‘Stare back and smile, remember?’ said Precious, giving her friend a peck on the cheek.
‘Stare back and smile,’ repeated Layla.
China stuck her head round the door. ‘You going, yes?’
‘I’m going, yes,’ said Layla, and China hugged her too.
‘Tone’s here,’ said Chris, looking in.
‘Where’s Destiny?’ asked Layla.
‘Not in yet. Troubles at home,’ said Precious.
‘Give her my love,’ said Layla. She felt depressed and anxious all of a sudden.
‘Head up,’ said Precious, blinking hard, tilting Layla’s chin. ‘Now. Go out and slay ’em. OK?’
‘I will.’ Layla hesitated. ‘You’ll come and see me, won’t you?’
‘’Course I will. Just give me a bell.’
‘Oh, blimey,’ said Layla, shuddering.
‘Nervous?’
Layla nodded.
‘Think of it as a performance. Some nerves are good.’ Precious turned her with her hands on Layla’s shoulders. She gave her a salutary slap on the rump. ‘Now go on. Knock ’em dead.’
Annie walked into her bedroom late that morning and found Max standing inside the door, in jeans and shirt-sleeves, looking around.
‘What are you doing in here?’ snapped Annie, pulling him up short.
Max nodded to the doorway. ‘This is where it happened, right? Where she got shot?’
Annie drew a steadying breath. He’d startled her. Wrong-footed her, the way he always did. She didn’t like him being in here. It was too close, too intimate. She didn’t trust him.
Yeah? she thought. Or is it that you don’t trust yourself?
‘This is where Layla shot her,’ she said.
The wall beside the door was unmarked. Everything was spotless. No blood, no indication that the plaster had been repaired where the bullet hole had been. It was as if Orla had never been here at all.
Max studied Annie’s face. ‘It must have shaken Layla up pretty badly,’ he said.
‘It did.’
He nodded, was silent. Peering intently at the floor, the wall. ‘So it was Steve who cleared up.’
‘Yeah, he did. I told you. With Eric and Jackie.’
Downstairs in the hall there was movement, people coming in the front door. Annie and Max went out on to the landing and looked over the rail. Tone was there, carrying a bag in. And behind him came a woman – an impossibly chic, gilded creature in high heels and a tight-fitting big-shouldered power suit. This gorgeous creature was primped, manicured, looking around her through stylish shades, which she now, very slowly, removed.
‘Holy shit,’ said Annie.
‘What the fuck?’ said Max.
‘Layla?’ popped out of Annie’s mouth unbidden.
Then she was hurrying down the stairs, crossing the hall. Tony was on his way back outside, passing Bri on the door. Both men had done a noticeable double-take when they had set eyes on Layla. Now it was Annie’s turn.