Get Even (14 page)

Lesley Scott and Ivy Conway were like a pair of harpies and Sharon was fed up with the both of them. They were united today on finding out where Lenny was and, as Sharon didn’t know, she wasn’t in a position to enlighten them. Not that she would have told them had she known anyway, and they were both old enough and ugly enough to understand that.

‘Look, you two. For the umpteenth time, I. Don’t. Know. Where. Lenny. Is.’ She sighed heavily. ‘What bit of “I don’t know” don’t you get?’

Lesley was annoyed at Sharon’s obvious sarcasm and she wondered at how she could
ever
have thought this girl would be a good influence on her son. It seemed she was the opposite, letting him run amok and do what he liked. Lesley was frightened for him; she knew he had made a name for himself and, even if her husband thought that was the best thing that could happen to him,
she
didn’t. She knew that when people made it to the top of their game, there were ten more people waiting in the wings to take their place. It was the law of the pavement.

‘So, if something were to happen to the baby, God forbid, you can’t get in touch with him. Is that what you are telling me?’

Sharon closed her eyes in distress and nodded. She didn’t tell her she would get in touch with Jack Johnson – this mad old cow was liable to turn up there and read him the Riot Act. Lenny would love that. Jack Johnson wouldn’t be too pleased either, she would imagine.

Ivy looked at Lesley while the information she had been given sank in. She collapsed on to the nearest chair, and she looked beaten, vulnerable. For a few seconds, Sharon’s heart went out to her.

‘Whatever he’s doing, it must be dangerous, if even
you
don’t know where he is.’

Sharon put the kettle on again for yet another cup of tea.

‘I never know where he is, and I don’t ask, Lesley. It’s a pointless exercise. If he wanted me to know, he would tell me.’

Her words annoyed her own mother, who said angrily, ‘And you are happy with that, are you? He just waltzes in and out of here at his leisure and you don’t question any of it?’

Sharon turned to look at her mother and her face was hard as she said slowly, ‘That is
exactly
how it is, Mum. And, do you know something?’ She was bellowing suddenly at the top of her voice. ‘That suits
me
down to the fucking ground! Now let it go, for fuck’s sake.’

Both the older women were shocked into complete silence. This wasn’t the Sharon they knew, the sweet girl who was all for a quiet life. This was a woman grown, who was telling them in no uncertain terms to mind their own business.

Ivy was the first to find her voice. ‘Well, I never . . . That you could talk to me like that . . .’

Sharon held up her arm like a traffic officer as she said, in a very determined manner, ‘Well, it is time you all understood that me and Lenny have our own home, a family, and we do not have to answer to anyone.
Anyone
at all. Am I making myself clear?’

She lit herself a cigarette and she took a long pull on it before saying evenly, ‘Now, who wants a cup of tea?’

Ivy and Lesley exchanged glances and Sharon knew that she had made her point. It had needed to be said and her Lenny would back her to the hilt when she told him. She wasn’t a schoolkid any more.

Maria Steel was asleep in her suite of rooms when her maid Consuela heard sounds from the master bedroom. She sighed, relieved. If the master was home, then the mistress would be happy the next day. This was a difficult household to work in; they were very volatile people and she was worn out with their antics. She went back to sleep unaware that there were, in fact, two men in her master’s bedroom, and they were robbing the safe.

Lenny and Reggie were impressed with Steel’s house; it was like something from a Hollywood movie. They had opened the safe easily enough, and were searching through the contents, finding two hundred grand and some good watches. They took the money but left the rest. They weren’t gas-meter bandits, after all. Reggie glanced through the documents in case there was anything interesting, but they were just deeds to the house and paperwork for the cars – nothing worthwhile for them there.

They left the house as quietly as they entered it, laughing once they were out of danger. It amazed the men that Christopher Steel was so bloody open to attack. Even a fucking amateur could have done him. No one could argue with a shotgun, no matter how fucking hard you might think you were – it was a known fact. He had gone down in their estimation. How could you respect a cunt? Reggie said as much.

Lenny laughed at his outrage. ‘Well, we’ve done our bit. Now it’s time for a holiday!’

‘He was a hard fucker, though – fairness where it’s due. Took two fingers off before we got the safe combination. I wonder what state he will be in when we get back to the farmhouse.’

Lenny shrugged. He didn’t really care. ‘Hopefully he’ll have bled to death. The sooner he’s gone, the sooner we can start to enjoy ourselves.’

Reggie grabbed Lenny’s thigh and squeezed it contentedly. ‘Are you happy, Len?’ It was said quietly, with meaning.

Lenny smiled slowly and said, ‘I am, as it happens. Very happy.’

Reggie grinned. ‘Good.’

Christopher Steel was lying on the filthy floor of the barn and he was fuming. His hand was screaming with pain; they had taken off his middle-and forefingers with bolt cutters and it had fucking hurt. It was throbbing and he was losing a lot of blood. All this over eighty poxy grand. He could have paid that fifty times over and not missed it. But his greed had been his downfall, as his old mum had predicted all those years ago when he had half-inched his little brother’s birthday money. He felt the sting of tears and blinked them away hastily. But he felt such futility at how he had ended up, trussed up like a kipper and destined to die in a shithole like this. He supposed they would bury him deep and that would be the end of it. He tried to sit up, but it was impossible.

He heard the car outside and followed the reflection of the headlights as they played across the wall and ceiling. The lights of the car were left on and he waited for them to come for him. He saw a rat in the light; it was in the corner watching him and he felt his stomach lurch when he saw it was nibbling on one of his fingers. The two men walked in, and he was convinced that he was hallucinating. They looked like they were holding hands! If that wasn’t the final insult – taken out by a pair of fucking pansies. He knew he had tucked Jamie up, but this was beyond the fucking pale.

‘Are you a pair of fucking poofs?’

Lenny laughed loudly at the man’s incredulity. He knelt down beside him and said, in a threatening voice, ‘Yes. And we are going to bugger you to death!’

Christopher went white with fright, and Lenny smirked.

‘Don’t worry, Chris, you’re not our type.’

He took out a small German-made Luger and shot the man execution-style in the back of his head. The grave was already dug and, once he was dead and buried, all they had to do was clean up the blood and that was the end of it. It had gone better than they could have hoped.

An hour later they were sitting by the pool, looking up at the stars and drinking cold beers. They looked like two mates having a little holiday in Spain. That was the best bit about being together – no one would ever suspect a thing. They were too hard, and too well respected for anyone to ever even harbour any kind of suspicion that they were more than friends.

They would travel back to England by sea as they couldn’t take the money on an aeroplane. Instead they’d pick the boat up in Benidorm. They had arranged to have a few days’ holiday before they left – they had earned it, Jack said. He had told them to have a few drinks, some good food and grab a bit of strange. Might as well enjoy the sunshine – it was raining in the UK, as fucking usual. Lenny knew Jack was well pleased with them. He couldn’t believe he didn’t want to hurry home to Sharon and baby Lenny. He wondered at how his life could change so quickly. He loved his wife, and he loved his baby, but he
needed
Reggie Dornan. That was the difference, he supposed.

They finished their beers and went to bed. Never had Lenny felt as content in himself as he did when he was with Reggie. It was as if a piece of a puzzle had finally been found, and now he was whole. He could have him
and
have his family; as long as they were discreet they were fine. It wasn’t just about sex either, though that was amazing and came naturally to him. They talked for hours about everything and anything – that was the main attraction for him. In some ways, Reggie was like the brother he had never had.

As they lay together in the moonlight, the breeze drifting in through the open patio doors and the smell of sweat in the air, Lenny knew he had never felt such complete happiness before, and that actually saddened him. A part of him knew that Sharon was worth so much more than he could now offer her.

‘You’re quiet again, Len.’

He sighed in the half-light. ‘I’m thinking about Sharon.’

Reggie stroked his stomach gently, and he closed his eyes. ‘We won’t hurt her, Lenny. How could we?’

‘She was all I ever wanted, and now this has happened. It is hard to get my head round it you know, Reg?’

Reggie smiled slightly. ‘I feel the same. But no one will find out. No one can
ever
find out. So there is no harm really, is there?’

Lenny supposed there wasn’t and, as they fell asleep, he decided that he was just going to go with it. He had no choice really. The die was already well and truly cast.

‘Ooh, wait till Lenny sees you in that!’

Sharon blushed at Geraldine’s words. She had bought some sexy underwear from a shop in Soho and she was going to put it on for her Lenny when he got home. She still had a good figure, not a mark on her really. She had carried such a small bump that there had not been too much to stretch. Her boobs were still full – that was down to the breastfeeding, she had heard – and her Lenny was all over her like a rash. He couldn’t get enough of her. Look at how he had taken her on the kitchen table! She felt the pull of him as she thought of their reunion tonight. She was going to cook a nice dinner, with candles and everything. Then she was going to lead him to bed.