Dirty Dealings

by Gillian Godden

  ‘She’s fine, Jake. Adam was up, too, he had waited for my call. Only now he doesn’t have to wait for the landline. I can text him whenever I like. I knew she would give in eventually. She always does.’ Tony gave Jake a knowing wink and a smile. Speaking to Francesca had put Tony in a better mood. Everything was okay with the world now. But it wasn’t. Was it?

  ‘Jake, have you noticed anyone taking or selling drugs here? Are there any known drug dealers hanging around this place? Even outside?’

  ‘Do you think the bouncers are supplying people? It’s not unheard of. But definitely not in here, I’m sure of it. Come on, Tony, let’s have a drink. It’s possible that inspector was just winding you up.’ Jake could see Tony’s mind was working overtime and mentioning the bouncers had given him a starting block. Jeez, he wished he hadn’t opened his big mouth.

  ‘Maybe so. But he’s a rattlesnake and if he thinks he has something worth selling he won’t be making jokes. Let’s keep an eye on the bouncers. Question them and body search them if we have to. I don’t care. This shit needs clearing up quickly.’

  ‘Okay. Let’s see to it. But I am pretty sure Sharon would have noticed something like that.’

  ‘Really? She seemed pretty occupied to me, Jake.’ Tony could have bitten his tongue. He didn’t want to hurt Jake by bringing up the obvious, but he couldn’t help it.

  ‘Thanks, Tony, I needed that. Whatever you think of mine and Sharon’s marriage, it’s not drugs, okay? Now just leave it alone for now, I will sort out our differences.’

  ‘Yes. Come on, let’s have that drink and then sort out some business.’ Standing up, Tony put his arm around Jake’s shoulders. ‘Brothers in arms, yeah?’

  The schoolboy grin spread across Jake’s face. ‘Always, mate. Always.’

  ***

  ‘That is creepy, Fran. Doesn’t it give you the creeps?’ Julie was sitting on the sofa, looking at the glass cabinet.

  ‘What’s creepy? It’s Adam’s award from Scouts. Why do you think it’s so creepy that I would want it in my cabinet?’

  ‘What, you mean next to that dead old man’s ashes?’

  Francesca looked in the cabinet, trying to see what Julie was referring to, and then she spotted it and smiled. ‘Oh, you mean Mathers’ ashes. To be honest, I don’t even notice them anymore. And no, it’s not creepy. When he died and Tony sold the men’s club, he wanted them here. To be perfectly honest, Julie, I think Tony saw him as a father figure.’

  ‘Well, I think it’s weird. I come around here for morning coffee and have to stare at a dead man in the cabinet. Yuk!’

  ‘Let me put this in here and we’ll go in the kitchen.’ Francesca couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t as though there was a casket in there, it was just an oak urn with a gold name plate on the front. Unless you went close up to it you couldn’t even read it.

  Picking up her coffee, Julie walked through into the kitchen. ‘I still think it’s weird.’ She was having her usual morning grumble. ‘I don’t have cremation urns of all my staff scattered around the house. Bloody hell, after all these years it would look like a funeral parlour.’

  ‘Well, for a woman who bought an old church with a graveyard and turned it into her home, you surprise me. You do have a cemetery in your back garden, Julie. Surely that’s worse than this. Poor Ralph won’t even go around that part of the grounds.’

  ‘Well, he’s just weird. Everything has been sorted out and it’s not his butler.’ Julie had to have the last word. Suddenly something else came to mind and sparked her interest.

  Sitting across the table from Julie, Francesca poured some more coffee. ‘You know when Mathers died Tony decided to sell the club. That club, to all intents and purposes, belonged to Mathers. None of the members would have stayed. After all, he was the men’s club. Who could have taken over? Ashley got married and went to live in Spain. But even with him at the helm the place wouldn’t have been the same and so Tony sold it for flats. He wanted the ashes here. They had a strange respect for each other.’

  Rolling her eyes, false eyelashes batting in the air, Julie nodded. But she still thought it was weird.

  ‘Anyway, Fran, what are you and Elle cooking for Sunday lunch? It’s a big event. Dominic is going to be interrogated by misery guts.’ Now this was the kind of juicy gossip Julie liked. Pushing her chair closer to the table, she leaned in closer to Fran with a big grin on her face.

  ‘Who says you’re invited?’ Fran burst out laughing. Their friendship had gone beyond all the barriers of polite invites. Julie just expected to be included. ‘Okay. But no stirring and winding Tony up. I want this to go smoothly. Good God, that poor boy is going to be walking on eggshells enough without you putting your two penn’orth in.’

  ‘Me?’ Julie let out a gasp of shocked surprise. ‘I would never do anything like that. Anyway, Tony doesn’t need winding up, he’s already got in it for Dominic. Bloody hell, Fran, he doesn’t need my help.’

  ‘Well, just leave well alone. I want this to go well, for Scarlet’s sake. She likes him and that’s good enough for me.’

  ‘Bloody hell, Francesca, don’t you ever get fed up with being nice all the time? God knows, it would choke me.’ Giving her a wink and a smile, Julie stood up. ‘Well, I had better go; see you Sunday.’

  Leaving a waft of expensive perfume in her wake, Julie left, leaving Francesca to her own thoughts about how Sunday would go.

  CHAPTER 14

  LUNCH

  Tony seemed preoccupied and was ignoring Dominic and Christopher at the dining table. Francesca noticed he was being his usual charming self, but she could see there was something else on his mind. Probably business.

  Elle busied herself around the kitchen. She loved these family Sundays, everyone popping in whenever they could and sharing their week over lunch.

  Ralph had eaten his fill. He rubbed his stomach and sat back in his chair with his glass of wine. ‘Well, Tony lad, what do you think of the police commissioner retiring? That’s something I never expected.’

  ‘Retiring? Since when?’ Tony was surprised to hear this and wanted to know more. ‘I thought commissioners stayed in that job forever. After all, they don’t do much, do they?’ Looking across at Diana, Tony gave her a weak smile. ‘Sorry, Diana, no offence. Guess we have to be nice about the boys in blue now you’re one of them.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it, Uncle Tony. Everyone says the same.’

  Everyone started to laugh but this information interested Tony.

  ‘Maybe he’s just had enough and wants to retire while he can still enjoy himself,’ said Ralph. ‘He’s having some farewell do at a hotel or something next week. Do you want to come?’ Ralph looked across at Jake and nodded. ‘That includes you, too. Sorry, Jake, I forget to ask you sometimes, I just presume you come as a pair.’

  ‘We’re not a couple, Ralph. I do things on my own sometimes. No, I don’t want to go. He’s probably been kicked out, anyway. Everyone knows he’s been on the take for years.’ He looked at Tony. ‘Unless you want me there?’

  Nearly choking on her dinner, Julie let out a huge laugh. ‘I thought you just said you weren’t a couple? Sounds like it to me. Anyway, watch your mouth, eh?’ Julie gave a sideways glance towards Diana.

  Jake hadn’t realised he’d blurted out what everyone thought, and nodded. Having Diana around meant having to choose your words more carefully. God, this was going to be more difficult than he’d thought.

  ‘You don’t have to walk on eggshells, Jake, Mum. I’m not on duty now,’ Diana snapped. She was already getting fed up with the way everyone skirted around her.

  ‘Don’t come that, Di.’ Jake laughed. ‘You lot are never off duty.’ Raising his glass to his lips, Jake looked around the table.

  ‘Shut it, Jake. Not today, eh?’ Julie’s glare was more than enough to put Jake in his place. It seemed like he was just waiting to pick an argument, which was unusual for him.

  ‘I’ve just had a thought, Ralph.’ Tony was igno
ring the banter around the room and had had an idea. Slowly, it was forming in his brain and seemed like the answer to his prayers. ‘We have all known the commissioner for years. Why don’t we throw him a party at the club … say, Friday night? Then he can have his official retirement party on Saturday at the hotel, which usually means he’s going to get a gold watch and a gold-plated pension for all of his years of hard work. Poor bastard.’ Feeling the sharp kick from Francesca, he winced, and saw Adam at her side. Damn it. He was so engrossed in his plan, it had slipped out. ‘Sorry, love.’

  ‘You’re right, Tony. Yes, I think he’d appreciate the gesture even if he didn’t want to come. Yes. Let’s do that. Friday, you say?’ Ralph nodded his approval and smiled.

  ‘I don’t know why. He’ll expect more than a gold watch off us.’ Again, Jake couldn’t help but show his resentment for the commissioner.

  ‘Will you be quiet, Jake? If you don’t have anything constructive to say, eat another roast potato,’ said Tony. The last thing he wanted was Jake scuppering his plans.

  Jake’s face was a picture. He knew Tony felt the same, so why all the niceties? He never had a good word for the commissioner. Leaning across, he helped himself to more food.

  ‘Bloody hell, Jake. Do you eat on demand as well?’ Julie couldn’t help but have her dig at Jake, who seemed to do as he was told. ‘Anyway, you, Dominic. You don’t have much to say for yourself. You just seem to be hiding in the background. How long have you and Scarlet been seeing each other?’ The grin spread across Julie’s face. This was exactly what Francesca had warned her about. She saw the frown appear on Tony’s brow.

  ‘Not long, Mrs Gold.’ Dominic felt intimidated, sitting with this woman at the table. He was glad to just be there, in body if not in spirit.

  Flamboyantly waving her hand in the air and smiling, she said, ‘You can call me Julie now you’re part of the family.’ Julie winked at Francesca, who was giving her an icy stare, which she ignored. ‘Anyway, Mrs Gold makes me sound like Ralph’s mother.’

  Putting down his fork, Tony looked across at Dominic. ‘Yes. Just how long have you been sniffing around? I’d forgotten about you.’ Now Julie had brought it to his attention Tony felt the need to speak and interrogate Dominic.

  ‘Papa, you know how long.’ Scarlet’s face flushed and she reached out for Dominic’s hand.

  Looking at her daughter, Francesca saw Scarlet’s blue eyes shining like sapphires. She was blushing and holding on to Dominic’s hand. She had seen those eyes shine before; the only difference was, it was Tony’s eyes, when he looked at her. Francesca realised then that Dominic was here to stay, whether he wanted to or not!

  ‘And you, Christopher.’ Francesca changed the subject. ‘How are you?’

  ‘Very well, thank you, Mrs Lambrianu. Thank you for inviting me.’ As usual Christopher spoke with proper respect and ignored Julie’s comment about sounding like the men’s mothers when he called them ‘Mrs’.

  Scarlet couldn’t help herself blurting out her thoughts, just like her father. ‘I’m going to marry Dominic,’ she said.

  ‘What?’ Tony exploded. ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Coughing and nearly choking on his wine, Tony held his napkin to his mouth.

  Francesca patted his back and shook her head at Scarlet. God, she knew how to stir things up. The worst thing was the shocked expression on Dominic’s face, followed by the shrill laughter of Julie. This was the excitement she had hoped for.

  ‘No. No, we’re not, Mr Lambrianu.’ Dominic tried to appease Tony.

  Even though Tony was trying to compose himself after nearly choking, the daggers he threw at Scarlet said more than words could have.

  ‘I should bloody hope not. I didn’t spend all that money on private schools so that you could marry some randy mechanic.’ Tony didn’t realise his insult. Just like Scarlet, he opened his mouth without thinking. Jake was just about to open his mouth and remind Tony that he had been a ‘randy mechanic’ once when Tony threw him a stare. ‘You can shut your mouth as well,’ he said. He knew what Jake was going to say but didn’t want to hear it.

  ‘Papa. How could you?’ The hurt look on Scarlet’s face was a picture. She was just about to leave the table when Dominic grabbed her arm.

  ‘No, Scarlet. Your dad is right. He wants better for you. I take home maybe eight hundred or more a month. You own your own business. I can see his point.’

  Tony seemed satisfied with Dominic. This is just what he had wanted to say, but he had been severely warned by Francesca. His warning had been short and sweet. No shouting or argument, just a word of warning that there wouldn’t be any acrobatics in the bedroom if he spoiled the lunch. That was more than enough to make him think twice.

  ‘If you feel like that, why don’t you work for yourself?’ Adjusting his glasses after directing the question at Dominic, Christopher waited.

  ‘I don’t have the funds, Christopher. Setting up would cost a fortune. I would need a garage and all the equipment. That alone is out of my reach.’ Dominic looked embarrassed at having to admit this. He knew he wasn’t good enough and felt Scarlet would get tired of him soon enough.

  ‘See, now he wants you to buy him a garage! Bloody hell, you didn’t wait very long, did you?’ said Tony. He felt this confirmed everything he had said about Scarlet being the golden goose.

  ‘Well, I wasn’t aware Mum was a millionaire when you met her, Papa.’ Snapping at her father was unusual for Scarlet, but Francesca watched as her daughter defended Dominic.

  ‘She’s right, Tony. Maybe that is how people thought of me when we met,’ Francesca reminded him. She knew this would stop his outburst.

  ‘It’s different for women. Men are supposed to be the breadwinners.’

  ‘You chauvinist prick.’ Julie couldn’t help but chip in, even though she normally sat back and watched the fun and games. She knew today would be fireworks and thankfully she hadn’t been disappointed.

  ‘Not necessarily so.’ Staying calm and keeping his voice in a businesslike manner, Christopher carried on. ‘You could start as a mobile mechanic. You would need a van and some equipment, but you could start with small jobs, such as when people break down or need the kinds of things doing that you could do at the side of the road. Build up a reputation. You can also apply for a small business grant.’

  ‘Who are you, poking your nose in?’ Flabbergasted, Tony looked around the table at the sea of faces. Everyone seemed to be looking down and smiling to themselves. Only he felt that this Christopher guy had too much to say.

  ‘I’m a business advisor, Mr Lambrianu. That is what I do. If someone wanted to know how to run a club, they would come to you for advice. My job is very similar.’ Remaining calm and ignoring the angry looks Tony was shooting, Christopher carried on. ‘Come and see me, Dominic. Maybe we could work something out. Do you have any savings?’

  Again, Dominic blushed. He could see all this talk was not going down well. He had come to ingratiate himself with Tony and now he felt he had just made an enemy.

  ‘I could help.’ Scarlet couldn’t help herself, again chipping in to cause further embarrassment.

  ‘No, Scarlet. You couldn’t. If I were to branch out on my own, that is how I would do it; on my own. You’re not a meal ticket. I won’t have that label.’

  ‘Well said, young man.’ At last Ralph, who had calmly been watching the proceedings, spoke up. ‘This young Christopher always seems to have a good eye for business. And young Dominic here seems to have some pride. Let’s see, shall we, Tony? Now, Elle, where is your famous trifle?’

  Tony realised that the conversation was over. Ralph had a point. None of them had started out with much. Let’s see what they could do.

  Tony went back to his original conversation. ‘This party for the commissioner, then, Ralph. ‘Will you suggest it to him? Friday night is always a busy night at the club but I am sure we could close for the night or use one of the VIP rooms in his honour.’ He glanced across at Jake, who n
odded.

  It was as though Ralph was going to suggest it himself, but he was glad he didn’t have to. This was Tony’s suggestion, for the busiest night of the week. He was satisfied. Now he could put things into action. It was time Tony and Jake had the wake-up call they needed. Looking across at Julie, Ralph smiled, as they exchanged glances.

  After waving everyone off and saying his goodbyes through gritted teeth, Tony was pulled aside by Jake. ‘What is all this about, Tony? You hate that slimy commissioner as much as the rest of us. Now you want to throw a party in his honour?’

  ‘Firstly, Jake, we don’t know who is taking over from him. Sometimes it’s best to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, eh? Secondly, what that inspector said has unnerved me. If something is going to happen on a club night, that would be a Friday or a Saturday. I’m not waiting till Saturday. Friday night, it is. Who is going to raid a club full of coppers? We will talk about this more tomorrow. In the meantime, keep your mouth shut.’

  ‘What if the kind inspector is just sounding off?’ Jake’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  ‘If he is, well, we had a party for the commissioner and his friends. It doesn’t hurt to keep on the right side of the law. And if not, well ... we’re still on the right side of the law.’

  Even Jake realised that Tony had a point. The inspector felt he had something to barter to swell his wallet a little more and Tony was on his guard, as usual.

  As the cars sped away out of the drive, Tony looked at Elle and Francesca. ‘Well, that didn’t go too badly, did it?’ His grin was wide and his expression full of surprise as he saw them both roll their eyes and shake their heads.

  ‘I’ll start filling the dishwasher, Fran. Albert’s asleep in the lounge.’ Elle walked away, leaving Tony and Francesca at the doorway.

  Putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him, Tony tried again. ‘Does that mean I’m still on a promise?’ The schoolboy grin spread across his face in hope of the night to come.