Stepping off the pavement into the road, I hear the blare of a car horn and a BMW appears out of nowhere, swerving so as not to hit me.

‘What the fuck?’ I say to myself as much as to the driver and step back onto the pavement as the car pulls into a side street next to the row of shops. Starting to cross again, this time I check for the blind spot, and as I look back I see a young woman, around my age or younger, with thin, bleach-blonde hair pulling herself out from the back seat of the car.

There is something about her pale, Bambi-like legs tottering on shiny black heels, the hollow circles under her eyes visible even from this distance, that catches my attention. Ducking back into the car, where I am protected from view by a smeared windshield, I watch the girl move through the alleyway which runs along the side of the social club before disappearing out of view.

For a moment I sit in the car, drumming a finger uneasily against the steering wheel, taking a moment to gather my thoughts before discreetly pushing open the door and stepping onto the pavement.

Taking a few steps to my right, I can see into the alleyway through the partial screen of a hedge to where the BMW is parked on the cobbles, next to a tree whose roots seem to burst out from the pavement. The car’s nose is pointed towards the back door of the building. Without bothering to lock my car, I cross the road, further down this time, and take shelter behind the hedge at the foot of the alleyway where the BMW has been left, at a slight angle.

From here, there is a perfect view through the open back door into the social club. Just as I lift my head above the parapet, I see the driver emerge through the doorway. Behind him are two more girls with the same blackened eyes and vacant expressions as the one who has just gone inside.

Ducking down again, my heartbeat rising in my chest, I hear the man speak and the girls get into the back seat while he lowers himself through the driver’s door, with an instinctive glance over his shoulder.

Moving stealthily back across the road as the BMW reverses into the street, my hands shake as I turn the key in the ignition, pulling the wheel all the way to the right just in time to see the BMW shooting up the road.

Gently pressing my foot on the accelerator, the second speaker suddenly comes to life and there is a surge of music as I race up the street after them, turning sharply and feeling my phone drop from my pocket into the footwell.

Chapter 39

Gabriela