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

flinch but there was no need to worry. She knew she had this man hook, line and sinker.

Strangely, even though he was a good-looking wealthy man, she felt her flesh crawl as he touched her and wondered what this meant. She couldn’t look into his eyes as the shades concealed them. That small seed of doubt implanted itself further into her mind.

This one needs watchin’, she thought.

Saban said, finally, ‘OK, OK. Two weeks, you say? You are very well informed. Perhaps you should come and work for me . . .’

All four of them laughed politely, the tension still rising in the room.

‘I will do as you ask. The goods will be at Glasgow Dock when you require them, though I will need to charge you more, dear lady, for transporting. There are dangers . . .’

‘Naturally,’ Ruby murmured, ‘but we’ve set the terms. We will pay what we’ve agreed and you will transport the cocaine to Glasgow.’

Ruby could sense Saban’s anger building, though he gave no outward indication.

‘How can I refuse such beauty?’ he said at last, through teeth that to Ruby looked like they wished to devour her.

Archie stepped closer. He was smiling but she knew he was wary, feeling protective of her.

‘It’s been a pleasure,’ Ruby replied, giving him a wide smile and, at the same time, taking back her hand, feeling the skin burn where he’d held her.

Archie’s instincts were always to protect her, but Ruby knew she could look after herself. With a dazzling smile, she turned to the wine chiller and poured glasses of champagne for them all.

‘To success,’ she said.

‘Success,’ they all chorused back. Without taking a single sip, Saban looked at his watch and made his excuses.

He looked back at Ruby as if to question her.

‘Two weeks,’ was all she said, then turned away.

Lloyd showed Saban out, leaving Archie and Ruby alone in the office.

‘You did it, Ruby.’ He bent his head and kissed her neck softly.

Ruby moved towards him, returning his kiss, the thrill of the adrenaline rush still surging through her veins. Making deals was in her blood.

CHAPTER 32

‘You what? He’s been expelled, again?’ Ruby said, holding the receiver to her ear.

The posh voice at the other end hesitated. ‘We don’t say that he’s expelled, Mrs Willson, but we won’t be accepting your fee for this term – or any other in future.’

‘Same bloody thing!’ Ruby swore. Using bad language was testament to how cross she really was.

‘I am sorry, but the school governors have given this a lot of thought. George won’t be welcomed back to Darlington Grange next term.’

Ruby hung up, her heart pounding.

‘George! Where are ya? We need to talk!’ Ruby burst into his bedroom in their mansion in Chigwell. The family was back in the UK briefly to settle George back into school – and now that wouldn’t be happening.

‘What?’ George said sullenly, his ears covered by headphones, a gaming device in his lap.

‘You can stop playin’ that bloody machine and look at me,’ Ruby shouted. She was at breaking point with him. Being expelled once was unfortunate, she could make believe he’d made a mistake, and could learn from it. Being thrown out a third time, from a very exclusive school that had promised to help him, well, that was another matter.

‘I need ya to listen to me. What the hell were ya playin’ at, dealing weed to your classmates? Why did ya do it?’ she said, starting to calm down. She plonked herself down on his bed feeling grateful that Archie wasn’t there right now, as he’d go mental at this latest trouble from her little brother.

‘For fuck’s sake, Ruby, you’re not my mum, now leave me alone!’ George snarled, looking back to the screen.

‘Please don’t swear at me like that, George. I’ve spent my life tryin’ to help ya. Now tell me what happened. The school says you can’t go back.’

‘Good,’ George said. ‘I hated it there. They thought I was dirt cos they’re all so snooty and up themselves.’

Ruby sighed. She sighed a lot when it came to George. ‘They were tryin’ to help ya. Now, I know I’m not your mum, God knows that’s true, but we’re family and I’ve raised you as my own . . .’

At that point Cathy walked in.

‘I heard shouting . . .’ she said, looking between the pair of them. ‘George, what’s happened?’ She came and sat on the floor next to her uncle, and gently lifted off his headphones. He submitted to her, and Ruby wished, not for the first time, that she had her daughter’s way with him, her gentleness.

‘Look, Cathy, I hated that school, and they hated me. All I did was sell a bit of weed to my mates. They overreacted. Everyone was doin’ it, they just picked on me cos I don’t ’ave a judge for a dad like some of them there.’

There was something in what he was saying.

For a moment, Ruby saw the courtroom when Bobby went down for the robbery she agreed to. Along with the familiar flush of guilt, she remembered the smell of privilege in there, how she could never join that world, never be considered an equal no matter how much money they had.

She looked at her little brother and understood what he was saying but also despaired of him ever fitting in anywhere. ‘Look, so what you do is ya don’t give ’em anythin’ to throw at ya. If they’re lookin’ down on ya, you work to be the best, you don’t give them the rope to hang ya. You’ve got a lot to learn, George. Now you’d better pray my husband takes the news better.’

Ruby glanced down at him, now playing the video game with Cathy who was giggling as they raced cars across impossible terrain. She could see how far he’d shut down his emotions, and she despaired for him.

As predicted, when she broke the news to Archie, he lost the plot. Storming into George’s room, his voice could be heard through the house. ‘Don’t ya