“Who’s that?” he demanded, obviously not recognizing the number.
“Dennis its Beth.” I said tentatively.
“Beth? Where’d you get a mobile from?”
“I’m out Dennis. The filth have released me early on probation,” I explained.
“Fuck off bitch! Wot you playin at?”
“Listen Dennis, the court have released me …”
“Released? Where the fuck are you?”
“For fuck’s sake, listen Dennis. The wigs have let me out on probation, on the condition I stay in a hostel for a trial period. They brought me down here this morning. There are so many rules…”
“Yor kidding me,” he interrupted me and sounded incredulous. “This morning! You want me to come down and pick you up or something. Where the fuck are you?”
“No Dennis, listen to me. I’m coming over with a friend at 2 o’clock, to pick up my stuff. I can’t stay cos I’m on probation. Look Hon, I’ll tell you all about it when I get there. Stick a can of beer in the fridge for me.”
“You don’t wanna stay here?” he asked.
“Sorry Hon, I’ll tell you about it when I get there.” I cut the connection and handed the phone back to Mary, who had returned to the room during the conversation. She seemed pleased with what I had said and patted me on the shoulder.
“He’ll get over it, Beth. Tell him that when you’re 21, you’ll be a free woman.”
“Huh, if you catch this sodding murderer then I’ll be free a lot sooner than that!” I retorted.
“Sure, but if we fail to catch him in Berlin we’re going to have to keep you in protective custody until we do.”
It wasn’t an ideal situation, but I could live with it for a while. Once I’d tided myself up, I sat down with Mary for a chat over a cup of coffee. It turned out that she’d worked the streets for five years until the age of twenty one and had quite a few bad scrapes.
She joined the vice squad of the Metropolitan police and moved to the ISCD after several years of undercover work. She was a sergeant, while Jack was an inspector and together, had worked on international crime for a year. It sounded like an interesting job, for they travelled all over the world incognito.
As soon as we had eaten dinner, Mary and I left Jack working on his computer, while we headed off to Dennis’s flat to get my stuff, not knowing quite what reception we were going to get.
* * *
“We’ve done our research on Dennis, Beth, but what’s he really like?” Mary asked, while we sat in stationery traffic.
“He’s okay.” I paused. “I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have problems in their relationships. He can be a bastard at times, but he looked after me when we were together.”
“You’re a beautiful girl, Beth and deserve so much more.”
I didn’t think so. “I know he’s into all sorts of shit, but he’s not a real gangster!”
“It depends on your definition of gangster. A man that beats up women is a gangster in my book.”
“He’s a got a clean record and stays out of trouble.”
If the filth had been delving into his background, I wanted to defend him. Also, I was worried that if Dennis knew Mary was a detective, he’d throw a fit and give me absolute hell.
“No, you’re right,” Mary conceded. “We couldn’t find any serious criminal history. He’s been charged with burglary a couple of times, but avoided the nick.”
“That was a couple of years ago.” Again I wanted to defend him.
“Beth, you can’t go back to him before we catch the guy who nearly killed you! You do realist that, don’t you?”
“Don’t worry Mary, I’ll get my stuff and we’ll be out of there in half an hour.” We sat in silence, while the traffic nudged along, until we eventually reached the council estate, just on the edge of Camden Town.
Dennis lived in a council flat that he had grown up in with his Mum. She had died and the council had allowed him to keep the flat, because he had just turned 21.
The flat was on the first floor and we had to climb a flight of concrete stairs to reach the landing he lived on. Dennis answered the door and glared at Mary.
“Who’s this?” he asked bluntly.
“Mary, my friend. She’s come to help me get my things.” I spoke confidently, but he looked far from happy.
“You never said anything about anyone coming with you! I’m not letting her in Beth. If you want your stuff, you can come in and get it on your own.” I looked at Mary who was shaking her head. I was expecting him to act up, but because it was early in the day, I felt relatively safe with him. I made a quick decision.
“Mary, it won’t take long. Give me 20 minutes and I’ll be out with my stuff.” Mary reluctantly backed away and went to lean over the balcony, while I pushed past Dennis and entered his flat.
I was fairly confident that I was safe as long as Mary hung around and that Dennis wouldn’t try anything in the middle of the day.