Get Even (48 page)

‘Hey, Em. No smile for me today?’

As he spoke to her a large blond man came around the side of the stall and said gruffly, ‘No, there ain’t no fucking smile. She is engaged to me, you cunt, and I don’t want to see you sniffing around her again.’

Liam and Lenny were studying this bloke who they both believed must be on drugs, at the very least, to take them on. Then, glancing at Emma, Liam saw she had bruises around her eyes that make-up had not fully concealed.

‘Has he given you a fucking right-hander?’ He turned to the man and bellowed, ‘Have you fucking clumped her, you cunt?’

The baseball bat came out of nowhere, but Lenny and Liam disarmed the man in seconds, and then they set about giving him a lesson he would not forget. Emma Nuttall, the girl who had inadvertently caused all this aggravation, was still screaming when the police arrived. Her boyfriend, Andy Bedford, died on his way to the hospital.

The two Scott boys, it was being said, had finally gone too fucking far.

Sharon was in pieces but the police would tell her nothing. It seemed that even the name Donovan didn’t hold much weight with the Old Bill when there were that many witnesses to a murder. A female DI took Sharon through to the canteen and got her a cup of tea as she waited for Ray to arrive and sort the mess out. She was terrified. If they went down for this it would be a serious lump, and she didn’t know if she could cope with losing both her sons to the prison system.

A deep, abiding hatred for Ray entered her mind that night, because
he
had brought them to this. He had given them an in to the same world that had left their father murdered in cold blood in a filthy alleyway. And now that is what they were too: murderers. She felt the sting of tears and, taking out her mobile, she started ringing around.

She wasn’t surprised when Reggie got there before anyone else. Ray could not be traced; his mobile was turned off and she guessed rightly that he would be with some girl somewhere. The one time she needed him –
really
needed him – and he had turned his phone off on her. That bothered her more than she could believe.

Within ten minutes of Reggie arriving, she was finally led through to the back of the police station to see her sons. Reggie had arranged a brief for them and was already working on damage limitation. Suddenly she felt like she could breathe again. What the fuck were they thinking of? But that was the trouble with her sons – they didn’t think. They thought the name Scott and the tutelage of Ray Donovan was enough to keep them out of prison. They were a law unto themselves, and now their young lives could be over for the foreseeable future. For that, she would always blame Ray. She’d had such high hopes for them once, but she had gone along with Ray, as she had always gone along with Lenny before him. She knew deep down that the person she should be blaming was herself. She should have stopped the boys becoming too involved with Ray and the Life, but they had been determined to follow in both their fathers’ footsteps. Lenny and Ray had been the reason they were now sitting here waiting to go to court and, as a best case, get bail. She hoped that they would get special concessions, but she also knew they would not get a walk.

Reggie was already talking about trying to get the charge reduced to manslaughter for self-defence and people would be paid handsomely to keep that fiction going. Her boys had wanted to do what they had done – they were both impetuous and they were both arrogant.

Her phone rang and she answered it quickly. It was Jack Johnson telling her that he had already started things moving and he would use his vast contacts to try and resolve the situation for her. She began to cry; she was so grateful to him. She knew that she could count on Jack Johnson to come up trumps for her; he had always had her best interests at heart. She rang off, feeling much better about the situation now Jack was on board. Then she looked at her sons, and her anger flared. They were not in the least bit contrite and seemed to think that this was nothing more than a formality. That is when her heart finally sank and she knew that the best thing for these sons of hers would be a short, sharp shock. If they didn’t take this seriously, what fucking hope was there for them in the future? She had lost them; she had lost them a long time ago. And the knowledge broke her already fragile heart.

Ray arrived the next morning after a particularly heavy night of passion with a Swedish girl he had met in one of his clubs. She was tall, thin and had little tits that fascinated him. She also had the strength of a lion, and when she wrapped those long, slim legs around his waist and squeezed he honestly thought he had died and gone to heaven. She looked like the blonde one from ABBA in their heyday. She was a real looker, all right.

Now, though, he knew he was well in the doghouse and he needed to have a bit of a grovel. He was shocked at how rough Sharon looked; she seemed to have aged ten years overnight.

‘You finally got home then?’

He could hear the accusation in her voice, and he looked suitably contrite. But how could he have known those stupid fuckers would do something so fucking idiotic?

‘I’m sorry, all right? But I’m here now and I am sorting it. So don’t worry.’

Sharon pushed past him and, shaking her head slowly, she said loudly, ‘Jack and Reggie have already done what’s needed, thank you. Get back to your fucking whore. You are not welcome here.’

Kathy had heard the exchange and she was amazed to witness her mum talking like that to her dad. She could see the look of utter incredulity on her father’s face and realised that her mum had won this battle – but that did not mean she would necessarily win the war. Her respect for her mother shot through the roof and, taking Sharon’s lead, she walked into the kitchen and gave her father a filthy look.

Ray Donovan stood in his state-of-the-art kitchen and swallowed his anger. He knew that Sharon was entitled to be annoyed today – as long as she understood that he would not put up with this treatment for too long, she was quite safe.

Sharon was tired and she wasn’t in the mood for any mind games. She could hear Ray in the kitchen and she sighed with annoyance. This was his new habit – making a point of coming home at a reasonable time, acting like a new man. But it was too little too late. She had got used to him not being there and now his presence irritated her beyond belief. He was like some kind of fucking ghost, wandering in and out of the rooms and trying to make small talk.

The boys were on remand and they had been denied bail – something that had really got up Ray’s nose. But it seemed that Andy Bedford’s father was a magistrate and a pillar of the local community. The boys would have to toe the line on remand and that, it seemed, was that. Ray was more annoyed by the fact that she knew that he had not been able to secure their bail, and that it was killing her visiting them in Funky Brixton. But there was a big part of Sharon that felt they might learn a lesson or two by having their freedom curtailed – not that she would tell Ray that, of course. Let him fucking grovel and worry about her reaction; it was about time he had a taste of his own medicine.

Kathy had been giving him the cold shoulder too but Sharon had a feeling that it was not so much because of his latest squeeze. She knew in her heart that there was something else bothering that beautiful daughter of hers. But one thing at a time; she had enough on her plate with the boys’ situation and, given Kathy’s penchant for dramatics, she wasn’t interested in a boyfriend dispute. She knew that her daughter was spoiled, highly strung and selfish as fuck but she loved her nonetheless and she wanted the best for her. Once she had this lot off her plate she would find out what was wrong with Kathy. Until then the girl could just sort it herself as best she could. Sharon guessed she had been dumped by her mysterious boyfriend and she allowed herself a little smile at the perils of young love. If that was her only problem how happy she would be!

She sighed as Ray brought her in a glass of white wine and seated himself beside her on the sofa.

‘This is a beautiful room, Sharon. You always had great taste.’

She shrugged. ‘You always had plenty of money.’

Her voice was flat and Annie, who could hear the conversation from the kitchen, felt a deep sadness at what had befallen this family. They didn’t speak again, and that alone told Annie all she needed to know.

Jack and Reggie were ensconced in Reggie’s flat drinking the usual Chivas Regal that Jack had always favoured as they caught up on recent events.

‘I’m so sorry, Jack.’

Jack knew he meant it and he sighed in resignation. ‘It’ll please Ray, anyway. Save him finding a way to take me out that looks like an accident. Even
he
couldn’t be blamed for my cancer!’

‘What’s the outlook?’

Jack shrugged again and Reggie was amazed at the man’s stoicism.

‘Few months. Thing is, I’m not really that bothered. I can get my affairs in order, sort a few things out. If I’m honest, I am ready to go, son.’

Reggie really didn’t know what to say to that and they drank in silence for a few moments.

Then Jack said sadly, ‘I do feel sorry for Sharon. That girl has had no luck with the men in her life, has she?’

Reggie nodded. He knew that Jack wasn’t berating him. He was just stating a fact, and a true fact at that.

‘You and Lenny were very close, weren’t you?’

Reggie nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

‘Shame you had to live a lie, the two of you. Nowadays no one bats a fucking eyelid. I don’t pretend to understand it myself, mind.’

That was the nearest Jack would ever get to saying he didn’t mind Reggie’s sexual preference and Reggie felt a real affection for the old man.

‘Got them on the telly and everything now.’

Reggie had to stifle a laugh. ‘So I hear!’

They were both laughing now and, when Reggie replenished their glasses, Jack said seriously, ‘I will miss me old drop of gold watch, I know that.’

‘I’ll slip a bottle in with you, mate. I will do you a bet, and all. A hundred-to-one outsider!’