Blood Red Roses Read Free Page A

dress.’
    Tracey didn’t answer.
    â€˜It’s your fault she’s dead. You and the rest of her fucking friends.’
    He was right. She had told Donna to stay on at the club. The money was good. She could buy the dress she wanted. She’d persuaded Donna thatwhat Jonny didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
    â€˜Some bastard gave her a rose. I want to know who it was.’
    Tracey recoiled as though she’d been punched.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜The police found a red rose at the flat. They think I gave it to her, but I didn’t, did I, Tracey?’
    Tracey couldn’t speak. She was thinking about the dance she’d just performed. Rose’s dance.
    When Jonny left, she headed for the toilet. She reached the cubicle just in time. A mix of vodka and champagne hit the pan. She pressed her face against the cool toilet seat, her body shaking.
    Jonny had made her promise not to tell the police about Donna’s job here and the guy who kept coming back again and again to see her dance as Rose. He also made her promise to carry on doing what Belcher wanted.
    â€˜They said you’re good,’ Belcher had told her when she’d finished with the four guys. ‘Very satisfying.’ He said the words like he had a hard-on himself. ‘You’re the new Rose.’ He poked a fat finger in her face. ‘And you can tell Donna that from me.’
    She wanted to shout at him. ‘Donna’s dead you stupid bastard. She’s dead!’
    But she had said nothing, her stomach tight with fear.
    â€˜The sicko will come back,’ Jonny’s eyes had glinted revenge as he left. ‘He’ll be looking for another Rose. And I’ll be waiting for him.’

 
CHAPTER SIX
    Mrs Harper opened her front door as Rhona came up the stairs. In her arms were a dozen red roses.
    â€˜These were delivered this afternoon,’ she told Rhona with a wide smile.
    Her neighbour had set her sights on seeing Rhona ‘settled down’ as she put it, and took a keen interest in her love life... when there was any.
    Rhona waited until she was inside the flat before she looked at the card. It simply said ‘For you’.
    The rush of pleasure the words brought surprised her. She hadn’t thought about Sean all day. She never mixed work and pleasure.
    While the bath filled, she fed Chance and poured herself a glass of wine. Her kitchen window looked down on the gardens of a convent. In daylight it offered a tranquil scene. Atnight, soft light lit up a statue of the Virgin Mary that stood in the centre of the lawn.
    The tolling of the convent bell for prayers was part of her life. Rhona loved its certainty, although for her there was no certainty in life, except death.
    She slipped low in the water, enjoying the heat on her skin. Sex with Sean had been good. Better than good. Thinking about it now brought a second rush of pleasure.
    The question was, did she want to get involved? Great sex was one thing. A proper relationship was another.
    The buzzer went at midnight. Rhona knew it was Sean before she answered.
    When she let him in, he stood uncertain in the hall.
    â€˜I woke you,’ he said taking in the dressing gown.
    â€˜No,’ she answered. ‘I was reading.’
    She was greedy for him but still she didn’t move.
    â€˜Rhona...’
    Then she was in his arms, her mouth on his. Her body screaming for him.
    Later they lay in the dark, his heart beating gently against her cheek.
    â€˜We’re good at this.’ His voice was light.
    He was like her, she thought. Alone but not lonely. Self-contained. Maybe it would work?
    â€˜We could give it a try?’ He echoed her own thoughts.
    Rhona touched his nipple and felt it harden.

 
CHAPTER SEVEN
    Bill Wilson had interviewed the girlfriends again and got nowhere. They were adamant they had seen no-one they recognised on the hen night. Only when he asked them how they knew Donna, did they stumble.