The Victim (29 page)

Within seconds of Larry leaving the room, Frankie gave her father what for. ‘This is all your doing, ain’t it? What did you do? Go round there yourself and shoot the wrong person like you did with my mother? Or send someone else to do your dirty work instead?’

‘What the fuck you on about? Whatever happened round the O’Haras’ is sod-all to do with me. I swear on my life, I’ve been nowhere near their poxy house.’

‘Well, I don’t believe you,’ Frankie spat.

‘You can believe what you want, but don’t be blaming me. Do you think if I was gonna hit on Jed or Jimmy that I’d be stupid enough to do it at their house in front of my own grandchildren? And as for bringing your mother into this conversation, that’s well below the fucking belt, Frankie.’

The fire left Frankie’s eyes and she immediately burst into tears again. ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I’m just so worried about my children, I don’t know what to say or think.’

Eddie held her in his arms again. ‘I need you to be strong for me, Frankie, ’cause if you ain’t, then I ain’t gonna be able to cope either. I love you so much, girl, and I know you’ll be OK because you’re a chip off the old block, ain’t ya?’ Eddie remarked, drying her eyes with his handkerchief.

‘Larry’s gonna need to ask you some questions. We need to give the Old Bill as much information as we can to help ’em find Georgie and Harry, OK?’

Frankie nodded. ‘OK.’

‘Have the kids got passports?’ Eddie asked.

‘No, but Jed can get hold of anything like that. He used to get dodgy insurance certificates, tax discs, MOTs, even driving licences.’

Eddie stood up. He would have liked to have told his daughter that he knew Jed was dead, just to ease her worry, but he daren’t in case the police questioned her and she put her bloody foot in it. ‘I’ll go and get Larry,’ he said.

‘Dad, can you ask the screw if I can have some painkillers and a glass of water? I really don’t feel well,’ Frankie said.

Eddie stood up. He hadn’t even reached the door when Frankie let out a painful yelp. ‘Whatever’s wrong?’ he asked, running to her aid.

Frankie was holding her stomach, her face contorted with pain. ‘Get the screw, quick. My waters have broken.’

Over in Essex, Joyce and Stanley were car hunting and hadn’t stopped arguing for the past couple of hours. Joycie was insisting that they purchase a brand, spanking-new motor and Stanley was trying to make his obstinate wife see sense.

‘I ain’t being mean, love, but we’ll lose thousands off the bloody thing as soon as we drive it off the forecourt. If we get something a couple of years old, it’s not only more practical, but financially sensible,’ Stanley said.

‘Nope, they’ve all been a load of old shit we’ve seen and my mind’s made up now. I’ve decided I want a new Jaguar. In all the years I’ve been married to you, Stanley, we’ve never had a decent motor. Do you really begrudge me this one small pleasure after everything you’ve put me through recently? Well, do you?’

‘No, dear,’ Stanley replied miserably.

Ten minutes later, Stanley pulled up outside Grange Motors in Brentwood and nearly jumped out of his skin as Joycie firstly shrieked, then began clapping her hands with glee.

‘That’s the one I want. Look, that one over there.’

Stanley got out of the car and stared in horror at the brand-new, white Jaguar XJ6 that Joycie was pointing at. ‘It looks like a wedding car. People will think I’m a bleedin’ chauffeur or something if they see me driving about in that, Joycie.’

‘Well, you are one. You’re my bloody chauffeur. I’ll have to get you one of them peak caps that they wear, so you really look the part,’ Joyce cackled as she ran over to the gleaming XJ6.

‘Oh, Stanley, I love it. I’ll look the bee’s knees in this. You’ll have to drive me over to Rita and Hilda’s straight away, so I can show it off.’

Seeing the price of the car, Stanley had one of his little coughing fits. Their old house in Upney had cost them less.

‘Can I be of any assistance to you?’ asked a well-spoken young man in a pinstriped suit. He had clocked the old banger the couple had pulled up in, so knew he had no chance of clinching a sale.

‘Yes, we want to buy this car,’ Joyce said proudly in her poshest tone.

The man smiled politely. He was used to dealing with messers; it was, unfortunately, all part of his job. ‘This car is brand new. Would you like me to see if I can find you something second-hand?’ he asked, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Joycie stared at the spotty-faced little shit. He wasn’t much older than her Joey. Who did he think he was talking to? ‘Do we look like vagrants or paupers?’ she snapped.

‘No, of course not. It’s just that this is the most expensive of our current range. It has all the extras on it, you see,’ the man said, horrified.

‘And that’s why we want to buy it. Now are you going to sell it to us, or not?’ Joyce asked, enjoying his obvious discomfort.

‘We haven’t even test-driven it yet, Joycie,’ Stanley mumbled.

‘Don’t you bloody well start an’ all. I’ve got enough on me plate with this jumped-up little shit. I want this car whether you like it or not, and if you don’t like it, Stanley, I suggest you pack your bags and sod off back to that old slapper with the big tits. Now, what’s it to be?’

Both red faced, Stanley and the young salesman looked at one another.

‘We’ll take it,’ Stanley mumbled.

Frankie’s baby entered the world just over an hour later. Considering he was a month early, he was a hefty little lump and weighed six pounds seven ounces. After initially being whisked away to be fully checked over, Frankie had just been reunited with him and was thrilled to hear he’d been given a clean bill of health.

‘Are you sure everything’s OK with him?’ she asked anxiously, as the nurse handed him to her.

‘He’s absolutely fine and ever so big, considering the circumstances. I delivered a full-term baby yesterday and that only weighed six pound,’ the nurse said reassuringly.

Frankie stared at her son and smiled. He looked nothing like Harry when he was born; he looked more like Georgie with his tuft of dark hair and long, dark eyelashes. ‘Is my dad still outside?’ Frankie asked Mandy, the prison officer who had travelled in the ambulance with her.

‘Yep, he and your solicitor are both still outside.’

‘Is it OK if I spend some time alone with my dad and the baby?’

Mandy nodded. Unlike some of the other prisoners she dealt with, she had always found Frankie to be a decent, good-natured girl with impeccable manners. ‘While your dad pops in, I’ll go and find Babs, see how she’s doing. I’ll tell her your news, but don’t you dare tell anyone back at the prison that I left you alone, else you’ll get me into trouble. You’ve got ten minutes, OK?’

‘Thank you and I promise my lips are sealed,’ Frankie said gratefully. Some of the screws were right bitches, but Mandy was one of the nicest ones Frankie had met in Holloway.

Seconds later, Eddie Mitchell walked into the ward, kissed his daughter on the cheek and stared at the new addition that she was cradling in her arms.

‘Can I hold him?’ he asked, his voice full of warmth.

When Frankie handed the baby over, she felt a pang of guilt. Everything had happened so quickly and she’d been so thrilled to give birth to a healthy son that she’d barely given Georgie and Harry a thought since her waters had broken.

Eddie kissed his grandson on the forehead. ‘Hello, mate. I’m your grandad,’ he said, gently stroking the child’s cheek.

‘What you gonna call him?’ he asked Frankie.

‘I quite like Justin or Brett. I suppose that’s one good thing about Jed disappearing. He can now be a Mitchell, not a bloody O’Hara.’

‘Brett Mitchell sounds all right. I ain’t too sure about Justin though, it sounds a bit poncy,’ Eddie chuckled.

Without warning, Frankie suddenly burst into tears. ‘Brett it is then, but he ain’t gonna get to meet his brother and sister, is he, Dad?’

Eddie laid his grandson in the little cot next to Frankie, sat on the edge of the bed, and hugged her. ‘Look, I know the O’Haras doing a runner ain’t ideal, but it does have its plus points – for now, anyway. Larry reckons the case will be laughed out of court if Jed can’t be found and he also reckons he can now get you bail. He’s making some more phone calls as we speak.’

‘Really? You’re not just saying that to cheer me up, are you?’

‘No, I wouldn’t do that, babe. Seriously, Larry spoke to James Fitzgerald Smythe earlier and he reckons we can get you bail as early as next week. Just be strong and hold on in there until then, OK?’

Mandy’s return immediately changed the subject.

‘How’s Babs? Did you see her?’ Frankie enquired.

‘Yep, she’s a bit sore, but doing just fine. Kelvin, she’s called her son, and he weighs ten pound. No wonder she was so big and in so much pain. She couldn’t believe that you had a little boy today as well. She said it’s a crazy coincidence and reckons it’s a sign that your babies will be just like you and her, best friends for life.’

Happy that Frankie was now laughing rather than crying, Eddie stood up. ‘I’d better make a move now, darling. Poor Larry is shattered, he’s been up since four dealing with our latest drama and he’s gonna stay at mine tonight. I’ll come back and visit you tomorrow and bring Joey with me. And don’t forget what I told you, so keep your chin up, eh?’

Frankie smiled. ‘I will, Dad, and thanks for everything. I know I don’t say this a lot, but I do love you, you know.’

Feeling his eyes well up, Eddie walked towards the door before anybody noticed. His voice was gruff with emotion as he replied. ‘And I love you too, sweetheart.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The following week was full of highs and lows for Frankie. The highs included the first days with her son, Babs returning to the prison with Kelvin and the date for her new bail hearing. The lows were the constant worry over Georgie and Harry’s whereabouts, the thought of life outside prison without Babs and the uncertainty over whether Jed was alive or dead.

On the morning of her court case, Frankie was up with the larks, and started packing her worldly goods together. Part of her wondered if she was tempting fate by doing this, but Larry seemed so certain that she would get bail this time, that it seemed extremely lazy to leave the job for somebody else to do.

Babs sat up, picked up her son and smiled as he clamped his mouth around her large, swollen breast. Kelvin’s father was the pervert who had raped her beautiful daughter, Matilda, and Babs had been worried that she wouldn’t bond with her son for that very reason. She couldn’t have been more wrong though, as the moment Kelvin had been placed in her arms, she had felt nothing but unconditional love for her child. He looked nothing like the dead monster that had helped create him, and Babs thanked God for that small mercy. Kelvin was very dark, considering his dad had been white. He was almost as black as she was.

‘Good morning, sweet child. I hope you gonna spare a thought for poor old Babs when you wake up in a nice cosy bed in some warm house tomorrow morning.’

Checking that Brett was breathing OK while he was sleeping, Frankie sat on the edge of Babs’ bed. ‘If I do get out today, I ain’t ’arf gonna miss you, mate. I’m so glad you got your trial date through and I promise if I’m still on the outside, I will attend the court every day to support you.’

Babs smiled. The thought of life inside prison without Frankie didn’t bear thinking of, but she didn’t want to dampen her friend’s spirits by telling her that. She was truly thrilled that her pal was more than likely going home and, hopefully, in four months’ time Babs would join her on the outside.

‘Why the ifs, Frankie? You goin’ home today and that’s where you deserve to be. As for me, don’t you dare worry that pretty head of yours. I’ll call you every day and that nice solicitor man, Larry, swears blind that now I’ve told the truth I will walk free. In four months’ time, sweet child, me and you can share that house with our children like we always dreamed about,’ Babs said brightly.

‘I am worried about going home though. Say Jed tries to kidnap Brett as well? I just wish I knew if the bastard was alive or dead. I’ll never be able to sleep at night until I have proof that he’s six feet under.’

‘I know that feeling. Even though I’m stuck in here, I can still smile ’cause I know Peter is dead and he can never hurt me and my children again. I’m really glad I killed him and even if I end up doin’ life, I’ll never regret what I did. A mother’s duty is to protect her children and that’s what I’ll tell the jury at my trial.’

Frankie sat in silence as Babs winded her son and gently laid him in his cot. Something Larry had said to her was playing on her mind and when Babs hugged her, Frankie couldn’t stop herself from crying.

‘What’s the matter? You should be happy you finally goin’ home.’

‘I am, but Larry said that it’s better for my actual court case if we don’t find the O’Haras beforehand. How can I not look for my children, eh, Babs? I think about them every minute of every day. I wonder if they remember me and miss me. Do you think they’re being looked after OK?’

As the sobs racked through Frankie’s body, Babs held her friend tightly. She wished she could promise Frankie that her children were OK, but she couldn’t make promises she didn’t know the answer to herself. It wasn’t right.

Over in Essex, Stanley Smith was cursing under his breath as Joycie barked out yet another order. Not only had the idiotic woman dragged him out of bed at 6 a.m., but now she was giving him directions to a house he used to live in and was also telling him how he should drive.

‘Go a bit faster then, Stanley. We haven’t bought a top-of-the-range Jaguar XJ6 for you to pootle along as though you’re driving some poxy old Skoda.’

‘I’ve got a van in front of me, Joycie. I can’t bleedin’ overtake it; I can’t see what’s coming the other way.’

Joycie tutted and glanced at her watch. Four times she’d made Stanley drive over to Rita and Hilda’s since they’d brought their new car home and four times her friends had been out, or pretended to be.

‘I bet they’re hiding behind the bastard curtains. They’ve always been jealous of me, Stanley,’ Joycie said suspiciously on their last visit.

‘Don’t be so bleedin’ daft. Rita and Hilda ain’t got a jealous bone in their bodies. They’re obviously just out, Joycie. People’s lives don’t revolve around you, you know,’ Stanley reassured her.

Joyce smirked as Stanley turned into the road she and he had once lived in. It was only ten past seven and if Rita and Hilda had been avoiding her, then she would have the last laugh this morning.

‘You wait here, Stanley, while I go and fetch them. Then you can take us all for a nice drive somewhere pleasant.’

About to say that seeing as they were in Upney, there was nowhere pleasant to drive to, Stanley clamped his mouth shut again. What Joycie wanted, Joycie got, so there was little point arguing with the deranged woman.

Joyce strolled up Rita’s path first, banged on the door and, without waiting for an answer, did the same at Hilda’s.

‘Whatever’s the matter, Joycie?’ Rita shouted, looking out of her bedroom window. She had her hair in rollers and, even from a distance, Joyce could see she had a discoloured white dressing gown on.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ Hilda screeched, answering the front door in a pink nightdress and fluffy slippers.

As proud as a peacock, Joycie pointed to her new car. ‘I’ve come to take you both for a ride in my new top-of-the-range Jaguar XJ6,’ she announced boastfully.

‘But you’ve just woken me up. What time is it?’ Hilda asked, bemused.

‘Just gone quarter-past seven, now, come on get yourselves ready. Stanley’s our chauffeur for the morning and he’ll drive us wherever we want to go,’ Joyce replied.

‘It’s gonna take me a good hour or so to get bathed and dressed. Do you want to come in and wait?’ Hilda asked dismally.

‘Nope. Stanley and I will wait in our new car. It smells lovely and fresh and the leather seats are just so comfortable,’ Joyce said, smiling.

Hilda shut the front door, picked up her phone and dialled Rita’s number. ‘What a fucking liberty, waking us up this time in the morning just so she can show off a poxy new car. She’s off her head, that one.’

Rita agreed. ‘She’s a bleedin’ nuisance, Hild. No wonder poor Stanley pissed off and left her that time, and why he would want to go back, I’ll never know.’

Thanks to James Fitzgerald Smythe’s insistence, Frankie’s bail hearing was to take place at ten o’clock at Snaresbrook Crown Court instead of Chelmsford. Eddie had chosen to travel to Snaresbrook alone with Larry so they could have a good old natter about stuff in private. Stuart had last week treated himself to a BMW and had offered to pick up Joey. Raymond, Gary and Ricky were travelling together and had arranged to collect Carol Cullen on the way.

‘I can’t believe the Old Bill haven’t released any more details. I mean, there should be something in the papers or on the news about the O’Haras’ disappearance now, surely,’ said Eddie.

Larry shrugged. ‘All the police seem bothered about is finding out whose blood it was they found. Oh, that was one other thing I did find out. Somebody had thrown bleach all over the inside of the horse-box and the driveway to try and wash the blood away, apparently. Bar that, they don’t seem that bothered, Ed. In their eyes, Jed’s the kids’ father. It isn’t like they’ve been abducted by a stranger. You have to remember, they don’t know that it’s Jed that is no longer with us, do they?’

‘I think it’s fucking bollocks. I bet if it was someone else’s grandkids they’d get off their fat arses and find ’em. It’s because they’re mine they don’t wanna know, I’m telling ya. The filth have always hated me, Lal, you know that. They hated me father an’ all. I bet the bastards see this as some kind of payback for all the years me and the old man led ’em a merry dance, don’t you?’

‘I spoke to Fitzgerald Smythe again the other day. He has no doubt he will get Frankie off, whether the O’Haras are traced or not, but he did say it will make his job ten times easier if they aren’t found until after her trial. Perhaps this is something you should bear in mind if you are thinking of tracking them down. Frankie’s trial is looking likely to be in August, which is only five months away, isn’t it?’

Eddie stared out of the window and took in the murky weather. How could he choose between his daughter and grandchildren’s well-being? It was a nigh-on impossible choice, but he knew that if he was forced to, he would put his daughter’s liberty above anyone else in the world.

Frankie was barely listening as her legal team pleaded for her release. All she could think about was Brett being back at the prison without her and she just hoped that the staff were looking after him properly. Frankie had begged them to let Babs look after her son in her absence, but the prison staff said that it was against the rules.

Wrapped up in her own little cocoon of worries, Frankie never heard the judge say the words, ‘Application for bail granted,’ and it wasn’t until her dad leaped out of his seat and punched the air that she realised that she was a free woman. Well, until her trial at least.

Rita and Hilda were sitting side by side in the back of Joycie and Stanley’s new car. Both women were used to a bit of tediousness in their everyday lives, but as Joyce rambled on about the car’s fixtures and fittings yet again, Hilda and Rita glanced at one another in pure boredom.

‘We’re gonna have to be getting back now, Joycie. I’ve gotta take the cat to the vet at eleven and I’ve got tons of washing and ironing to do first,’ Rita said politely.

‘And I ain’t even had a chance to wash me bleedin’ fanny yet,’ Hilda whispered in Rita’s ear.

‘What’s so funny?’ Joyce asked in annoyance as both her friends burst out laughing.

Joycie’s angry tone only made Rita and Hilda laugh all the more. Both suddenly saw the funny side of being woken at some unearthly hour, being forced to go for a drive, then having private lessons on the workings of a Jaguar XJ6.

‘I said, what are you bloody laughing at?’ Joycie asked, this time turning around in her seat.

‘We’re laughing at you, Joycie. I don’t think you realise how funny you are at times,’ Rita commented, holding her sides.

‘You’ve explained every detail of the car to us three times over and we still don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,’ Hilda added, crippled with laughter.

Furious that her friends were amused rather than impressed by her new car, Joyce punched her husband on the arm.

‘Ouch, that bleedin’ hurt. What was that for?’ Stanley asked, bewildered.

‘Turn the car around now, Stanley, and drive back to Upney. I refuse to be mocked by jealous, classless fools.’

The words ‘jealous’ and ‘classless’ made Rita and Hilda both laugh all the more. The reason being, if they had to pick one woman in the world that those words summed up, then that woman would be Joycie.

Thrilled to have now collected her baby from prison, Frankie was in reasonably good spirits on the journey back to Essex. Her dad had wanted her and Brett to stay at his cottage but, not ready to make friends with Gina just yet, Frankie had flatly refused and had opted to stay with Joey and Dominic instead.

Eddie was on cloud nine as he sat in the back of Larry’s motor. He had one arm around Frankie and was stroking his grandson’s cheek with the other. ‘I wish you’d change your mind about staying with me, babe. You really will like Gina if you give her a chance and you won’t be bored with us oldies, ’cause Stuart’s still living with us an’ all.’

‘Thanks, Dad, but no thanks. I’d much rather stay with Joey for now, if you don’t mind. Perhaps when I get settled, we can go out for a meal or something and I can meet Gina properly. I feel so comfortable with Joey and Dom and I don’t fancy sharing your cottage with people I don’t even know.’

‘You’ll love Stuart. He’s a great lad and a real gentleman. He’s the sort of geezer you should have ended up with. He’s coming back to Joey’s for some grub, so I can introduce you to him properly.’

Frankie looked at her father in horror. ‘Don’t you dare start all that! I’ve had enough of blokes to last me a lifetime, and all I’m bothered about from now on is my children. If you want to help me, then concentrate on finding Georgie and Harry for me, rather than finding me a husband.’

Eddie chuckled. Frankie might have lost her liberty for a while and had temporarily lost her kids, but she hadn’t lost her spirit, bless her.

‘So who else is gonna be at this meal at Joey’s? You haven’t invited all and sundry, have you?’

‘Nope. There’s just me, you, Lal, Dom, Joey and Stuart. Gary, Ricky and Raymond ain’t coming back. The boys said they’ll take you out for lunch once you’re acclimatised to the outside world once again.’

‘What about Nan and Grandad?’ Frankie asked.

‘Joey didn’t want to tell them about your bail hearing just in case it all went tits-up. They don’t even know that Georgie and Harry are missing yet. Joyce rang me up to tell me she’d seen the Old Bill at the O’Haras’ house, but I played it down ’cause I didn’t wanna upset her. Joey thought it best to wait until you got out and then tell ’em. At least then he’d have some good news to tell ’em as well.’