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He drove for miles, into the middle of nowhere; it was fu
The place hadn’t changed one bit, even at this time of the morning it was scarily isolated.
Lifting up the lid of the boot, Billy looked in at the bloodied mess that was Jay, and smiled at the fear in the eyes that stared back. Billy lent down past the flinching Jay and picked up the shovel that was also in the car. “People are going to be talking about this for years, you know, Jay.”
Jay didn’t have the energy to lift his head; he hoped whatever Billy had pla
“People are going to be talking, Jay, about you, the little prick who tried to do one over on me and take my hard-earned cash.” Billy poked Jay hard in the ribs with the end of the shovel.
“They’re going to be talking about you, the guy who shagged my missus behind my back.” Billy brought the shovel down on Jay’s stomach. “About you, the little cunt who thought he could kidnap my sister, and do you know what they will be saying about me? Do you?” He bellowed the words, furious at the audacity of the scumbag in front of him.
“They’ll be saying when they hear about your rotting stinking corpse that no-one, but no-one, should fuck with Billy: he won’t fucking stand for it. They’ll be talking about your death for years, mate. Which is just as well, you’d be forgotten in an instant otherwise, a sorry fucker like yourself. No-one cares if you live or die.”
He brought the shovel down with more force, hitting Jay on the head. There was an almighty thump, which sounded worse than it was. Jay was out cold, and Billy set to work again; the next time Jay woke up, Billy wouldn’t be there, it would just be Jay and his demons.
52
Kate’s stomach was full and she felt clean after her long soak. She had closed her eyes the second she laid her head on her pillow and had no trouble falling asleep.
When she awoke she felt safe, and that was a good feeling, one that a few days ago she hadn’t been sure she would have again. She knew Billy had gone to sort out Jay; she was scared about what might be happening, but she didn’t want to know the details, she was just relieved that he wouldn’t be harming her again.
Emma and Sonia’s voices floated up to Kate from downstairs, just the normalness of the moment made her feel happy, she had been so terrified that she wouldn’t see her friends and family again when she had been trapped in that dingy basement.
The phone rang on her dresser and, as she pulled herself up and wrapped the duvet snugly around her, she got that fluttery feeling in her stomach as she looked at the caller ID: Paul.
“Hey, Kate, I just wanted to see how you are?” Paul asked. “We didn’t really get much of chance to talk earlier with everyone around.”
Kate smiled. They had been surrounded by people, yet she had felt that she and Paul were the only two in the room. Had he felt that too?
“Thanks, Paul; I’m feeling a lot better now I’ve had a sleep.”
“Well, in that case, how would you fancy di
“Okay.” Kate felt wary; di
Putting the phone down, Paul called for Sophia. Ru
“I have a friend coming over to meet you later.” Sophia fiddled with her princess ballet pumps, he could see that she felt shy at the mere thought of someone else coming over. It was his own fault, he knew, Sophia was forever at home with the na
“My friend is very special, Sophia, I think that you are really going to like her.” Looking up at him not quite sure what to make of what he was saying, he continued:
“Her name’s Kate; she is a real princess, just like you.”
“Wow, will she be wearing a princess dress like me?” Sophia seemed to be excited now; she had always wanted to meet a real princess.
“She hasn’t got a lovely princess dress like you but she is very, very pretty, and she is very kind. Maybe we can have a look in your bedroom and see if she can borrow something of yours to wear, I bet she will love your dress.”
Bouncing off of her daddy’s lap, Sophia ran to her bedroom as if her life depended on it, desperate to find something for her daddy’s princess friend to wear.
Smiling at her i
When he left, she had told him to take Sophia with him; she had dismissed Sophia as if she were nothing, as if Caroline had not a single maternal bone in her body. Paul had done that. He had never heard from Caroline again and knew in his heart of hearts that he never would. He had got over her, that was for sure, but it hurt that his little girl was growing up without a mummy. Since Sophia was nine months old he had brought her up, with the help of the na
53
There were moments when Tanya thought about her disloyalty to Jay, but they were so fleeting that they passed almost as quickly as they came; she certainly didn’t lose a moment’s sleep over it: far from it, as a matter of fact. Tanya had been living the high life. The life she was convinced she was born for. To some people, a quarter of a million pounds would be a lot of cash, the sort of money that would allow them to put a nice-sized down payment on a little house where they could settle down, maybe buy a flash car and new clothes, and generally be quite content with their new-found fortune. It was a decent start. But Tanya wasn’t “some people”. She wanted five-star luxuries all the way: a penthouse in London, somewhere upmarket like Mayfair, a Bentley with a personalised number plate, and designer clothes. A quarter of a mill was just a taste of what she thought she needed in order to get by. It wouldn’t last five minutes with the plans she had, she needed to use it wisely. Tanya had always believed that money came to money, and now she had a little it was her chance to get more. So she had come up with quite a plan. In order to find a nice rich man, she would have to go to where the rich men were and to appear as if she had come from money. Tanya, never short of male attention, expected to catch the attention of a rich guy looking for a woman on whom he could spend his fortune.