The Payment: Part 2

Book 0: The Payment

by Roberta Kray

Genres: Sagas; Short Stories; Women's Fiction; Female Sleuths; Crime Fiction; Suspense

Synopsis

THE SECOND PART IN THE ADDICTIVE NEW 4-PART EBOOK-SERIAL FROM ROBERTA KRAY. NO ONE KNOWS CRIME LIKE KRAY I'm more than aware that Ava Gold isn't the perfect choice, but I can't resist a challenge. I'm the sort of man who likes to throw a little danger into the mix. Now that the decision's made, I feel at ease, almost peaceful. It won't be long before my cage has an occupant, an exotic bird to keep me company. Let the game commence. Ava Gold is beginning to wish she'd never tried to help Holly, but now that her coat has turned up covered in what could be Holly's blood, Ava knows she can't just walk away. Holly is missing and the police don't know where to start looking for her, but Ava does. As Ava begins her own hunt for Holly, she's unaware that another hunt is about to begin - one in which Ava is the hunted . . . Part three of The Payment is also available to download now! Read what people are saying about Roberta Kray: 'Once you start to read you can't put it down ' ' Full of twists and turns' 'Love this writer, great read ' ' Brilliant and gripping from beginning to end'

Release date: July 10, 2017

Publisher: Sphere

Print pages: 57

Sample

Ava sat in the car park at Belles waiting for the girls to get dressed, put on their coats and make their way to the minibus. The last of the Saturday night punters were drifting out of the club, all of them drunker (and poorer) than when they’d gone in. Their voices echoed in the cool night air as they stumbled into idling minicabs or tried to hail a black cab on the road. It was raining again, a thin drizzle that spattered the windscreen and glittered in the headlights like a shower of tiny jewels.

Chris Street stood beside the minibus, puffing on a cigarette. ‘So the law haven’t found a body yet? But they must be able to tell from the coat if Holly was the victim or the perp.’

‘I guess so, but they’re not sharing the information. The coat was found in a bin in Wardour Street.’ Ava leaned her elbow on the base of the open window, thinking about the slight figure of the girl and wondering if she had the strength to kill anyone – or the means, come to that. No, she was much more likely to be the victim. ‘I mean, it looks like something awful has happened – you don’t get that much blood from a minor accident – but there’s no actual proof that anyone’s dead. And no one called Holly has been reported as missing.’

‘If that’s her real name.’

‘True.’

‘If she was killed, the body could be anywhere. It might take a while to show up – if it ever does.’

Ava screwed up her face. ‘I bet she went back to that guy. God, I should have warned her about the call I made.’

‘You would have done if she’d hung round long enough to listen.’

‘I should have told her last night.’

‘You’re not psychic, Ava. How were you to know she’d do a runner before the sun was even up? Anyway, from what you’ve said she was probably too pissed to take it on board. She must have been more than aware of what he was like – phone call or no phone call. It was her choice. She didn’t have to go back to him.’

‘Unless she had nowhere else to go.’

Ava hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Holly since the visit from the law. It was horrendous to imagine her lying in a ditch somewhere, stabbed or shot. She had told the cops almost everything, from the moment she’d picked up the couple, through the guy abandoning Holly in the cab, to taking the girl home to her flat. There were a few raised eyebrows at that moment, and Ava had become instantly defensive. ‘She was young and drunk – she could barely stand up – and she didn’t have any money on her. What was I supposed to do, dump her on the street and leave her to fend for herself?’

Chris finished his cigarette, dropped the butt on to the gravel and ground it down with his heel. ‘There’s nothing you can do now. It’s up to the law.’

‘But they’re not going to do anything either, are they? Not until they’re sure a crime has been committed.’

‘I’d have thought that was pretty obvious from the state of your coat. Did you tell them about the other stuff she nicked?’

Ava shook her head. ‘I couldn’t see the point. The poor kid’s in serious trouble whichever way you look at it. And what if she is dead? She must have family somewhere. They’re going to have enough to deal with without finding out that she stole jewellery from me too.’

‘Withholding evidence,’ he said dryly. ‘Whatever next?’

‘I prefer to think of it as irrelevant information. Well, not irrelevant to me – I’d still like my stuff back – but compared to what might have happened to Holly … It’s hardly a priority in the scheme of things.’

‘I’ve put the word out. It may turn up if she flogged it locally.’

‘Thanks. I didn’t think you’d have time with everything else that was going on today. How did it go this morning? Is there any more news on who killed Josie Green?’

Chris shrugged. ‘Not that I know of.’

‘How long were the cops here?’

‘Too long. Mind, any time’s too long when it comes to the law. You know what they’re like: if there’s a chance they can stitch me up for something, they’ll have a damn good go.’

‘I thought they were just checking the CCTV.’

‘Yeah, well, nothing’s ever what it seems when it comes to that crew.’

Ava heard the edge in his voice, and looked at him more closely. There was a strained tightness about his face, accentuating his cheekbones and the dark shadows under his eyes. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘You look tired, that’s all.’ Ava was about to mention her encounter with Lou Bullen, but changed her mind. She would just be adding fuel to the fire. There was every chance Chris would react badly, probably confront the guy, making a bad situation ten times worse. And perhaps that was what Bullen was hoping for. Well, she wasn’t going to give the bastard the satisfaction.

Chris put his hands in his pockets. ‘When people say . . .