Alice looked for Jack in vain as she reached the corner where he normally stood in the shadows to wait for her. He was nowhere in sight and her breath caught in her throat. This was the third evening in a row that he hadn’t been waiting for her – and she was sure now that she’d missed her period. It was the twenty-fifth of November now and she was due the previous week. She’d always been as regular as clockwork until now. The trickle of fear went down her spine as she thought about what would happen if Jack didn’t come any more. How long would she be able to keep her condition a secret – and what happened when her parents found out?
Choking back the tears that threatened, Alice looked about her one last time before moving on. It was too chilly to stand about long and she already had a bit of a cold. She wished she’d told Jack of her suspicions the last time they’d met but she hadn’t wanted to say until she was sure. He got angry if she went on about things, especially when she asked about his plans to leave Butcher’s employ.
‘Are you tryin’ to get me killed, Alice?’ he’d demanded the last time she said anything. ‘If I go too quickly they’ll get suspicious and then I’m for the chop.’
‘Sorry. It’s just that I’m scared. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. I just want us to be together.’
‘It’s what I want too,’ he told her and kissed her, smiling down at her. ‘I’m not goin’ to break my promise, Alice luv. We’ll go away together and we’ll be married. I shan’t change my mind.’
‘Shall I see you tomorrow?’
‘I’ll be here and we’ll go for a meal and then back to my place,’ he’d promised, but he hadn’t come and Alice had been on thorns for days.
She had started to walk home when a car drew up beside her; the door opened and Jack’s voice told her to get in quick. She obeyed and he glanced over his shoulder and then set off down the lane, driving as if all the bats in hell were after him.
‘Is something wrong, Jack?’
‘Butcher has had someone following me for the past couple of days. He thinks I’ve done somethin’, but he doesn’t know what – and if he discovered the truth I’d be dead. I couldn’t meet you as usual, because I was scared he would cotton on to us goin’ steady. If he knew, he would use you against me – threaten to harm you if I didn’t do what he wants.’
‘Does he want you to do something bad?’ Alice turned her head to look at him fearfully as he shot down one lane and up another, doubling back on himself several times until he finally parked in the seclusion of a pub yard. It was dark in the shadows away from the lights of the building and Alice couldn’t see his face. ‘Why is he having you followed?’
‘Because Butcher wants me to kill someone and I’ve told him I won’t do it. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, Alice, beaten up a few men who wouldn’t pay up – but I stop short of murder. He knows that and they’ve never asked before, but now they say it’s a test to prove my loyalty. I reckon they know I want out, girl. And some stuff of theirs has been pinched … some stolen stuff they had stashed away in an office safe. Butcher reckons Arthur Baggins had a hand in it and they want me to kill him – but I’ve refused, told him I won’t do it.’
‘Jack! You haven’t taken that stuff, have you?’
‘Nah, I ain’t a thief,’ he protested, but she thought he was lying. ‘He wants me to kill the bloke he suspects of stealing the stuff. Butcher says that if I’m not in with Arthur, I’ll do as he asks, but I ain’t goin’ to do it, Alice. I ain’t goin’ ter swing for him – even if it means we have to go sooner than I intended. I’ve got to get hold of some more money. I know you won’t like this, Alice – but me and Arthur are goin’ ter do a job together. And then we’ll clear orf and I promise I’ll go straight. I’m only doin’ it fer you, so we can have a decent life in America.’
‘Oh, Jack, please don’t do whatever it is you’ve planned …’ Her breath caught in her throat. ‘We’ll manage with whatever you have. I don’t need much if I have you. I just want to get away from here and I couldn’t bear it if you were killed. How soon can we leave? What do you want me to do?’
‘Just carry on workin’ same as usual, Alice. You can’t tell anyone or I’m a dead man. If they got wind of what I’ve been up to they would kill me without a thought.’
‘I thought you said they were suspicious?’
‘They are but they don’t know what I’m really doin’, Alice. I just need to get a bit of extra money, and then we’ll go. I promise, Alice. I really care about you, love – and I’ll look after yer. Just trust me and it will all be all right.’
‘Don’t do anything silly!’ Alice cried. ‘I want you, not money. I need to tell you something, Jack – I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant …’ Her voice died away as she saw the shock in his eyes and his quick frown. ‘I knew you wouldn’t like it … I’m sorry.’
‘It takes two,’ Jack said gruffly. ‘I’d say I’m pleased, Alice, but it just complicates things – makes it all the more important that you don’t get dragged into this.’ He was silent for a moment, and then nodded as if his mind was made up. ‘I can’t take you with me when I go, Alice. I’ll have to make a quick break for it – and you would just slow me down.’
‘But you promised …’
He leaned forward, touching his mouth to hers. ‘I’m not abandoning you, Alice. You must stay here and carry on as if nothing was different. As soon as I get settled and I’m sure I haven’t been followed I shall send for you. I’ll send you a letter with some money and you can come and join me wherever I am.’
‘Oh, Jack.’ Alice’s eyes filled with tears but she struggled to hold them back. Jack would be angry if she made a fuss but she was frightened – frightened that once he’d left London he would simply forget her. Why should he bother with a pregnant girlfriend who was plump and plain? He swore she was lovely and that he loved her, but Alice didn’t feel glamorous or pretty and she knew Jack would always be able to sweet-talk a girl into bed with him. She’d fallen for the charm and the kisses that drew her heart from her body.
Alice was about to say she would risk anything to be with him when car headlights swept into the car park. A man got out and started to walk towards them. Jack swore loudly, grabbed the steering wheel and took the brake off, revving his engine as he attempted to swivel about and leave the car park by another exit.
‘Get down,’ he hissed at her. ‘I don’t want him to see you.’ He put his foot down, deliberately crashing his car into the other as he swept past. His car was bigger and sent the other swerving off at a tangent. Jack reversed into a dark lane, and then took off down another at terrific speed, leaving Alice trembling and shaken. ‘Damn them to hell! That was Big Harry and I’d bet my last shilling that he was going to kill me. I can’t go back to my place. I’m going to leave you near St Saviour’s and keep goin’, Alice. You’ll have to get home yourself – and remember to carry on as normal. I’ll get back to you when I can …’
Alice held her breath as he drove through the darkened streets, narrowly missing a bus pulling out from a stop and an oncoming lorry. She was trembling when he screeched to a halt and told her to jump out.
‘Jack, I love you,’ she cried despairingly but he didn’t answer her, simply speeding off into the night.
Alice ran into the alley at the side of St Saviour’s and stood there trembling. She was afraid to move in case she’d been seen getting out of Jack’s car and she felt like bursting into tears.
‘Alice, are you all right?’ Nan’s voice brought her head up and she shook it, unable to speak. ‘You’re trembling. Come on, I’m going back into St Saviour’s for a while before I go home. I’ll make you a cup of tea and you can tell me what happened.’
Alice didn’t want to go with her, but Nan had her by the arm and was pushing her gently but firmly towards the back entrance of the home. Alice felt too weak to resist. Her mind was in a whirl, fear and shock at what had happened, fear for Jack – and what was going to happen if Jack didn’t write to her again.
Nan took her into the warmth of her sitting room and put the kettle on a small gas ring to make tea. ‘What happened to upset you like this, Alice?’
‘Someone came after Jack. He thinks they were going to kill him and he drove fast to get away from them …’
‘Who is Jack?’ Nan asked, frowning.
‘My boyfriend. He wants to marry me. We were going away but they won’t let him go because he knows too much about them. He went off and left me here …’
‘Oh, Alice.’ Nan looked at her sadly. ‘What have you got yourself into?’
‘I didn’t want to at first.’ Tears were slipping down her cheeks. ‘Pa would half-kill me if he knew … but Jack wouldn’t leave me alone and I fell in love with him.’
‘Oh, you poor girl,’ Nan said. ‘Dry your eyes. Nothing happened to you, did it? It’s Jack they’re after and not you, so stop worrying.’
‘But if Jack doesn’t come back …’ Alice choked back the words that would shame her. She couldn’t tell Nan what a fool she’d been. She couldn’t tell anyone, even her friend Michelle or her sister. ‘I don’t know what to do …’
‘Here, drink this; it’s brandy and it will help with the shock. You ought to have something or you’ll be no good to anyone. After you’ve calmed down we should go to the police.’
‘I couldn’t do that.’ Alice was horrified. ‘You don’t understand about these men, Nan. If I went to the police they would have me killed – even if they were inside a prison cell. Jack warned me to carry on as usual and tell no one. I shouldn’t even have told you.’
Nan studied her in silence for a while and then nodded. ‘Don’t think I do not understand, Alice. I probably understand more than you think. Things happened to my daughter that I couldn’t stop … I can’t talk about it, but I do know something of what you’ve been through. I thought there was something wrong recently.’
‘I’ve been such a fool …’
‘Is there something more you want to tell me?’
Alice shook her head. She sipped her tea and began to feel better. The brandy had stopped her shaking and the tea was comforting.
‘I’m all right now. I’m sorry I was foolish …’
‘You’re not foolish at all. Would you like me to walk home with you?’
‘No, I’ll be all right.’
‘Take the bus … here, let me give you the fare.’ Nan took her purse from her coat pocket. ‘Go on, take it. You can’t walk in the state you were in. Remember I’m always here to help if you need me.’
Alice thanked her and went back outside. It was cold and there was a bus just coming that would take her most of the way home. She ran to catch it because she couldn’t bring herself to walk home in the dark.