The Promise Page 28

  Squeezing in behind a large group of men standing next to them, Javine kept her face to the bar so that if she was seen she could pretend she was waiting to be served. She edged a little closer so that she could make out what they were saying over the rest of the voices and music around her.

  ‘You were right, Len, she was hanging off my every word.’ Delray was laughing. ‘Lapping it up.’

  They were talking about her. She knew it.

  ‘Wait till it dawns on her that she’s fallen for it for a second time. Silly bint.’

  Lenny laughed and handed Delray an envelope.

  ‘Ashleen couldn’t find Javine’s passport so we just got both of the girls new ones made up. They’re quality copies, Delray. They look spot on.’

  Delray nodded; looking pleased that tonight was all coming together without a hitch.

  ‘There’s a couple of Mercs parked out the back in the car park,’ he said. ‘We’ll give the girls a few more drinks then we’ll make our way out there. Tell them that we’re going to an after-party or something,’ he said, putting the documents into the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘Then we’ll just wave our friend Hamza off. By the time the girls realise that there ain’t no after-party and that we’ve fucked off, there’ll be jack shit they can do about it. They’ll be Hamza and his men’s problems then.’

  Javine couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  Delray was talking about her and Georgie. He was planning on leaving them both with Hamza? He’d had fake passports made up specially?

  She felt physically sick now, stunned.

  Javine had been playing the long game, biding her time; she’d been waiting for her perfect opportunity to get her revenge on him. Only, it seemed that her time had run out.

  All this time, he’d been setting her up. Even tonight, suggesting the makeover for Georgie. He’d manipulated them into thinking it had been their idea. When this had been Delray’s plan all along.

  He’d set her up. Set Georgie up.

  They were both in real danger.

  She needed to get Georgie, and they both needed to get the fuck out of here.

  Turning back to the booth, Javine couldn’t see Georgie. The seat she’d been sitting in was empty. Javine scanned the faces nearby. Hamza wasn’t there either. She looked around the club, frantic now. The main bar; the dance floor.

  Georgie wasn’t here.

  The car park?

  She had an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach that Georgie was in danger.

  She just prayed that she was somehow wrong.

  Fearing the worst, Javine kicked off her shoes and made her way to the club’s main stairs. Running as fast as she could.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  The man was sitting so close to her that it felt like he was almost on top of her, the huge bulk of him making her feel fenced in, claustrophobic.

  Georgie was suddenly feeling very frightened of that fact they were alone out here. No one knew where she was. No one gave two shits.

  She felt stupid. Stupid and scared.

  ‘It’s okay, Georgie,’ Hamza said, taking no time in getting himself acquainted with the girl. He stroked her thighs with his rough, calloused hands, as she tried to move away from him.

  ‘I thought we could just have a little fun tonight. You’d like to have some fun, right?’

  Georgie was looking around the car, trying not to make it obvious she was wondering if she could make it into the front seat, if maybe she could try and get out one of those doors. Or perhaps a window, even.

  But she knew it was pointless.

  Hamza had the keys. He’d locked them both in. There was no escaping.

  ‘How old are you, Georgie?’

  ‘I’m twelve,’ she said, her voice suddenly sounding even younger.

  The man smiled. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as if he was savouring her words, like music to his ears.

  ‘Delray will be looking for me,’ Georgie said, hoping the tactic of mentioning Delray’s name would be enough to deter him from trying to hurt her.

  It wasn’t.

  Mirthlessly, the man just laughed. Shaking his head. He said he couldn’t help but admire the young girl’s spirit.

  ‘Delray won’t be looking for you,’ he said with certainty.

  Georgie nodded. ‘He will be; he’ll be looking for me. You better let me out. He’ll get mad.’

  ‘He’s not going to help you, darling. Trust me. He was the one that gave you to me.’

  The man was hurting her now. Kneading at her skin roughly with his hands, pinching her flesh between his fingers.

  His hand scooping beneath the hem of her dress, as he tried to push it up higher.

  Georgie yanked it down.

  ‘Delray said you were feisty.’ He grinned.

  Smiling, surprised at the young girl’s strength, her fight only added to his fun. He wasn’t going to let her lack of enthusiasm deter him. In fact he quiet liked a bit of rough and tumble every now and again. It made a nice change from the obedient little bitches whose services he normally hired at the weekends.

  Tugging at the material once more Hamza tried to yank the dress up over Georgie’s head; only, Georgie was using all her strength to tug it back down again.

  She felt exposed, frightened, as he tried to move on top of her. His fat sweaty body in-between her legs, trying to force them apart.

  Georgie refused to let him touch her, to hurt her.

  He was too strong for her though. With the added advantage that he was completely sober.

  She didn’t stand a chance.

  He was on top of her now. Pinning her body down to the back seat.

  Georgie couldn’t move to get the man off of her.

  She could barely squirm.

  ‘That’s it,’ he said, practically salivating over the child beneath him as she finally lay still. ‘Play nice, Georgie. I only want to have a look at you; I’m not going to hurt you.’

  He was tugging at her dress again. Pulling it up, exposing her body.

  The image of Shaun and what he’d done to her flashed in her mind. She wasn’t ever going to allow that to happen to her again. Georgie started to scream. Projecting her voice as loud as she could, she prayed that someone would hear her cries.

  The man brought his hand down. Determined to silence the child, to cover her mouth.

  Just as Georgie had hoped he would.

  This was her only chance.

  Latching onto the man’s plump sweaty hands, Georgie sunk her teeth firmly into his skin. Wildly now, she shook her head, making sure that her bite was having maximum impact as she tore at his flesh. She could taste blood, could feel a chunk of the man’s flesh coming away in her mouth.

  The man was screaming. Throwing himself back wildly, grabbing at his injured hand as he tried to calm himself, as the pain tore through him.

  Georgie took her chance and made a grab for the key fob.

  Reaching for the door handle, she managed to wriggle her way out from underneath Hamza and out of the car. Out onto the cold wet ground of the car park.

  Scrambling to her feet, ready to run, the man leapt out from the back of the car and grabbed at her leg, causing her to fall back down onto the ground.

  ‘You vicious little bitch.’

  He pulled her back into the car, forcefully; angry that the girl had bitten him.

  Georgie struggled with everything that she had, but the man was just too strong for her. She couldn’t escape him. She couldn’t get away.

  He had her. He was going to hurt her.

  A noise from behind her caught her off guard. It caught the man off guard too. The sound of a glass smashing against something hard. Shards of glass raining down all around her. A cold, icy spray.

  Hamza slumped forwards, unconscious. Blood pouring out the cut on his head.

  Georgie looked up and saw Javine standing there, the remnants of a champagne bottle that she’d picked up from the holder in the back of the car
in her hand. Blood was trickling down her wrist. Georgie went to say something, but Javine silenced her.

  ‘We don’t have time to talk right now. We need to leave. NOW.’

  Grabbing Georgie by the hand, she pulled her up onto her feet. ‘Come on, Georgie.’

  The urgency in Javine’s words told Georgie all she needed to know. They weren’t out of trouble yet. But she didn’t understand why. The man was out cold. He couldn’t hurt her.

  Javine had saved her.

  But Javine didn’t seem too convinced that she had. Pulling at the younger girl’s shoes, Javine yanked them from Georgie’s feet.

  ‘We’re going to have to run, Georgie. We need to get the fuck out of here. We need to get Marnie away from Delray’s right now. You’re not safe.’

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  ‘Good evening, Miss.’

  Ignoring the concierge as she ran past the apartment’s front desk, Javine Turner frantically pressed the button next to the silver metal doors. Staring up at the numbers she willed the lift to hurry the hell up.

  ‘Come on,’ she said, as the doors finally opened and she pulled Georgie into the lift alongside her, wrapping her arm around the girl as they made their way up to the top floor.

  ‘Is he dead?’

  Javine shook her head regretfully.

  It was the first thing that Georgie had said to her since they’d run away from the club.

  Javine had knocked Hamza out, he had a nasty gash on his head too, but the man had still been breathing when they left. Unfortunately.

  ‘We didn’t do anything bad, Georgie. It was self-defence. What that man tried to do to you was wrong, really wrong. You’re going to be okay now. We just need to get your sister and get out of here.’ Javine knew that they wouldn’t have long before Delray noticed that they were missing, or one of Hamza’s men found him out in the car park.

  Once they put two and two together, this would be the first place they looked for them.

  Delray on his own was bad enough, but Hamza’s men would be out for blood.

  She needed to warn Mandy, and to get Georgie and Marnie the fuck out of here, pronto.

  They didn’t have long. Maybe ten minutes, if they were lucky.

  Javine still couldn’t believe what had almost happened tonight. What Delray had been planning. The idea of what that fucking pervert had almost done to Georgie, of what he was intending to do with them both, sickened Javine to her core. These poor, traumatised kids had already been through so much. They’d trusted Delray and, all the while, he’d been planning to do something so despicable that even Javine couldn’t get her head around it.

  ‘Quick, come on.’ Reaching the top floor, Javine led Georgie out of the lift, bashing her fists against the apartment door as hard as she could.

  ‘Mandy, open up. It’s me, Javine!’

  ‘All right, all right!’

  Mandy had barely had time to prise her arse off the sofa and Javine was already hammering the door down. ‘Keep your hair on. You’re going to break the bloody thing down in a minute. Have you not heard of having a bit of patience?’ Mandy scolded as she flung the door open and stepped aside, wondering what was so urgent that little miss fancy pants couldn’t wait a few minutes for her to open the door, like any normal person.

  ‘Me and Marnie were just snuggling up to watch The Wizard of— Oh My God! What’s happened?’ Mandy said stopping dead in her tracks as she took in the state Georgie was in.

  The girl had left here a couple of hours ago looking like a supermodel. Now, her dress was all torn, and she had smudges of black mascara streaked across her face. She’d clearly been crying.

  ‘Have you been in a fight?’ Mandy asked, confused to see Georgie in such a bad way. She searched behind the two girls and realised they were on their own.

  Seeing Georgie standing in the doorway crying, Marnie ran to her sister, wrapping her arms around her. She hated to see her sister crying.

  ‘It’s okay, Georgie. I’ll mind you, please don’t cry.’

  Javine looked at the two sisters with sadness. Shaking her head once more. This was all such a mess.

  ‘Where’s Delray? Why have you two come back on your own? What’s happened?’

  ‘I haven’t got time to explain, Mandy. Just get Marnie. We’re leaving,’ Javine said, pushing her way past her.

  ‘What do you mean “we’re leaving”?’ Mandy said, watching the girl as she rushed about the place, grabbing some bags from the cloakroom and shoving items of clothing inside.

  ‘I need to get something for the girls to wear,’ Javine said, running into the bedroom, and pulling open one of the wardrobe doors.

  Coming back into the room, she slung a cardigan over to Mandy.

  ‘Put this around Georgie. She’s freezing. It’s probably a bit of shock.’

  Mandy did as she was told. Then, taking the other jumper Javine had left on the sofa, she put it on Marnie.

  ‘Trust me when I say that we need to get the fuck out of here, and fast. The girls aren’t safe here.’

  Sensing Javine’s urgency, Mandy ushered the girls towards the door.

  She didn’t have a clue what the hell had gone on tonight, but she knew that it must be something really bad.

  Especially if Delray was behind it all.

  ‘Marnie. I’m going to need you to mind the dogs for me, okay?’ Javine said.

  Marnie nodded at Javine, only happy to help. Javine’s little dogs were her two new favourite animals. She watched as Javine scooped them both up and placed them inside the holdall before looping the strap over Marnie’s shoulder tightly.

  ‘You got them?’

  Marnie nodded, holding the bag to her for dear life.

  ‘Right, are we ready?’ Mandy said, putting her arms around the girls as she led them out into the main hallway and pressed the lift button.

  ‘Hold on, I’ll be two minutes.’ Grabbing the last holdall, Javine ran back into Delray’s office.

  Remembering the money.

  It had all been part of his little mind games: showing her the safe, telling her that he trusted her. He must have thought she was really thick to fall for his bullshit. Javine hadn’t believed a word of it. She knew now that Delray didn’t give two fucks about her. Why would he? He didn’t even care about his own blood. The only thing that Delray cared about were material things. This apartment, his fancy clothes, his car.

  Money.

  The only way she’d ever come close to hurting him would be to hit him where it really hurt. Right in his pocket.

  After tonight she was going to have to get as far away from here as possible. He’d kill her for scuppering his plans. For wrecking his big ‘deal’.

  Well, fuck him. The man owed her big time.

  Keying in the code, Javine’s heart started to pound as she heard the loud beep, then the safe’s door sprang open.

  Opening the holdall, she wasted no time, swiping the piles of money straight inside with one swift motion.

  Her fingers touched something hard and cold at the back. She leant her arm back inside, standing on her tip-toes so that she could reach it.

  ‘Javine. Come on.’

  Bingo, she got it.

  Looking down, Javine held Delray’s gun tightly in her hand. It wouldn’t hurt to have an extra bit of security she figured, as she placed it inside her coat pocket.

  Just about to leave, she remembered one more thing.

  Her engagement ring.

  Twisting it off her finger, she slung it inside the safe. Delray Anderton could take it back. She was taking his gun and his money, but she wouldn’t be taking the ring. It meant nothing to her. Nothing to him. Besides, at least when he did see that she’d cleared him out, he couldn’t really claim she took everything.

  Not such a money-grabber after all, hey?!

  Javine ran now. Out to where Mandy and the kids were standing by the lift, waiting for her…

  Just as the lift door sprung open and Delray Anderton step
ped out in front of them all.

  * * *

  ‘And where the fuck do you all think you’re running off to in such a hurry?’ Delray said stepping into the hallway, a thunderous look on his face as he stared at Javine and Mandy. Incredulous that these two bitches thought they could just do a runner.

  Delray eyed the blood that had splattered all down Javine’s legs, and he shook his head despondently.

  ‘You do know that you’re a fucking dead girl walking now, Javine, don’t you?’ he sneered.

  He’d already seen the state of Hamza Nagi. The bloke had been properly fucked up. This divvy bitch in front of him had beaten the man around the head with a bottle of his own finest champagne and left him to bleed out on the floor of the club’s car park. Hamza was on his way to see a private doctor as they spoke. He was bleeding heavily, but he’d live. Unlike Javine, when the man eventually got hold of her. Delray hadn’t been able to apologise enough. He’d offered to find Javine himself and personally deliver the girl to him. All fees waived, of course.

  Only, by the looks of it Javine had no intention of sticking around. The brain-dead cow didn’t realise that she wouldn’t be going anywhere. She’d well and truly signed her fate now.

  Delray was beyond angry.

  Up until now, Delray had executed his deal with Hamza Nagi to perfect precision. Tonight had been set to be what Delray had only hoped would be the first of many.

  Javine had chosen to fuck it all for him, in epic proportions.

  ‘Ohh, Javine, Javine. You have no idea, do you?’ he sneered. ‘If you think me and Lenny were ruthless cunts, you haven’t seen anything yet. Hamza Nagi is a fucking lunatic. The man gets off on torturing birds like you, even more so seeing as you almost caved his fucking head in.’

  Delray looked at Georgie then.

  The girl looked a mess. Her hair all matted against her scalp. Her make-up all smudged.

  He screwed his mouth up.

  He’d guessed the score already.

  Hamza Nagi had been greedy tonight. That had been the real flaw in Delray’s plan. Hamza had taken Georgie before the deal had been properly sealed. There was a code of procedure that should have been followed. Handshakes that should have been made on the official handover of ‘the goods’.