The Locksmith by Linda Calvey (reading in the dark .TXT) 📕

Towels were strewn over the side of the bath and there was a line of scum around its rim; toothpaste was splattered over the sink. She moved on again. This time, she found her target. The door creaked as it opened. Better warn Bobby, she thought. The door led to a small office with a desk piled high with papers, shelves which had folders and files placed in a higgledy-piggledy mess on top, and a large safe in the corner. Bingo! Ruby smiled to herself. The noise from a door flying open downstairs made Ruby freeze. She could hear someone on the stairs. She edged behind the door and waited.

There was another creak and the sound of distant footsteps, but they were now walking away. Ruby breathed out. Time to get out of here. She tiptoed to the staircase. She couldn’t see if anyone was at the bottom as it wound round to reach the upper floor. She listened again, straining to hear but there was nothing to alert her and so she started to descend. Just as she pushed open the door at the bottom that led out to the pub, she was stopped by the landlord.

‘And where are you goin’, young lady?’ he drawled, grinning at her like a hunter who’d found a rabbit in his trap.

Ruby had to think fast.

‘Oh, silly me,’ she giggled. ‘I was lookin’ for the ladies’. I’m so sorry, I must’ve taken the wrong door.’ Was it convincing enough? If the landlord guessed she’d been upstairs then the whole operation might be blown. He’d be suspicious and could even move the cash out to somewhere more secure. She had to pull this off. Their first job for Archie had to go off without a hitch.

He looked her up and down as if she was something delicious to eat. Ruby pouted. ‘Do you know where I need to go?’ She made her eyes as wide as possible, her face as blank as a Barbie doll.

‘Course I do, darlin’, you’re in my pub,’ he smarmed. Ruby knew instantly she’d fooled him. He leaned against the door-frame almost trapping her where she stood. She moved quickly, turning her body sideways and extracting herself from his presence. ‘Oh, there it is. I am daft. I’m so sorry to bother ya,’ she twittered, moving away and throwing him a smile as she went. ‘Thank you.’

Once inside the ladies’, Ruby leaned against the sink, staring into the mirror and exhaled slowly. ‘That was close, Ruby Murphy,’ she muttered to the young woman who stared back at her.

‘You waitin’, love?’ a woman barely out of her teens said as the door banged open.

‘No, sorry, just leavin’,’ Ruby replied, and pulling her gaze away from the mirror, she walked out and over to Bobby, who by now was looking worried.

‘Rube, where the hell ’ave ya been?’ he hissed.

‘Sorry, Bobby. I didn’t mean to worry you. I did manage to get upstairs, though,’ she smiled, enjoying Bobby’s reaction.

His face changed from worry to amusement. ‘Trust you, Rube. Always up for takin’ a risk.’

‘Bloody hell, I almost didn’t get out of that one!’ Bobby panted when he marched in through the front door, heading straight to where he knew Ruby would be waiting.

It was the early hours of the morning, the sky still black as coal, when Bobby arrived back from raiding the safe for Archie.

‘What is it? Are you all right?’ Ruby stood up abruptly, almost spilling her cold coffee. Minutes earlier she had been yawning with exhaustion but now she was wide awake, senses on high alert.

Her brother threw his black holdall onto the elegant dining table, ripping off his black jacket and gloves.

‘I’m fine, Rube. Didn’t mean to startle ya, but there was a . . . hitch . . .’

‘Was it Archie? Did he do us over? Oh my God, ’ave I been stupid and let him charm his way in?’ She was wild-eyed now, the tiredness suddenly dropping on her like a great weight.

‘Nah, nuthin’ like that, at least I don’t think so. Look, if Charlie says Archie is kosher then he’s kosher,’ Bobby answered, dragging his hands through his dishevelled hair.

‘So, what went wrong, then?’ Ruby asked, sitting down again.

‘The bloke was still in there!’

‘You what? But Archie said he’d be out all night.’ Ruby frowned.

Bobby, seeing the expression on her face, shook his head. ‘It ain’t what you’re thinkin’. I don’t think Archie mugged us off. I think the bloke who owns the pub probably went out but pulled a bird and came home early.’

‘Oh Christ,’ Ruby whispered, feeling the sudden urge to laugh.

Bobby saw the amusement she tried to hide, and continued, ‘As I crept up the stairs, keepin’ my feet right on the edge of each step to stop them creakin’, I could ’ear him. He was screwin’ her’

Ruby looked down at her manicured nails, currently painted bright red.

‘So they were . . . screwin’ . . . in his bed. Go on,’ Ruby said with distaste. She hated the casual way men talked about sex, as something funny or dirty. She might still be a virgin but she had an inkling from the love that her parents always showed each other, and the love Grandad Jim felt for Granny Ruby all those years after her death, that it could be something much more special, more meaningful, than mere ‘screwing’.

‘I carried on goin’ up the stairs, what else could I do? You’d told me which door was the one for the office. The only tricky part was gettin’ past the bedroom door, which was open! I had to watch them at it till there was a moment I could get past and into the office.’ Bobby snorted now with hilarity. ‘God, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight of his arse goin’ up and down!’

‘But did you get the money?’ Ruby interrupted him.

Bobby wiped his eyes and nodded. ‘All of it. The landlord won’t realise until he checks it for the wages, and then all hell will break loose!’

‘Good. So