by Karen Clow
George had also heard her screaming and crying. As Billy got in the car, George grinned and said, “Sounds like that went well?” “Fuck me mate she’s lost the fucking plot!” “Did she admit to sending the letter?” “Did she fuck, she tried to say it wasn’t her, but I could tell she was lying. Hopefully she’s got the fucking message, she knows I’m serious.” “I found some of those sweet wrappers inside her car; she’s definitely been watching the cottage. Would you mind if I asked Jess a few questions when we get back? I know it’s not my business Billy, but I think you should tell her it’s Hilary then she can keep an eye out for her, women like her are dangerous.” “Yeah, perhaps you’re right George, maybe we can both tell her then you can ask your questions.”
Billy and George arrived back at the house just before lunch. Mickey was working in his study while the three women were feeding the kids in the kitchen. “Was everything ok at home?” said Jess as soon as Billy walked in. Reassuringly he smiled and said, “Fine babe, I got your stuff, but when you’ve finished feeding Becky me and George need to talk to you.” Looking concerned she said, “Why, what’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong babe, but we found out a few things this morning. We can leave it till later if you want, there’s no rush.” Nervously she said, “Can Maria stay when we talk?” Smiling he replied, “Of course babe, actually it’s probably a good idea for everyone to hear what we know.” George nodded in agreement.
“I thought I heard your voice Billy, everything ok?” said Mickey as he appeared in the kitchen. “Yeah, I was just saying to Jess, we’ve found out a bit this morning, think we should sit down and talk about it.” “If you can hang on for half an hour, we can discuss whatever it is over lunch, because the kids will be taking a nap now they’ve eaten,” said Jess. Billy smiled and replied, “Sounds good to me babe, I’m starving!”
Forty minutes later everyone was sitting at the table eating lunch, Den and Mary had been asked to stay. “So what’s going on then Billy,” asked Mickey. Billy went over the events of earlier that morning; he could see that Jess wasn’t taking the news about Hilary very well. When he finished talking she looked at him and said, “Can I ask you something Billy?” Winking at her he replied, “Of course babe, what is it?” “Have you been sleeping with her while you’ve been seeing me?” “No babe, and I’m so sorry about the letter, I know it’s my fault.” Although tearful Jess looked relieved and she believed him when he said he hadn’t been with her. Mickey interrupted and said, “Its no-one’s fault Billy, unfortunately there are women like Hilary who can’t accept when something is over, they cling to what they think they’ve got.” They continued talking about Hilary until George said, “Jess I need to ask you a couple of things, are you ok with that?” Nodding her head as she said, “Yes, that’s ok George.” “I think Hilary has probably been watching the cottage, have you noticed anyone acting suspicious?” Billy looked surprised when she answered, “Yes, actually I did although I didn’t think anything of it at the time. The other day when Maria left, I did notice a woman parked across the lane. At first I thought she was looking for somewhere but when I smiled at her she gave me an awful stare, so I went straight back inside. I thought I knew her from somewhere and now you’ve said about who she is, I know it was the lady from the stables.” Before George could ask her anything else she said, “Tell me the truth George, do you think she meant what she said about hurting Becky?” Not wishing to scare her but knowing that woman like Hilary could in fact be very dangerous, he truthfully replied, “I would be lying Jess if I said no, simply because it can happen, but in my experience most women like her are just bitter and make hollow threats, but there’s always the chance they’ll take it one step further. Until we can be sure that she’s just trying to frighten you, I think you should stay here. I know Billy is reluctant to go to the police because she’s married, but I still think you should.” Then he looked over at Billy and said, “Sorry mate, I’m only thinking of Jess and Becky.” Billy nodded and replied, “I know George and I promise you if she doesn’t back off, I will.”
Maria had listened to everything that had been said before she piped up and said, “What do you think Mickey? I don’t want anything happening because we didn’t report it.” Everyone was aware he thought carefully about the question before replying, “Actually babe I think George may be right, but if Billy thinks Hilary has got the message then we’ve involved the police for nothing. It’s a dilemma, which if I’m honest, I think Jess should have the final word on, after all she’s the one who’s been threatened.” They all looked over at Jess. Nobody was surprised when she looked at Billy and said, “Do you really think she’ll leave us alone now?” Nodding his head and smiling he replied, “I think so babe, but if you want to call the Old Bill that’s fine by me.” “What if we leave it for a few days and just see if she leaves us alone, you know her better than us Billy. So if you think it’s better to wait then we will, I’m only worried about Becky.” Reassuringly he smiled and said, “Ok babe we’ll hang on for a couple of days, as for Becky if anyone ever hurt her they’d have me to answer too.” Den interrupted and said, “Do you think she’ll do anything to the cottage, especially if she thinks you two are living there?” Mickey said, “That thought crossed my mind dad. It might be a good idea to stay there once or twice during the week or at the least drive over there every day and check on the place.” George said, “I don’t mind helping out if you want me to stay there.” Billy nodded and said, “I appreciate the offer George, but you’ve got your family and you should be with them, like now if you want to leave going over the figures we can do it another day.” “No I’m fine, I don’t think there’s anymore we can do about Hilary so if Den can go over them with us now, I’ll just call Monica and tell her I’m running late.” Den said, “Fine by me, it shouldn’t take more than an hour, I’ll get the books.” George finally left for London at three o’clock that afternoon.
As the days passed there was no more trouble from Hilary, everyone believed that she understood it was over, everyone except George. He had confided in Monica that he wouldn’t be that surprised if the only reason she was keeping away from Billy and Jess was because she was aware that they weren’t living at the cottage at that time. His concern was for Jess when she went back there and was alone, that would be when Hilary would do something if she was going to. Despite his feelings on it, he never said anything to the others when he returned to Mickey’s at the end of the week to work at the club.
Monica arrived that Friday evening with the boys. Excitedly she told George that they could move in with Mickey within the next few days because everything was sorted out, she had arranged for their furniture to be stored and the school had confirmed that Harry could start the following Monday.
CHAPTER 35
Barry King was waiting in his office at one of his ware houses for the brothers Jordan and Gareth Gibbs to arrive. Having been away on business, he had only just heard about the incident at the Jolly. Angry that the brothers had failed to do their job, he had sent for them. It was just before eleven that morning when they arrived, escorted by two of Barry’s most trusted heavies.
During the drive to the ware house the brothers had repeatedly asked them what Barry wanted. Neither of them had given them a direct answer, which made the brothers nervous.
Barry King sat behind his desk as the brothers were brought in. Standing in front of his desk neither one of them gave him eye contact, because Barry King was known for having a short fuse on his temper and definitely not someone to annoy. Despite being short and fat, it was well known on the criminal circuit that he was ruthless. Responsible for the torture and murders of many people who had dared to go up against him, especially in his younger days when he was making his mark as a crime boss. Now approaching seventy with his thinning grey hair slicked back and a large scar running down his face from under his eye to his chin, he still posed a chilling sight. Looking at the brothers, he grinned at the state of Jordan’s face where Shaun had head but
ted him, sporting two black eyes and a large bruise on his forehead, his nose swollen to almost double its size. In a cold arrogant tone Barry said, “Someone tells me you boys fucked up, I hope for your sakes they’re wrong?” Jordan was first to reply, “Sorry Mr King, but they were waiting for us. They knew it was you who sent us; we didn’t have to tell them, the big paddy was going to take us down to the docks and whack us, we didn’t have a choice.” Barry cracked his knuckles and smugly replied, “There’s always a fucking choice, but you boys just took the easy option. Now you’ll appreciate the position you’ve put me in, I’ll have to sort this fucking mess out. Still maybe it was my own fault; I should never have sent boys to do a man’s job!”
Jordan didn’t like the way the conversation was going, he had a bad feeling that to Barry they were dispensable. In the hope of bargaining for their lives he said, “We’ll do anything Mr King, I’ll burn the fucking pub down with the fucking paddy in it!” Grinning at the two heavies standing at the door, Barry said, “Perhaps they might come in handy after all? So boys tell me what this paddy said.” Jordan replied, “They knew you were behind the attack Mr King, that’s why they caught us. The two blokes with him were fucking real hard cases, especially the one with the dogs, he didn’t say much but he was frightening.” Again Barry looked at his heavies and said, “Reggie Swaine,” then looking back at the brothers continued, “Were the dog’s Rottweiler’s?” “Yeah fucking mean bastards, they did everything he told them to.” “You boys were lucky; which makes me ask, why did they let you go.” Instantly Gareth replied, “Because the paddy told us to give you a message Mr King.” “And what might this message be then?” said Barry arrogantly. Looking less confident than a few moments earlier, he replied nervously, “Paddy said to tell you that they’ll be paying you a visit.” Taking on a serious look Barry said, “Did he now, well we can’t have that can we? I might need you boys to take a message back to paddy for me in a couple of days.” Thankful that he wasn’t going to kill them they both replied, “No problem Mr King, you just say when.” “Well that’ll be all for now lads, I’ll get Tank to bell you when I need to speak to you again.” Looking over at the heavy he’d referred to as Tank, they just nodded. Tank just stood there expressionless, the lads felt intimidated by him, he was enormous. Standing like a statue with his arms folded across his huge chest, an awesome sight by anyone’s standards. In his late thirties, big, black and bald through having his head shaved. Standing around six feet seven inches tall, not one ounce of fat anywhere on his body, huge biceps and chest, narrowing at his waist, he looked like an Olympic power lifter. Probably the closest man to Barry King, having been his personal body guard for over ten years, known to do whatever Barry asked of him.
Moving away from the door so the lads could leave; Gareth nodded and said thanks, which obviously amused the big bruiser, because he smiled showing them the gold teeth he was famous for. Virtually every tooth in his mouth was made of solid gold, which not only looked strange but added to his frightening demeanour. He laughed along with Barry and the other heavy Clive as the two lads hurriedly made their exit after seeing his teeth. Once the lads had gone, the two heavies sat down with the boss. Tank said, “So what are we going to do about paddy and his friends then?” Taking a moment before answering Barry replied, “I think we ought to think carefully about this one, as you know boys people don’t normally find out about me. I’m curious to know how they knew; the paddy is Shaun Flanagan who used to run with Nick the Greek. I know he’s one tough old bastard. Now he runs with Tony Ramon and a few well known boys. His partner in the pub is Mickey Mann, he uses being a solicitor as leverage for keeping him clean.” Tank interrupted and said, “Wasn’t he involved in a car bomb incident a few years back, I seem to remember hearing about it?” “Yeah that’s right, it was all to do with me old mate Dave Sheridan, there was some ongoing thing between the two camps. The bloke who copped it was Jimmy Dixon, a right tough, cocky little bastard; everyone reckons Jimmy’s crew were instrumental in Dave’s departure from the living, although they said it was his heart we all knew he was taken out. It was also that crew who were behind the death of Dave’s grandson Davy. Mind you he was another cocky little bastard, I never did like him! If you ask me they did us all a favour.” “So how do you want to play this one then boss?” “Business is doing well; it would be a shame to let this little incident get in the way of things. Perhaps it would be better to meet with this crew and explain that it was all a misunderstanding.” “Whatever you say boss, you know best.” “That’s right Tank, and I didn’t get to where I am today by taking unnecessary risks. My gut feeling on this is, put it down to a bad judgement on my part, I should have looked into it better before I sent the boys round.” “What about the brothers’ boss?” Without any qualms he coldly replied, “Tell dumb and dumber to come and see me tomorrow, they can take a message to paddy. When they’re done take them out somewhere and get rid of them, they’re a fucking liability.” Tank just nodded.
CHAPTER 36
Shaun was working the bar alone that Saturday morning, his daughter Bernadette had taken Ann to have her hair done. Reggie was sitting at the bar, his dogs by his side. It was his last day there; Tony needed him back down the docks because there was a large drugs delivery coming that evening. Shaun had felt confident that the threat from Barry King was over, so had declined Tony’s offer of having Reggie replaced. No one was more surprised than him when at eleven o’clock that morning, the Gibbs brothers walked into the bar. Reggie looked round as Shaun nodded at him that whoever had just walked in wasn’t a friend. Nervous of Reggie’s dogs the two brothers walked towards the opposite end of the bar from where he was sitting. “Didn’t expect to see you two back here, you must have missed me,” said Shaun arrogantly. Jordan Gibbs replied, “We’ve got a message for you from Mr King.” “And what might that be then?” “He wants to meet with you.” Looking menacing Shaun replied, “Tell him to come here on Monday at two!” Feeling intimidated Jordan nervously replied, “He wants you to come to him.” “Does he now, well you tell Mr King I’ll expect him here at two, it’s not negotiable! Tell him there’ll be no retaliation, I’ll even let him bring two of his blokes, but as a sign of respect I’ll expect him to be on time.” The two brothers looked at each other then Jordan nodded his head and said, “I’ll tell him, but he won’t like it.” Shaun leaned across the bar and with a look that scared the brothers said, “I could give a flying fuck whether he fucking likes it or not! Just tell him not to be late, now fuck off, before my friend here gives his dogs an early lunch!” The brothers looked over at Reggie’s dogs; it was obvious the lads were terrified, especially when the dogs growled.
When the brothers had left, Shaun said to Reggie, “I don’t think Barry fucking King will like that message too much?” Shaking his head he replied, “If I was them two, I wouldn’t be passing it on, I’d be fucking off out of London! You was right to lay the rules down though, Barry King needs to know who he’s fucking dealing with!” “Aye, he’ll know alright. I’ll give Tony a bell and let him know what’s happening; no doubt he’ll want to speak to the fucking prick. That’s why I said Monday; he’ll be here, do you reckon I should shut the pub, just until after the meeting?” “Yeah might be an idea, especially if it gets a bit heated.” Both men grinned.
Sometime later Reggie looked at his watch and said, “I reckon with the traffic easing this time of day, those two likely lads should be just about at Barry’s by now.” “Aye they should, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes right about now,” replied Shaun with a smirk.
Jordan and Gareth arrived at a pub in Peckham, where Barry King was waiting for them in a room upstairs. Looking smug as they entered he said, “I expect paddy was surprised to see you two this morning?” Jordan nodded and replied, “He does want to meet with you Mr King.” “Thought he might, I’m looking forward to it.” Noticing that Jordan seemed hesitant he said, “Is there a problem?” Nervously he replied, “He told me to tell you tha
t you’ve got to go to him.” Banging his fist on the table Barry shouted “Cheeky fucking paddy bastard; who the fuck does he think he is!” Humbly Jordan said, “Sorry Mr King we tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t back down.” Barry listened as the brothers went over what had been said at the Jolly. When they finished talking Barry said, “Where’s my manners boys, I haven’t even offered you a drink, what you having?” Both of them said “A beer thanks” Barry nodded at Tank, who a few moments later place a bottle in front of each of them. “Now boys,” said Barry “I know this pub job didn’t go too well for you, but how do you feel about doing a bit of debt collecting for me?”. Relieved that he hadn’t hurt them over the meeting, they both said they would do the job. “Good, I’ll get Tank to show you where I need you to go, he can drop you off. I’ve got business to see to now, so I’ll see you boys back here tomorrow with my money, thanks for coming in.” Then he looked over at Tank and said, “Take the boys over to the warehouse and give them a gun each.” Jordan interrupted and said, “Are you saying we’ll need to shoot someone Mr King?” Laughing he replied, “Of course not, we can’t have people running round London shooting folk, now can we. The guns are simply for show; to prove to the people who owe me money we’re serious that’s all! Although I must admit, if you intend working for me there may come a time in the future when you might have to kill someone and I’d hate to think you couldn’t cut it.” They looked at each other before Gareth replied, “No that wouldn’t be a problem Mr King.” “Good, now leave me to my business boys.” The two brothers left with Tank.
Thirty minutes later they pulled up at an old warehouse. As they got out of the car Tank told them that the guns were hidden inside. Following him they felt nervous, something just didn’t feel right. Cautiously they kept looking round to see if anyone else was there but the place seemed deserted. Inside Tank made his way to the office, telling them to wait outside. When he returned he handed them a gun each and asked if they knew how to use it. The brothers nodded. Just as they were leaving Tank said, “Oh fuck, I’ve got to sort out the body.” The brothers looked at him and said, “What body?” Calmly he pointed over at a pit in the floor and replied, “The body in there, I’ll just find a ladder then you boys can help me get him out.” The brothers walked towards the pit; looking into it they could see a body. The pit was around fifteen feet deep. Tank appeared with a small ladder, lowering it into the pit he ordered the brothers to go down and bring the body out. Doing as they’d been ordered they climbed down, but once they reached the bottom and walked towards the body, Tank pulled the ladder up. Immediately the brothers protested shouting and swearing at him to let them out. In desperation Jordan took out the gun Tank had given him and aimed it at the big bruiser and shouted, “Drop the fucking ladder down!” Laughing out loud Tank replied, “What are you going to do with that, you stupid bastards there’s no fucking bullets!” Then he took out a gun from his belt and smugly said, “This is the one with the bullets.” Without so much as flinching, he shot them both, killing Jordan and fatally wounding his brother. Then he calmly walked over and pulled a lever, which operated a machine for pouring concrete. Seconds later the pit was half full and the three bodies were completely covered.