Get Even (41 page)

He remembered being in care as a young lad, and learning early on that no one was going to look out for you – you had to look out for yourself. And that was exactly what he was determined to do. He would rise above the shit he had been born into. He had killed for the right reason and for the wrong reason. Now he would do whatever it took to make his mark on the world and give himself a life that he had only ever dreamed of.

Reggie watched the changing expressions on the boy’s face and had a feeling that, once he was permanently allied with Ray Donovan, there would be no stopping them. For some reason that knowledge bothered him.

Elton Mills was thrilled to be visiting Belmarsh. As far as he was concerned, it was the prison of prisons. And to visit Teddy Carlton, who was Grade-A even on remand, was the highest honour! He had been subjected to a complete rigmarole to get in. First he had to have passport pictures taken, then apply to the Home Office for visitation rights, and finally he had been put through the indignity of having the local police come to his home to ascertain that he was indeed the person he said he was. Out-fucking-rageous was his feeling on the subject. But he swallowed his anger because he knew this was part of a bigger and better plan. The one good thing that
did
come out of it was that, for the first time, Elton Mills understood the real fucking world of having a capture. It could mean the best years of your life in a six-by-twelve cell, and to visit it meant aggravation of the highest fucking order. His mum would be hard pushed to sort that out without help. But then she would be hard pushed to pass a GCSE; he loved her, but she wasn’t exactly fucking
Mastermind
material. This shit would frighten her and he had always made sure she was protected from the truth.

This was a learning curve for sure, and he would remember just what was at stake – the main thing being his fucking freedom. There was no way any of Jack Johnson’s lot were going away – if it all fell apart,
he
would be the one to suffer. On the other hand, if he used his fucking nous then he would be a very rich man and some other poor cunt would one day be sitting where Teddy Carlton was. It was a chance he was willing to take.

He was searched and he was made to wait for long periods. Belmarsh was peopled with the best of the best – not that he felt the POs were in any way worth the proverbial wank. But he was sensible; he needed to look as benign as possible and get through the visit with the minimum of aggravation. There was a very aggressive vibe here that shocked him. It was bad enough that people were locked away – why would anyone want to make it harder than it already was? Young Elton was having his first taste of the British judicial system. He was not impressed. He was also more determined than ever to make sure that this would never be his life.

When he was finally ushered into the presence of Teddy Carlton he was tired and fed up with the whole process. If only he knew how many women went through the same thing on a regular basis just to see the man they had married and keep him in contact with his children. Elton was still too young to know about the
real
economics of prison and the reality that it forced on everyone involved, including the POs. They were either ex-army and fucking arseholes, or they were looking for an extra bit of income; who could blame them? True, some were of the opinion that the men were entitled to be treated as innocent until proven otherwise. They, though, were few and far between, as Elton was finding out for himself.

Teddy Carlton could not have appeared to be more different to his brother. He was dark to Bobby’s fair; he was handsome, very handsome. He was also enigmatic. He was a man who could command respect – as long as he didn’t try to express an opinion. After ten minutes though, Elton knew that this man was about as much use as a fucking chocolate teapot. He was a handsome, useless fuck. Now he was well and truly banjaxed. It had apparently never ever occurred to Teddy that ending up in prison might actually be a possibility in his fucking life. Elton was simply disgusted Teddy Carlton had not allowed for the fact that he was going away for longer than his kids had actually lived. Elton had hoped that that might make him more amenable to what was being said to him.

Teddy was like his brother in many ways, though he had more nous than Bobby did in that he seemed more aware of his surroundings. But that could be down to the Grade-A conditions in Belmarsh, of course, which were a bit different to the norm. Grade-A had been brought in for terrorists, mainly IRA, but it was eventually used for anyone the prison system felt was a danger, or who they wanted to teach some kind of lesson. Even the thickest cunt in the world would be hard pushed to miss
that
much.

Elton knew immediately that he was dealing with a narcissistic prick who had a bit of a brain, but not too much; he knew he wouldn’t pose a problem. In the world of the Carltons, Elton realised, this man was the
real
intellectual. And that wasn’t saying too much. He treated him as such because he knew that was what was expected of him. It didn’t mean he liked it, of course. What Elton didn’t allow for was that, for what Teddy lacked in intelligence, he more than made up for in cuteness; you did not get as far as he had by being a complete fucking wanker. He had heard all about the visit to his brother, and he was not impressed. He also knew that Jack Johnson wanted what they had. That wasn’t exactly something he was shocked about – some fucker was bound to; he just had not thought it would be Jack.

He liked Jack Johnson; he had always been good to them. But Teddy had never seen Jack as a fucking scavenger, scraping around for other people’s fucking downfalls. That was wrong! Jack was a fucking man to emulate and to aspire to. But, Teddy reasoned, that was before he and his brother had been the victims of the capture of a lifetime. Life was running away from them both. They were fucked on so many different levels.

Teddy was also man enough to admit that once they were sentenced, there was no real hope for their enterprises. They had more chance of getting a wank off Pope fucking Gregory than they did of keeping the businesses in their orbit, not least because there wasn’t one person in the family he would trust enough to run it all.

But young Elton had his own agenda. Especially now that he had a serious grudge against the Carlton family, thanks to Bobby and his bad attitude. The brothers had looked at him like he was a cunt of Olympian standards. But they were the ones behind bars; all he actually was was the broker for them to get a terrific deal. Because what Jack was offering was far more than anyone else would have.

Elton smiled widely at Teddy and Teddy, being Teddy, smiled widely back. It occurred to Elton that if they had met under different circumstances they would probably have been friends. He liked the look of the man, his natural friendliness that was so like his own; it was warm and loving though it actually meant nothing. He sensed that Teddy Carlton had sussed him out as easily as
he
had sussed
him
. Shame really that they were at odds, but such was the life they lived. He had a job to do, and he was determined to see it through. After all, he worked for Jack Johnson. His wages had been paid and he saw that he was well compensated for his time.

So, he sat down and he tried to sell Teddy Carlton the deal, even though he knew as well as Jack Johnson, Reggie and Ray did that this was an insult of epic proportions. But, at the end of the day, businesses didn’t run themselves. And what Jack Johnson wanted he usually got – by any means necessary.

Liam and Lenny were out and Sharon was lying down on her bed trying to get a few hours’ sleep. The baby was out for the count and the tiredness had caught up with her. She lay in the darkened room waiting for sleep to claim her but it didn’t come. She sighed and tried once more to get comfortable, but her mind was racing and she couldn’t switch off.

It was a throwaway remark that Reggie had made that had set her thinking. He had bought the baby a beautiful bracelet – white gold set with tiny diamonds – and Sharon had been thrilled with it. Her relationship with him was better than it had been for years; she could look at him now and not think of him with Lenny. But, as she had made him a cup of tea and they had chatted about the baby and Ray’s elation at his daughter’s birth, Reggie had laughed and said in a jokey voice how Ray was the opposite of Lenny and that could only be a good thing. He had remarked how timely Ray’s arrival had been in her life, and how he seemed to have wanted to look out for her and the boys from the moment he had laid eyes on her. At the time she had not thought much about it, but now it bothered her for some reason that she could not explain. It was silly, and probably nothing to worry about, yet it did worry her for some unknown reason.

She pushed the thought from her mind and tried to relax herself enough to sleep for a little while. She knew it was important to try and grab a nap when the chance arose because babies and sleeping did not always go together. She was expressing milk so that Ray could do his share of the night feeds and, in fairness to him, he was a natural parent. She could hear Annie moving about in the kitchen and she guessed that she was cooking the evening meal – she really was a fantastic help to her. Ray adored his mother and she couldn’t blame him; the woman was amazing. She felt closer to Ray now that she had spoken so much about him with his mother. Annie lived for her son, and she regaled Sharon with stories of his youth and his childhood. She felt she really knew Ray better than she had before. Annie thought the world of the boys too, and they both loved her but, then again, what was not to love about Annie? She was kind, easy-going and she never interfered. She was a world away from Lesley Scott.

Sitting up, Sharon lit herself a cigarette and took a long pull on it. If she wasn’t going to sleep, she was determined at least to rest. Someone had told her that it was often as good as a nap. She smoked and thought, her mind continuing to race. Why she was worried about something Reggie had said in complete innocence, she didn’t know. The truth was, sometimes she felt that Ray’s entrance into her life was
too
providential somehow. A real man was exactly what she had needed – especially after the revelations about Lenny had come to light. Ray arriving on the scene had brought her nothing but good. So why did she sometimes feel it was all a little
too
perfect to be true? Why was she worrying about something that had only ever been beneficial to her and her sons? Why was she making problems where there weren’t any?

She sighed heavily and pulled herself out from under the blankets. As she drew back the curtains and light flooded the room, she looked around her, seeing the evidence of her life with Ray everywhere, and smiled sadly. She was a very lucky woman – she had so much and she was so happy. Why did she feel at times that this was all built on quicksand? She believed that Ray loved her dearly, and she loved him with a ferocity that sometimes surprised her. Sexually she had never felt like this before, and the intensity of her emotions still surprised her. They were compatible in every way; why was she plagued with these doubts?

She pulled on jeans and a T-shirt, and ran a brush through her hair. She was still in good shape even after three kids; if anything, Ray desired her more now than he had before little Kathy’s birth. It had seemed to bring them closer than ever. She shook herself mentally and left the bedroom. She would go down and have a cup of tea and a chat with Annie. She needed to rid herself of these feelings, because they were without any real foundation. She ran lightly down the stairs and wondered if she was suffering from some kind of postnatal depression.