Stephen Leather - Take Two

‘Yeah, guy called Seb Lawton. He plays her husband on the show. He’s in our VIP room every week or so, usually with some rent boy in tow. Drops a lot of money. Perfect customer.’

‘But not her? Please don’t tell me she’s a regular?’

‘Never seen her. He doesn’t tend to hang out with women. Not at our club anyway. He likes us because we let him use the private entrance and we keep the paparazzi away.’

Richards opened the car door and they both climbed in. ‘I’m going to have to lose the Bentley,’ he said. ‘She must have seen it.’

‘What about Cohen’s car?’

‘Parked it at the airport,’ said Richards. He started the engine and drove off. ‘It’ll be months before anyone notices it hasn’t been collected and it’ll muddy the waters. Make them think he’s done a runner. Tell you what, I’ll drive us home and then you can find a lock-up for the Bentley. I’ll use the Porsche.’

‘And what about her?’ asked Halpin.

‘I don’t know,’ said Richards.

‘She must have seen us.’

‘She saw you shooting at her, that’s for sure.’

‘She was running before I fired. So she must have seen something.’

‘We don’t know that for sure,’ said Richards. ‘And even if she saw Cohen getting whacked, that doesn’t mean she saw our faces.’

‘Better safe than sorry, boss.’

Richards looked across at him. ‘What do you mean?’

Halpin made a gun with his hand and mimed firing it.

‘She’s a bloody soap opera star,’ said Richards. ‘The cops’ll go crazy. Remember the shitstorm when Jill Dando got shot?’

‘Yeah, and they never found out who did it, either,’ said Halpin.

‘If she saw something, why didn’t she go straight to the cops,’ said Richards. ‘I know there’s no mobile phone signal near Cohen’s place but when she was in the truck she could have called. And she obviously didn’t say anything to Reg.’

‘Yeah, I don’t get that either,’ said Halpin. ‘Why didn’t she tell him what had happened?’

‘Maybe she didn’t see anything. She told Reg her car had broken down so maybe that’s what happened. She breaks down and goes looking for help. Comes to Cohen’s house and then gets spooked when the security lights go on. You go hurtling out with your gun and she runs for it. She doesn’t go to the cops because she knows she was trespassing.’

‘You think that’s what happened?’

‘It’s a possibility, right?’

‘I don’t know, boss.’

Richards fell silent again. He drove and smoked his cigar.

‘Boss?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I’d feel safer if we took care of her. If she did see us…’

‘Yeah, but what if she didn’t? She’s a civilian, you don’t fuck around with civilians unless you don’t have a choice. Here’s the thing, if she could identify us, the cops would be all over us already. If she gave them a description it wouldn’t take long for them to find us. They’d look at Cohen’s client list and our names would jump out at them. And, with an eyewitness, they might think they have enough to charge us even without his body.’ He chuckled. ‘That’s one good thing about all this, Cohen’s at the bottom of the North Sea where no one can get him.’

‘So what are you thinking? We just forget about her?’

‘We need to know what she saw,’ said Richards. ‘We need to know one way or the other if she knows what I did. If she didn’t see us, then we can relax. But if she did…’

‘Yeah, but how exactly do we do that?’

Richards took another long pull on his cigar. ‘This Seb guy. You know him enough to talk to him?’

‘If he’s in the club, sure.’

‘Have you got his number?’

‘We gave him a VIP card. They’ll have his number on file.’

‘How about you give him a bell? Ask him if he can come along to that charity thing we’re doing on Friday. Tell him we’ll give him a free table and ask him if he’ll bring a few of the cast. See if you can get him to bring her. But be tactful, yeah?’

‘Tactful is my middle name, boss.’

‘No, your middle name is pull out my fucking gun and shoot anything that moves,’ said Richards. ‘I’m serious. I want her at the do but I don’t want her to know I’m the one doing the asking. Get her there with a group of the actors and I’ll bump into her.’

Halpin grinned. ‘Consider it done, boss.’

Richards blew another cloud of cigar smoke. ‘Just don’t fuck it up,’ he said.

Wednesday was an early start. Carolyn had to be in make-up by six and in front of the camera by seven. There were three scenes to be done by lunchtime and Carolyn could see from Harrington’s face that he was under pressure.

The first scene was a three-hander with Jaymee and an actor who was a semi-regular on the show. Jaymee had really lifted her game and they wrapped up the first scene on the third take.

The second scene was an exterior, a quick conversation between Carolyn and Andrea in the car park. Exteriors were always a problem sound-wise because they were on the flight path to Heathrow and if the wind was in the wrong direction, the engine noise could ruin a take. Luck was on their side and the only time a plane flew overhead was when they were setting up for Carolyn’s close-up.

When Harrington finally announced they could break for lunch, Carolyn hurried along to Seb’s dressing room and knocked on the door. ‘Enter!’ he shouted theatrically, then grinned when he saw who it was. ‘Darling, fancy a few hands of cribbage?’

‘I’d love to,’ she lied. ‘But I’m back on the set in fifteen minutes. I’ve another scene with Jaymee.’

‘She’s lovely isn’t she?’

‘Very pretty.’

‘You know she’s a protege of that little prick, Waites?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Well, word on the street is that she didn’t get the part because of her acting ability, if you get my drift.’ He wiggled his eyebrow suggestively.

‘Poor girl,’ said Carolyn.

‘My thoughts exactly,’ said Seb. He picked up a glass of wine. ‘Drinky-poo?’

Carolyn shook her head. ‘No thanks,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to see if you’d heard anything about the writers’ meeting?’

‘Not a peep, darling. But my agent is prepared to come out swinging if they start fucking around with my part.’

‘Why would they do that?’

Seb laughed. ‘That shit Waites wants my character to come out. On the show.’

‘He what?’

‘I kid you not, darling. He cornered me in the loo and asked me how I felt about making my character gay. I said it would be over my dead body. He said he didn’t understand why I was so anti considering I am gay and I told him being gay and playing gay were too different things and if I started camping it up, I’d pretty much lose my entire fan base. He just didn’t get it. But then, why would he, he’s barely out of nappies.’

‘He’s an idiot,’ said Carolyn.

‘How did the lift home go, by the way? Did he try anything on?’

Carolyn forced a smile. ‘Of course not. It’s young flesh he’s after.’

‘You’re such a lousy actress, darling,’ said Seb.

‘I have a lifetime achievement award that says different.’

‘I work with you, darling. I know everything you have in your little bag of tricks and I know when you’re lying. What did he do? Put his hand up your skirt?’

‘Nothing I couldn’t handle,’ said Carolyn.

‘Well just watch the little shit,’ said Seb. ‘He’s got the ear of Sally and Lisa and they’ve got him on a very loose rein. That’s how he got Little Miss Chocolate Drop on the show.’

‘Seb, you can’t say that!’

He raised his wine glass to her. ‘Darling, I can say what the hell I want. There’s only you and me here and, besides… I think she’s lovely. If I wasn’t gay, I’d be up her like a rat up a drainpipe.’