Shafted (47 page)

‘He knows absolutely nothing about this,’ Gaynor assured him.

‘Well, then, I admire your loyalty,’ Keeton said, already beginning to stand up. ‘But you’re still flogging a dead horse.’

‘He was set up,’ Gaynor persisted. ‘And I can prove it, because I was involved.’

Frowning now, Keeton pursed his lips. ‘But you’re his wife.’

‘That was part of the set-up,’ Gaynor said, feeling every bit as guilty as she looked when she added, ‘I’m – I
was
Dex Lewis’s girlfriend.’

Not speaking for several moments, Keeton cleared his throat and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes. Remembering that he was no longer allowed to smoke on the premises, he put them back, and said, ‘So, can I take it that you’re no longer with Lewis?’

‘You can,’ Gaynor murmured, her nostrils flaring ever so slightly as she struggled to keep the tears at bay. She still loved Dex too much to brush off the scorching pain of his betrayal, but there was no use pretending that things could ever go back to how they had been before. Or, rather, how she’d
thought
they were, because she’d obviously been walking around in blinkers the whole time, believing Dex’s lies and ignoring the glaring truths. And all he’d had to do was tell her that he loved her every now and then, and she’d been putty in his lying, cheating hands.

But no more. He reckoned he’d shafted Larry, but it had actually been
her
he’d been shafting all along. And now it was payback time.

Seeing the pain in Gaynor’s eyes, and sensing that she was finding this really difficult, Keeton said, ‘Shall we start off with an informal chat over coffee? Only I’d like to hear what you’ve got to say before I start any official balls rolling. And, to be honest, I could really do with a fag.’

Getting two steaming coffees from the canteen, he carried them both out into the yard and led Gaynor to a bench in a quiet corner away from the uniformed officers who were milling about among the cars and vans.

Handing Gaynor’s coffee to her when she’d sat down, Keeton sat beside her and lit his cigarette, sighing with contentment. Then, turning to her, he said, ‘So, what’s a nice girl like you doing getting yourself hooked up with a thug like Lewis?’

‘You tell me,’ Gaynor murmured, holding the vision of Jane tarted up to the nines as she arrived arm in arm with Nora and Molly at the prison that morning firmly at the forefront of her mind. She wanted to keep any sentimental ideas about letting Dex off the hook at bay. She’d started, and now she would finish – him.

Looking into Keeton’s eyes now, she said, ‘I just need to know if there’s any way you can keep me out of this when I tell you what I know. Because the Lewises are going to come after me with everything they’ve got, and I won’t be safe – not even in prison, if you decide to arrest me for my part.’

‘I’m sure we can work something out,’ Keeton replied, sensing that Gaynor was about to give him enough rope to hang Dex Lewis once and for all. ‘This is just an informal chat,’ he reminded her, giving her a very pointed look. ‘So if I were to hear things in passing which lead me to go away and start digging, who’s to say where it came from in the first place, eh?’

‘Can you do that?’ Gaynor asked, a note of sheer hope in her voice.

Smiling, Keeton said, ‘Depends if you’re about to confess to murder, I suppose, ’cos obviously I couldn’t ignore that, could I? But I don’t suppose you
are
going to confess to anything like that, are you?’

‘Definitely not,’ Gaynor told him earnestly. Then, taking a deep breath, ‘Well, not committed by me, anyway . . .’

EPILOGUE

Peering over his glasses, the judge raised his gavel and then brought it down with a short, economical
clack
!

‘Case dismissed. You’re free to go, Mr Logan.’

Gasping loudly, Larry turned and looked up at the spectators’ gallery. Sitting right at the front, her eyes red and swollen, with a tissue clutched tightly in her hand, Georgie nodded, and mouthed, ‘
You did it!
’

Wide-eyed with shock and disbelief, Larry spun around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Seeing it was his solicitor, he grasped his hand and pumped it, saying, ‘Thank you so much, Doug . . . You don’t know what it meant to have you in my corner. I couldn’t have got through it without you and Georgie, I really couldn’t.’

Telling him that he’d been glad to help, Doug said, ‘There’s a ton of reporters outside. Do you want me to get them to open the back door so that we can slip away?’

Taking a deep breath, Larry shook his head. ‘No, I’ll have to face them sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.’

Georgie was waiting in the hall outside the door by the time Larry and Doug came out. Pulling Larry into a warm hug, she said, ‘I’m so pleased for you, darling.’

‘Christ, you don’t know how good this feels,’ Larry murmured, holding her tight. ‘Every time you visited me and we had that glass window between us, I just wanted to smash it down and get one of these hugs!’

‘Good job you didn’t, or they’d have had a
real
case against you,’ Georgie chuckled, not even trying to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks.

‘Ready?’ Doug asked.

Composing himself, Larry nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do it.’

Cameras flashed like fireworks as soon as Larry stepped out of the court and into the daylight. Taken aback by the sheer number of reporters and photographers, not to mention the TV crews, Larry clutched at Georgie’s hand and whispered, ‘Shit! I hope they realise I was acquitted.’

‘How’s it feel to be a free man, Larry?’ one of the reporters called out to him.

Laughing, Larry raised his face to the sun and said, ‘Better than you could ever know, mate.’

‘And how do you feel about Dex Lewis now that you know he did all this for revenge?’ another asked.

‘I don’t feel anything,’ Larry lied, smiling to cover the hatred that was still burning away inside him. ‘He’s never going to feel what I’m feeling right now, is he?’

‘Did it shock you to hear that he was responsible for four gangland murders?’ one of the TV presenters asked now.‘And that you nearly became his fifth victim when he tried to slice your throat open?’

‘Nothing about Dex Lewis could shock me,’ Larry said. ‘I’m just glad it’s all over.’

‘Must be a relief to know the brother’s been caught and brought back from Amsterdam for sentencing?’

‘Yeah, that
is
pretty good,’ Larry agreed. ‘At least I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder now that I know where they all are.’

‘What about your wife, Larry? How do you feel about her now you know she was Dex Lewis’s girlfriend?’

Spirits dropping like a stone at the mention of her, Larry turned to Doug and said, ‘Can we go now?’

Nodding, Doug held up his hands and said, ‘No more questions, gentlemen . . . Mr Logan needs to go home and relax. There’ll be a press conference at the Lowry Hotel in a week, and you’ll all be welcome to come and talk to him there. But for now, we thank you for your support, and say goodbye.’

Larry inhaled deeply when he walked into his apartment a short time later. The air was stale, but all the old familiar scents lay in wait underneath. Dust motes rose as he moved through into the lounge, settling on him along the way as if to welcome him home.

‘Never thought I’d see this place again,’ he said quietly, looking around. ‘Doesn’t look like anybody’s been living here while I’ve been away.’

‘Even
she
couldn’t be that cheeky,’ Georgie muttered disapprovingly, heading into the kitchen with her shopping bag. Emptying milk, coffee and sugar onto the ledge, she filled the kettle and swilled it out, then refilled it and switched it on. ‘Everyone having one?’

Grinning sheepishly, Larry came up behind her and put his hands on her ample hips. ‘Not for me, babe. I need a
real
drink.’ Kissing her on the cheek now, he reached past her and pulled the cupboard open, delighted to find his Scotch where he’d left it.

Rolling her eyes, Georgie smiled fondly and said, ‘Go on, then. But try to make it a small one, because you need to get showered and changed. There’s no way we’re being seen in public with you in this state.’

‘Seen with me where?’ Larry asked, pouring himself a large shot and Doug a smaller one.

‘We’re taking you out to dinner,’ Georgie told him. ‘So drink that and let’s get you cleaned up. And I sincerely hope you’ve got a shaver in the bathroom, because that stubble has
got
to go.’

‘It’s prison chic,’ Larry quipped, glad to see that she obviously had no intention of pussyfooting around him.

‘Yes, well, you should have left it in the prison where it belongs,’ Georgie chided, stirring a sweetener into her coffee. ‘I’ve had to look at that miserable face through the glass for long enough without comment, but you’re out now, and we want the old Larry back.’

The doorbell rang just then. Tutting softly, sensing that this was just the start of an endless round of visitors coming for a gawk at the returning hero, Georgie flapped her hand to tell Larry to stay put and, wiping her hands on a tea towel, bustled out to answer it.

Her smile slipped when she saw who it was.

Stepping out into the corridor, she pulled the door almost to behind her so that Larry wouldn’t hear who she was talking to, and said, ‘What do you want?’

Embarrassed, Gaynor dipped her gaze, and said, ‘I know I shouldn’t be here, but I need to see Larry.’

‘Why?’ Georgie peered at her incredulously. ‘Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage? That man did nothing but love and respect you, and you damn near destroyed him.’

‘I know,’ Gaynor admitted, sighing heavily. ‘And I want to say I’m sorry.’

‘Bit late for that,’ Georgie huffed, folding her arms.

Looking her in the eye now, Gaynor sighed again. The older woman had every right to be angry with her, but this was between her and Larry.

Fortunately, Larry himself came to the door just then, curious to know what was keeping Georgie. As shocked to see Gaynor as Georgie had been angry, he just stood and looked at her.

Saying, ‘Hello, Larry, you’re looking well,’ Gaynor put her hands in her pockets and gave him a nervous smile.

Murmuring ‘Stephanie,’ Larry gave a tight half-smile of his own, confused that he was neither furious nor filled with hatred as he looked at her. She’d betrayed him in the worst possible way, yet there was still a spark of something preventing him from telling her to get lost.

‘Can we talk?’ she asked now, trying to ignore Georgie who was glaring at her.

Inhaling deeply, then exhaling resignedly, Larry nodded and stepped back into the hallway.

Raising her eyebrows incredulously, Georgie had no choice but to step aside and let Gaynor enter. Going in after her, she closed the door, then went back to the kitchen, waving her hands in a
what-can-you-do?
gesture to Doug as Larry and Gaynor went off into the bedroom.

Standing behind the door when he’d closed it, Larry didn’t even look around despite the fact that he hadn’t been into this room yet since arriving home. Folding his arms as if to defend himself from his own mixed emotions, he looked at the only woman who had ever claimed any part of his heart and said, ‘So, talk, then.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Gaynor said calmly, determined not to let her nerves get the better of her and make her forget what she had to say. ‘And I know you probably don’t believe me, but it’s true.’

‘Why?’ Larry asked, his eyes dull with disappointment. ‘I thought you’d achieved your objective, so why regret it now?’

‘I
did
achieve what I set out to achieve,’ Gaynor admitted. ‘And I didn’t regret it at the time, because I was doing it for the man I loved. But I don’t expect you to understand that.’ Pausing, she gave him a tiny, sad smile. ‘Believe it or not, I started out hating you and thought you were getting exactly what you deserved. But then I got to know you, and—’

‘Oh, please!’ Larry interrupted, frowning cynically.‘And then you fell in
love
with me, I suppose?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Gaynor replied truthfully. ‘I still love Dex – stupid as that sounds. But I’m under no illusions any more, and I realised that what he and I did was wrong. That’s why I went to see your friend Inspector Keeton.’

Sighing, Larry ran a hand through his hair, which was in desperate need of conditioning and a good cut. ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to be grateful to you for
that
, haven’t I?’ he said. ‘So, thanks. At least it proves you’re not all bad, I suppose.’

Shaking her head as she felt a sting of tears behind her eyes, Gaynor said, ‘Please don’t thank me. I don’t deserve it.’

‘Listen, Stephanie,’ Larry said, immediately correcting himself. ‘Sorry,
Gaynor
 . . . ’

Interrupting him before he could go on, she said, ‘Actually, I prefer it when you call me Stephanie. Sounds stupid, I know, but that’s who I was when I was with you. Anyway,’ she went on, smiling shyly, ‘I always did like the way you said it.’

‘So, that part of it wasn’t a lie, then?’ Larry said softly. ‘And the
other
stuff?’

Gaynor shook her head.

Frowning, Larry said,‘I’m sure there were times when you enjoyed it as much as I did. It couldn’t
all
have been an act.’

‘No, and I hated myself for that,’ Gaynor admitted. ‘But can we not talk about it, please, because I’m not exactly proud of myself.’

‘Sure,’ Larry said, shrugging off the last remnants of hope. ‘Anyway, I
am
thanking you, because you’ve taught me a lesson. And I know I should hate you for what you did, but I don’t. I feel sorry for you. I just hope you don’t stay with Lewis, because you’re way better than him.’

A tear escaped now, and Gaynor swiped it away with her finger and blinked rapidly. He was being kind, and she couldn’t handle it, because he should be calling her all the bitches under the sun.