The Girls Club (20 page)

No
. For Rosh.  Enough has happened.

When it was all in the box file she asked the person on the other end of the line what she was supposed to do now.

“Leave the building and drive to the end of the road”

“That it?”

“Honey, it really is”

Not bothering to close the safe she pulled the door to the jamb.  No sense in making a fuss since the lock was now busted and the safe had been sprung.  Flicking lights off she felt hope kindle.  All they really wanted was this stuff.  Miss Steiger had trespassed against them so they were trespassing right the fuck back.

Holding the thought of Rosh at the fore front of her mind she waved goodbye to the night man and got back in her car.  The box file said nothing of its ghastly contents and yet she felt like she must be wearing a neon sign,
Mutilation!
, for all to see.

She wondered if it was raining back home and drove to the end of the road as she was told to do hoping it would be the right end of the road.

The mobile was still against her ear.  The person at the other end had put it on a side but not put it down as such.  Probably on another phone to whatever harpies were in the vicinity to collect the stolen booty.

Absurd. Ridiculous. Dangerous. Stupid. Incredible.

This situation was all those things.  Her heart pounded and her head ached from the beer and beating it had taken.

Through the miles between where she sat and where the owner of the phone was making her call from was she could imagine all manner of horrible things happening to her boss.  Were the people there ‘killing’ mad?

It’s alright. According to Rosh this is the way its
always
been.

Crazy yanks.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Karen jumped.  She went to push the door open and her mind cautioned her not to, she pushed the electric window button instead.  There were two women outside her car and for the very blood in her veins she would make every effort not to see them.

“You have something for us?”

“Wait, just one sec”

She picked the mobile up, “Hello. OI!”

Just another momentary lapse into insanity, on your left you’ll see Sunset Boulevard, oh that?  That’s what’s left of PA Karen…

“What?” came the answer on the mobile.

“Are these your people, black clothes, two of ‘em?”

“Yes”

“Just checking”

“Just give them the box like a good girl so we can all go home”

“Yes ma’am” she pushed the heavy box file through the window.  The woman looked to be dressed
all
in black, black pants, black coat,
like Sarah’s meat heads that night?

As the arms took the box off her the woman behind her stepped forward and pulled the door open.  Karen dropped her mobile and was hurled to the side walk where the other meat head laid in with her feet.  The first of the two women had the box on the hood of the car they’d been waiting in, she opened the lid and spoke into what looked like a hands free mobile headset.

If it hadn’t been for the beer, the previously bump to the head, or the fact that she herself had done the dirty deed she’d been given to do by taking the client list, she might have fought back.  The woman looked about 30 feet tall and was wearing rather hard trainers.  Air that wasn’t reaching her brain woofed forcibly out of her lungs with each kick.  The woman never spoke, just gave guttural gruntings as she laid in.  There was a small grace it seemed, if they were going to kill her they’d have at least put her in their car.  She would take the kicking gratefully because it meant she’d see tomorrow.  The woman with the box file and its contents whistled using her fingers.  The woman who was stomping all over Karen leaned forward and spoke right into Karen’s ear.

“That’s for Sarah you cunt!”

Sarah? What the fuck?

And then she brought her foot down on the side of Karen’s head.  It all greyed out again.

Tasting pavement for the second time that night didn’t bother Karen.  She sat up, rubbed the drool off her chin and tried to make both her eyes stay open at the same time.  No soap.  One of them was very swelled.

She couldn’t very well go to Rochelle looking like this?  But there wasn’t anywhere else she wanted to go. Getting up in a dipsy semi-circle she saw the goons had gone.  Rather odd remark stomper goon had made, her ears had been ready to hear the name ‘Demi’, but ‘Sarah’?  They had definitely been Sarah’s dogs bodies then.  Or maybe they were just ‘Chain’ dogs bodies.  They did as they were told by the higher ups, meat heads, hired hands.  Perhaps a ‘Sarah fan’ who didn’t appreciate the fact that Karen had in fact given Prestons her head, (
hand
), on a stick.

“Who gives a fuck” she asked the pavement whilst her head spun and twirled.

Getting back into the car was relatively simple.  Seeing the key in the ignition wasn’t.  She turned the overhead light on, that made it a little easier. 

The mobile went on the seat beside her. 

“Fuckin…” she picked it up to hurl it out the window.

It was Rochelle, her baby, her love.  Probably wondering what the heck was taking Karen so long.

“Hiya” trying her best to sound jovial.

“Hey. Where are you?” sleep furry.

“Oh. I got held up.  But you just bet your boots I’m on my way now”

“You alright?” little more awake.

“Oh yeah” Karen nodded her head to no one in particular, blood sheeting one side of her face and her left eye was just a tiny dot amidst blue and swelling flesh.

“Are you still mad that I got mad?” worried now.

“No. Not in the slightest angel. Get the kettle on. I could murder a brew”

Poor choice of words.

But Rochelle was a little happier at hanging up knowing that things were ok, she was still coming over, everything was fine.

“Gonna have to tell her summat?” she asked herself as she pulled out, if it wasn’t for the late hour she wouldn’t have risked driving.  As it turned out she could use both lanes as required, and often did.

“Could tell her I’ve been in a bar fight?”  sounded good on paper.  But what if Rochelle got to work tomorrow, found Sarah to be missing, door busted in, robbed into the bargain.  Karen would die of shame if she caught her in a lie.

“Tell the truth and shame the devil?” she asked the empty car again.

It was the best option.  Rochelle would go nuts, but maybe she’d finally consent to leaving LA with her.  Let all these nutty bitches fuck each other up.  It had been fun.  Truly.  But there came a time when you had to consider the long term benefits of any arrangement.  And this didn’t feel long term, or beneficial.

Tapping the door of Rochelle’s apartment she pasted a big grin on her face.

Rochelle opened the door and clapped her hands to her mouth.

“Its not as bad as it looks”

Rochelle grabbed her jacket and hauled her in, shutting the door rapidly behind her.

“Come here”

Karen was being led into the bathroom and Rochelle put the seat of the toilet down.

“Sit”

Karen sat.

“Jesus Karen.” tears formed in her eyes as she opened the medicine cabinet.  Karen felt the silly grin was a little too much and dropped the act.  Rochelle winced every time she dabbed the grazes with Iodine, Karen did her level best not to flinch at all.  Although back in good ole Blighty they didn’t hold with no friggin’ Iodine, might as well pour salt on the fucking thing and make a good job of making it hurt like a piss flap stuck in a door.

“It’s alright”

“Is it?” she banged the bottle back down on the side of the sink.

“Please don’t get mad again, I couldn’t bear it”

Rochelle poked her face and Karen wailed.

“Might need stitches. Bitches with scars? What a couple we make”

Karen took the cotton wool out of her hands then and gripped her wrist.

“Its alright” she said with more emphasis.

Rochelle kissed her and Karen felt the familiar warmth fill her again.  This was what was worth fighting for.  Not money.  Or stature.  Or bigger cars.

Karen carried on the kiss by nuzzling her neck, she felt Rochelle sigh her defeat and smiled in spite of the ripping head pain she felt.  They belonged to each other now.  For good or ill.

“Are you even, uh, going to tell me, ow, what happened?”

Karen didn’t answer.  Whatever she told her would be half arsed and stupid.  She’d tell her everything she needed to know in the best way she knew how.

“SSSShhh” Karen stood up.  The blood in her hair looked purple at this point, She looked down at Rochelle who was kneeling with her hand still in Karen’s.

“Come on”

Rochelle let herself be led and let Karen make love to her over and over.  She could smell beer, blood, spent sweat.  It was dirty and gritty and it made her feel incredibly horny.  Karen was going to feel so terrible tomorrow so she would let her enjoy tonight,
better make that morning
.

Karen lay spread eagled on her back, naked to her waist, her pants splashed with blood discarded on the floor, chest heaving.  Her head pounded and ached fiercely, hearing Rochelle sigh beside her though made it feel insignificant.

“You’re a fucking idiot” the warmth in Rosh’s voice robbed the statement of malice.

“I know” Karen got to her feet and wobbled back to the bathroom. Rochelle heard running water and then hissing as Karen finished cleaning the blood off her head.  She’d have to shower but it was so damn late.  A few hours and it would be time to get up for work.

Rochelle pulled the covers up to her chin.  The smell they had made, the sounds of being together.  It was a powerful living thing.  She had her suspicions about what might have happened tonight but she wasn’t going to get much out of Karen for now.

Karen came back, shrugged her shirt off and dived under the covers.  She put her arms round Rochelle and kissed her temple.

“Better?”
“Lots. You’re a mess”

“Yeah. But it could be worse, stopped bleeding anyway”

“Just answer me one question, then you can sleep”

Karen steeled herself for it.

“Was it something to do with Sarah?”

“Yes” Karen kissed Rosh’s bare shoulder. “But you’re not to think of that now. Sleep. I gotta get up early enough to shower before I go in because I look like someone took a hatchet to me”

“You’re not going in like that surely?”

“Yes I am. And don’t call me Shirley”

Rochelle giggled. Karen was still smiling when she feel asleep.  Whatever lay ahead this was what she would protect.  Right here.  Right now.

Chapter 10

Rochelle made Karen stay home.  Miss Steiger had left a message for Miss Toulouse that she needed to take a ‘personal day’.  That seemed to support that wherever she was she was upright and taking sustenance.  But Miss Toulouse had seen the broken office door and hadn’t really a clue where to start. It wasn’t a job for the cops.  Not until she knew where Sarah ‘really’ was.

Sky was like a bee in a bottle all day.  Up and down, panicking.  She wasn’t going to get her afternoon session with Karen either.  And that was their way of keeping up with each other.  It would spoil her weekend, the pep talk and office fumble a mainstay of her working week these past few months. 

Sky kept Rosh company at lunch, she asked what had kept Karen off work.

“Stomach flu”

“Don’t bullshit. Has something happened?” Sky was leaning forward in a conspiratorial manner.

“Really Sky. Its nothing. She’ll be fine by Monday”
With a little foundation and some new skin to replace whatever got left on the pavement last night.

It wasn’t like she was intentionally lying to Sky.  Sky had a weekend of debauchery planned with one of the ‘haloed circle’, and as much as she loved the girl she knew she loved a gossip.  Best not to tell her anything to get herself into trouble with.

“I was looking forward to this afternoon” she pouted at her salad.

“I’m sure you can make up for it next week”

Sky eyed her curiously.

“What?” Rochelle asked.

“Do you love her?”

“Ar, Sky!”

“Well?”

Rochelle picked at her sandwich and sighed long and deep, “I guess I do”

Sky clapped her hands a mile a minute.

“Do you know something?” Sky chirped.

“You know I hate that question, of course I know ‘something’”

“Alright then smarty pants, do you know what Karen told me the last time we were together?” Sky forked a piece of lettuce into her smiling mouth.

“Do tell”

“That she loved you very much”

It wasn’t what she had been expecting.  She had thought maybe Sky had been teasing her and was going to come out with some sexual reference as to what they did together.

“She did?” her mouth quivered.

“Oh, hey” Sky went round to her side of the table and put an arm round her.

“You’re supposed to be happy when someone loves you”

“I am. Really I am. Its just, I…”

“Never thought she’d told anyone else? Does that make it feel more real to you now?” Sky’s face had gone gravely serious.

“Yeah. Look. I’m alright. Eat your salad before it gets warm”

The salad hadn’t interested Sky much.  She had booked a table at Mogo’s where they’d eat bar-b-que till they busted.  It was as Heidi had pretty much demanded.  But it sure beat salad.

“I’m gonna give her a call before I go back to work, catch you later Sky” she leaned over and pecked her on the cheek.

“Thanks for telling me. I know you two are close and would have understood you keeping it to yourself”

“No problem Rosh. Give her hell from me, ditching my damn Friday nooner.”

“I will”

She went back to her cubicle and just picked up the phone to dial her apartment and speak to Karen when her desk buzzer went off.  She was tempted to ignore it, she was still at lunch officially.

Sighing at her own fastidious nature she pushed the button, “Yes?”

“Hi, Rochelle, could you come through please” curt and clipped.

“Right away Miss Toulouse”

Why have we suddenly gone cold?
She was unsettled by being called in.  PA’s got called in, not her, she was just the office gopher.

She rapped on the door and Miss Toulouse told her to come in.

She closed the door and went to sit across from Miss Toulouse.  The relationship she had with the partners was very different to what the PA’s was by nature of her position in the company, it was kept formal out of respect.

“Charlotte, please”

This made her feel worse.

Rochelle nodded her head in consent.

“I have a bit of a problem”

“Really. How can I help?”

“Well” she leaned back in her chair.

“I need you to bring Karen in. There’s something she has to do for me”

“Oh, er, she’s not well Miss, er, Charlotte”

“I know she got beat up last night. I also know that she broke into Sarah’s office for something. Don’t look so shocked, as I understand she was forced to do it. Anyway.

The people in question had her retrieve certain items and I would like to know what they were”

Rochelle straightened the line in her slacks.  No wonder Karen hadn’t mentioned what had gone on.

“Why don’t you know already?” Rochelle carried just the slightest hint of contempt in her question.

“Well, er, for protection of evidence really. It doesn’t do for any one person to have all the secrets. That way if someone ends up on the wrong side of the fence, well, there’s only so much they can be made to give”

Rochelle was calm.  Utterly and completely calm.

“I’m sure that if Miss Steiger had wanted you to know what was in the safe she’d have told you. I’m also sure you must understand that what happened last night hurt Karen very badly and because of that her involvement ends there”

The lawyer leaned across the desk and took Rochelle’s arm, she felt her face glower, this wasn’t invited contact.

“I’m ever so afraid it doesn’t. You see, she did a job for us, a little bit of snooping. That has been the catalyst for last nights events and when you consider that you have to consider what responsibilities someone involved in a kidnap actually
does
have”

“No!” she shook her head, flabbergasted at the accusations being made.

“She did” she let Rochelle’s arm go.

“Its not like I am asking her to trade places with Sarah. In truth, I don’t know where she is, or really if she’s still alive at this point. I want to know what she had that was so
damned
important. The insider I spoke to could only tell me so much.”

The office assistants mouth hung open in a ‘o’ of horror.

“What do you mean,
if she’s even alive?
”

“You know better than most what goes on so don’t act so fucking empty headed.”

“A…” that’s all she could manage, she’d never heard the senior partner swear before, it went against the wavy brunette hair and tailored navy suit.

“Get her down here. NOW!”

“A,”

“Oh do shut your mouth, you look like you’re ready to catch a fly”

Thoughts tumbled and mangled, she had meant to ask something and it was gone, the shock of hearing her boss swear had chased it clean out of her head.

She left the room before another ‘A’ escaped her.

Well she better give her that call.

Why doesn’t Miss Toulouse just give her a call instead.  What if, by telling Karen gets in trouble with Sarah and the top ten?  When Sarah surfaces she’ll find out.

A sob hitched in her chest.  What an amazingly varied fuck up she was getting tangled up in again. 

That’s what you get for falling in love.  Didn’t you learn anything last time?

But this was different.  Karen had said so.  She’d also promised not to get into trouble.

She knew that she wouldn’t be making her office phone to make the call now, she knew they all had ‘listening in’ features and perhaps Miss Toulouse playing her own version of Inch-eye Private Eye would get on the line and listen…

But if she overheard something on the line THEN tried to use it against Sarah it wouldn’t be Karen’s fault.  Surely that makes more sense?

Rochelle who kept her intellectual soul tied to a string in her pocket and away from the prying eyes of the world smiled.  Her eyes still red from the sting of the tears that promised to flow.  She just had to make sure Karen spilled the beans to her on the phone and then she would trot through to Miss Toulouse and tell her the arrangement had been made.  If she had been listening she would at that point tell Rochelle to tell Karen not to bother, that it could wait.

Three rings, four, five, six.

She let it ring. She knew she was there.  She watched the lights on her telephone console.  The red dial out light was flashing.  The speaker light was dead.

“Hiya”

“Good Lord, what were you doing? It took ages for you to answer”

The speaker light went green.

Hold your nerve sweetie.

“I’ve been asked to get you to come in, Miss Toulouse wants to know what you took from Sarah’s safe last night” the upset couldn’t be kept out of her voice, it would just add to the credulity of the conversation.

“Oh shit. Rosh. We were going to talk about it when you got home. I’ve put a whole roast dinner on, chilled some of this years finest beer”

“Quit goofin’ off. What was it?”

“Oh Rochelle. Do you really want to know?”

“I have to know. No secrets,
you made me love you so damn you talk!
”

The line went quiet, Rochelle imagined she could hear dual breathing on the line.  She knew it was an impossibility, they had top quality phones with no feedback at all.

“You know those pictures you saw. The horrible ones the cops showed you, bits of Demi?”

“Yes”

“They only showed a picture of one hand you said, do you remember which one?”

“Why is it…?”

“It just is, tell me Rosh”

“It was a right hand.”

She heard Karen whistle through her teeth.

“Well the one that was in Sarah’s safe was a left hand. I guess it was the other one.  Demi’s other hand”

The speaker green light was still on. 

“Jesus Karen! Oh for fucks sake! Oh shit.”
“I didn’t have much choice Rosh, they took Sarah and pretty much made out like she’d told me to do it, to make up for something I did for her. They gave me the combination over the phone so I presume Sarah must have been with them”

Happening again.  Happening again.  Happening again.

“How is your head Karen?”

“Not too bad, a little sore” she said quietly, she could feel how mad Rochelle was, it was radiating down the phone lines towards her like sick heat.

“That’s alright. That’s good.
Because when I get home I’m gonna crack it against a fucking wall
!” she shouted down the phone.

“Rochelle, I…”

“What else?” her voice even.

“
Rochelle!
” pleading.

“WHAT ELSE?” she banged her hand on the table.

“Please don’t shout at me Rochelle, Goddamn. You know my heads like mincemeat today”

Rochelle drew her nails across the table.  She was furious.

Just let her say what Miss Toulouse needs to hear.  You can’t talk about it properly on the fucking phone anyway.

“What else was in the safe? Tell me then get down here”

“Well. The client list from Prestons that I got at Kelsey Carmichael’s. Two stacks of money, looked like bundles of $50 bills. A fucking gold bar, pretty heavy. Erm, a folder headed ‘Future top ten’ and I think some other bits and bobs”

Cold water filled Rochelle’s heart.

“Did you read the ‘Future Top Ten’?”

“No. I think I’d already done enough spying to get myself in trouble and besides, dealing with the hand was enough.”

The speaker light went off on Rochelle’s handset.

“Listen good you crazy Brit. I’m going to Miss Toulouse’s office now to tell her you’re on your way. Don’t go anywhere, a
nywhere,
until I ring back. Right?”

“Are you, you’re not in tr…”

“Trouble? No. Well, not yet.”