The Family (31 page)

Chapter Ninety-Six

    Phillip was bored out of his brains, and Declan knew that when he was like this he was dangerous. He recognised all the signs - when things went too smoothly Phillip wanted out. He needed to prove that he didn't need anyone. He very quickly gravitated from having a new friend and business partner to convincing himself that the same person was out to take what was his. It was a pattern that repeated itself far too often. Declan would never use the word paranoia out loud, but it was there at the back of his mind nonetheless. Most people were happy when things were going well, didn't feel the urge to stir everything up and cause ructions. But then most people weren't Phillip Murphy.

    It occurred to Declan that he was getting fed up with playing the peacemaker all the time. For all his talk, one of the true reasons why he deliberately kept himself from any real relationships was because he needed to keep Phillip on track. It was a real eye-opener when he finally admitted that to himself. Here he was, well into his thirties and still having to pat down a man who was becoming increasingly unstable as the years wore on. Now he had a wife who was off her face, and two kids who were basically being left to do as they pleased. Phillip was ignoring his boys just as he did his wife, and her wants, her needs. Feast or famine as usual - either controlling their every move, or acting as though they didn't exist. Declan loved his brother, he loved all his family, but he was not blind to Phillip's faults and anyone who really knew him was wary of him. Phillip had a kink in his nature that it wasn't wise to ignore; he was dangerous. He could turn on a coin, and no one was immune.

    Phillip was becoming more and more outrageous in his actions and his beliefs, and Declan knew it was only a matter of time before he went too far. In the past he had been able to head him off at the pass, so to speak. Keep his brother reined in - only he could talk him out of some of the more lunatic actions. But that was getting harder and harder lately. Phillip was fixated on Piper, and Phillip fixated on someone was not a good thing, for
anyone
concerned.

    Phillip was now on a mission, and that was to take the car fronts from Jonnie Piper. He hadn't actually admitted it yet, it was still all about how great Jonnie was, how wonderful it would be to work with him, but Declan knew the signs. Just as he knew that there was much more for the taking if they used their combined loaves of bread. He sighed inwardly; initially in for the proverbial penny, he was now in for the pound. Or in this case, euro.

    'Have you thought about the other business yet, Phil?'

    Phillip pretended to be considering his brother's words, as if he had only just realised what the real potential of the scam was. It was all Oscar-winning stuff, if you didn't know him like Declan did. 'Let me put that back to you, bruv. What exactly do
you
think about this money laundering, Declan?'

    Declan shrugged. He knew how to play the game. 'It's not the laundering I'm interested in, we already have all that in place. Like you, Phil, I am more interested in the counterfeiting. Jonnie didn't talk too much about that side of it, I noticed. But this new five-hundred euro note is supposed to be well worth the aggro. It's so neat, right, you can fit over twenty grand in a fag packet. It's perfect for moving large quantities of bogus cash around Europe. They are literally a piece of piss, Phillip, easier to copy than a twenty-quid Rolex. We sell them for three hundred a pop - that way we don't have the hag of passing them on; the buyer takes the real risks.'

    Phillip shrugged in annoyance. His anti-European stance was well known to everyone around him. He saw England as an island, and if he had his way he would personally brick up the Channel Tunnel. 'Fucking euro! Mickey Mouse money, Monopoly money more like. But I can see where you're coming from - the most we've got is a fifty pounder. So a five-hundred euro note has to be worth it. I think you're right, bruv, me and you will have a touch there. See what we can get on the go. We'll shoot out to Marbella, see a few faces out there, do the usual, find out who the real players are in the game. Then we'll aim Jonnie Piper out of it; after all, he needs us, we don't need him.'

    Declan nodded; that was his thought on the subject entirely. Piper was out either way. Unlike Phillip, Declan had not really taken to Jonnie. There was something off-kilter, and he wasn't sure exactly what it was. But Declan's shit-detector was on red alert, and it bothered him. He still didn't want the man dead though, which he had a feeling would be the upshot where Phillip was concerned. When Phil destroyed people, he liked them gone for good. They literally disappeared off the planet. No body meant no Filth, meant no forensics, meant they could all get on with their lives. It was another one of his brother's many little foibles. The trouble was, Declan had a feeling that Jonnie Piper had some serious clout behind him, he was big in his own way. But maybe not big enough to take on Phillip Murphy.

    So it was now a case of finding out who was the real sponsor, and why they were so determined to keep their name out of the loop. Declan knew a few people who, though they liked Phillip, drank with him, socialised with his family, would not enter into a partnership with him because they knew it was a fruitless enterprise. Phillip wanted all or nothing, and that was never going to change. That meant one of two things: one, the people, or person concerned, were on the run (fair enough, but hardly something you would be comfortable keeping from people who you needed, and who would know the score anyway) or two, this was a set-up to take what they had. Personally, he was for the latter option. Phillip had pissed off a lot of people over the years, but even then it would take one brave fuck to try and have him over. So it was pretty much just a process of elimination really, in more ways than one. Finding out who Jonnie Boy had met with, where he had met with them and, most importantly,
why
he had met with them. Jonnie was a nice enough bloke, but he was obviously a cunt as well. Phillip was like a wild animal, he could smell skulduggery and treachery like a wolf could smell its own arse on a windy night. Declan had a feeling there was going to be murder, and the knowledge depressed him.

    He hated real murder, it always brought you to the attention of the wrong people. Even when things were done properly and nothing could ever be proved, it didn't stop people being suspicious. It was the suspicion that caused a lot of the aggravation, was why certain people wouldn't partner them. It was why the Pipers and others of their ilk eventually signed their own death warrants.

    Kill or be killed. But what no one realised was that Phillip
always
got his kill in first.

Chapter Ninety-Seven

    Eileen Booth was amazed to see her daughter on her doorstep so early in the morning. 'Bloody hell, Christine, you been up all night?'

    The sarcastic reference to her early morning visit was ignored. Christine followed her mother through to the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a bottle of white wine.

    'Christine, it's only nine fifteen!'

    Christine looked at her fleetingly and said quietly, 'I'm pregnant, Mum.'

    Eileen Booth's eyes were stretched to their utmost as she said quietly, 'Oh, for fuck's sake, Christine, pour me one and all.'

    As they sat at the table together, Christine wondered why she had come here. Her mother wasn't the most reliable of women when it came to keeping secrets, and suddenly she was frightened.

    As if reading her daughter's mind, Eileen said earnestly, 'It'll have to go, love, and Phillip can never find out about it. You couldn't cope with a baby, and who would want to at your age! Didn't you take any precautions?'

    'Obviously not, Mum, or I wouldn't be here. Now, listen to me. You can't tell a living soul. If Phillip thought I'd had an abortion he would kill me, Mum, and that ain't a joke - you know that. He would fucking lose it, and he would take me out permanently.'

    Eileen Booth was sorry to hear her daughter's language, she even spoke like a criminal's wife. Even though she lived off her son-in-law's largesse, and enjoyed the proceeds, she still hated that this lovely girl of hers, who could have had the world if she wanted to, had tied herself to a thug, and for all his money and his possessions, Phillip Murphy was still just that. A vicious and violent thug. Even though Eileen would admit that she was often envious of her daughter's lifestyle, she knew exactly what it had cost Christine in more ways than one. 'You can get it done now without even telling your GP. We'll go away and do it somewhere, and I wouldn't tell a soul. Let's face it, Phillip would see me as a bigger culprit in all this than he would you.'

    The truth of the statement calmed Christine down; her mother was right, he would blame her before he would blame his wife. That's what Phillip did, he cast the blame where it suited him. Her mother always looked after number one, so she wouldn't say a word to a soul for fear of reprisals. Really frightening reprisals. Phillip's Catholicism was like a mania at times. She had known him to go to Mass twice a day; he said he felt calm in church, it helped him think. She knew her husband believed he was chosen somehow, that God watched over him personally at the expense of everyone else.

    Had she been married to anyone else Christine would never even consider terminating a child's life. But desperate times meant desperate measures. She couldn't do it, couldn't tie herself to her husband even tighter than she already was. She couldn't, wouldn't bring another Murphy into the world. But she believed abortion was a sin nonetheless. For all she knew this child could grow up and discover the cure for cancer, or it might bring world peace. She knew all the Catholic arguments off by heart. Now though, she was frightened this child might grow up like its father, and one of him was more than enough for the world. Still, she couldn't help saying, 'It's a mortal sin, Mum.'

    Eileen laughed nastily. 'Yeah, well, it's a bit late for all that, love. You sold your soul to the devil the day you walked up the aisle with him.'

    Christine refilled their glasses quickly, but her mother pushed hers away.

    'Anyway, the amount you drink, that poor child is probably pickled by now, so it wouldn't be right in the head anyway. Best flushing it away, girl, and forgetting about it.'

    Christine didn't answer her mother's harsh words. Her emotions were in turmoil and when she started to cry a few seconds later, she wondered if she would ever stop.

    Wondered if any of it would ever stop.

Chapter Ninety-Eight

    Philly was lying in the big bed next to Tiffany White. Her mum had babysat the night before so there was no rush to get up. In fact, he was enjoying just luxuriating in the smell of her, the feel of her. As he felt himself getting aroused, he heard her giggle gently. He knew she had been awake all the time. She was a prick tease, as his dad would say. He slipped inside her, groaning at the tightness and the excitement of her body. He had never had sex on tap before, and he was revelling in it. She was like a new world that had opened up, just for him.

    Tiffany, for her part, saw him for what he was, a good-looking, well-heeled young bloke, whose father was a serious Face. All her dreams and all her wants had his legs wrapped around her slim waist, and she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

    As he rolled away from her a few minutes later, she sighed happily. 'That was good, Philly.'

    He loved hearing that from her; she was, after all, far more experienced than he was, which bothered him at times. But he was like his father, a realist, and he knew everyone had to learn somewhere. He felt for her though, he cared for her genuinely, and he appreciated that she would always be special to him. But he also wasn't as enamoured as he had been. He'd learned that he was more interested in the sexual aspect of Tiffany White than her intellect. In fact, her idea of a conversation was to wonder at something she had read, heard or watched about a celebrity. Thick as shit, and twice as dense as his dad would say.

    But he could put up with a lot for the pleasure she brought him on a daily basis. He glanced at his watch, a very expensive Breitling, and, seeing the time, he sighed inwardly. His granddad would have his nuts. He was late for work again, though he had to give the old boy his due, he understood his situation with Tiffany much better than he would have given him credit for.

    In fact, his old granddad found the whole thing hilarious, which riled Philly at times, although, on the whole, he was now closer to his granddad. They had something to talk about and he appreciated the old boy's quiet ways. In fact, he saw him in a whole new light. He knew his liaison wasn't going to be gossiped about to his granny, and then his mum. His granddad seemed to understand perfectly, and had kept it all more or less hush- hush.

    'Philly love?'

    'What, Tiff?' He hugged her to him tightly; her body fitted into his perfectly.

    'I'm pregnant.' She was holding her breath, not sure that he would take the news as well as she hoped. But she
was
pregnant, and there was nothing he could do now, except stand by her or pay up for the rest of his days. The former was a pretty good option, but the latter wasn't to be sneezed at either. She had the trump card, and she knew it.

    Philly, for his part, was reeling from the news. Getting her pregnant wasn't something he'd worried about after she said she was on the pill. She said they were all right. He had been fool enough to believe her. He realised now that he was what was commonly known as a prize prat. He had taken her word for it and assumed she was above this kind of skulduggery.

    He now assumed she was nothing but a lying cunt.

    Suddenly Tiffany looked grubby to him, used, the place smelled of a trap, not of sex. As she smiled up into his eyes, he saw the triumph in them, the knowledge that he was well and truly fucked. It occurred to him her legs had been open longer than Sainsbury's. Fuck only knew who else she had entertained there. When he thought of some of the things he had done with her! He felt the urge to vomit and escape in equal measures. He also felt the need to rip her head off and drop-kick it off the balcony. Instead he slipped out of the bed and started to get dressed.

    Tiffany felt the coldness and the fear coming off him in waves, but she had been prepared for this. Once the shock wore off, he would have to sort it. The baby wasn't to blame, was it? That was her next step in the emotional blackmail.
His
child was snuggled inside her, and he or she would be her ticket to untold riches. Tiffany would play the long game; it wasn't the first time she had pulled this stunt, and she had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

    'Aren't you going to say anything, Phil?' She had the hurt voice down to a fine art.

    Philly paused in the act of pulling on his jeans and, after looking at her for long moments, said icily, 'Are you sure you're pregnant?'

    She nodded, she had expected that question sooner if she was honest.

    'Are you sure it's mine?'

    She had not expected
that
one at all. She was up and out of the bed in seconds and, screaming at him at the top of her voice, she said nastily, 'How dare you ask me that! Who the fuck do you think you are?'

    He grinned then, a tight, sarcastic grin. 'I'm Philly Murphy, love, and you had better remember that. We had a great time, but it's over now. That baby is
not
going to drag me down all me life, because if you have it and a DNA test says I am the father, then I'll have it off you, darling. No child of mine will be brought into all this.'

    He looked around him in disgust, his instincts telling him to frighten her into getting rid of it. He had to make her see that having this child just wasn't an option. And it wasn't just because he was too young and too immature to have a child. It was mainly because his dad was going to go fucking ballistic. As he walked out of the bedroom he said seriously, 'I'll give you a grand to get it done privately, and then there'll be another grand afterwards. But remember this, Tiff, no matter what, I wouldn't touch you with the bloke next door's now. You're scum. If you think you can trap me, you'd better think again.'

    Tiffany watched Philly walk out the door, along with all her plans and all her dreams. She was fuming at his words. She had not expected anything like that. She wished she had the nerve to pick up the kitchen knife and run it through his heart. She was filled with rage at his obvious disgust for her and her way of life. She had fucked him raw and what did she have to show for that time and effort? Sweet fuck-all, that's what. She was so angry she could easily cry. His reaction had hurt more than she would ever admit. His complete dismissal of her, and anything to do with her, had really rankled. Who the hell did he think he was? But then she knew exactly who he was, and that was why she had pulled this stunt in the first place. It was over, and she knew it. There was no going back now.

    As she made herself a cup of coffee, her sensible head kicked in and she accepted that two grand was better than fuck-all. Because he wasn't coming back. She had overplayed her hand, so it was now about limiting the damage.

    Sighing, she lit a cigarette and pulled on it deeply. Life was shit and then you died; she wished she could remember who had said that. Because whoever it was certainly knew what they were talking about.