by Martina Cole
‘Are you all right, Nana?’ Lainey looked terrified at her nana’s white face and drawn countenance.
Ange shook her head, and said tightly, ‘Get your mammy, Lainey, I don’t feel well at all.’
The child was alarmed by her nana’s tears, and the unnatural brightness in her eyes. She ran up the stairs to get her mother as fast as her little legs would carry her.
‘I think you should think long and hard, Danny Boy, keep the Williamses on-side for the time being. I’d front it all out personally until you have uncovered the whereabouts of Marsh, and know for certain what the score is where he’s concerned. Fuck them, fuck the lot of them. You and I both know that, without you, Michael Miles means nothing, and he’ll be back sniffing round your arsehole like a rent boy sooner rather than later.’ Louie waved his hands in front of his face in a gesture of dismissal, his voice angry and loud.
‘You’re giving all this too much credence; now, Eli will want to know your opinion on it, just remember to get him on-side.’
Danny Boy nodded. Louie was a shrewdie, had been in the game for years. Danny was willing to listen to his advice; after all, this was the man who had started him off in the game in the first place.
‘Michael has really fucked me off though, if it was anyone else, Louie . . .’ He left the sentence unfinished, knowing that if he let this get to him too much he would be responsible for the death of his only friend. Only real friend. Not that he had completely ruled that scenario out.
Louie smiled sadly, trying to explain his reasoning as succinctly as possible. ‘Look, Danny Boy, think about it, this is the first tear-up you’ve had with Michael in how long? Fuck me, most business partners in our world fall out on a daily basis. I think you need to understand that, after thirty-odd years, a fall-out like yours is fucking mandatory. It’s a given at some point, a definite. Michael ain’t a mug and, be fair, Danny Boy, you’ve always ruled the roost where you two are concerned, so it makes sense that at some point he was going to force the issue about something. That’s human nature, mate. I’m more amazed that it took him so fucking long. Relax, eh? Let Eli tell you his news and then make your decision afterwards. When you’ve thought this through.’
Danny listened to what the man had to say, then he answered him with a quiet hatred that was almost tangible.
‘But I hate Eli, though; he is a treacherous cunt who wants to side-step me and take what’s mine. Mine and Michael’s. Though no one else seems to see that. And, even knowing that, for Michael and for the sake of peace and quiet, I am willing to let my feelings slide. I can’t be fairer than that, can I?’
Louie shook his head sadly, as if in agreement with what he was hearing. Yet wondering, and not for the first time, exactly what planet Danny Boy Cadogan inhabited, because it certainly wasn’t planet Earth. Eli was one of the most trustworthy people in the Smoke; Danny Boy had always found fault with his co-workers at some point, but this time he had taken umbrage against someone who was not only liked and respected, but also revered. Eli was not the man to go up against, he had far too many friends in the right places for that. Not that Danny Boy cared; he had taken against him for some reason and that was basically that. Eli would normally be finished in their world; Danny Boy’s active dislike would have been enough to freeze him out.
Except, this time round, Danny Boy had come up against Michael, who had refused to let him get away with his petty grievances. Michael had walked out on Danny Boy over Eli Williams, and Louie knew that would never be forgiven or forgotten. Louie was as terrified of Danny as was everyone else, but it was worse for him because he had given him his first-ever break, and every subsequent break after that. Danny Boy Cadogan had conveniently forgotten all about that though, and he had systematically taken everything that Louie Stein possessed. On top of that, the boy he had once seen as a surrogate son, as his heir, had kept him on-side through nothing more than sheer and unadulterated fear. Louie knew that Danny Boy had no real care for him, didn’t even have any regrets at what he had reduced his old friend to.
Danny Boy, as much as Louie cared for him, had proved over and over again, that he had no real concern for anybody in the world other than himself. Louie hated him now, hated the way he was expected to jump when Danny snapped his fingers. And was expected to pretend that Danny Boy’s treatment of him was not an issue. Louie was more angry that Danny Boy thought so little of him, and his reputation, that he felt he could use him as a go-between without any gold changing hands, or even his opinion being listened to. He was, in effect, no more than a fucking gofer. That hurt, really hurt. Not that anything like that would ever occur to Danny Boy Cadogan. He was too thick to ever believe that anything he had done might deserve some kind of retribution though, in fairness, as that had never been an issue in the past, Louie understood how Danny Boy might not even care about how he was feeling now. After all, once a week had passed, Danny Boy would feel that the mourning period should be well and truly over and everyone should get back to their daily grind. But Louie hadn’t forgotten what had been done to him, and would never forgive the fact that Danny had used him as if he was a fucking Tweenie. As if he was nothing more than a driver or a coffee-maker. Swallowing down this disappointment he said jovially, ‘Come on, Danny Boy, let’s go and see what Eli has to offer, shall we?’
Danny glanced at his diamond-studded Rolex and nodded, but he wasn’t happy about any of it and it showed. He was willing to swallow to get Michael back on track and, once he had achieved that, it was goodbye Vienna as far as he was concerned; Eli and his brothers still rankled. ‘One word out of place and the bastard’s a memory, and I mean that, Louie. Michael had no reason to strop off about him; he knows better than anyone that I wouldn’t have said one word if I didn’t have all the relevant facts in my possession.’
Louie nodded gently, unwilling to sink in any deeper where their argument was concerned. Instead, he stood up quickly and said, ‘Come on, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?’
Danny didn’t answer him; he was still wondering how Michael could argue with him and not be the one to apologise first. But he was more than willing to be the big man, to be the one to ask for forgiveness; he knew deep down that Michael would never really go against him. At least, he hoped that was the case anyway. They went back far too long and had too much tied up together for any of them to ever take a hike. But Michael’s adamant stance had thrown him. The more so because it was so unexpected and so resolute. Also, Danny Boy had no intention of letting him walk away from him, not after all the fucking effort he had put in over the years. Michael might think he had the upper hand, and he might have even let him believe that but, at the end of the day, Michael knew that without him and his reputation as a fucking headcase, they were basically nothing. Alone, Michael Miles was about as scary as a lone skinhead on the Railton Road at two o’clock in the morning. Basically, he was nothing more than a joke. Even if Marsh had opened his big trap, which he seriously doubted, Michael was too entrenched in it all to do anything about it without casting aspersions on himself anyway. He felt that Michael, no matter what might happen, could not really go against him. Danny Boy’s natural arrogance had taken over now, and he was once more convinced that no one and nothing could interfere with his daily life.
If necessary, he would put Michael wise; explain the circumstances to him, and encourage him to take an active part in the proceedings from now on.
In fact, this was probably a good thing in many ways; he saw this as something else that Michael could take over and sort out for him. He was suddenly very relieved that the cat was out of the bag at last. Without his backing, without his connections in the police force, they would still be scratching a fucking living like every other mug. He had taken out all their rivals with a few choice words, and a nice few quid.
If he could get Eli on board with this latest venture, Michael would see just how much he wanted to make things right again, how much he was willing to give, personally, just to bring them back
together once more. Without Michael, he didn’t feel he could function properly, didn’t feel that he was really a part of anything. He finally understood that, without Michael by his side, without him doing all the ground work, he couldn’t operate. He needed him, and that realisation was as terrifying as it was truthful.
As they drove away from Louie’s house, Danny Boy felt his spirits lifting, knew that Michael had to be feeling the same way as him. He also knew, in the dark part of his character that, when Michael finally came back into the fold, when he finally understood the error of his ways, Danny was going to show him personally just how foolish he had been because, like Eli Williams and his brothers, Michael Miles would eventually have to be wiped off the face of the earth. Danny Boy knew that was a fact, as well as he knew his own name, knew that Michael was a dead man over all this. Knew that he would never be able to let it go. Michael’s actions had been tantamount to a mutiny, and that was something he could never allow. If you let one person get a cunt into the conversation, you basically had given them a green light to carry on cunting you until their dying day.
As much as he cared for Michael, and he did care for him, more than he did his own family, he knew deep inside that Michael Miles’s days on this earth were now numbered. He knew that he would be honour-bound to take him out at some point, if for no other reason than to prove a point to all those who had mistakenly believed he might be mellowing in his old age. It wouldn’t happen immediately, of course, Danny knew he had to get him back on board for appearances’ sake, and he also knew that he wasn’t ever going to let Michael Miles walk away from him. He wanted to, wanted to believe he could forgive him, knew that he needed him desperately. But, ultimately and, in all honesty, once this game was played out, Danny Boy knew that his pride would never let Michael get away with this. He knew that he would never be able to come to terms with what he saw as Michael’s betrayal. It was too overdone; he didn’t have the personality to let something of this magnitude go, let something so important to him drop. Forgetting about it was not an option, he knew that it would play on his mind until the day Michael died. There was no way Danny could swallow his knob and let this pass.
Michael knew too much, far too much than was good for either of them. At some point, Danny knew, Michael Miles would have to pay the price for all this heartache and worry. No matter how much he might need him to run the businesses. No matter how much he wanted to believe his own rhetoric. Once he had a new front man, Michael Miles was fucking history. That meant that his wife, his Mary, Michael’s sister, would also be in line for the chop. And that alone was reason enough for him to take out the man he not only needed, but actually loved. And he did love him; Michael was the only person he had ever cared about, really cared about, but then Michael had not tucked him up until now, had he? Michael, he suddenly realised, was now an enemy, was no more to him than an unknown quantity. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it became.
Louie watched him surreptitiously, knowing that Danny Boy had no real intention of seeing any of his promises through to the bitter end. After all, why change the habits of a lifetime? Louie hated him with a vengeance and saw him these days for the bully he was, had always been. When he remembered the young lad that he had mentored, whose father had served him up to his enemies as if he was a Chicken Vindaloo, he felt so miserable and so sad that he could easily cry. When he thought of the young boy he had taken such a shine to, had felt such sorrow for, he didn’t see the man he had become, didn’t equate that sad and lonely child with this vicious and ignorant individual. He only saw the original Danny Boy with his crooked smile and his grateful demeanour.
Louie knew that Danny Boy Cadogan would use him until the day he died. He knew that Danny saw him as a grass, no more and no less. He also knew that Danny Boy didn’t see his own grassing as anything to worry about. In fact, he didn’t even think that what he had done over the years to people he had worked with, drank with and socialised with, merited any kind of mention in the grand scheme of things. He just saw it all as a means to an end, and he also believed that the very same people he had served up to the Filth, had actually deserved whatever had befallen them. They were, after all, in his way. Were what he referred to as collateral damage. Danny Boy had a knack of only seeing only what he wanted to see.
Louie Stein wished with all his might that he had been just as blessed and he also wished that a bolt of lightning would destroy Danny Boy Cadogan once and for all so he didn’t have to deal with him any more.
Eli was waiting patiently for Danny Boy to arrive and, when the man finally parked his Mercedes and walked towards him with his usual cocky attitude, he felt the urge to really lay into him. Hurt him. But, as always when dealing with Danny Boy, he smiled that wide, white-toothed smile instead. The bright smile that had cost him a small fortune. His dentist had once remarked that he had bought himself a villa on the Costa del Sol and Eli had a sneaking suspicion that he had probably paid for it. But this smile was now a smile that most of his contemporaries could only aspire to; it was perfect, and he knew that better than anyone. He also knew that his new, wide-open smile gave him an edge since the treatment; he found that he smiled more, was far more confident and, for some strange reason, his new railings made him look far more amiable than he actually was. Even his wife had remarked on his new personality, and she knew him better than he knew himself.
Now though, as he saw Danny Boy walking towards him, Eli felt the full force of his dislike; he had been so convinced that Danny Boy was kosher, that Danny Boy was someone to applaud and respect, this news about him had thrown him, had knocked him for six. But, as he saw him striding towards him with his usual cocky gait and his deep-felt conviction that he was the only person in the world who really mattered, Eli knew that he wanted to believe the worst about him, that he didn’t really care if it was true or not. He hated him, wanted him gone, over with, finished. Smiling back carefully, he led Danny Boy inside the building. And was gratified to see this big man reduced to nothing when he saw Michael Miles and Arnold Landers waiting patiently for his arrival.
That Danny Boy was thrown off-kilter by their presence was obvious, that he felt intimidated by them was also blatantly evident; the way he stopped dead in his tracks was a pointer. He was so fucking sure of himself and his reputation that this scenario had never even occurred to him. It was laughable really.
Eli stood behind him, making sure that he had no escape route, enjoying the feeling of power that this gave him and hating himself for it.
Danny Boy regained his composure quickly; he looked at Arnold and saw immediately, by the man’s body language and his composure, that there was nothing he could do to bring him round to his way of thinking. He had already sussed that Eli Williams was playing the part of a bouncer, watching the doorway, making sure he didn’t make a run for it at any point. As if he would do something like that. But he was caught, he knew that then and there; he was caught bang to fucking rights. His secret was out, and there was no way it could ever be put away again. Even he knew he was in dire straits; knew his actions would be seen as unacceptable.
Danny Boy heard Louie moving from behind him, knew he was making himself scarce and knew then, without a second’s thought, that it had to be Louie who had set him up. That he was the reason these people were all looking so pleased with themselves. But it was Michael he wanted to talk to, because Michael was the only person here who could maybe garner him some kind of exit from this building, who could ensure that he walked away from all this. Who was soft enough to forgive him. But, even as he thought about it, he knew that the fact they were here in the first place meant his duplicity was already too well known. Was common knowledge. He was well and truly sussed.
Danny Boy wasn’t a fool, he knew he was a dead man. He knew that this day had been a long time coming, but that it had always been on the cards. If you lived by the sword, it stood to reason that you’d eventually die by the fucker; it wasn’t rocket science. He had just not t
hought his demise would be this soon and so ordinary. He had always pictured himself being shot, seen himself dying nobly, a gaping hole in his head, his chest, in a packed pub or club, with a sneer on his lips. That kind of death he could have swallowed. Could have accepted. It had all the hallmarks of a legend in the making. He could have swallowed something like that, a public execution.
But not this, he was much too young to die; he still had places to go and people to see. He had been sussed right out, and he knew that now, but it still didn’t make this any easier. All the people that he had personally despatched over the years; it had never occurred to him that they might have felt like he did now, frightened, accepting of their fate, but, more than anything else, cheated. Until now, it had genuinely never occurred to him that the people he had taken out might still have had dreams and wants; had kids that they might have wanted to see grow up and go out into the world.
That all he had done over the years, all he had achieved, was as nothing, was liable to be snuffed out here, in a filthy warehouse, without any fanfare or any prayers. He hoped his kids, his girls, would never know the truth of this. His wife, he knew, would be relieved, and his siblings would bury him with the correct amount of pomp and ceremony he would require, but without any tears, real tears. After all the drama of his life, he knew then that his death would be a shameful and humiliating experience for all concerned, especially him. He wasn’t walking out of here, he knew that much.