Betrayed (27 page)

‘Okay. I’m writing it.’ He wrote down the address as Wendy reeled it off.

‘Take a taxi in case you get lost.’

‘I’ll be there in five minutes.’ He swallowed to stop the tears again. ‘Wendy. Don’t go away. Please. Promise me you’ll stay there till I get there. Please.’

‘I’m here, Jimmy. I’m waiting for you.’

The line went dead.

Jimmy took some coins out of his pocket and scattered them on the glass table top. He handed the waiter back the pen and raced outside as if his clothes were on fire, then sprinted to the end of the precinct and spotted a taxi rank. He jumped in and sat in the back, sweat pouring out of him, as he showed the taxi driver the napkin.

Rosie and Adrian sat inside the bar in the side street next to the entrance to the apartment where Wendy and Liz were upstairs on the second floor. They had a table at the window so they could spot anyone going in or out of the building. Adrian had just come to meet her in the cafe, having been with the women in the apartment as they settled in, while Rosie had her showdown with Donna.

‘So we wait here until Wendy or Liz calls you and asks for you to come up?’ Adrian said, his eyes on the street.

‘That’s about it. Fingers crossed.’ Rosie cut up a tuna sandwich and wolfed down half of it. She was ravenous after her meeting with Donna. It was always the same after she’d done a highly charged interview where she was firing on all cylinders. Sometimes, she’d come out of an interview and be so hyped up with nerves that her hands would be trembling. Her GP told her it was a blood sugar drop from using too much energy too fast and always to be ready with a bite to eat. It had become one of her little obsessions, and her handbags were a stash of peanuts and anything she could
nibble on when the drop happened. She was conscious of Adrian watching her.

‘You not hungry, Adrian? I’m starved.’

Adrian almost smiled.

‘No. I don’t get so hungry like you,’ he said. ‘I remember you in Bosnia. Hungry like a puppy all the time.’

‘I know,’ Rosie smiled, drinking a mouthful of tea. ‘Always the same.’

‘So you think this boy … this Jimmy boy will see you?’

Rosie puffed. ‘Who knows? We have to wait and see.’

‘It could be dangerous too, though, as Javier said. If the guy goes crazy.’

‘I know.’

After Rosie had spoken to Donna, she and Javier discussed what to do next. They’d agreed that he should go and see Garcia the cop and fill him in. Javier’s view was that they’d got lucky Donna had buckled as soon as Rosie had spoken to her, but he bet Jimmy wouldn’t be so willing. Rosie told him to let Garcia know what she was up to now, in case they needed his help. Her mobile rang.

‘Gilmour. What’s happening?’ It was McGuire.

‘Oh, hi, Mick. I was going to give you a buzz later.’

Rosie looked at her watch. She’d meant to call him after her meeting with Donna but things were moving fast, after she’d got a call from Liz saying Wendy had spoken to Jimmy and he was on his way to them. She’d toyed with the idea
of running her intention to approach Donna past McGuire, but decided against it. She knew he’d say no.

‘Well, it’s already later. Anything new I should get excited or worried about? You know I get stomach pains when I don’t hear from you.’

Rosie hesitated. ‘Er … couple of things, Mick. I’ll have a talk with you in a few hours when I get the chance.’

‘Tell me now, Gilmour. Christ almighty! Tell me something. I
am
the fucking editor.’

His indignation made Rosie smile.

‘I know, I know.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Okay. To fill you in. Some good stuff: I got a call from my cop pal to say they found a bank card belonging to one of those drug dealers from the quarry. You’ll never guess where the bank card was?’

‘Yeah, you’re right, I’ll never guess where. Just tell me the story and don’t piss around.’

‘In the wallet of the kidnapped baker.’

‘Fucking joking!’

‘Nope. In his wallet.’

‘Is he involved? Is he a drug dealer? The baker?’

‘No. Nothing to suggest that. Cops think it may have been planted there, but they just don’t know. The baker’s saying bugger all. They want to speak to McGregor’s wife Donna.’ She paused. ‘So I thought I’d get a word with her first.’

‘Hang on, Gilmour. That could blow everything out of the
water. You don’t know how she’ll react. We need to think this through.’

Silence.

‘You there, Rosie?’

‘Yeah. Er … It’s too late.’

‘Too late for what?’

‘For Donna. I’ve already—’

‘Oh fuck me, Gilmour! You mean you just waded in without even running it past me? How many times do I have to—’

‘Wait, Mick,’ Rosie interrupted. ‘Listen. Wait till you hear. I talked to Donna and she opened right up.’

‘You serious?’

‘You bet I am. It was a bit hairy in the beginning, but I threw the kitchen sink at her and she buckled. The poor woman’s in a right state. She told me everything – even that it was her who gave the card to Andy … She—’

‘How do you mean? How’d she get the card?’ he interrupted.

‘If you let me talk I’ll tell you. Jesus, man! She told me that the card was in the pocket of the trousers McGregor was wearing when he came home one night along with Mitch and Jimmy Dunlop. She said they’d been on a job together and she was to burn their clothes …’

‘Holy fuck!’

‘Exactly! She says she didn’t know they’d killed anyone, but it was normal that when McGregor was out on a job she’d get rid of his clothes. She just did what she was told.
She took everything out the pockets and when she found the card she shoved it in a drawer, not even thinking about it. Then one night she’s watching the news and the guys are fished out of the quarry. The name rang a bell and she twigged. So she knew she had something on him at last.’

‘She’s not as daft as she might seem then. Scheming like that.’

‘Scheming? I’d call it survival. The woman’s been getting the shit kicked out of her for years by McGregor and she finally met a guy who made her feel what it was like to be loved.’

‘Christ, Gilmour. I can hear a violin. I’m filling up. She told you all this?’

‘Yep. And I’ve got it all on tape.’

‘You’re a crafty bastard. But I do love you.’

Rosie was glad to hear him chuckling.

‘She’s onside now, Mick. She’ll do whatever it takes to bring McGregor down.’

‘Fucking brilliant! Well done! But my instinct tells me things are going to get tricky from here in. What are your plans?’

‘I’m not entirely sure. I’m waiting to see if something develops.’

‘That’s a bastard lie and you know it.’

‘No it’s not.’ Rosie stifled a smile. ‘I’ll know in a little while what my next move is. But you’re right. It might get a bit tricky.’

There was a pause and Rosie waited anxiously, hoping McGuire didn’t just call it off from there and summon her home. They already had plenty of material – a policeman fraternising with the UVF at meetings and singing on video, and now McGregor’s wife about to help nail him and his cohorts for a double murder.

‘Right. Tell you what—’

‘I know what you’re thinking, but I have to see this through.’

‘Christ! Stop telling me what I’m thinking. But yes, I was considering bringing you back. We have loads of stuff. We could address the drugs run another time.’

‘No, Mick. Come on. We address it now. We’re more than halfway there, we can’t give up.’

Silence.

‘Come on, Mick.’ Rosie looked at Adrian who stared blankly out at the street.

‘Right. Have you got the cops over there in this with you?’

‘Yes. Javier’s got them with us. And Adrian’s with me now. It’ll be all right.’

‘Okay. But seriously, Gilmour, I don’t want any fucking around or any caped crusader stuff from anyone. Not you or Matt. Not the big Bosnian, and not that Juan guy who got shot the last time in Spain. I want you backing off and getting the fuck out if anything looks like it’s going tits up.’

‘I will. And his name’s Javier.’

‘Aye, fine. And if that means leaving Wendy, Liz and
Donna to pick up the pieces then so be it. I can’t protect everyone. But I want you out of there as soon as possible.’

‘I know, I know. I hear you.’

‘Okay. Well, good luck. And call me tonight. I’ll be waiting.’

‘Sure, Mick. Will do.’

The line went dead.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

In the heavy city traffic, Jimmy was getting increasingly anxious in the back seat of the taxi, wishing he’d gone on foot. They only seemed to have crossed the city’s one-way system and ended up at the top of the old town, which he could probably have walked to in ten minutes. The taxi driver eyeing him in his rear-view mirror seemed to sense his anxiety and mumbled something in Spanish that Jimmy didn’t understand. But from his hand gestures, he gathered he was moaning about the traffic. Eventually, after cutting up a maze of side streets, they came to a halt.

‘
Aqui
,’ the driver said, half turning around.

‘What?’ Jimmy said.

‘
Aqui
,’ the driver said again, pointing to a door at the entrance to a building in between two shops.

Jimmy got out and paid him. He glanced around at the busy street, mostly cafes and small souvenir shops packed side by side. Then he noticed the number over the doorway
and checked the napkin for the address. He went towards the intercom box, pressed the buzzer marked two and held his breath.

‘Hello?’

It was Wendy.

‘It’s me.’ His mouth was dry.

‘Jimmy! I’ll come down.’

The security door clicked open and he stepped into the gloomy hallway. He walked tentatively towards the winding staircase as he heard the sound of a door opening somewhere above. Then he saw her. He held his breath as the slim figure in shorts and a vest picked her way carefully down the stairs and stopped on the landing a few steps before the bottom. For a couple of beats he stood there frozen. In his dreams she had come to him like this, out of some darkness, her arms outstretched, and he’d always woken up reaching for her, only to grasp at nothing. He blinked to reassure himself that she was real. Then he rushed towards her up the steps.

‘Wendy!’

She fell almost limp into his arms, and he wrapped her tight, feeling the softness of her body against him for a moment he thought he’d never see. He pulled back and looked at her, his fingers gently tracing her face as though even now he was still trying to convince himself that she was alive.

‘Oh, Wendy!’ He buried his head in her thick black hair
as they both held each other. He could feel her body shudder as she wept.

Eventually, Jimmy pulled back and kissed her on the lips, long and lovingly and as he did every fibre of his body was alive with the scent of her and the touch of her tongue on his. They stopped and looked at each other, Jimmy wiped her tears with his thumbs then sniffed back his own and they hugged again.

‘I love you, Wendy,’ Jimmy managed to say. ‘I’m never going to let you go again. Never. I promise you.’

He thought a slight reticence flashed across her eyes, as if she was afraid.

‘I’ve got so much to talk to you about, Jimmy. So much.’ She ran her hand over his hair.

‘What you doing here? How did you end up in Spain, right here in Seville?’ Jimmy said.

He wanted to ask her why she didn’t make one single phone call, just to let him know she was alive. He had so many questions.

‘I’ll tell you everything,’ Wendy said. ‘Listen. First of all, Liz is here.’

‘Liz?’

‘Yes. I phoned her a couple of weeks ago and she came over.’

‘Jesus! Liz, Wendy? You could have called me. I’d have come over.’ Jimmy suddenly felt as though he’d been winded.

She eased herself out of his arms.

‘Listen, I didn’t call you because it wouldn’t have been the thing to do.’ She dropped her eyes. ‘After what big Eddie did to me. I … I just didn’t know what I was doing. To be honest I was in a pretty bad way when I got here and was really desperate.’

‘Wendy,’ Jimmy interrupted, touching her hair. ‘You could have called me. I’d have come.’

‘Jimmy. Please try to understand. You can’t just do things like that, not these days. Not now that you’re so tied up with Eddie and them all.’

Jimmy blew out a sigh and ran a hand over his face. He felt frustrated, left out, angry and elated all at the same time. But he knew she was right.

He shook his head. ‘I’d have found a way to come, Wendy. I promise.’ As he said it, he didn’t even know if he believed it himself.

‘Please try to understand me. I wanted you more than anything, but it wasn’t the right thing to do. Trust me. Just believe that.’

For a moment they stood in silence, then Jimmy spoke.

‘We all wondered about Liz going so suddenly. She said she was going to Spain. We just thought with her living here before and stuff, that she’d had enough of Glasgow. Christ! She kept it quiet all right. Is she here now? In the flat?’

‘Yeah.’ Wendy took his arm. ‘Come on. Let’s go up.’ When they got to the top of the stairs they stopped and kissed
again and Jimmy was slightly ashamed at the feeling of arousal as she pushed herself against his groin, his hands automatically drifting down, caressing her naked thighs.

‘Oh Christ, Wendy, I missed you so much. I want you so much.’

They broke apart breathless, and Wendy smiled.

‘Me too. Come on. Let’s go inside.’

In the cafe next door, Rosie felt a little tweak of adrenalin as she and Adrian watched Jimmy get out of the taxi and go towards the door.

‘He looks a bit agitated,’ Rosie said. ‘Understandable, I suppose. He probably thought Wendy was dead. Plus, he can’t afford to let McGregor know that he’s up here seeing her.’

Adrian nodded and said nothing.

Rosie’s mobile rang. It was Javier.

‘Where are you, Rosie?’

‘In the cafe opposite the apartment the girls are in. With Adrian. We just saw Jimmy go inside.’

‘Okay. I’m coming up there with Juan and we wait together. By the way, I told Juan about Donna. He wants to talk to her.’

‘Hmmm. She might freak about that, but she did say she’d do whatever we want.’ Rosie realised that they didn’t have a lot of time, so she would have to convince Donna to talk to the police.