Back in the Game

by Caz Finlay

  Liam clenched his jaw as he remembered the day it happened. Nathan had just got out and Liam was supposed to meet him for a drink. Liam had just done a big job for him and he knew it was the day Nathan was going to bring him into the fold – into his inner circle. They’d spoken on the phone and Nathan had been happy with the way Liam had handled himself. He said he’d made him proud and that had made Liam happier than he’d ever felt in his life. Then, ten minutes before they were supposed to meet, Nathan had called to say he was going to meet up with his son instead. But to add insult to injury, he’d sounded so fucking excited about it. As though Liam was his second choice, to be discarded whenever someone better came along. As if it was Jake who had been the one seeing to his every fucking need for the past few years. Liam had voiced his displeasure about the whole thing and that was it. Nathan had told him to grow up and stop being such a ponce, and Liam never heard from him again. All because of Jake fucking Conlon.

  ‘Can I get you anything else, love?’ The blonde barmaid smiled at him.

  ‘Another pint, gorgeous.’ He winked at her.

  ‘Coming right up,’ she said with a giggle.

  Liam put a note on the bar and continued watching Jake Conlon out of the corner of his eye. The blonde placed his pint in front of him and took the money. ‘Keep the change, babe.’ He grinned at her and she smiled back at him while fluttering her eyelashes. He’d take her home later and give her a good seeing to. That always made him feel a bit better. She looked a bit like his Leanne too so that was a bonus. He wondered briefly what she was doing tonight. Probably being fucked up the arse by Bobby White, he thought bitterly, which only served to further his bad mood.

  Chapter 11

  Grace looked up from her paperwork as she heard her office door open. Although her heart started thumping in her ears at the sight of them, she couldn’t help but smile at her two visitors. She’d been back in Liverpool for over a week and had wondered how long it would be before they’d make an appearance.

  ‘Hello, stranger,’ they chorused.

  ‘Hello, you two,’ she replied. Smiling, she stood up as Patrick and Sean Carter walked towards her.

  Patrick looked so much older than she remembered. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the two missing digits on his left hand and she felt a pang of guilt. He walked with a stick now too. Both lasting reminders of a beating from Nathan which had landed him in intensive care and almost killed him. Patrick had been the man responsible for her rise to the top of the Liverpool underworld. He’d seen something in her that no one else had before. He’d worked for her for a long time and, along with his youngest son, Michael, had been her most trusted confidante.

  Patrick’s eldest son, Sean, hadn’t aged a day, still cutting a handsome figure in his suit and tie. He and Grace had opened a string of successful Italian restaurants in Liverpool which he still owned and ran, although Grace had left them behind too and sold her shares to the rest of the Carter family.

  Grace embraced each of them in turn.

  ‘So this is where you’re hiding yourself away then?’ Sean asked.

  ‘Between this place and Belle, I’m kept pretty busy.’

  ‘We heard you’d had a baby girl,’ Patrick said. ‘Congratulations. How old is she now?’

  ‘Nine and a half months,’ Grace lied. ‘How are you both?’ she asked, trying to change the subject.

  ‘Not bad, considering,’ Patrick said as he indicated his stick.

  ‘Enough of the small talk, eh?’ Sean said. ‘We could ask you why you never bothered your arse to speak to any of us since you buggered off to live in the country. We could complain that it fucking hurt when you dropped us all like a tonne of bricks. But what we really came to say is it’s good to have you back, Grace. We all missed you.’

  Grace smiled. She knew she’d hurt them all, but it had been the only way for her to move on. ‘I’ve missed you all too,’ she said and she meant it.

  ‘Look, it’s Nicola’s birthday party on Sunday. You do remember my daughter, don’t you? I assume you’ll be coming now you’re home. Bring Belle too. Everyone is dying to meet her.’

  ‘I don’t know, Sean—’ she started.

  ‘Look, Grace,’ he said. ‘We heard nothing from you for almost eighteen months. Complete radio silence. We had to rely on Marcus to hear how you were doing, and even then it was like pulling teeth. We understand why you wanted to move on and put everything behind you, but you’re back now. It’s all water under the bridge, isn’t it? We’re family. You’re my daughter’s godmother, for fuck’s sake. We’ll see you at our place at one,’ he said.

  ‘Come on, love,’ Patrick said. ‘Everyone would love to see you.’

  Grace had to admit she would love to see all of them too. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed being in their company. Although taking Belle was out of the question.

  ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll be there.’

  ‘Good,’ Sean and Patrick chorused. ‘See you Sunday.’

  ‘Shall I bring anything?’

  ‘Just yourself and that daughter of yours,’ Sean said. ‘We’d better let you get on. Come on, Dad. I’ll treat you to a pint.’

  As the two men got up to leave, Grace felt a lump in her throat. She’d missed them more than she’d care to admit.

  It felt good to be home.

  Chapter 12

  Grace shifted from one foot to the other as she knocked on the familiar door of Sean Carter’s house on Sunday. She could hear the laughter and conversation from the partygoers outside.

  ‘Grace!’ Sean’s wife, Sophia, shrieked as she answered the door before pulling her into a warm hug.

  ‘Aunty Grace,’ Nicola and Beth chimed behind their mother.

  ‘Hey, you two,’ she said, crouching down to hug them both. ‘I’ve missed you guys.’ The girls, aged eight and six now, had shot up in height since Grace had last seen them. They looked just like their mother, unlike their older sister, Steph, who was the double of her father, Sean.

  Grace gave Nicola her birthday present and both girls skipped off to open it. Sean placed a glass of champagne in Grace’s hand and led her into the dining room where most of the guests were.

  ‘Where’s Belle?’ Sophia asked. ‘I’ve been dying to meet her.’

  ‘Oh, she’s not feeling well,’ Grace said. ‘Jake and Siobhan are looking after her.’

  ‘Oh no, poor thing,’ Sophia said as she made a sad face.

  ‘It’s just a cold and a bit of a temperature. She’ll be fine in a few days.’

  Grace made her way through the room, passing a stream of familiar faces, all of whom seemed happy to see her, hugging and kissing her as she passed. Finally, she reached her intended target: Patrick Carter. Her old friend and confidante. God, she’d missed him. She hadn’t realised just how much until he’d come strolling into her office the other day.

  ‘Hello, love. I’m so glad you came,’ Patrick said as she approached, giving her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Have you met Sue?’ He introduced the elegant-looking lady with the grey hair standing next to him.

  ‘No, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,’ Grace said as Sue held out her hand, showing off the giant rock on her ring finger. Grace had barely managed to congratulate them on their recent engagement, when she was accosted by Sean’s daughter Steph, who hugged her as though she’d just returned from a decade-long expedition to Everest, enveloping her in a cloud of Chanel Mademoiselle perfume.

  ‘Grace,’ Steph squealed. ‘It’s so good to see you.’

  ‘You too,’ Grace said with a smile.

  ‘I’ve been dying to come visit, but Jake and Marcus are so bloody secretive with your new address.’

  ‘I know. I’m sorry about that, they’re so protective,’ she lied. She had made them swear that they wouldn’t reveal her new address to anyone, not even Steph, whom she loved like a little sister. ‘Anyway, tell me how the love life is going. Is Steve still in the picture?’

  Steph shook her head.
‘Oh God, no. He was another one who turned out to be a complete bell-end.’

  Grace laughed. Steph’s dating history was more colourful than Joseph’s infamous coat. ‘But I thought he was the one?’

  Steph rolled her eyes. ‘So did I. Anyway, I’m seeing Chris now.’ She smiled. ‘He’s lovely. He’s a barrister.’

  ‘Really?’ Grace raised her eyebrows in surprise. Any barrister in his right mind would be crazy to get involved with one of the Carter family, but she kept that thought to herself.

  ‘Steph, can you give me a hand?’ her mother, Sophia, shouted from across the room.

  Steph waved to signal she was coming, then turned to Grace. ‘We need a proper catch-up. I’ve got so much to tell you about. How about I cook you lunch tomorrow? At Antonelli’s?’

  Antonelli’s had been her and Sean’s flagship restaurant. It would be good to see the place again, and Steph was an incredible chef. ‘I have a meeting at one. But I could get there about two?’

  ‘It’s a date.’ Steph smiled and then headed over to her mother.

  ***

  Grace was standing near the kitchen sink talking to an old friend when she saw Michael Carter and his wife, Hannah, walk into the room. Her mouth suddenly felt dry and her pulse began to race as she remembered the last time she and Michael had spoken. It was a painful memory and she had to take a second to compose herself. Michael had been her right-hand man back in the day, and one of her closest friends – but not anymore. Grace held her head high. She wouldn’t let him know his presence had any effect on her.

  It was Hannah who made her way over first. ‘Hello, Grace,’ she said brusquely. ‘What brings you back here?’

  ‘Hello, Hannah. I’m just here to help my son out for a while. I’ll be going back to Leeds in a few months, I expect.’

  ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ she said dismissively.

  ‘Grace.’ Michael nodded at her before following his wife out of the kitchen.

  Patrick sidled over to her. ‘He can’t half pick ’em,’ he chuckled in Grace’s ear. ‘Another stuck-up cow who hates us all.’

  Grace laughed. ‘She’s all right really. You should be nicer to her, Pat.’

  ‘Ha. If she gave me the time of day, maybe I would.’

  ***

  After three hours at the party, Grace made her excuses to leave. She didn’t like to leave Belle for too long and Siobhan was making a lamb roast for dinner. It took her almost half an hour to get out of the place, with the need to say goodbye and exchange hugs with everyone, and promise that she would see them all again soon.

  She was just about to open her car when she saw Michael walking back towards the house. She’d hardly seen him all afternoon and wasn’t aware he’d left the party.

  ‘Hey.’ He smiled.

  ‘Hey,’ she replied. ‘Where’s Hannah?’

  ‘She had to go to work. I’ve just dropped her off.’

  ‘Oh. Well, enjoy the rest of the party,’ she said as she opened her car door.

  ‘Grace,’ he said, taking hold of her arm.

  ‘What, Michael?’

  He swallowed. ‘It’s good to see you.’

  ‘Yeah, you too,’ she said before climbing into her car.

  Glancing in her rear-view mirror she saw him standing in the driveway, hands in his pockets, watching as she drove away.

  Chapter 13

  Michael Carter watched as Grace’s car drove down Calderstones Avenue, and sighed. Their first meeting had been as awkward as he’d expected. It wasn’t so long ago that he and Grace had been the best of mates. Always comfortable in each other’s company. She could, and often did, make him laugh in even the most inappropriate of situations. He smiled as he remembered the time she’d had him in stitches in a funeral parlour. They’d been there to pay their respects to an old friend of his dad’s. He couldn’t even remember what the joke was now, but he could recall the pair of them holding on to each other with tears rolling down their cheeks and Grace proclaiming loudly that she was going to pee herself.

  They had thought there was no one else in there at the time, but unbeknownst to them, his dad had turned up too. He’d given him a right bollocking afterwards. He hadn’t said a word to Grace about it though. She could walk on water as far as his dad was concerned.

  Michael was about to rejoin the party when his mobile phone rang. He saw the name of one of his bouncers, John King, flashing on the screen.

  ‘Yeah, John?’ he answered.

  ‘There’s been some trouble in town today, boss.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Cody, that new kid you took on, he’s been stabbed in the neck.’

  Michael sucked air through his teeth. ‘Fucking hell. Is he okay?’

  ‘He’s on his way to the Royal. They blue-lighted him.’

  ‘Shit. What happened?’

  ‘The usual. Bunch of wannabes turned up and started kicking off and one of them had a knife. He came straight at Cody. None of us saw it coming.’

  ‘And what happened to the wannabes?’ he snapped.

  ‘Don’t worry. They’re all dealt with, boss.’

  ‘Good. I’ll get down to the hospital and see how he is.’

  ‘Maybe wait until tomorrow. The plods were crawling all over the place.’

  Michael sighed. ‘Does his mum know?’

  ‘Police will be telling her, I imagine.’

  ‘Okay, well, make sure she’s looked after, John. Anything she needs, okay?’

  ‘Will do.’

  Michael hung up the phone. ‘Fucking cunts,’ he muttered under his breath. He’d started up his security firm six months ago when there’d been a gap in the market. He’d wanted out of the drugs business and security seemed a much better fit for him. He’d been hoping it would be a bit less hassle too, but he’d been wrong on that score. He’d needed something of his own though. The business Grace had walked away from and left him in charge of just wasn’t the same without her. She’d left a gaping hole in his life in more ways than one, and now she was back, he wondered if things could ever be the same between them. He hoped so at least.

  Chapter 14

  Grace looked up as the young man walked through the door of her office.

  ‘Hello, Grace,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘Eddie Redman,’ she replied. The last time she’d seen Eddie he’d been a pimply-faced teenager. He’d shot up about two feet since then. Eddie was Nathan’s other biological son, not that he knew that, of course. She and Eddie’s mother, Sandra, had agreed that they would keep that secret a long time ago. When he was a chubby-faced child, his resemblance to Nathan had been clear, but now he bore no likeness at all to the man who’d fathered him.

  Grace had been surprised to receive a phone call from Eddie the previous day, asking if he could meet with her. He’d told her it was urgent, claiming that she’d want to hear what he had to say. Assuming it had something to do with his mother, Grace agreed. She and Sandra had been close friends at one time, but, as with everyone else in Grace’s life, they had drifted apart since Grace had moved to Harewood.

  ‘Take a seat,’ Grace said, indicating the chair on the opposite side of her desk.

  Eddie took the proffered seat and, to Grace’s annoyance, helped himself to one of the boiled sweets from the open bag on her desk. Not that she begrudged him a sweet – they were Siobhan’s anyway – but it was good manners to ask first.

  ‘What can I do for you, Eddie? What do you have to tell me that’s so urgent?’ she asked.

  Leaning back in his chair, Eddie grinned at her, revealing a row of perfectly straight, if slightly yellowed, teeth. ‘I know what really happened the night of the fire,’ he said.

  ‘What?’ she snapped, at first having no idea what he was on about.

  ‘I know what really happened to the Rose and Crown. You pretended to be the innocent victim, but you did it. You torched the place yourself, and you tried to burn Nathan Conlon with it.’

  Grace felt like she’d been kicke
d in the stomach. The Rose and Crown had been her father’s pub, and then hers. She’d lived at the place almost her whole life and it had nearly killed her to see the place razed to the ground. But at the time she’d seen it as the only way to finally be rid of her psychopathic ex-husband. She’d worked hard to store the memory of that night away in the darkest recesses of her mind, and here was Eddie talking about it like he’d been there. How could he possibly know? She studied his face. The cocky grin now seemed permanently etched onto his face. Suddenly, he looked just like his father after all, and that only made Grace dislike him even more.

  It was then that it hit her. There could only be one reason for him knowing the truth. He had been there. On that awful night when she had burned down her own pub in an attempt to kill her ex-husband once and for all. Except it had gone spectacularly wrong. Nathan had survived and Ben McKinley had died instead. Grace had always wondered who had saved Nathan and hit Ben over the head, leaving him for dead. Well, now she knew. It was Eddie. It must have been. It was the only way he could have known. She had to stop herself from jumping up and throttling the life out of him. She had loved Ben, and Eddie had left him to die like an animal. She fought to steady her breathing and remain calm. ‘And what?’ she shrugged.

  ‘And what? I want some compensation for my silence. It’s ate me up inside, it has.’ He feigned a sad face. ‘It’s been so hard to keep it all to myself.’

  ‘You’re a no one, Eddie. Who would believe you anyway?’

  ‘I could go to the police. I’m sure they’d be very interested to know what really happened.’

  She laughed. ‘I’m sure they would. And will you tell them you murdered the poor bastard they found dead in there instead? Do you even know who that was?’

  ‘Nathan’s mate, Ben McKinley.’ He shrugged, as though Ben’s life meant nothing. ‘So, I can’t go to the police. I’m not a grass anyway. But I could tell everyone else. What would people think if they knew the truth, Grace? I’m sure your precious Jakey wouldn’t be happy that you tried to burn his dad to a crisp while he was still alive, would he?’