Widows

Placing the key in the ignition, she turned it and the engine cranked over but didn’t start. She tried two more times without success. ‘Come on, come on...’ Dolly whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the two market traders looking over in her direction, but she didn’t dare look at them in case they came over to help her. Dolly dipped her head to regain composure. Oh, Linda... I’m gonna kill you if this doesn’t start. Dolly had tested the van, she was familiar with it; why wasn’t it working now?

‘Pull the bloody choke out and pump the accelerator, mate!’ one of the market men shouted. Dolly remembered what Linda had told her.

The engine started instantly and, once ticking over, it sounded good. Dolly raised her hand in thanks. Crunching into first gear, Dolly let her foot off the clutch too quickly, sending the van lurching forward. She could hear the men laughing at her. ‘Fucking idiot!’ one of them shouted. She ignored them. She just wanted to get out of there.

Back in the lock-up, Bella lifted up the chainsaw to test it out one more time. She’d padded up her shoulders so much she looked like a weightlifter on steroids. As she pulled the cord to start the saw, it slipped out of her hand. She’d never tried to start the saw wearing elbow length rubber gloves before and her hands were sweating profusely inside them. After a couple more attempts, she got the hang of it. She noticed Linda looking over at her hands.

‘You’re obsessed, woman! I got gloves on for Chrissakes. I got ’em on, all right?’ Bella said as she put the chainsaw in the rear of the van.

Linda looked over at Shirley. It wasn’t the fact she hadn’t put on her gloves on yet that angered her. ‘You got eye make-up on! You’ve bloody got eye make-up on!’

‘No, I ain’t!’ Shirley shouted. ‘It’s no sleep and puking makes me look like this.’

As Bella passed Linda she whispered, ‘Lay off her, all right? It’ll only take a couple of seconds to wipe it off.’

‘It ain’t make-up!’ Shirley repeated, moving toward Linda so she could see her close up. ‘Leave me alone — just leave me alone! I’m not stupid.’

Bella stepped between them, ‘Pack it in! You ain’t mad with each other, you’re stressed. But keep a lid on it, yeah?’ Linda put a gentle hand on Shirley’s shoulder; no more words were needed.

Linda opened the driver’s door of the van, climbed in and tucked her shotgun under the passenger seat.

Bella put her arm around Shirley’s shoulders. ‘It’s time for us to go. Dolly will be on her way to her start position. This is it, ladies... you good and ready?’

Shirley nodded, as did Linda. ‘Let’s do it!’

Bella and Shirley heaved open the garage doors for Linda to drive out, then closed and locked them before jumping in the back of the van. None of them noticed that the garage doors where the Alsatian lived were open, nor saw the dark-haired man in the BMW watching them.

Eight months ago to the day, Terry Miller, Joe Pirelli and Jimmy Nunn had driven a van from this very same lock-up to do the very same robbery.

‘Let’s go!’ Terry shouted, and a thumbs-up from Jimmy told him that they were all set. While Jimmy’s hand was in the air, Terry clocked Harry’s watch on his wrist. ‘Bleedin’ ’ell! Nice watch!’

Jimmy turned and smiled. ‘He said he was trading it in for the latest model as soon as this is all over. Suits me, don’t it?’ Jimmy turned his wrist to let the light catch the diamond-encrusted face.

Terry looked at Joe and they both smirked. ‘That’s not the only model Harry’s trading in after this job.’ Terry snickered, nodding toward an oblivious Jimmy. ‘His missus is a right little raver and Jim can’t keep up with her. But Harry can...’

Joe laughed as Jimmy pulled out of the lock-up. ‘A watch in exchange for his bird. Seems like a good deal to me.’

Chapter 30