The Victim (9 page)

‘Oh, I’m sorry, Joycie. How did he find out?’ Eddie asked.

‘No idea, he was too busy asking for a divorce to tell me that vital piece of information,’ Joyce said, laughing.

Dominic glanced at his watch. He had an early meeting in the morning with a potential billionaire investor. ‘Do you mind if I make a move, Joey? I’ve got that meeting early tomorrow morning with that American guy I told you about. I would stay here with you, but I’ve no change of clothes and Madonna will need to be fed and watered.’

Joey put a casual arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder. ‘You get off, Dom. I’ll stay here with Nan tonight. Perhaps pick me up tomorrow when you finish work. I’ll have to call in sick again, I’m afraid, but it can’t be helped.’

Eddie shook Dominic’s hand. ‘Thanks for being there for my Joey, mate. You’re a good lad.’

Joycie grinned. Sod Stanley’s sulks, Eddie had now fully accepted Joey and Dominic’s relationship and that was all that mattered.

In the lounge, Carol was still talking to Georgie and Harry. Both children had spoken candidly about why they had run away, and their love for their mother was clear to see. ‘So, has your daddy explained why your mummy had to go away for a while?’ she asked.

Remembering her grandfather’s words, Georgie nodded. ‘Daddy told us that Mummy was evil and Nanny Alice said that Mummy was in prison because she’s an old shitcunt.’

‘Nanny told me that, too,’ Harry chipped in. He was determined to do his bit for the cause.

Carol was horrified. She was used to dealing with children that came from deprived homes, but what sort of grandmother was Nanny Alice to use vile words like ‘shitcunt’ to children so young? Carol stood up; she had made plenty of notes of her conversation with the children and now it was her duty to call the police.

‘Can we see Mummy now?’ Harry asked her again.

Carol smiled and ruffled his hair. ‘Hopefully, you can see your mummy soon and I promise I’ll do my best to make sure that happens.’

Eddie looked at Carol with expectation as she walked into the kitchen. ‘Well, did they answer all your questions OK?’ he asked.

‘Yes, they did, and they have given me plenty of insight into the family they are currently living with. I am going to ring the police now and they will collect the children and take them back home. I shall then submit my report to my husband, who is in charge of this entire area.’

Joyce was gutted. Having the children at home had made her forget about all her other problems.

‘Do they have to go back to the O’Haras? They obviously aren’t happy living there and I’m willing to look after them,’ she pleaded.

‘I’m afraid the law says they do have to go back to their father, for now at least. I do understand how worried you are for their welfare, but these things take time. The one thing I am sure about is that I can arrange a regular visit for the children to see their mother. My husband, Phillip, is actually in charge of social services in this area, and I can make sure that definitely happens. As for the children being taken away from their father, with the circumstances of their mother’s plight, that might prove to be quite difficult.’

‘Go and sit with the kids,’ Eddie ordered Joey and Joyce. ‘Why is it so difficult to take them away from the scumbags they’re currently living with?’ he asked Carol. ‘I’m willing to look after them and even if my police record puts the kibosh on that, Joyce will have them until Frankie comes home.’

Larry gave Eddie a warning look. His voice was raised, and if he lost his cool, it could balls everything up.

‘I’m sorry, Mr Mitchell, but it’s just not that simple. Now, if you will excuse me, I really do have to call the police now,’ said Carol.

Realising that his adorable grandchildren were about to be carted off back to what he fondly described as ‘pikey hell’, Eddie stomped into the lounge and crouched down in front of them.

‘Did you tell the lady everything I told you to?’ he whispered.

Georgie and Harry both nodded. ‘Can we see Mummy now?’ Harry asked, his voice filled with hopeful innocence.

Joyce and Joey both had tears in their eyes as Eddie explained that the police were coming round and the children would have to be taken back to live with their father.

Georgie and Harry started to cry. It had been a long day and they were both physically and mentally drained. ‘But we don’t want to live there, we want to live with you, Grandad,’ Georgie pleaded.

Eddie leaned forward and held both sobbing children close to his chest. He had rarely cried after he’d reached the age of ten, but for once he couldn’t control the tears rolling down his cheeks.

‘Everything is gonna work out just fine. Your grandad will make sure of that, I promise.’

CHAPTER NINE

Harry O’Hara was first to wake up the following morning. His Nanny Alice had ordered his Grandad Jimmy to sleep elsewhere, so that he and Georgie could share the bed with her. Harry was careful as he prodded Georgie. His nan was snoring like a disgruntled pig and he didn’t want to wake her. He actually preferred her when she was sleeping.

Georgie sat up, rubbed her eyes and smiled at Harry. Neither of them had wanted to come home last night, but the police had made them. Both children had cried themselves to sleep, but this morning, they felt brighter. The nice social worker lady had promised she would arrange visits so they could see their mum. She even said she would try to sort it so they could see their Nanny Joyce again as well. They had asked her if they could see Grandad Eddie also, but she hadn’t answered that question.

‘My legs hurt,’ Harry mumbled, remembering his ordeal from the day before. He wasn’t used to long walks and his knee was grazed and scabby from where he had fallen over.

‘I’m hungry. Shall we get some breakfast?’ Georgie whispered.

As the children quietly got out of bed, Alice sat bolt upright. ‘What you doing? Where you going?’ she asked fearfully. She immediately presumed they were about to do a runner again.

‘We’re hungry, Nanny, we want some food,’ Georgie replied.

Alice leaped out of bed and put on her slippers and dressing gown. She was so relieved to have the children home safe that after the police had left last night, Alice had vowed to Jimmy to move heaven and earth to make them happy again.

‘Nanny’ll cook breakfast for you. What do you want? How ’bout a nice fry-up?’

Georgie glanced at Harry and both children shook their heads. Since Marky and Lukey boy had died, nobody had been very nice to them. Everybody had virtually ignored them, even their dad, and Georgie instinctively knew that running away would change all that. Their escape could only make life better for them.

‘Me and Harry don’t like your fry-up. We like toast with Marmite and cheese on top, that’s what Mummy used to cook us,’ Georgie said brazenly.

Alice ignored the mention of Frankie, crouched down and hugged both children close to her chest. She had been so wrapped up in her own grief, she had sort of neglected these two and they needed her, needed her badly.

‘From now on, yous two cheeky little chavvies can have whatever you bleedin’ well want. Your Nanny Alice loves you both very much.’

Eddie had woken up early, made love to Gina, then ordered her to have a lie-in while he cooked the breakfast, for a change. Watching his grandkids being carted off back to the O’Haras’ last night had upset Ed immensely. He had spoken to the police and demanded answers as to why the O’Haras hadn’t reported them missing in the first place.

‘They should be with us, a normal family who would love and care for them, instead of living with a load of two-bob pikeys,’ he’d insisted.

The two coppers had very nearly burst out laughing. Neither had ever had any personal dealings with the Mitchells before, but every police force in England were well aware who they were, what had befallen them in the past, and they were anything but bloody normal.

When Ed had got back home last night, he’d poured himself a large Scotch and had a proper heart-to-heart with Gina about the upbringing of their baby. Eddie had insisted that she must give up her job for good and be a full-time mum and, as luck would have it, she had seen sense and agreed.

‘I always told myself that the day I fell pregnant I would walk away from it all. I loved being a private detective but it’s a job for a childless woman, not a mother,’ Gina admitted, not wanting Eddie to think she was jacking it in just because he wanted her to.

As he was about to scramble some eggs, Eddie’s mobile rang, so he took the saucepan off the hob. It was Gary. He had had a problem with a geezer who had done a bunk. ‘What does he owe?’ Eddie asked, when Gary finally stopped talking.

‘Well, he borrowed twelve grand and promised he would pay it back in six weeks, so me and Ricky did a deal with him. He was desperate for it that day, so we said yes, but only if he paid us back sixteen. We said we’d take ten in a month, then give him the extra two weeks to pay the odd six. It was a month yesterday since we lent it to him, so we went round to his gaff to pick the ten up. When we got there, we found out he’d done a runner. It didn’t take us long to find out where he was. We gave his mate a proper good dig and then he gave us the address. I tried to ring you all last night, but I couldn’t get hold of you. Where was you?’

‘What’s the cunt’s name?’ Eddie spat, ignoring the question. He’d been in the money-lending game for years now and because of his reputation, people rarely dared take the piss out of him.

‘Colin Griffiths, but he sometimes uses Simmons as his surname as well. He used to be a publican, ran a couple of dives in Barking and a couple more in East Ham. I think he might have even ran the Central at one point.’

Eddie was fuming. He and Raymond had a meeting with a geezer over in Whitechapel who owned boozers in the East End and wanted to pay protection to get rid of an Asian gang who had been making a nuisance of themselves. Ed made his decision and smashed his fist against the wall in annoyance. Twelve grand was peanuts to him, but it was the fucking principle, not the money. ‘I’ll tell Raymond to go to our meeting alone and I’ll pick you and Rick up in an hour, Gal.’

Over in Holloway, Frankie was in a far happier mood than her father was. The prison had organised an antenatal class for anyone on the maternity wing who wanted to attend, and she and Babs had put their names down for something to do.

In the maternity ward there were a lot of young girls who were first-time mothers, and their faces were a picture as the woman was describing ‘how to give birth in the correct manner’ out of some textbook she was reading from. The woman’s posh voice wasn’t doing her any favours, either. Most of the girls in Holloway were as common as muck, and they had never heard anybody who spoke the way she did; she sounded as if she had a plum in her mouth, and even Frankie was shocked by her upper-class accent.

When the woman picked up a doll, put it in a plastic bath and said the word ‘vagina’ as she was washing it, nearly all the lags burst out laughing. In their world it was called a noony, a snatch, a cunt or a fanny.

As she and Babs were giggling, Frankie noticed a girl with dark hair staring at her. She had seen the same girl looking at her earlier. ‘Don’t look now, but there’s a girl that keeps looking at me. She’s got a black cardigan on, curly shoulder-length hair and she’s on your left. Look in a minute and see if you know who she is.’

Babs did as Frankie asked, then nudged her pal. ‘Never seen her before. Perhaps she’s a lezzie and fancies you.’

‘Don’t say that, that’s all I’m short of,’ Frankie said worriedly.

Laughing, Babs gently punched Frankie on the arm. ‘I’m only winding you up. If she was a lezzie I doubt she’d be preggers, would she? And even if she was one of them bisexual bitches, you’ve no worries, ’cause Babbsy will look after you, sweet child.’

When the posh woman ended her speech with, ‘May God bless each and every one of you,’ Frankie stood up with the rest of the girls. The girl who had been staring at her immediately approached her.

‘Are you Jed O’Hara’s girlfriend?’ she asked.

Frankie was instantly on her guard. The girl was obviously a traveller; she had the same strange accent as Jed and his family.

‘Who wants to know?’ she asked boldly.

The girl held out her right hand and smiled. ‘I’m Katie, Katie Cooper. I don’t know if Jed ever mentioned my sister, Debbie. She went out with him for a year when he was fourteen. Debs was older than him, she was sixteen at the time.’

Frankie shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t and Jed’s not my boyfriend, he’s my ex.’

Katie shook her head understandingly. ‘I heard what happened, news travels fast in our community. Jed’s a bastard and I don’t blame you for what you did to him. I wish I’d had the guts to do the same to him and that cousin of his myself as payback for what he did to me and my sister.’

Frankie looked at the girl suspiciously. ‘All travellers stick together,’ Jed had always told her.

‘Mitchell, move, come on, and you, Lewis, back to your cells,’ the screw shouted at Frankie and Babs. Babs stared at the screw. She was going nowhere without her friend.

‘Come on, let’s go,’ Babs said, urging Frankie to move away from the girl.

Frankie allowed herself to be led away. She didn’t like Katie – she was a traveller and Frankie had never met a decent one yet. Glancing around to make sure Katie wasn’t behind her, Frankie turned to Babs.

‘I don’t trust her. She’s probably one of Jed’s spies and he’s told her to befriend me.’

Babs put a comforting arm around Frankie’s shoulder. She could tell that speaking to that girl had upset her, reminded her of the past. ‘There ain’t many people you can trust in here at all, honey.’

Frankie linked arms with Babs. She trusted her with her life. ‘Especially travellers. I fucking hate ’em, Babs.’

Back at the O’Haras’, Georgie and Harry were both being thoroughly spoiled rotten. Their dad hadn’t left their side all morning, neither had Nanny Alice or Grandad Jimmy and they’d been playing games with them, which was unheard of in the past. Usually Georgie and Harry were expected to amuse themselves.

Alice heard a car pull up outside and looked out of the window. ‘Oh dordie, it’s the gavvers and they’ve got some woman in a smart suit with them. They ain’t taking the chavvies away, are they?’ she asked, petrified.

Jimmy put a comforting arm around his wife’s shoulder and ordered Jed to answer the door. ‘It’ll be OK. They probably just wanna check that Georgie and Harry are OK,’ Jimmy assured his wife.

‘What’s the problem?’ Jed asked, as he opened the front door. There was a male and female copper and also an important-looking woman in a smart grey suit.

‘Are you Jed O’Hara, Harry and Georgina’s father?’ the policewoman asked. Carol Cullen had asked the police to accompany her, as she suspected a breach of the peace could take place.

Jed nodded. He hated the Old Bill, wanted to tell ’em to fuck off, but he knew that kind of behaviour wouldn’t do him any favours. ‘Georgie and Harry are absolutely fine. They’re in the living room playing with their grandparents,’ he said politely.

‘I’m DS Fletcher and my colleague is PC Hughes. Could we come in, Mr O’Hara? Mrs Cullen needs to speak to you about the children.’

Jed immediately started to panic and dropped his politeness. ‘Who is she?’ he asked, pointing at the woman in the smart suit.

‘I’m Mrs Cullen,’ the woman said, holding out her right hand.

Jed ignored the gesture, ‘Who are you, then? What do you want? We ain’t committed no crime.’

‘I’m a social worker and I need to speak to you regarding your children’s welfare.’

Jed unwillingly led the trio into the lounge. If they could see the kids were happy, with a bit of luck they would piss off and leave his family alone.

Alice was shaking like a leaf as Jed handed out the introductions. The gavvers always scared her, but today the social worker accompanying them was scaring her more.

‘Hello,’ Georgie said beaming, as she spotted the nice lady who had come to Nanny Joycie’s house the previous evening.

‘Can we see Mummy now?’ Harry asked bluntly.

Carol crouched down and patted both children on the head. ‘How are you both today?’ she asked.

‘OK. Daddy, Nanny Alice and Grandad Jimmy have been playing cowboys and Indians with us,’ Georgie replied happily.

‘That sounds like fun,’ Carol said, as she stood up and turned back to the adults.

‘You ain’t takin’ ’em away. I won’t allow it,’ Alice said, tears streaming down her face.

‘Stop worrying. Nobody’s taking the children away from you,’ Carol said kindly.

DS Fletcher cleared her throat. She had only recently been promoted to DS after being in the force for many years and she took her new role extremely seriously. ‘Why didn’t you report the children missing yesterday?’ she asked.

Jed felt his hackles rise. ‘I explained all this last night. We were searching for ’em ourselves. Us travellers are a close-knit community. I had my own reinforcements, so there was no need to bother you. I knew they’d turn up alive and well anyway, kids always do.’

DS Fletcher looked at Jed in disbelief. Any nutter could have picked up those poor children yesterday. ‘Do you not realise the seriousness of not reporting the disappearance of children so young? They could have been abducted by a paedophile, run over – anything could have happened to them.’

Jed was beginning to lose his temper now. What was the bitch insinuating – that he was a bad parent? ‘All kids run away. I did it loads of times when I was their age. It’s all part of growing up, ain’t it? Anyway, I’ve had a good chat with them and both Georgie girl and Harry have promised me faithfully that they will never do anything like that again.’

Jed turned to his children. ‘Go on, you tell the policewoman that you won’t run off again, like you told me.’

‘We promise we won’t run off again,’ Georgie said.

‘I won’t, ’cause my legs hurt,’ Harry mumbled.

‘We idolise them kids and you can see that they’re clean, loved and well fed,’ Alice said proudly.