Blood Sister: A thrilling and gritty crime drama (25 page)

It was James who did the talking. ‘We know you’re not to blame for the situation you’re in, Tiffany. We know you’ve been exploited and manipulated and we want to help you as much as we can. If you help us, we can help you. Does that sound fair to you?’

It took all that Tiffany had to avoid saying, ‘Oh, fuck off . . .’ Instead she whispered, ‘Yeah.’

James went on. ‘As you know, we found a quantity of cannabis on you when you were arrested—’

‘Yeah. That had nothing to do with Stacey, who you nicked me with.’ No way was she dragging Stacey into this mess. Stacey wasn’t supposed to be there, but when they’d bumped into each other and her best mate had offered her a tote, well, what was a girl like her to do? Turn down a great puff of draw? She would never have done it if she’d figured Stacey was going to be nabbed along with her.

‘You were with Stacey flamin’ Ingram,’ her mum growled. ‘I should clip you around the—’

‘Mrs Miller, please,’ James warned. Babs settled back in her chair and resumed sniffling into her tissue. James carried on. ‘Drugs possession is a very serious matter. But we might be able to help with that too, as long as you answer all our questions honestly. Does that sound reasonable to you?’

Through gritted teeth she replied, ‘Don’t worry, James, I want to make a clean breast of things.’

James looked disappointed and Tiffany knew it was because he was hoping she’d hold out on them, so he could entrap her with his razor-sharp questioning. But she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure. When he got over his knock-back, James said, ‘That’s good. Now, are you OK? Can we get you a cup of tea or a glass of water?’

Tiffany couldn’t help herself. ‘A vodka and coke would help the party go with a swing.’

James’ smile vanished. ‘This isn’t a laughing matter, Tiffany. You’re in serious trouble and you need to understand that.’

‘Oh, I do, James. I apologise.’ She knew the tone of her voice was too close to piss-taking for comfort but the Plod let it go and began to unpack the outline of the case against her. It was clear the two boys in blue had the lot. They knew all about her visits to the Pied Piper and what she had collected there. They knew she was taking the envelopes to the cemetery and hiding them in a tomb. They knew what was in the envelopes and they even knew how much she’d been paid. She could see from their faces that they also knew what that meant – she was a bit part player, a tiny cog in the wheel. Tiffany also guessed they knew everything else, but were pretending they didn’t.

‘So tell us, Tiffany, who was it who first recruited you for this job?’

Tiffany paused slightly, looking across at her mother, before saying, ‘A guy called Mickey Ingram . . .’

Babs exploded in fury, jumping out of her seat. ‘You what? Mickey Ingram? I’ll fucking kill the bastard!’

James indicated with his hand for Babs to sit down. ‘Mickey Ingram? Tell us about him.’

Tiffany told them all about good ole Mickey – how he’d recruited her down at the Bad Moon; how he’d given her instructions to pick up stuff from the Pied Piper and how notification of the collections came from a runner on The Essex Lane Estate.

‘He beat the living daylights out of his daughter Stacey.’ Tiffany swiped the tissue under her eyes, surprised to feel real tears gathered there. ‘She didn’t have nuthin’ to do with anything. He only got me on the job because he knew that our families are in a ding-dong, so I was his cover story if he ever got caught. I mean, who’s going to believe that Mickey Ingram, of all people, would take me on? And . . .’ Tiffany let her voice quiver.

‘It’s OK, Tiffany. I don’t want you to be afraid in here.’

‘It was horrible,’ she said wiping the tissue under her nose. ‘When I’d see him down the Bad Moon, he’d look at me like some dirty old man. You know at my . . .’

‘Scumbag,’ Babs butted in. ‘Perv. Should be locked up and the key tossed in the fucking Thames.’

Then Babs started sobbing again as the other cop, Mark, made more notes. When Tiffany told them about being dangled out of the window at the Pied Piper by ‘a lanky streak of piss’ the two cops looked horrified and asked for a full description. They made furious notes. Babs was wailing by this point.

Wearily, James looked over at her. ‘Should we stop at this point for you to have time to compose yourself?’

Tiffany’s mum violently shook her head and tried hard to hold tight to her emotions.

‘Tell us, Tiffany, what do you know about John Black’s involvement in this conspiracy to steal and sell cars?’

‘John Black?’ She frowned, making sure her face looked very confused. ‘I heard the name. Mickey and the others were always having a laugh at his expense. Said he was a right mug because it was all going on under his nose and he didn’t know nuthin’ about it. He was a bit of a fall guy. I think he has a club and they used it as a base for the operation. Something like that.’

James looked stunned. ‘John Black didn’t know what was going on?’

‘So I heard.’ Tiffany shrugged.

A tense look passed between the two detectives. James turned back to Tiffany. ‘You’re sure about that, are you?’

‘You asked me to be upfront, so that’s what I’m being. It’s just what I heard. I was told the main guy was called Chris. Never heard no last name. Mickey said I’d be answering to him if there was any trouble and that Chris was a right thug who took care of business.’

James and Mark made notes but as they did so they heard a commotion in the corridor outside. Tiffany recognised Jen’s voice and then a woman she didn’t know and finally a voice she knew too well. The door handle twisted and rattled as the shouting outside rose to a fever pitch. James turned off his recorder and went to investigate. When he opened the door, three women tumbled in – Jen, a WPC and Mel Ingram. James was too shocked to react and the slim WPC was pushed in the face and flung aside by Mel who pointed her finger at Tiffany and screamed, ‘That’s her! That’s the fucking bitch that’s landed my Stacey in the nick.’

Tiffany’s silence and the sly smirk on her face turned Stacey’s mum into Hurricane Mel as she threw herself at her. But she’d reckoned without Babs who rose to her feet and clenched her fists.

‘I’ll show you and your husband what it’s like.’ Babs shoved the other woman sideways. James, Mark and the WPC struggled to restore order but they were no match for the two angry mums who turned the interview room into a wrestling ring. They flew at each other. Stacey’s mum went for Babs’ hair. Big, big mistake, Tiffany thought; Babs Miller didn’t go in for any of that boarding school, prissy girl, hair-pulling malarkey; she had a pair of fists and knew how to use them. Babs belted her one, straight in her big gob. Mel staggered back. Tiffany scrambled out of her seat to stand with her sister by the door. Mel rushed forward and viciously kicked Babs in her right leg. Swearing blue murder, Tiffany’s mum jumped the other woman and brought her down. They started screaming and scratching as they rolled around on the ground. The tape machine crashed to the floor.

James ran into the corridor and shouted, ‘Get me some big boys down here quick, and tell them to bring batons.’

It took four cops to finally subdue the two raging women. Each was held as they glared and snarled at each other. Mel Ingram was the first to calm down. ‘OK, OK, I’m done.’ She looked at Babs and then at Tiffany before letting fly a nasty laugh. ‘At least I won’t have to worry about my Stacey being led astray by that bitch anymore.’ But Tiffany’s smirk was undimmed. And when James told the cops to take Babs and Mel to the cells to cool off, Tiffany called after Mel, ‘How’s Mickey?’

‘What do you . . . ?’ Stacey’s mum stopped whatever she was going to say and plastered a fake look of surprise on her face. ‘I haven’t seen my old man in years.’

‘You have to say that, don’t you?’ Babs taunted, ‘Because if the social find out he’s been kipping at yours, it means bye-bye to your benefits. Go out and find a fucking job like the rest of us instead of lying on your back all day long,’ she finished on a scream.

‘Lying on my back?’ the other woman bellowed back. ‘Don’t forget I know all of your secrets, Barbara Miller.’

James stepped in. ‘Both of you, shut up.’

Tiffany narrowed her eyes at Mel and taunted, ‘When you see Mickey again, tell him Tiff says hi.’

Mel was alarmed. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

But she never got an answer because she was dragged out of the room. With order restored, Jen became Tiffany’s appropriate adult as James and Mark had a statement drawn up.

Tiffany signed it.

Thirty-Three

‘What is a shooter doing on my kitchen table?’

For fuck’s sake, Dee railed inside her mind, she’d only popped out to the club to check that everything was cleaned up after the raid, which appeared to have given his lord and master here enough time to get tooled up. He’d readily agreed to being stashed at her gaff because no one would link his name to it. Word had come through that the coppers were all over John’s illegal car scam and that some of his people were already banged up.

John was back to pacing around like a caged animal, just like she’d seen him doing in his office at the club. My Lord, at least he hadn’t twigged about her being behind the wiretap.

‘I need it. I’ve got to defend myself, if the law catch up with me.’

‘Are you stupid or something?’ Dee shot at him, her eyes on fire. She really was trying to hang on to the flirty, girly act, but John’s total lack of common sense was sending her into rude-girl-with-attitude orbit. ‘Get rid of it. Actually, forget that, I’ll get rid of it for you.’

But as she moved, his angry voice stopped her. ‘Someone’s shafted me proper. Someone’s bloody had me over.’ He kicked the sofa. Dee had to hold herself back; she’d got the sofa on her plastic and hadn’t finished paying for it yet.

Then he dropped into the sofa, his hands covering his head. ‘I can’t do a long stretch, Dee, I can’t. I’ll go fucking nuts.’

Dee caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t like seeing John broken up like this. She liked his hard, lived-in face and the lines around his eyes when he smiled. She liked the fact he loved kids. If they were going to get through this, she was going to have to be strong for both of them. Alright, she’d be the first to admit
she
started this, but it had been for his own good.

‘Nothing’s going to happen to you on my watch. Let me get this out of the way and then we’ll chat.’ She picked up the automatic and took it to her bedroom where she hid it among lingerie in a chest of drawers. But she had no plans to get rid of it; it was hers now.

‘They’ve got sweet FA on you, John,’ Dee said, once she was back in the main room. She perched on the arm of the sofa. ‘They just want to question you. Do exactly as I say and you’ve got nothing to worry about. It’s too bad for that prick Mickey Ingram and poor old Chris. They’ll have been nicked with the stolen motors down in Tilbury. They’re goners, John; you can’t help them now, but you can help yourself.’

John cocked his head to the side to look at her as he frowned. ‘How do you know about Tilbury, chop shops and Mickey Ingram?’

You stupid idiot. Dee could’ve kicked herself. ‘You told me, don’t you remember? Just after you found that listening thingie in your office.’

John rubbed his forehead, obviously totally done in. ‘Did I? Yes, I suppose I did.’

Dee sighed. Her John looked so tired, poor love. When all this mayhem was sorted she was going to make sure he took some R’n’R time. After that, she would make sure he understood who the real boss was.

‘Anyway,’ she cut in quickly, moving the conversation along, ‘the staff at the Alley told me what type of questions the law were asking. Frank should sue the pants off that officer for breaking his nose.’

John’s head sank. ‘I can’t believe it. How did this happen?’

Dee put her hand on his knee. ‘I told you, you can’t trust anyone. Anybody involved could’ve fingered you. Did you fall out with Ingram or Chris? It might have been one of them. Or maybe the cops got lucky. Who knows? The important thing is, we keep you well clear of the shit that’s falling down. The others can look after themselves.’

John turned things over in his mind. ‘Yeah. Well, I can’t hang around here. I’d better book a ticket to Spain pronto until all this blows over.’

Dee was getting fed up with him but tried not to show it. ‘You’re not going to the bleeding Costa Del Whatever. Do that and you might as well fax a confession to the cops. No mate, you and me will go down the cop station tomorrow and see the guy in charge of this sting they’ve set up and we’ll front it out. Tell them I’m your fiancée and I’ll cover for you.’ She saw the look of doubt cross his face. ‘Don’t worry about it. Leave the patter to me.’

His voice softened as he gazed into her big, dark eyes. ‘The best thing I ever did was to take you on.’

Dee cupped her palm around his chin. ‘The pleasure was all mine, John. You’re a great man, a top Face. You’re way too clever to end up in the slammer like Mickey and Chris.’

John smiled at her. ‘You know what they say, Dee, behind every great man is a great woman.’

Dee slowly let her hand drop. ‘You need to get some shut-eye if we’re facing the cops tomorrow.’

John got up and shook his coat out and laid it on the sofa. As he went to lie down, Dee gasped, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ She grabbed his hand and led him into the bedroom. She let go of him and sat on the bed. She patted the duvet cover as she flashed her false lashes. ‘You’re coming to sleep with me – as far as the cops are concerned, from tomorrow, I’m your fiancée remember?’

‘I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,’ Jen said to Nuts as they sat next to each other in his motor. They were parked back up near her place. An exhausted Babs, relieved to be released from the cell with a warning, had left them to it and gone up already, no doubt for a swift gin and a sleeping tab. The Plod had decided to hang on to Tiffany until tomorrow morning, which was good as far as Jen was concerned; maybe that would knock some sense into the silly kid.

Jen felt all fingers and thumbs and highly embarrassed; she’d got Nuts so wrong. Who else would’ve dropped everything and the kitchen sink to come help her in the early hours of the morning? Certainly no one on The Devil; at least, not without a price tag attached. She felt ashamed that she’d doubted him. Nuts was a good and decent man.