She's Out (46 page)

Gloria was out of sight at the far end of the bridge. She had an artist’s drawing book and was sitting up on the walk seemingly intent on sketching, when the train passed in front of her.
However, she wasn’t looking at the blank page but counting slowly, pressing the earpiece into her ear, heard by Julia and Ester at the opposite end of the bridge. Connie was the only one left
at the house. She was on ‘listening’ duty, recording everything from inside the signal box.

None of the women discussed the robbery in actual terms, it had become ‘The Job’, and as the days went by, the rehearsals and timekeeping preoccupied them all and relieved any
tension; they had plenty of time to coordinate everything that needed to be done.

There was still one area Dolly had not tackled openly: the stopping of the train itself. It would be done by Julia, on the tracks, with a flashlight, and as she would be wearing Norma’s
police cape and hat she would look official. She would hold her position for some time as the train moved over the tracks, giving the driver fair warning that something was amiss. Because the train
would be moving slowly, there was no chance of it running into her. The real danger was whether she could hold Helen of Troy steady, standing between the rails side on, with a massive and dangerous
high voltage cable beneath her belly.

Julia had rehearsed the sidestepping move many times. On two occasions Helen had bucked and almost thrown her off. She had not rehearsed on the tracks themselves but on mock-ups she had made
from logs, and Helen was getting better all the time. What worried Julia was that when she stopped the train and it paused on the bridge, what would make it stay there? If the driver felt any
danger, he might start up the engine and move the train forward. ‘It’s all very well, Dolly, marking out where it’s got to stop, but how do we make sure it stays there while we
get the bags out?’

‘Semtex.’

‘Pardon?’

Dolly was listening to the tapes she had collected from Mike’s house. She was now sure he hadn’t grassed on her. But could he get the explosives? She still didn’t know.

‘Semtex,’ Julia repeated.

‘Yeah, we’ll blow it on the bridge.’

‘Oh, brilliant. And if it’s not a rude question, where the hell are you going to get Semtex from?’

Dolly continued checking the tapes. ‘I’ll tell you when I’ve got it.’

Julia shook her head, almost wanting to laugh. ‘Oh, fine. Which one of us is going to be mad enough to use it?’

Dolly packed the tapes away, annoyed. ‘I’ll let you know that an’ all, but one thing I will tell you is that I’m not prepared to do anything, not one thing, until
I’m sure it’ll work.’

Julia stuck her hands into her pockets. There seemed to be nothing left to say. In any case, Dolly was in one of her moods and it wasn’t worth attempting to have a conversation with her.
If anything, she had grown more distant than ever; her mind seemed elsewhere.

Dolly felt at times as if she was a juggler trying to keep all the plates spinning on the ends of sticks, trying to keep the women calm, trying to eliminate the risk factors. Nothing must be
left to chance, and if she needed a few more weeks, months, even, she’d take them. She spent hours with her little black notebook, jotting down things she must remember, crossing out others
she had accomplished. Sometimes she sat in the dilapidated conservatory, wrapped in a coat, staring into space as she pictured each section of the heist. Could it work? Would it work? Was she
insane? As yet the women weren’t restless and she put that down to fear. Even Ester, of late, had simply got on with the job in hand and was no longer pushing for supremacy. Dolly surmised
that would probably come. Ester was sharper than the others, more dangerous, and Dolly suspected she was just biding her time. She monitored each one, watching closely as to how their nerves were
holding out. So far so good, but it was still like a game. When it became a reality, they would begin to show their real state of mind.

A piece was missing from the jigsaw. Dolly knew it, and kept on returning to the bridge, the train and the damned explosives they still had not acquired. This was the most dangerous and most
daring section of the entire ‘game’, and without that, it could not commence.

The missing piece came from an unexpected person. A call came from Mike: he wanted a meeting but not at the manor. Dolly was unnerved by this. Would this be the moment he grassed? Was he wired
up? If so, she would have to be too, but she made no mention of the meeting to the women. She travelled by train to London and met Mike in a small café by King’s Cross station.

Mike was not obviously nervous but a little tense, as he put down two cups of tepid tea. It took him a while before he came to the point, looking around then back to Dolly.

‘What do you want, Mike?’

‘I’m out. I’ve given in my formal resignation today. It goes without saying they’ve accepted it and that’s thanks to you.’

Dolly sipped the tepid milky tea with distaste. ‘So what do you want?’

‘Obvious, isn’t it?’

‘Not really. Why don’t you tell me?’

Mike again glanced around and Dolly leaned closer. At no time did he mention the train, the robbery or anything illegal, simply that he would be interested in helping her out on the business she
had inferred she was going into, that he had a contact that might help him get the order she had mentioned.

Dolly nodded, tapping the edge of the saucer with her spoon. ‘You ever driven a speedboat?’

Mike tugged at his tie. He waited as she took out her notebook and jotted down three things. That’s what I need.’

Mike breezed into the house where Susan was vacuuming the hall.

She looked at him in surprise. ‘What you doing home?’

He switched off the hoover. ‘Come in. I got something to tell you.’

Susan followed him into the living room, where he sat on the sofa. ‘I just got fired.’

‘What?’

‘I just got fired. Well, not quite, I handed in my resignation. So that’s it, I’m out of a job.’

‘What do you mean, that’s it?’

‘I’m out of the Met. They found out about my sister and—’

Susan sank into a chair. ‘Your sister? What are you talking about? What sister?’

Mike sighed. ‘You’ve seen her face often enough, the blonde girl in the photo frame at Mum’s.’

Susan had seen the photo, it was hard not to, and a long time ago she had asked who it was. She’d never been interested enough or, for that matter, spent enough time at Audrey’s, for
the photo to make any impression.

‘She was my sister.’

‘Oh, come on, Mike! What’s this all about?’

‘I’m trying to bloody tell you, if you’d just shut up.’

Susan leaped up. ‘You tell me one second you’re out of the Met, next you’re talking about some sister I’ve hardly ever heard of. How the hell do you expect me to react?
What’s she got to do with your job?’

‘She’s dead.’

‘I know — I know she is. Mike.’

Susan flopped back in the chair and closed her eyes. She was just about to say something when he continued.

‘Shirley was younger than me. I’d already signed up when she was still a teenager. I had a brother in borstal so I wasn’t going to lay it on the line about the antics of my
family when I joined the Met. A lot of blokes have some member of their family that’s a bit dodgy and Gregg’s just an idiot. I never had much to do with him, even less than Shirley
because he was younger than her.’

Susan leaned forward. ‘Will you get to the point, Mike? I’m trying to follow all this, honestly I am, but I don’t understand why you’ve brought her up in connection with
your job. She’s dead, isn’t she?’

Mike put his head in his hands. ‘She was married to a right villain, bloke called Terry Miller. He’d done time for armed robbery, then he was on some job, a big raid on a security
van and he . . . he got burned to death.’

‘What? I don’t believe I’m hearing this. If this is some kind of a joke . . . You said she was killed in a car accident.’

Mike snapped, ‘
Just fucking listen!
I don’t know all the ins and outs but after Terry died, Shirley got in with some people and . . .’ The more he tried to explain, the
more insane it all sounded. He was almost in tears. ‘Shirley was shot in an armed raid nine years ago.’

Susan was stunned into silence. Mike’s face was white as a sheet as he stumbled through the rest of the story: how he hadn’t even returned for her funeral, how he had cut her out of
his life and tried for years to cut out his mother too.

Susan’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t go to him to put her arms around him because she was so confused and close to tears. ‘Is this . . . this little tart you’ve been
seeing all part of it, then? Is that why you’re suddenly telling me all this?’

‘No, it isn’t. She’s got nothing to do with it. If you must know it’s Audrey, it’s all down to that stupid bitch my mother. She screwed me up but I’m going to
get out of it.’

‘Does that mean you’re leaving me and the kids? Is that what this is all about?’

Mike moved to her side and gripped her arm. ‘Sue, listen to me. I have no intention of leaving you or the kids. I’ve told you that it’s all over between me and Angela, it
should never have even started. That was me being fucking stupid and I’m sorry I put you through it. But, Sue, you got to trust me now, really trust me, because I need you. I need you to back
me up, not go against me. I want you to do just what I tell you to. It’s very important I have just a few weeks on my own to sort my head out, okay?’

She pushed him away. ‘You
are
leaving me, aren’t you?’

‘No, I’m not, but I want you and the kids to go and stay with Mum in Spain.’

‘What?’

‘Don’t start with the “what” again, you heard me. Get the kids out of school. I’ve arranged for you and them to go and stay with Mum.’

Again Mike put his arms round her and she fought against him but he wouldn’t let her go. She broke down and started to cry.

‘Don’t, please don’t. You got to trust me, Sue, you have to. It’s for all of us. I’m going to get a job, I mean it, but I’ll just need a bit of time before I
can join you in Spain. I swear on my life, I’m not lying. I love you and I love my kids.’

Dolly stood ten yards down the road from Mike’s house. She could hear every word they said and when she heard Susan agree to go to Spain, sobbing her heart out, she removed the small
earpiece and slipped it into her pocket. She reckoned she could trust Mike but he had still not got her the Semtex. The conversation he’d had with his wife and his having left the police were
good, and he had already implied that he would be willing to be more than just blackmailed into helping her. Now she had him exactly where she wanted him – and she needed him. Dolly had
calculated that without him there weren’t enough of them to do it, but until he brought the explosives, she would not be a hundred per cent sure. Cautious as ever, she was not allowing
herself to move ahead until she had had a further discussion with Mike as to exactly what part he would be prepared to play.

Dolly was in a very good mood at dinner that evening. She opened a bottle of cheap wine and they all accepted a glass. She made no mention of Mike or her visit to London. It
was obvious something had gone down because of Dolly’s good mood, but it didn’t spread to them. Instead it bothered them.

Angela served the dinner, the children having eaten earlier, and after the meal Dolly went up to read them a story. The little girls had become much more open and smiled freely now. In fact
their presence made the entire house more relaxed. No one ever spoke about their plans in front of them and, apart from Ester, the women had become genuinely fond of them, especially Angela, whom
little Sheena doted on. They had new frocks and shoes and socks, a big room full of toys and they began to use the word ‘home’ for the manor. Having so many rooms to run free and play
in, and so many adults caring and making sure they were happy, had had the desired effect: the little girls were happy and loved.

Angela peeped in to see Dolly tucking them up. Sheena had so many teddy bears lined up there was hardly room in the bed for her. ‘I got everything you told me to get so I’ll be in my
room if you want me,’ Angela whispered.

Dolly turned off the nightlight – the girls were no longer afraid to sleep in the dark – and went into Angela’s room. She sat on the neatly made bed and checked all the
passports. It touched her to know she really was their legal guardian.

Angela pointed to hers. ‘Me photo’s terrible. I look like I’m scared stiff.’

Dolly put them back into the envelope. ‘I’ll keep these safe, love, and not a word to anyone or they’ll all want to come on holiday with us.’

‘If anything happens to me, Angela, I want you to promise me you’ll take care of the girls. There’ll be money provided for you, I’ll see to that.’

Angela slipped her arms around Dolly. ‘Have you forgiven me?’

Dolly seemed to cringe from her embrace and Angela quickly released her. ‘Just go about your business here, love. Don’t ask me to say things I don’t mean. You’ll know
when I’ve forgiven you. I need you to make up for a lot of trust you destroyed. That’s hard to forgive.’ She opened the bedroom door. ‘Put your TV on, there’s a good
film. Don’t come downstairs. I’ll see to the dishes. Goodnight, love.’

Angela had never known anyone like Dolly before: she seemed so lonely and yet there was something about her that made you frightened of trying to get through that barrier, as if it would break a
dam of feelings that she covered so well. And Angela began to understand how she had hurt Dolly, hurt her more than she could have imagined, because she had shown Angela a genuine affection not
shown to any of the other women. She was glad they would be going away together and she would in no way jeopardize that by telling any of the others about the proposed holiday and the
passports.

In turn, Dolly had kept the robbery plans secret from Angela. Forever looking ahead and pre-planning, she was already preparing for the time when she had the money and would leave England with
Kathleen’s kids. It would be a long holiday, maybe Geneva or some other place in luxury, and the less Angela knew about what was going on the better. Dolly might be unforgiving but Angela was
useful, and she could not help liking her, as she had from the beginning. But as well as being useful for taking care of the kids and keeping them out of the way, Angela was a good cover, and a
useful weapon against Mike, should she need it.