Reckoning (38 page)

“Alright, lesson learnt,” he sniffed. “I’ll be off then.”

Mikey put a firm hand on his shoulder when he tried to step past him. “Don’t think you’re getting off that easily,” he said before punching him in the face.

Ten minutes later Mikey, Jez, Jules and the others exited the pub. Twenty minutes after that Denny left, stumbling out of the door and lurching down the road, struggling to see where he was going because his face was badly swollen, eyes almost shut, dripping blood as he went.

CHAPTER 38

“What are that pair of clowns doing?” said Battler, frowning at the light blue car sat further down the street. They were on guard duty outside Ryan and Rachel’s house, watching from a car at the end of the road. The two men in the light blue car were clearly watching Rachel and Ryan’s house because their heads kept turning that way.

Bruiser just frowned and shrugged.

“Pair of pillocks, have they never heard of a covert operation?” He turned in his seat to look at his brother and nodded. “You’re right, I bet this is Jared. No way Nilsen or the Starklaws would dare come all the way down here. Jared will be making his move before Ryan and Rachel can take him out, he’ll be afraid of retaliation in case that group of arseholes he’s got running around for him in Manchester actually manage to kill Mikey and Jez. But I want to be one hundred percent certain before we take them out. I’ll call Belle.”

“God this is boring,” sighed Kirk, shifting about in the driver’s seat. “What if they’re in for the night? Do we have to sit here all night?”

“If that’s what it takes. You want to tell Jared we missed killing them because we bedded down at a hotel for the night?”

“Suppose not, he’s been really unstable lately. It was a bit harsh killing Damien just because he wanted to know why that bitch Jules was still alive.”

“Jared was thinking with his dick, not his head.”

“I can’t wait to see that cow’s face when we tell her we killed her precious brother and sister-in-law.”

“Sorry, Jared called when you were in that sandwich shop. She escaped.”

“How?”

“Irina let her go apparently.”

“Why would the daft mare do that?”

Curtis shrugged. “No idea. Needless to say she’s dead now for her disloyalty.”

“What a waste, she was pretty fit.”

Curtis looked out of the window and smiled. “Talking of pretty fit, look at that.”

Kirk looked to where Curtis pointed and his eyes lit up. “Phwoar. The birds in Devon are alright, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, I might come here for a little holiday.”

They watched the woman totter down the street on high heels, wearing tiny denim shorts and a checked shirt tied at the stomach, revealing her bare, flat abdomen and a huge amount of cleavage. She caught them watching her and gave them a little wave.

“She’s coming this way,” said Kirk excitedly.

“Alright, down boy. Don’t forget we’re here to do a job.”

The woman bent over to knock on the window, her breasts practically falling out of her top and both men found themselves unable to take their eyes off the creamy orbs.

“Excuse me boys,” she said. “I’m looking for my friend’s house, seventeen Abbotsbury Road. Can you tell me where it is?”

“Sorry love, we’re tourists here ourselves,” replied Kirk. “But do you fancy meeting up later for a drink?”

She flashed him a flirtatious smile. “I’ll be in The Jolly Abbot this evening.”

“I’ll be there,” he said, astonished it had been so easy.

She treated him to a wink. “See you then handsome,” she said before sashaying away, Kirk straining in his seat to watch her denim-clad backside.

“Cor, I’m in there,” he grinned.

“So it would seem. Now can we please keep our minds off the totty and on the job? I don’t want to get a bullet in the head like Damien.”

“Fine,” sighed Kirk. At least he could fantasise about what he’d do with his date to pass the time.

They both failed to notice the woman take her phone out of her handbag and make a call, which was answered by one of the occupants of the car further down the street.

“What’s wrong?” said Ryan when he walked into the kitchen to find Rachel talking seriously on the phone.

“Alright thanks, bye,” she said before hanging up. “That was Battler. He says there’s two men outside watching the house in a light blue Toyota. They were suspicious so they sent in Belle, who does the honey trap work for them. She pretended to ask for directions. They were southerners, Essex boys she thought, and they said they were tourists too.”

“Jared Slattery,” he growled.

“Not him personally judging by the descriptions Belle gave but two of his men.”

Ryan thought for a moment before saying, “fancy a little drive?”

“Sounds fun,” she smiled.

After relating his plan to Battler and Bruiser, who readily agreed to help them, Rachel and Ryan exited the house via the back door straight into the garage at the back of the house, out of sight of the road.

Rachel opened the boot of her sporty Mercedes and nodded at Ryan. “Get in.”

“Couldn’t you have chosen a car with more boot space?” he grumbled as he clambered inside. “Ow. You could have removed the tyre iron first.”

“Lucky tyre iron,” she said, extracting it from under his backside. “Better?”

“Much, thank you.”

“If you need me to stop just knock.”

“I’ll be fine, it’s not a long drive.”

Rachel smiled as she slammed the boot lid shut.

“We’ve got movement,” said Kirk as he watched the Mercedes roll out of the driveway of the Laws’ home. “And it’s just Rachel, all alone.”

“Perfect. We can use her to draw the husband out,” said Curtis. “He’ll soon come running when we send him footage of us torturing her then we can do them both and go home to civilisation.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Kirk with a disturbing grin. If torture was involved he was in.

“Just keep your distance,” Curtis told him. “She’s sharp, she’ll clock us if you get too close.”

“You’re worried about a woman?” said Kirk as he pulled out into the street.

“Rachel Law is no ordinary woman, you’d be wise to bear that in mind.”

“She won’t be half as tough without her husband.”

“Robbie Jordan said she fought Alex Maguire and actually held her own against him, for a little while anyway.”

“Then how did he end up cutting her throat?” he said cockily.

“How many women do you know who could survive having their neck slit?”

Kirk didn’t know what to say to that.

“Great, looks like she’s heading out into the countryside,” said Curtis. “Fucking perfect.”

“This is going to be fun,” smiled Kirk. “Capture her, torture her then use her to draw Ryan out, kill her before he gets there then when he arrives we’ll top him too when he’s all torn up with grief. Job done, back to Essex, after I’ve spent some time with that nice little bird.”

“There might not be time for that.”

“Aw,” he whined.

“For fuck’s sake, you’re like a little kid,” said Curtis. “We’ll see, okay? That’s all I’m saying on the matter.”

“Great stuff,” grinned Kirk.

“They’re three cars behind you Rach,” said Battler, his gruff voice filling the car through the hands-free system.

“I see them,” she replied, glancing in the rear-view mirror.

“How’s Ryan holding up?”

“He’s quiet, probably getting grumpy.”

“I heard that,” came a voice from the boot.

“We’re only five minutes away,” she called back to him.

“Good, it’s getting very hot in here.”

“You’ll be fine,” Rachel smiled, amazed by how calm she was. She was being followed by two men intent on killing her and she was acting as though it was just a pleasant drive out into the country.

As she drove through the metal gate that led to The Tower she noticed the light blue car continue on its way but she knew it would be back. Battler and Bruiser’s car rolled to a halt on the other side of the fence at the rear gate then reversed, so it was out of sight. There was no security guarding the site, Ryan had seen to that before they’d left the house, making a call and depositing a generous amount of money into the security guard’s bank account to disappear for a couple of hours. More than enough time.

“Perfect, she’s gone to The Tower,” said Kirk, turning the car around in a lay-by and heading back the way they’d come.

“I didn’t spot any security either,” said Curtis, taking out his gun and checking the clip before sliding it back into his jacket pocket.

Kirk parked the car just inside the gate, out of sight of the main road.

“Deserted, just like I thought,” smiled Curtis before getting out of the car. “Looks like she’s already gone inside,” he said, indicating the empty Mercedes.

“I can hear high heels,” said Kirk.

Curtis nodded. “Let’s go.”

They both drew their guns and crept inside The Tower, assailed by the stink of damp. Inside, The Tower was dark and eerie, black brick dripping with water. No wonder they were bringing it down.

“This is fucking creepy,” whispered Kirk.

“Ssh,” hissed Curtis.

The click of high heels sounded on the next level. They melded into the shadows as a pair of slender legs descended the stairs from above. From their dark corner they watched Rachel descend the steps then head for the door.

“Don’t move,” called Curtis, aiming the gun at her back.

Rachel slowly turned to face them. “So you finally got here,” she said casually.

Curtis’s bowels turned to ice as he realised the creeping sensation he’d thought was caused by the old, spooky building was in fact his instinct telling him to get out of there. “On your knees,” he yelled louder than he’d intended, starting to panic.

There was a click and cold steel was pressed to the back of his head.

“That’s just what I was about to tell you,” said a cool, cultured voice from deeper in the shadows. “If you don’t take your gun off my wife I will split your head in two.”

“I’ll shoot her before you get the chance,” retorted Curtis, eyes flicking to Kirk, begging him for help but Kirk had frozen, unsure what to do. He had his back to Ryan and couldn’t turn in time without being shot too.

“May I recommend you look up,” said Ryan.

Curtis and Kirk both looked up to see two bald giants on the stairs aiming huge shotguns at them.

“Oh shit,” said Curtis, finally realising they’d walked straight into a trap. Again.

Oblivious to what had happened to their co-conspirators, Brogan and Duane were larging it up at the nightclub owned by Nilsen, the ruined fish tank wall already replaced. Everyone was sucking up to them, ensuring they had their goodwill, hinting at future business deals to come. The women were flocking round them too and Brogan was delighted to realise that a couple of them were Mikey Maguire’s cast-offs. It would give him great pleasure to fuck them. It would be like fucking Mikey over for a second time.

When the door opened the collective intake of breath everyone took made it feel as though the air had been sucked out of the room. Brogan could only watch in mute horror as a ghost floated into the building and regarded them all with vengeful, malicious eyes. A second ghost followed and stood beside him, having purposefully removed her leather jacket to clearly show the knives strapped to her wrists. The wraiths were backed up by Jez Law, Mark, Grant, Declan and a young lad he didn’t recognise.

The two busty blonds sat either side of Brogan hastily got up and scurried away as the Laws and Maguires advanced on their table. In fact most people were tactfully collecting their coats and bags and leaving, only the hardy and curious remaining to watch.

Jules plonked herself down beside Brogan and threw her booted feet onto the table, knocking his drink into his lap.

“Sorry,” she grinned. “Looks like you pissed yourself. I bet you had a little accident when you saw us walk in.”

“You…you’re dead,” stammered Duane.

“That’s the second time we’ve heard that tonight, isn’t it Mikey?” she said.

He nodded. “Yeah. Seems everyone in Manchester has been labouring under a delusion.” His eyes darkened. “That’s very dangerous.”

“But how…” Duane trailed off, unable to comprehend what was happening. “Ollie Starklaw won’t stand for this.”

“You’re right, he didn’t,” replied Jez, enjoying himself. “Actually he’s lying down, turning cold and stiff.”

It took Duane a moment to puzzle this one out. “You mean he’s dead?”

“Yeah. So are his moron of a brother, Nilsen and three of the other fuckers he tried to carve up our empire with. We left Denny alive to tell the story, just so this time there’s no confusion.”

“Jared Slattery‘s going to kill you,” said Brogan.

“He’ll do fuck all,” snarled Mikey. “He lied to you all, he faked a video of him killing Jules. He’s a loony with a mummy fixation and he has no power up here. He got all of you fucking monkeys to run around taking the risks and when he couldn’t fulfil the promise he made you about killing us he pretended he had. Now you’re going to pay for his sins.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” said Brogan indignantly, noting more people slipping out the door, all his so-called friends. Only a few, well-respected hard men remained, casually drinking at the bar, watching the scene, men with long-standing and highly thought of reputations who had the Maguire’s and Law’s respect, who had been sensible enough not to assume the old order was finished. It was probably them who’d told Mikey and Jez he was here. “Come on, I mean if you were in my position, kept at the bottom of the pile by you lot for years, wouldn’t you have grabbed at the chance to get ahead if you were given it?”