Widows

Shirley fell silent. She was too tired to care how much this mythical third of a million weighed so she changed the subject. ‘What happens if we get trouble from anyone in the cars behind us?’

Linda butted in. ‘Weren’t you listening?! I just said: “shooter keeping cars in check” — that’s me. Don’t you worry your pretty little head. There’ll be no have-a-go heroes on my watch.’ Linda grabbed another Custard Cream. ‘What about explosives?’

Dolly glared at Linda — one long, cold stare that said it all. If looks could actually kill, Linda thought, I’d be dead on the floor.

‘Sorry, Dolly,’ she said and reached a comforting hand across the crate.

Dolly moved her hand away and changed the subject. ‘I’m arranging a meeting with the security contact soon. We know from the ledgers that the wagon always uses the underpass, but that the runs vary in the time and the exact route they take. Once a month there’s a big run with extra cash — we’ll go for that one about four months from now. The contact will confirm the exact date and give us the route map — and we’ll need every minute to prepare.’

As Dolly reached down to her bag, Linda and Shirley rolled their eyes at each other. Two months, four months, six months — did Dolly honestly believe they could pull off an armed robbery?

Dolly sat upright again, two large brown envelopes in her hand. ‘Get yourself wheels,’ she instructed, handing them over. ‘Pay cash and make sure they’re taxed and registered, then, after the job’s done, we’ll ditch ’em.’

Linda opened her envelope and swallowed hard, eyes glinting. She tingled all over — there had to be two grand inside! She was grinning like the Cheshire cat as Dolly handed her a set of keys to the lock-up and brought the meeting to a close.

‘From now on, this’ll be headquarters. Be careful how you come and go.’ Dolly held up another set of keys for Shirley. ‘Now’s your chance, love,’ Dolly said. ‘You in or out?’

Shirley squeezed the envelope full of cash, looked at Linda who eagerly nodded — and she took the keys.

Dolly stood up, pleased with how well the evening had gone. ‘That’s it for tonight,’ she said. ‘Golden rule is you two never call me at home, I’ll get in touch with you as and when I need to. Inside your envelopes is a list of details of what each of you have to do. We take this in stages. Stage one is to get the motors sorted, and for you Shirley, to get all the clothing gear I’ve put on your list.’

Dolly didn’t wait for confirmation; she didn’t need it. They’d taken her money and they’d taken her keys. As far as she was concerned, they were now a team and she was in charge. They’d do as she said, just as Joe and Terry had always done what Harry said. ‘You two can lock up. Don’t leave together, just like at the spa.’ And she was gone, with Wolf quick on her heels.

Linda and Shirley still sat at the crate, their envelopes of money in front of them. They listened to Dolly’s footsteps echo out of the lock-up, heard the Alsatian barking like a lunatic, then nothing.

It was Shirley who broke the silence.

‘You scared, Linda?’

‘If I believed that this was for real I’d be shitting myself, darlin’,’ Linda laughed, taking her money out of the envelope to count it.

Shirley agreed, but she was genuinely concerned for Dolly. ‘She’s not right, is she?’

‘Not even close! Look, I dunno why she’s doing this, Shirl, but it seems to be helping her. Making her feel better. And I have to admit, talkin’ about it makes me feel alive, like I’m tingling all over.’

‘So you’re just going to go along with it?’

‘I’m not proud. I need the cash. Joe left me broke and I know your Terry did the same to you. Dolly’ll come to her senses eventually and we’ll all just go back to our lives but, for now, I’m going to keep on taking the money and Dolly can live in her little fantasy world with us for company.’ Linda could see that the decision to play along with Dolly was nowhere near as easy for Shirley. ‘We’re actually doing her a favor, Shirl. We’re looking after her, giving her something to aim for... making sure she doesn’t end up naked in Trafalgar Square with a traffic cone on her head.’ Linda reached across the crate and put her hand on Shirley’s.

Shirley looked down at Linda’s comforting hand and noticed that she no longer wore her wedding ring. Then she looked at her own long, slender fingers. They were shaking and her gold wedding ring glistened. She didn’t feel elated, or as Linda had put it, ‘tingling all over.’ If this was all just part of Dolly’s grieving process, then Shirley felt terribly, terribly guilty. And if this was really about three widows getting together to commit their dead husbands’ armed robbery, then she felt petrified. But the envelope of money in her hand was lifesaving. Without it she’d lose the house and everything in it.

‘Come on.’ Linda said, helping Shirley to her feet. ‘Let’s go home.’