Breaking the Circle (24 page)

Almost immediately, there was a tap on the door. It opened and Ginger came in.

‘Sorry, boss, you asked me to wake you.’ Noticing Maya on the rug, he said, ‘Give him a kick, darling.’

Maya stood up and leaned over Stefan to shake him awake.

Ginger came over. ‘Better get going, boss.’

Stefan reached out and touched Maya’s cheek. ‘Hey, princess. You were spark out last night.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Yeah, well plenty of time,’ he said, sitting up and reaching for his shoes. ‘Today I got business to attend to.’ He tied his shoelaces, stood up and straightened his
clothing. Going over to a small side table, he picked up a handgun, clicked it open and loaded it. Then he went over to a painting on the wall and moved it aside. Maya watched as he took out
several more guns.

‘Here,’ he said to Ginger. ‘Make sure everybody’s tooled up.’

Ginger nodded, taking the guns from Stefan and laying them on the table.

‘Give me ten minutes and I’ll be with you,’ Stefan said and went through to the bathroom.

Maya watched as Ginger picked up the guns, checking and loading them. She sincerely hoped that in little more than an hour he would be safely in police custody.

Scum off the streets, she thought.

But then she panicked. What if Zac or any of the girls got caught in the crossfire? What if Zac, who’d done his best to help her and had come looking for her, should get hurt? No, she
wouldn’t let herself even think about that – she had to believe everything would turn out well.

Getting up, she straightened her dress; the fact that it was completely creased and offered no warmth was not important when measured against the morning’s plan, but even so, she shivered.
It was cold and she had nothing else to wear.

The bathroom door clicked open and Stefan entered, looking fresher and newly-energised.

‘Right, are we ready?’ he asked Ginger.

‘Yeah,’ Ginger said, handing Stefan a gun.

Stefan put the gun in his waistband. ‘You stay here, princess. I’ll be back.’

Reaching for her shoes, Maya made a quick decision. ‘I wish to come with you,’ she said.

‘What you want to come for?’

‘I make sure nobody cheat you. Everybody in my country cheat. I know these people.’

Stefan laughed, then went towards her, pulled her to him and kissed her. ‘You’re a find, baby, you’re a real find.’

Just as they were ready to leave, the bouncer came stamping up the stairs towards them.

‘The kid’s gone!’

Stefan’s face darkened. ‘You idiot! I told you to keep him tied up.’

While Stefan fumed, Maya was ecstatic. Zac was free!

‘Find him or you’re dead,’ Stefan boomed.

The bouncer backed away, looking frightened. ‘He was trussed up tight, honest,’ he stammered. ‘I reckon that girl, Kay, sprung him. Saw her slippin’ the keys back –
wondered what she was up to.’

Ginger spat out a string of curses. ‘I knew she was up to something, her and Gerard. They were in it together . . . and the kid.’

A quiet fury took hold of Stefan. His body stiffened as he stepped up to the bouncer. Maya thought Stefan would lash out, but instead he gave an order, his voice sharp and edgy.

‘Find the kid! Go after him! Now! Bring him to the warehouse.’

The bouncer looked flustered, his mouth opened to say something, then he thought better of it and hurried off.

Stefan turned to Maya. ‘You, go and fetch Kay,’ he ordered. ‘And be quick. Five minutes, no more.’

Maya knew it was essential to do as she was told. She rushed up towards Kay’s room and went in without knocking. ‘Come on, you’ve got to get up.’

Kay’s eyes were dazed, her movements slow. Maya dragged her out of the bed in her underwear and propped her up while she picked up a red dress lying on the floor and slipped it over her
head. Instead of helping her, Kay flopped back against the headboard and started humming. Maya had to lift her up and support her as they walked to the office. It was hard to imagine it was Kay
who’d aided Zac’s escape – she seemed totally out of it. But however Zac had escaped, she hoped with all her heart the gang didn’t recapture him.

As soon as the two men saw Maya entering the office with Kay, they hustled her out again. Ginger walked Kay through the club to the car and Stefan followed behind with Maya. His manner towards
her had changed; the charm was gone and he was brusque and businesslike. Ginger opened the door of the black estate car and pushed Kay inside. Stefan placed Maya beside her with hardly more care
and took no notice of her shivering in her thin silk dress.

Even before they spoke, the tension between Ginger and Stefan was obvious.

‘I don’t like it. It’s too risky,’ Ginger said, as he drove along narrow streets. ‘That boy heard all our plans.’

‘What’s he gonna do? Go tell the cops? I don’t think so.’

‘But what if he’s working for Creek?’ Ginger asked.

Stefan’s reply was sharp and confident. ‘He’s just a kid! I know what they were up to – him and Gerard thought they could get a piece of the action. Stupid little
runts!’ He turned round to look at Kay. ‘Thought you could double-cross me, did you?’

Kay, her head resting against the window, gave no response.

Stefan reached across and patted Ginger’s hand as it held the steering wheel. ‘Relax. Everythin’ is set up.’

‘I don’t like it. Too many things are shifting,’ Ginger moaned.

Stefan growled impatiently. ‘Quit whinin’! We can’t change our plans now. It’ll go like clockwork. Thirty minutes, tops, that’s all we need.’ He shifted back
in his seat. ‘Keep your mouth shut and step on it.’

Lurching around in the back seat, Maya wondered what was in store for them at the warehouse. Would Zac have managed to get a message to Simon and told him the time of the drop? Would the police
be in position, hiding, waiting?

Her mind went back to the terrifying shoot-out at the mill in Leeds, earlier in the summer, when she’d helped rescue Pam. She remembered the deafening noise of the sub-machine guns, the
ripping fear and . . . something else . . . the adrenalin – that thrill of terror. Then she felt ashamed. People had died, she reminded herself. It wasn’t an action movie.

Focusing on the back of Stefan’s head, she wondered how he’d respond to the police. Would he give himself up or try to shoot his way out?

At the pub where Rose had taken Maya to use the telephone, the car turned onto the towpath, swaying and dipping as it drove over the rutted ground. The clock on the dashboard showed 5.45
a.m.

Parking close to the wall of the warehouse, Ginger rolled down the windows and offered Stefan a cigarette. They lit up, but neither of them spoke. The air was heavy with smoke and unvoiced
thoughts.

Taking a big drag on his cigarette, Stefan looked at his watch. ‘Sonja should be here by now with the van. What’s keepin’ her?’

‘I smell a rat,’ Ginger said. ‘It’s too quiet.’

‘It’s six o’ clock in the ruddy mornin’,’ Stefan snapped. ‘What do you expect? Barbeques, parties? People are in bed.’

Ginger turned and scanned back along the towpath. ‘No runners, no joggers, no blokes fishing. I don’t like it.’

Stefan took a last drag on his cigarette then threw it out of the window. ‘Shut up! Everythin’ is fine. We unload the stash, deliver the money and we’re outta here before
anybody wakes up.’

‘That girl knew about this place,’ Ginger said, throwing his cigarette out and giving Stefan a sharp look. ‘Gerard says she was a cop’s daughter. She could have
snitched.’

‘She wouldn’t dare say anythin’. I put some men on her tail. She won’t be talkin’.’

Ginger wasn’t to be silenced. ‘I know what you did. I was there watching her flat, if you remember, but she disappeared. I didn’t like that and I’m not happy now. Listen
how quiet it is. I got a funny feeling.’

‘Shut it!’ Stefan exploded. ‘This is the big one. We sort this and we’re kings – kings, you understand? Nobody can touch us. We’ll have control. All you got
to do is keep your nerve.’ He looked in the rear-view mirror. ‘See, here’s Terry and the rest of them.’ He opened the door as another car drove up. ‘All goin’ to
plan,’ he said as he got out.

After closing the door, he bent down to speak through the open window to Maya. ‘You stay in the car, princess. Make sure she don’t run,’ he said, nodding at Kay.

No possibility of that, Maya thought, looking at Kay, who was slumped against the side window with her eyes closed.

In contrast, Maya was super-alert. She leaned forward and watched through the front window as Stefan and Ginger walked over to the other car – Terry’s car. It was parked parallel to
her, with the towpath in between. Four men in dark tracksuits got out and stood talking with Stefan and Ginger.

Maya scanned the banks of the canal for any sign of police presence, but could see nothing. Her heart was racing. Thirty minutes, Stefan had said. That was all the time the gang needed, and if
the police weren’t already in position, or if they didn’t arrive soon, the gang would conduct their business and be away.

Suddenly, the circle of men spread out, moving with Stefan and Ginger into the warehouse. Then, in the rear-view mirror, Maya saw a white van approaching. As it squeezed past between the two
parked cars, Maya saw that it was Sonja who was driving. She parked to the left of the wide warehouse doors and after a few moments, Maya saw her jump down from the van, walk towards the warehouse
and disappear inside.

Maya squeezed between the two front seats to sit behind the steering wheel. She peered at the white van, wondering who was locked inside. Poor Annika, with her sister Tanya’s body? Zac
– had they caught him?

Then a silver van appeared in the rear-view mirror. It was heading along the towpath at speed. When it came closer, Maya saw the driver was sitting on the left hand side. The van came to an
abrupt halt beside her, so that the towpath was completely blocked. She turned her head and read the lettering on the side –
AMSTERDAM TULIPS
. Three men got out and went towards the
warehouse.

Again, she scanned the banks of the canal and the adjacent warehouses. There was no movement, no evidence of any police. Her stomach churned, she tapped the steering wheel nervously and sent a
silent plea to Simon.

A loud scraping noise signalled Ginger opening the wide front doors of the warehouse. The men from the tulip van came out, climbed into their van and reversed it into the building. Then Ginger
closed the doors, trapping the van inside.

There was nothing more to see, nothing more to do except wait. In front of her, the car keys dangled temptingly in the ignition. Did Stefan trust her not to drive away; were they there for a
quick getaway or had he simply forgotten them?

Two of the Omega gang came out of the warehouse and took up positions on either side of the building – one leaning nonchalantly against his car, the other wandering to the canal bank. To
an outsider they might look innocent, but Maya knew they were on guard.

Another rumbling noise and Maya turned her head to see a door slide back and Sonja leave the warehouse, accompanied by three of the Omega gang. They walked towards the back of the white van,
unlocked the doors and opened them wide.

First to appear was Annika. Because her hands were tied behind her back, Sonja had to help her jump down. Immediately, she was seized by one of the heavies who escorted her to the warehouse and
pushed her inside. The other two gang members were busy sliding a long parcel out of the white van. It was wrapped in curtaining, which Maya recognised from the hostel. She had no doubt it was
Tanya’s body and they were carrying her with the intention of putting her in the tulip van beside her sister.

Desperately, her eyes darted back and forth, watching for any movement, any sign that the police were closing in, but there was nothing. The only person moving was Sonja, who returned to the
white van, closed the back doors, climbed into the driver’s seat and reversed it, so that it came to rest between the two Omega cars, completely blocking the towpath again.

Panic bit into Maya. If police cars wanted to get close to the warehouse they wouldn’t be able to get through.

As she scanned the path behind her once again, Sonja came over. Leaning down to speak through the open car window she said, ‘Dania, we have to take Kay in. Help me.’

Maya’s legs at first refused to move. It was as if they were stuck in deep mud and when she tried to get up, an invisible force was sucking them down. How could she hand Kay over to the
Omega gang, knowing that the police might not arrive?

Sonja’s eyes were hard as stones, glaring at Maya. ‘Come on! We haven’t got all day,’ she said, pulling open the car door.

Playing for time, Maya yawned, leaned back and then slowly levered herself out of the car seat.

‘What’s the matter? Wake up!’ Sonja barked. She grabbed Maya’s arm and shook her.

‘Sorry,’ Maya said, sleepily.

Moving to the back door, Sonja prised Kay out and flung her towards Maya. ‘Here, take her into the warehouse. I have to get something from the van.’

Maya folded her arms around Kay and Kay leaned heavily against her. She seemed hardly awake, but then suddenly she looked up, her gold eyes wide and anxious.