Liverpool Loyalty

by Caz Finlay

  ‘Jake,’ she said as she rushed to his side.

  ‘I don’t care any more, Mum,’ he sobbed. ‘I don’t care if I lose it all. It means nothing without him.’

  Grace sat on the arm of the chair and put an arm around him, hugging him to her. She had to fight back the tears herself. ‘I know, son. We all miss Paul. But he would hate to see you like this. You know that.’

  Jake sniffed and wiped his face with the back of his hand. ‘I just miss him so much. It fucking hurts, and the only way to stop it is to shut it out.’

  Grace kissed the top of his head. ‘But you can’t shut it out. It will still be there when you eventually sober up. And you owe it to Paul to grieve for him. It hurts like hell because you loved each other so much. That is the price we pay for love, son.’

  Jake nodded and put his hand on her arm. ‘Thanks, Mum.’

  Aware that one of their bouncers was still in the flat, and that Jake would hate anyone to see him so vulnerable, Grace stood up. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let me make you a nice strong cup of coffee and something to eat. You can ask your mate to join us too if you like. What was his name again?’

  Jake gave a half laugh. ‘I can’t remember. I’ll go and tell him to go home anyway. If I let him stay for breakfast he might get ideas.’

  Grace watched her son walk down the hall to his bedroom before walking into the kitchen. The sink was piled with dirty dishes and there was hardly any food in the fridge, but there were eggs and coffee, left over from the shopping she had brought him the week before. She’d wash the dishes and then make him a nice omelette. He’d always enjoyed those when he was a kid. God, how much easier things had been when he was little and she was his whole world. She’d been able to protect him from heartache and pain. That was the hardest thing about having kids: they remained your world long after they had grown up and left home. It broke her heart that she couldn’t protect him from those things any more.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Craig Johnson stepped out of the café onto Breck Road and looked around to see if there was anyone resembling Jerry or his goons around. The street was busy with mid-afternoon shoppers and he hoped it would provide him enough cover should he be spotted. He knew the streets of Anfield better than anyone and was confident he could make a hasty getaway on foot if he needed to. He’d packed Gemma and the kids off to her auntie’s house in Wigan after his visit from Jerry and Co. last night and he and Ged had driven to Formby beach and slept in Craig’s car. They hadn’t been able to get hold of Scott as his phone was going straight to voicemail. Craig knew he’d gone into hiding with an old girlfriend he’d had in college, after he’d stupidly become the key witness in their brother Billy’s murder. Craig could hardly believe that Scott could be so bloody naïve. He allowed himself a moment to consider how fucking incredible it would be if Jake Conlon and Connor Carter did go down for life – although he knew in reality it would never happen.

  Out of the corner of his eye Craig saw the black BMW X5 pull up beside him as he continued walking along Breck Road. He readied himself to make a run for it, until he heard someone with a thick Scouse accent shout his name. He turned his head to see that it was John Brennan driving the car.

  ‘Fancy a lift?’ John asked with a grin. The Smiling Assassin. Craig shook his head. Fuck! John Brennan was Grace Carter’s right-hand man. Damn Scott and his fucking blabbing to the filth.

  ‘Come on. I saw a couple of heavies up the road there. Looking for you, aren’t they?’

  Craig turned around, scanning the street for any sign of Jerry and his two very large friends.

  ‘I can help you, Craig.’

  Craig stared at him. ‘Yeah, right. Your boss sent you, has she?’

  John shrugged. ‘She wanted me to speak to you actually, but that’s not why I’m here. I don’t always do what she tells me to, you know.’

  The car had stopped completely now, causing a build-up of traffic. Other drivers were beeping in annoyance, or shouting obscenities as they were forced to drive around John’s car. Passers-by were starting to stare and the whole situation was becoming too much of a scene for Craig’s liking. If Jerry and his goons were in the vicinity, it wouldn’t be long before they spotted him.

  ‘Look, Craig. If I wanted to hurt you, I’d just get out of this car and do it. Or I’d have come into the café before when you were enjoying your bacon and eggs. But I don’t. In fact, I have a business proposition for you.

  Craig looked at the car. He’d barely slept. The constant beeping of the car horns was making his head feel like it was about to explode, and the thought that Jerry might pounce on him at any moment and relieve him of an eyeball was making his sphincter clench. He opened the passenger door of John’s car and jumped in.

  ‘Good. Now let’s go somewhere we can talk,’ John said with a grin as he sped off down Breck Road.

  Thirty minutes later, Craig was sitting opposite John Brennan in a pub on Lark Lane. The place was closed, but they had opened the door especially for John, and Craig wondered what is was like to have the kind of power that someone like John Brennan wielded. It was a power he wanted for himself, and it had almost been within his grasp, if it hadn’t been for his backstabbing cunt of a brother, Bradley. John ordered two Cokes from the woman who had opened the door and they waited for her to bring them over.

  ‘I hear you and your brothers have got yourselves into a spot of bother with Alastair McGrath?’ John asked.

  Craig frowned. ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘You’d be surprised, Craig. There’s not much that happens in this city that I don’t know about, mate,’ John said with a smile as the woman approached with their drinks. ‘Thanks, Bethan,’ he said as he handed her a note.

  ‘On the house, John,’ she replied as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

  When Bethan was out of earshot, John went on. ‘So, how much do you owe him then?’

  ‘Two hundred and fifty grand,’ Craig answered. There wasn’t much point in evading John’s questions now.

  ‘Were you working for him?’

  ‘Yeah. We couldn’t get a decent supplier from round here, thanks to your boss blacklisting us, and he wanted a foot in the door up here, so he gave us the gear and we sold it for him. It was good stuff. We shifted it easily enough once we found some buyers.’

  ‘But Bradley fucked off with all the money?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Craig snapped. ‘Look, are you just pumping me for info for your boss then? Or what?’

  ‘Calm down,’ John said as he picked up his glass. ‘I told you, this is nothing to do with her. This is between me and you.’ He took a swig of his drink.

  ‘She wanted you to speak to me though?’

  John nodded. ‘She thinks you or your brothers had something to do with her and Michael’s kids getting arrested. She wanted me to warn you off.’

  ‘I had nothing to do with that,’ Craig replied.

  John shrugged. ‘Not really that arsed, to be honest, mate. Doesn’t bother me one bit if those arrogant pricks go down for murder. But just so I’m doing my job, consider this a warning,’ he finished his drink and placed the glass on the table.

  ‘Okay,’ Craig answered.

  ‘I can help you with your other problem though,’ John added.

  ‘You just have that kind of money lying around?’ Craig snorted.

  ‘For the right investment, I do.’

  Craig remembered that John had been at the top of his game for decades – why wouldn’t he have that kind of cash? ‘Why would you help me?’

  ‘Because I’m looking to branch out myself. I’m fed up of being Grace Carter’s dogsbody and I want to be my own boss again. I figure if this Alastair fella wants to start operating in Merseyside, then I’m happy to help him. I can get you the money today. You can pay him back, and then you can tell him you’re back open for business.’

  ‘So you’ll be running the show?’ Craig asked. ‘And I’m supposed to work for you?’


  ‘You can work for me until you pay off your debt, and then you’re a free man, Craig. This isn’t one of those deals where you’ll have to work for me for life. I’m not interested in having people around me who don’t want to be there. I need people I can trust, and if you don’t want to be one of those then that’s fine by me. But I can’t think of an easier way for you to make a quarter of a million quid, can you?’

  Craig nodded. He had always heard good things about John Brennan. ‘What if I did want to stick around?’

  ‘Well, then you’d need to prove you could be trusted. But if you do that … well, you could have a lucrative career ahead of you.’

  ‘And what about Grace? She just gonna let you branch out on your own and be in direct competition with her?’

  John grinned. ‘You just leave Grace to me. It’s all about the spin, Craig. Besides, she believes everything I tell her. I’ll get you the money later on tonight.’

  Craig smiled and lifted his glass up in a toast. ‘To the future then,’ he said.

  John nodded, and lifted his own glass, despite it being empty. ‘To the future.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Driving home from Jake’s flat, Grace noticed she had a voicemail from Nudge. She pressed play and his voice filled the car. ‘Grace, love. Just wanted to let you know that Jock is coming to Liverpool with his boss Alastair McGrath the day after tomorrow. He said they’d like to meet with you. Give me a bell when you can.’

  Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, she saw it was almost 2pm and Belle would need picking up from school in just over an hour. She’d have to pass near Nudge’s scrapyard on her way to Mossley Hill, so she decided to pay him a quick visit instead.

  Walking up the rickety wooden steps to his portakabin, Grace called out his name as she knocked on the door. She had once walked in on him in a very uncompromising position with a lady friend of his and was determined never to repeat the experience. A few seconds later, Nudge’s large frame filled the doorway and his face broke into a smile.

  ‘Grace, love,’ he said. ‘Come on in.’

  He stepped aside and Grace walked into his office and took a seat.

  ‘Brew?’ he asked.

  ‘No thanks. I’ll have to pick up Belle soon.’

  ‘Did you get my message?’

  ‘Yep. Did they say where and when they wanted to meet?’

  ‘Jock said he would leave that up to you and that I should let him know what you decide. They should be here by lunchtime on Thursday.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll ask Pat and Sue to watch Oscar. I want to catch them as soon as they get here, so let’s say 1pm at Grazia’s. It’s not as busy as the other restaurants and they have that room as the back we can use,’ Grace replied. She had two days to prepare for a meeting with the supposed biggest gangster in Essex.

  ‘Okay. I’ll let them know,’ Nudge replied.

  ‘Have you ever met Alastair?’ Grace asked.

  Nudge shook his head. ‘Only Jock. Jock’s a good man though. Reminds me a bit of Michael’s dad Pat. Wouldn’t want to get on his bad side, but he’s a gentleman too – you know what I mean?’

  ‘Yes. Well, let me know if there’s any problem with the meeting, Nudge. I’d better be going or I’ll be late.’

  ‘If there’s anything else I can do, Grace, just let me know. Okay?’ He stood up and Grace noted how old he was starting to look. His walk had a shuffling quality to it now that she’d never noticed before. She wondered how much longer he would be able to stay in this game and it saddened her. He was one of her oldest and most reliable allies. They had become good friends over the years too. Perhaps Michael was right and they were all getting too old for this game? She had to admit that his ideas about semi-retirement in the suburbs sounded like heaven sometimes.

  ‘I will do, Nudge, and thanks for your help.’

  ‘Anything for you. You know that, love,’ he said and she knew he meant it. He was a truly good friend. She pulled him into an impromptu hug. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, thankful for the few people in her life she could truly trust, and he hugged her back in response.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It was a little after midnight and Craig Johnson shifted from one foot to the other as he stood in the deserted car park of Crosby swimming baths waiting for John Brennan to arrive. From his vantage point he could see his own car, an old Ford Fiesta, where his brother Ged was waiting armed with a shotgun should anything go wrong.

  A few moments later, Craig saw the headlights of a car approaching in the distance and watched as it rolled into the car park and came to a stop beside him. As he peered inside the BMW X5, Craig was relieved to see that John had come alone.

  ‘Sorry I’m late,’ John said as he climbed out of the car. ‘Grace had me running errands for her all night. I swear sometimes she thinks I have nothing better to do with my time than be her fucking gofer.’

  ‘Women, eh?’ Craig replied with a laugh.

  ‘Tell me about it, mate,’ John said as he opened the boot of his car and pulled out a large black holdall. In a few long strides, John had rounded the car and was standing a few inches from Craig. ‘Two hundred and fifty grand,’ he said with a smile as he held out the bag.

  Craig took it from him and noticing the zip was open, he looked inside to see the bundles of fifty-pound notes. Until he’d seen the money there, he hadn’t quite believed that John was going to deliver on his promise. He had half suspected that he was walking into some kind of trap, but he was backed into a corner and his options were limited. If he didn’t get Alastair’s men the money, he’d be a dead man anyway.

  ‘I appreciate this, John. Thank you,’ Craig said as he held out a hand to shake.

  John reciprocated the gesture, his large hand dwarfing Craig’s. ‘I’m looking forward to us doing business together.’

  ‘Be a nice change to be the boss, eh?’ Craig said with a grin. ‘Get away from Grace Carter?’

  ‘And not before time, mate,’ John agreed.

  ‘If you don’t mind me asking though – she might be a stuck-up bitch, but she’s no fool. How are you going to pull this off?’

  ‘I already told you, Grace Carter believes everything I tell her. She thinks I’m a loyal soldier, like a dog that doesn’t mind living on scraps but stays loyal anyway. She doesn’t suspect a thing and by the time she does, it will be too late. Just trust me.’

  Craig nodded and smiled. This couldn’t be working out any better for him and his brothers. Not only had John dug them out of a huge hole, but he was doing it by getting one over on Grace Carter at the same time. It was a win-win. ‘Well, I for one can’t wait to see that bitch taken down a peg or two. The sooner she realises she doesn’t own this city, the fucking better.’

  ‘Well soon enough, Grace will get what’s coming to her. Don’t you worry about it,’ John said with a smile.

  Then he walked away and climbed back into his car, driving away and leaving Craig standing alone in the dark.

  The following morning, Craig took the holdall full of cash out of the boot of his car. John Brennan had been true to his word and had given him two hundred and fifty grand in cash, as promised. Now all Craig had to do was wait at home for Jerry and his goons to arrive and hand it over. He and Ged spent a second night in Craig’s car and were both looking forward to being able to get back to their own houses. He’d thought about having Ged there with him at the drop, but decided against it. Ged was a bad-tempered bastard at the best of times, prone to running his mouth off when he should be keeping it shut. Craig had weighed up the odds. Ged was a good scrapper, they both were, but even together they were no match for Jerry and his boys. Whatever happened, if shit went down, Craig was getting a kicking whether Ged was there or not. But there was no doubt that having Ged there significantly increased the chances that there would be a kick-off, so he’d decided to go it alone, and hope that repaying the money with added interest was enough.

  Craig had been home for less than five minutes w
hen the front door was kicked open. As he suspected, Jerry and Co. must have been waiting for him. He’d left the door unlocked to avoid causing too much damage and was sitting in the kitchen waiting for them. He had a knife tucked into the waistband of his trousers – just in case. It made him feel slightly less anxious anyway.

  ‘You were supposed to be here yesterday,’ Jerry’s voice boomed around the kitchen.

  ‘I know. And I’m really sorry. I had Mr McGrath’s money, but I had to get the other fifty as well. It took me a bit of time.’

  Jerry frowned at him. ‘So you’ve got the money then?’

  ‘Yeah. Of course,’ Craig said as he picked up the holdall and handed it over.

  Jerry took it from him and passed it to the one with the shaved head. ‘Make sure it’s all there,’ he ordered.

  Craig sat under the scrutiny of Jerry and the other man while the third counted the money.

  ‘It’s all there, Boss,’ he said after a few moments.

  ‘Well, I don’t know where the fuck you got that from, but that’s not my concern. I have to say, I’m impressed,’ Jerry said with a nod of his head.

  ‘I know there’s been some bumps in the road, but that was all down to my brother Bradley, and he’s not on the scene now, so tell Mr McGrath it will be all plain sailing from now on. There will be no more delays with his money. I swear.’

  ‘You still think he’d work with you after this?’ Jerry asked with a flash of his grey eyebrows.

  ‘It’s all there, isn’t it? And I paid the interest too.’

  Jerry nodded. ‘Well, Mr McGrath is on his way to Liverpool as we speak, so maybe you can tell him yourself?’

  ‘He’s coming here?’ Craig asked. It wasn’t like Alastair to get his hands dirty. He had plenty of people to do that for him.