Ring Around Rosie (20 page)

“No idea, but we have to be ready whenever
it might be. And I think we should turn most of the lights off so he can’t see
what’s coming.”

Mai-Li nodded and obligingly turned them
all out except for a small lamp in the bedroom, which illuminated part of the
bed left empty by Tihana. Rosie could still see the creases she’d made in the
sheets; the imprint of her short time in the world. She was everywhere; in the
shoes strewn on the floor, the plate of old toast by her bed, the picture of
her family on the windowsill. Rosie had never known anyone that had died before
but it was like someone had cut her picture out of a magazine; the image was
gone but evidence of her existence was still there.

As she stood waiting by the door,
anticipation rapidly alternating between excitement and cold hard fear, Rosie
recalled all those weeks ago when she was painting on the cliff-top; how she’d
longed for a distraction from her boring life. Well, she’d certainly got her
wish, and then some. But now she wished she was back on that cliff-top, still
blissfully unaware of this terrifying world where life had so little value.

Suddenly there was the sound of a key
turning in the lock. Rosie raised her weapon above her head and took a deep
breath.

Ted was unsure whether helping Griff would
guarantee the safe return of his sister and Martha but he really had no choice.
As he stood beside a man he hated more than he could remember hating anything
else, waiting for Trig, Blue and Saffron, he filled his mind only with how this
was saving his sister, not how he was helping an evil criminal escape.

Trig had refused to have Griff in his house
so they had arranged to meet at an old warehouse by the river. Trig often used
it for shady deals of his own and called it his Country House Retreat, mostly
because there was a boat moored up outside for quick exits should the need
arise.

Just as Ted thought he could stand the cold
no longer, dawn began to break over the river and his bones almost hissed as
they thawed in the sun’s warm rays. The old run-down building seemed to thaw
too as the light touched it, and suddenly it seemed less foreboding. Ted
usually loved a sinister looking building with potential for a rave or a place
to vent his mischief, but today it was just another dark place like the one he
knew Rosie was in.

Suddenly, a car appeared from around the
other side of the warehouse and pulled up near the water’s edge. Ted felt like
he was in a movie and this was some kind of exchange: drugs or weapons or a
hostage. But in a way it was an exchange; it’s just that the things he wanted
hadn’t been brought to the table, they had been promised to him as soon as he
dropped Griff at the airport. There was no way of knowing that Griff would keep
his promise, but what choice did he have? He couldn’t go to the police; Griff
had sworn he would never tell where the girls were if anything happened to him.
Ted had thought about persuasion Trig-style but he knew that Griff had no weak
points and was wacko enough to endure any pain or threats without saying a
word.

Ted watched as Trig, Saffron and Blue
stepped out of the car. Then the other back door opened and Dillon got out. Ted
immediately bristled at his intrusion; what did he think he was doing here? He
hadn’t been around when he was really needed and now he was hiding behind
Trig’s legs like a nervous child. As they walked over, Dillon caught Ted’s eye,
his look filled with regret and pity, but Ted wasn’t ready to forgive him and
immediately looked away, focussing on Trig and the girls as if Dillon wasn’t
there.

Trig nodded at Ted as they came closer and
then stared at Griff who had his attentions focussed solely on Saffron and
Blue. Ted watched Trig position himself between the girls and Griff’s leer,
and, despite the fact that Trig’s height made little difference to Griff’s
perspective, his assured presence soon got his attention and Griff’s eyes
flicked to him.

“No touching, no looking and no talking,
got it?” Trig said firmly. Griff grinned and nodded, clearly amused by the
small man in front of him. Trig lifted his chin towards Saffron and she set
about unpacking her makeup whilst Blue unfolded the chair they had brought. Ted
could feel their unease at being at such close proximity to Griff, but they
kept their eyes down and got on with the job in hand, while Trig stood in front
of Griff’s seated body and made sure his eyes stayed facing forwards and his
hands never left his lap.

As Saffron worked her magic on Griff’s
face, Ted could feel Dillon’s eyes boring into him, begging for forgiveness. At
last Ted could stand it no longer and looked at him. Dillon tried to smile,
hoping Ted would mirror him, but Ted merely glared. Dillon flicked his head
suggesting they step away to talk but Ted wasn’t sure he was ready to,
especially as he suspected Dillon would get around him, as was usual when they
had a disagreement.

“Anything you want to say you can say in
front of them,” said Ted, cringing as he heard how that sounded. Dillon blushed
and Ted enjoyed seeing him falter as he tried to find the words.

“I wanted to say sorry for not being around
the past few days, it’s just that my mum’s cousin’s little girl turned up…” He
paused. “…dead. And I had to help her identify the body and then stay with her
while she contacted her cousin. It was pretty grim, the little girl’s body was
barely recognisable.”

Ted heard a snort come from Griff and
turned to see him swallow a laugh as Trig glared at him. The smile stayed
though and lay menacingly across his face twitching occasionally like an
impatient cat’s tail.

Ted felt awful for assuming Dillon had deserted
him. He should have known that he never would have done that.

He looked at Dillon apologetically. “Man,
I’m sorry, I had no idea. How’s your mum?”

“Not great. It appears the girl had been in
London, at least for a while – the police managed to catch some of the men
responsible – and mum feels bad that she didn’t look harder for her, make more
effort to find her. She blames herself.”

Ted didn’t know what to say. That it could
have been Rosie was all he could think about. 

“Anyway, I’d like to come with you when you
get Rosie and Martha,” Dillon said quietly. “If that’s cool?”

“Sure, thanks,” was all Ted could manage as
the guilt choked him into silence.

Ted quickly turned his attention and
feelings of anger towards Griff, expecting to see the now familiar sneer, but
got the shock of his life when he saw that sitting in his place was someone who
looked nothing like Griff. This man was at least twenty years older, had grey
hair and glasses. No matter how hard Ted looked he could not see Griff
underneath.

“Wow, Saffron, that’s amazing,” Ted said in
awe.

Saffron blushed.

Griff lifted his arm tentatively in the
air.

“What is it?” snarled Trig.

“Can I see?” asked Griff in a
mock-childlike voice.

Trig nodded at Saffron and she produced a
hand mirror. Griff took it from her, his gaze lingering on her longer than Trig
liked, so he snatched it from his hand and held it up for him blocking his view
of Saffron.

Griff nodded his approval as he studied his
new face in the mirror.

“Not bad,” he said in surprise. “Not as
handsome as my usual face, but I can live with that if it gets me out of here.
And what about the passport?”

Blue took her phone out of her pocket and
took several pictures of Griff’s new face. Ted could see her face set in a
rigid grimace as she fought to contain her hatred of the subject she was
photographing. Ted realised how hard it must be for both girls knowing what
Griff had done and what he was capable of, and yet having to be at such close
proximity. He felt a rush of gratitude towards them for being so strong.

Whilst Saffron packed away her makeup, Ted
watched in awe as Blue pulled out what looked like a tiny printer, attached it
to her phone, and printed out the picture, which she then stuck into Griff’s
new passport.

“I’ll take him to the airport if you want,”
said Trig, not taking his eyes from Griff.

“No,” said Griff, suddenly. “That wasn’t
the arrangement. Ted must take me. And only when I’m at the airport and have
bought my ticket will I tell him, and only him, where the girls are.”

“What difference does it make who you tell,
you…” shouted Dillon suddenly.

Trig held up his hand to silence Dillon.
“It’ll be fine. Dill and I will go to Streatham and wait for a phone call from
you, Ted, and then go straight to the address he tells you. Here, you can take
my car,” he said, tossing the keys at Ted. “We can pick up Blue’s car and take
that.”

“Remember,” hissed Trig in Griff’s ear, “we
know what you
really
look like, and the new name that’s in your
passport. If you cross us you will be hunted down like the rabid dog that you
are and shot. Got it?”

Griff grinned. “Yeah, yeah, I know what a
fearsome dude you are. I won’t do anything naughty, I promise,” he chuckled.
“Not much movement inside this stuff, is there?” he said, pressing his cheek.

Blue emerged from the car, passport in
hand. She gave it to Trig who nodded his appreciation and then handed it to
Griff who studied it closely before complimenting its authenticity and standing
up to leave.

“Well, this has been fun but I’ve got a
plane to catch. Ted?”

Ted hugged Blue and Saffron gratefully and
then thanked Trig and Dillon.

“See you soon,” smiled Dillon. “We’ll be
waiting by the phone.”

Ted got into the driver’s seat and started
the engine whilst Griff’s new identity slithered into the passenger seat. Ted
hadn’t had much driving practise since passing his test but his mind was so
focussed on getting to the airport and getting Rosie back that it all came back
to him and everything reacted seamlessly to his commands.

Griff was silent for a long time, which Ted
was relieved about. He couldn’t imagine anything they could comfortably talk
about. Ted just wanted to get him to the airport and then get as far away from
him as was physically possible. Then Griff broke the silence,

“I had to turn them in. They didn’t like
what I did to that African girl. Seems my brother has a conscience after all,
the big sap. I really think he would have called the cops on me if I hadn’t
reacted first. He seemed pretty angry about me letting your sister escape,
anyway, but after I let that happen to that little girl, well, he basically
lost it on me and I had to do something.”

Ted was struggling to understand what he
was talking about and wasn’t sure he needed to know. He bit his tongue, not
wanting to get into discussions about Griff’s sordid actions.

“I would never have done anything like that
to Rosie though. I just liked looking at her.”

Ted focussed all his attention on the road
ahead. He didn’t want to let his mind wander to the same place that Griff’s
was, he knew it was somewhere he may never return from, and he had to stay
strong for Rosie.

The traffic sped up ahead of him as two
lanes became three. They were in the last stretch that led to the airport. Ted
dared to let excitement build in his heart at the thought of seeing Rosie.
Not
long now
.

They found a short-stay carpark and Ted
followed Griff to Departures. Griff wouldn’t let him see the destination of his
flight, so Ted stood back and watched from a distance as he bought his ticket,
his eyes never leaving his strangely gangly frame and broad shoulders, his odd
new head balanced on the top like a toasted marshmallow on a stick.

Eventually Griff ambled over to him and
smiled.

“Well, you’ve stuck admirably to your side
of the deal so I guess it’s my turn. The address is 8 Church Road, and they’re
in one of the first floor flats. Tell Rosie I’ll send for her when I get
settled,” he chuckled.

Ted launched himself at Griff but he was
already running at speed towards the departure gates. Ted quickly pulled out his
phone and called Dillon to tell him where the girls were.

As he snapped his phone shut he stood
motionless in the sea of people scurrying past. He felt so disjointed. He
longed to get back into this rat race because the one he was in now he had no
chance of winning, but there seemed no place for him here anymore. How could he
ever return to the life he once knew, even if they did find Rosie?

Ted stared up at the departure board. He
could see at least eight flights that were currently boarding. His phone rang –
it was Dillon.

“They’re not here!” he shouted. “Don’t let
him go!”

Ted’s heart leapt to the back of his throat
and he gagged.

“What do you mean they’re not there, they
have to be,” Ted croaked back.

“Someone was here but not anymore, and…”
Dillon paused.

“And what, Dillon?” said Ted desperately.

“And there’s blood on the floor.”