Kitabı oku: «Backstabber», sayfa 7

‘Na-night then, love. If you wake up later and need anything, just give me a shout. Even if you just wanna chat, OK?’

Calum didn’t bother answering. How could his great-gran even say ‘You’ll want for nothing’ when his mum and brother had been shot to smithereens right in front of him?

‘How is he? Silly question, I know,’ Vinny asked solemnly, his arm draped around Ava’s shoulders. His daughter was usually as strong as an ox, but today had knocked the stuffing out of her. It had all of them. Everybody seemed to be running on autopilot, but Ava in particular was acting weird. She was clingy, childlike almost, and it reminded Vinny of days gone by when she’d been a little girl. Not the stroppy teenager she was most days now.

‘Still under the quilt. I dunno what else to say to him. I’m not the greatest with words at times such as these. Suffered too many tragedies in the past, that’s bloody why. Will you talk to him, Vin?’

‘I dunno what to say to him either. Molly, Auntie Viv, Roy, Champ, Adam … You just run out of words in the end, don’t ya?’ He purposely left his sister Brenda out of his list of deaths because he hadn’t really liked her that much. When Queenie offered no reply but continued to look at him expectantly, he turned to his daughter. ‘Go chat to Calum for us please, Ava? You’re much better at saying the right things than me and your nan are.’

Imagining how dreadful Calum must be feeling, Ava reluctantly made her way upstairs.

‘I feel so ill, Vin. Must’ve aged ten years recently. And there was me thinking moving home would change my luck. Cursed, this family is, I’m telling ya. Him up above hates us. I wouldn’t mind if we were bad people, but we have hearts of gold. Do anybody a good turn if we can. Why us?’

‘None of it makes any sense, Mum. Why wait all these years then decide to turn up waving guns on today of all days? I will start making enquiries tomorrow and when I find out who’s responsible, I’ll personally hack their limbs off while they’re still alive.’

Queenie’s eyes welled up. ‘But say they find you first? If anything happens to you, it’ll be the end of me. I couldn’t live without you, Vin. I love you too much.’

Vinny held his mother in his arms trying to soothe her fears. In truth, he was a very worried man. If the Turks were capable of the chaos they’d caused at the wake, then he’d better watch his back very carefully indeed.

‘No way is Ava going to work at your club with those loonies on the loose. I won’t allow it,’ Queenie insisted.

‘I know. I’ll talk to Ava tomorrow. I don’t want you going out alone either. Not until I’ve sorted this mess.’

For all the conviction in his voice, Vinny had no idea how he was going to sort this particular mess. Turks were like travellers: a closed community who stuck together like glue, so finding out who’d pulled such a stroke was not going to be easy. But money talked and, like all communities, the Turks were bound to have one or two backstabbing traitors living amongst them.

‘Now go give Little Vinny a ring,’ urged Queenie. ‘What that lad must be going through doesn’t bear thinking about. My first great-grandchild dead, and poor Sammi-Lou. I feel numb, truly can’t get my head around it. The look on Big Stan’s face as they shot him will haunt me for the rest of my days. We said we was gonna give Vivvy a send-off that the East End would remember and talk about for years to come, but we didn’t mean like this.’

CHAPTER NINE

Eddie Mitchell felt his heartbeat accelerate as he clocked the parcel sitting on the step. Even without even opening it, he knew what would be inside. Same packaging, same printed writing, and delivered by hand like the last one was.

Two weeks had passed since Vivian Harris’s funeral, and for once the police had come up trumps. An anonymous phone call had led them to a garage in Forest Gate. The van was inside, and when the Turks came back that very same evening, they were immediately surrounded by armed police. They’d since been charged and sent to Belmarsh prison to await their trial. The Old Bill reckoned it was a foregone conclusion they’d get a ‘Guilty’ verdict as their DNA was all over the vehicle, and they’d even recovered the masks.

Eddie had breathed a massive sigh of relief on hearing the news of the arrests. With the new casino due to open soon, he hadn’t wanted a war on his hands. Especially a war he’d had sod-all to do with in the bloody first place. Stuart’s death still needed to be avenged, mind, and Eddie was hoping he could pay somebody to do the dirty work for him. He had a lot of contacts in Belmarsh, and was sure there would be an opportunity in the future to get at those Turkish bastards. He would make it his mission in life, if need be. That, and keeping the rest of his family safe from now on. You only got so many reprieves in his world, and his close brush with death earlier this year had forced Eddie to see life in a whole new light. It was a gift, something sacred, and he was now determined to see all his kids grow up and get married.

He was about to open the dreaded parcel, when his phone rang. ‘Everything all right, Joey? How’s she doing today?’

Gina was having none of it when he’d suggested Frankie and the kids stay at theirs for a while. His wife had told him that Brett could stay for as long as he wanted, but under no circumstances would she ever allow Aaron and Rosie to sleep under the same roof as Georgie and Harry. Frankie was currently struggling to look after herself, let alone the devil’s spawn, so Joey had stayed at hers since Stuart’s death. There was no other solution at this moment in time.

‘We had plenty of tears again this morning, but thankfully she seems to have perked up this afternoon. Little Vinny rang earlier, and invited Frankie and the kids over to his tomorrow. She didn’t want to go at first, but I managed to talk her into it and she called him back. It’ll do her the world of good to talk to somebody who is going through the same thing as she is. Even worse, in Little Vinny’s case, as he lost Oliver as well. When I spoke to him, he said he was worried about his lads. One of his sons has just come out of some youth detention centre, and both boys are understandably missing their mum and brother. He seems to think the brats’ company will perk them up, which I can’t quite understand,’ Joey Mitchell explained.

‘Little Vinny’s youngest stabbed his teacher, so I’m sure he and Harry’ll get along just fine,’ Eddie replied sarcastically. ‘Did Frankie drink again last night?’

‘Yes, but only about a bottle and a half of wine. No vodka, which is an improvement on last week. I can’t stop her, Dad. She reckons it’s the only way she can sleep. We have to hope that, now the funeral is over, she’ll knock it on the head.’

‘The devil’s spawn been playing her up?’

‘Nope. Been in their bedroom most of the day. Georgie has even offered to cook us dinner one evening. Although I might pass on that for fear of her poisoning me.’

Eddie managed a weak chuckle. ‘Cheers for staying with her, Joey. Dunno what I’d do without you at times. You truly are a star.’

‘Thanks. But as I told you at the funeral, I can’t stay here forever, Dad. Dom needs me too. We spoke last night, sorted a lot of stuff out, and I promised him I’d go home next week.’

Alarmed, Eddie Mitchell rubbed the stubble on his chin. ‘But Frankie can’t be left on her own, son. How’s she meant to cope? It’s far too soon.’

‘Perhaps you can stay with her for a while? Or let Gary take his turn at playing the caring brother? I’m not being funny, Dad, but I’m not going to balls-up my life while everybody else seems to be getting on with theirs.’

‘You know what a needy notright Gary’s married to. She ain’t gonna let him stay at Frankie’s now they’ve got their first nipper on the way. And Gina needs me at home. Aaron and Rosie are a handful at times. Can’t Dominic stay at Frankie’s with you? She likes him and that might cheer her up.’

‘No, Dad, he can’t. You know what a piss-taking, homophobic piece of work Harry is. I’m not putting Dom through any more of his snide remarks. I suggest you put your foot down with Gina. Either tell her you to have to stay with Frankie, or insist Frankie and the kids stay at yours. Frankie should come before Gina. She’s your daughter.’

Mumbling, ‘And you’re her fucking twin,’ Eddie ended the call and opened the package. As he’d thought, it wasn’t a ‘Good Luck with Your New Venture’ present from Harrods. Instead he found two dead pigeons and another bible quote:

DEUTERONOMY 19:18–21

THE JUDGES SHALL INVESTIGATE THOROUGHLY, AND IF THE WITNESS IS A FALSE WITNESS AND HE HAS ACCUSED HIS BROTHER FALSELY, THEN YOU SHALL DO TO HIM JUST AS HE INTENDED TO DO TO HIS BROTHER. THUS YOU SHALL PURGE THE EVIL FROM AMONG YOU. THE REST WILL HEAR AND BE AFRAID, AND WILL NEVER DO SUCH AN EVIL THING AMONG YOU. THUS YOU SHALL NOT SHOW PITY. LIFE FOR LIFE, EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH, HAND FOR HAND, FOOT FOR FOOT.

Bemused, Eddie put the lid back on the box. If the Turks were locked up, it couldn’t be them sending this weird shit. So who the hell was it?

Firing up the ignition, Vinny Butler turned to his son. ‘You did Sammi-Lou and Oliver extremely proud. Your speech was phenomenal.’ Today Sammi-Lou and Oliver had been laid to rest, and Vinny was so proud of the way his son had behaved since their deaths. He hadn’t fallen to pieces as Vinny had feared, and it was his son who’d contacted him to apologize for the silly argument they’d had at the hospital.

‘Cheers, Dad,’ Little Vinny replied, before ordering his sons to fasten their seatbelts. The authorities had cut the rest of Regan’s sentence. He’d been due home soon anyway, so it was no big deal to them. It was to Little Vinny though. He’d achieved something Sammi-Lou had long craved.

Being banged up had changed Regan somewhat. He’d matured whilst away, shot up in height and acted far older now than a twelve-year-old. Vinny Butler liked the new Regan. Suddenly he saw him as a chip off the old block. ‘You OK, lads?’ Vinny asked. Both his grandsons had cried briefly today, but considering the dreadful circumstances, they’d held their emotions in check brilliantly. Regan had even stood up and bravely read a poem he’d written himself about his mum and brother.

‘We’re OK. Can me and Cal order a pizza when we get home? We’re starving now,’ Regan replied. There would have been plenty of food at the wake, but because it was being held at Sammi-Lou’s parents’ house, his father hadn’t wanted to go. Granddad Gary had been acting arsey lately; it all came to a head at the vigil when he told Regan: ‘You’ve been a terrible son. Put your mother through hell, you did.’ Little Vinny had flipped and punched Gary Allen in the face. ‘Ever talk to my boy like that again, you’ll have my dad to answer to, cunt,’ he’d yelled, before storming out, dragging Regan and Calum with him.

‘How did you leave it with the Allens?’ Vinny asked his son. ‘I saw you chatting to Meg outside the church.’

‘I told her she’s welcome to see the boys whenever, but Gary needs to calm down before I’m allowing him contact with ’em. Ball’s in their court now. Calum and Regan are Butlers, whether Gary likes that or not, and I won’t allow him to drag our name through the mud. I know he’s upset and angry, but aren’t we all? I dug you out at the hospital, but soon realized the error of my ways and apologized. Best Gary does the same, eh? He needs to treat me and the boys with a bit more respect if he wants to be part of Calum and Regan’s future.’

Vinny put the palm of his hand on the back of his son’s neck. ‘I can’t tell you how fucking proud of you I am these days. Whatever happened to the skinhead delinquent that used to knock about with that muppet Ben Bloggs, eh?’

Shuddering as he thought of Ben, then Molly, Little Vinny turned the volume on the radio up.

Queenie Butler put the kettle on. Sammi-Lou and Oliver had been laid to rest together. Queenie had been dreading the actual funeral and had cried buckets. She still couldn’t believe she would never see Ollie’s handsome face again or hear that cheery voice of his, but he and Sammi had been given a nice send-off and thankfully it had gone off without a hitch.

Plonking Michael’s mug on the coffee table, Queenie pursed her lips. ‘So what’s happening with your love life, Don Juan?’ She’d been fuming on learning he was seeing Bella again, but because of everything that had happened since, had been unable to give her son a hard time about it. She’d had more important things on her mind.

‘Do we have to talk about my love life? I’m a walking car crash when it comes to women. The one thing I do know is, I do not and have never loved Katy Spencer.’

‘Should of thought of that before you shoved your dingle-dangle up her and got her pregnant twice! I hope you’re popping back to Tunbridge Wells still. You can’t abandon Nathan. That boy needs a father.’ Queenie purposely didn’t mention her granddaughter Ellie. She had very little time for that spoiled brat. Its mother’s double, that one was.

‘I saw Nathan and Ellie last week, and I’m gonna drive down to Tunbridge Wells again tomorrow. I tried to tell Katy me and her were over, but she’ll do anything to keep me trotting back there once a week and staying overnight. Including turning the kids against me, blackmailing them to make me feel guilty, and threatening to move to France with them to live with her parents, who she doesn’t even get on with.’

‘She knows a good thing when she sees it, that’s why. Once a gold-digger always a gold-digger. And what about the other one? Still Alfie-ing it up round there, are you?’ Michael had always been one for the ladies, even at an early age. That’s why Queenie had many years ago nicknamed him after Michael Caine’s character in the film Alfie.

‘It’s complicated, Mum. I know you hate her, but I will always have feelings for Bella. We were truly happy once, and we’re both so proud of Camila. There’s a lot of water under the bridge though, and Antonio to contend with. No way will I be jumping in feet first. I’m just gonna take things slowly and see how it goes.’

Coughing at the same time she said the word ‘Slut’, Queenie asked after Camila before chatting about the funeral. ‘Hope I’m never forced to be in that Gary Allen’s company again. See the face on it? Needs a stocking of hot shit slapped around his clock, he does. I mean, Little Vinny fell over backwards to accommodate his and Meg’s wishes. He even allowed the dead bodies of Oliver and Sammi to be gawped at by all and sundry at the Allens’ house. And we had to listen to all that Catholic claptrap today, being sprayed with that bastard holy water. That boy was a Butler, should be buried alongside our family.’

‘Little Vinny did what he thought was best. Meg Allen wanted Sammi to be buried near her nan, and Little Vinny was adamant Oliver be buried with Sammi-Lou. That cemetery isn’t exactly a million miles away, Mum. I’ll drive you over there whenever you want.’

Queenie shook her head vehemently, and in a flippant tone replied,‘Nah. Don’t bother. I’m not a Catholic. Would rather stick with me own.’

Vinny Butler was stunned to say the least. Neither he nor Eddie had expected to receive any more unwanted parcels. They’d put the earlier ones down to the Turks. ‘I dunno what to say to you, mate. I’m just as gobsmacked as you. Perhaps you were right in the beginning? You know, about the pikeys sending ’em.’

Eddie Mitchell was in a Scotch-fuelled, extremely bad mood. ‘Nah. What if there are more Turks queuing up to shoot us, Vin? Just because those three fucktards are locked up doesn’t mean to say we’re in the clear. And this shit has sod-all to do with me in the first place, does it?’

Vinny ran his fingers through his dark Brylcreemed hair. ‘No, it doesn’t, Ed. But who’s to say this crap we keep getting sent was anything to do with the Turks in the first place? Could be any nutter sending such shit, and those bible quotes get more wacky by the fucking delivery. Not knocking you, but neither of us have been angels in our time, so it could be aimed at both or either of us. What I suggest is that tomorrow, we get some cameras put up outside. CCTV will catch the bastards.’

Eddie slammed his glass against the table. ‘Bar the O’Haras, I’ve kept myself out of the firing line for years. I really don’t need agg like this at my age, mate. I’ve got young kids and a wife I adore. I would never have agreed to our business venture in the first place had I known we’d be having this conversation now. I’ve just lost one of my best men thanks to you, Vin, and I don’t intend on losing any more. I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, shall I? I will insure this gaff up to the hilt and, on my kids’ lives, any more grief, I will set fire to the cunt personally. Get my drift?’

‘Mum, what was I like when I was little?’

Frankie Mitchell managed a weak smile. Georgie had certainly warmed towards her since Stuart’s death, even though she still spent most of her time holed up in the bedroom with Harry. ‘You were always headstrong, wasn’t she, Joey? Do you remember that time she ran away from that pub? You gave us a real fright.’

Georgie giggled. ‘Where did I go?’

‘You were found up a tree, if I remember correctly,’ Joey informed his niece.

‘And you were such a fussy eater, you’d turn your nose up at most things. The one thing you would always eat though were those tinned sausages with baked beans. They were your favourite.’

Georgie shuddered. ‘Nanny Alice says you should never eat meat out of tins. She says the animal needs to be recently killed.’

Frankie topped up her glass of wine. Alcohol had become her friend these past couple of weeks, helped to lessen the feelings of pure panic that would wash over her. The police had refused to release Stuart’s body immediately; therefore his funeral had only taken place yesterday. It had been terribly sad, and without drinking half a litre of vodka beforehand, Frankie would have been unable to attend.

‘You look sad again, Mum. You thinking about Stuart?’ Georgie enquired.

Frankie plastered a fake smile on her face. ‘No. I’m thinking about our day out tomorrow. Calum’s dad rung up earlier and invited us over. You’ll get to meet Regan, Calum’s brother, too. And if you promise to come back and look after Harry, you can go out and play there.’

Georgie wanted to laugh at her mother’s use of the word ‘play’. How old did she think she and Harry were, five? Instead, she smiled sweetly. ‘I promise, Mum.’

Georgie O’Hara could not help but smirk as she skipped up the stairs to tell her brother the news. She currently had her mother in the palm of her hand, and that was exactly where she wanted her.

Eddie Mitchell handed Vinny a drink. He’d calmed down a bit now, having flown off the handle earlier. He hadn’t apologized to his business partner though. Eddie wasn’t a man who used the word ‘sorry’ very often, he never had been. ‘Did Oliver and Sammi have a good send-off, mate?’

Vinny shrugged. ‘As well as could be expected. Gary Allen had a face like a smacked arse throughout, refused to speak to any of my family. But I suppose that was to be expected. Little Vinny held himself together well, so did Calum and Regan.’

‘What about your mum and Michael?’

‘They’re OK. Us Butlers are professional fucking mourners now, the amount of deaths we’ve had to deal with. How about Stuart’s?’ Vinny asked. With both funerals within a day of one another, he and Eddie had decided to just attend their own family’s rather than each other’s.

Eddie sighed. ‘It was sad, Stuart’s mum was in bits. Nice woman, she is. I’ll keep in touch with her, bung her a few quid ’ere and there. It’s the least I can do, really.’

‘Was Frankie OK?’

‘She’d been boozing and fell arse over tit on top of some of the floral tributes, but apart from being tearful, she got through it better than I thought she would. The devil’s spawn didn’t come. I told Frankie I didn’t want ’em there in case they upset Stu’s mum. I sent a couple of the lads round Frankie’s to watch over them. Brett wanted to be there though. Loved Stuart, he did. I feel sorry for that poor little sod. He’s been living with us the past couple of weeks, don’t wanna go home. He’s great with my Aaron and Rosie, helps Gina out, so she’s happy for him to stop there.’

‘I hear your Frankie’s going round my boy’s tomorrow. Little Vinny belled her this morning.’

‘Yeah, Joey said. Be good for them to chat. And for the kids to have a muck around together. Similar ages, the kids, eh?’

‘Be even better if my boy and your girl start hitting it off. That would be some wedding, eh? A Butler and Mitchell one.’

Eddie looked at Vinny in amazement. ‘I wouldn’t order your suit just yet. My Frankie was well in love with Stuart, and he’s only been dead five minutes.’

‘So was Little Vinny with Sammi-Lou. But neither can be brought back from the dead, mate. Life goes on, so they say …’