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‘What have you done, you stupid bitch?’

Her father hissed the words at her, fury oozing from every pore.

‘Do you want me dead?’

Emilia said nothing, gathering herself. She had expected her heist to have implications, but she hadn’t expected it to be so swift or so brutal.

Her father’s face was a mess of cuts and bruises, his left cheek a deep purple colour.

And though this man deserved no pity, no sympathy from her, she couldn’t deny that she was upset that he had suffered so badly because of her.

‘What the hell happened?’ she demanded.

‘It doesn’t matter what happened,’ he snapped, casting a fearful eye around the room. ‘All that matters is that you do the right thing and fast .’

‘Give the gold back you mean?’ Emilia asked, incredulous.

‘Unless you want to see me on the mortuary slab, yes.’

He glared at her, sweaty and hostile, but his fear was palpable. Ernesto obviously believed he might not see out the day, unless she rectified matters. Once the idea might have given Emilia a dark thrill, but not now.

‘Where is it?’ he hissed, keeping his voice low.

Emilia’s mind rocketed back to the lock-up where she had stored both her car and the gold, a carpenter friend’s dumping ground for timber offcuts, but said nothing. Once bitten, twice shy.

‘It’s best I keep that information to myself for now,’ she responded coolly, aware that they’d reached crunch point, the real reason for her visit today.

‘Have you lost your mind?’

Ernesto slammed the table, making Emilia jump and causing a number of other visitors to turn their heads.

‘I’m sitting here, telling you I have hours to live,’ her father continued in a fierce whisper. ‘And you want to play games?’

His outrage was intense, his desperation clear.

‘You think this is funny?’

‘I’m not laughing,’ Emilia responded calmly. ‘In fact, I’m deadly serious. I will help you out, I’ve no desire to see you suffer, but I’m not just going to roll over. I took that gold for a reason.’

Now her father faltered, unnerved by this unexpected turn in the conversation.

‘What reason? I thought you wanted it for yourself …’

‘Not at all. I’ve no interest in your dirty money, in fact I don’t propose to keep a single penny.’

Ernesto stared at her in astonishment, as if he couldn’t understand how – why – anyone would turn their nose up at such a fortune.

‘In fact, I plan to give it back to your associates, to clear your debts.’

‘Then why … why did you take it?’ her father stuttered, struggling to keep up. ‘Tommy Barnes would have given it to the right guy in time. You got in the way of that.’

‘True, but I don’t like being hoodwinked. And I don’t like being dictated to. So now I’m going to be the one calling the shots.’

‘Be careful, Emilia,’ Ernesto warned. ‘You don’t know who you’re dealing with.’

‘On the contrary,’ she fired back angrily, gesturing to her face. ‘I know exactly who – what – I’m dealing with.’

For a moment, Ernesto said nothing, his gaze dropping to his feet. Happily for him a coughing fit now took hold, allowing him to turn his face from his daughter, whilst he gathered himself.

‘Here’s what I propose,’ Emilia eventually continued, trying to keep a lid on her emotions. ‘I will give them back the gold, I will get you off the hook, but I will only hand it back to him .’

There was a long, heavy silence, before a startled Ernesto found his voice.

‘You can’t be serious?’

Emilia’s stern look told him that she was.

‘He’s a dangerous guy, Emilia. An experienced guy. You try and negotiate with him and he’ll take your head off.’

‘Well, he can certainly try,’ she replied, forcefully.

‘I mean it. Think of your siblings, think of yourself. Please don’t do this.’

‘I have to do this. I have to look him in the eye, see what manner of man could do this to a child …’ she gestured to the side of her face once more ‘… and still sleep soundly at night. And I want him to ask politely for his gold back.’

‘Emilia, this is completely crazy. You don’t tell this guy what to do. You don’t ask him to grovel.’

‘That’s the deal. Take it or leave it. I trust you can get a message to him?’

‘Well, yes, I can, but …’

And now he paused, a dark suspicion stealing over him.

‘Is this some kind of trap? Are the police involved?’

He was looking at her shrewdly, as if concerned she was wearing a wire.

‘Of course not,’ she replied, waving her hand dismissively. ‘I’m as deeply involved in this as everyone else. I stole the gold from Louisa, attacked Tommy Barnes, lied to the police. I’ve got no interest in coughing up to any of this.’

She paused, gathering herself before she continued:

‘What does interest me is meeting the man who tried to destroy me. Who shattered my kneecaps, who melted my face. I will meet him, I will tell him what I think of him. Then he will politely ask for his haul and I will hand it over to him. That’s it.

So, you tell him. You tell him what I propose.

If he’s amenable, he can text me and I will set the time and place. Is that clear?’

Ernesto nodded, still dumbfounded by the boldness of her play. Smiling, Emilia rose to her feet, casting a triumphant eye over the grim surroundings.

‘Good, because we’re done here.’