Reckoning (40 page)

“And I’ll do my best for you,” he said as she grew hotter and wetter around his fingers. “One day soon it’ll be us giving the orders.” Hayden had never had such aspirations before but Katia brought out the desire for more in him, the desire to better himself, which he hadn’t felt since his army days and he was so grateful for it. Life was finally good again now he had Katia.

Katia smiled into his shoulder as he made love to her. She’d not told him yet that she still fully intended to kill Mikey Maguire for stealing her babies. But that could wait until he was firmly under her spell, when he was willing to do absolutely anything for her. Like she’d said, she was learning to be patient.

Jared sat sulking at his desk, staring absently at the gleaming mahogany, thinking about Jules. She’d made a conquering return to Manchester with her cousin and brother, slaughtering the Starklaws, Nilsen, Brogan and everyone else who’d sided against them. All his contacts up north were dead and everyone else had rallied round Jez and Mikey, either too intimidated or too impressed to plot against them. Mikey and Jez had pulled off one hell of a feat, even managing to keep Toni McVay onside. His grand plan to conquer the north was finished. He’d been made to look like a greedy, grasping fool and that ponce Isaac Jones was trying his hand and had started attacking his businesses, the cheeky bastard. Jared dragged his hands down his face. He was facing another war but this time on his own turf. He didn’t like that, he wanted the war in another part of the country, that was why his plan to take Manchester had been so perfect - all the pleasure and prestige of destroying the heart of the Maguire-Law empire with none of the risk, his contacts up north doing most of the dirty work. But he’d overreached himself and now their roles had been reversed and Mikey and Jez were the fucking big men while he was the muppet.

On top of all that, he wanted Jules back but she wouldn’t come voluntarily and now her cousin and brother were back at full strength she was too well protected. He would watch and wait for his moment.

“What?” he snapped when there was a knock on the study door.

Petie, one of his men, walked into the room. “A package arrived for you Boss,” he said, clutching a padded yellow envelope in one hand, eating a doughnut with the other.

Instantly Jared was on his guard. “You checked it out?”

“Yeah, it’s just a phone,” he said, pulling the object out of the envelope with his sticky, sugar-covered hand.

Jared snatched it from him and switched it on. The only things on it were two media files. He opened the first one and was stunned to be confronted by Curtis and Kirk, both tied up and bloody, looking terrified. There was the sound of an explosion so loud that the phone vibrated in his hand then the screen went blank.

“What the…?” he frowned.

“What was that about?” frowned Petie, peering at the phone over his shoulder, still eating his doughnut.

Jared opened the second media file, which showed a huge tower collapsing, detonated at the base in a formal demolition. Jared knew exactly what this was - The Tower in Devon that Rachel and Ryan had bought, it had been all over the news because it was some sort of landmark. When the film ended the words,
unlike your video this one wasn’t faked,
popped up.

“Bloody hell, they stuck Curtis and Kirk in The Tower then blew them up,” gasped Petie.

Jared released a snarl and hurled the phone across the room, smashing it against the wall. When he looked at his shoulder and saw that Petie had spilt sugar and crumbs on his expensive shirt he smacked him in the face.

“Get out,” he bellowed as Petie stumbled for the door, one hand clutching his bleeding nose, the other his doughnut.

Jared slumped back behind his desk, ruing the day he’d decided to take on the Maguires and Laws.

“Alright Babe, I’m off to work,” said Mikey, kissing Amber on the cheek. “Bye little man,” he added, bending to kiss Josh, who was playing in his playpen.

“Have you got a lot on today?” she asked him.

“Loads. We’re still setting up the new base.” Mikey was a little downcast. Going to work at the compound had felt powerful, fulfilling. The small bungalow in the suburbs just didn’t give him the same vibe but it was the sensible thing to do. No one except those in his inner circle even knew of its existence.

“What if the police come back with more questions?” For the last few days police officers had regularly turned up on their doorstep but one phone call from Mikey had been enough to make them go away.

“They won’t. Unknown assailants attacked the compound and blew it up. End of story.”

Amber knew this was a huge lie but she wasn’t about to question it, she didn’t want to know the truth. But she got the feeling that whoever had been responsible was dead. She still wasn’t sure whether her husband’s power to perpetuate such an obvious lie was frightening or a turn-on. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine and she shuddered.

“You okay?” said Mikey.

“Fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “I thought I’d go shopping today with Mum.”

Panic gripped Mikey. Together they were capable of spending astronomical sums of money. “Just take it easy, won’t you Babe? We need to keep a low profile for a while. No big purchases, please.”

“Alright, I know. You’ve already told me,” she snapped.

“Sorry,” he said, surprised by this outburst from his usually sweet wife. “Right. I’m off.”

“I’ll see you when I see you then.”

“Afraid so. Things will settle down soon and then I’ll have more time to spend at home.”

She forced a smile. “Good.”

When he’d gone she took out the piece of paper she’d kept with her ever since it had arrived at her home the day before Mikey had sent her and Josh away to Aberdeenshire. It was a letter, the header stating it was from Manchester Prison. On it was written just one line, in Jake’s scrawl.

Watch yourself. Mikey’s in love with Jules.

Amber’s whole world had come crashing down around her ears. At first she’d thought it was just sour grapes from the mad brother who had tried to destroy Mikey’s life and was still trying to do it. But something had persuaded her to keep hold of it rather than tear it up like she’d wanted to. Then that flutter in her husband’s eyes when he’d been talking about his grief for Jules when he’d thought she was dead had told her there might be something in it after all. Ever since then she’d watched him carefully and noticed the emotion in his eyes whenever he mentioned Jules. Amber had tried to convince herself that she was imagining things, that Mikey and Jules were first cousins, they couldn’t be having an affair, that would be sick and twisted. But discreet enquiries had informed her that Jules didn’t seem to have any sexual boundaries. A twisted cow like her would probably enjoy a bit of incest. Not only that, Amber knew her husband had lied to her. He’d blatantly told her his brother had died of a heart attack when in fact she was certain he’d had him killed, probably because he knew about him and Jules, among other things.

Bitterness had settled in her heart and was slowly eating away at her. Her instinct was to get a divorce, no one cheated on her but she didn’t want to give up her luxurious lifestyle. She enjoyed the prestige she got being Mikey Maguire’s wife and it wouldn’t be the same being his ex-wife. So she’d decided to stay and see how it panned out.

Decision made, she folded up the letter and slipped it back into her jean’s pocket. She leaned into Josh’s playpen and smiled. “Ready to go out and spend lots of Daddy’s money?”

Rachel and Ryan watched as the construction company they habitually used for all their projects got to work. The remains of The Tower had been taken away, along with the remains of the two men Jared Slattery had sent to kill them, but they had been obliterated into such tiny little pieces no one had even realised they were there. Now the site would be turned into a restaurant, cinema, nightclub and bowling alley.

“Makes you proud, doesn’t it?” smiled Ryan. He loved seeing a good business plan come to fruition.

“It does that,” she replied. “When it’s finished we’ll have to come here for a meal in the restaurant then watch a film.”

“And neck in the back row,” he said, grin widening.

“Of course.”

Their smiles fell when the foreman approached them, looking grim.

“Oh no, what’s happened?” sighed Rachel.

“We’ve got a schedule to stick to, I want everything ready for March next year,” frowned Ryan, preparing himself for battle.

The foreman stopped before them and pulled off his hard hat, fingering it anxiously. “I…I need to ask you something,” he began.

“And what’s that?” said Ryan a little impatiently. He liked it when people just got straight to the point.

“I really need your help. My wife’s getting a lot of hassle from two men at her work. I heard you might be able to do something to make sure they leave her alone.”

Rachel glanced up at Ryan and they nodded at each other.

“There’s a café across the road,” said Rachel kindly. “We can discuss it over a coffee.”

It seemed the good people of Devon did want them to stick around after all.

THE END

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Heather Atkinson April 2015