Page 72 of The Girl in the Woods

He looked at her oddly. ‘You okay?’ he said softly.

The man turned around and held out his hand to Ana.

Laine flirted with almost every boy she bumped into at the fair, knowing Sajid was watching her the whole time. She laughed loudly at a dirty joke one of the boys told her.

‘It’s not even funny,’ said Jassy, unimpressed. ‘Why are you winding Sajid up like this? It’s not nice.’

‘He could at least say hello,’ moaned Laine.

‘So could you,’ argued Jassy.

‘I’m not going to be the first to speak.’

Laine’s expression suddenly changed as though an invisible cloth had wiped it away, turning her rose-pink cheeks to porcelain white. Jassy followed her gaze to the beer tent where several men were swaggering about laughing.

‘Laine?’ said Jassy, but Laine seemed not to hear her. ‘Laine, what is it?’

Laine seemed to snap out of her reverie and smiled. ‘Nothing. Come on. I’m going to see Sajid.’

Jassy followed with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Laine had already had two drinks. God knows how she got them. It seemed to Jassy that Laine could get anything she wanted. It still worried her where Laine got all that money. From the corner of her eye, she could see Needles and his mates watching them.

‘Shit, Laine, wait.’

But Laine wasn’t listening, and Jassy reached her too late. Laine already had her arm around Sajid’s waist.

‘Shit,’ Jassy muttered again. ‘This is going to be bad.’

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Amidst the whirl of merry-go-rounds and the tantalising aroma of cotton candy, there lies a corner that beckons both the seasoned marksmen and the curious novices – the rifle range. Here, the air crackles with anticipation, and the rhythmic pop of air rifles punctuates the air. It was the one stall Needles loved, but he was sidetracked by Skinner.

Skinner was getting too drunk for Needles’ liking. Drunk people inevitably ended up saying things they shouldn’t, and the last thing Needles wanted was Skinner mouthing off to everyone about the shop they’d done over. So far, he’d kept his mouth shut. Needles figured if Skinner were going to grass him up to the cops, he would have done it by now, but after a few drinks, people’s tongues loosened, and there were enough coppers on and off duty to hear him.

So he shoved a bag of chips into Skinner’s hand. ‘Eat something,’ he ordered.

Skinner looked down at the greasy chips and grimaced. ‘Needles, listen, could we have a quiet chat?’ he said uneasily.

‘A quiet chat?’ Needles laughed. ‘Where the fuck do you expect to have a quiet chat here?’

Skinner shrugged. ‘I don’t know, maybe near the woods.’

Needles barely heard him for he realised that DI Miller was right at his side at the rifle range. Needles stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and admiration. So, this was the guy who’d mixed with real East End gangsters. He’d looked him up after that murder case in Stonesend. He’d put an actual brutal gangster away. He had some guts, and Needles had to credit him for that.

‘I think you have an unfair advantage,’ said the guy, handing him the rifle.

‘Beth wants a teddy bear.’ Miller laughed.

Needles watched in awe as Miller took a steady stance, rested the rifle easily on his shoulder, gently placed his finger on the trigger, and, with a sharp aim, managed to hit every target. Needles whistled in admiration and felt an overwhelming urge to congratulate Miller when Digger nudged him in the ribs and said, ‘Look! What the hell is Laine up to?’

Needles turned to see his sister laughing with the group of Asians he’d seen earlier. What was the little bitch playing at, mixing with Pakis and Asians? Embarrassing him in front of his mates, too.

‘Right, I think it’s time they moved back to their own patch. Come on, lads.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Skinner. ‘Best if we leave them. It will only mean more trouble.’

‘Don’t be a fucking gutless wonder,’ snapped Needles.

Digger, fuelled by drink, followed eagerly with Twitch at his side, while Skinner followed reluctantly. Skinner heard Needles say in a menacing voice, ‘Get your filthy Paki hands off my sister or…’

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