Thanks for the welcome guys :)
I hope that I can keep your attention with this story ... I guess I'll just have to plough on and see how it goes. Thanks for the feedback - it's always good to receive.
Sabrina ran as fast as she could, trying to ignore the dull ache from her bruised ribs. The nearest subway station was little more than a block away, and she pumped her legs faster, determined to get there ahead of Gage's thugs. She had a pocketful of change, but there was no way that she was going to stop to buy a token. The crosswalk sign ahead changed to 'Don't walk', but she didn't let up her pace, pushing her body harder and sprinting across the junction to a chorus of squealing brakes and the blare of angry car horns.
Ignoring the disturbance she'd caused she kept pushing on, each pace bringing her closer to the subway entrance. She'd been cornered by Gage's thugs once already, and really didn't relish crossing paths with them again. Her last meeting with them had been civilised by their standards. If they were to corner her again, then the outcome would be very different. The fear of expectation pushed her on, and she ignored the way that her lungs burned with the freezing air as she dodged her way round the slowly moving pedestrians, her attention fixed fully on the station entrance ahead.
She took the subway steps two at a time, oblivious to the angry shouts of the people she pushed out of the way, and concentrated on making her way as quickly as she could across the concourse. She knew that her pursuers would not let up, and she wanted the relative security of boarding a subway train. If she could get down onto the platforms, then she stood a better chance of losing them amid the press of the rush hour.
She pushed in close behind the person in front of her at the turnstiles and gained entrance to the station proper. Without breaking pace she headed for the E train platforms, checking over her shoulder every few moments to make sure that she was not being followed. Luck appeared to be on her side as she made her way down onto the platform; a battered looking subway train rattled into the station, and slowed to a halt with a near-deafening screeching of brakes. As the graffiti covered doors slid open, Sabrina risked a glance back over her shoulder; relieved to see no sign of Gage's men.
She pushed her way into the open carriage, going shoulder to shoulder with the commuters trying to detrain, and ignored the shoves and angry words that were spat in her direction. She slipped onto the last remaining empty seat in the carriage and ducked her head down, hoping that the crowd around her would act as some kind of shield, keeping her presence hidden from anyone who might still be trying to follow her. She felt her heart hammering inside her chest as the conductor intoned the next destination of the train, and willed the man to hurry up.
She let out a heavy sigh of relief as the doors finally slid shut again, and the train heaved and strained its way out of the station. She kept her head low; not wanting to make eye contact with anyone else in the carriage. The subway wasn't necessarily the safest way across the city, but it was the most convenient.
The carriage she was in was jammed with people, but Sabrina's eyes still darted towards the doors every time that the train pulled into a station; ready to move at the slightest sign of one of Gage's men appearing. The further they travelled from his patch, the more confidence she gained.
She knew that no-one on the carriage would come to her aid if she was to run into any sort of trouble; they would simply bury their heads in their books and newspapers and block out what was going on. She'd seen it happen on numerous occasions during her time in the city, and was under no illusions that things would be any different if she were to become the victim.
She shifted on the hard plastic of the seat, and winced in pain as her ribs protested at the sudden movement. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the side of the carriage as she waited for the pain to subside – it had been her own negligence that had led to Gage's thugs cornering her. She berated herself again for the fact that they'd been able to pick up on her trail earlier in the day. If she continued to fail to deliver for Rickard he would quickly lose patience with her, and that was something that she couldn't afford to allow to happen. His sending her straight back onto Gage's turf was the clearest sign she'd received so far that he was losing confidence. A couple of months ago he would have shrugged the matter off and given her another chance to make the delivery. Either Gage was proving to be a resilient foe, or Rickard was contemplating an end to the work that she did for him. The one thing she couldn't afford now was to lose work.
She shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders as the train rumbled on its way towards Canal Street.
Kelly cupped the mug she'd been passed with both hands, watching the wisps of steam as they rose and vanished into the air. She took a tentative sip of the hot coffee, revelling in the rich taste that warmed the back of her throat. In the warm and comfortable surroundings of the hotel suite, it was almost possible to believe that they were a world away from the freezing conditions outside.
"Are you sure it was Bri?"
Kelly nodded her head as Kris asked the question for the third time. "When she turned her head, I saw her... It was definitely Bri."
"Did she see you?"
Kelly shrugged her shoulders. "I ... I don't know. It was busy ... but I'm certain that it was her."
Kris took a sip of her own drink, before placing it down on the glass topped table. "But what would she be doing here? I thought Charlie said that she was in Europe."
Kelly shrugged. "That was months ago. It's entirely possible that she's back."
"But surely she would have said something," Kris argued. "Made contact in some way."
"I've not heard anything from her in months," Kelly confessed sadly. "And from what Jill's said, Bri's not made any attempt to contact her either."
Tiffany sat silently and watched the conversation that was playing out in front of her. She'd never met Sabrina, but had heard plenty about her during her time working for Charlie. When she'd initially joined, the two girls had gone to great lengths to avoid mentioning her – as though that in some way would upset her, to know that there had been someone working with them before her. As she'd settled into the job she found that Sabrina's name was mentioned more and more. It was obvious that both of her colleagues missed their friend, and she had on more than one occasion wondered why there appeared to be so little contact between them.
There was a nagging thought forming at the back of her mind, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to give it voice. She watched the concerned looks that passed between her friends, and wasn't sure that she wanted to add to their fears. But, if she remained silent and something serious was going on, then she wasn't certain she'd be able to live with the guilt.
"I think your friend could be in trouble," she told them both quietly, before going on to explain further. "It was those two men who barged into me; they were the reason that she turned back towards us. I saw the way that her eyes widened at the sight of them; that was fear."
Kelly shook her head as she struggled to take in what Tiffany was saying. "I don't believe you."
"Then why did she run?" Tiffany asked evenly.
Kelly found that she didn't have an answer.
"Tiffany has a point," Kris conceded, wishing again that she'd not made an excuse to return to the relative comfort of the hotel suite. Maybe, she told herself; maybe if she'd been there; maybe she would have been able to catch up with Sabrina. "If it was Bri that you saw Kel, then it sounds as though she could be in trouble."
"But what is she even doing here?" Kelly wanted to know. "If she was in some sort of trouble why wouldn't she tell us ... or Charlie at the very least?"
Kris and Tiffany exchanged glances; neither of them having an answer for their friend.
"If she is in trouble, then I say that we go back out there and try and find her," Kelly declared, almost challenging the other two to disagree with her.
"That could take some time," Kris pointed out gently.
"You're saying that we shouldn't bother!"
Kris raised her hands in response to her friend's accusing tone. "Oh no, not at all. I'm just saying that trying to find someone in a city this size, when we're not certain that she's here at all ... it ahh, ... it could be more than a little difficult."
Kelly was forced to admit that Kris had a point. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "It's just frustrating to not be able to get in touch with her." She drummed her fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair. "I don't even have a number for her dad anymore."
Kris watched her friend and realised that a lot of Kelly's frustration was borne out of the sudden realisation that she had completely lost touch with Sabrina. It was something that had happened without either of them realising. Days of no contact, had turned into weeks, and before they realised it, months.
She let out a long breath. "It's going to be a big ask to try and find one person in a city of so many millions. I just wish that we could use the resources that Charlie has at his disposal."
"Charlie is back in phone contact in a few days," Kelly reminded them stubbornly. "I say we look until we can talk to him direct; find out if he knows anything." She looked at the expression on the faces of her two friends. "Are you with me?"
"If we're going to do this then I guess we start on 42nd," Tiffany suggested. "As that's where you saw her. We could take a few blocks between us; cover as much ground as possible. I'm not all that certain that we'll find her, but if we're going to start somewhere, then the area around 42nd makes sense."
Kelly smiled her thanks, and then looked to Kris for support. Kris leant forward and covered Kelly's hands with hers. "We'll find her," she promised her. "And when we do, you can be the one to interrogate her about where she's been and what she's been doing."
Sabrina pushed open the front door to the apartment building, glad to be out of the freezing wind that was once again gusting along the street, blowing the trash around her feet as she walked. There was something deeply unforgiving about the New York winter; it chilled a person to their very core, and made no concessions to the weak and the old. Making her way back from the station, she'd passed homeless people bundled up in the doorways of buildings, or huddling around one of the many steam vents that billowed up onto the street – all of them desperately trying to shut out the harsh conditions. She felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she could do nothing but walk past and pretend not to see, but, as she reminded herself, she wasn't in much of a position to help them.
She shut the door as quietly as she could, knowing full well that any loud sound would bring Murray darting out of his own rooms. He wasn't the worst landlord she'd rented from in the past eighteen months, but he did have a tendency to pay more attention to her than she was strictly comfortable with.
The dank hallway was in semi-darkness, and Sabrina made her way cautiously forward. It wasn't unknown for there to be someone lurking in the shadows, waiting to relieve the unwary of their change. After the day that she'd had, she really didn't have the patience to deal with any more hassle.
She hadn't moved more than a few paces when the door to Murray's apartment was wrenched open, and the flickering light from a television set spilled out into the hallway. The slightly distorted soundtrack to a sitcom reached her ears, before Murray pulled the door closed behind him and stepped out into the hallway.
Sabrina forced a smile onto her face, and sketched a quick wave in his direction. If she was lucky, then Murray would decide that it wasn't worth hassling her, and would just let her go on her way in peace.
She felt her heart sink as Murray reached the foot of the stairs and leant up against the wall; folding his arms purposefully as she approached. "I'd better see evidence of that rent money real soon," he warned her.
"I'll have it," she assured him, trying to ignore the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke that emanated from him "I just need to run a few errands and then I'll have the money."
"You said that last week," he reminded her, scratching at the three day's worth of stubble on his cheek. "And I had to remind you several times before you finally came through with the cash."
Sabrina held up her hands to placate him. "I'll have the money. Tomorrow at the latest."
"If you don't keep up with your rent, then I can't be expected to look after your well-being." Murray stared down at his stubby chipped nails. "It would be such a shame if the door to your room were to be accidentally left unlocked one night. Nasty things can happen to young women who live on their own."
Sabrina recognised the threat for what it was, and refused to let it get to her. She knew that he was more than capable of following through on the threat. She had her suspicions that he was in her apartment when she wasn't there; searching through her things, checking that there wasn't something that he could sell on, or use as leverage against her.
Murray's tendency to go through her things was the main reason why she no longer had a gun. Putting a firearm in the hands of someone like Murray wasn't something that she was prepared to do. She felt a little more vulnerable without its reassuring presence, but it was something that couldn't be helped.
She raised her head and met his gaze. "I'll have the money Murray." She gestured in his direction. "Do you mind?"
Murray raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem?"
Sabrina sighed. She was tired of this particular dance. Murray would frequently block her way on the stairs, and then claim not to understand what the problem was.
"I'm not in the mood for this Murray. Just move will you?"
The expression on Murray's face hardened. "What; think you're too good for me? Think that you can just brush me aside as though I was nothing more than trash?"
Sabrina cursed beneath her breath. She had overstepped the mark, and now needed to get back on his good side. She plastered a contrite expression on her face. "I'm tired Murray, please, just cut me some slack." She didn't like having to ask him for favours like this, but she couldn't afford to have him on her case as well.
Murray's mouth widened into a leering smile. "And what are you going to do for me, huh? What's the reward for letting you off the rent for another day?"
Sabrina tried to suppress a shiver as Murray pushed away from the wall from took a pace towards her. She really didn't have the patience to deal with the big lumbering bear of a man right now.
She flinched as Murray's hand clamped down upon her shoulder, and she fought against the urge to shrug his hand away. Upsetting him wasn't the smart thing to do.
The hallway was again filled with the sound of the television, as the door to Murray's apartment was yanked open.
"Murray ... telephone!" a woman's voice called out; her tone impatient.
"In a minute," Murray yelled back over his shoulder; his attention still fully focussed on Sabrina.
"Murray...Now! The man isn't prepared to wait all day."
Murray stood for a moment, torn between what he was doing, and responding to the news of the call. Swearing beneath his breath, he squeezed Sabrina's shoulder tightly before releasing his grip and turning back to his own apartment.
"Be sure and have that money for me tomorrow," he called back over his shoulder. "Should hate to have to send the boys up for a late night visit."
Sabrina stood wordlessly and watched as Murray swaggered back into his apartment; the blond-haired woman who'd called out to him, glaring at her with undisguised contempt. The woman obviously saw her as some sort of threat; Sabrina only wished she could let the woman know just how grateful she was for her timely intervention.
The woman leant against the frame of the door, and ran her eye over her imagined rival. Shaking her head with contempt, she pushed away from the frame and slammed the door shut.
Sabrina let out a sigh of relief, and let her body sag back against the wall. The run-ins with Murray were becoming more and more frequent. She resolved to start looking for somewhere else to stay. The one thing that the Lower East Side had in abundance was low rent rooms – for that Sabrina was eternally grateful.
Regaining her composure, she straightened up, and headed up the stairs towards the third floor and her small apartment. No payment from Rickard today, meant no money for groceries; she paused on the second floor landing and tried to recall if there was anything left in the cupboard. If not, it was going to be another long night.
Tiffany bit back her frustration as she was elbowed in the ribs again by a hatchet-faced old woman, who seemed to think that she wasn't moving quickly enough along the sidewalk. She wanted to give the woman a piece of her mind, but she fought back against the urge; she was supposed to be keeping a low profile, supposed to be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, not generating entertainment for the passing crowd. She had no doubt that the woman would come out fighting if she were to make any sort of comment. She'd heard her chewing someone else out earlier for getting in her way, and really didn't relish being on the receiving end of the scathing tongue of the tough New Yorker.
Tiffany glanced down at her watch and wondered if it was time to call it a day. Her feet were aching with all the walking she had done, and she was really no closer to finding the woman that Kelly had spotted in the crowd two days earlier. It had always been something of a long shot to imagine that she would be back in the same neighbourhood so quickly, but both Kelly and Kris had been keen to try and locate their former colleague.
She had met up with Kris for lunch on the first fruitless day of searching, and taken the opportunity to quiz her friend to find out a little more about the way that Sabrina had left the agency.
When she'd been approached for the job with Charlie, Bosley had said little about the fact that she was being hired as a replacement. Her initial fear of rejection, upon finding out the truth, had quickly dissipated. Both Kelly and Kris had been nothing but welcoming, and as time had passed, she had found herself becoming close friends with both of them. One thing however had never really been discussed, and that was the reason for Sabrina's departure.
Between mouthfuls of steaming hot pasta, Kris had described the somewhat whirlwind manner in which Sabrina had left the company. Reading between the lines, Tiffany fancied that she sensed a trace of disappointment in Kris' tone. Her one time close colleague no longer kept in regular touch with any of them, and for all intents and purposes had vanished off the face of the Earth. Kris herself offered up the argument that marriage was a life-changing event, and that was probably what was keeping her away from them, but again Tiffany had the sense that Kris wasn't entirely happy with her own explanation.
She'd let the subject drop at that point, as she wasn't looking to upset Kris, but it did raise the question of why Sabrina had only left her last couple of messages with Charlie, and not her friends directly. Tiffany kept those thoughts to herself, and instead tried to lift Kris' spirits, assuring her that if they stuck to their search patterns, they were bound to find Sabrina's trail again.
As she stared around at the crowded sidewalk, and the hundreds of people that were bustling by, she began to regret building up her colleague's hopes. They had all been out walking the blocks around 42nd for the past two days and that hadn't been a single sighting of Sabrina. She knew that Kelly wouldn't be the one to suggest that the search was hopeless, and it would again fall to her to be cold voice of reason. She sighed inwardly – it really wasn't a role that she relished.
A ripple of movement in the press of bodies ahead of her attracted her attention. She blinked in disbelief as she spotted a familiar looking faded ball cap. She increased her pace, pushing through the crowd, trying to get closer. She felt her heart rate increase. Was this going to be the break that they needed? A voice in her head told her that it could be anyone in front of her. There were plenty of people wearing ball caps in this weather; the law of probabilities told her that the chances of it being the same person that they had seen earlier were small. She pushed that thought down as she gradually began to close the gap.
Sabrina hugged the lengthening shadows as best as she could; hoping that they'd help her pass unnoticed along the sidewalk. She knew that Gage's goons would be out on the street, and that she was still fairly high on their wanted list. Another run in with them was something that she could well do without. Rickard had given her another consignment to deliver, and she knew that it was in part a test for her. If she failed to complete the task today, then Rickard would see it as a sign that she wasn't good enough to be on the books.
She slowed her pace as she neared one of the few remaining storefronts. Most of the buildings on the block had blacked out their windows, or used them to display posters for forthcoming films, and as a result full length windows were few and far between. As she passed by, she looked into the plate glass, checking to see if anyone was behind her.
She'd made two of the drops that Rickard had ordered her to do, and the one thing she couldn't afford at this moment in time, was to lose the money that she was now carrying. There was no way she could afford to replace it, and she was certain that Rickard would demand a pound of flesh in return for any loss on her part; an order that she knew Lewis would be only too happy to carry out. She shivered involuntarily as she thought of Rickard's muscle bound enforcer. There was something about the man that always put her on edge. The man took an obvious pleasure in his work, and she wasn't about to gift him the opportunity of getting close to her again. She still bore the marks from her last encounter with him.
She pushed the thought from her mind and glanced again in the tall window that fronted the store to her left.
She was almost past the glass when she caught sight of a blond woman who was trailing some ten feet behind her. She'd seen her earlier, just before she'd made the first drop. She'd recognised her immediately from the previous day, and had, on impulse, dropped into the shadows and monitored the blond woman's movements. Whoever she was, the woman didn't belong in the neighbourhood; her clothes made her stand out as someone who wasn't used to spending her time among the dealers and the pimps who operated on the nearby street corners. Pegging her finally as nothing more than some wet-behind-the-ears narcotics officer out on some sort of orientation, Sabrina had altered her route to avoid her, and then continued on with her business.
Having her on her tail now was the last thing she needed. She picked up her pace again; heading for the end of the block. If the woman was following her, she'd try and shake her over the next couple of blocks; if that failed she'd head down into the subway and lose her there. One thing little Miss Undercover Narc looked as though she wouldn't fancy was a subway ride.
Tiffany watched as the woman in front of her picked up her speed. She clicked her tongue against her teeth in frustration, and attempted to match the increase in pace without losing sight of her quarry. The woman – who she was now certain was Sabrina – didn't appear to be aware of her presence behind her, but she was certainly on the alert for others on the sidewalk.
She kept the baseball cap and the bobbing hair of its owner in view as best as she could, as the figure expertly manoeuvred their way along the crowded sidewalk. It was going to be a little awkward when she finally did manage to catch up with the woman; she wasn't really sure just how she was going to start the conversation. She watched as Sabrina's pace suddenly slowed as she grabbed the arm of a passerby and pulled them along with her. The figure seemed less than pleased at being accosted, but soon settled into step with her.
After a few words had been exchanged, the conversation was apparently at an end and the young man she'd been talking to left her side and merged with the crowd. Tiffany kept her attention fixed on Sabrina, as she headed for the crosswalk at the end of the block.
The sign ahead switched to 'Don't Walk', and Tiffany finally thanked luck for being on her side. If she picked up her pace, then she should be able to catch up with Sabrina whilst she was waiting for the lights to change.
She had just begun to close the gap, when she felt herself being pushed to one side. For a second she thought that someone was just brushing past her, but then she felt a sharp tug on the strap of her bag.
"Hey," she yelled out angrily, grabbing hold of the bag strap with both hands; determined not to let some kid get away with mugging her in broad daylight.
She turned her head and glared at the teenage boy who was attempting to relieve her of her purse. Her face registered surprise as she immediately recognised the boy as the one who she had just seen talking with Sabrina. The pause of surprise was enough for the young man, and he yanked at the purse again, ripping it from her grip, before turning on his toes and making a run for it through the crowd of people.
It took a few moments for what had happened to sink in. She looked in the direction of Sabrina and caught the grin of victory that crossed the woman's face before she turned and darted across the road. Tiffany turned back, and tried to see where the young boy had disappeared to. He was nowhere in sight.
Tiffany swore loudly; not caring about the reaction she got from the other pedestrians on the sidewalk. None of them had turned a head at the bag snatching, but now it appeared that they were offended by her choice of language. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk, trying to work out what to do next. There was no point in chasing after Sabrina; she was going to be too far away to catch, and it was equally pointless trying to track the young man who now had her bag. She was angry and frustrated with herself in equal measure. She pushed up the sleeve of her coat and glanced at the time. She was due to meet with the others in less than thirty minutes. At least, she tried to console herself, she had something to tell them. Quite what Sabrina's friends would make of her actions was less than clear.
Shaking her head in frustration, Tiffany turned on her heel and set off in the direction of the diner where they were to meet.
