The missing piece came from an unexpected person. A call came from Mike: he wanted a meeting but not at the manor. Dolly was unnerved by this. Would this be the moment he grassed? Was he wired up? If so, she would have to be too, but she made no mention of the meeting to the women. She travelled by train to London and met Mike in a small café by King’s Cross station.
Mike was not obviously nervous but a little tense, as he put down two cups of tepid tea. It took him a while before he came to the point, looking around then back to Dolly.
‘What do you want, Mike?’
‘I’m out. I’ve given in my formal resignation today. It goes without saying they’ve accepted it and that’s thanks to you.’
Dolly sipped the tepid milky tea with distaste. ‘So what do you want?’
‘Obvious, isn’t it?’
‘Not really. Why don’t you tell me?’
Mike again glanced around and Dolly leaned closer. At no time did he mention the train, the robbery or anything illegal, simply that he would be interested in helping her out on the business she had inferred she was going into, that he had a contact that might help him get the order she had mentioned.
Dolly nodded, tapping the edge of the saucer with her spoon. ‘You ever driven a speedboat?’
Mike tugged at his tie. He waited as she took out her notebook and jotted down three things. That’s what I need.’
Mike breezed into the house where Susan was vacuuming the hall.
She looked at him in surprise. ‘What you doing home?’
He switched off the hoover. ‘Come in. I got something to tell you.’
Susan followed him into the living room, where he sat on the sofa. ‘I just got fired.’
‘What?’
‘I just got fired. Well, not quite, I handed in my resignation. So that’s it, I’m out of a job.’
‘What do you mean, that’s it?’
‘I’m out of the Met. They found out about my sister and—’
Susan sank into a chair. ‘Your sister? What are you talking about? What sister?’
Mike sighed. ‘You’ve seen her face often enough, the blonde girl in the photo frame at Mum’s.’
Susan had seen the photo, it was hard not to, and a long time ago she had asked who it was. She’d never been interested enough or, for that matter, spent enough time at Audrey’s, for the photo to make any impression.
‘She was my sister.’
‘Oh, come on, Mike! What’s this all about?’
‘I’m trying to bloody tell you, if you’d just shut up.’
Susan leaped up. ‘You tell me one second you’re out of the Met, next you’re talking about some sister I’ve hardly ever heard of. How the hell do you expect me to react? What’s she got to do with your job?’
‘She’s dead.’
‘I know — I know she is. Mike.’
Susan flopped back in the chair and closed her eyes. She was just about to say something when he continued.
‘Shirley was younger than me. I’d already signed up when she was still a teenager. I had a brother in borstal so I wasn’t going to lay it on the line about the antics of my family when I joined the Met. A lot of blokes have some member of their family that’s a bit dodgy and Gregg’s just an idiot. I never had much to do with him, even less than Shirley because he was younger than her.’
Susan leaned forward. ‘Will you get to the point, Mike? I’m trying to follow all this, honestly I am, but I don’t understand why you’ve brought her up in connection with your job. She’s dead, isn’t she?’
Mike put his head in his hands. ‘She was married to a right villain, bloke called Terry Miller. He’d done time for armed robbery, then he was on some job, a big raid on a security van and he... he got burned to death.’
‘What? I don’t believe I’m hearing this. If this is some kind of a joke... You said she was killed in a car accident.’
Mike snapped, ‘Just fucking listen! I don’t know all the ins and outs but after Terry died, Shirley got in with some people and...’ The more he tried to explain, the more insane it all sounded. He was almost in tears. ‘Shirley was shot in an armed raid nine years ago.’
Susan was stunned into silence. Mike’s face was white as a sheet as he stumbled through the rest of the story: how he hadn’t even returned for her funeral, how he had cut her out of his life and tried for years to cut out his mother too.
Susan’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t go to him to put her arms around him because she was so confused and close to tears. ‘Is this... this little tart you’ve been seeing all part of it, then? Is that why you’re suddenly telling me all this?’
‘No, it isn’t. She’s got nothing to do with it. If you must know it’s Audrey, it’s all down to that stupid bitch my mother. She screwed me up but I’m going to get out of it.’
‘Does that mean you’re leaving me and the kids? Is that what this is all about?’
Mike moved to her side and gripped her arm. ‘Sue, listen to me. I have no intention of leaving you or the kids. I’ve told you that it’s all over between me and Angela, it should never have even started. That was me being fucking stupid and I’m sorry I put you through it. But, Sue, you got to trust me now, really trust me, because I need you. I need you to back me up, not go against me. I want you to do just what I tell you to. It’s very important I have just a few weeks on my own to sort my head out, okay?’
She pushed him away. ‘You are leaving me, aren’t you?’
‘No, I’m not, but I want you and the kids to go and stay with Mum in Spain.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t start with the “what” again, you heard me. Get the kids out of school. I’ve arranged for you and them to go and stay with Mum.’
Again Mike put his arms round her and she fought against him but he wouldn’t let her go. She broke down and started to cry.
‘Don’t, please don’t. You got to trust me, Sue, you have to. It’s for all of us. I’m going to get a job, I mean it, but I’ll just need a bit of time before I can join you in Spain. I swear on my life, I’m not lying. I love you and I love my kids.’
Dolly stood ten yards down the road from Mike’s house. She could hear every word they said and when she heard Susan agree to go to Spain, sobbing her heart out, she removed the small earpiece and slipped it into her pocket. She reckoned she could trust Mike but he had still not got her the Semtex. The conversation he’d had with his wife and his having left the police were good, and he had already implied that he would be willing to be more than just blackmailed into helping her. Now she had him exactly where she wanted him — and she needed him. Dolly had calculated that without him there weren’t enough of them to do it, but until he brought the explosives, she would not be a hundred per cent sure. Cautious as ever, she was not allowing herself to move ahead until she had had a further discussion with Mike as to exactly what part he would be prepared to play.
Dolly was in a very good mood at dinner that evening. She opened a bottle of cheap wine and they all accepted a glass. She made no mention of Mike or her visit to London. It was obvious something had gone down because of Dolly’s good mood, but it didn’t spread to them. Instead it bothered them.
Angela served the dinner, the children having eaten earlier, and after the meal Dolly went up to read them a story. The little girls had become much more open and smiled freely now. In fact their presence made the entire house more relaxed. No one ever spoke about their plans in front of them and, apart from Ester, the women had become genuinely fond of them, especially Angela, whom little Sheena doted on. They had new frocks and shoes and socks, a big room full of toys and they began to use the word ‘home’ for the manor. Having so many rooms to run free and play in, and so many adults caring and making sure they were happy, had had the desired effect: the little girls were happy and loved.