Before he leaves, he cuffs my wrists in my lap and locks the door behind him.
* * *
‘Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,’ Trina says as she takes a seat at the table. ‘Well, lady, time’s up. For you. For him. Whatever. It’s nine forty-five. Your boyfriend will be here soon and when he comes, what do you think is going to happen?’
‘He’ll give Nick the money.’
‘Well, yes. I meantafterthat.’
I stare at her now, wanting to rip her fucking head off, knowing I don’t have the strength but balling my fists in my lap nonetheless. I look at the door and contemplate whether I could make a run for it. She unholsters her handgun and rests it on her thigh. A silent warning.
‘Do you think Nick is going to keep him alive, Scarlett? After everything that lying bastard has done, do you really think he’ll be allowed to hand over the money and walk away?’
She’s right. I know she’s right and it’s making me sick. My stomach is in knots and I’m praying, praying and hoping, that I really did get through to Stuart. That Gregory listened to him. That he comes prepared. Or doesn’t come at all. That someone comes. Anyone else to deliver the money. Then I feel guilty because whoever comes is walking into a fatal transaction. I know it and all I can do is hope.
Trina picks up her handgun and turns it in front of her face, considering every edge and nodule. ‘Nick’s is a lot like this. Cleaner. Newer, perhaps, but similar.’ One side of her lips turns up and she puts the gun back on her hip. ‘It was a good plan, don’t you think?’ She shakes her head with a smirk. ‘Nick wants to take credit but he knows it was me. You see, I trailed Gregory. And you in the process.’ She holds up her hands as if in apology and bile rises in my throat. ‘I knew things were off. I watched you both and you know something; it made me sick. Seeing your worry, him without a care in the world, going about his business.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘Oh it was. You were just too close to see. Then I looked deeper into his files, and lucky, lucky, he had a sibling. Sister killed herself. Daddy was locked up. Couldn’t stand the thought of what Daddy had done to her. He’s like him, you know, Gregory. Like father, like son.’
‘Don’t you dare liken him to that bastard. Don’t you fucking dare!’
‘Keep your hair on.’ She laughs. ‘So I kept digging and found out Daddy gave his daughter a baby. I banked that intel. Then I came to see you in Dubai.’ She leans her head to one side with a fake sympathetic smile. ‘I really did try to give you a way out. You threw it back in my face. I guess, in lots of ways, you’re to blame for all this. You forced me to think up another plan. And as I’m doing that, what do you know, the illegitimate son pops up in London. It was beautiful really, the way it started coming together. Of course, Nick Henshaw was very willing to get one up on a man who stole from him.’
‘That’s bollocks.’
She shrugs. ‘Is. Isn’t. I don’t care. It was Nick’s idea to take the game from Stuart and I have to admit, it was a neat idea. Take the game, cut Stuart in on the money. But it was me who knew about Stuart in the first place. I was the one who connected the dots and put them together. The problem was, I couldn’t quite see how I was going to get what I needed. Nick could force Gregory into buying the game, give him a taste of his own filthy, rich, corrupt medicine, but how would I get my confession? I tried leaking to the tabloids but you, and his money, cut me off.’ She laughs, slapping her hands together and grinning against the tips of her fingers. ‘Then you brought it all together for me. You tied that game up in a court case. It was obvious then how we could all get what we want. And that’s what you’re going to do now, Scarlett, right now, you’re going to give me what I want.’
‘Why would I give you anything?’
‘Because I can end this. This is the grand finale, Scarlett, you must know by now that I have a cunning end.’
‘So what’s your end?’
‘You tell me the truth. You tell me about the bribes, confess the truth. When Gregory turns up, I arrest Nick. Make this whole thing look like him. Then you, me and Gregory go to the station. I win my case. I get my job back. I get the respect I deserve and your boyfriend gets the justice he deserves.’
I want to tell her I don’t know anything. I want to keep my promise to Gregory, but she’s offering his life. If I give her the bribes, he loses his freedom. If I give her me, she gets her arrest. She gets her grand finale and Gregory is free. Finally. The little boy from my dreams can move out of the shadows.
27
Relief. Excitement. Terror. The mix of emotions sends my adrenal glands into overdrive, making my body sweat. My pulse increases to the point that I can feel it throbbing in my head. The sound of tyres driving across uneven surface makes me want to fight, protect him.
‘That’s your man,’ Trina says with a sardonic grin.
Gregory is here, coming to do what’s necessary to get me out, risking his life. I don’t know if Stuart got to him. I don’t know if he knows what to expect. All I do know is that he’s following Nick’s instructions and there’s a good chance he could pay for my life with his own.
‘Time is running out, Scarlett. I can stop this. Put an end to it for all of us.’
I hear a car door open and close. Then another. I will not let him die.
‘Do it. Please, Trina. I’m begging you. Stop it.’
‘You know what you have to do, Scarlett. Just say the words.’
I lift my head to the window. I can’t see anything, only concrete. My breathing becomes erratic and beads of sweat form on my brow.
‘It was me. God damn it, Trina. There was no bribe. Gregory was protectingme.Ikilled his father.Ikilled Kevin Pearson.’
