Shafted (21 page)

Glancing at his watch now, he ran a hand through his hair, muttering, ‘Oh, great, I’ve missed my train. Anywhere I can grab a cup of tea in here while I’m waiting?’

‘Canteen’s down there,’ the PC told him, pointing the way. ‘Round the corner, second left. Anyone asks, just tell them Mick Dillon okayed it.’

Thanking him, Keith set off at a casual pace. But he speeded up as soon as he turned the corner in the hopes of being in time to eavesdrop if the woman was telling Keeton anything pertinent to Dex’s case.

Keeton was shovelling the last forkful of lamb curry into his mouth when Keith walked into the canteen, and Carla was just sitting down at his table with the coffee she’d bought herself. The table was situated close to the sandwich bar so, keeping his face turned in case the inspector recognised him, Keith walked over to it and pretended to be looking at the display.

‘Gawd, that was hot,’ Keeton said, putting his fork down and wiping his face on a napkin. ‘But you can’t beat a good curry for clearing the sinuses.’ Smacking his lips now, he patted his belly with satisfaction. ‘Right, I’m all yours.’

‘Nothing definite, but we might have a hit,’ Carla told him, sipping on her coffee. ‘Harry flagged up a cold case in Salford from seven years back, and – fingers crossed – Lewis might be a match.’

‘Yes!’ Keeton hissed jubilantly. ‘Is it big enough to nail him, or just something trivial?’

‘Big enough,’ Carla replied, smiling at the look of triumph in his eyes. ‘Remember the gang who broke into the house and tortured the guy who lived there?’

‘Then raped his mother when she heard noises and went to investigate,’ Keeton said, the gleam in his eyes turning to ice. ‘You saying that was him?’

‘Could be.’

Shaking his head, Keeton exhaled loudly. ‘I always knew he was a bastard, but I didn’t think even
he
was capable of something like that.’

‘Yes, well, we’ll soon know,’ Carla said quietly. ‘But we’ll still have to find the rest of the gang if it was him.’

‘Shouldn’t be too hard to trace them.’

‘From seven years ago?’

‘Old habits die hard,’ Keeton said simply. ‘And we can start with his brothers, because they’re bound to be involved.’ Glancing irritably around now when somebody moved past his chair and brushed his head with their elbow, he glared at Keith’s retreating back and called out sarcastically, ‘Yeah, you’re all right, son, apology accepted.’ Tutting when he got no response, he turned back to Carla. ‘So, when does Harry reckon he’ll know for sure?’

‘Normal speed, or complete rush job?’ Carla asked, smiling again because the inspector had that bit-between-the-teeth look in his eyes.

‘What do
you
think?’ he said, already mentally rolling up his sleeves in preparation for wiping the Lewis family off the crime map.

Nora Lewis’s hand was shaking when she put the phone down. Her whole body was shaking, in fact, and she felt the ham sandwich she’d just eaten churning in her stomach. Shoving her chair back from the table, she got up and rushed out into the hall, yelling, ‘
Patriiiick!
’

Flying down the stairs, Patrick saw how pale her face was and thought she was having a stroke or a heart attack or something. Reaching out to her, he said, ‘What’s wrong, Mam? What is it?’

Slapping his hands away, Nora pointed at the boxes of stolen gear that were still stacked in the hall, and said, ‘Shift this.’

‘Jeezus!’ Patrick exhaled loudly. ‘Is that it? I thought you was fucking dying, you silly old cow.’

‘What’s up?’ Nora’s youngest son Jason asked, running down the stairs with Molly close behind.

‘I thought she was snuffing it,’ Patrick told him, rolling his eyes. ‘But she’s only narking about the bleedin’ boxes.’

‘Don’t take the piss out of me,’ Nora snapped, in no mood for games. ‘I want it shifted
now
! I’ve just had Keith on the phone, and he says they’re gonna hammer our Dex. So, no more messing about, just move it. And you . . .’ She jabbed a finger in Molly’s direction. ‘Get your shoes on and go tell that bitch of his to collect his money from wherever he’s got it stashed, ’cos he needs it all there when he gets out.’

‘Don’t see why
I
’ve got to tell her,’ Molly grumbled, stomping back up the stairs. ‘She’s got no business knowing where his money is, anyway. None of
us
know, so why does she?’

‘None of us is happy about it,’ Nora shouted after her. ‘But now’s not the time to play funny buggers, so just do as you’re told.’ Turning to Patrick now, she said, ‘Keith says you’re to go and buy tickets for somewhere hot.’

Patrick stopped in his tracks. For Dex to say something like that, he had to think that he was going to get charged with something heavy and was planning on doing a runner. And if it was coming on top for
him
, then Patrick would no doubt be getting a tug as well, because he’d been involved in everything that Dex had ever done.

‘Did Keith say what they’re charging him with?’ he asked, needing to know how urgent this was.

‘No idea,’ Nora said, yanking Jason down off the last step and shoving him towards the boxes. ‘He just said it’s bad, and you’ve to clear the house out before we get raided. So quit yakking and get on with it.’

‘Where are we supposed to put it?’ Jason asked, picking up the first stack, a sulky look on his face. He hated being the youngest, because the others used him as a joey and he always got the least when it came to divvying up the money.

‘Shove it in the car,’ Patrick told him, rushing back upstairs. ‘I’ll drop it at Mark’s on me way out.’

‘Mark’s a thieving cunt,’ Jason yelled after him. ‘Why don’t you take it to Keith’s instead? The coppers can’t go searching a solicitor’s gaff.’

‘He ain’t there,’ Nora said, lighting a cigarette and letting it dangle from her lips as she rolled up her sleeves. ‘He’s passing the case over to one of his colleagues, ’cos he’s going on holiday.’

Stepping aside to let Molly pass when she came back down just then, Jason dropped the boxes. ‘What do you mean, he’s going on holiday? He can’t. Our Dex needs him here.’

‘Yeah, well, I thought it was a bit funny an’ all, but that’s what he said,’ Nora muttered, more concerned about clearing the house out than arguing over details. ‘Hurry up and get that bloody car loaded up before I have a flaming stroke, will you? I can’t be doing with all this bother at my age.’

Coming back just then with his and Dex’s passports in his hand, Patrick gave Jason a shove.‘What you been saying to upset her, dickhead?’

‘I ain’t said nowt,’ Jason replied defensively, stooping down to pick up the boxes again. ‘It’s
her
. She reckons Keith’s going on holiday and passing our Dex on to some other cunt.’

‘Don’t start,’ Nora snapped when Patrick asked her what was going on. ‘You want to pick a fight, give
him
a ring, or go see him, but don’t keep questioning me, ’cos I’m only the bleedin’ messenger.’

‘I’ll see him, all right,’ Patrick muttered darkly, yanking his jacket off the hook and pulling it on. ‘If he thinks he’s taking off for a fucking sunbathe and leaving me and our Dex in the shit, he’s got another think coming.’

‘You?’ Nora peered at him questioningly. ‘What’s it got to do with you?’

‘Leave it, Mam,’ Patrick muttered, zipping up his jacket.

‘Don’t you try and fob me off,’ Nora snapped, blocking his path as he made to move to the door. ‘I need to know what you’ve been up to so I know what to say when the coppers turn up.’

‘The less you know, the better,’ he said, taking her by the shoulders and moving her gently but firmly out of the way. Pulling his hood up now, he eased the door open and peered out to see if the house was being watched. Satisfied that it was all clear outside, he ran to the car, calling back over his shoulder for Jason to get a move on.

It took Molly twenty minutes to reach her dad’s flat, and she was in a foul mood by the time she got there. She didn’t see why she’d had to walk when her uncle Patrick could have dropped her off. And why did
she
have to come, anyway, when everyone knew she hated Gaynor’s guts?

She’d never understood what her dad saw in the slag. She was a right vain bitch, always checking herself out in the mirror like she was Miss Fucking World, or something. But she was nothing special in Molly’s opinion: all make-up and expensive clothes – expensive clothes that Molly’s
dad
had paid for, because Gaynor was too bleeding lazy to earn her own money.

Molly resented her for that, almost as much as she resented her living in the flat while Molly had to share a tidgy room with her cousin at her nan’s. Still, at least her dad had been spending more time at her nan’s since he’d jumped bail, so Molly got to see more of him than Gaynor did. And her nan had refused to let him bring the slag with him, which showed her exactly where she stood with the family –
nowhere
.

Jamming her key into the lock now, Molly went in and slammed the door behind her. Barging noisily into the living room, she sucked her teeth when she saw Gaynor curled up on the couch, wrapped up in the duvet, watching TV with the curtains shut.

Sighing when she saw who it was, Gaynor reached for the remote and turned the TV volume down. Molly was a living nightmare, and she wished Dex hadn’t given her a key because it was horrible to have someone walk into your home whenever they felt like it. But you couldn’t say a word against Dex’s precious little princess without him kicking off, so Gaynor had no choice but to grit her teeth and bear the little madam. Sometimes she really regretted having given up her own flat to move in here.

‘Your dad’s not called,’ she said now, hoping that Molly would turn round and walk straight back out.

‘I know
that
,’ Molly spat, not even attempting to keep the hatred out of her voice or eyes.

Frowning, Gaynor sat up. ‘Has he called you?’

‘None of your business,’ Molly sniped, stalking across the room and picking up a bundle of unopened letters that Gaynor had left on the table. Leafing through them, she said, ‘He says you’re to get all his money together as soon as poss and bring it to me nan’s.’ The last bit was a lie, but she didn’t care. If her dad was getting sent down, there was no way this bitch was getting her mitts on his dosh.

‘Leave the mail alone,’ Gaynor told her irritably, swinging her feet down to the floor. ‘It’s private.’

‘It’s me dad’s, and so’s this flat, so I’ll do what I want,’ Molly retorted, eyeing Gaynor’s pyjamas with contempt. It was three in the afternoon, and the dirty cow wasn’t even dressed yet. Defiantly pocketing the letters, she walked back to the door, shouldering past Gaynor who was standing up now.

Resisting the urge to give Molly a long-overdue slap, Gaynor folded her arms. ‘Has he said what they’re charging him with yet?’

‘Don’t ask me,’ Molly said tartly. ‘All I know is it’s supposed to be bad. So I’d get packing if I was you, ’cos there’s no way you’re staying here if he gets banged up.’ Giving Gaynor a last dirty look, she yanked the door open and marched out.

Gaynor exhaled loudly. Molly was too rude for her own good, and if Dex didn’t do something about her she was going to get on the wrong side of the wrong person one of these days.

But that was their problem, not hers. Gaynor had more important things to think about right now – like trying to round up Dex’s money. And that was going to take ages, because she’d have to go round to all of his mates to pick up the bits and pieces he’d stashed with them, then work her way through his book collecting the debts he was owed. And, knowing his skanky debtors, it wasn’t going to be easy to get them to cough up if they’d heard that he was off the scene. But she had to try, or Dex would blame her for letting them take the piss.

It annoyed Gaynor that Dex had landed this on her, especially when he hadn’t even bothered to ring her to let her know what was happening. He could find the time to ring his precious bloody mother, though, and that really pissed her off, because he was always putting his family before her. Still, it was nothing less than she’d come to expect of him lately.

What she
hadn’t
expected was for him to demand that she get all his money together. It must mean that they had something heavy on him, and it worried her that she had no idea what it was, or even if she might somehow be implicated in it because she lived with him. But she doubted his family would enlighten her, because his mother seemed to hate her as much as his daughter did. And his brothers weren’t much better, although at least they just ignored her for the most part – which was fine by her because she didn’t particularly like them, anyway.

Truth be told, she didn’t like Dex much, either, at the moment. He’d been so sweet when she met him, always taking her out and paying her compliments. But that had soon stopped when she moved in with him. From charmer to bad-tempered pig in one fell swoop, and if she complained he thought nothing of giving her a slap. So now she kept her mouth shut and got on with doing his cleaning while he took off for days at a time, doing God knew what with God knew who. And she didn’t even have anyone to talk to when he was gone, because his family hated her and her own family and friends had turned their backs on her because
they
hated Dex.

But not liking Dex and not
loving
him were very different beasts, and her heart always overruled her head when she thought about leaving. So she stayed, praying for the day when the real Dex would reappear. And now that he’d gone and got himself banged up, she saw a glimmer of a chance that, with time to sit and think instead of always running, he might just re-evaluate his life and stop taking her for granted.

And it wouldn’t hurt him to be away from his interfering mother for a while, either. He’d been more distant than ever since he’d been staying with her, and Gaynor was sure that the old bitch had been slagging her off. She wouldn’t have minded if she’d actually done something to warrant it, but it seemed that just being another woman in his life was enough.