One False Move Read online

  ‘I hope you haven’t been knocking about with the lads in that gang again,’ Nanna Lisa warned him.

  ‘Or Adam,’ Hayley added.

  Adam was her ex-boyfriend and Lily’s father. Back in the bad old days, Adam had been her partner in crime. Jamie had looked up to Adam, the first older male figure in his life. ‘Adam this, Adam that’, was all Jamie had seemed to say.

  At first Hayley had been grateful to Adam for taking Jamie under his wing. It made her smile to see the two men in her life so close. That was until the day she had seen Adam give Jamie a package, when he was just fourteen. In that moment she knew Adam was drawing her baby brother into his lawless world, just like he’d done to her. Hayley had felt both horror and a crushing guilt. Jamie would never have met Adam if it hadn’t been for her. After she got out of prison Hayley realised that Adam did not intend to leave his life of crime, so she cut all ties with him and made Jamie promise to stay away from him too.

  ‘I told you I’m not seeing him any more,’ Jamie answered, in a voice so angry it startled Hayley. ‘What do you want me to do? Write it in blood on the wall?’ And with that he stalked out. Speechless, Hayley gazed after him. She hadn’t seen Jamie this angry since they buried their mother nine years ago. A few seconds later his bedroom door slammed.

  ‘Leave him. Let him cool off,’ Nanna Lisa said softly. ‘I’ll put Lily to bed.’

  While her grandmother took Lily to the room she shared with her mum, Hayley knocked on Jamie’s door. When she got no response, she opened it. Jamie lay on his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He looked so innocent, just like the child he had once been, the one who’d called her Lee-Lee because he couldn’t say her name properly.

  Hayley sat down next to him. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’

  He didn’t say anything for a while, but then quietly let out, ‘It’s OK.’

  ‘I need your help.’

  Jamie sat up. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘I got mugged tonight—’

  Before she could finish, Jamie stormed off the bed, his face red with fury. ‘No one robs my sister. I’m going to find them and when I do I’m going to beat the crap out of them.’

  Though Hayley was proud her brother wanted to defend her honour, she wouldn’t let him attack another person, whatever they’d done. ‘I don’t want any trouble. I just need to get the money back. Can you give your friends a bell to see if they know who did it?’

  Jamie took out his mobile and spoke to his friends for the next fifteen minutes. At last he said, ‘Sorry, Hayley, no one knows anything. But I bet there’s someone who can help you.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Adam. He’ll know who did it. And if he can’t find out who attacked you, he might give you the money.’

  Hayley shot to her feet. ‘Never. I will never take his dirty money.’

  Besides, she told herself, she might still be worried but the important thing was that Mary Lewis would understand. Mary was a good woman.

  3

  9 a.m.

  The sun was bright in the sky the following morning, but there was a chill in the air. Hayley wrapped up warm before going out to see her boss, Mary Lewis. The loan company was called Quids In and was just off the high street near the market. It was also a second-hand store so there were lots of cut-price phones, tablets and other digital goodies in the window. The name of the shop was written in big black print against a friendly pink background. Underneath was a poster declaring ‘cash with a smile,’ next to a picture of an old-style pound note with the Queen grinning on it.

  By midday Quids In was heaving with people, but when Hayley got there it was still early morning and the steel shutters were down. She pressed the intercom.

  ‘Who is it?’ Mary’s voice asked on the speaker.

  ‘It’s Hayley.’

  ‘I didn’t expect you yet. Give me a minute to open up.’

  Hayley waited nervously as the shutters over the entrance were raised. Mary grinned through the glass, showing off the perfect teeth that Hayley admired so much. She knew it was a bit daft to like someone’s teeth, but they showed how Mary was always careful to be turned out right. She never had a hair of her dyed blonde head out of place and always wore a skirt suit. Hayley hoped to be like Mary Lewis some day.

  When Hayley got inside, she saw a teenage boy sitting with his feet up on the counter, his fingers madly tapping away at a mobile phone. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t even look up.

  ‘Don’t worry about him,’ Mary said with a cheery smile as she put her arm round Hayley’s shoulders and led her further into the shop. ‘That’s my nephew, Carl. He’s taking a bit of a breather from school.’

  Ah, so Mary had another Jamie on her hands.

  ‘Fancy a cuppa?’ she offered. She turned and walked over to a small kettle set on a round tray with two cups, a bowl of sugar and a carton of milk.

  Hayley shook her head. All of a sudden she felt tongue-tied. How was she going to tell this good woman that she’d lost her money? A thousand pounds. The best thing to do was to just say it.

  ‘Mary, I had a bit of a problem last night.’

  The other woman didn’t turn round as she asked calmly, ‘What type of problem?’

  ‘I’d collected most of the money and was on the final leg of my rounds when I got jumped and robbed.’

  Mary placed a teabag in a blue mug. ‘Are you all right, dear?’

  Hayley breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She’d been right to believe that Mary would understand. ‘He roughed me up a bit, but it was only my back that got bruised.’

  Mary poured milk into her cup, but didn’t add any sugar. She picked up the boiling kettle and finally turned to face Hayley. She still wore a smile but it looked like it had been set in stone. She turned towards her nephew. ‘Carl, will you hold the kettle for me a minute?’

  Carl placed his mobile carefully into his trouser pocket and took the kettle from his aunt. Mary’s eyes never left Hayley. ‘You’ll just need to come in the back and sign some documents. Company policy.’

  Mary led the way into the back of the shop. They entered a corridor, which didn’t fit the bright, breezy look of the storefront. It was dark and dingy with so much dust in the air that Hayley sneezed.

  Mary pushed open the door to the office. But she didn’t go in. Instead she said, ‘After you, love.’

  Hayley stepped inside. A brutal-looking thug of a man sitting in a swivel chair raised his head. She didn’t like this. She turned round to find Mary and her nephew blocking her exit. Hot steam wafted from the kettle Carl held in his hand. Mary shut the door and turned the lock.

  A frightened Hayley looked wide-eyed at Mary. All the kindness in the other woman was gone.

  ‘Wh—’ Hayley gulped, her eyes swinging to the kettle. ‘What’s going on?’

  Mary broke the deathly silence, her voice strong, like she was addressing a conference. ‘Hayley, I want to introduce you to my brother Bobby who owns half of the business.’ Her voice turned nasty. ‘She’s told me some cock-and-bull story about being robbed last night. Says someone beat her up and took a grand off her—’

  Mary never finished because her brother shoved himself to his feet, making his chair fall with a crash. Hayley started quaking when she saw the size of him. He was a mountain of a man. All thick neck, thick arms and bone-crusher hands. He glared at her. ‘What have you done with my money?’ His voice was husky and surprisingly soft.

  What was he talking about? Hayley stared back at him as if he had two heads. ‘Someone attacked me and cut my money belt off with a knife. Do you want to see the bruises on my back?’

  Only when Bobby growled like a dog ready to pounce did Hayley realise she should’ve watched her tone. But it was too late. When he stormed round the desk she knew she was in big trouble. She desperately tried to push her way past Mary and the kid with the kettle, but their bodies were a wall. She looked around desperately. No way out! No way out! br />
  Bobby snarled as he reached her. She let out a loud scream when his arms clamped round her waist, lifting her off the floor as if she weighed nothing. She kicked him hard in the shin, but he showed no pain. When she tried to hit him again, he waved her around like a rag doll. He slammed her back down on to the desk. The bruises from last night’s attack burst into pain – a whole new agony.

  He pinned her arms to the desk. His face was one of the worst things she’d ever seen. It was twisted so purple with rage the blood vessels stood out everywhere.

  His voice was still soft as he said one word: ‘Carl.’

  The teenager sauntered over. He looked down at Hayley with no pity in his eyes. He raised the kettle full of boiling water. ‘Shall I do her face?’ The excitement in his voice was sickening.

  Bobby said, ‘I’ll make him do it if you don’t tell me what really happened last night.’

  ‘But I have,’ Hayley called out loudly.

  ‘What a shame,’ came Mary’s voice from the back of the room.

  Carl moved the kettle towards her face. Tipped it forwards. Hayley squeezed her eyes tight shut. Full of dread, she waited and waited for the scalding liquid to burn her skin. But all she felt was warm water, cooled by the air, seeping on to her neck. She dared to open her eyes to find that the kid had poured water on the table near her head, leaving it to spread towards her.

  ‘I swear, on my daughter’s life, I wasn’t involved in the attack.’

  ‘Carl,’ Mary ordered. The teen backed off. ‘I believe her.’

  Bobby shoved his face close to hers. ‘Listen up and listen good. I don’t care what you have to do, but you better have my money back here by four.’

  ‘If you don’t,’ Mary warned, ‘we’re not coming after you. It will be your daughter.’

  4

  10 a.m.

  Hayley finally stopped walking after five minutes and leaned heavily against a wall, her heart pumping away like crazy. She still couldn’t believe what Mary, her brother and their nutcase of a nephew had done. Mary had seemed like such a nice lady. How wrong Hayley had got that. Now they wanted their money back by four. She checked her watch. She only had six hours to do it or else … She was almost sick as she pictured that kettle coming – not towards her face, but Lily’s.

  What was she going to do? Her brother’s words spun in her head:

  ‘Adam. He’ll know who did it. And if he can’t find out who attacked you, he might give you the money.’

  Hayley shook her head. There was no way she was going to her ex-boyfriend. She’d have to get the money another way. But how? Her mind ticked over, trying to come up with an answer. A light bulb in her head lit up. She had an idea.

  She checked her watch again.

  10:10

  She had to move fast.

  Ten minutes later, Hayley rang the bell on her friend Sharon’s front door. Sharon lived on the next estate, on the second floor of a small block of flats. Sharon was her best friend and always good for a laugh. They’d met at school aged eleven. They’d done everything together, including getting involved in crime. And they’d been arrested together that last time. And had been sent to different prisons. While Hayley had found out she was pregnant in prison, Sharon had left behind her two-year-old son. Nanna Lisa had taken care of Lily, but Sharon had no one to look after her boy and he’d ended up in care. Sharon had fought hard to get her son back. Just like Hayley, she’d vowed to go straight.

  ‘Hayley,’ Sharon said when she opened the door, her face breaking into a wide smile as she welcomed Hayley in. She was pretty and small with super-soft skin and jet-black curly hair.

  Unlike Hayley, Sharon had managed to find a good job after getting out of prison. Her sister had fixed her up with a job at a travel agency. So Hayley wasn’t surprised to see Sharon’s packed rucksack near the electric fire in the sitting room. Sharon was always flying here and there on cut-price holidays, a perk of her new job.

  The sitting room was filled with things that showed how well her friend had turned her life around since leaving prison. There was a gleaming cream leather sofa with plump cushions on it, a television with a satellite box and a cabinet with shining glasses and bottles inside. And so much more. Hayley felt a stab of envy.

  I wish I could give Lily a home like this.

  As if reading Hayley’s mind, Sharon put a soothing arm round her shoulders. ‘You’ll have a place like this one day. Just you wait and see. You’ve already found yourself a job—’

  Hayley cried out, ‘But that’s the problem.’ She turned and looked her friend in the eye. ‘I’ve made a big mistake, Sharon.’

  Sharon frowned in concern and led her to the long sofa to sit down. ‘Tell me what’s happened.’

  Hayley poured out her story. ‘If I don’t get their money to them by four, they’ll come after me and Lily.’ She shivered.

  Sharon took Hayley’s hand and squeezed it gently. ‘This isn’t your fault. All you did was try to find a decent job so you can look after Lily.’

  Hayley licked her lips, upset. ‘I don’t think I’m going to find out who did it. I need to get my hands on some cash.’ She hated doing this, but what choice did she have? ‘Can you lend me a grand?’

  Sharon whistled, her eyes widening. ‘That’s a lot of money.’ For some reason her gaze darted to her rucksack. ‘But maybe—’

  Before she could finish, the doorbell rang. She squeezed Hayley’s hand again before she stood up. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll get this sorted out.’

  As Sharon left the room, Hayley gazed after her with love brimming in her eyes. They had been through some tough and hard times and Sharon had remained a loyal friend. Hayley admired her so much for what she’d made of her life. If anyone could help her out of this mess, it was going to be Sharon.

  Sharon closed the door, but she didn’t come back into the sitting room. Instead Hayley heard another set of footsteps as Sharon took someone into her bedroom. Their voices came loud and clear through the thin walls.

  ‘Are you all packed and ready to go?’ It was a man’s voice. Low and gruff.

  ‘Yes. Billy will be staying with my mum as usual.’

  ‘I don’t care what you do with your son. That isn’t my business.’ Hayley tensed in her seat. She didn’t like the sound of this man at all. Why was he being so mean?

  She got up and made her way to the sitting room door, intending to offer help if her best friend needed it. But the voice started up again and stopped her in her tracks.

  ‘All I care about is you getting that package delivered on time,’ the man was saying. ‘The boss says there’s a nice bonus in it if you can get it done by tonight.’

  Package? Hayley frowned. Why was Sharon delivering a package? Who was the boss? The only boss Sharon had was at the travel agent’s.

  Sharon’s soft laughter came through the wall. ‘Don’t worry, I always get the job done on time.’

  ‘The boss wanted to ask a favour …’ Hayley strained to hear the rest, but couldn’t because his voice was too quiet to make out the words.

  Hayley was totally confused and very anxious. Her gaze fell on Sharon’s rucksack. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself walking across to it. She frowned. Maybe Sharon had to deliver a package for someone from the travel agent’s while she was on holiday? But a sixth sense told her that wasn’t the case.

  She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she was worried about Sharon. She listened carefully to make sure the hum of their voices was still coming from the other room. She glanced at the half-open door, then dropped to her knees next to the packed bag. She reached out to touch it, but her hands froze in mid-air.

  You shouldn’t be doing this, she warned herself.

  But what if Sharon’s in trouble? another voice in her head said.

  Hayley listened to the second voice and her hands landed on the bag. One steadied the rucksack as the other slowly pulled back the zip. Her heart began to race and sweat glistened along her hairline. The
zip squeaked. Oh no! Hayley’s hand froze. She leaned towards the wall. She could still hear the voices. She touched the zip again. Very, very slowly, a little at a time, she moved it . Down, down, down it went until finally it came to the end. She was almost too scared to look.

  She pulled the top open and peered inside with troubled eyes. She flinched at what she found. If Sharon was going on holiday, there would be clothes and other travel things, but there weren’t. Instead there was a large blue package.

  ‘What are you doing in my bag?’

  Hayley jumped to her feet when she heard Sharon’s furious voice behind her.

  Sharon marched across the room, her eyes flashing. She pushed past her, leaned down and quickly closed the rucksack. The zip made a hissing, scratching sound that felt like it was going all the way down Hayley’s spine.

  Sharon shoved her fists on her hips. ‘What gives you the right to stick your nose into my things?’

  Hayley stood her ground. ‘Where did you get that blue package from?’

  ‘It’s none of your business,’ her friend snapped back.

  ‘That man who was just here, I heard him talk to you about delivering a package. Is that it?’ Hayley stayed calm. The last thing she wanted was to have an almighty row with her best friend.

  Sharon pushed her fingers nervously through her curly hair. ‘That was my boss from the travel agency—’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ Hayley snapped. ‘I know when you’re telling the truth and when you’re not. You’re not.’

  Sharon’s hands fell limply by her sides as if all the life had drained out of her. ‘I couldn’t do it, Hayley. My sister did find me a job in a travel agents.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘But do you know what the job was? In the kitchen making cups of tea and being a general dogsbody. It paid a pittance. I’ve been working for Mary Lewis and her brother.’

  ‘Oh, Sharon.’ She really felt for her friend. ‘I didn’t know you were collecting money for them as well.’