Not his to take, p.9
Not His to Take, page 9
Elena
“Did you charm him well enough to tell you where my money is?” Sinclair asked when I called.
“Not yet.”
“I’m running out of patience.”
“Give me some time. I can’t just ask him directly now, can I?”
I had a feeling Acey knew Sinclair had gotten to me and was playing along.
“I don’t care. Be his whore, if need be! Think of something and do it quick, or your father will be the first one who will nail it.”
I hung up and stared at the slot machine. If Sinclair needed the money, he should do it himself. He’s a gangster, for crying out loud! I pressed buttons, then pulled down the handle. The sounds of the slot of machines gave me a headache. I didn’t want Acey to die. I didn’t want anybody to die. I sucked at slots. I won ten pounds, then twenty pounds; my spirits lifted, then I lost the thirty pounds. I didn’t want to lose all of Acey’s money.
“Any luck?” Acey asked, leaning against the machine and lighting a cigarette.
“Can you smoke in here?”
“Relax, I’m here all the time. They love me here.”
He checked my progress and raised an eyebrow. I removed the card and handed it to him.
“Are you done?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Where’s Butch?”
“You like him, don’t you?”
“You didn’t give me enough time to find out.”
Acey gestured at the poker table.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon. Come on, let’s go.”
He grabbed me by the arm and left the casino. Acey took the key card from my hand and opened the door. He switched on the light, checked under the bed. He slid the door of the balcony and closed the curtains. Sinclair wasn’t going to be happy.
Acey turned to me. “Take off your dress.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t be coy. I’ve seen you naked,” he said grimly.
He sat on the armchair, waiting. I sighed and avoided eye contact as I slipped the dress off and I stood naked in front of him. I bit into my lower lip.
“Turn around,” he said.
“What!” I exclaimed.
“Just do as I say.”
I turned.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I had to make sure.... Okay, you can get dressed.”
Sure of what? Did he think I was wearing a wire? Did Acey think I worked with the police? I started putting on my pajamas in front of him.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” he said in disgust.
“What do you expect, a garter belt and a corset?”
“That would be nice,” he said.
I changed my mind and started to undress. Acey blinked at me. I wasn’t sure if the room was bugged, but if it were, Sinclair wouldn’t call me and ask for progress, but I wasn’t going to take any risks.
“Let’s have a shower together,” I said and strolled to the bathroom. I waited for him to come and join me.
“What is this all about?” Acey said, joining me in the shower.
“I know,” I said.
“You know what, Elena?” he asked.
“What you’ve done, how you stole one million pounds from a gangster. He found me, Acey, he came to my flat. It wasn’t pleasant what he did to me and to Justin. I had no choice but to agree with his terms, or else my family and everyone I know will die. He wants you to tell me where you hid the money.”
I waited for a reaction. Yell, get angry, but he didn’t move.
“I know he sent you,” he said.
“You knew and you didn’t say anything!” I said.
“I was waiting to see if you were going to tell me. Is this why you asked me to join you?”
“Yes.”
“The room isn’t bugged.”
“I’m not taking any risks... Do you have any idea what I have been through this past week? Go get that money and give it back, now. How dare you! How could you do this to me. You used me!”
“Do you think it’s that simple? I can’t just waltz in, hand him the money, and make it back alive as if nothing happened.”
“Nobody forced you to take the money in the first place. It’s your fault I’m in this mess. I didn’t ask for this. Please, Acey, just give me the money and I’ll give it to him.”
“That’s the last thing I’ll do.”
“Acey!”
“You don’t understand. If I hand you that money, he’ll kill you.”
“No, he won’t! He gave me his word, my family will live.”
He reached for the towel and stepped out of the shower, wrapping it around his waist and running a hand through his wet hair.
“Believe me, he’d find ways how to make your death look like an accident. His word does not mean much. I worked close with the guy. I know what he’s like. He’s a killer.”
“At least he’s not a thief. What you did was wrong!” I said, reaching for a towel.
“He is a thief. That’s what you don’t get. He cheated on poker, he cheated on people in thinking he won at the games. He hired me, Elena, to cheat on poker. He made it look like he was playing, but there was a secret camera on his tie and I used to watch and tell him what to do.”
I stepped out of the shower.
“It still doesn’t justify what you did.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I got you involved. I didn’t think he would find me or you.”
“I had my own issues to deal with. My life was fine before you came to my life.”
“Snap out of it. You got your heart broken. Guess what? Everyone gets their heart broken.”
“You don’t understand!”
“I understand Justin was your first love. Yes, it’s tough, but people get over it. I didn’t take you as a weak person.”
“I’m not weak!” I retorted and left the bathroom.
He followed me.
“Anyway, I’m not going to argue with you. This is something you have to deal with on your own.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked, sitting on the bed.
He sighed and put on his trousers. “Butch, he’s a pain in the arse, but he’s a good guy. I’m planning to expose Sinclair’s secret. He’s a fraud, and Sinclair doesn’t want those people as his enemies.”
“Don’t you think they can kill you too since you were working for him? To them, you’re as bad as he is.”
“Leave that to me. Butch is going to help me out now. Tell me everything, start from the beginning.”
After I finished telling him, he asked, “He owns the club you work in?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Is there a place that asshole doesn’t own?”
“I’m sorry.”
He glanced at me.
“Now, now, it’s not your fault.”
“I’m scared I’m going to die.”
He sat beside me on the bed and put his arms around me.
“Listen, tomorrow I’m going to get you out of here. Butch is going to find a place for us.”
“What am I going to do about Sinclair?”
“Keep doing what you are doing, as if I didn’t know.”
He got up from the bed and smoked. The room was foggy with cigarette smoke.
“What did you do with my phone?” I asked.
“I threw it away, sorry.” He opened the closet. “I hope you have something...practical in here.”
I lay on the bed. “You think I stroll around in evening dresses all day?”
“I have to make sure.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sinclair
What is Acey trying to prove by going to Butch? I know Butch from the games—a tough hand to beat, but I did. Well, thanks to Acey. I bet Acey was trying to expose me. Who would believe him? He had nothing on me.
What worried me was Elena. Did she think I was playing around? Did I have to find that excuse of an ex-boyfriend and shoot him to make a point I was serious? I stood at the building across the street, waiting, tapping my fingers on the table. Acey shut the curtain. What was going on in that room? I hated not knowing. I called the hotel manager and asked him to call her room.
“She has the ‘do not disturb’ on, Mr. Diamond,” he said.
This had cost me a lot of time, and time was money. I had places to be. I couldn’t sit around and wait for a silly girl to take her time. I called Roderick.
“Mr. Diamond,” he said.
“What’s Mama Gomez up to?”
“She just came home from work. She’s watching television.”
“Keep an eye on her.”
“Yes, sir.”
My phone went off the next morning while I was having breakfast. I eyed Louisa as she placed documents in front of me.
“Well?” I asked.
“He’s taking me with him,” Elena said.
I waved Louisa off.
“Where?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“Any mention of my money?”
“No, but I’m hoping he might be going to it.”
“He’d better be. Keep in mind your loved ones.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Good,” I said and hung up.
Then, I called Roderick.
“How is Mama Gomez?”
“Still at home.”
I called my other man.
“How’s that mouse?” I asked, referring to Justin.
“He met a girl for coffee.”
“Give him a good beating.”
That would make her get a move on. What she saw in that kid was beyond me. I could say the same thing for Acey. Beautiful girl, terrible taste in men.
Vladimir marched into the room.
“They are moving.”
“Follow them.”
He nodded.
“Oh and how is Acey’s brother nowadays?” I said before Vladimir left. “Call whoever is watching him and tell him to give his brother a good beating as well.”
Vladimir smiled and left.
They say like father, like son. I inherited my father’s ruthless nature and my mother’s looks. The first man I killed was my father and I didn’t regret it. The world didn’t need scum like that and nobody would miss him. My mum was beautiful woman, once. A beauty queen. She had long black hair and stars in her eyes. However, the heartache had taken away her looks. It was my father’s doing. I killed my mum in a way, too.
My father was the king, and we were his subjects. He ran a tight ship. He was a dictator. Once, I broke a plate by accident. The blow on my face happened so fast, there was no possible way I would have seen it coming. Until I was a teenager, he tormented me and my mum. What he loved the most was yanking the belt out of his trousers loops and slashing it to my back and bottom. My mum would plead with him to stop. He would dismiss her with ‘Shut up!’
He yelled and slapped. The storm was always brewing with him. All that anger was taken out on us, my mum and me. I had to stop him from hurting me and my mum, to put an end to it. My mum taught me several tricks: don’t do anything until you know you are fully in control, and then you get revenge. Her words remained with me.
I got my revenge.
I ended my father’s worthless, miserable life by setting the house on fire. My mum was napping on the sofa; she had a habit of falling asleep with the TV on. I went up to the bedroom where my dad was asleep, lit one of his cigarettes, and dropped it on the carpet. I locked the bedroom door from the outside. He was in such a drunken slumber, I doubted he’d notice. Dad died in the smoke and fumes. Mum woke up screaming; she never got over the shock of the fire.
I was declared a hero for saving my mum’s life. If only they knew the truth.
We moved in a little flat in Tottenham, where I befriended a gang who called themselves ‘The 12 Knights’. The name amused me. Gangs in London were not uncommon; I had to do what needed to be done to take care of my distraught mum. She had no idea what I was doing for living, maybe she didn’t care. I sold drugs, robbed stores. Then came the more sophisticated crimes, and I worked my way up with the gang. So, I did things other people did not have the stomach for. Money is money; it doesn’t matter where it comes from.
Still, my mum woke up screaming and crying in the middle of the night. I became the one who told her to shut up. Little did I know, I had become my father. Each time I looked at myself in the mirror, it’s his face I saw, not mine.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Acey
I woke up with a stiff neck after sleeping on the armchair. Elena was in the bed asleep. I stood and gazed out the window. It started to drizzle, and people started to gather to go to work. I gently nudged Elena to wake up.
“We need to go,” I said.
She rubbed her eyes sleepily, looking so small and innocent. She yawned and disappeared in the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bed, smoking while I waited. I heard the toilet flush and water in the basin. She came out, dragging her feet.
“Can I get a cup of coffee?” she asked.
“We’ll get that later. We need to leave now.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, lifting her hands as if I pointed a gun at her.
She opened the wardrobe and took out a pair of blue jeans, a crop top, and a letterman’s jacket. She went to the bathroom and came out dressed a few minutes later. There was something off about her, as if at any minute she was going to break into tears.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded.
“We’ll be fine,” I said.
She didn’t reply. We made it to the lobby, and I noticed the receptionist reaching for the phone as we stepped out. The cold air hit me. I was wearing only a ruffled white shirt and a vest. Elena zipped her jacket up. Bringing her with me was a terrible idea; she was going to slow me down.
“Why are you walking so fast?” she asked.
“Time is against us.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re meeting Butch.”
“What did you discuss with him last night?”
“Not now. I need to think.”
She curled her bottom lip like a child. I ignored her. Her questions were beginning to annoy me. I turned a right, then a left. I spotted a black Mercedes in an alley. The door opened, and Butch came out of it.
“Acey,” he said, “we don’t have much time.”
“I know.”
Elena sulked. The look on her face said it all, You did this. This is all your fault.
“She’s coming too,” I said to Butch.
Butch pored at Elena and passed a glance at me. He laughed.
“Maybe I’ll convince her to come with me. It’s safer.”
I threw Elena’s bag in the car.
“I hope this is not some cruel joke, or I’ll have your head,” Butch said to me.
“I swear, it’s not.”
“I should kill you for that, you know.”
“And you have good reasons, but it won’t solve anything, now would it?”
I eyed Elena from the rear-view mirror; she was glancing out the window.
“Hey! Why the long face? If this guy upset you, you slap him!” Butch said to Elena.
She smirked as she put on round red-lensed sunglasses.
“I want a cup of coffee,” she said.
“Sorry, babes,” I said. “You’ll get it when we reach the destination.”
“And where are we going?” she asked.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Butch said, both hands clutching the steering wheel. “Diamond threatens the baby girl, here. If she doesn’t find him the money you stole, her loved ones nail it.”
“Yeah...” I said.
“And you want her to continue to inform him about your whereabouts.”
“To make it look as if I have no idea that I know.”
“What about the money that fucker took from me?” Butch exploded.
“You’ll have it when the time comes. You know I had no choice. I had to do what I had to do,” I said.
“Yeah, I don’t blame ya,” Butch said. “So he knows that I’m helping you out?”
“Did you tell him, Elena?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“No, I didn’t, but let’s assume he knows.”
The house was respectable from the outside. On the inside, it was ordinary looking. The living room had patterned wallpaper, chestnut furniture, and old floral sofa. It smelled of boiled cabbage.
“How homey,” I said.
Elena threw the bag on the floor.
“It smells of farts.”
Butch glared at her.
“Food is in the fridge.”
“Is there coffee?” she said.
“Yes, in the cupboard in the kitchen,” Butch instructed.
She crossed the living room and went to the kitchen. We watched her put the kettle on the gas cooker.
Butch turned to me.
“I’ll drop by sometime tomorrow.”
“Thanks, mate,” I said.
He pointed a meaty finger at me. “You owe me, big time.”
I went upstairs and opened the first door. It was the bathroom. I closed the door and ambled to the corridor. The next room was a bedroom. I wondered if this was Butch’s childhood home. A glass shattered from downstairs. I went down the stairs. Elena was on her feet in the kitchen, staring down at a broken mug.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, staring down at the shattered glass. “He’s going to start killing people, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t want people to die. Please give me the money. I want this to end.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“To hell with you!” she snapped.
I sighed. She took out a disposable phone from her back pocket. So that was how she kept in touch with him.
“What are you doing?” I asked, alarmed.
“I’m calling him,” she said without looking at me.
I started to pick up the broken mug as she left the house. I threw the pieces in the bin. I gazed out the window and saw Elena was glancing down at the grass. I tried to locate what she was looking at; there was nothing. I opened the window and saw she had tears in her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-five
