Breaking the Circle (9 page)

Then her mind turned to Pam. Where was she? She imagined Pam in various world hot spots – somewhere out east; Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia. It all fitted, the long cotton dresses, the
shawls and sandals, the last minute trip to the hairdressers when she’d returned with her naturally blonde hair darkened. ‘Just fancied a change!’ It hadn’t sounded very
convincing at the time and now she realised it had all been preparation for a dangerous mission.

Oh, Mum, where are you when I need you?

Up in her room, Maya tried to sleep, but the night was long and full of disturbing dreams. When the alarm chimed from her mobile she wasn’t in the best of moods. But she had made a
decision. Before she went to school, she called Simon, her mum’s deputy.

Simon listened carefully as she explained how Gerard had moved in on her friends, selling them drugs.

‘He doesn’t care,’ she said. ‘He left Serena to die. This girl I met, Kay, she says he’s part of a big gang and he’s trying to take over the
estate.’

‘This isn’t my field,’ Simon warned, ‘but I’ll pass it on to the Drug Squad. They’ll set up surveillance.’

‘They’d better hurry up, before he hurts any more people,’ Maya said. ‘Serena’s in hospital.’

Simon promised to call a friend in the Drug Squad right away, but he warned her that if Kay was involved she’d probably be arrested too.

‘If she’s willing to inform on the gang there should be some leniency, but a criminal record would damage any application for residency. And don’t expect quick, drastic action
– you know how these things are. It’s the big fish they’ll want.’

Maya remained silent for a moment, mulling over the information.

‘Are you all right? Are you in any danger?’ Simon asked.

Maya hesitated. She wasn’t sure. Would Gerard come after her because she knew about Serena? She remembered his scared face at the window of the car last night.

‘I’m OK,’ she replied.

‘All right, but if anything worries you, I want you to let me know. Thanks for the info, I’ll be in touch.’

On her way to school, Maya took out her mobile and checked it for the tenth time to see if there was a message about Serena. She was disappointed – there was no news and every attempt at
contacting Leona failed.

Arriving at school slightly late, she found to her horror that she’d completely forgotten about a Maths test and went into panic mode, while Evie badgered her to tell what had happened to
Serena. The Maths teacher had no time for their whispering and ordered Maya to take her book and sit at the front.

In morning lessons, Maya went through the motions of listening and taking notes, but her mind was elsewhere. Behind her, she heard classmates whispering Serena’s name – the gossip
had spread. On the page in her Science textbook she saw Serena’s face.

It was impossible to concentrate, last night’s emergency played over and over in her head. Sometimes she feared the worst – Serena was dead – other times she saw her walking
away from A&E with her usual cheerful, ‘What’s ‘appenin?’ greeting.

Between lessons, Evie was begging for every gory detail and Maya tried again and again to call Leona, but her phone was still switched off.

‘It’s bad, innit?’ Evie said, wide-eyed.

Maya shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Leona’s not answering.’

‘Because she don’t want to,’ Evie said. ‘She’s so broke up, she can’t talk, and that can only mean one thing.’

Maya gave her a warning stare. ‘We don’t know anything yet. If Leona’s at the hospital again then she can’t use her mobile – you have to switch phones
off.’

Just before lunch break, Maya was called out and told to report to the head’s office. She swallowed nervously as she slipped past questioning eyes and strode down the corridor. In the
reception area, she sat clasping and unclasping her hands, her mind flying over the events of the past few days. She wasn’t surprised, when she was finally called into the head’s
office, to find not only Ms Pearce, the head teacher, but also two people in casual clothes, a middle-aged man and young woman who introduced themselves as detectives from the Drug Squad.

Their opening questions were sharp and searching. Maya felt she was on trial and very firmly denied knowing anything about the drugs Serena had taken or being involved in taking any herself.

‘I was at the flat because a friend called me. Please tell me – is Serena going to be all right?’

‘It’s too early to say yet. She hasn’t regained consciousness.’

Maya sat back in the big leather chair. This was a nightmare. ‘I don’t know what she took, but I do know who supplied her with drugs,’ she said. ‘I can help
you.’

At the end of lessons, Maya headed for the toilets and hung out there until she thought most students had left the premises. The news of the emergency ambulance and Maya being
there had spread and people whispered behind her back and pointed at her as though she were somehow responsible.

All day she’d been bothered with questions and had to keep repeating the same useless answer, ‘No, I don’t know how Serena is. Yes, I have tried but I can’t get in touch
with Leona.’

Wandering down the school drive, she mulled over the interview with the Drug Squad detectives. They’d listened to what she told them all right, yes, they’d listened, but there was
something that didn’t sit right – she could tell they were more interested in the gang connected with Gerard’s drug dealing than in Serena’s collapse. Of course, she
understood it was important to catch the big fish, the smugglers and distributors, but she wanted Gerard caught too.

At the end of the interview, the detectives had made no promise to get back to her, and when she’d offered to point Gerard out, they’d declined. Their modus operandi, Maya knew,
would be slow – meticulous observation, a painstaking gathering of evidence to try and follow the chain back to the smugglers and suppliers – but she wanted action. While they waited,
Gerard would be selling his wares.

And she was worried about Kay. If the cops caught Gerard, they’d catch Kay too. She had to warn her. The detectives had told her not to talk to anyone – ‘Mum’s the
word,’ the older guy had said in a patronising tone. Slightly insensitive, she thought, since her own mum was nowhere near and he possibly knew it.

Her mood darkened as she walked down the school drive. Head down, she pressed her face into the folds of a scarf – in one day the weather had turned from summer to autumn. Near the bus
stop she saw a familiar figure standing leaning against the fence.

‘I wait a long time,’ Kay said accusingly.

‘How did you know where to find me?’

‘Uniform.’

‘Why didn’t you call me?’

‘Gerard take my mobile. Anyways, I have to see you face to face – we have to talk.’

‘What’s happened?’

Kay’s face wrinkled like screwed-up paper. Her words were disjointed and sharp. ‘Last night, Gerard give my friend Leila a fix. She close her eyes, fall on the floor. Gerard is
angry, he shout. He push us all away, lock the door. This morning, Leila is gone.’

Her eyes glittered with rage. ‘Leila is my friend, she look after me when we come to the UK. Gerard say she is stupid, she take too much stuff, but it is not true.’ She sniffed and
wiped her nose on her scarf. ‘Today I ask Gerard, “Where is Leila?” and he tell me she left, she is gone. But her coat is on the chair and her boots are on the floor! She would
not leave without clothes and with nowhere to go.’ Biting back tears, her voice shook with emotion. ‘I think she die. He take her body away.’

As Kay’s words slammed into her brain, Maya felt sick. Serena and Leila – it was too much of a coincidence. She put a hand on Kay’s shoulder and fumbled in her blazer pocket to
find a tissue to give her.

‘Last night my friend Serena was taken to hospital. She had a bad reaction to some stuff Gerard gave her. Do you think it was the same drug he gave to Leila?’

Kay nodded. ‘Gerard mix powder into heroin. He want to make more money. He don’t care. All the time he sell bad stuff.’

Maya swallowed. ‘What? You mean, even if he knows the stuff might kill someone, he’ll still sell it?’

Kay closed her eyes briefly and frowned. ‘He have to. He owe money to his boss. No excuses. You cannot mess with this gang or you will end up with a bullet in your brain.’

Maya stared into the distance, scanning over the purring traffic to the hockey field and far tower blocks. Her emotions were swirling – a boiling cauldron of anger, sadness and
helplessness. Part of her wanted to turn away – this was too big a problem – but she knew she had to try and do something. By the time the Drug Squad had gathered their information and
decided to act, more people could have died.

‘Where are the bad drugs?’ she asked Kay.

‘In the house.’

‘Can you get Gerard and his dog away?’

Biting at her lip, Kay blinked away tears. ‘Will you find out what happen to Leila?’

‘I’ll try.’

Kay nodded. ‘Gerard will go to meet his gang at six o’clock. He always take Gunner with him.’

By the time Maya had outlined her plan, Kay was calmer. It was a simple plan – quick, decisive and hopefully effective.

* * *

Back home, Maya prepared for action. She called Zac, who agreed to meet her in the little square on the estate. Her clothes had to be as functional and nondescript as possible,
so, in her bedroom, she pulled out a dark blue hoodie, black T-shirt and black jeans. She dressed quickly, then screwed her hair up into a ponytail and stowed her mobile in the front pocket of the
hoodie. Before she left the room, she picked up a photo of herself and Pam that was on her dresser. It had been taken at the police cadet training centre; both their faces shone out with happiness
and pride. It had been a fabulous day, a treat for Maya’s fifteenth birthday and Pam had been so pleased with Maya’s prowess on the assault course, the driving circuit and shooting
range. At the end of the day, Maya had decided that she wanted to follow in Pam’s footsteps and join the security services.

‘I have to do this, Mum,’ she whispered, looking at Pam’s image. ‘You wouldn’t approve, but I know you’d understand.’

There was just enough time to collect a few essentials – torch, screwdriver, pliers – which she stowed in a cloth bag. Then she dashed downstairs and into the kitchen. A note on the
worktop from Gran read:

Chicken and plenty of salad in the fridge. Love you. Back at 7
.

Maya opened the fridge, pulled off a piece of chicken and hoped she’d be back by seven o’ clock too.

* * *

‘What’s it all about? It’s him, isn’t it? Gerard?’ Zac’s face was full of concern. ‘He lives here, doesn’t he?’

Maya nodded. ‘All I want you to do is to keep watch. He shouldn’t be back for an hour, but if you see him coming, call me, pronto.’

Zac put his hand on her shoulder. ‘I don’t like it. He’s unpredictable. If he finds you in there, he’ll go crazy.’

‘That’s why I want you to keep watch.’

‘Why are you doin’ this?’

Maya took his hand. ‘I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have to. Trust me. He’s got something that it’s dangerous for him to have, something very important.’

Zac sighed. ‘OK. But I don’t like it. Let me come in with you.’

Maya gestured with open hands. ‘Then who’d keep watch?’ She smiled at him. ‘Look, it’s all right. I know he’s out – I won’t be long.’

She strode forward, leaving him on guard, keeping watch from a doorway of the flats opposite. Crossing the road, she faced the sign on the gate,
Beware of the dog!
She fervently hoped
Gerard had taken Gunner with him.

The gate swung back easily but the wire fence was a problem. She caught a thickly wound strand at the top and pulled but nothing happened. Next she tried the bottom, stuck her foot under it and
tried to lever it up. There must be a way to pull it aside, but how? She tried again, the wire ripping at her fingernails. Then she saw a loose piece of wood at the side, pulled that and a piece of
netting came away to reveal a gap just large enough to slip through. She glanced back over her shoulder, then sped down the side of the house. Pausing at the back door for a few moments, she
listened – all was quiet. She bent down and peered through the keyhole. Nothing was going on in the kitchen, there was nobody about. She tried the door – it was locked.

Sliding along the back wall, she came to a low sash window, took the screwdriver out of her pocket, pushed it into a gap at the bottom of the frame and jemmied the window up. It opened enough
for her to get her fingers in and push the window open. Dark material was stretched tightly across the frame. There was nothing she could do but pull it down. Wrenching the curtain made a loud
tearing sound; she waited, her body half inside the room, half out, ready to dodge back if anyone came.

If there were people around, nobody had come running, so she pulled herself up, slid her legs over the sill and stepped into the room. What a tip! Cartons of takeaway food, mouldy plates,
plastic bottles, screwed-up newspaper, a charred cushion and a tin tray blackened with soot. She picked her way over to the door that led into the hall and, as quietly as she could, opened the
door. Putting her head out into the dim hallway she listened – nothing – then a faint scuffing sound and a creak of flooring. Kay had warned her that other people lived in the house.
Cautiously, she stepped forward and tiptoed to the bottom of the stairs.