Black Widow. Jessie Keane

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       7

      ‘Your little friend’s gone,’ said a disembodied female voice.

      Annie shot up in the bed, heart hammering, horrors erupting in her brain. She was in a strange bed, in a strange room. A blonde woman was at the window, yanking back the curtains so that Annie winced at the brightness of the new day. A double bay window. A nice room, prettily furnished. The woman with the bubble perm placed a mug of tea on the side table.

       Dolly.

      Annie clutched her head in her hands as it all came back to her. And with the grim memories came guilt and intense self-hatred. She had slept, deeply and dreamlessly, while her husband lay dead in a rocky gully far away and her daughter was God knew where, in the hands of people who could do her serious harm.

      ‘You were worn out,’ said Dolly, sitting down on the side of the bed and staring at her friend with concern. ‘I came up last night to see if you wanted anything to eat, and you were spark out. So I let you sleep. This is my room, you remember?’

      All Annie knew was that she had fallen on to the bed and literally passed out.

      ‘God, I’m sorry. Where did you sleep?’

      ‘Don’t be a silly mare, Annie, there’s always a spare bed in a place like this. You can have this room for the time being, no worries.’

      ‘You should have woken me up. Have there been any phone calls? Has anyone asked to speak to me?’

      Dolly shook her head.

      ‘There must have been!’ Annie burst out in fury.

      Dolly kept staring at her. ‘Nobody’s called. I would have fetched you. But they didn’t.’

      ‘Sorry,’ mumbled Annie. ‘Didn’t mean to shout the odds, Doll’

      ‘That’s okay.’

      ‘She’s fucked off then?’

      ‘Jean, yeah.’

      ‘Jeanette.’

      ‘Who the hell is she? Not your sort, I’d have thought.’

      ‘One of Jonjo’s blondes.’

      ‘Ah. Drink your tea.’

      Annie took up the mug with shaking hands and sipped it. The tea was strong, bracing.

      ‘You going to tell me what’s been going on?’ asked Dolly.

      ‘Nothing’s been going on,’ said Annie.

      Dolly smiled dryly. ‘Like fuck,’ she said. ‘You looked like a ghost when you pitched up here. And you sounded in bits on the phone. You’re shaking like a sodding old man now. So what’s happened?’

      Annie looked straight at Dolly. ‘Something horrible, Doll. And now they’ve got my baby girl.’

      ‘Layla?’ All trace of the smile was gone. ‘Fucking hell, Annie—who, for the love of God?’

      ‘I don’t know who,’ said Annie. ‘They’re going to contact me here. That’s all I know.’

      ‘Do they want money?’

      ‘Yeah.’ Annie tried another sip of the tea but this time it wouldn’t get past the lump in her throat. She put the mug aside.

      ‘Have you got it?’

      Annie shrugged. Anxiety gnawed at her. This was taking her right back to the time when she had been kicked out of home and left to fend for herself. Potless, homeless, abandoned, disgraced, and on the run from the Carter clan. She felt as lost, as hopeless now as she did then. She didn’t know squat about Max’s financial affairs. There had always been plenty of money, and he had been generous with it, but where it had come from and where he kept it was a mystery to her. She had no money of her own; she’d never needed it while Max was there. But now Max was gone.

      ‘And where is Max?’ asked Dolly after a pause.

      ‘I don’t know,’ said Annie painfully.

      ‘What СКАЧАТЬ