car engine revved in the distance, creeping towards her. There was ice on the cobbles where she stood and the punter was obviously a careful man, which she could see both in the way he was driving in the treacherous weather and the manner in which he was scanning the women. A thought flew into her mind–maybe he was too careful. She screwed up her eyes; she didn’t want to be stopped by any of Lothian and Borders’ finest. Mind you, the cops in Edinburgh were tolerant of vice girls, and the official line claimed that they had ‘created a safer environment’. She’d read in the local paper that the residents weren’t quite so broad-minded and the flat owners around the gentrified area were no doubt less than happy to be part of this safety campaign for whores. She’d have to go on gut feeling–you couldn’t tell a cop by looking at him, and you couldn’t tell whether any man was going to be fit for the purpose until way beyond the stage when it was too late to turn back.
The Mercedes drew up alongside the kerb. She teetered along in her heels to the window–it wasn’t the latest model, but it was close enough. Salesman probably. Away from home, away from the wife, needing a bit of recreation and able to justify that it’s meaningless. She saw in him what she was looking for–what she needed. She threw open her coat and gave him a look at what was on offer. ‘Evening, darling,’ he grinned after rolling down his side window, letting her feel the warmth away from the streets behind her. She smiled back and wiggled her way round the front of the car to the passenger door.
Inside, it smelled of stale sweat and cloying pine air freshener. The back seat was littered with empty crisp packets, a discarded boy’s football boot and a teddy wearing a Newcastle United strip. She smiled at him again as if she hadn’t noticed, as if his treachery didn’t turn her stomach. She needed him as much as he needed her. More.
Locking onto his eyes, she ran through a quick menu, making sure that the prices hovered somewhere between a bargain and a promise of satisfaction. She didn’t want to be too cheap or he might suspect that she was a beginner; she didn’t want to be too expensive or he might prefer to take his business somewhere less pricey. It was a balancing act, and the customer needed to get the sense that his luck was in. She offered a lot for twenty quid, and gave the excuse that it was a cold night.
Price agreed, she and the punter drove off; he was headed for a secluded spot where they could conduct their business unobserved, or so he told her. She wasn’t frightened; her heartbeat was slow and steady, and her mind was focused. He seemed to know what he was doing. Experienced. Been here before. Good. A smile creased her face as she stroked her handbag. In another life, given different circumstances, she might have been married with children. She might have been the one waiting at home for this balding lump of lard as he risked everything.
The car drew to a halt on a deserted road that ran alongside the Docks; no CCTV that she could see. A fine film of sweat had broken out on his brow; his breathing was heavy and expectant. He leaned in to kiss her and she got a whiff of fabric softener from his shirt. Some woman cared for him. She recoiled from the image as she shoved him back into the driver’s seat and leaned over. Her hand reached for the zip on his suit trousers. It wouldn’t take long. A few quick strokes and hopefully she wouldn’t have to go any further. She smiled as she pumped away at him–but his eyes were closed and he was paying attention to nothing but the actions of her left hand.
He certainly didn’t notice as her right hand slipped into the back seat to the handbag lying on the passenger side beside the seat-belt clip. Her fingers slipped into the bag as he wriggled with delight, panting heavily and moaning some woman’s name inaudibly Stupid bastard; two-faced, hypocritical slime-bag. As she leaned in closer to his face, she could have sworn he was puckering up for a kiss.
What he got instead was a syringe filled with pure heroin.
His eyes widened in surprise as she pushed the plunger down, filling his right jugular. He started to struggle, but she knew that there would be no surprises here. He just had to wait it out. As did she.
She opened the passenger door and stepped outside. Taking a battered cigarette from her pocket, she drew in a lungful of smoke that warmed her chest. Blowing rings into the freezing night air, she knew that the man inside the car would be struggling to hold on to life. She heard a noise and assumed that it came from his death throes as his arms flailed against the driver’s window. He was guilty, guilty, guilty. There wasn’t an innocent bone in his body. Married, obviously. Or at least living with someone who cared enough to make sure a capful of fabric softener had been thrown into the washing load. A parent, obviously. Or at least with a kid in his life so close to him that football training and kicks around the park were part of normal life. And what was he doing behind their backs? Screwing around. Messing everything up. He deserved what he got. He did. And there were plenty more like him.
Glancing at her watch she felt irritated; he was taking too long. She opened the door and reached over the passenger seat. He had stopped thrashing and his eyes were closed, his breath shallow and laboured. But…he was still breathing. She didn’t have time for this. Reaching into the back seat she dug her nails into the soft fur of the teddy; shoving it into the man’s face, she held it against his mouth and nose, and waited–until any sign of life was gone.
Good.
Glad that was over, she started on the real work. She delved into her bag again, this time pulling out an ultra-sharp boning knife and poultry cutters. She rifled through his CD collection, quickly looking for something that meant nothing to her, something to muffle the sound of bones shattering, before realizing that heavy music coming from a parked Merc could arouse suspicion, even in a quiet street near the Docks.
She cracked through his ribs. She was proud of her strength. Strategic planning aided her attempts every time. Still, both were means to ends. Plunging the boning knife in, she severed the superior vena cava and neatly removed the organ. She double-bagged it in cling film and popped it into her handbag.
Stepping outside the car, she reached into her bag, lifting out a handheld car vacuum. Her work here was almost done. She reached into her bag again. With her thumb and forefinger she removed a hair, a single hair, from inside a plastic freezer bag.
She left it where she was sure even those idiots from the identification bureau would be sure to find it.
The sooner the better.
‘Have you reached a verdict?’ Judge Neil Wylie asked the five women and ten men of the jury.
Show time.
I breathed deeply and steadied myself. I always hated this bit, this time in a trial where everything you’ve worked for hangs in the balance. If I was to live up to my reputation as some sort of Ice Queen, I had to keep my act going–but it was hard when I was bricking it. I stared unblinking at the jury box, thanking God for my poker face and Boots for the six inches of make-up that was hiding any emotion that might be lurking there. In truth, all I wanted was someone to hold my hand and tell me I’d done well and that everything would be fine. I’d be as well hoping for Santa to make an early appearance.
To keep my hands busy, I pretended to scribble down notes on the yellow legal pad in front of me. It had been a long, tiring murder trial, but this moment was where everything was so exciting yet so terrifying. It was out of my control and I hated and loved that feeling. Would I have changed anything? Would I rewrite the script if I could? What if I’d fucked it up? My mind was flooded with all
