Page 54

BEFORE

July 1981

Elsie

Elite, Wandsworth, London

Elsie went back to the park every day that week, but when Sally did turn up, Ian was with her. It was clear that Ian did not trust Sally, and was watching her closely. He called Nicola to cancel her Saturday hair appointment, claiming Sally had a tummy bug.

But Elsie kept her faith, because she knew that Ian would eventually turn his eyes away from his wife and son. In the meantime, she had work to do, preparing for their escape.

Elsie turned to Reggie again, who was more than happy to come through for them. He quietly took over and devised a plan for Sally and Zach. And, as Elsie had already decided to move on from London, it made sense that she would disappear with them both.

It would be a fresh start for them all that Elsie couldn’t wait to begin.

Reggie asked for photographs of Sally and Zach, which Nicola was able to provide. He used his contacts to create two new identities for them.

They would leave on Wednesday.

Reggie would take them to Liverpool port on Wednesday morning, where they would travel onwards to Dublin, hidden in the back of a lorry. Reggie had found a flat for them and paid the rent for a month, so that they could lie low there. Then he would be in touch again, with details of how they would move onwards to Spain, using his network of contacts again.

‘Maybe we should go to a small village somewhere in Ireland rather than Dublin?’ Elsie asked, surprised by the arrangements.

‘Trust me, getting lost in a busy city is easier than standing out like a sore thumb in a rural location. I know what I’m doing.’

Over the years, Reggie had disappeared on several occasions to lie low following some misdemeanour, so she trusted his judgement.

Now, they had to get Sally and Zach away from Ian.

Elsie had shared the bare minimum about the plans with Nicola, as Reggie had been adamant that nobody should know the details.

‘What Nicola doesn’t know, she can’t tell,’ he’d declared.

Nicola accepted this with her usual grace. ‘I’ll miss you all. When you are settled and safe, you get in touch. But let me see if I can get Sally and Zach here on Wednesday.’ She picked up the phone and dialled Sally’s number.

‘He won’t let you talk to her,’ Elsie said.

‘It’s Ian I want to talk to,’ Nicola said.

The two women leaned in to listen, as Ian answered the phone.

‘Hello, Ian love, it’s Nicola here. How’s Sally? Is that tummy bug better?’

‘She’s good as gold again, Nicola. Thank you for checking in,’ Ian said.

‘Can I have a word?’

‘She’s upstairs with Zach, giving him a bath,’ Ian replied without missing a beat.

‘That little fella is lucky to have you both. Best parents a child could wish for. Can you remind Sally that she’s got an appointment here on Wednesday?’

‘Oh, I didn’t know that. She never mentioned it,’ Ian replied.

‘That wife of yours would forget her head if it weren’t stitched on,’ Nicola joked, and Ian laughed in response. Then her voice became serious and she said, ‘If Sally doesn’t turn up on Wednesday, I’ll think there’s something up with her. That you’re hiding her from me, Ian.’

Ian whistled softly, then responded, ‘Nobody is hiding anyone. Sally will be there. What time?’

Elsie whispered, ‘Eleven o’clock,’ and Nicola repeated that to Ian. ‘Ta-ra, love,’ she said, then hung up.

Since then, Elsie had kept herself busy, packing up her things from the flat. Most of her belongings went to a charity shop, where she’d bought them in the first place. Then she gave two suitcases to Reggie, who assured her they would be in the car waiting for them on Wednesday.

‘I’ve cancelled all my appointments. Given Andrea the day off,’ Nicola said when Elsie arrived on Wednesday morning, a little before eleven. ‘Oh my days, I’ll be in an early grave with all this worry. I hope you know what you’re doing, Elsie.’

‘I trust Reggie. He’ll be here at quarter past. I’m going to wait in the storeroom, in case Baldwin walks in with Sally.’

‘What do we do then?’ Nicola asked, biting her lip.

‘I’ve no idea,’ Elsie said.

A few moments later, the door opened. Despite it being the summer, the heavens had opened up with a heavy downpour of rain. Sally pushed the pram into the salon, and Elsie could have whooped with relief when she saw that she was alone. Until she took in her friend’s complexion. Sally was pale, had dark circles under her eyes and looked as if she had aged over the previous couple of weeks.

Nicola took the pram from Sally, wheeling it beside the front reception. Then she locked the door to the salon. Elsie ran over to the pram and pulled back the blanket to double-check that Zach was okay. He smiled up at her, a big goofy grin, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief. It still caught her off guard how alike he was to her little Bertie. She cursed herself for allowing him to jump into her mind, and pushed his face away from her again.

Elsie touched Zach’s cheek gently, amazed at her love for this little boy. She turned to Sally and said, ‘It’s going to be okay. I’ve got a plan. We’re going to run today, in a few minutes.’

Sally’s eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. ‘We can’t go today. I told you, he’s always one step ahead of me.’

‘What do you mean? What’s happened now?’ Elsie asked.

‘This morning, before he left for work, Ian told me that he has eyes all over the city. He said that if I was ever stupid enough to try and escape, he’d find me. Then, when he did, he’d have me arrested for abduction.’

‘The bastard,’ Nicola said. ‘He can’t get away with this. We need to call the Old Bill. Report him.’

Elsie looked at Nicola with disdain. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Baldwin is the Old Bill. We can’t call them. They all look after each other. Did he drive you here?’ Elsie’s eyes darted to the window of the salon.

‘No, I got a taxi.’ Sally ran a hand through her blonde hair, and the sleeve of her blouse fell down, revealing a purple bruise on her forearm.

Elsie caught Nicola’s eye. She’d seen the bruise too.

‘That’s a new one,’ Elsie said.

‘Ian didn’t like my tone when I asked him to increase my housekeeping. I thought if I could get extra cash, it would help when I run.’

‘Don’t worry about money; I’ve got that sorted. Everything is in place. I told you, we have to leave. Today,’ Elsie said firmly.

Sally’s face turned ashen. Her voice trembled as she said, ‘Not today, Elsie. I told you that Ian is watching me. He suspects I might try something while I’m here, so he has a squad car parked down the road. I clocked it when I got out of the taxi.’

‘Reggie will be able to lose the Old Bill. Won’t be the first time he’s had to shake them off,’ Elsie said, unwilling to admit defeat. She’d put too much into this to let it go without a fight.

‘We wouldn’t get further than the end of Battersea Park Road.’

‘Let me see if the car is still there,’ Elsie said. She pulled a poncho-style rain mac from a peg behind the desk and put it on. Her face disappeared into the voluminous hood when she pulled it over her head. She picked up Nicola’s cigarettes, lit one, walked to the salon door, unlocked it, and walked outside. She stood for a moment, puffing her cigarette, then stubbed it out on the path, returning inside, shaking the wet mac off, and placing it back on the peg.

‘It’s still there. Parked outside the corner shop,’ Elsie said.

‘I told you. He’ll never let me get away, will he?’ Sally said, her hands trembling as she wiped tears from her face.

‘He can’t watch you twenty-four seven,’ Nicola replied. ‘You’ll find a way.’

Zach whimpered in his pram. Elsie walked over and rocked him until he settled.

‘Sally, listen to me. I can feel it here –’ Elsie thumped her chest – ‘if you don’t leave today, he’s gonna kill you both. That man ain’t right. There’s a violence in him that scares me.’

‘You think I don’t know that? I want to leave, but I have to know that it’s safe to do so. That there’s no chance it will fail. Because, if it does, I’ll lose Zach.’

‘We can disappear before Baldwin even knows we’re gone. I know we can,’ Elsie insisted.

Nicola looked outside the window again, frowning. ‘I don’t know, Elsie. That squad car is only a few feet from here. I think let the dust settle for a few weeks, then when Ian’s guard is down, Sally and Zach can get away safely. I’m sure Reggie can rearrange things.’

Elsie sucked in her breath as anger sparked inside her. Nicola and Sally didn’t get it.

Waiting got you killed.

She knew that better than anyone else.

‘I’m supposed to leave for Spain today. I’ve given up my flat,’ Elsie said.

‘That’s the answer. You go to Spain, find a place over there for you all, then Sally and Zach can follow in a few weeks,’ Nicola said. She led Sally to the sink. ‘Come on, love, let’s get your hair sorted. You can’t go home without a blow-dry and set, or he’ll be suspicious.’

Elsie was stunned as Nicola ran the water over Sally’s hair. Was Sally stupid? Or too scared to do the right thing? Did it matter which? She didn’t suppose it did.

Sally began to cry as Nicola wrapped her hair in a towel once she’d finished washing it. Her body rocked and reeled as she sobbed in Nicola’s arms. It was as if, once she’d started, she couldn’t stop.

‘Let’s go upstairs to the flat for a cuppa. Tea always makes things a little easier to bear, doesn’t it? And maybe a sandwich. You’re skin and bones. I bet you’ve not eaten a bite with the worry.’

Sally nodded, then made her way to the pram to get Zach.

Nicola steered her towards the stairs. ‘Elsie can get Zach. You concentrate on yourself for a few minutes.’

Elsie smiled reassuringly at Sally, as she picked up the infant. ‘We’ll follow you up.’

Zach looked up at Elsie, his blue eyes wide in question.

‘What’s wrong, little man?’ Elsie asked, cradling him close to her. ‘What horrors have you already been witness to?’

She felt tears sting her own eyes as a memory pierced her.

The silence, deafening, slicing cruelly through the air. The smell, like rotten eggs, making her nose wrinkle. She gagged, as her eyes moved around the room. Brown hair, fanned across the white tiled floor. Still, so still.

‘I won’t let anything happen to you, Zach. I won’t,’ Elsie promised.

Her body trembled as her mind rallied with what to do next. And then she heard a car pull up in front of the salon.

It was Reggie. He wound down his window and peered out, beckoning to her to join him.

As if moving in a trance, Elsie picked up Zach’s changing bag, slinging it over one shoulder. A sheen of sweat lined her face as she looked out of the salon window, up and down the street, checking for any sign of Baldwin, or his cronies.

The squad car was still there.

Elsie walked behind the reception desk and grabbed Nicola’s rain mac again, pulling it over herself and Zach, the hood covering her face. Her legs felt leaden as she went to the salon door, but they still moved, one foot at a time. She slid the lock across, unlocking it in one fluid movement, and for a moment Elsie waited for a voice to call out to stop her.

Sally or Nicola would come down, looking for Zach. She’d turn back, and that would be that.

But no voice came.

Zach’s little hand reached up and touched Elsie’s face. Those eyes looked at her again, pleading with her to help him. As another little boy’s had done, a long time ago.

She had to do this. She had to save him.

She leaned in and whispered into his soft, downy hair, ‘If I take you now, then your mummy will have no choice but to follow us. She’ll leave your bad daddy behind her. Reggie will tell her where to find us. I couldn’t keep Bertie safe, but if I take you with me now I can make sure that nothing bad ever happens to you.’

And then, in a move that would change everyone’s lives forever, Elsie slipped out of the salon and got into the back of the car.