Breaking the Circle (10 page)

The first few steps made no noise, then one creaked loudly. She waited, ears straining – a sharp muffled sound came from above her and she froze. What if Gerard hadn’t taken Gunner
with him? What if he was asleep and had just woken up? Kay had told her not to worry because Gerard took the dog everywhere, but the animal had an injured paw, so perhaps he’d left him at
home. There it was again, a cry, not a dog, though – human.

Creeping up several more stairs, she peered up onto the landing. All doors were closed. Kay had instructed her – first door on the right. If she made it into the room she could pick up the
bag, slip back down and climb out of the window before anybody saw her. She pulled up the hood, tucking her ponytail inside.

Her heart was hammering as she stepped onto the landing and tiptoed towards the first room. Stretching out her hand, she reached for the doorknob but was stopped in her tracks by a sudden loud
cry. It went on and on, turning into a dreadful, keening sound – empty, helpless, desperate. It was a sound she couldn’t ignore.

The cry was coming from the room opposite and Maya turned and tugged open the door. A single bare light bulb illuminated the space; four mattresses were laid out and on each lay a young girl,
hands tied, feet hobbled, mouth taped, eyes staring helplessly.

Maya reeled back in shock, then her eyes rested on the girl nearest to her. She was the one moaning and crying, the sound edging out from silver tape which had come loose on one side of her
mouth.

Maya bent down. ‘What’s going on? Who are you?’

The girl rocked and swayed, her light brown hair tumbling around her face.

Maya reached out and ripped the tape from the girl’s mouth. ‘Sorry,’ she said, as the girl winced.

The girl stopped moaning. Maya put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Who are you? Who’s done this to you?’

The girl looked up, her brown eyes huge and sad. ‘I am Annika. They brought us here. They. . .’

The girl’s next words were lost as Maya was alerted by her mobile vibrating. Zac was sounding the alarm! She had to get out, and quickly.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ she said, spreading her hands wide and backing out of the room. ‘I’ll come back, I promise, I’ll send help.’

In a mad panic, she dashed onto the landing, wrenched open the door of the next room, strode over to a built-in cupboard and opened it. Just as Kay had said, there was a dark blue holdall on the
bottom shelf. She pulled the bag out and sped downstairs.

Descending the stairs, Maya heard a scuffing, scratching sound and, to her horror, Gunner appeared below her. He stood on the bottom step, panting, his tongue lolling sideways,
a deep-throated growl coming from his stomach. His fiery eyes were fixed on her, his jaws bared in a vicious snarl. She stood perfectly still and swallowed hard. Then the whole picture came into
focus. Around Gunner’s head was a white plastic cone; he couldn’t attack – if he did, he’d bite air.

Slowly, very slowly she edged down the last few steps, holding the bag in front of her. The dog snarled and snapped as she came close but he couldn’t reach her. She passed him nervously,
swinging the bag behind her legs to protect herself. Voices! There was somebody in the kitchen, but if she could make it to the window, there was still a chance of escape.

One, two quick noiseless strides; she was swinging the bag through the open window, a knee bent ready to climb out, when behind her, a voice shouted, ‘Stop, right there!’ and she
heard an ominous click.

‘Drop the bag. Turn round.’

She obeyed the order. A tall, stocky, ginger-haired guy wearing a denim jacket was pointing a gun at her. Behind him was Kay.

The man stuck the gun in his belt and grabbed Maya by the arms. ‘Get the bag,’ he told Kay. ‘Who are you working for?’ he snarled at Maya.

‘Nobody,’ Maya answered.

His fist struck the side of her face, sending her reeling; her vision blurred and she tasted blood.

‘You’re lying. You’re working for Creek.’

‘No. I’ve never heard of him.’ Maya grabbed onto a chair and levered herself up. The room span. She steadied herself, then, cradling her bruised face in the palm of her hand,
she stared down the barrel of the gun. ‘I’m not working for anybody. I. . .’

A sharp voice interrupted. ‘Gunner! ‘Ere Gunner!’ Gerard came into the room with the dog. ‘I know who she is,’ he said. His sharp eyes were on her, his mouth turned
up in a familiar sneer. ‘Shoot ‘er; she needs disposin’ of. ‘Er mum’s a cop.’

‘What?’ The ginger-haired guy seemed confused.

Gerard pointed at Maya. ‘She don’t work for Creek. ‘Er mum’s a cop – big ‘un, top of the ‘eap. She’ll ‘ave us all down, Ginge.’

‘What? What you got us into, you bloody fool?’ Ginger snarled. ‘You’re for it if Stefan finds out.’

Maya saw a look of panic cross Gerard’s face. ‘I was only doin’ what I was told, movin’ in, groomin’ – getting the kids ‘ooked. She’s one of their
mates.’

‘She needs getting rid of,’ Ginger said.

‘Yeah, shoot ‘er,’ Gerard urged.

The gun pointing at Maya blurred, seemed to grow and expand. She braced herself, ready for the explosion, the throb of pain. She held her breath as Ginger nodded. Then he lowered the gun.

‘Yeah, but not here. We’ll take her with the girls,’ he said.

Maya could hardly breathe, she felt like a cord was around her neck and somebody was pulling it tighter and tighter. Her eyes locked onto Kay’s. Had Kay betrayed her – did she want
her dead?

‘Put her upstairs. Tie her up, then she can do nothing,’ Kay said.

Gerard’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Kay. ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’

Kay’s eyes were frightened. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘I’ve just worked out your little game. Ask yourself, ‘ow did she know the bag was ‘ere? ‘Ow did she know where to find it unless somebody told ‘er? ‘Ow
did she know I’d gone to the vet’s with Gunner? I know about your meetin’s, remember my mates is everywhere. You and ‘er, you’re in this together, ain’t you?
‘Ow much are they payin’ you for the information?’

Gerard had hold of Kay’s neck and was pushing her backwards as he spoke. ‘You think you can make a deal with the cops. I’ve sussed your game, but they won’t give you what
you want. They’ll use you.’

‘No, no!’ Kay shrieked. ‘I did not do this.’

Suddenly Ginger stepped forward. ‘We’re wasting time!’ he roared. ‘What sort of an outfit are we running here? Makes us look like a bunch of amateurs. Stefan won’t
be pleased.’ He gestured at Maya with the gun. ‘Search her and give me the bag.’

With a leery grin, Gerard stepped forward. He picked up the blue holdall and handed it to Ginger, then he ran his hands over Maya’s hoodie, taking her mobile out of her pocket. He pulled
the cloth bag containing the screwdriver, torch and other implements from her shoulder.

‘Give it here,’ Ginger ordered. The mobile went into his pocket, he looked in the cloth bag and then threw it in a corner. ‘Right,’ he said, waving the gun,
‘let’s get the girls and get outta here before we’re raided. Whoever she’s working for, this place is dead.’

Maya felt something poke at the back of her knees. She flinched. Gunner had padded into the room and was sniffing round her and Kay.

‘Gunner can smell a rat,’ Gerard sneered. ‘That’s it, my old mate, you sniff ‘em out, traitors, eh? What we goin’ to do with ‘em?’

‘Bring them both. Shove them in the van,’ Ginger said. ‘If this girl’s who you say she is, there could be some money in it.’

He turned away, strode to the door and shouted into the hallway. ‘Ivan, Terry! Go and get the girls and you other two, come in here.’

Maya heard footsteps on the stairs, then she cringed as two guys in black tracksuits appeared. One was thin and wiry, the other built like a tank, his bull neck and stomach bulging.

‘Make sure you wipe this place down,’ Ginger ordered. ‘We don’t want the cops tracking us down. But before you see to that, escort our two guests to the van.’

The men said nothing but the thin one grabbed Maya in a vice-like grip, marched her into the hall and pushed her through the kitchen. She knew it was no use resisting, so she walked calmly and
quietly down the path and obediently ducked to get through the wire fence. Outside, a big white van was parked at the kerb. Her eyes raked the opposite pavement as the man’s fingers dug into
her arm.

Please let Zac see me, she prayed.

She was pushed forward so that her face was pressed up against the side of the van; her arm was wrenched painfully up her back while the beefy guy pulled some keys out of his jacket pocket and
tried them in the lock of the van’s back door. The more he fiddled with the lock, the more she hoped that any minute she’d hear a siren and police cars would appear. But the lock
turned, the guy pulled open the doors and heaved Maya into the back of the van as though he was throwing in a parcel. She landed painfully on her elbow and then Kay was subjected to the same
treatment, landing beside her with a soft moan.

At first neither Kay nor Maya spoke. Kay was breathing heavily, grinding her foot into the floor and uttering curses.

‘What happened?’ Maya asked quietly. ‘Why did you come back to the house? Did you shop me? You never told me about the girls!’

Kay spoke in low urgent tones. ‘Everything go wrong. Gerard leave to deliver the stuff. But I did not know these new girls come. Some men want to look at them. I try to stop them coming to
the house, but they suspect me. I did not betray you.’

‘Where will they take us?’ Maya asked.

‘Maybe the warehouse. Tomorrow they will kill us both,’ Kay whispered.

‘No.’ Maya reached for Kay’s hand. ‘Don’t say that, something will happen. My friend Zac was watching the house. He’ll tell somebody what happened –
we’ll be rescued.’

At that moment they heard voices, the doors were flung back and light briefly flooded the van. The four girls from the upstairs room stood at the doors.

‘Go on, get in,’ a man’s voice ordered and he pushed one of them forward so that she cracked her knee on the lip of the van. Crying softly, she crawled in and Maya glimpsed her
terrified eyes before the man roughly pushed the others inside and slammed the doors. Then they were in darkness again. Maya squeezed Kay’s hand. She heard a girl whisper. The engine started
up and they pulled away fast. Maya and Kay edged closer and clung to each other, trying to stop themselves from crashing sideways as the van swung round corners.

‘Where will they take us?’ one of the girls asked in English.

‘We don’t know,’ Maya answered and another girl started to cry.

The van was driven at high speed and Maya and the other women were thrown about as it dipped and swayed. Finally, after about twenty minutes of uncomfortable bouncing, they
came to a sudden stop. The engine was turned off and front doors opened and closed.

It was very dark in the back now and Maya couldn’t make out Kay’s features, but she felt her bony shoulders as they leaned against each other. Neither of them spoke and there was no
sound from the other girls. It was as if they were all holding their breath, waiting to see where they were and what would happen. Then the doors at the back rattled and were thrown open.

‘Right, get out!’ a voice commanded.

Daylight had faded, a single light was glowing in the distance, but from where she was sitting, Maya couldn’t make out any of her surroundings. She waited, trying to stay calm, letting the
other girls scramble out.

Kay edged forward. ‘We are at the warehouse,’ she whispered.

After the girls had shuffled forwards, Maya stepped down, and the man Gerard had called Ginger grabbed her roughly by the arm and marched her towards the building. At the small inset door she
hesitated, having to stoop to avoid the low door frame. Ginger was right behind her and gave her a strong shove so that she scraped the top of her head as she went reeling into the cavernous space
of the empty warehouse. Blinking, she took a moment to recover, then saw three men staring at her.

‘Which one is it?’ demanded a craggy-faced man in a shiny suit.

‘That one,’ Gerard said, pointing to Maya.

‘She workin’ for Creek?’ the shiny-suited man asked.