by Caz Finlay
‘Looked like the face of a man in love to me,’ she said. ‘Or at least in lust.’
‘Probably the latter knowing Connor.’
‘Hmm. I’m usually right about these things.’
Michael turned to her. ‘You’re usually right about most things.’
They stopped at some traffic lights and Grace watched her husband, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
‘Are you sure everything’s okay?’ Grace asked him again.
He smiled at her. ‘Yeah. I’m just tired. I want to get home.’
‘Okay,’ she said. But she didn’t quite believe him. There was something on his mind and for some reason he wasn’t telling her what it was. That was so unlike him. They didn’t keep secrets from each other – not any more, at least. It had been one of the conditions she’d told him was a deal-breaker when she’d accepted his marriage proposal. They’d only been seeing each other for a few months, but given their history, it had felt like a lifetime. So, when he’d dropped down on one knee one night after dinner, and presented her with his mother’s engagement ring, Grace had said yes, on the condition that they were always completely honest with one another.
After Nathan, she had promised herself she would never get married again. She didn’t want to be tied to another person, or depend on them for her happiness. Her first marriage had been a daily battle of survival, and she never wanted to go there again.
But then Michael Carter had changed all of that. He was a man worth breaking her rule for. Even when she’d first met Nathan, and he’d been charming and romantic and promised her the world, there had always been an edge to him. Grace had never felt entirely herself in his company, as though she always had to be on her best behaviour. It was something she found hard to describe, but even before the first time he’d hit her, there would be times he’d come home and be in the kind of mood that would make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Michael was bigger and taller than Nathan had been, and Grace had no doubts about the level of violence he was capable of, particularly after her kidnapping almost two years earlier. But, despite all of the years she had known him, all of the arguments and disagreements they’d had, as friends, co-workers and lovers, she had never once felt uneasy around him. Even when he found out that she had been lying to him about his not being Belle’s father, and had gone mental, she had never felt threatened by him. Instead, he made her feel safe, and whilst that had taken some time to get used to, it was a feeling that she treasured.
‘Why are you staring at me with a grin on your face?’ Michael said to her.
‘I was thinking of the night you proposed to me,’ she replied.
That seemed to snap him out of his sombre mood and he looked at her with a genuine smile on his face this time. ‘I honestly thought you were going to say no.’
‘Then why did you ask me?’ she said with a laugh.
‘Well, if you remember, I’d plied you with wine first, which does make you a bit giddy. And then I thought, fuck it, life’s too short,’ he said with a flash of his eyebrows.
‘I love you, you know?’ she said, conscious that she didn’t say it enough to him, whereas he told her almost every day.
‘I know,’ he said softly. ‘I love you, too.’
Grace sat back in her seat. Maybe he was just tired. Maybe her suspicion was brought on by the wonderful day they’d had and the fact that she still couldn’t trust that happiness lasted. Perhaps, this time, it would.
Chapter Thirteen
Carrying a sleeping Oscar in his car seat on her arm, Grace climbed the rickety wooden steps to Nudge Richards’ Portakabin. Nudge was an old friend. He didn’t have many friends himself, on account of his job as the best fence in Merseyside (he’d discovered it wasn’t good for business to show favouritism), and also because he was a huge, hairy gorilla of a man, with questionable hygiene at times, and he didn’t attract people easily. There was something about him though that Grace had always liked. He had a good sense of humour, he was discreet and he was fiercely loyal. Grace had helped him out of a situation years earlier which had prevented him losing everything, including quite possibly his head, and he had never forgotten it. He’d remained loyal to her ever since, and whilst he was usually a model of discretion, he also knew everything and everyone, and he bent his rules for Grace and her alone.
Grace pushed open the creaky door and peered inside. ‘You in, Nudge?’ she asked. He was expecting her but she still proceeded with caution. As well as being a bit of a gambler, Nudge also had a penchant for women – the cheaper and looser the better. Once before, Grace had visited him and found him and his lady-friend in a very compromising position. She’d felt the need to bleach her eyeballs afterwards.
‘Grace,’ she heard him bellow from the other side of the room, as he walked towards her, kettle in hand. ‘I was just putting a brew on.’
Grace smiled before holding a finger to her lips and nodded towards Oscar, who was still fast asleep.
‘Oh, sorry, love,’ Nudge said quietly. ‘Want one? I’ve washed the cups.’ He laughed. It was a standing joke between them that she’d only accept a drink from him if he scrubbed the cup first. He owned a scrapyard and didn’t see why his office shouldn’t replicate the rest of his yard. But for Grace, he made an exception.
‘Yeah, go on. I’m parched,’ Grace said as she placed Oscar’s car seat on the desk and sat on the chair.
Nudge finished making the tea before placing the two mugs on his desk. He peered inside Oscar’s car seat. ‘He isn’t half coming on. Spit of his dad, isn’t he?’
‘Yep,’ Grace replied with a nod. ‘I didn’t get a look-in with any of them, did I?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I see more of you in Belle as she gets older. And where is the lovely Belle today?’ Nudge asked as he took a seat opposite her.
‘Nursery. Only two days a week. She started two weeks ago. I thought it was probably best to get her used to going before she has to start school next year. I was worried she wouldn’t settle, but she loves it. Comes home telling me all about the fun she’s been having all day. Probably much more exciting than sitting at home with me, eh?’
‘Ah. It’ll do her good, no doubt,’ Nudge replied.
‘So? Anything interesting happening?’ Grace asked as she picked up her mug and blew on the steaming tea to cool it.
‘Not much, to be honest, Grace. All’s quiet on the Western Front. Seems Jake and the twins have got everything sewn up and running smoothly.’
‘For now,’ Grace said before taking a sip of her tea.
‘Forever the optimist?’ Nudge said with a laugh.
‘Well, you know as well as I do that things never stay the same for long round here. It seems the better you’re doing, the more people want to take it from you.’
Nudge nodded. ‘I suppose you’re right there. You can never take your eye off the ball, and you, my dear, never do. Aren’t you supposed to be on maternity leave?’
‘I am! This is a social call,’ Grace replied, even though that wasn’t entirely true. While she was visiting Nudge for a catch-up, she could never switch off entirely from her previous responsibilities as head of the firm. Because of that, she liked to keep herself apprised of any developments she might need to know about, and Nudge always seemed to have the lowdown on the comings and goings of the Liverpool underworld.
‘Oh, well in that case, I’m honoured,’ Nudge replied with a laugh. ‘I hope those lads appreciate you always looking out for them, Grace.’
‘I don’t do it for the appreciation, Nudge. Besides, I wouldn’t say it’s keeping an eye out for them. They’re big boys, they can handle themselves. I just like to keep my ear to the ground, that’s all.’
‘Well, I’m happy to keep my ear to the ground for you. I enjoy our little chats.’
‘Me too,’ Grace said with a smile.
Nudge took a big gulp of tea. ‘I suppose you heard those Johnson brothers are out in a coup
le of weeks though?’ he said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
‘I hadn’t heard, no. I forgot they were inside, to be honest. They got a hefty sentence, didn’t they?’
‘Yeah. Craig and Ged did anyway. Eight years each. Billy did five, while Bradley got off scot free.’
Grace nodded. The Johnson brothers could have been big players if they had only been a little smarter and not blindly followed their eldest brother, Bradley, who was as stupid as he was dodgy. Craig and Billy actually had something about them, but the two eldest, Bradley and Ged, were walking egos who seemed too self-obsessed and arrogant to see the bigger picture and consider that their younger brothers could actually lead them and therefore make any real money. ‘Yeah, I remember that,’ Grace replied. ‘I always thought that was a bit suspect, to be honest. He was in the thick of it, and he walked away without even a slap on the wrist.’
‘Seemed a bit fishy to me too,’ said Nudge. ‘I bet he was a grass.’
‘Against his own brothers though?’ Grace said with a shake of her head. ‘That’s low.’
‘Not for Bradley Johnson,’ Nudge snorted. ‘He’s a horrible little fucker. He’d sell his kids for the right price. You know I love a little flutter, Grace, but this fella’s something else. Would bet on an egg and spoon race if he could. He’s a fucking sore loser as well. Mean bastard when he wants to be. You’d think he’d have gotten used to losing by now, he does it so often.’
‘I didn’t realise he was a gambler. I always wondered why him and his wife never seemed to have a pot to piss in. I assumed he was being careful so he wouldn’t get nicked. I thought he must have had at least some of the money that went missing from the job his brothers went down for?’
‘Nope. It’s because he goes through money like the clap in a whorehouse. And as for the money from that job, I reckon Sol got it all, otherwise, why would Bradley still be breathing?’
Grace had forgotten it was Sol’s job. The Johnson brothers had never worked in Merseyside since they’d tried to muscle in on her business years earlier. No doubt assuming they could because she was a woman. Michael had dealt with them for her, and whatever he had done, had ensured she never heard from any of them again. Grace had worked with Solomon Shepherd too, back in the day. For a long time, he and Grace had had an arrangement that had been beneficial for both of them. Sol was now the top dog in Manchester and any business connection Grace had with him had been severed when she’d moved to Leeds before Belle was born. Sol had been the instigator of her coming back to Liverpool. He was the one who’d told her that Jake was in trouble, and he’d seemed to expect some sort of recognition or reward for that, but Grace had stayed well away from him, and had warned Jake and the twins to do the same. Sol was into absolutely everything now – things that she would never allow herself or any of her family to become involved in.
‘You’re right. There’s no way Sol would have let him off with that. So, Bradley’s penniless then?’
‘Yep. He spends it twice as fast as he can earn it.’
‘Good to know, Nudge,’ Grace said with a grin. ‘You really are a mine of information.’
Nudge smiled appreciatively. ‘Well, I’m glad to be of service, Boss. Fancy another?’ he said as he held up his empty mug.
Grace glanced at Oscar, who was still fast asleep, and probably would be for another half hour at least. As much as she enjoyed chatting to Nudge, she couldn’t chance having to feed her son in Nudge’s grotty Portakabin, and with Nudge looking on – pretending not to look, but being unable to anyway. She enjoyed a strictly platonic relationship with Nudge, and would rather keep it that way.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t. This little milk machine will wake up for a feed soon, so I’d better get home. I’ll pop in one day next week though. I’ll leave the baby with Michael so we can have a proper catch-up.’
‘Sounds good to me. I’ll see you next week,’ Nudge said as he stood up to show Grace out.
‘See you, Nudge. Thanks for the brew,’ Grace said as she gave him a hug.
‘My pleasure. And give Michael and the boys my best, won’t you?’
‘Of course.’
Grace gave little thought to the Johnson brothers as she drove home. They had never really been on her radar and the fact that two of them were getting out of prison shortly was of little consequence to her. Hopefully they would remain out of her and her family’s way, as they always had done. She couldn’t help wonder again about her conversation with Connor earlier that week, though, and the uneasiness he’d described. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with. Things had been going too well for too long, and in Grace’s experience, it was only a matter of time before something happened to change that.
Chapter Fourteen
Jake looked up as Paul and Connor came bounding through into his office at The Blue Rooms.
‘How did it go, lads?’ he asked.
Paul grinned and sat on the chair opposite Jake. ‘Go on, tell him, Con.’
‘It was fine. It’s all sorted,’ he replied with a groan.
Paul started to laugh as Connor sat on the leather sofa in the corner of the room.
‘Then what’s up with Chuckles here?’ Jake said, indicating Paul.
Connor glared at his brother but Paul didn’t heed the warning.
‘We saw Kenny the Melon,’ Paul said, stifling his laughter. ‘We had a word with him. Slapped him around a bit. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing or who we were, so we were just going to mess with him a bit, you know, pretend we were going to pull his teeth out or something. But then…’ At this point, Paul burst into a fit of laughter.
‘It’s not even fucking funny, Paul,’ Connor barked.
Jake, who was smiling at this point, urged Paul to go on and finish the story.
It took Paul a while to compose himself before he could finally speak. ‘But then he shat on Connor,’ he snorted before literally doubling over with laughter as tears streamed down his face.
Jake stared at them both. ‘What? How did that even happen?’ he asked through his own laughter.
‘He didn’t exactly shit on me,’ Connor snapped. ‘He shit himself when we told him we were going to cut him up and throw him in the Mersey. He was wearing these baggy fucking shorts, so some of it went on my shoe. That’s all. He didn’t shit on me!’
Jake looked down at Connor’s shoes.
‘I fucking threw them away! And my keks too. Dirty bastard!’ he snapped.
‘Where is he now then?’ Jake asked.
‘We left him there in the street, covered in his own shit,’ Connor replied.
‘That’s hilarious, Con,’ Jake said as he started to laugh harder. ‘You’d better hope word doesn’t get our that the quickest way to take out the Carter twins is to shit on them.’ This caused Paul to become hysterical again and soon Paul and Jake could barely speak for laughing.
‘You’re a pair of fucking clowns,’ Connor said, although Jake could see the hint of a smile on his lips. There was something about Paul’s laughter, in particular, that was infectious.
It took a good ten minutes for Paul and Jake to stop laughing entirely and when they did Connor spoke again.
‘In all seriousness, while I’m not bothered about Kenny or them lads we caught the other night, I am bothered that someone knew where our stuff was and blabbed about it. Whoever this mysterious fella in the pub was, he basically goaded them into nicking our gear. Do you think we have a leak?’
Jake shook his head. ‘Nah. More likely someone who works on the docks saw our container and the fact that it was set aside, assumed it was full of weed because it’s come from the Dam, and blabbed to some young lads in the pub to give himself a bit of kudos.’
‘Yeah. That’s more likely,’ Paul agreed. ‘If he’d known anything about our operation, he’d have known what was really in that container.’
‘I think it was a case of wrong place, wrong time,’ Jake said.
‘I still think we sho
uld check out how our Wirral business is doing,’ Connor suggested. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to pay Stu Poynter a visit, would it?’
‘No, I suppose not,’ Paul said.
‘If you insist,’ Jake replied. ‘It would give me a chance to meet Stu anyway.’ Stu was responsible for ensuring their operations in Wirral ran smoothly, which included keeping all of their dealers in line, as well as handling any possible takeovers. It was a job that they paid him, and the small army he recruited to assist him, handsomely for, and one that he’d always done well. Nevertheless, it was always good to remind their employees who was really pulling the strings.
‘Tomorrow then?’ Connor suggested.
Jake and Paul nodded.
‘I’ll give him a ring then and let him know we’ll be round,’ Paul said.
Chapter Fifteen
‘Stu? Are you in, lad?’ Paul Carter shouted up the stairs of Stu Poynter’s open-plan house in Heswall as he let himself through the unlocked door.
‘Yeah. Come up,’ was the reply.
Jake watched as Paul jogged up the stairs and frowned. There was something about the way that he did it, as though he’d ran up and down them many times before. Connor sat down on the sofa and stretched out his legs. Jake followed suit and sat on the armchair, keeping an eye on the stairs for Paul and Stu’s return. A few moments later the two of them came bouncing down the stairs laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’ Jake asked.
Stu shook his head. ‘If I told you, I’d have to kill you.’
Jake scowled at him. ‘What the fuck did you just say to me, you little cunt?’
Stu looked at Jake in surprise as Paul replied for him. ‘Calm down, Jake. He’s just messing.’
‘We were just laughing about something that happened years ago,’ Stu said apologetically. ‘It’s not even that funny.’
Paul frowned at Jake as he sat next to Connor on the sofa.
‘So, how are things up here in sunny Wirral going then?’ Connor asked. ‘Everyone behaving themselves?’