Widows

As Bella slipped into her motorbike leathers, they all chatted about Carlos. Dolly watched — three friends gossiping, reassuring, getting on like a house on fire. For a moment, she felt a twinge of jealousy, but she knew she had to keep her distance.

Dolly dished out her final orders for the night. ‘Right, listen you lot. It’s all coming together now, so let’s keep well away from each other as much as possible, right? I know you can only talk to each other about certain things, but it’ll have to wait till you’re all in Rio together.’

‘We,’ Bella corrected. ‘Till we’re all in Rio together.’

‘Don’t start that again,’ Dolly said, picking up her tweed coat and handbag.

Bella continued regardless. ‘It’s the only bit of the plan I still got a problem with, Dolly. But it’s easy fixed.’

Dolly flung her handbag down. ‘Come on, Bella — say what you mean! You don’t want to fly off round the world because — what? Because you won’t know where the money is being stashed, right?’

‘Spot on,’ Bella replied.

‘And you need to know because you don’t actually trust me, do you? Still, you don’t trust me! So far I’ve laid out nearly seven grand of me own money and trusted all of you with that. When the robbery’s done and we all head off in our different directions, who’ll actually have the money at that stage, Bella? Me? No. You will. The money will be in the boot of the getaway car, while I’m in the bleedin’ laundry van that we still haven’t nicked yet. Have I once doubted your honesty and whined about the possibility that you could run off with the money immediately after the robbery? No! I wouldn’t do that to you. I don’t make decisions just for my benefit, I make them to safeguard the lot of you.’ Dolly moved toward the three women. Shirley and Linda stepped slightly behind Bella for protection. ‘I know you all much, much better than you think,’ Dolly continued. ‘Do you reckon, after a few drinks, Linda could keep her mouth shut about all that money if she knew where it was? Do you think Shirley might not be tempted to slip her mum a couple of hundred?’ Dolly paused briefly to see if any of them would be brave enough to answer... they weren’t. ‘I’m not telling you where the money will be stashed because one slip of the tongue and we’ll not only have the law down on us, but every villain in London including the Fishers who, you may have noticed, have gone to ground. Boxer’s dead, Carlos was raided — that’s why the Fisher brothers are keeping their heads down. They’re scared, confused and they don’t know what’s going on. All they know is that it looks like someone might be out to get them and they don’t know who. They think it’s Harry — good.’

‘Nice speech,’ Bella said. ‘But this isn’t about trust. This is about knowing where the money is if anything happens to you.’

Dolly’s face was now red with anger and hurt. ‘You think I haven’t thought of that after all we’ve bloody well been through? I’ve left a letter with my solicitor for each of you in case I die. In the letters is what you’re so desperate to know.’

If they were surprised by Dolly’s mention of the letters, it also seemed a very convenient addition to the conversation. She could see the doubt in their eyes. ‘Believe me, don’t believe me,’ Dolly said in a weary voice. ‘But do the robbery as planned.’ As Dolly went to pick up her handbag, Shirley spoke.

‘I believe you.’

Dolly pulled a glove on over her blistered finger and winced. She looked at Shirley and smiled. ‘Thank you, Shirley.’ She headed for the door. Her steps were short and slow; she looked tired and old. ‘Run off with the money, eh?’ Dolly laughed. ‘How would I spend a million on me own?’

Bella shrugged and grinned. ‘We got to get our hands on it first, darlin’.’

‘You said it, Bella. And it’s up to you lot now if we do it or not. Let me know what you decide. Come on, Wolf.’

Wolf was curled up asleep on the office chair and didn’t hear Dolly’s command. Bella picked him up, caught up with Dolly and handed Wolf to her. ‘OK,’ Bella said, looking Dolly in the eyes. ‘Everything stays as planned.’

Dolly moved slowly toward the exit, keen to get out before any of them saw how close she was to tears. She hadn’t really left any letters with a solicitor; she’d lied to get the girls to trust her. But she would write the letters now, just in case something did happen to her. She felt unappreciated and betrayed by Bella and Linda — and after all she had given them! She hugged her little dog for comfort and kissed his head. ‘Let’s go home, my little baby, let’s go home,’ she whispered. As Dolly walked gingerly across the cobbles in the dark, Wolf looked back over her shoulder and gave a low grumble. Dolly glanced back and caught sight of a rat disappearing into one of the lock-ups. ‘Ssshhh, Wolf. It’s just a rat.’ But Wolf’s eyes, like huge, dark saucers, were fixed on something else.