Maura's Game (9 page)

“What did Old Bill say?”

Roy shrugged.

“The usual, they’ll keep their ears open. Fucking real, ain’t it? There we are, paying out hefty fucking wedge to that twat Billings, and he’s shitting himself now we want a payback. Anyway, I stuck a flea up his arse that will irritate him till the day he dies. Do you know what he had the cheek to say to me, eh?

“Don’t threaten me, Ryan.” Straight up, he said it to me boat.”

Garry’s eyes were slits as he answered his brother.

“I remember Billings when he was a DS a ponce of the first water, he was. Used to take money from the working girls and that is low.”

“It’s also how we got to him, Garry, if you remember.”

“He’s had his cock sucked more times than Hugh Grant, I know that. One of the girls told me what he really likes and it’s chicken shit jailbait, the babies. Well, he has three little daughters of his own and I wonder how his old woman would feel if he was found out?”

Maura hated it when they talked like this but she swallowed down her annoyance and said seriously, “Set him up, Gal. I want photos, the lot. Video even. I want that cunt by the short and cur lies because we are going to need him. The money we scammed him is forgotten now. We should have blackmailed him from the off, saved ourselves a fortune.”

“Well, we all know what the filth is like, don’t we, Maura?”

Garry’s voice was malicious and she felt an urge to slap his face, but resisted it. Instead she bellowed at him: “Keep your fucking stupid observations to yourself, Gal. I am trying to keep it together here but I tell you now: one more remark like that and I will turn on the lot of you. And as nutty as people think you are, there’ll be no one else in it when I get started.”

Picking up her bag, she stared each man in the face before leaving the room, bristling with anger.

“That was out of order, Garry.”

He grinned.

“No, it wasn’t. It will keep her on her toes, keep her annoyed enough not to grieve too much for that ponce Petherick.”

“That’s twisted logic, Uncle Garry, if ever I heard it.”

They were quiet for a while then Garry said in all seriousness, “Do people really think I’m a nutter then?”

Even Roy laughed at that.

No one was laughing ten minutes later when Lee arrived and told them about Vic Joliff.

Maura was still fuming as she wheel-spinned on to Carla’s driveway. Switching off the engine and lights, she sat in the car and cried. She cried for Terry, for their baby, and she cried for herself.

As the racking sobs shook her body she was once more transported back in time to her first glimpse of the man who would ruin her life in so many ways. Her mother was right all along, they had been destined to destroy each other. He had destroyed her when he had abandoned her while she was pregnant with his child. With the tearing out of that child from her body her whole life had changed dramatically. The previously carefree young girl had been replaced by a bitter and hard woman. She for her part had first ruined his career and ultimately been the instrument of his destruction.

He was to be laid to rest in a few days. What was left of him would be cremated as he’d requested. She was dreading it. Her life felt finished in so many respects, it was becoming harder and harder to get up in the morning. But she forced herself, though deep inside she didn’t know why.

Even this latest business wasn’t keeping her mind free from thoughts of Terry Petherick. But like so many things in her past she would bury it deep, hide it away, and eventually block it out altogether. Until a chance word or a photo would bring it all back to her. Then, as now, she would face the consequences of her actions.

She was not that far off fifty though the mirror told her a different story. She knew she still looked good but it didn’t make her feel any better. She honestly didn’t care what she looked like. Had not really cared for years. It was just habit that made her keep herself nice. A mask to face the world. Even Terry, who had loved her looks or so he said, had not been the incentive that made her buy expensive clothes and shoes. She bought them because in her world what you wore said who you were. That ‘clothes maketh not the man’ was shite as far as she was concerned. They did, otherwise every designer label would have been out of business years ago.

She placed her head on the steering wheel once more and cried bitter tears. Terry’s belongings were still at her bombed-out house and she knew at some point she would have to go back there. But she also knew that if she did, she would crack. If she saw a photo of him or smelt his aftershave she would buckle under and die. She had to keep him out of her mind and life or she knew she wouldn’t survive, and the family needed her now more than ever. She wiped her eyes and lit a cigarette. As she smoked she felt herself becoming calmer. She pictured her brother Mickey in her mind’s eye and smiled gently as she saw him smiling back at her. She missed him so much.

She heard her big brother’s voice as she always did when she needed advice. She imagined what he would advise her and then made it her business to go along with what she thought he would want her to do.

As she sat quietly planning, a tap on the window startled her. It was Carla. Smiling, she opened the window and her niece’s words gave her the jolt she needed to forget her own grief.

“Mum is in a seriously bad way, Maws. She was shot earlier this evening.”

Carla’s tears came then and instantly brought Maura from the car to comfort her. Despite the closeness of their ages, she had always been a rock for Carla to cling to, more of a mother than Janine had ever been. She was about to go to the hospital with Carla when Garry called with the news about Vic Joliff.

Roy looked down on his wife’s unconscious form and felt nothing. She had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the legs. It was a similar shooting to that of Sandra Joliff. It was unbelievable to him that anyone would have brought such trouble to his home.

He glanced at Benny and saw the amazement on his face and knew he was feeling the same. Who could be behind all this? Who in their right mind would dare to take on the Ryans and make it so personal? Janine was his wife, albeit in name only nowadays, but it was the principle of it.

As he stared down at her he finally felt a stirring inside his breast. He remembered the lively redhead who had captured his heart all those years ago, and a lump formed in his throat. He should never have married her, never should have taken her from the security of her parents and their butcher’s shop and pseudo-respectability. She had walked away from them for him and he had never realised just how hard that must have been for her. Then she had gone on to his mother’s side, always preaching respectability. The two of them had formed a sanctimonious alliance that had exasperated and irritated him nearly all his married life.

Janine’s hatred of Maura had been another bone of contention, and the way she constantly worried about Benny and what would become of him. As Roy stared at her now he knew that where their son was concerned at least she had been right. Benny was a cold-blooded thug. Not a villain, not a face as he liked to think he was, but a violent thug. No better than a football hooligan or a creeper. His whole life revolved around violence for violence’s sake. He didn’t use it wisely, he used it in his everyday life. Even a parking dispute could send him over the top.

Roy closed his eyes and took his wife’s hand in his. She was cold; he had forgotten how soft her hands were. He looked down at the engagement ring he had bought her and the wedding band she had worn for so many years and felt the sting of tears. He would make it up to her, he promised himself. He would pretend if needs be, but he would make her happy once more if it was the last thing he did. It had taken this to make him see that she had been right, that all along their son was going to be like Michael but without his cunning. Benny was just violent whereas Michael had used force as a means to an end. Roy himself had helped break Janine’s heart and put her on the drink. Would he ever be able to make amends?

If she died, someone would pay dearly for this night’s work. They would pay anyway even if she lived.

He felt the urge to kill once more, felt the adrenaline pumping through his body. This was personal now. This was a piss take and he was not going to let it lie. Someone was going to pay for this affront, and pay dearly. He was determined on that much.

Janine’s hand clenched in his. It was just a reaction, but he felt inside that she was telling him to go out and cause mayhem until the perpetrator was found.

He smiled gently down at her.

He would, for once, do exactly as she wanted.

Benny watched his mother and father in a detached way. It was fascinating to him to see his father’s face, all the emotions on it. He secretly hoped his mother died. She was a pain as far as he was concerned, did nothing with her life except moan, and she was in league with the other bane of his life, his grandmother.

He sat quietly and willed her death even as his father willed her to live. Such were the conflicting emotions around Janine’s hospital bed.

Billy Mills answered his front door at three o’clock in the morning with a scowl on his face. Then, seeing Maura Ryan and her minder Tony Dooley, his face broke into a radiant smile. He had always liked Maura, always.

“Hello, Maws, all right?”

It was a greeting and a question as ever. He knew about the aggravation she faced but wasn’t going to mention it until she did, which was only etiquette. Maura smiled and walked into his flat.

Billy lived in a penthouse at Barrier Point in East London. It was one of his many abodes. He was a fixer, and highly rated. Everyone liked him. Like his counterpart Kenny Smith he liaised with different firms while keeping himself completely neutral. It was a dangerous but lucrative business.

As Billy poured Maura a drink he watched her warily. He knew what had just happened to Vic Joliff and to the Ryan family, it was his job to make sure he knew everything, and it occurred to him that Maura was here either to ask his advice or to accuse him of working behind her back. It was a frightening realisation.

She knew this and sipped her drink silently for a few moments before saying: “What do you know, Billy?”

She was shrewd enough not to tell him anything. She would first listen to what he had to say and then she would decide for herself.

He liked her, he always had. He hoped she still liked him after what he was about to tell her.

Lee snuggled up to Sheila on the Habitat sofa and said once more imploringly: “Please, Sheila, take the kids and go to the house in Spain.”

She shook her head.

“Don’t be so silly, Lee. They have school…”

He interrupted her.

“I ain’t asking you, I am telling you. Now I mean it, Sheila. I will send someone out there with you, but you are going.” He stroked her expanding belly.

“Do this, Sheila, please. Do it for me.”

“No!”

She pulled herself up with difficulty.

“What on earth is all this about, Lee? Go to Spain with the kids, like we can just up and go on a whim? I have loads to sort out for this one here.” She patted her belly.

“Plus the kids are still at school, no holidays due. I refuse to take them out of their routine because of you. So just forget it, Lee.”

“Someone shot Janine tonight.”

He didn’t want to tell her, did not want her to know anything about the business. She was kept in the dark by everyone and that was how he liked it. He watched the stillness on her face sorrowfully. He hadn’t even mentioned the attack on his mother, it would be too much.

“What, shot her with a gun?”

He could hear the disbelief in her voice, see it in her stance.

“Why would anyone want to shoot Janine?”

She was getting hysterical and he grabbed her in a bear hug, trying to calm her down.

“Who’s next then, the kids? Is this why you want me out of the way, in case I’m next on the list?”

She was white with fear.

“Oh, God. Oh, God. Someone is going to shoot me and my baby, aren’t they?”

Her voice was now practically a scream and Lee was terrified.

“Of course not, babe, this is just a safety measure. No one will touch you or the kids, I promise. I just want you out of the way to make me feel better. Because I will be away a lot and I can’t take proper care of you.”

He was babbling and he knew it.

Sheila threw him off; he was surprised at the strength of her.

“You bastard! You have brought fear into our home.”

“You’re over-reacting…”

Her eyes stretched to their widest as she screamed, “Overreacting? Janine was shot, and you want me to run off to Spain, and I’m over-reacting! What fucking planet are you on, Lee?”

He could see the terror in her eyes, and as her hands went to her belly and she doubled over in pain and fright he wished to God he had never entered the family business. But it was too late for thoughts like that because he was in it. In it over his head.

“I’m going, Lee. I’m going to me mum’s right now. I ain’t staying here to be murdered in me own home.”

He tried to take her into his arms once more but she pushed him away.

“Don’t touch me. When you kept us out of your dealings I could live with it. Now you have brought trouble to my door…”

He remembered his mother saying the same words many years ago to his brother Michael and they saddened him. He knew his marriage would never recover from this night. Already he could see the revulsion in Sheila’s eyes. He knew that she loved their children with a passion she had never felt for him in any way, shape or form. If she had the choice between him and the kids she would pick them any day of the week, and that was why he loved her so much. It was what had attracted him to her in the first place. Her homeliness, her family-mindedness. Now the same qualities were going to be the cause of a rift between them so great it might never be resolved.

He was sick at heart that this was happening. She was everything to him and so were his boys. Never once had they had a cross word, never once had they ever had to argue about anything. He had kept his work outside the home and never, ever mentioned it to her. It was something that had held them together; the fact she knew nothing had always made him feel that she was safe. Everyone knew she was a civilian, a real civilian. He never even took her out to the restaurants that were used by the likes of the Ryans and other criminal families. They went to Harvesters with the kids, for fuck’s sake. Lee was the family man, it was his joke name. Other criminals always asked after his kids because they knew it was his only other interest in life. He kept away from the lap dancing and the strip clubs. Everyone knew he had no interest in all that shit. He had thought he was going to keep his kids safe, keep Sheila safe with his actions. But now someone had moved the fucking goalposts and he had put all those he loved in danger. Whoever heard of family being targeted before? It was like a fucking nightmare.