A Cold Killing (Rosie Gilmour) (24 page)

‘Don’t say a fucking word or your brains will be all over the window.’

An arm went around her neck and she was dragged backwards towards the door, struggling to keep her feet. As the other silverback kicked open the door, Rosie saw the colour drain from the faces of the supintendent and the captain. He pulled her in, his arm locked around her neck. The gun was now pressed so hard against her temple she could feel it grazing her skin.

‘Okay. Here’s the drill.’ He was breathing hard. ‘You cunts are going to give me your guns and take the cuffs off the boys.’ He pointed to Ruby. ‘Then we’re going to walk out of here, with this bird and her mental sister.’ He jerked his head towards Dunn, a pool of blood spreading across his shirt. ‘We’ll just leave that fucker on the floor. He’s an arsehole anyway.’ He motioned to Tony and the other silverback who were lying on their stomachs on the floor. ‘Handcuffs off! Now!’

Nobody moved. His eyes darted around the room.

‘Listen. This is only going to go one way. We’re leaving here – whether you’re all fucking dead or alive. But we’re leaving. I’ll shoot every one of you and then we’ll walk out. Now get the fucking cuffs off.’

The superintendent glanced at Rosie, his eyes blazing.

‘You won’t get away with this. That much I can promise you.’

‘Fucking move, ya posh cunt, or I’ll shoot you.’

The superintendent blinked towards the captain, whose face was ashen. He crossed the room to Tony and knelt on the ground, fiddling with the keys in his hand.

Rosie could hardly breathe as the gunman pulled his arm tighter and shoved the gun against her head. She looked down at Ruby, who was sitting with her arms wrapped around Judy, and at the superintendent, whose face was blank. It was then that she heard the click.

‘Drop the gun or I shoot you.’

It was Adrian.

‘You shoot me and the bird gets it.’

‘Drop the gun. Now. Or you die.’

Silence. Rosie’s heart was beating so fast she could hear it in her ears. Then, suddenly, the grip eased around her neck and she heard the clatter of a gun dropping to the floor as he released her. She opened her mouth to speak as she looked at Adrian and was about to rush towards him when he shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

The superintendent glanced at her, confused.

‘You two know each other?’

‘He’s nobody,’ Rosie said. ‘Like you. He wasn’t here.’ She took a deep breath and puffed out, rubbing her neck, her fingers touching blood on the side of her head from the gun. ‘Okay. Now I’ll phone the cops.’ She moved across to Adrian and squeezed his arm, then leaned in and whispered, ‘You saved my life. Again.’

His expression didn’t change. He put the gun in his waistband and didn’t even exchange a glance with the superintendent or the captain.

Rosie whispered, ‘I need you to take Ruby and Judy out of here. Now. Can you do that? Is Matt nearby?’

Adrian nodded.

Rosie went across to Ruby, and she stood up. They hugged for a long time, then Ruby pulled Judy to her feet and Rosie hugged her, too, feeling the frailness of her body and her arms around her.

‘Welcome back, Judy,’ she said.

‘What the Christ’s going on down there, Gilmour? I’ve phoned you five times already.’

In the pub toilet Rosie pressed a paper towel soaked in cold water to her swollen lip, holding her mobile a couple of inches away from her ear. McGuire was ranting. She winced in the mirror at the angry bruise beginning to show around her eye and on her cheekbone. When she’d left the warehouse she’d nipped into a bar in Kinning Park that she knew was so rough that nobody would flinch if a woman walked in with a sore face.

‘I know, Mick. But I couldn’t take the call.’ She dabbed at her mouth.

‘Why?’

Rosie said nothing, not quite knowing where to begin.

‘What the fuck happened?’ McGuire barked.

‘I . . . er . . . My phone . . . I’ve got a few missed calls, actually. But Ruby and Judy are out safe. Everything went with the plan . . . Well. Give or take a couple of unexpected events.’

‘Gilmour, I can smell the bullshit through the phone. Don’t fuck about. You were in there, weren’t you?’

‘Umm . . . Well . . . Wait and I’ll tell you what happened.’

‘You went in there, despite my express instruction not to. Tell me you were in there.’

Rosie splashed water on her face and spat out blood into the sink, running the cold tap and watching almost absent-mindedly as it swirled and washed down the plughole.

‘Yes.’

‘Fucking hell! What part of a straightforward order is it that you can’t seem to comprefuckinghend? I told you not to go. To leave it to the professionals. I take it they showed up?’

‘Of course. Just in the nick of time. Look . . . I hear what you’re saying. I’ll explain everything.’

‘I want you in here, now.’

‘Well . . .’

‘Now, Gilmour!’

‘Listen, Mick. There’s a situation that’s developed. Let me explain. Just give me a minute. You know the prostitute who got kicked to death by that bastard Dunn?’

‘Yeah. What about her?’

‘I have a chance to talk to the witness – the other girl. I get the feeling she’s not going to last much longer, because Tony Devlin already said to Dunn that she’s been dealt with. And you know what that means. I was there and I heard him say it. But she’s the only witness to the murder – well, apart from Ruby. If all else fails here in the broader investigation we’re doing, then this girl can put these bastards in jail.’

There was a long silence and Rosie checked that none of her teeth was slack from Dunn’s heavy blows.

‘Where is she?’

‘She lives in the city centre. I know where she goes, and Adrian has already spoken to her, but not about this. We’re sure it’s her, so I think I should go and talk to her . . . sound her out. If I can get her to talk, she’s a crucial witness.’

Eventually, McGuire answered.

‘Right. Okay. Do that. So what happened inside the warehouse?’

‘There was a big problem.’

‘What problem?’

‘Tam Dunn turned up.’

‘Oh fuck! He turned up and you were in there?’

‘Yeah. I don’t know who was more shocked.’ Rosie laughed nervously. ‘No. Correction.
I
was definitely more shocked. A phrase like shitting your pants would be appropriate.’

‘Jesus! So what happened?’

‘Well. To put it mildly, Mick, it went a bit downhill from then. But hey, I’m here talking to you, so I got away with it,’ Rosie said it with bravado, but when she held a hand out in front of her it was still trembling.

‘Christ, Rosie! This has to stop. Okay. Go and see the girl, then phone me. Have you talked to the police yet?’

‘Yeah. I phoned my contact. They’ve got all the documents Ruby had prepared. All the bank accounts, company records. Everything. That stuff could nail them by itself. But if we can deliver the witness to the murder, then they won’t see fresh air for a very long time. And we get a belter of an exclusive.’

‘Great. That’s all very well, but I’m not happy with you.’ He paused. ‘Listen. I’m almost reluctant to ask, but is there a body count in that warehouse?’

‘Not quite. But Dunn got shot.’

‘Shot?’

‘Look, I’ll explain everything when I see you. I need to go, Mick.’

She hung up, and as she did Adrian’s name came up on the screen as her phone rang.

‘The girl is here,’ he said. ‘I’m in the café. She just came in and smiled at me, so I’m going to have a coffee with her.’

‘I’ll be there in five minutes.’

Rosie gingerly patted a little moisturizer around her eyes and cheeks. Pale-blue eyes, a little bloodshot, looked back from the mirror.

‘So, what now, Rosie?’ she murmured, letting out a long, relieved breath and shaking her head. She’d be glad when this day was over.

*

The café was one of these trendy city-centre places with a few sofas. It was nearly seven in the evening by the time Rosie got there, so there weren’t many other customers dotted around the place. Adrian’s back was to Rosie as she walked in, and the blonde girl next to him glanced up at her but didn’t pay much attention She walked up to the bar so Adrian could see her and then approached the table.

‘Olenca’ – Adrian gestured towards Rosie – ‘this is a friend of mine. Do you mind if she joins us?’

The girl seemed a little bewildered, her blue eyes darting from one to the other.

‘Sure.’

She shrugged and shifted on the sofa, her long, slender legs stuffed into leather knee-length boots. Adrian handed his packet of cigarettes round and they all lit up as the coffees arrived.

Rosie inhaled deeply, enjoying the nicotine kick, and nodded to Adrian to begin.

‘Olenca.’ Adrian’s rich Slavic tones were soft and consoling. ‘I want to explain something to you. My friend here is a journalist. A reporter. From the newspaper. You know the
Post
?’

Olenca nodded but looked a little uneasy.

‘I see it sometimes. It helps with my reading in English.’

‘She wants to talk to you about your friend Lucja.’

Olenca’s expression froze.

‘Lucja is not here.’ She shifted on the sofa, away from Rosie, her body suddenly rigid, her eyes fixed on the floor.

‘I know you’re afraid,’ Rosie said. ‘Olenca, please, look at me. I want to tell you something. I know what happened to your friend.’

Olenca looked up, her face reddening, her mouth tight as she flicked a glance from Rosie to Adrian.

‘My friend is gone away. Back to Poland. What is this? What is going on here? I not understand.’

‘Please, Olenca.’ Rosie spoke gently. ‘I know that you saw what happened to Lucja. In the restaurant that night. That she was murdered. I know someone who was also there. Another girl, who I know you saw. You remember her?’

Olenca shook her head slowly.

‘I . . . I don’t want this . . . Please. I don’t know what you say.’

‘Olenca. You are in danger because of what you saw. I know that Tony said you’d be looked after, but that’s not true. Please believe me. Your life is in danger.’

Olenca looked at Adrian. Betrayal was written in her eyes, which were now filling with tears.

‘Why you do this? Why you do this to me? Who are you? I am frighten now.’ She shook her head.

‘I know you are afraid, Olenca,’ Adrian said, ‘But my friend here, she speaks the truth. You are in danger. Because the night in that place you saw what the man did to your friend. You saw him kill her.’

Olenca bit her lip and her face crumpled.

‘Please. I must go. I’m frighten.’

She moved her feet as if to rise and Adrian reached over and held her arm gently, whispering, ‘Olenca, please. Sit down. Rosie can help you. You must hear what she has to say. You are not safe here. Trust me. I know you are afraid and you are far from home. I am the same one time some years ago in this city. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Believe me. I promise. You must hear what Rosie has to say.’

Olenca looked from one to the other again, her eyes a mixture of fear, hurt and desperation. They sat in silence for a long moment then she sniffed and nodded, swallowing hard. Rosie moved a little closer to her.

‘Olenca, I am a journalist with the
Post
, as Adrian has explained. The two of us have been friends for years. Close friends. He knows you can trust me.’ She paused as the girl nervously wrung her hands. ‘I’m working on an investigation. The men you know and sometimes deal with here in the city . . . Tony Devlin . . . They are bad people. Drug dealers. Gangsters. Murderers.’

‘I know.’ Olenca voice was almost inaudible. ‘I know what they are.’ She lifted her coffee cup with trembling hands.

‘I’m investigating them, and the other people who are involved with them. One of the men is Tam Dunn. He is the guy who beat your friend to death that night. The other lady, the one who was there, is also now working with me. She’s told me what happened – that you were taken away by Tony’s men that night. They gave you money.’

Olenca immediately dissolved in tears, her face in her hands.

‘You think I take money and forget my friend is murdered? No. I never do that,’ she sobbed, wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hand.

‘No, no, I’m not saying that. Not at all. I’m saying that they gave you money and told you they would look after you. But, the truth is, Olenca, they are planning to kill you. I don’t know what happened that night after you were taken away with one of Tony’s bodyguards, but they were supposed to get rid of you.’

She nodded vigorously.

‘I know.’

‘So what happened?’

Olenca sniffed and swallowed.

‘David – the bouncer – he took me in his car. I ask him please to let me go, that I would never in my life tell what I saw. He took me to the river and he was going to throw me in. I beg him again, and say please I will do anything for him to save me, to not kill me. I tell him, please just let me go and I will never tell anyone.’

Rosie looked at Adrian.

‘And he just let you go like that?’

Silence.

‘I . . . I gave him sex that night.’ She looked at the table, embarrassed, shaking her head. ‘I gave him sex to save my life and my friend is lying dead. What kind of woman does that? You think I don’t know what that makes me?’ She broke down again.

‘Olenca, nobody is blaming you for anything.’ Rosie squeezed her arm. ‘You were frightened and in shock because of what you saw happen to Lujca. You did what anyone would do to survive. Please don’t think anyone is going to blame or judge you. But you cannot live like this, frightened all the time. Have you see this man again? This David?’

‘Yes. Sometimes. He calls me and comes to my flat for sex. He doesn’t pay. Not like the escort agency.’ She glanced at Rosie. ‘You know Lujca and me work at the agency, and sometimes the sauna?’

‘Yes. I knew that.’

‘Dave comes to me for sex. He says it is our secret and that he can choose any day whether I live or die. He says I have no choice.’ She burst into tears again. ‘I just want go home to my family. This is not good country for me any more. Every day I’m scared. Dave said to me that he can get good money for me, if he sells me. And he told me I may be going to London because some friend of his offers him good money for me. But I not want to be sold like slave – that happen to many other women from my country. I had normal job. Now this. I am frightened every morning I wake up it is my last day.’ She bent forward, hugging her knees, her head dropping to her chest.

They sat listening to her sobbing for a few moments.

‘You have to go to the police, Olenca. They will protect you,’ Rosie said.

‘No. Police not protect women like me. I am prostitute.’

‘Yes. They will protect you. They’ll get you back home. But your witness account of what happened that night will get these men a very long time in jail, and they won’t hurt or damage any more girls like you. But you must go to the police now, because you don’t have much time if what you are telling us about this David character is the truth.’

‘It is the truth. I not lie.’

‘Then you don’t have much time.’ Rosie lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘I can tell you now that Tony is in custody already with the police. So is Tam Dunn.’

Lucja looked up, surprised. She stopped crying.

‘You are telling me the truth?’

‘Yes. Absolutely. I can bring someone in here in the next five minutes who can prove that.’

‘How you know this?

‘Because I was there when it happened. They did something bad to the other girl who was there that night. They kidnapped her sister, who is ill, and they tried to kill us all. Me, too.’ Rosie pointed to her bruised face. ‘Where do you think I got this? It only happened an hour ago, and that’s why we had to get to you quickly. Because now that they have been arrested, anything could happen.’

Olenca lifted the cup but her hands trembled so much she put it back down again. She turned to Adrian.

‘I am so frightened. I am only twenty-two. I want to have a job, a husband, a family. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to go into court where everyone can see me. I want to go home.’

‘It might not come to court, Olenca,’ Rosie said. ‘From what I hear happened that night at the restaurant, there will be so much blood and forensic evidence there that Dunn may even plead guilty once his back is to the wall. But that is for later. Right now, you have to make a decision. I’m pleading with you to trust me. Because I want these people in jail as much as you do. People like them destroy the lives of innocent people like your friend and you, people who only wanted a better life. It’s not fair what they do. It’s too late for Lujca, but you can help yourself, and you can help others like you, by going to the police. Trust me. You have to.’

Rosie could feel the catch in her throat, looking at this young girl, her life ruined no matter what happened now. Even if she could get back home, she’d be forever haunted by what she saw in the room that night, and the guilt that she had survived while her friend was battered to death. They sat for a long time in tense silence. Then, eventually, Olenca looked up at Rosie, her eyes full of tears.

‘Okay. I will tell what I saw.’