The Victim (23 page)

‘Yes, dear,’ Stanley replied immediately.

‘Number two. I don’t mind cooking for us on weekdays, but unless we’re having guests over, I expect to be taken out for meals at weekends in future and I expect you to pay.’

‘Yes, dear.’

‘Number three. I want you to apologise to Jock for what you did to him. You were bang out of order blaming that man, he’s been a good friend to you, Stanley.’

‘OK, I’ll call him first thing tomorrow,’ Stanley said sheepishly.

‘Number four. I want you to help me with the garden and the housework from now on. I don’t see why it should all be left to me.’

‘But I ain’t no good at gardening, Joycie, you know that,’ Stanley said, alarmed.

‘Well, like it or not, these are my rules and you either abide by them or piss off back to your old tart’s house.’

Stanley flinched at the mention of his old tart. Praying that Joycie didn’t have many more rules, he nodded his head.

‘My fifth rule is, you must never utter another bad word about Eddie Mitchell in this house ever again. That man’s been bloody good to me since you did your vanishing act and I am determined that he’s going to be part of my life from now on and I’d like him to visit this house whenever he wishes.’

‘But he’s getting hitched again today. I hope you ain’t gonna invite that new wife of his around here. It ain’t right – this was our Jessica’s house,’ Stanley complained.

‘I’ll decide what’s right and wrong. This house belongs to me and, like it or not, you’re just the lodger here now, OK?’ Joyce said adamantly.

‘OK. I suppose if Eddie’s been good to you, then it’s only right that you keep in touch with him,’ Stanley replied reluctantly.

‘Number six is –’

‘How many more are there, Joycie?’ Stanley asked, dismayed. He was thrilled she’d allowed him to come back home, but this rule lark was getting beyond a joke now.

‘Shut up. Don’t you dare interrupt me. Rule number six is my last. I want you to call your solicitor and cancel that divorce. Even though you and I know you’re only the lodger, Stanley, I will not have our friends and family under the impression that we are living in sin. It’s not morally acceptable.’

Stanley smirked at this rule. ‘Yes, dear.’

Proud of her set of ground rules, Joyce put her pen and paper on the glass table and smiled at her husband. ‘Right, hurry up and finish your tea. I need you to cut the grass in the back garden for me.’

‘But it’s freezing out there, Joycie. The ground will be bleedin’ rock hard.’

‘I’ll decide whether the ground’s rock hard or not. Now drink that tea, come on, chop chop.’

Stanley gulped the rest of his tea down and bolted outside to get the lawnmower out of the shed. His life would be hell from now on, he was well aware of that, but he also knew that deep down, his Joycie still loved him. Why else would she stop their divorce?

When Eddie opened the registry office door, Gina stood open mouthed as she spotted all her family and friends. ‘Oh my God!’ she exclaimed as the realisation of what was happening finally hit home.

Forever the charmer, Eddie took Gina by the hand and led her to the two front rows where her family and friends were sitting. He stopped right in front of her parents and dropped to one knee.

‘Soppy cunt,’ Gary whispered to Ricky.

Raymond squeezed Polly’s hand and Stuart grinned. In prison Ed had been such a hard nut and it was nice to see a softer side to him.

‘Ahh, bless him,’ Joanie said, wiping her eyes.

Reg and Albert glanced at one another in amazement. Had Ed lost his marbles? they both thought silently.

Eddie cleared his throat. ‘Gina, I love you so much, darling, that I couldn’t wait any longer for you to become my wife, so would you do me the great honour of marrying me right now?’

Overcome by a mixture of shock and emotion, Gina burst into uncontrollable tears. ‘Yes. Oh Ed, this is the best birthday present I’ve ever had,’ she sobbed.

Ricky nudged Gary. ‘Fuck this for a game of soldiers – let’s go outside and have a fag.’

Joey glared at his half-brothers as they stood up and left the room.

‘Ignore them. They’re just playing up because your dad chose you to be his best man,’ Dominic whispered in his boyfriend’s ear.

The registrar allowed the introductions to take place, then asked Eddie and Gina if they were ready for the service to begin. Aware that Gary and Ricky were still absent, Joanie stomped outside to find them. When she did, she found them both in hysterical laughter.

‘What’s so fucking funny? Ain’t you coming back inside?’ she asked angrily.

Gary was laughing so much that he was almost bent double. Unable to speak, he pointed at the horse and carriage that had just trotted into the car park. Neither Gary nor Ricky had had any idea that their father had booked this monstrosity to take him and Gina to the reception.

Vi appeared by Joanie’s side. ‘What the hell’s goin’ on? The service has already started.’

Ricky nodded towards the horse and carriage. ‘We were just laughing at that. Who do they think they are, Charles and Diana? Look at its poncy roof.’

‘The old man is such a soppy prick at times. Can you imagine if Jimmy O’Hara or some other face he knows drives past him in that? They’ll think he’s lost the fucking plot,’ Gary chuckled.

Joanie was furious. ‘Yous two will never understand a bit of old-fashioned romance while you’ve got holes in your arses. Now get inside before I brain the fucking pair of ya.’

The boys ignored their aunt’s stern warning and carried on taking the piss. ‘Let’s take some photos of him sitting on it and send it to the East London rag. Can you imagine what a laugh that will create in Canning Town?’ Ricky chortled, nudging his brother.

Joanie moved closer to the boys and, unable to control her temper any longer, slapped both of them around their smarmy faces. ‘If you send anything to the papers, you’ll have me and Vi to deal with. And shall I tell you something: if anyone needs laughing at, it is yous two pair of weirdos. I’ve never known two men at the ages of twenty-seven and thirty that have never had a serious girlfriend before. It ain’t fucking normal, and I’ve started to wonder if yous two bat for the other side like our Joey does. Now, do yourselves a favour and get your arses inside that building before I really lose my rag.’

With the smiles now wiped off their faces, Gary and Ricky did exactly as they were told.

The short service was nearly over by the time Vi, Joanie, Gary and Ricky returned to their seats. Joey stood up, handed the rings over and shared a poignant look with his father that nobody else in the room would understand. A particular woman was on both of their minds, and Joey knew, from the glimpse of sadness he’d spotted in his father’s eyes, that no matter how much his dad thought of Gina, in his heart she would always play second fiddle to his beautiful mum, Jessica.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Eddie and Gina’s honeymoon consisted of a long weekend away in London. Being a man of extravagance and class, Ed booked them into the Savoy Hotel and they then spent a wonderful weekend taking in the sights and sounds of the best city in the world. Eddie had never been a lover of foreign holidays. The last time he’d been abroad, his brother Ronny had gone missing, so he’d had to cut his holiday short and fly back home. Ronny had been found barely alive – he had been shot in the spine and paralysed – and that had put Ed off foreign holidays for life. Having said that, Gina was a big lover of New York and Ed had promised to treat her to a proper honeymoon in the Big Apple once she had had the baby.

Gina was giggling to herself as she started to pack their clothes into the case. She had made Eddie take her to see a musical the previous night and he had hated every single moment of it.

‘What you laughing at?’ Ed said, pinching her bum.

‘You! Them poor people sitting behind us last night were really pissed off with your comments. That woman’s son was in the bloody show and she was ever so posh as well.’

‘Bollocks to ’em. Fucking load of pansies prancing around a stage. I can’t believe people pay good money to watch that shit. I’m just gonna pop outside to make a couple of phone calls. You all right packing everything? Don’t forget me razor, will ya, it’s still in the bathroom.’

‘I’m fine. Go on, you sod off, I can pack quicker without you,’ Gina said cheerfully. They’d had a wonderful few days and she would never forget her birthday surprise if she lived to be a hundred.

Eddie walked out of the room, shut the door and punched in Raymond’s number. ‘Well, is it all systems go?’

‘It sure is, pal. I’ve spoken to the boys and everybody knows the cue.’

Eddie ended the call and smirked. Now he’d got the wedding over and done with, the killing spree was about to begin.

Alice O’Hara was having a nightmare of a morning. Firstly, the washing machine had broken mid-cycle. Then, when she had forced open the door, the water had pissed out and she had slipped on the kitchen floor and hurt her back and, last but not least, her daughter-in-law, Shannon, had asked her to look after her son for the day and he, Georgie and Harry hadn’t stopped arguing and fighting since he’d arrived.

‘Will yous three fucking stop it now? Nanny’s had enough,’ Alice screamed, as she heard a commotion in the lounge again.

Harry, Georgie and Billy Junior, who everyone called ‘Mush’, took no notice of their nan’s orders.

Mush was older than Georgie and Harry. He was eight, and Harry was furious when he saw him slap Georgie around the face and pin her to the floor. Remembering his dad’s words to always stick up for himself and his sister, Harry picked the glass ashtray up off the table and, just as the doorbell rang, clumped Mush over the head with it.

Ignoring her grandmother’s shouts not to answer the door, Georgie jumped up and did the exact opposite. Mush’s head was bleeding and she was worried that the police had come to take her little brother away. It wasn’t Harry’s fault; Mush had started the fight and Georgie was determined to tell them the truth, so they could take Mush away instead.

‘Is your Dad there, Georgie?’ the caller asked.

Georgie recognised the lady immediately. She was the nice social worker lady who had come round to speak to her and Harry in the past. She had also been at the court when they had been taken there that day.

‘Nan, the nice lady wants to see Daddy,’ Georgie shouted out.

Alice got up off her hands and knees. She’d been mopping the floor for the past two hours now and there was still water everywhere. ‘What do you want? If it’s about Georgie not going to school, we took her out of there because the headmaster virtually called her a dinlo. Her father is in the process of finding her a new school,’ Alice said defensively.

When Harry ran into the hallway with a glass ashtray in his hand, followed by an older boy who was screaming, with blood running down his forehead, Carol Cullen looked at the scene before her in horror.

‘Are you the gavvers? I hit him ’cause he hit my sister,’ Harry said, not recognising Carol at all.

Alice was mortified as she saw the state of Mush’s head. The inch-long gash looked deep and was bleeding profusely.

‘Can you come back another time? I’d better get him to the hospital. I always keep me eye on ’em usually, but Jed and Jimmy are both out and me washing machine’s flooded the kitchen. You know what kids are like: they were playing nicely and then they have a little barney, and all hell breaks loose,’ Alice said, embarrassed by the situation.

‘That definitely looks like it needs stitching, so yes, you’d best go straight to the hospital, Mrs O’Hara. I will pop back tomorrow at twelve noon, so can you make sure that you are here, please? It would also be helpful if Jed was present.’

Alice nodded and, as Carol Cullen turned away, she slammed the front door and clumped Georgie around the head in temper.

‘Now look what you’ve done. I told you not to open the bloody door, didn’t I? We’ll have gavvers and social workers all over the poxy place now, you dinlo.’

When Georgie held her head and started to cry, Harry dropped the bloodied ashtray onto the floor. His dad had had a right go at him when he’d found out he’d had a scrap with Georgie a couple of weeks back.

‘You never, ever hit your own sister, Harry, but if anyone else touches her, no matter who they are, then you fucking clump ’em one, boy,’ his dad had told him.

Glaring at his nan, Harry ran towards Alice and punched her repeatedly as hard as his little fists would allow him to. ‘You leave my sister alone!’ he screamed.

* * *

DI Blyth felt the adrenalin pulsate through her veins as she took the call and recognised the superintendent’s voice from Arbour Square. She hadn’t heard a word from him since their meeting in his office last week, but he had promised to contact her personally if and when he had news of any substance.

‘I thought I’d best give you a brief update. We’ve no good news on the witness front so far, I’m afraid. My officers have drawn a complete blank in Harry Mitchell’s old neighbourhood. Two of the witnesses that gave us a description of the suspects and statements at the time are no longer able to help us. The elderly chap, Cyril Miller, who lived opposite Mitchell, passed away last year, and Iris Jones, Mitchell’s next-door neighbour, now has Alzheimer’s and is residing in a rather luxurious care home, all courtesy of the generous Eddie Mitchell, apparently. There were two other neighbours who also gave us statements, but one has since moved to Spain and the other moved to an address in Canvey Island that no longer seems to exist.’

‘Any news on the DNA yet?’ Blyth asked in a slightly deflated voice.

‘The results should be back in the next few days, so fingers crossed on that one. As soon as I hear anything, I will let you know immediately.’

Blyth thanked the superintendent for the information and ended the call. Frankie was going to be devastated if there was insufficient DNA evidence to arrest Sammy and Jed, and the thought of having to break the bad news to the poor girl filled Blyth with dread.

Eddie Mitchell was surprised to arrive home to an empty cottage. Stuart rarely went anywhere without him, so much so that Ed had had to virtually blackmail him to have a night out with the lads for Gary’s thirtieth birthday last week.

‘I wonder where Stu is? I’d better ring him to make sure he’s all right,’ Eddie said to Gina.

Gina put her arms around her husband’s neck. So many people were frightened of Eddie because of his reputation, but deep down he was such a big softie and Gina was honoured to finally become the new Mrs Mitchell. ‘You worry too much. Stuart’s a grown man, Ed. What’s the betting he’s out with that girl you said he met up town at Gary’s birthday bash. Either that or he’s out with the boys.’

‘I just worry about him, that’s all. He did a long stretch for a young ’un and to have to move away from all his family and friends in Hackney must be difficult for him an’ all. I’m gonna give him a quick bell, just in case something’s wrong.’

Ed walked out of the room and returned five minutes later with a big grin on his face. ‘You were right, the crafty little sod is out with that bird he met the other night. Her name’s Emma and he’s taken her for lunch in Brentwood. That’s where she lives, apparently.’

‘See, I know these things. That’s why I was such a good private detective once upon a time.’

Eddie put his arms around Gina and squeezed her fit body. He’d felt terribly guilty at his wedding when all he could think about was Jessica.

‘I hope Stuart strikes lucky like I did when I met you. I had a word with him the other day, and he knows once the baby is born we’re gonna need the place to ourselves. With a bit of luck, he might make a go of it with this bird. I mentioned to him about moving in with Gary and Ricky, but I don’t think he was that keen. He ain’t as wild as them pair of fuckers, is he?’

‘Stuart will be just fine, Ed, so for Christ’s sake stop worrying about him. Right, I need to go shopping, so what do you fancy for dinner tonight?’

‘Something light, babe. I’ve gotta shoot out the next couple of nights. Sorry, I forgot to tell ya.’

Gina stared at his rugged, handsome face. He had that faraway look in his eye and that always worried her. ‘Where you going then?’

‘Nowhere. Just got a bit of business that needs sorting.’

Gina clutched his hands. ‘Promise me you won’t do anything stupid, Ed.’

Ed laughed and kissed her lightly on the nose. ‘And you call me a worrier. I ain’t gonna do nothing stupid, you have my word on that, babe.’

Frankie felt like a cat on a hot tin roof as she waited for Babs to return to the cell. Her dad had been true to his word and Larry had come to visit Babs to sort out the awful predicament she found herself in. Every minute seemed like an hour to Frankie, but finally the cell door opened and an upset-looking Babs returned.

‘Are you OK? What did he say?’ Frankie asked as Babs fell into her arms.

‘Larry was really nice, but it was so awful having to relive it all. I thought I was gonna give birth in there at one point. I had a feeling me waters were gonna break.’

Frankie stroked her friend’s frizzy afro. Babs’ baby was due in a week’s time, a month before her own, and she wondered if the anguish of discussing her paedophile ex might bring on an early labour.

‘Let’s sit you down, you need to rest,’ Frankie said, leading her over to her bed. ‘Listen to me – the worst is over now, Babs, apart from the actual court case, obviously. You did tell Larry everything like I told you to, didn’t you?’ Frankie asked.

Babs nodded her head and forced herself to smile. ‘Larry reckons he can definitely get me out of here, and that’s all thanks to you, sweet child.’

‘Well, that’s brilliant news,’ Frankie exclaimed excitedly. She and Babs had spoken many times about renting a little house on their release and living there with their children like one big happy family. Now their dream could finally become a reality.

Babs held Frankie’s hands. ‘I want you to thank your dad for me, Frankie. He must be a very lovely man to do all this for someone he’s never even set eyes on.’

Frankie grinned. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as calling him lovely, but he’s a proper character, Babs. As you know, me and my dad clash something rotten, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t swap him for the world.’

Over in Rainham, Terry Baldwin had just pulled up on his motorbike. He’d found the perfect place to hide himself and the bike and had his escape route well planned. The one big problem he did have was that Jed never seemed to be alone. For the past five nights, Terry had frozen his bollocks off in the cold February air waiting to shoot the little bastard that had destroyed his, his daughter’s, and his grandson’s lives, but Jed was either always with that cousin of his, or if he wasn’t, he was with his bloody father.

Crawling behind the hedges, Terry sat down and prepared himself for another long wait. Jed’s motor was currently on the drive, and Terry hoped he’d go out again this evening, which seemed to be his usual routine. Thinking of the predicament he found himself in, Terry sighed. Anne had rung him from Australia today to inform him that she was flying home the next week and he desperately needed to finish the job before she got back. Anne could be a suspicious cow at the best of times and there was no way he could disappear every night when she returned. Terry made a decision there and then. He couldn’t arse about much more; he had neither the time nor the patience. Three more days he would give it and if he couldn’t get to Jed alone, then he would have to shoot whoever was with him as well.

Less than ten miles away, Eddie, Gary, Ricky, Raymond and Stuart were all sitting in the back of an inconspicuous-looking white Renault van. Eddie had bought the van off an old pal of his father’s and, like most things he got his grubby paws on, it was clean but untraceable. Ed had added some easily removable stickers down the side of it that read ‘Beryl’s Flowers’ and showed a false address and phone number underneath. The windows in the back were blacked out, but only from the outside, so the lads could easily see Jamie Carroll if and when he left the snooker hall.

Seeing as they had arrived early, Eddie designated Ricky to keep lookout and then decided to run over their other plans again. He turned to Raymond. ‘Right, tell me about Baldwin now. I couldn’t speak properly when you rang earlier, Gina was in the room. Where did you say he was going of a night?’