Jess, thinking the pair were Jehovah’s Witnesses, or a team working for an energy firm trying to get her to swap providers, smiled politely and waited for him to continue.
‘Is your dad in? We’d like a word.’ The man on the bottom step turned and fixed her with a thin smile.
‘Why would he be in? He doesn’t live here,’ replied Jess.
‘Well, in that case, we’d like a word with you,’ said the taller of the two.
Jess began to feel very nervous. ‘I’m all ears,’ she replied, with more confidence than she was feeling.
‘We represent… let’s call it an insurance company.’ The man closest to Jess pushed his hand into his pocket, Jess expected him to produce a business card but he didn’t. Instead, he withdrew the hand, patted the pocket, then let it fall to his side. ‘The company hasn’t been paid the instalments on the life policy, so we,’ he pushed his thumb towards the man behind, ‘are here to collect.’
Jess closed the door an inch.
‘I don’t have life insurance,’ she said, fighting to keep control of her voice.
‘No, you don’t, but your father does, and he told us last week, that you would pay the instalments he owes. We don’t expect you to have the full amount in cash, obviously, so you have a choice. You can get the money by tomorrow, or you can just pick up your phone and transfer the money. Call this number when you’re ready and you’ll be given an account number to pay it into.’
The man put his hand into his pocket again and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Jess suddenly felt anger stir inside her.
‘And just how much are you asking me to pay?’
‘Fifty thousand. I know it was forty, last week, but with the interest…’
‘You have to be joking. I don’t have anything like that kind of money, and I wouldn’t give it to you if I had.’ Jess tried to close the door but the man pushed his knee into the gap and leaned in closer.
‘Well, you had better find a way of getting the money, love. The debt is now a joint one. One of you has to cough up, and since your father doesn’t appear to be able to pay, the onus falls on to you.’ He narrowed his eyes and stared into Jess’s from about a foot away.
Jess lifted her shaking hand and pushed a stray hair out of her eyes.
‘I told you, I can’t just put my hands on that kind of money. I—’
‘FIND A WAY!’ The man glared at her, then his voice became as cold as ice.
‘It will be best for both you and your father, if you pay up without any fuss because, when we find him, and we will find him, you could be forking out for a funeral, on top of the debt.’
Angry tears misted Jess’s eyes. She rubbed them away with the back of her right hand.
‘I’m not going to be blackmailed like this. I’ll call the police.’
‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ the man on the bottom step joined in the conversation. ‘Not if you know what’s good for you.’ He fixed her with a cold eye. ‘These remote old houses can be scary places when you live alone like you do. I bet it would go up like matchwood.’
The taller of the two men dropped the piece of paper into the hall. ‘You have until noon tomorrow. I think bank transfer would be easiest. Tell them you’re investing in an insurance company.’ He looked over Jess’s shoulder into the hall. ‘You might want to think about buying a policy for yourself, anyway. As my associate said. These old houses go up like tinder.’ The man looked hard at Jess. ‘We aren’t the only ones looking for him, love. He can’t hide for long in a town this size.’
Jess tried to hold the man’s stare but looked away after only a few seconds, then a mobile phone rang and the man on the bottom step answered it.
‘Yes… all right. We’re on our way.’ He pushed the phone back into his pocket and looked towards the taller man. ‘They’ve got an address.’
‘Did you hear that? They’ve got an address,’ he snarled. ‘I’d get on to the bank if I were you… and don’t even think about handing that number to the cops. It won’t be traced.’
Jess pulled back the door with her left hand and slammed it as hard as she could onto his knee. The man cursed and pulled his leg back, Jess quickly pushed the door shut, and turning to face the stairs, stood with her back against it as the man outside hurled threats at her.
After a minute or so, she heard a car engine start, she waited until it had pulled away before rushing through to the kitchen and blinking away the tears, she picked up her phone and dialled her father’s number.
‘Hello, Jess?’ For a man whose life was in mortal danger, her father didn’t sound too worried.
‘I’ve just had two men here making threats.’
‘Oh no! Jess, I did say they might find you. What did they say?’
‘They wanted money of course. Fifty thousand pounds.’
‘Fifty?’ Bill sounded puzzled.
‘The latest round of Interest is included.’
‘Jess, please, don’t mess with these people, just pay the money.’
‘I’m not giving them a penny, Dad.’
‘Jess, please. I don’t want you to get hurt. You don’t know what these people are like.’
‘What are they like, Dad? Do you know this pair?’
‘No, of course I don’t. I’m just saying. I know their type; I know their boss. These people will have been sent up from London. They’re with one of the East End gangs. I was warned about them.’
There was silence on the line, then Bill began to plead.
‘Jess, I beg you. I don’t want to die. I don’t want you to die. You live alone down there. I worry about you. I couldn’t get to you in time if there was a fire.’
‘Oh, so you know about the threat of a fire?’
‘No… no, it’s just one of the things they do if they can’t get people to pay up.’
Jess thought for a few moments.
‘Do London gangsters always drive around in twenty-year-old bangers?’
‘I don’t know… they might have stolen it… Jess, please pay the money. Parents should never have to attend their children’s funeral. It should be—’
‘You’re disgusting. Don’t try to scare me like that. Your friends couldn’t and nor will you.’
‘Jess, they’re not my friends, I don’t know who they are. I’m just worried about you, honestly, love, I’m more concerned about your life than mine. It’s my fault we’re both in this mess, but there is a way out. Just do as they ask, darling.’
‘Don’t give me the darling bit. I saw through that when I was eight.’
‘Jess… wait, there’s a car pulling up outside. Oh God, Jess, please, let me tell them you’re going to pay up… Look, your mum is here, I don’t want her to get hurt.’
‘YOU BASTARD!’
‘Jess, please.’
‘Dad, I saw through this scheme of yours as soon as you picked the phone up.’
‘What do you mean, scheme. I don’t—’
‘Dad,’ Jess spoke slowly and calmly. ‘Here’s how I worked it out… One! East End gangsters wouldn’t be seen dead in cheap, Asda suits. Two! East End gangsters wouldn’t be seen dead in a twenty-year-old car that sounds like it’s about to conk out. Three! East End gangsters don’t speak WITH A LOCAL ACCENT! I grew up with that accent, Dad. I know a Spinton accent when I hear one. I doubt if that pair have ever been out of town in their lives.’
‘I don’t know where they’re from, Jess. They might be working for the local hoods.’
‘Or they might be working for you.’
‘Jess…’
‘Dad. I’m not going to go to the police straight away. I’m going to give you one last chance. Now, go back to wherever it was you came from, get out of our lives for good. I’m coming over to Mum’s on Saturday, and if you’re still there, I’ll call the police there and then.’
‘You think you’re so clever,’ he sneered, ‘but there are people in this town who would genuinely hurt you, and I really don’t want that to ha
ppen.’
‘Who, Dad? Who would think I’m worth killing? They’d never get the money if anything happened to me. If I die, the trust goes to a farm worker’s charity.’
‘They can still hurt you, Jess. The Duncan brothers are a bad lot. I’m still on their radar from five years ago. These people never forget, especially when money is concerned. Don’t be surprised if they call again, one dark night.’
‘I’m ending the call now, Dad. I meant what I said. I never want to see you again. Goodbye.’
Jess hit the red button to end the call, then sat down at the kitchen table and with her head in her hands, sobbed until there were no tears left.
At six-thirty, Jess was just about to cook herself dinner when there was a knock on the door. She tiptoed to the front window and opened a crack in the front curtains. To her relief, she saw Wade standing at the bottom of the steps.
‘Hi, Wade, come in.’ Jess stood aside as the technician stepped inside carrying her laptop.
‘It only took twenty minutes to remove the spyware. It was an amateurish attempt really.’
‘Calvin won’t like being called an amateur,’ said Jess with a little laugh. ‘He thinks he’s a tech guru.’
Wade put the laptop on the kitchen table and opened it up. ‘There was a spyware tracking app on it, but that was all. This guy Calvin, or whoever it was that loaded it on, attempted to add a bit of extra code to the tracker. It’s different with phones. Lots of people use the Apple, Find My Phone, app. Parents use it to keep an eye on their kids, spouses to keep an eye on unfaithful partners.’ Wade pointed to Jess’s iPhone. ‘He’ll have your Apple I.D. and password; just change that password and he won’t be able to track you.’
Jess grinned. ‘So, it’s as easy as that. What about the blue camera light?’
‘He tried to be a little too clever. I think he wanted to adapt the tracker code so the camera started up whenever he checked in on you. But it didn’t quite work and all that happened was, the light came on at random intervals. You were never being recorded. As I said, amateurish.’
Jess almost gave him a hug, but managed to stop herself just in time. Wade tipped his head to the side and looked at her quizzically.
‘Are you all right? You look like you’ve been crying?’
‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ve been watching an old movie on TV, this afternoon. They always make me emotional.’
Wade wasn’t convinced.
‘If you say so, but look, Jess, if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always on the end of the line.’
Jess patted him on the arm. ‘Unless you’re up to your neck in dead zombies?’
Wade’s eyes widened. He checked his watch then almost ran to the front door. ‘Sorry, can’t stay. I need to get my fingers warmed up for tonight. She’ll be online in thirty minutes.’
‘Good luck with the zombie slaughter,’ Jess shouted after him.
After closing the door behind the technician, Jess went back to the kitchen and started up the security camera software. She clicked on the cloud link and opened up the first of twenty photographs that the device had taken that morning. On opening picture six, she found herself looking at a perfect, hi-res photograph of the two men that had visited her. Downloading a copy to her laptop, she printed it off and put it in the drawer of the coffee table.
‘Gotcha,’ she said with a fixed smile on her face.
Chapter 31
‘What do you mean, she didn’t fall for it? She looked frightened enough when we left her.’ Paul Austen lit a cigarette, took a deep draw and slipped the packet of cigarettes and his lighter back into his pocket.
‘She saw through it,’ Bill sighed. ‘She’s a clever kid.’
‘Saw through what? We should be offered a part in the Sopranos we were that good.’
‘Well, for a start, there’s the suits? Why didn’t you just wear jeans and a hoodie? Casual stuff, the suits were well over the top.’ Bill looked the pair up and down. ‘Cheap Asda suits, she said, she wasn’t wrong, was she?’
‘Sod off! These are from Burton’s sale, we got them for Uncle Tony’s funeral.’
‘What about the car? She said it was a right old banger.’
Paul’s cousin, Neil, looked sheepish. ‘It’s all I can afford. We couldn’t very well just go out and nick one, it was too short notice.’
Bill held up his hands in mock surrender.
‘All right, all right… She picked up on your accents too, she grew up around here, she knows you’re local.’
‘Shit,’ Paul looked for an ashtray, when he couldn’t find one, he dropped the stub of his cigarette in the sink. ‘Do you want us to pay her another visit?’
‘Not yet, but we do need to ramp up the pressure. I’m her father, she won’t go to the police, she told me that when she rang. She might be angry but she isn’t going to see her old dad in jail.’ Bill got up from the kitchen table. ‘Right, here’s part two of the plan. Her lawyer’s name is Bradley Wilson. He controls the money via a trust. He might be persuaded to turn on the taps if enough pressure is applied. She might cave in if she sees other people being dragged into it.’
Neil shook his head. ‘A lawyer? I don’t like the sound of that. He’ll know every copper in the area, and every copper in the area knows us.’
‘If you’re smart, he won’t know who you are. Mask up, make it look like an attempted mugging or something.’
Paul scratched his head. ‘But how will he know what we want if we just take his wallet and watch?’
Bill tapped his head, then pointed to his feet. ‘Up here for thinking, down there for dancing.’ He looked at each of them in turn. ‘I was hoping that Jess would cave in straight away but she hasn’t and as I said, she’s clever, so, we need to box clever too. We’ll put the squeeze on in stages. A nudge here, a hint there, let the pressure build up gradually. She’s a woman, she’ll back down if things look like getting nasty.’
Paul was still puzzled. ‘So, how do we go about it?’
‘Don’t mention money, and for God’s sake don’t mention Jess. Don’t leave any clue to your identity. It’s one thing my daughter thinking you two are locals, but as far as she knows you could be working for the Duncan brothers. She has no idea who you are. Let’s keep it that way.’
‘So, ski masks, gloves, hoodies?’
‘That’s it, but as I said, be smart. Don’t do it in broad daylight, and make sure your bloody car isn’t in sight. There could well be CCTV on the premises.’ Bill thought for a moment. ‘It might be better to follow him home and grab him when he gets there. Whichever you think is safest. Just don’t get bloody caught.’
Neil nodded. ‘Erm, could you give us a bit of cash up front?’ ‘My Universal Credit doesn’t come through until next week.’
Bill shook his head. ‘You’ll be very well looked after when she pays up, don’t worry.’
Neil looked at Paul who shrugged. ‘Okay then. We’ll have a run out later. What time does his office close?’
‘Google it,’ suggested Bill. ‘But be careful. He doesn’t work there alone. There may well be others leaving at the same time.’
Chapter 32
Jess, still angry with her father’s machinations, decided to channel the outrage she felt, telling herself that if she could stand up to two, bullying thugs, she could almost certainly garner enough strength to face a trip to the attic. Girding her loins, she stomped up the stairs and marched along the landing until, her nerve weakening, she reached the white painted door that stood between her and the final stair to the loft.
Closing her eyes and calling up every last bit of mental strength she could muster, she pulled the door open and slowly climbed the twisting, bare stair treads. At the top, she stopped at the final barrier; an unpainted, panelled door. Jess cocked her head to the side and listened for any noise emanating from the inside, then, giving herself a mental slap, she turned the key in the lock and took hold of the handle.
‘Come on, you fool. What on earth do
you think is lurking in there?’
Jess took a deep breath, twisted the handle and pushed the door open. The room was silent, the air hanging like a shroud. She stuck her head into the gap between the door and the jamb and looked into the roof space.
It was just as she remembered it. The room was lit by a dappled light that filtered in through a dirty, Dormer window. It was littered with old suitcases, tea chests, piles of old bedding and curtains. Further into the room were stacks of newspapers, tied into bundles with string. Leaning forwards so she could make sure nothing was lying in wait for her around the corner, she took another huge breath and stepped into the attic.
Trying to avoid looking into the shadows at the back of the room, she hurried past the crates that were laid out randomly, making her journey something of an obstacle course.
As she reached the Dormer, she glanced to the right where an ornate, full length mirror stood on its block-timber feet. The antique mirror was tarnished around the edges and silvered in places. It was covered, almost entirely by a film of dusty cobwebs which gave her reflection a surreal appearance. She blew out her cheeks with relief as she realised there was no shadowy figure, swaying from side to side behind the cobweb screen.
Jess focussed her thoughts on the chest in the left-hand corner of the attic where Alice’s remaining memoirs were stored. Scraping her knee on the sharp, metal strip on the edge of a tea chest, she winced and keeping her eyes straight ahead, stepped around a large, bulging, cardboard box and limped her way to the wooden crate that contained Alice’s old ledgers, seed catalogues and most precious of all, her hand-written notebooks.
She picked them up carefully, and taking a quick glance at each cover, made a small pile on the edge of a neighbouring tea chest.
‘1940… 41… 42… 43… 44… 45… That should be the lot… No, hang on, what’s this?’
Jess crouched, reached into the bottom of the crate and pulled out a leather-bound photograph album. Stacking it on top of the notebooks, she grabbed the dusty pile and turned back towards the door where a sliver of dim but welcoming daylight, spread itself across the bare floorboards at the entrance to the loft.
The Legacy: Trouble Comes Disguised As Family (Unspoken Book 2) Page 20