Black Widow. Jessie Keane

her in disgust.

      ‘And don’t sell yourself so damned cheap,’ she told the girl. ‘Go on, get out.’

      Roberta hustled past Tony and the blonde.

      Annie turned toward Lou and looked at him as if he’d just crawled out from under a rock.

      ‘You’re the manager here?’

      ‘That’s right,’ said Lou with bravado. ‘Jonjo Carter hired me last year.’

      Annie nodded. ‘And I’m firing you this year. That’s sort of neat, don’t you think?’

      ‘Now wait.’ Lou looked outraged. ‘Just because I poked one of the girls over the desk?’

      ‘No, because I don’t like your face and I don’t like your attitude. Now—keys. You’re the manager; you’ve got keys, yes? Hand them over.’

      Lou looked at Annie’s face. Then at Tony’s. The blonde was still, watching.

      ‘Ah, what the fuck, I hated the job anyway,’ snarled Lou, rummaging in his jacket pocket and slapping a bunch of keys into Annie’s waiting hand. ‘But you’re gonna be sorry you did this,’ he warned, pushing past her and past Tony and the blonde, and stamping off down the stairs.

      ‘See he goes straight off the premises, Tony,’ said Annie. ‘Don’t want him helping himself to the fixtures and fittings, do we?’

      Tony pushed the blonde further into the room and followed Lou out through the door, shutting it firmly behind him. Annie shrugged off her coat and went around the desk and sat in Max’s high leather chair.

      Right here was where she’d been shot. She looked at the wall behind the chair, where the bullet that had passed through her and had imbedded itself. The wall was smooth now, neatly repaired. No trace of that traumatic event remained. But there was still a safe in the corner. She looked at it.

      A combination safe. She wondered what was in there, and if it was enough. She doubted it.

      She turned back to the blonde and nodded to the chair on the other side of the desk.

      ‘Hiya, Jeanette. Take a seat. We need to have a chat.’

      Jeanette looked sulky. She slumped down into the chair and stared at Annie mulishly.

      ‘You didn’t even say goodbye,’ said Annie coolly. ‘And I thought we were such good friends, too.’

      ‘You’re joking,’ snorted Jeanette.

      ‘That’s right,’ said Annie. ‘I am.’

      ‘So what do you want? I’m supposed to be on again in fifteen minutes.’

      ‘You’re not,’ said Annie.

      ‘Not what?’

      ‘You’re not on again in fifteen minutes. In fact, you’re not on again ever, not here.’

      ‘Oh come on!’ Jeanette burst out. ‘You can’t fire me too! I ain’t done nothing wrong and you know it. Listen,’ she whined, ‘I’m just keeping my head down and doing what I’m paid for, that’s all. I don’t want to know about your business, I don’t want to get involved.’

      ‘But you’re already involved,’ said Annie. ‘Remember? You’re involved because you were there, right there in Majorca, when it happened. I was out of it; they doped me. But they didn’t dope you. So you were conscious all the way through. You saw what happened. And I need to know more about what you saw.’

      ‘I’ve already told you. Nothing.’

      ‘You said there were four of them…’

      ‘Three, four…maybe more. I’m not sure.’ She shook her head, frowning. She pulled her red robe closer around her. ‘It was all so confusing. So fucking frightening. I’ve never been so scared in my life.’ She looked at Annie. ‘I thought they were going to kill me.’

      There was a tap on the door. Tony poked his head around it.

      ‘He’s gone, Mrs Carter. Anything else?’

      ‘Yes, Tony. Close up, will you? Send all the punters home, and all the girls and the barmen—we’re closed until further notice.’ She tossed him the keys. ‘Lock up after, will you? Then get the locks changed. Pound to a penny Lou’s had a spare set cut, and we don’t want any unexpected visitors.’

      Tony opened his mouth, then shut it again. The door closed and he was gone. A man of few words, Tony. Annie sort of liked that.

      ‘Now Jeanette,’ she said with a chilly smile, ‘tell me what happened while I was out of it.’

      ‘I already told you,’ moaned Jeanette.

      ‘There were four men? Five men? A fucking army? Come on, how many? You were there.’

      Jeanette nodded wearily. ‘Um, I dunno. Maybe four, maybe three. Two big ones I think, and maybe one small.’

      ‘Small, what? Short?’

      ‘Short…um, slight, you know.’

      ‘Slight. What, like a jockey you mean? Short and skinny?’

      ‘Um, I don’t know. I was scared to death. I’m not sure.’

      ‘Which one slapped me with the chloroform?’

      ‘God, I dunno.’ Jeanette looked away.

      ‘Think.’

      ‘One of the bigger ones. First he…’ Jeanette’s face clouded and she fell silent.

      ‘What? Go on,’ said Annie.

      Jeanette gulped and her eyes got teary.

      ‘Max had got out of the pool again. I saw him on the other side, he was towelling himself dry, then I saw one of the big ones come up behind him and hit him on the head. He never even saw it coming. He went down like a sack of shit. I was just starting to sit up, then there was another one on our side of the terrace and he slapped that pad on your face and Jonjo started to wake up and then this bloke just turned…’ Jeanette’s face crumpled…‘He just turned and shot Jonjo straight between the eyes.’

      It was quiet in the office for long moments while Jeanette looked down at her lap. Tears spilled down her cheeks and dripped off her nose.

      ‘I know he wasn’t a good man,’ she sobbed. ‘I know he didn’t treat me too well, but they just wiped him out like he was nothing.’

      Annie felt her blood run cold, felt despair seize her in its grip all over again. A deliberate, calculated hit. She stood up and closed the window, looking out at the rain, the people scurrying about, the cars moving slowly through the packed streets…all these people, with homes to go to, loved ones to see. And what did she have now?

      Nothing.

      Max was dead.

      Layla was God knew where.

      She gulped and felt like joining Jeanette and having a bloody good howl. Maybe it would make her feel better, who knew? But she was used to keeping her feelings inside. A loveless upbringing with a drunk of a mother had seen to that.

       Dig deep and stand alone.

      She hadn’t had to stand alone for some time. There had been Max, taking the weight, seeing to her comfort and security; but now he was gone. And she was going to have to learn to stand on her own two feet again—because what was the alternative? Sink into the abyss. Give up the fight.

      No fucking way, she thought. Not while there’s still a chance for Layla.

      She turned, leaned against the dusty window frame. Jeanette had composed herself a little, she saw. Good.

      ‘So which one grabbed Layla?’ she asked.

      Jeanette