The Trap

by Chambers, Kimberley

  Little Vinny couldn’t think of anything more boring than spending the day at his great-nan’s grave and Roy’s care home, so he had allowed his nan to march him round to Ben Bloggs’ house. He had then knocked on the door, waved goodbye, and gone inside. What his nan hadn’t realized was as soon as she had walked off, he and Ben had gone back to her house and were currently trying to get through the kitchen window.

  ‘I’m stuck. It’s hurting my arms. I can’t get in there,’ Ben complained, as he managed to wriggle back out, with the help of his pal pulling his legs.

  ‘Well, we’re just gonna have to get the ladder, then you can stand on the conservatory roof and get though my bedroom window,’ Little Vinny suggested.

  ‘Why me? You’re better at climbing, Vin, so you do it.’

  Little Vinny was like his father in more ways than one, and one of the worst traits he had inherited was impatience. He was so desperate to receive the phonecall confirming that his dad had purchased a chalet at Kings that he would have done almost anything to get inside the house.

  ‘Be careful. That roof is only plastic,’ Ben said, as his mate went up the ladder.

  ‘I’ll be fine. I ain’t fat, am I?’

  Little Vinny slithered across the roof like a snake. But as he stood up to heave himself through the bedroom window, the shrill voice of Mouthy Maureen who lived next-door-but-one made him lose his balance.

  Seconds later, the roof gave way and with a deafening crash, Little Vinny fell through to the conservatory.

  Back in Eastbourne, Vinny had just got Joanna and her pal a drink and was currently laying on the charm. ‘So, whereabouts do you come from, girls?’ he asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

  ‘Tiptree,’ Chloe replied.

  ‘And you?’ Vinny asked, fixing his most penetrating stare on Joanna.

  ‘I come from the same place,’ Joanna replied. She’d been young when her father moved them out to Essex, and he had always warned her never to tell anybody where she had lived beforehand. Even though many years had now passed, the warning had stuck in Joanna’s mind. She wasn’t silly. She knew her dad was into bad stuff which was why he was locked up now, but she had never really learned the full truth of why they’d had to leave London in such a hurry. Her parents had both seemed reluctant to talk about the move, and had virtually told Joanna not to mention the subject again, which she hadn’t.

  ‘I very hungry again, ladies. Would you be so kind to join me and my friend for lunch? We can leave towel on sunbeds and eat inside club,’ Ahmed suggested.

  Chloe shrugged and looked at Joanna. Neither of them earned much money in their cleaning jobs, and the two men did seem quite charming. ‘Shall we, Jo?’

  ‘Go on, be a devil. Our treat of course,’ Vinny said, winking at his prey.

  Joanna was rather taken with Vinny. Since she and Chloe had been working at Kings, they had met and snogged a few lads. Joanna had even let one touch her breasts, but nobody had really rocked her boat. Most were just holiday-makers out for a good time. Vinny was different. He was older, extremely handsome, very sophisticated, and he had told her he owned a place at Kings. That had impressed Joanna because he had said it was a brick-built bungalow, and because they were relatively new, only rich people could afford them. Smiling at Vinny, Joanna stood up.

  ‘Lunch it is then.’

  Because of their hectic lifestyles, Donald and Christopher Walker spent very little father-and-son time alone. Either Donald was busy in the café or Christopher was on the beat, and when the two were together, Mary was usually in her armchair joining in with their conversation.

  Today, however, Christopher was off duty, the café had been quiet, and Mary had suggested that father and son go for a lunchtime pint together. ‘Me and Tina can manage OK, and you could do with a break, Donald. I often pop out during opening hours, and it isn’t fair that you are always stuck here,’ his wife had insisted.

  ‘Some of the lads at work drink far too much, you know, Dad. They finish their shift and go straight to the pub. Even if they are on a late shift, they go to this pub called the Spurstowe Arms where the landlord gives them a lock-in. They stay in there most of the night sometimes, and you can tell that they aren’t as on the ball in work the next day as they should be,’ Christopher informed his father as they walked towards their local.

  ‘Christ! That’s disgusting. No wonder there are so many bloody crimes committed if half of the Met are permanently pissed. I really have never understood why people enjoy getting drunk. It’s a complete waste of money, and surely it is better to be in control of yourself. I got drunk once, son, when I was about your age, and I vowed never to allow myself to do it again. Do these colleagues of yours invite you to go drinking with them?’ Donald asked, worriedly. He had thought the police force were the crème de la crème of the human race, but obviously not.

  Christopher didn’t answer. He hadn’t seen his sister for years, but he was sure it was Nancy who was walking towards them. She was with another girl, both were pushing buggies, and there was also a dark-haired child walking alongside them. ‘Dad, is that Nancy?’

  ‘What! Where?’

  ‘Walking towards us.’

  Donald recognized his daughter immediately even though she was a good fifty yards away. She was still as slim as ever, and with her long blonde hair and beauty, Nancy was unmistakeable. And even though the child beside her looked nothing like Nancy, he knew it must be one of his grandsons.

  ‘Where we going, Dad?’ Christopher asked, when his father yanked him by the arm and dragged him across the road.

  ‘We’re avoiding your sister, son. You don’t want to see her, do you?’

  ‘No. Not really. I wouldn’t have minded seeing what my nephews look like though.’

  ‘Those children aren’t your nephews, Christopher, neither are they my grandsons. They are Butlers. Never forget that, will you?’

  Christopher glanced over the road and, aware that Nancy was looking his way, quickly turned back to his father. ‘You’re spot-on, Dad. Those kids are bound to turn out to be scum just like their father and uncles are.’

  Roy Butler felt the happiest he had in ages. Paul had just turned up with the gun he had asked for, and he was moving to Eastbourne.

  ‘How much do I owe you?’ Roy asked his pal.

  ‘Two hundred including the bullets. I wish you would tell me what you are planning though, Roy, in case it backfires my way. Vinny and Michael aren’t gonna be happy if they find out I am involved, are they?’

  Roy wrapped the gun back in its cloth, wheeled himself over to his bedside cabinet and hid it at the back of the drawer.

  ‘You can’t leave it there! Say one of the carers finds it?’ Paul said, feeling more anxious by the second. He had a wife and two kids to support, therefore could not afford to lose his job at the club. He was also worried about repercussions from Vinny. His boss certainly wasn’t a chap you’d want to get on the wrong side of.

  Roy wheeled himself over to where Paul was sitting and stared him in the eyes. ‘I swear on my Emily-Mae’s life that your name will never crop up, Paul. I am a man of my word, as you well know.’

  ‘But, won’t you go to prison, Roy? I mean, you can hardly shoot someone and get away from the scene of the crime easily, can you? I ain’t being nosy, I’m just worried about you, that’s all.’

  Roy tried to smile on the one side of his face that would still allow him that pleasure. ‘Please do not fret or ask me any more questions, mate. My plan is infallible. Crippled I might be, but stupid I’m not.’

  Back in Eastbourne, Joanna and Chloe were getting along like a house on fire with the two generous gentlemen they had met.

  ‘Well, do you fancy Ahmed?’ Joanna asked her pal, as they went to the toilet together just so they could have a girlie discussion.

  ‘I’m not sure. I think I do, but he’s a bit too old for my liking. What about you? I can tell you like that Vinny, so don’t make out you don’t.’

&n
bsp; ‘Yeah, I do really like him, but as you said, they are a bit old for us. Then again, they are good fun and I think they are loaded, so we would be mad not to see them again if they asked us. Them lads we went out with last week made us go round for round with them, Chloe. I can never imagine Vinny and Ahmed making us buy them a drink, can you? Surely we are better to date real men than silly bloody boys, eh?’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right. We came to work at Kings to have some fun, so we might as well let Ahmed and Vinny show us a good time,’ Chloe agreed.

  Joanna giggled and linked arms with her pal. ‘I bet they are both good in bed too. Vinny has the most mesmerizing eyes I have ever seen, and did you see the size of Ahmed’s thingamajig in them Speedos? It looked like he had a snake tucked in there.’

  Chloe playfully punched her pal on the arm. ‘Stop it,’ she ordered.

  Queenie and Vivian weren’t even halfway down their road when Mouthy Maureen came running towards them. Maureen had only moved in next-door-but-one to Queenie just over a year back, and although her curtains and house were kept spotlessly clean, she did like to poke her trunk into other people’s business which is why Queenie and Vivian liked to keep their distance from her.

  ‘What’s this fucking trappy cow want?’ Vivian mumbled, when Maureen started to wave her hands frantically.

  By the time Maureen reached Queenie and Vivian she was so out of puff she could barely speak or breathe, so leant on a nearby wall.

  ‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Queenie asked.

  ‘It’s Little Vinny. I had to call an ambulance for him. He fell through your conservatory roof and I think he’s broken his arm. Took a bang on the head as well,’ Maureen panted.

  ‘Where is he now?’ Vivan asked, alarmed.

  ‘London Hospital. He isn’t alone though. His mate Ben Bloggs was with him, and Big Stan went in the ambulance with them. Stan wanted to take him in his car, but I told him no. I watched a programme recently, and it said if anyone has had a bad fall you shouldn’t move them until the experts get there.’

  Queenie could feel her hands shaking, such was the shock. ‘So, was he conscious?’

  ‘Oh yeah. He had to stand up to unlock the door, but then I made him lie back down again. Lucky he fell on that flowered sofa that you bought recently. Flattened it, he did, but it would have been a lot worse had he hit the concrete floor.’

  ‘OK, well, thanks for all your help, Maureen. Best me and Vivvy get up the hospital now,’ Queenie said, grabbing her sister’s arm and marching off in the opposite direction.

  ‘Don’t worry too much, Queen. You know how Maureen likes to exaggerate, and if Little Vinny stood up to unlock the door himself, he must be OK,’ Vivian said comfortingly.

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you something, Vivvy. If that little bastard hasn’t got any broken bones, he soon will have if he has ruined my beloved conservatory. I’ll break his fucking neck.’

  After having lunch and a few drinks in the clubhouse, Vinny and Ahmed suggested they take the girls for a drive so they could explore more of Eastbourne.

  Joanna and Chloe were extremely impressed when they saw Vinny’s flash-looking Jaguar, and even though the men had told them very little about what they did for a living, apart from describing themselves as businessmen, the girls saw no danger in going for a drive with them. Usually Joanna and Chloe just chilled by the swimming pool every day after finishing their cleaning, so it was nice to do something different and more exciting for a change.

  Vinny took a drive around some of the coastal roads and then stopped at a pub called the Moorings that overlooked the beach. ‘Fancy another drink, ladies?’ he asked.

  ‘I thought you had to drive back to London this afternoon. What time do you have to leave?’ Joanna asked.

  Ahmed chuckled. ‘We don’t. Our mums say we can stay out late.’

  Vinny allowed his mind to wander. Many a night he had laid in bed virtually salivating, such was his desire to get even with Preston, and now that time had come. He had asked George Geary to track the bastard down years ago, and when Geary had failed, Vinny had surmised Johnny had changed his name. That wasn’t the case though, and Vinny was now sure that Geary had purposely not even tried to find Preston in case it ended up in a bloodbath and he was implicated.

  Vinny had toyed with hiring a private detective at one point, but he was too wary of who he could trust. Loose lips sink ships was a true old saying and one that his mother had drummed into him since childhood.

  Vinny glanced into his interior mirror and grinned as Joanna locked eyes with him. The buzz of retribution was already in his system, and it was a bigger high than cocaine. ‘Well, we was going back to London this afternoon, but that was before we met you two beautiful young ladies. Have you and Chloe got any plans for tonight? If you have, please don’t think of cancelling them on our behalf, but if you haven’t, Ahmed and I can stay in my chalet tonight, then drive back to London tomorrow morning. We would love to take you to a nice restaurant later. Or a club? It’s your call,’ Vinny said.

  Joanna and Chloe immediately nudged one another excitedly. Tiptree had never been the most stimulating place to live, and the majority of the lads there were quite dull. Vinny reminded Joanna of her dad in some ways, but with a lot more going for him. Joanna’s mum had always described her dad as a Vinny-type when they had first met and were living in South London, but she’d said he had changed when they had moved to Tiptree.

  ‘Well?’ Chloe asked her pal.

  ‘It’s up to you,’ Joanna giggled. She wasn’t a virgin, had already slept with two lads back in Tiptree, but there was something about Vinny when he looked at her with those eyes and that stare that made her feel naïve again.

  ‘OK. Seeing as my mate can’t make a decision, I say we should go to a nightclub,’ Chloe told Vinny.

  ‘I hope you good dancer. I the best. Turkish man know how to move and groove,’ Ahmed cheekily informed Chloe.

  ‘Well, that’s settled then. You go get the drinks, Ahmed, while I phone home. I promised Little Vinny I would ring him earlier, then forgot. I’ll be back in a minute, ladies,’ Vinny said, courteously. As he turned his back to walk away, he couldn’t help but smirk. He already had Joanna Preston in the palm of his clever hand, and he knew it.

  Queenie Butler screamed when she saw the state of her once-beautiful conservatory. Vinny had paid for it as a birthday present last year, and now it looked like it had been a casualty of one of Hitler’s bombs. The roof was ruined, the panel in the middle had completely caved in, and her lovely flowered sofa with the carved wooden arms and legs, was as flat as a pancake. ‘Aw, my gawd, Vivvy. He’s even flattened me best plant. I’ll swing for the little bastard. Where is he now?’

  Little Vinny had escaped his ordeal with just a broken left arm and a small graze on his forehead. The nurse had said that there were no signs of concussion, so he was allowed to go home, but if he were to be sick later, or complain of a bad headache, Queenie should bring him back to the hospital just to be on the safe side.

  ‘He’s gone upstairs to his bedroom. He’s a bit subdued, ain’t he?’ Vivian said.

  ‘I’ll give him fucking subdued! I told him he wasn’t allowed in this house alone, and what does he do, he breaks in, the little bastard. Couldn’t even successfully do that, could he? I wouldn’t have minded so much if he had smashed one of me windows, but ruining my conservatory is the final straw, Vivvy. He ain’t my responsibility no more. I can’t handle the child.’

  ‘I’ll get that,’ Vivian said, when the phone rang. She was hoping it might be her Lenny. She always worried when he worked at the club alone during the day, but Vinny insisted he was fine. He reckoned responsibility was just what the boy needed. ‘It’s Vinny, Queen,’ Vivian shouted out.

  Absolutely livid, Queenie snatched the phone out of her sister’s hand. ‘Where the fuck are you? You need to get your arse back here, boy. Your son is driving me totally doolally.’

  ‘I’m in Eastbourne, Mum. You knew
I was coming here to buy a place. I’ve had a few beers now, so have decided to stay here for the night. I’ll be home first thing in the morning, then I’m coming back here at the weekend and bringing you, Auntie Viv, and Champ with me. Guess who are appearing at the clubhouse on Saturday night? Showaddywaddy. You like them, don’t you?’ Vinny said, trying to smooth over his mother’s obvious bad mood.

  ‘Fuck Showaddywaddy! That little bastard you’ve lumbered me with has broken his arm and smashed up my conservatory. Fell through the bastard roof, he did. Now you get your arse back here a.s.a.p. I am too old to handle that child, so best you pick him up before I break his scrawny neck, or shove him in an orphanage. I’ve had a gutful of him. I can’t hack it no more.’

  Vinny sighed with pure frustration. He had been desperate to fuck Joanna Preston’s brains out this evening, and by the way she had been looking at him, he had known his ultimate shag had been on the cards. ‘Calm down, Mum. I hate to hear you this upset. I’ll leave Eastbourne now, and hopefully, traffic permitting, will be back in three hours. Where is Little Vinny now? Is he OK?’

  ‘In his bedroom. The nurse put plaster on his arm, then said to bring him home. I’m stressed up to me eyeballs. Not only does he worry the bloody life out of me, I now have no fucking roof on my conservatory. What with Roy now moving to Eastbourne, I’m at the end of me tether, son, I really am.’

  Assuring his mother he would sort everything out including his son and her roof, Vinny ended the call, plastered a smile on his face and walked over to the table where Ahmed and the girls sat. His quest for revenge would just have to wait that little bit longer.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Mary Walker walked towards her daughter’s house with slight trepidation. Like any decent mother, Mary knew her Nancy inside out, and not only was it out of character for her to ring the café, it was also the tone of Nancy’s voice that had warned Mary something was dreadfully amiss.