Kitabı oku: «The Forgotten Child», sayfa 6

Chapter 11

After she had dropped Milo at school the next day, Holly dealt with the usual housework and washing, ironing her uniform ready for work. It was weird to be doing mundane things when her life seemed to have gone mental. Part of her wanted to rush back down to the hospital and check on Jayden’s son, but his condition hadn’t changed. And what if whoever dumped him in the car was watching the hospital? Were they waiting for her next move? The protective feelings she had tried to push away since she found him huddled in her car were obviously stronger since the revelation that they were related, but fear of the whole situation was underlying her stray maternal instincts, plus she had Milo to look out for.

Cath’s warning rang in her ears, and she almost felt she had to look over her shoulder the whole time in case she was being followed. Gut instinct still told her that her brother was dead, but if Jay had left his son with someone else, and that person had brought him back to Westbourne … what next?

Holly shoved another load of washing into the machine and yanked her thoughts away from the puzzle. At least Milo was loving being back at school, and his whole class seemed to have signed his cast. Tom seemed to be complying with her suggestion of email communication and hadn’t sent any more text messages. Maybe it would all be okay.

Her phone rang as she finally sat slouched with her cup of coffee at the kitchen table, enjoying the weak sunlight that flooded the kitchen. DC Marriot was not an especially welcome caller.

‘Holly? I just wondered if you had seen the news?’

‘No. Sorry, what?’ Her heart was pounding, and she was clutching her cup so hard her knuckles were white.

‘There was a fight at Yorke Prison early this morning, and two prisoners were stabbed to death.’ Her voice was cool as ever, but clearly there was more. ‘The two prisoners who died were Alexi and Roman Balinta.’

‘Fuck me. I mean … How could that even happen?’ Hot coffee splashed over her fingers and she swore again.

‘We’re trying to find out. Are you at home?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I probably should come round if you don’t mind. I have something to show you.’

Oh double shit, this didn’t sound good. Holly made another coffee whilst she waited. She didn’t need more caffeine; her nerves were jangling as it was and she had the beginnings of a thumping headache. Alexi and Roman were dead? Well, she couldn’t pretend she felt sad that someone had killed the murdering bastards, but how could that happen while they were in prison? And both of them together? She thought she could guess what DC Marriot was going to say, and it would be along the ‘why the hell is all this happening now?’ line.

Holly stood watching the street until the car arrived. She tried to figure out how she felt, and what the fuck was going on. She checked her Twitter feed and found a news item on what was described as a double stabbing. The brothers were thought to have become involved in an argument over drugs. Thoughts jarred in her brain, and the rumble and crash of the bins being emptied outside made her jump. Why would someone bring Jay’s son back into the middle of this?

DC Marriot was immaculate in navy pinstripe and a long dark coat. She marched up to the front door, accompanied by a uniformed officer.

The DC got straight down to business. ‘We’re still working on the details, and obviously the prison service are being fully cooperative, but basically Alexi got into an argument with another prisoner as he was coming back to his cell from the library.’ The DC was uptight today, her petite pixie-like face alert, and her eyes bright as she reeled off the facts.

‘The library?’ Holly queried. She didn’t remember Alexi reading anything more that the back of a ciggie packet.

‘Yes. The argument happened to take place at a time when his brother, Roman, was coming in from the yard. He saw Alexi being attacked, went to help, and the prisoner responsible stabbed them both.’ The uniformed officer looked up from his notes. His expression was sombre.

‘Bloody hell. How did that even happen? I mean, where were the guards or whatever?’ Holly glanced at the uniformed officer, but he was sitting quietly now, still taking notes on the conversation. ‘Actually, I do remember when one of Cath’s cousins was in prison they sent him stuff by drone. But it wasn’t knives, it was just pills and a phone.’

DC Marriot sighed. ‘It is possible to get a knife in, or make one, and yes, drones are commonly used. The prison officers do a great job, but they can’t cover everything. They are convinced, as are we, that this wasn’t a random attack. It was carefully planned to take out both men.’

‘What about the prisoner who killed them?’ For a tiny, crazy moment Holly almost expected her to say Jayden had turned up inside the prison and done it himself to get revenge for Larissa and the baby. This was nightmare stuff. He couldn’t be alive …

‘He was a long-term resident, as they all were in that block, and he was recently diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately the cancer is untreatable and he has just months to live. He doesn’t seem to have had a particular reason to take out the Balinta brothers, but we’re working on that. According to him, Alexi was disrespecting him, they had a row, and he pulled the knife to defend himself. Naturally we are looking at Larissa’s case amongst the other offences that all three men were originally charged with.’

Holly found she couldn’t speak. It was too freaky for words. Could the Nicholls somehow be responsible? Cath mentioned they were asking about Niko. Perhaps they had threatened him, blackmailed him with a hit on his brothers? She shared her thoughts with the two officers, and they nodded, clearly accepting the possibility.

‘But look at this. A piece of paper was found in the pocket of Alexi’s trousers.’ DC Marriot pushed her phone over to Holly.

Holly stared at the photograph on the screen. A piece of lined paper, slightly bloodstained, maybe torn from a notebook:

‘FOR LARISSA’

‘So, what, someone – this prisoner who killed them I guess – put this in his pocket? Someone took out Larissa’s killers for revenge, or at least wanted it to look that way?’

‘Possibly.’

Holly was thinking hard. Alexi had always been a bully, and from the age of ten he’d beaten up all the little kids on the Seaview. Roman was slower to be drawn into a fight, slightly less evil-tempered than his brother, but willing to do anything Alexi said. They had loads of enemies, from every stage of their lives. Even before they killed Larissa and her baby daughter, there would have been a list of people willing to take them out of play. Plus, of course, with them gone, the Balinta family was reduced to just Niko and his dad …

‘It is a possibility that this is not related to anything that has been happening recently, but I don’t believe in coincidence.’ DC Marriot was sipping her takeaway coffee now, eyes narrowed, clearly thinking hard, echoing Holly’s thoughts. ‘We are still very interested in the current dynamics on the Seaview, especially how this will affect certain business deals. But I can’t ignore the fact that all the key players have links to Larissa. Added to this fact, we have the obvious extra information that Devril Mancini has been seen in Westbourne, Niko Balinta is out of prison, and your brother …’

‘You really think my brother is alive and has come back with Niko and Devril?’ Holly considered this, heart pounding, and swallowed hard, trying to force herself out of the nightmare.

The DC shrugged. ‘Again, we honestly don’t know at the moment. It could be that the perpetrator is leading us towards that conclusion, but the reality is something totally different. Obviously, we will be talking to Niko, and trying to track down Devril Mancini, to see if either of them knows anything. Some of my colleagues are with Mason Balinta.’

‘They drew the short straw then? Sorry, this isn’t funny. I just can’t believe it. Are you going to question my aunt again? She’s going crazy wondering if we buried Jayden, metaphorically of course, or if he’s suddenly going to ring the doorbell one night.’

‘At this stage, we’re just trying to establish if there is a link between the incidents. If you can think of anything that might help us, or Niko or Devril, make contact, just ring me.’

‘Yeah, I will.’ But she couldn’t even begin to think where Devril might be hiding. Both Westbourne and Panfield had miles of estates, stretching from the coast to Highton Downs. The thought of Dev getting in touch set her nerves buzzing again. Niko would be back at his dad’s and she couldn’t imagine why he would ring her. But both men brought unwelcome memories. Had she totally wasted her time trying to turn herself into someone else? Someone normal … Tom’s voice came back to her, raised in anger during one of their many arguments. ‘You can’t do it, can you? Can’t really leave it behind. In your heart you’re still one of them, and I don’t want that in a wife!’

‘Holly?’ The DC’s sharp voice broke into her thoughts. ‘You might as well call me Karen, and screw the formalities. I know you don’t trust us, and I get why, but we need to work together.’ She smiled properly. ‘This is turning into a bitch of a case and the DCI is going to want daily updates. Not to mention DI Harper keeping a close eye on things.’

Yeah, she could imagine the nosy bastard was thrilled at getting a final chance to turn over the Seaview estate before he retired. Holly found herself smiling back, warily, years of ingrained prejudice still preventing her from responding to the overture of friendliness, but she liked the energy this woman emitted. She had felt the same when Steph reached out, but she had to admit these two had been level with her from day one. ‘You mean the DCI is jumping on your arse wanting answers?’

‘Pretty much. He’s not the only one. The prison is involved now, not to mention increased media interest. I’ll be honest, at the moment we’ve got very little to go on. We are hoping that Jayden’s son, if he really is Jayden’s son, regains consciousness and can shed some light on where he’s been for the past eleven years.’

‘You know DI Harper dealt with my mum’s case too …’ Holly said it slowly, watching the other woman. ‘You could say he’s always been in the family – even before my mum died, he was crawling over my dad’s business, so I can see why he might be sticking his beak in now.’

‘Your mum was killed in a hit and run on Beach Road, wasn’t she?’

‘Yeah. I was thirteen, and one night she just didn’t come home.’ Holly bit her lip. ‘Everything fell apart after that, you know.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘S’okay. It was a long time ago. DI Harper arrested my dad, but he never had enough to charge him with.’ Holly decided not to mention that for a while she had been pretty sure her dad had killed her mum, only letting go of the idea when an unshakable alibi came to light. ‘Obviously he wasn’t a DI then. I think he was working on some drugs case, and he seemed to be really keen to nail my dad for everything going. Bastard. Nobody was ever charged in the end, so he failed. Whoever killed my mum got away with it. Yeah, I’m dead happy for DI Harper not to be around too much.’

Karen’s phone rang and she snatched it up, one eye still on Holly. She snapped out yes and no and killed the call. ‘Got to get back to the prison. I can’t promise to tell you everything that’s going on, but I will try and level with you, okay?’

‘Why? If we’re being honest … you don’t have to tell me all this.’

‘You’re right, I don’t and I’m sharing a whole lot more than I normally would, because I have a gut feeling you might be key to whatever is about to go down. I also think you need to be careful, Holly, and ring me anytime if you are at all worried about anything.’ Her blue eyes were back to glacial and Holly shivered.

As she watched her cross the road with the other officer, and drive away, Holly thought about her mum. The pain was still there. You never forgot, of course, and at times she missed her terribly, but life went on and you went with it, carrying fresh scars from each new battle. For a while, as a teenager with access to pretty much any illegal substance she wanted to sample, she had been tempted, as Jay had, to blot out her grief with chemicals, or as her dad had done, with alcohol.

But instead she had turned to boxing, which had worked pretty well until Larissa’s murder turned her life upside down once again. Then when Jay went, she’d been almost glad her mum hadn’t been there to see it, hadn’t had to search for her son and then declare him dead. But as she got her life on track, and especially when she was pregnant, when Milo was a baby, she would catch herself thinking how many things she wanted to ask her mum, and how much she would have loved being a gran.

Her phone buzzed with another message, and she saw she had three missed calls, one from Lydia, the others from Cath. What could she say? Apart from, ‘Oh shit, the police think Jayden’s alive and has somehow got Alexi and Roman murdered.’ It was the stuff of fantasy, or nightmares, and she wasn’t sure she could handle either.

Holly glanced in the mirror, and with an effort squared her shoulders and pulled her dark hair into a high ponytail. She raised her arms up for a stretch before stopping abruptly … It was a shock to realise she could slip back into her old routine, the old Holly, so easily. This was her pre-fight prep, when she mentally prepared herself for a boxing competition. She used to do it on a weekly basis. Somewhere deep inside, the fire was still there, and from the sound of the way things were going she was going to have to use it.

The past was dragging her back.

‘If you want to find him, we can try. I’ll go with whatever you decide.’ He paused and glanced sideways at her averted face. ‘Aren’t you glad he’s gone though? It solves a lot of problems.’

‘Yeah, sort of but only if he’s going to get clean. You don’t think he still owes Niko money, do you?’

Devril pulled her back down on the sofa. ‘Niko says he does. He reckons that Jay coughed up for the last lot, then bought a load of gear on credit. He told the boys he wanted a new start so he could be anywhere. Niko’s still pissed though. He needs Jayden, now he’s got nobody to work the North Street area. He’ll fucking kill him if he finds him, for bailing on the business and stealing the cash. Apparently Jayden took all the client contact numbers with him, and just walked.’

Holly turned, her face close to his. His arm was around her shoulders. ‘If he’s really gone I’m glad. I was just worried that … you know that Niko had done something to him. It’s got worse now the Nicholls are hanging around, causing trouble. There was that fight in the park last week and one of the boys got stabbed. This is serious; they aren’t kids with a bit of blow anymore. This is real money and hard stuff.’

‘I know.’ He kissed her. ‘That’s why I’m getting out too.’

She propped herself on her elbow. ‘Where are you going?’

‘Not far to start with, but I’m done with the Balintas and I want my own life. I’ve signed up for a PT course at college. Hell, I’ve got a great body and I reckon I can get people fit if I want.’

‘Modest, too, aren’t you?’

‘Always.’

‘That’s great, Dev, I’m so proud of you.’

‘Yeah, and you with your modelling and boxing. One day I’ll get one of those posh-boy apartments across the river.’

Dreams, stupid castles in the air, and young love. For a few months it actually did go all right. Devril studied and Holly competed, and they went out to all the hot places, with all the right people.

The Balinta family had spent the time consolidating their stranglehold over the surrounding towns, ruling the estate with fear and addiction. Their fragile alliance with the Nicholls led to fights with the other local pimps, and another stabbing made the local news. It led to various arrests. But there was no news about Jayden. He had vanished and Holly and Lydia hoped he really had started again.

Holly had begun to think about taking time out to travel with Devril, maybe apply for university. All her plans pissed off her dad. Donnie, with one child left to take over the business, wanted Holly to work with him. Things had to be kept in the family, he had insisted. The Nicholls’ haulage business, now nicely established in the area and spreading tendrils along the South coast and up towards London, was instrumental in trafficking vulnerable kids and drugs across the county lines, and they were making a fortune. Even though he was drinking more, and working less, Donnie couldn’t bear to see his slice of the action get eaten up.

But Jayden going had released Holly somehow, and she’d allowed herself to dream, to fall more in love with Devril, plan for a life doing anything other than working for her dad. Cath, a teenage mum with twins to look after, was bitter about Jayden’s departure and it was a sore subject. Jayden and Cath had always been linked, on and off, ever since school and most people assumed when she got pregnant he would stick by her. But he hadn’t. The first chance he got, he’d run.

In her heart Holly had felt it might be better this way. Cath was her best friend, but she and Jayden had been toxic together – dabbling in various drugs, joyriding, even a bit of arson down in the derelict warehouses further along the coast. Holly could remember flicking the TV on and watching the flames on the screen towering above the sea. Her brother and his girlfriend, curled up on the sofa, had been busy texting and putting pictures on social media. When she’d asked what they were doing, Cath proudly told her that they were responsible for the fire, adding it was the best high she had ever got when the flames took hold.

‘Holly, it was fucking amazing! The noise and the smell …’ She took a drag of her cigarette. ‘It was so hot I could feel the burn on my face from up on the hill.’

Holly looked at them blankly. ‘Why did you do that?’

Jayden rolled his eyes. ‘Because it was fun, and because we can. Just because you don’t ever to do anything wild, doesn’t mean we can’t break out a bit.’

Cath pretended to be engrossed in her phone. Jayden would often slate his sister, but although she didn’t ever join in, Cath rarely told him to shut up.

And it was all fine, until the day Jayden called Holly, desperate and afraid. And she had failed him. The one time it was true, all she had felt was anger, anger that it would all begin again, anger that her brother could be weak enough to fall back into the junkie trap.