Head of the Firm

by Caz Finlay

  ‘And you want me to sort this now?’ Grace said as she stared at him.

  Jimmy shook his head frantically. ‘God, no! Of course not. But that’s not all. When my lads told them the twins wouldn’t stand for their threats, Bradley laughed and said they’d have bigger things to worry about, like they knew something was going to happen. Then we had a meeting with the Johnsons yesterday, and that fucking slimy bastard Bradley as much as admitted he was the one responsible for Paul’s murder.’

  ‘What? He actually admitted it?’

  ‘He didn’t deny it. And he looked very pleased with himself when I accused him of it, Grace,’ Jimmy said as he stood across the desk from her, wringing his hands. ‘I spoke to the Parkes brothers from Bootle, and Bradley has pulled the same stunt with them too. When they asked him about Paul, he didn’t deny it either.’

  Lost for words, Grace shook her head in disbelief.

  ‘I thought you’d want to know,’ Jimmy went on.

  ‘Of course. Thank you, Jimmy. I appreciate you coming to me.’

  ‘I thought you’d know the best way to handle it,’ he said.

  Grace nodded. ‘I appreciate that, Jimmy. And you’ll have no more bother with the Johnson brothers from now on.’

  ‘Well, that’s good news, Grace, but that’s really not why I came here,’ he assured her.

  ‘I know that,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘I’ll let you get back to it then,’ Jimmy said as he backed out of the office. ‘Bye, Grace.’

  ‘Bye, Jimmy.’

  Grace watched Jimmy disappear through the crowded restaurant and sank onto her office chair. Jimmy knew the Carter family well and had worked for them long before she’d even known them. He was loyal, and she appreciated that he had trusted her with the information, rather than going straight to Michael. Mostly because she didn’t believe for a second that the Johnson brothers were responsible for Paul’s murder. They were a load of brainless idiots who couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery. Bradley, the oldest, was the leader, and he was as bent as a nine bob note. He relied on the muscle of three of his younger brothers to throw his weight around, but he was an idiot who, though most people didn’t know it, had a gambling habit as big as his ego, which meant his money disappeared faster than he could earn it. Grace knew these things because her old friend Nudge Richards was a gambler too and he also kept company with most of the criminals in Liverpool and beyond. Whilst his job as the best fence in Merseyside meant that he was usually the embodiment of discretion, he told Grace everything. She had helped him out years earlier when no one else would, and he had never forgotten it. He’d been loyal to her ever since and was a prime source of information.

  It was because she knew Bradley so well that she knew he couldn’t afford the services of the kind of professional that had shot Paul. He was too much of a coward to try and take out one of the Carters, and even if he wasn’t, he’d have ordered one of his brothers to do the job, not pay someone else. It just didn’t add up to her.

  Grace took her phone out of her handbag and dialled Sean Carter’s number. While she waited for him to answer, she wondered if she had it all wrong. Had Bradley and his brothers organised themselves into a professional outfit without her noticing? Was she that out of touch? They had to have someone backing them to think they could take over some of Jake and the twins’ business with no repercussions.

  ‘Hi, Grace,’ Sean answered the phone.

  ‘Hey. Are you free tomorrow morning?’

  ‘Yes. Sophia’s taking the girls to the Trafford Centre, and I was planning on coming to see you and Michael. Is everything okay?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I might have a lead, but it could be nothing. Fancy making a quick visit to Bradley Johnson with me?’

  ‘Tomorrow?

  ‘Yes. He’s probably out on the pull looking for some strange tonight. Let’s catch him at home reading the Sunday papers in his slippers.’

  ‘Of course. What shall I bring?’

  ‘Nothing too heavy. His wife and kids will be there. I’ll pick you up at half ten.’

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then.’

  ‘Bye, Sean.’

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  The following morning, Grace walked into the kitchen holding Oscar and saw Michael staring out of the kitchen window. Belle was drawing quietly at the kitchen table and didn’t look up when Grace entered. Walking over to him, Grace placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder making him jump.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ he replied. ‘I was in a world of my own.’

  Oscar gurgled and made a grab for his dad’s beard, something which would have ordinarily made Michael smile and take him from Grace’s arms, but he did neither. Instead he stared blankly across the kitchen, as though he was waiting for someone to walk through the door.

  ‘I need to pop out,’ Grace said. ‘I’ll ask your dad and Sue to watch the kids for a few hours, okay?’

  ‘Yeah, if you want.’

  ‘Will you be okay if I go out? Do you need me to stay here?’

  Michael looked at her but his expression didn’t change. ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine.’

  Grace put a hand on his cheek. ‘I won’t be long,’ she said.

  ‘I’m fine,’ he repeated.

  Grace walked over to Belle. ‘Want to go see grandad and nanny Sue?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Belle said excitedly.

  ‘Come on then. Let’s go and ring them,’ she said as she took her daughter’s hand. Leading her out of the kitchen, Grace glanced back at Michael who had gone back to staring out of the window at the rain.

  An hour later Grace had dropped Belle and Oscar off with Michael’s dad, Patrick, and was pulling up outside Sean Carter’s house.

  ‘Thanks for doing this with me,’ Grace said with a faint smile as Sean climbed into her car.

  ‘No problem at all. But does Michael know what you’re up to?’ he asked.

  Grace shook her head. ‘I doubt it. I’m not sure Michael even knows what day it is at the moment.’

  ‘I’m worried about him, Grace.’

  ‘Me too,’ Grace said with a sigh. ‘Which is why we need to find out who was responsible for the hit on Paul sooner rather than later.’

  ‘Let’s get going then,’ Sean said as he fastened his seatbelt.

  Twenty minutes later, Grace pulled her car up outside Bradley Johnson’s house.

  ‘Are you sure about this? You said his wife and kids would be in there too,’ Sean said to her as she turned off the ignition.

  ‘We’re only going to talk to him. Remember?’ she reminded him.

  ‘We’ll see about that,’ Sean responded gruffly as he climbed out of the car.

  Arriving at the front door to Bradley’s house, Grace turned the handle and was unsurprised to find the door unlocked. It was eleven o’clock on a Sunday morning. The kids were probably in and out with their mates. Bradley Johnson considered himself untouchable in his neighbourhood. No one would ever dare confront him at his family seat. So why wouldn’t he leave his door open?

  Stepping inside with Sean close behind, Grace motioned him to lock the door after them. They didn’t want any interruptions.

  Bradley Johnson was sitting on the sofa in his boxer shorts with a plate of bacon and eggs on his lap when Sean and Grace walked into his living room and gave him the shock of his life.

  He stared at them open-mouthed. ‘What the fuck—’ he started.

  ‘Shut the fuck up and listen, Bradley,’ Sean interrupted him. ‘And if you’re lucky, no one will get hurt.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ a female voice shrieked behind them.

  Sean turned to glare at Bradley’s wife Tina and then back to Bradley as Grace took a seat on the armchair.

  Understanding the look Sean had given him, Bradley spoke. ‘Nothing, love. But get the kids from upstairs and take them over to your mum’s for half an hour.’

  ‘Nope.�
�� Sean shook his head. ‘The kids can stay upstairs. And you can have a seat next to him,’ Sean said to Tina, indicating the empty space on the sofa next to Bradley. Sensing the tension in the air, Tina did as she was told.

  ‘Good,’ Sean said as he walked over to Grace’s chair and stood behind her.

  ‘So, Bradley,’ Grace said as she stared at him. ‘Tell me everything you know about the murder of Paul Carter.’

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Bradley Johnson sat on his sofa and stared at the two people who had just marched into his living room unannounced. Grace and Sean Carter. He had met the two of them briefly many years earlier, not that he thought they’d remember that encounter, but despite that he knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of. He hadn’t realised that the pair of them still got their hands dirty, but here they were in his fucking house. He looked at Sean in his expensive Barbour jacket and wondered what manner of weapons he might have hidden in there. Then there was Grace, sitting on his armchair with her legs crossed, staring at him with that ice-cold exterior she was well known for. They were a pair of ruthless fuckers, and Bradley had never been so terrified in all of his life. He prayed that Tina would keep her big gob shut as she perched next to him, and that the kids kept to form and stayed in their bedrooms playing on their various gadgets. If he played his cards right, he might get out of this alive.

  His throat felt as though it was about to close over, and he swallowed in an attempt to relieve the sensation. The blood thundered in his ears and he closed his eyes, willing for quiet so he could think straight.

  ‘I know fuck all about it,’ he said eventually as he opened his eyes and looked at Grace.

  ‘Really?’ Grace raised an eyebrow at him. ‘I thought you and your brothers were taking the credit. That’s what we’d heard, wasn’t it, Sean?’

  Sean nodded. ‘Yep.’

  ‘What?’ Tina snapped as she turned to look at her husband.

  Bradley shrugged. ‘We never told anyone it was us. Not one of us took any credit for the hit on Paul. But people talk, and well…’

  ‘And you didn’t deny the rumours?’ Grace asked.

  Bradley shook his head. ‘No. And I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that it hasn’t been good for our business, but we had nothing to do with it. Not a single thing.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Grace said. ‘What do you think, Sean?’ she asked as she looked up at her accomplice, six feet of pure muscle and hatred.

  ‘Me? I wouldn’t trust this piece of shit as far as I could throw him. But you’re the boss.’

  Grace sat back in the chair. ‘Why should I believe a lying waste of oxygen like you, Bradley?’

  ‘Because it’s the truth,’ Tina answered for him. ‘He didn’t have anything to do with it.’

  ‘And how would you know?’ Grace asked her.

  ‘Because he tells me everything. Don’t you, Brad?’ she whined.

  Sean gave a snort of derision and Bradley glared at him in defiance, which prompted Sean to take a step towards him, opening his coat as he did so and revealing a glint of the machete blade he had tucked inside there.

  ‘Okay,’ Bradley said, raising his hands in surrender. ‘I get it. You’re both pissed off. Understandably. You want to know who did this, but it wasn’t me. It wasn’t my brothers. And to be honest, I haven’t got a fucking clue who it was.’

  ‘Still not convinced though, Bradley, to be honest. Maybe your kids might know something?’ Grace said as started to rise from her chair.

  ‘No,’ Bradley shouted. ‘I swear we had nothing to do with it. Please. You have to believe me,’ he pleaded. He could hear the change of tone in his voice and he despised himself for it. But there was the truth, as plain as day. For all his talk, Bradley Johnson was a coward. He had always known it and now they did too. He’d relied on his brothers to fight his battles, always happy to be the one giving the orders and pulling the strings, but never really in the thick of it.

  Grace Carter stood up and walked over to the sofa where Bradley and his wife were sitting. She’d known the threat to his kids would be his breaking point. She would never act on it. She’d never hurt a child, no matter what the circumstances, but Bradley didn’t need to know that. Desperate times and all that.

  ‘I think Bradley here has said all he’s going to say today, Sean,’ she said. ‘But be careful,’ she warned as she turned her attention to the quivering man on the sofa. ‘I’ll be watching you, and your brothers. If any of you take one step out of line, I will end the fucking lot of you,’ she snapped before walking out.

  Sean followed behind her in silence. They were driving away in Grace’s car before either of them spoke another word.

  ‘Do you think he was telling the truth then?’ Sean asked.

  ‘Do you think he’d still be sitting at home in his undies if I didn’t?’ Grace replied.

  ‘But how do you know it was nothing to do with him? He wasn’t exactly going to fess up to you, was he?’

  ‘No. But I already suspected it was nothing to do with him or his idiot brothers. Do you think any of them have the money or the clout to pull it off? Whoever did this was a bloody pro. Probably one of the most expensive hitmen money can buy. They won’t work for just any old Tom, Dick or Harry. So, why on earth would they work for that shower of bell-ends?’

  ‘So, what was today’s visit about then?’

  ‘I just wanted to look him in the eye and ask him the question and I think he was telling the truth. I also wanted to put a stop to him taking any credit for Paul’s murder. Not only is it incredibly distasteful, but it might just stop my son and your nephew wiping out the whole Johnson clan in an epic rampage.’

  ‘Good luck with that,’ Sean said with a sigh. ‘Have you seen either of them lately?’

  ‘Not for a few days.’ Grace shook her head. ‘They’re planning something big. I know it. I just hope I can find out what really happened before they go off and get themselves killed or locked up for life.’

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Billy Johnson heard the vibration of his mobile phone as it continued to ring incessantly and sighed. He was getting head off a woman he’d picked up in The Grapes the night before and he’d rather she finished the job before he sent her home.

  ‘Sorry, girl, but I’ll have to answer that,’ he said with a groan as he pushed her away from him and leaned over to pick up his phone from the bedside table. As he suspected, it was one of his brothers.

  ‘What, Ged?’ he snapped.

  ‘Grace and Sean Carter paid our Bradley a visit this morning.’

  This news sent all the blood rushing from Billy’s dick to his head and he felt suddenly faint. ‘What?’

  ‘You heard me. Grace and Sean paid him a visit.’

  ‘Hang on a minute,’ Billy said.

  Covering the mouthpiece of the phone, he turned to face the woman, whose name he couldn’t remember. ‘You’ll have to get off, girl. I need to get to work.’

  She pouted at him. ‘Billy—’ she started.

  ‘Look, I said fuck off. There’s a tenner in my jeans. Go downstairs and phone yourself a taxi.’

  She glared at him before retrieving her clothes from his bedroom floor and storming out of his bedroom naked, clutching her clothes in her hand.

  ‘Sorry about that, just throwing some bird out,’ he said to Ged who was waiting impatiently on the other end of the phone.

  ‘Like, I’ve not got all fucking day, Bill,’ he snapped. ‘Anyway, just be on your guard. Who knows where they’ll turn up next?’

  ‘But what happened at Brad’s? Is he okay? Are Tina and the kids okay?’

  ‘Everyone’s fine. Brad told them he had nothing to do with it, and they believed him – apparently!’

  ‘Hmm. Not sure I buy that. Do you reckon they’re planning something?’

  ‘Possibly, Bill. But listen, that’s not all we’ve got to worry about.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘It seems our beloved big
brother – our illustrious leader – has also gone and done a bunk, with all of Alastair McGrath’s money.’

  ‘What the fuck?’ Billy shouted.

  ‘Yep. I told you he was a fucking lying weasel.’

  ‘No. He must be planning something, Ged. He wouldn’t just get off and leave us all like that.’

  ‘Wouldn’t he?’ Ged snorted. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time he fucked off and left us all in the shit, would it?’

  ‘Nah,’ Billy said. ‘He’ll be back. He wouldn’t just leave Tina and the kids.’

  ‘Well, he has. She phoned me wondering where he was. She’s fucking livid with him.’

  ‘Shit,’ Billy said as his heart started to pound in his chest.

  ‘Yep. So, if the Carters don’t come looking for us, Alastair McGrath will.’

  ‘Well, Alastair won’t need to know about his money for a week or so. That buys us some time at least.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘To find our dickhead brother,’ Billy snapped.

  ‘If Sean and Michael Carter don’t string us up by our balls first!’

  Billy put the phone down on his brother and sank back against the pillows. To think five minutes earlier he’d been thinking about how good his life was. Ged and Bradley had never got on. Billy liked to stay out of their drama and keep to himself as much as he could, although that was hard, being a Johnson brother. For as long as he could remember, his older brothers had caused him nothing but trouble. He’d wanted to go into engineering, or mechanics, but that wasn’t possible for a Johnson. Eventually, he’d been sucked into their world and now he couldn’t get out. Now he saw the same thing happening to Scott, and he felt sorry for the kid.

  No matter what he thought of his brothers, though, Billy had been, and always would be, loyal to them. Despite Ged’s constant sniping at Bradley, Billy had never actually taken it seriously, and he hadn’t thought that Ged did either. He’d always assumed it was just part of their sibling rivalry, set up at birth and encouraged by their violent bully of a father. He’d tried to encourage a similar rivalry between Billy and Craig, but had been missing a vital ingredient – neither he nor Craig gave two shits about what their dad thought about them. When he’d died, it had been a relief to everyone except Bradley and Ged, who had mourned him as though he was some sort of saint.