She raced up to the bar and shouted over to Moira who was at the optics pouring a drink. ‘Moira, Moira, I need a word.’
‘Oy, wait your bloody turn,’ said a man standing further along the bar, clutching a ten-pound note between grubby fingers.
‘It’s urgent!’ said Sapphire.
‘Just a minute, Kenny,’ said Moira, placing the whisky on the bar and walking over to Sapphire. ‘What is it, love?’
Sapphire leaned over the bar. ‘Have you seen Amber? I need to find her urgently.’
Moira looked alarmed but she didn’t ask questions. ‘She was in earlier, but she left about an hour ago, maybe more. Why, what’s wrong?’
‘Sorry, I can’t tell you,’ said Sapphire, ‘but thanks.’ She patted the bar in acknowledgement then fled out of the pub door.
Once she got outside, Sapphire deliberated. She wanted to get to work and wondered whether she should wait till she saw Amber in the Rose and Crown again and then tell her about Kev. But what if something should happen to her in the meantime? She would never forgive herself.
She decided to see if she could find Amber on the beat. Her friend worked a different street than her, but Sapphire knew the red-light district well. She therefore reasoned that if she searched around the place, she would hopefully come across her.
Within five minutes Sapphire had arrived at the back of Piccadilly and she raced up the main thoroughfare, panting. She spotted someone straightaway, instantly recognisable as a working girl due to her scanty dress and look of desperation.
‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Do you know a girl called Amber who works around here?’
The girl shook her head. ‘Nah, never heard of her. But you could try further up the road.’
‘Cheers,’ said Sapphire who carried on until she spotted another of the working girls and asked her the same question.
The second girl had never heard of Amber either and it wasn’t until she reached the third girl that Sapphire realised it would be best to give a description of Amber too in case they didn’t know her by name.
‘Short, only slim and with blonde hair,’ she said to the third girl she encountered.
‘Yeah, I think there’s a girl like that whose patch is further up there. See that tunnel over there…’ She pointed to a railway tunnel in the distance then added, ‘She stands there most nights.’
‘Thanks,’ said Sapphire, pausing to regain her breath before carrying on towards the tunnel.
She was a few metres away when she spotted Amber. ‘Thank God for that!’ she muttered out loud, relaxing her stride now she was within sight of her.
Unfortunately, before she had chance to catch up with her a car appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere and pulled up on the road next to the tunnel. Amber walked over to the passenger window, still unaware of Sapphire’s presence.
‘Shit!’ Sapphire cursed then she shouted, ‘Amber! Amber, hang on.’
But Amber either didn’t hear her or she was too intent on bagging a customer. Sapphire watched in disappointment as the car set off with Amber inside it. The vehicle passed her, and she waved frantically at Amber who was sitting in the passenger seat. Amber turned her head as she went by and Sapphire hoped for a moment that she would get the driver to stop. But she didn’t.
‘Shit!’ said Sapphire again.
She carried on walking slowly and it was only a few seconds later when she arrived, panting, at the spot where Amber had been standing before she got inside the car. For a moment Sapphire wondered what to do next but then decided to wait till Amber came back. She lit a cigarette, taking anxious puffs while she waited for her friend to return. With a bit of luck, it shouldn’t take too long.
After a few minutes of waiting she saw another car approach, but she hung back away from the pavement as she wasn’t looking for business at the moment. She hoped the driver might stop next to one of the other girls instead but, to her dismay, he pulled over near to her. She ducked back into the tunnel, hoping he would take the hint and go away.
It was then that she noticed who the driver was. Although she was obscured by the shadow of the tunnel, he was lit up by the streetlight next to the car and she recognised him from that one encounter. It was Kev Pike. Sapphire could feel her heart thundering as he peered around him and she shrunk further back, pressing tightly against the tunnel walls and hoping he wouldn’t see her.
To her relief, after a few seconds he started the car and drove off. She presumed he must have been looking for Amber, and she wanted to find her before he did. She took another drag of her cigarette, checked the time on her phone and waited. But, unfortunately, after a further twenty minutes, Amber still didn’t show. So, she reluctantly decided that she would have to leave it till another night.
46
July 2001
Amy was feeling miserable and sore. It was Sunday morning and she’d just got up after the man she’d spent the night with had left. The experience had been horrid, even more so than usual.
The man was old and repulsive to look at. As soon as he entered her room Amy could smell a mix of body odour, beer fumes and stale cigarettes. He had been rough with her and, once he’d had his way, he’d fallen straight asleep, snoring loudly all through the night with his greasy, offensive-smelling body pushed up uncomfortably
