Christ will he ever stop calling me that? thought Annie. But she was so very glad to see him, she could have kissed him at that moment. The car that had taken Tony’s slot was a smouldering wreck.
‘I’m fine.’
‘You’ve got glass in your hair,’ he said. ‘And fuck it, look! You’re bleeding, Doll.’
‘It’s nothing, just a scratch,’ said Dolly, dabbing at her face.
Annie brushed tiny shards of glass from her hair. ‘Really. I’m fine. We all are.’
They were silent then, gazing around them at the chaos.
‘D’you think anyone’s been hurt?’ asked Dolly.
‘I can’t see anyone.’
Other people were emerging from buildings, staring at the wreckage in a dazed fashion. Then they heard the sound of sirens approaching.
‘Shit,’ said Annie. ‘That’s all I need, the old Bill on my case.’
‘I think I see some blood there,’ said Dolly, pointing.
Annie felt her stomach turn over. Dolly was right: there was blood on the pavement. Her car had been blown up, and someone must have been standing alongside it when it happened.
‘Well, now you’re definitely going to need Tony and the Jag,’ said Dolly shakily.
Tony turned to Annie. ‘What, you got some bother?’
For a moment Annie felt too overwhelmed to speak.
No, no bother. Turns out this is the deal: someone tried to snatch Layla, then Orla Delaney rose from the dead and tried to knife me in cold blood, and I’m damned sure I was meant to be in my car when that bomb went off. No, Tone, no bother at all.
‘That motor of yours is never going to be the same again,’ said Dolly. ‘I’ve been seeing stuff like this on the TV, you just never think…’ She stopped speaking, shook her head.
‘Stuff like what?’ asked Annie.
‘Like that. Car bombs. It’s been on the news, haven’t you seen it? The IRA. Northern Ireland.’
Now Annie really did feel sick. The sirens were getting louder, people were coming out of shops and offices, milling around, staring, fascinated and horrified at the same time. There was a flicker of flames darting from the broken bonnet of her car. Her eyes were drawn back to the pavement, to the splodge of crimson there. She shuddered and looked at Tony.
‘I’m getting out of here,’ she said. ‘Tone, drive me back to Holland Park, will you?’
‘’Course,’ he said.
Dolly was looking at her like she’d flipped.
‘It’s no good going,’ she said. ‘What am I supposed to say when they come in here asking questions? The Bill will trace you through the registration number anyway.’
Annie looked at the Merc’s number plate. The front one was nothing but a piece of blackened metal. The one at the back was probably intact, though, and there’d be the ID on the engine. Plus her prints would be all over it – if they could still find any.