Get Even (24 page)

He glanced around the wake; everyone who was anyone was there. Wreaths of complete ostentation had abounded at the graveside, and that had pleased him. Jack knew it was important for Lenny’s sons to remember this day as homage to their dead father. It was important for boys like them to know the high esteem in which their father had been held. He hoped they had all done Lenny proud. He felt the sting of tears again.

There had been nothing – not even a whisper – of why he had died as he had; it was unheard of, but that was the way it was. Jack had spread money all over the Smoke and still there were no leads. Not a fucking whisper, not even a rumour, and that was what he found so blatantly suspicious. The Filth might not know anything, granted, but there weren’t even rumours among other Faces of any kind of fucking scenario that could have brought on such actions. That was something Jack couldn’t believe. Someone somewhere had to know what had gone down, and he would do all in his power to find out what that might be. Not just for Lenny and his family but because it was genuinely pissing him off now too. No one liked being out of the loop. Least of all Jack Johnson.

Reggie slipped outside to have a cigarette; it was too hot in the Irish club. He saw Sharon standing alone, smoking quietly under a street lamp, and he made his way over to her. He could have sworn she was ignoring him; she had hardly spoken to him all day.

He walked over and put his arm around her shoulder; he really was sorry for her loss. But she moved away from him as if she had been burned. The force of her feelings was such that even the most ignorant of men would have realised that she wanted nothing to do with him.

‘Don’t you
ever
fucking touch me, Reggie.’

He was shocked at the vehemence in her voice. She could see the confusion in his face as he looked at her. She laughed bitterly. Her heart was already broken; there was nothing left to hurt.

‘I
know
, Reggie.’

He looked into her wide, blue eyes. Even now, as she mourned her husband, she was a beautiful woman and he could appreciate that fact. But her words were cold and to the point, and fear gripped his heart.

He looked at her for a long moment and she finally said quietly, ‘Liam saw you. You and my Lenny. He saw you kissing! Kissing his fucking dad. As young as he is, he knew it was wrong! How fucking ironic is that?’

Reggie felt the shock hit him then and all he could do was stare at her, at the woman he knew he had wronged in so many ways. He grabbed her arm and pulled her round to face him.

‘It is not like you think. He loved you—’

She laughed then, a nasty, vicious laugh. ‘Oh, really? Enlighten me, please. I’m dying to hear what you and him thought you were doing together. Playing hide-the-fucking-sausage?’

He looked at her with such distress and pity that she felt the urge to rip his face open, to make him hurt as much as she was.

‘I loved him, Sharon, just like you did. But he would never have left you or those boys. You have to understand that this was never about
you
as a person. He always admired you.’

‘Oh, get the fucking violins out! He was fucking you. And, if he admired me so much, why did he hit me and hurt me like he did? Tell me that, Reggie. I’m so fucking interested in what Mr Library has to say. That’s what he called you, Mr Library. Call you that in bed, did he? While you were fucking each other up the arse?’

Reggie suddenly lost all compassion. Physically dragging her away from the doorway, he pushed her into the car park and, grabbing her coat, he pulled her face towards his.

‘You listen to me, Sharon. You’re fucking hurting. I get it, all right? Well so am I, lady. I loved him. God help me, I fucking loved him. He was a treacherous cunt, we both know that. But if we have nothing else to build on, we have that much. I know you are hurting and, believe me, I would give
anything
to make your hurt go away. I love you, just like I love those boys, because you were part of him. He was my first love too, Sharon, and I know that you can’t understand why he would want another man. I wish to Christ he had not wanted me, but what we had never could take away from what he had with you. You have to believe that. You and the boys were always his first priority.’

Sharon was actually beginning to feel sorry for him – for Reggie, who had fucked her old man! She needed to get away.

‘Lenny worshipped you and those lads. Please, Sharon. Never forget that.’

She grinned again, and she knew that she was very drunk. ‘Thank you, Reg. I feel so much better now.’

The sarcasm wasn’t lost on him, and his anger nearly took over as he said quietly, ‘I will never rest till I know who killed Lenny. I loved him and I will always be there for you and those lads. Remember that.’

She turned away then, and crushed out her cigarette angrily. He knew he couldn’t stop her as she made to walk off. But then she turned suddenly and said with quiet hatred, ‘I’m glad he’s dead. You unnatural fuckers.’

He watched her walk away and felt the sting of tears once more. It was up to her now. She could make or break him.
Oh, Lenny
, he thought,
how will I live without you?
And Sharon Scott was clearly thinking the exact same thing.

Reggie Dornan ran to her then, and said sadly, ‘We both loved him and that is something we can never change. But, no matter how much you hate me, I will always be there, looking out for you and the boys. Whether you want me to or not. It’s the last thing I can do for him.’

His voice was choked with emotion and it suddenly occurred to Sharon that he was hurting just as much as she was. That, like her, he was bereft. As his arms went round her she felt herself holding on to him and then the real tears came. The deep sobbing that she knew she had to allow before she could ever really start to heal.

‘Oh, Reggie! Oh, God. He’s really gone. He’s gone and I hurt so much.’

He held her tightly, his own tears mingling with hers as he said over and over again, ‘I know, darling. I know.’

Jack Johnson came outside and sighed sadly as he saw them. He thought for a fleeting few seconds how lovely it would be if they got together at some point. After all, they had both loved Lenny in their own ways.

Sharon cried into Reggie’s chest and felt the stone of hatred gradually softening.

She knew she would need Reggie in the future, and that there was no way she could ever let on about what she knew. But now, at this minute, she felt safer in his arms than she had since Lenny’s death. Reggie would always be there for her. His guilt would see to that.

Behold, I come as a thief.

Revelation 16:15

Sharon Scott was fuming and both her boys knew why.

‘Are you fucking stupid? Bringing all this to my door! Who do you two think you are, eh? You’re always fighting.’

She searched their faces for some kind of answer but, as usual, there was nothing. Liam looked sorry, but she knew that wasn’t because of the fighting – it was because he had vexed her and he never liked to hurt her in any way. He was sorry for making her sad, not for the fight that had caused so much trouble. He was a good boy in that respect and he loved her dearly. But, like young Lenny, he found trouble before it found him. She sighed in consternation. Lenny was his father’s son – he would go his own road. They both would.

‘You’re suspended from school. I hope you are pleased with yourselves. Like I haven’t got enough on my plate.’

She walked out of the room and left them to their own devices. She really couldn’t do this any more. They were too much for her. She poured herself a glass of wine and took a big gulp. This was her time – a bit of peace. The boys were ruffians; always fighting, always together. She had had enough. Lenny’s father thought they were wonderful – chips off the old block. She gulped at her wine again, and savoured the taste. If only he fucking knew the truth.

All she did was work and be a mother – that was all that she’d thought she needed. But she was still a young woman and, as the time had gone on, she was beginning to realise that what she really needed was a man. But she definitely wanted a
real
man. She would not allow herself to be so stupid this next time around. He would be a real fucking man all right, in every way that mattered. She would make sure of that much.

She missed the closeness of sex before she had been so cruelly shown that the man she had married and loved – oh, how she had loved him! – had been no more than a liar and a cheat. He had wanted her in the beginning – she
had
to believe that. But after he met Reggie he had used her shamelessly. It still broke her heart to think of how he had duped her, how he had used her. Seeing the devastation on Reggie’s face when the news of Lenny’s death broke had been enough to convince her that she was right about her husband. How that had hurt. Yet even knowing what he’d done, she could not stop loving him. That was what really angered her.

How many nights had she lain there, going back over every moment of their life together and looking for clues that convinced her that she had been made a complete fool of? He had wanted a man over her – a big, handsome,
masculine
man. She closed her eyes and tried to force the images away. They would gain her nothing, except pain.

She finished the wine and poured herself another glass. She would drink this one slowly.

She heard the boys upstairs and knew they were getting ready for bed, even at this early hour. They always went to bed when they had upset her. And she was ashamed to say that she let them.

Lesley Scott was annoyed and her husband knew why. Since the death of his son it seemed that Sharon was making any excuse she could to keep away from them and keep the boys away from them too. Sharon was a shadow of her former self, even though she had never looked lovelier. He was a man and she was a good-looking woman – not that he would ever say that to his wife, of course. Sharon should be like a daughter to him, but that did not mean he did not see her obvious charms. She was a woman who needed a man. He suspected all had not been quite right between Sharon and Lenny before his son’s death, but every time he had tried to ask her if things were OK, she had smiled and briskly changed the subject. He could only assume his Lenny had had a bird of some description. He was a realist. Lenny, God love him, would not have been the first and he would not be the last. But his death had obviously marked Sharon in some way.