothing else.’
The wail of sirens suddenly drifted in through the partially open window. As they grew louder, someone yelled, ‘Over here!’ and, seconds later, blue flashing lights strobed through the blinds.
‘I hope that’s not another shooting,’ Suzie said, moving over to the window and pushing it open. ‘Looks like something’s happened in the alley,’ she said when she saw a crowd gathering at the far end of the road. ‘Bet it’s got something to do with those little shits who tried to mug me on my way home from hospital.’
‘My mum goes that way to catch her bus,’ Holly said, getting up and joining her at the window as another police car whizzed past, followed by an ambulance.
‘It won’t be her,’ Suzie said. ‘She went out ages ago.’
Holly glanced
