Widows

‘I wish I’d brought a heavier jacket,’ Shirley said. ‘I think it’s going to rain.’

‘Forget that!’ Bella snapped. ‘What happened?’

Shirley’s eyes filled with tears and she fought to keep them back. ‘Please, Bella. I only want to say it once, so let’s wait for Dolly.’ She walked away to stand at the shore edge, looking out to sea. Taking her lead, Bella and Linda left her alone and continued to get the beach set up for their rehearsal.

By the time Dolly arrived in her Mercedes, the beach was ready and the rain had started belting down. Dolly stood at the top of the cove and looked down at the outline of the fifty-yard run Bella had marked out with driftwood; it was like looking at the drawing in Harry’s ledgers. The picnic blanket represented the security wagon, and several abandoned pallets had been laid out in front of it to represent the ‘blocking van,’ with the Morris behind it representing their transit van. Three full rucksacks sat on top of the Morris’s bonnet. At the far end of the run more pallets signified their getaway car. Linda and Shirley were seated inside the Morris sheltering from the rain, and Dolly could see enough of Shirley to know that she was wearing that bloody catwalk jumpsuit. She could hear the pair of them laughing and giggling, while Bella wandered round the wet sand collecting more driftwood.

They were worryingly close to the date of the robbery and Dolly was overwhelmed with worry. Linda had yet to find a suitable large vehicle to be used to stop the security wagon and Dolly was yet to get the actual route plan and times off Harry’s inside man. As the girls’ laughter echoed round the cove, Dolly wondered if she was the only one taking this seriously. Were the others just using her as a cash cow to replenish their wardrobes, get them freebies at health spas and pay for the upkeep of their vodka stash?

In a bad mood now, she made her way slowly down to the beach. The picnic hamper she’d brought was heavy so it was slow going; she was also carrying an umbrella and Wolf kept getting under her feet. Linda watched her make her way toward them and shook her head with annoyance. Again, they had done all the hard work — and here she was arriving like the Queen Mother on a day out at Sandringham.

‘Bella!’ Linda shouted and nodded toward Dolly. Bella turned and waved a large lump of driftwood. From where Dolly stood, it looked uncannily like a sawed-off shotgun.

Dolly gestured to Linda to come and join her.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Linda mocked as she clambered out of the Morris. ‘On my way, ma’am.’ She glanced back at Shirley and winked. ‘Wolf’s probably done a shit and she wants me to pick it up.’ Shirley gave a wan smile.

As Linda plodded over toward Dolly, she suddenly felt miserable. Her hair was dripping wet and Joe’s jumper was now twice as big and heavy as it had been when she put it on this morning. She was waterlogged, unlike Dolly, who was as immaculate as ever in her matching raincoat and wellies. She looked Dolly in the eye.

‘Bella told you about poor old Boxer getting done over,’ she said petulantly.

Dolly nodded, handed the picnic blanket to Linda, and kept on the move. Linda followed close behind her.

‘What you gonna do about it, Dolly? Tony Fisher’s a nutcase and—’

Dolly suddenly turned and stopped right in front of Linda. ‘That bloke I found you in bed with the other day, the mechanic, was he the one with you last night?’

Linda shook her head. She felt a twinge of guilt for lying to Dolly, but what bleedin’ business was it of hers anyway?

‘You’re still seeing him, aren’t you?’ Dolly pushed.

Linda shook her head, but now Dolly stepped closer.

‘You worry me, Linda. You drink too much and when you do, you say all kinds of things to all kinds of people.’ Dolly was referring to the night Linda had spilled the beans to Bella in the arcade. ‘I need to be sure there’s no pillow talk going on between you and some random fella off the streets.’ Dolly knew full well that Carlos wasn’t random at all; she knew from her short conversation with Boxer that Carlos was Arnie’s bum boy.

‘Oh, believe me, we didn’t do no talking.’ Linda quipped, trying to make light of things.

Dolly’s stony glare told Linda that she wasn’t in the mood.

‘Look, Dolly, he was a one-night stand; there was nothing in it. I’ve not seen him since, just like you told me, I’ve kept meself to meself, all right? There’s no one.’

Dolly looked at Linda hard, trying to detect if she was lying, but Linda held her gaze. Dolly toyed with the idea of telling Linda exactly who Carlos was, and telling her that she knew Linda was with Carlos on the night Tony went on his rampage — but that would ruin the day’s plans. No, Dolly needed to focus today. She walked round Linda and headed for Bella. Linda followed close behind, unable to zip her mouth.

‘Don’t change the subject from what I asked you,’ she whined. ‘What you gonna do about the Fishers? Old Boxer must have run straight to ’em, just like you said — only now look where he is!’