Someone Who Isn't Me Danuta Kot (best books to read .TXT) 📖

to the fuel store, and beyond that, deep shadow. There was nothing there.

And the yellow bag? It could have come from anywhere.

She had to go. Poppy needed her.

Half an hour later, Kay was driving through the nighttime streets of Hull, her speed well above what it should be. The rain had eased off, but her headlights still reflected in shards of brightness from the wet roads. If Poppy wasn’t at home, where should she start to look? March into a massage parlour and start demanding access to one of their girls? The idea was so ludicrous, it made her smile, but it might come to that. This was deadly serious.

No point in worrying about it until she’d checked to see if Poppy was at home. The fact she wasn’t answering her phone didn’t mean much. Would Poppy be in bits, or defiant? Would she be high on whatever it was she was taking at the moment? Kay was through the centre now and heading towards the backstreet where Poppy lived. The street lights were lit, but towards the end of the road, one of them was out and the approach to Poppy’s house was in deep shadow. A car – a red Ford Fiesta – was parked outside.

As Kay pulled up, the front door opened and someone came out – a tall, slim figure wearing a hat with the brim tilted forward over her eyes.

Leesha.

Now Kay knew who Poppy’s employer was.

As she watched, Leesha closed the door behind her with what looked, to Kay, like stealth. Kay thought she would stay in the car until Leesha had left, then changed her mind. The woman would have information about Poppy, and Kay needed that.

She got out of the car as Leesha came onto the road. ‘Is Poppy in there?’ she asked, not bothering with any of the social stuff. She had been sure this woman was Poppy’s dealer, now it looked as though she was her pimp as well. Kay wasn’t going to pretend.

‘It’s the new, not-so-improved Xanthe,’ Leesha said. She didn’t seem surprised to see Kay – in fact, she looked almost as if she was expecting her.

‘Is Poppy in there?’ Kay repeated.

‘Why do you want to know?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

‘Poppy’s fine.’ The other woman studied her, her eyes shadowed by the brim of her hat. ‘I don’t think she wants to see you. She’s gone right off Tania’s House for some reason.’

‘Then she can tell me that herself,’ Kay said.

Close up, Leesha was looking rough. From a distance, she was the picture of elegant cool, but her face looked drawn and her lips looked thin and dry. It made Kay wonder if Leesha was a user herself.

‘That’s up to her.’ Leesha dug in her bag, looking for something. She seemed in no rush to go.

‘Yes. So I need to see her,’ Kay said.

‘Good luck with that. Do you really think she’ll let you in?’

‘Has she taken something?’

‘Don’t look at me. What Poppy does in her own time is her business. Something you might like to remember.’ She was holding a packet of cigarettes and shook one into her hand, putting it between her lips and flicking her lighter.

‘Until she breaks the law. My concern right now is Poppy, if you’ll let me past.’

‘Oh, I’m not stopping you. Nosy old bitch, aren’t you?’

Kay moved round her and went to the door. It was locked. She tried the bell, which, of course, didn’t work, then knocked, waited and knocked again, all the time aware of Leesha standing there watching her, enjoying her dilemma.

‘Do you have a key?’ Kay asked her.

Leesha smiled. ‘Maybe I do, but Poppy hasn’t given me permission to hand it over.’

Kay knocked again, louder. Poppy could be ignoring her, but she could be ill. If Leesha had been with her, then she’d almost certainly have taken something. The silence behind the door was ominous. ‘She could be ill, seriously ill. Just let me in, and go.’

‘Kids. They do stupid things,’ Leesha said, drawing on her cigarette. She blew a perfect smoke ring.

Kay began rattling the door handle, but the door was firmly locked. The windows? Could she justify breaking in? There was a malice in Leesha that alarmed her more than she was prepared to show. Leesha would enjoy watching Kay start to get flustered, to panic, to start acting rashly.

OK. Think. You’ve dealt with difficult people most of your life. ‘If Poppy’s taken something, and it’s harmed her, the person who supplied it can be charged,’ she said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. ‘I’m calling the police.’

‘That’s going to help Poppy so much, isn’t it? After she’s been arrested and all that.’ But Leesha sounded wary now.

‘Only if she’s carrying. If she’s taken something,’ Kay said, keeping her rising concern hidden under an equitable tone, ‘which, of course, you might have supplied, then she needs help. And you, as the supplier, are responsible for the outcome.’ She held the other woman’s gaze.

Leesha chewed her thin lip. Kay thought she could see a mark there, as if the skin was torn. ‘I’m not sticking around to watch poor little Poppy being arrested again. I told her you and Dev wouldn’t like it.’ Her voice was a sing-song parody of a child telling tales. ‘Do you know what Poppy said? She said “Fuck Dev.” Do you think she does? I could tell the police she said that, only maybe I misheard. Maybe she said, “I fuck Dev.” I’m pretty sure that was it. Now I think back.’

Bluff and counter bluff? ‘Are you sure your car is clean? If you’ve been supplying drugs, it won’t be. Give me the key, or I’m calling the police. Now.’

‘Poor old Dev. End of his career, don’t you think?’ The jeering note in Leesha’s voice stirred Kay’s anger.

‘You want to talk to the police about sexual exploitation? Fine. And selling Poppy illegal substances, shall we talk to them about that as well?’ Kay lifted her phone and took a