Pauline Rowson - In for the Kill

Marble man was now beside his boss, towering over him both in height and girth and making Rowde look like a weakling. It made me wonder for a moment how Rowde could be so feared both inside and outside prison. Marble man looked like a thug who would have no compunction in beating a man to death, whereas Rowde looked as though he wouldn’t harm a fly.

But Rowde was clever. He was a manipulator.

He had charm and good looks. He was plausible.

He spun his web and you got caught in it if you weren’t careful. You confided in him. You trusted him. Then he used you and your secrets to get you exactly where he wanted. He was completely without conscience, remorse or guilt.

I said, ‘I suppose you could try beating it out of me, but I’d either give you a false trail to get you off my back, or I’d die and then neither you nor Westnam would get any money. A bit pointless, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Couldn’t agree with you more, Alex, which is why we’re not going to do that.’

He picked up the photograph of David and Philip and the blood froze in my veins. I dug my fingers into the palms of my hands so hard that the knuckles turned white. Westnam, holding his beer, looked like a rabbit caught in the glare of car headlamps. Marble man smiled at me. I could have kicked his teeth down his throat, but that’s what he would have liked me to try, and with three of them I didn’t like the odds. I wasn’t going to win whichever way you looked at it.

‘Nice-looking boys,’ Rowde said.

I remained silent.

‘You wouldn’t want anything to happen to them. Be a pity to see those pretty faces scarred for life.’

I leapt forward but marble man put a great big paw on my chest.

‘Leave them alone,’ I hissed.

‘I wouldn’t dream of hurting them, normally, but these aren’t normal times, are they, Alex? You have something I want. And these boys are something you want. I’m prepared to do a deal.

You get me the money and the boys stay unharmed. And don’t think I don’t know where they are because I know exactly where they live and where they go to school. Getting to them is child’s play, if you’ll excuse the pun.’ He gave an evil smile.

I ran a hand through my hair. ‘For Christ’s sake, Rowde, how many times do I have to tell you I don’t have the money. It was a scam, a fit-up, a frame.’

‘Then you’d better find out who did it and ask him for the money.’

‘What do you think I’m trying to do?’ I almost screeched. ‘When I find the money you can have it with pleasure.’

But Rowde shook his head. ‘I’m afraid that’s not good enough. I need it now and so does Mr Westnam. You’ve got seven days, Alex, until next Tuesday morning, 8am.’

‘How the fuck can I get it for you when I don’t know where it is!’

‘That’s your problem. Perhaps your rich lawyer friend will loan it to you. And I wouldn’t bother going to the police, that would make me and Barry very unhappy; so unhappy that I would have to take revenge.’

He threw the photograph onto the floor and ground his heel into it smashing the glass. I made to surge forward feeling as if he’d physically wounded my boys, but marble man held me back.

‘It just slipped right out of my hand,’ Rowde said. ‘Seven days, Alex, then I’ll be back for the money or your boys get that treatment for real. I promise you that and you know I always keep my promises.’

Only too well, I thought, recalling the beatings he’d arranged for me to take in prison. I nodded.

Rowde smiled. ‘That wasn’t so difficult, was it? I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. Now I think it’s time we were leaving. Thanks for the beer but I’m not thirsty.’ He poured the contents over the photograph, threw the can down and stamped on it. I felt as though he was stamping on my heart.

He brushed past me with Westnam in tow. I saw Rowde nod briefly at marble man and tried to tense myself for the blow that was to come but it made no difference, it still hurt like hell.

He knew just where to strike, on the lower left hand side of my back. I went down like a sack of potatoes. His boot came into my kidneys. I screamed in pain, and again it came. I felt my head being pulled up by the hair and then wrenched back with his punch. I tasted the hot sticky blood as it ran out of my mouth.

‘And here’s one for luck, just to remind you of what your boys might suffer.’

Another kick in the gut. Then the lights went out. It was black and deep and it swallowed me up.

CHAPTER 8

When I opened my eyes it felt as though someone had inserted a red-hot poker up my nose and singed my brain. It was some time later when I tried again. This time the poker was still there but it wasn’t quite so hot. I was staring up at the ceiling. How many weeks had passed since I’d entered prison? I had no coherent memory to draw on. My recollections of people, procedures and prison were just a jumble in my head, as unreal as a dream, or rather nightmare.

They had no substance. It was as if I were watching it from the outside, a near death experience. That was me going through reception, lying on my narrow prison bed, eating prison food off plastic trays with plastic cutlery, but it wasn’t me. Perhaps I was inside someone else’s head. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be.

‘You’re awake then?’

Since when had they allowed women into my prison? I swivelled my eyes and with a start saw my neighbour, Scarlett, sitting beside my bed. I frowned, then wished I hadn’t. The poker had friends; tiny needles shot through my head.

‘How are you feeling?’

A hell of a lot better now I know I’m not in prison I nearly replied, but stopped myself. I found the roof of my mouth and said: ‘I’ll live.’

She looked pleased, which surprised me. Her brown eyes softened and she smiled. A first. She should do it more often, I thought. She was quite attractive. Vanessa had been unkind in her remarks. Scarlett simply didn’t conform when it came to clothes and appearance. Her hair was streaked with a myriad of different hues, including blue and green this time and she was wearing a loose-fitting floral blouse over a long multicoloured skirt.

‘Where am I?’ I struggled to sit up. A stab of pain caught me by surprise. I winced and gritted my teeth. The room swam before me, and Scarlett’s concerned expression deepened. She surged forward to prevent me from doing whatever she thought I intended to do, but I waved her away and held my position with my body propped up against the bedstead. The pain eased.

‘St Mary’s Hospital, Newport.’

I was in a small ward of just four beds and daylight was streaming in through the windows.

Then it came back to me. I sat bolt upright with a scream, which I somehow managed to stifle before it disturbed the whole of the ward. This time the pain wasn’t only physical but emotional.

My boys. I had to stop Rowde from hurting them, killing them even, because I had no doubt that he would. He would probably have me watch it too. I must have turned a peculiar colour because Scarlett leapt up and said, ‘I’m going to call the nurse.’

‘No. Please,’ I managed to whisper with enough conviction and determination to make her hover. Why was she bothering with me? Why was she even here? ‘I’m all right, just give me a moment.’ A moment was all I had. I had already lost a night lying here. God, it was only one night, wasn’t it?

‘How long have I been here?’ I asked anxiously.

‘About ten hours. I found you on the floor of your houseboat. I’d lost Mother again.’ She glared at me. Now I saw that where other women blushed and got upset, Scarlett simply scowled or glared.

She added, ‘I saw those men leave your houseboat so I knew you were still awake. When you didn’t answer I thought you might be avoiding me, but the door sort of swung open and I found you on the floor. I called the ambulance.’