Get Even (23 page)

‘I think that’s him, that’s definitely his suit . . .’

Sharon felt like she was going to throw up. Her Lenny, her husband, the only man she had ever loved, was destroyed. He had been completely obliterated. She knew one thing for sure: this was not a random fucking mugging in any way, shape or form. The way the Filth were acting told her that this was a big deal.

Lenny’s body was broken completely. It looked all wrong, misshapen, like he had been crushed. She could see it even under the white sheet the mortuary had covered him with. There was something very wrong and she could not voice her thoughts, not to the Old Bill anyway. That would come later. Much later. She would have to talk to Jack and she would have to talk to fucking Reggie.

Reggie Dornan, her husband’s so-called best friend. Deep down she knew he was Lenny’s biggest secret. There was something inside her that made her feel sure her son had told the truth. Whoever the culprit was she had to ask herself: had they actually done her a favour? Had they saved her from having to acknowledge that her husband had been living a lie all these years and that her marriage was nothing but a fucking sham? She felt sick again. She wondered if her life would ever again take on some kind of normality.

The policewoman held her as she cried, and she could feel genuine sympathy from this strange girl who made a career out of locking up other people. But she held on, and she cried bitter tears as she tried with all her heart not to feel anything but relief.

When Jack arrived she had never been so happy to see someone in her whole life. He took her home to her family, and he was so gentle with her that she felt sorry for the man who had looked on her husband as a son. Jack was devastated too and she clung to him for dear life, knowing that she would always quell any rumours that might begin to circulate about her husband’s true nature. Her job now was clear: she had to protect her sons and she would do it even if it was the last thing she ever did on this earth.

Sharon Scott was back at home, sitting in her kitchen nursing a glass of wine, still in a state of shock. Whoever had attacked Lenny had done a good job. His face and body had been destroyed. A ‘sustained attack’, they were calling it, meaning that he had been tortured too. Completely wiped out.

Sharon had answered all the questions from the police in the same way. She knew nothing of her husband’s business dealings and, no, she didn’t know anyone who might want to hurt him. He had been a very popular man. The police seemed to want to believe it was a mugging that had gone dangerously wrong. Like anyone could have mugged Lenny Scott and got away with it! It was fucking laughable, as her father pointed out over and over again, until she had screamed at him to shut the fuck up.

Lenny had been murdered, there was no doubt about that. Someone had beaten him to death. The question was: why? Was it business or personal? If she was honest with herself, she didn’t want to know. There was a tiny part of her that was glad he was dead. She was glad that she didn’t have to question her marriage or the man she had married any more. But that didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t completely broken because, when all was said and done, she had loved him, loved the very bones of him. She would honour him, as his wife and the mother of his children. That was all that was left to her now. She cried, but anger lingered and it was growing by the minute.

Ivy Conway was worried. She knew there was something seriously wrong with her daughter and she had no idea what to do about it. Sharon had worshipped her husband. Now it was as if she was on autopilot, even refusing to speak at his wake and leaving the funeral preparations to his family. It was like she didn’t want any part of it at all.

On one level her daughter was devastated, of course, and Ivy understood that. But she knew her girl better than anyone else and she felt there was a break somewhere along the line. Lenny had hurt Sharon somehow and she couldn’t get to the bottom of it. All she could tell for sure was that her daughter seemed almost relieved at the turn of events. Her husband murdered, and she didn’t seem to want to know any more than that. Ivy kept quiet about her misgivings, but she sensed there was something she didn’t understand. One thing she knew for certain, though, was that everything came out in the wash eventually. She would help her arrange the funeral; what else could she do?

Reggie was devastated. It was as if he had died himself. He felt the man’s death more acutely than anyone else in their world could. It was unbelievable to him that Lenny had really gone, that he would not walk in as he always had, with that half-smile on his face and that look in his eyes that was only for Reggie. He had genuinely loved Lenny, and that was something no one could ever know. He had to grieve alone. But it was a hard road and Lenny’s death had taken away everything Reggie had ever really cared about. He had loved him with a passion he never believed possible. Lenny Scott had been the man of his dreams and he had been taken away from him by some vicious fucker. No matter where he looked, who he asked, he couldn’t find a trace of him.

Now, as Reggie stood in the church, he looked about in bewilderment. He could not believe the scene in front of him. He was in the first pew, as befitted his best-friend status, but Lenny had been far more to him than that and it grieved him that he could never let anyone know. He looked at the bowed head of Sharon and his heart went out to her and those two little boys who were the apple of Lenny’s eye. He was heart-sorry for them all. They had lost someone that would have moved heaven and earth to give them a good life. Reggie would take on that mantle now and do whatever he could to ease their pain. It was the least he could do for Lenny; it was what he would have requested, what he would have wanted. Reggie would take care of Lenny’s family as if they were his own.

As the Mass started and the priest began the preparations for Lenny to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it took all of Reggie’s willpower not to break down there and then.

But he mustn’t do that. He felt Jack Johnson squeeze his hand in solidarity and that brought Reggie back to his senses. If he was happy about anything it was that no one had an inkling of the real relationship he and Lenny had shared and, for that, he could at least be thankful. He knew the ridicule that would come if that knowledge were to get out and he didn’t want it for any of them. Especially Lenny, who wasn’t there to defend himself.

Reggie tried to catch Sharon’s eye but she kept her head down and her sons pulled into her arms protectively. She was a wonderful mother, as Lenny had always insisted. Reggie swore to himself once more that he would do everything in his power for those two fatherless boys.

Sharon listened to the eulogies and wished for this farce to be over. Jack Johnson was visibly moved as he spoke of the man he had looked on like a son, and how his death was a reminder to them all of how fleeting life could be, and how important it was to pack in as much living as possible. He had smiled at her and her sons as he’d said that and she had felt cold hatred in her heart once more for the complete hypocrisy of her life with the man everyone was feting. It was hard not to feel the disgust at what he had
really
been.

Had he ever come to her after he had been with Reggie? She could not forget the times he had returned home late at night, smelling of soap and aftershave, and had taken her into his arms and loved her. He never could have really loved her. He was unnatural. He had wanted a man, not her. He had wanted Reggie Dornan, not his family.

She felt certain now that her life had been a lie. A great big filthy lie. But she would get this day over with for her sons and then she would decide what she was going to do with their futures. That was the only thing she could do, even though every bone in her body cried out with the urge to unmask the unnatural fuckers and tell people the truth. But, for the sake of her boys, she had to keep her silence and, for them, she would do that much. They were without a father now – she was all they had and it was her job to make sure they were protected; she would protect them until she drew her last breath. But it was a hard road she was walking, knowing that the man she had loved and adored had never really wanted her in return. That the man she had married had taken more pleasure from another man who was as masculine as he had been.

Well, she knew better now – she would not fall into that trap again. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Everyone would think she was crying for her husband, not because she had been duped by the man she had loved more than life itself. She remembered her nan telling her years ago about a headstone in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. It said, ‘Under this sod lies another one.’ Never was a truer word spoken.

Jack was worried about Sharon. She looked awful. He had tried to talk to her earlier about Lenny but she had shaken her head in distress. He envied the dead man the love of such a good woman. She was white-faced and she had clearly lost weight. It was as if life itself had left her – he knew that sounded melodramatic but it was the only way he could describe her. Her troubles had somehow made her even more beautiful, and she was a beautiful woman already – no one could deny that. Lenny had worshipped her; there had never once been a hint of scandal about him with another bird and, in their world, that was seriously unusual. Women – or a certain type of woman – threw themselves at Faces for the kudos they possessed, and the money they could provide. But Lenny had never once strayed, not to Jack’s knowledge anyway.