Seemingly satisfied on that point, Frank had another question. ‘She didn’t see me, but I followed her today. I was right behind and she never knew. I followed her to the hospital, and then I followed her back to her grandparents’ house.’
Jimmy recalled what he knew. ‘There was a lot of trouble. When they let Alice out of the hospital, your dad said he didn’t want her there…not after what she did. It seems her mother didn’t want her neither. Rumour has it, that she went to stay at her grandparents’ house. At least, that’s what I heard.’
‘So nobody wanted her, eh?’ His delight was obvious. ‘Well now, I can’t say I’m surprised. I mean, she’s got what she deserves, hasn’t she? She’s nothing but a filthy little tart! What woman would sleep with the brother of her husband to be…Who would do such a shameful thing, Jimmy?’
Jimmy said nothing. He didn’t want to rile Frank any more than he was already.
‘Is she seeing anybody?’ Frank spat out the words. ‘Is she cheating again?’
Panicking, Jimmy shook his head. ‘I shouldn’t think so! I don’t imagine that for a minute. Honest, Frank, I only know what I know…that you hurt her bad and she was a long time in hospital, then she went to live with her grandparents. I don’t know nuthin’ else. Honest to God, I don’t!’
Knowing what a coward he was, Frank believed him. ‘I’m surprised you even know that much,’ he chuckled. ‘People know what a gossip you are, don’t they, eh? Nobody tells you anything as a rule. They feel they can’t trust you to keep it to yourself. Isn’t that so, Jimmy?’
‘Yes, that’s right, Frank, nobody tells me nuthin’.’
‘Ah, but you still manage to find out in your own devious little way, don’t you, eh?’
Jimmy felt proud. ‘Yes…sometimes.’
‘There you go then! That’s why I came to you, and nobody else, Jimmy. I knew I could count on you to let me know what’s been going on since I’ve been away.’ He paused, his eyes boring into Jimmy’s. ‘So, what else has been going on then, eh?’
‘I don’t really know nuthin’ else, Frank.’
‘Don’t you lie to me now, Jimmy, because I wouldn’t like that. Y’see, it would make me really angry.’
‘Please, Frank! I’m not lying. I don’t know any more.’
‘All right then, but now I have another question.’
He paused, before going on in a low, deliberate voice. ‘This time, I want you to think very hard before you answer, because this one is more important to me than you know.’
‘I’ll try, Frank. I really will!’
For a long moment Frank waited.
He watched Jimmy squirm and he bided his time, and when he thought Jimmy was about to break, he said harshly, ‘I need you to tell me where Joe is.’
Jimmy had been afraid he might ask that.
‘Well!’ Frank was impatient.
‘I’m sorry, Frank. I don’t know that one. Nobody knows, because Tom and Nancy have kept it all to themselves. Y’see, they didn’t want Joe to be bothered. They wanted him to be quiet, so he could mend without anyone being a nuisance. And they didn’t want Alice going near him neither.’
He saw no harm in explaining. ‘She kept asking after him d’you see? She asked anyone who might know, but nobody did, because Tom and Nancy never told. When Joe was moved away from Bedford hospital, they asked the hospital never to say where he was; especially to the newspapers, and especially when they kept hanging about, waiting for you to turn up, Frank.’
He nervously finished, ‘I expect they’re still watching for you, Frank.’
‘Ssh!’ Frank put his finger to Jimmy’s lips. ‘I don’t want to know that. What I want to know is where Joe was moved to, and why.’
He gave Jimmy a suspicious look. ‘Are you sure you don’t know where he is?’
Jimmy nodded.
‘If you’re hiding something?’
‘I’m not!’
‘Mmm. All right then. Now you listen carefully. Being on the run does not mean you’re altogether unaware of what’s happening in the outside world. Like everyone else, I read the papers.’
He lapsed into deep thought, before revealing his ideas. ‘It’s a shame I didn’t manage to finish Joe off, but there’ll be other chances. I’m a patient man as you well know.’
He smiled. ‘You and me, Jimmy we’ve had our differences but we can put them behind us now, can’t we, eh? We need each other, you and me, don’t you think?’
Jimmy made no response, and Frank was too deep in thought to notice.
He gabbled on, ‘I knew they’d taken him to Bedford hospital. And I thought there was little hope that he might survive. Unhappily for me, he proved them wrong, but he was hurt bad; at least I got that right anyway!’
He persisted in his questioning. ‘You say my parents didn’t want Alice going near him? Is that right?’
‘They really turned against her, Frank. Especially Tom.’
Frank smiled at that. ‘I can’t say I’m surprised. Dad was always a stickler for doing the right thing. Every bad thing that ever happened to our family was caused by what she did!’
He had a rare stab of conscience. ‘I’m sorry I hurt my dad. But it was his own fault. He should never have got in the way.’
He frowned. ‘As for Mum, well, she’s always been too damned soft…seeing the good in everybody. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she hadn’t tried to stop Dad from getting rid of the little bitch!’
His voice fell to a whisper, and for a moment he seemed totally oblivious to Jimmy’s presence: ‘Mum needs to realise that we’ve all had our lives ruined by her dear little Alice! Oh, but she’ll learn! One of these days, somebody will need to teach her a lesson she won’t forget!’
There was such a rage in him that when Jimmy took a step back, Frank was on him. ‘Where d’you think you’re going?’
‘I thought…I just thought…’ What he actually thought was that Frank had gone completely mad; that he was talking about hurting Nancy…his own mother; and that really spooked him.
Shaking him hard, Frank put the question again. ‘I’ll ask you one more time. Where’s Joe?’
‘I don’t know, Frank! Truly, I don’t know. It’s a secret.’
‘You’d better not be lying, Jimmy!’
‘I’m not lying. I wouldn’t lie to you, Frank, you know that.’
Frank did know it, and he said so, but he remembered what Jimmy had told him earlier. ‘You said they didn’t let on where Joe was, because they didn’t want Alice going to see him?’
‘Yes, that’s right, Frank.’
‘So, that means he must have thought she wanted to see him?’
‘Oh, she did. She still does. Mandy’s mother is a real gossip. She chatters about what Alice said to Mandy, and the word is that Alice is desperate to see Joe.’ The second the words were out, Jimmy could have bitten off his tongue, but it was too late to take it back, and now Frank was seething.
‘Is that so?’ He was silent for a while, his mind alive with such hatred he could taste it. ‘And has she seen him?’
Thinking Frank’s question was a trick, Jimmy shook his head vehemently. ‘If I knew that, I might know where he is, but I don’t.’
‘And I don’t really know what to do with you, Jimmy.’
‘What do you mean, Frank?’
‘Well, I mean, you haven’t told me an awful lot, have you? You’ve told me about the bitch being turned away from the cottage, and that she has a longing to see Joe.’ He glared at him. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I should know?’
‘I told you she’d gone to her grandparents.’ Jimmy could see his life ending there and then, and he began to panic. ‘You can torture me if you like, Frank, and I won’t be able to tell you anymore, because I don’t know anymore. I keep myself to myself. I don’t like being round people. They stare at me. They think I’m stupid!’
Growing anxious, he started gabbling, ‘I’ve told you how your dad means to keep Alice away f
rom Joe, and I’ve told you she intends to find out where he is. Anyway, that’s what Mandy’s mum says, and I believe her.’
‘Bugger off, Jimmy!’
‘What?’
‘I said…bugger off!’
Jimmy was visibly relieved. ‘So you’re not gonna hurt me then?’
‘Oh! Now you’ve got me worried, Jimmy.’
‘Why?’
Frank was cruel to the bitter end. ‘Well, there must be a reason as to why you think I should hurt you.’
Taking hold of Jimmy’s collar he drew him forward. ‘Am I right to be suspicious, Jimmy? Is there a reason why I should hurt you? You know what? I’m beginning to wonder if you’re hiding something from me. Are you, Jimmy? Are you hiding something?’
‘No!’
‘Right, then you’d best do as I said, and bugger off…before I decide to take you to pieces.’
Jimmy did not want telling twice.
He knew from personal experience how dangerously unstable Frank was.
Taking to his heels, he clambered over the stile and ran like the wind down the lane, with Frank laughing and calling out, ‘RUN JIMMY BOY! I might take a mind to come after you. Remember what I said…one word about me and what we’ve been talking about, and I’ll have you!’
Jimmy knew it, which is why when the string broke from round his waist and his well-earned meals fell to the ground, he didn’t even stop to collect them.
Frank saw it, and laughed out loud. ‘You’re a prize dimwit, Jimmy,’ he chuckled as he went on his way. ‘Thick as a plank and twice as gormless!’ But he secretly thanked Jimmy for the information he’d given him.
‘So, now all I have to do is get to Joe. First though, I need to find out where he is.’
It was a dangerous risk he was prepared to take, what with the police hot on his tail. But it would be worth it, just to finish the job he started.
As he went back to the car, his mind was spinning. ‘So! we’ve got a badly injured patient who’s been moved from Bedford hospital to somewhere else. So, why did they move him, eh?
‘It seems he’s got injuries they can’t deal with. Yes! That must be it. Mmm! Chances are they had to move him because he needed special treatment, or delicate surgery, and they weren’t equipped to deal with it at Bedford.’
Frustratingly, Jimmy had not been able to tell him which hospital Joe was in, so now he had two real choices; neither of which were safe, or desirable, but either one would stand a good chance of allowing him to find Joe.
He could wait till nightfall and go cap in hand to see his parents, and wheedle the truth out of them.
Or he could risk being seen in public to have another word with Jimmy, who seemed able to find out anything if he set his mind to it.
By the time he got to his car and started his way back to his hideout, he was satisfied that his second choice was the better one.
What was even more satisfactory, was the fact that he need not wait until morning. He would execute his plan later tonight, then if it worked out the way he wanted it to, he could be at Joe’s bedside sooner rather than later.
He congratulated himself, ‘The best plans are always the simplest.’
Putting his foot down on the accelerator, he arrived at the canal in no time.
Driving into the shadows, he eased the car alongside the bins before making his way up the towpath to the old barge which was moored nearby.
Scrambling aboard, he tapped on the small panelled door that led down to the cabins. ‘Hello there!’
Back came the slurred voice, ‘What d’yer want? Get away from ‘ere, yer little bastards!’
Frank pushed open the door. ‘It’s me, Jack…it’s Fred.’
‘Don’t know any bloody Fred.’ Screwing up his eyes to see through the dim light, he warned. ‘Clear orf, or I’ll set the dog on yer!’
There was a lot of rustling and banging around, and when a shadowy figure appeared at the other end of the living quarters, Frank warily began his way forward.
‘It’s not kids!’ he said. ‘It’s me…it’s Fred. Don’t you remember? We met in the pub and you offered me a place for the night? I went out because I had something urgent to attend to, and now I’m back!’
‘What’s that you say?’ The older man peered at him. ‘Are you the bloke from the pub?’ There was a flickering of light and a whoosh of flame as the candle was lit. ‘Bugger me, Fred! You ‘ad me worried there. I thought it were them bloody kids back again…aggravating little ratbags, they want doing away with! If they so much as show their faces again, they’ll ‘ave my boot up their arse, an’ no mistake!’
Needing to be sure he still had a hiding place to come back to, Frank told him, ‘I’ve only popped back to collect something and put my head down for a couple of hours. That bit of business I were telling you about just now, well, y’see, it’s not done yet. I have to go out later, just for an hour or so, then I’ll be back.’
‘Bloody hell, Fred!’ The other man was none too pleased. ‘You’re in and out, then it’s the kids throwing things at the barge, and now when you’ve woke me up, you’re off out again.’ He groaned. ‘Happen it might be best if you find…’
Suspecting he was about to be shown the door, Frank quickly closed the short distance between them. ‘You’re a good mate, Jack,’ he purred. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t taken me in. I appreciate it, Jack, and you won’t go short, not if I can help it.’
He slapped the skinny man on his bare shoulder. ‘Listen to me, Jack. To show my appreciation, what if I was to collect a bottle of the hardstuff on my way back, eh? How would you like that?’
‘Ha, ha! That’s me man!’ Jack liked it a lot. ‘Yer crafty old beggar, Fred! You know how to please a fella, I’ll say that for yer.’
He leaned forward, fouling the air with his body odour and boozey breath. ‘Hey! Yer couldn’t make it two bottles, could yer?’
He gave a toothless grin. ‘It’ll help me forget the mindless little bastards who keep tormenting me!’
Because this hiding place was ideal, Frank was relieved. ‘Two bottles it is then!’ It was either that, or shove the filthy bag o’ bones over the side. ‘First though, I need to put my head down,’ he reminded him. ‘I’ve had a long enough day already.’
‘That’s all right wi’ me, Fred. So long as yer don’t forget what you promised, eh?’
The skinny man returned to his bunk, while Frank remained by the door, huddled in the chair and sleeping lightly.
In the dark recesses of his mind, he was busy hatching the details of his plan. ‘I’m on to you, Joe,’ he whispered. ‘I think I’ve worked out where you might be.’
Feeling satisfied, he drew his coat about him and settled back. ‘We’ll soon find out if I’m right!’
‘What’s that yer say?’ Jack heard him mumbling.
In reply, Frank made a series of loud, snoring sounds.
‘I see…’ Jack chuckled. ‘Talking in yer sleep is it?’ He turned over. ‘Yer chattering don’t bother me, matey. So long as yer bring the bottles back, yer can chatter and snore to yer ‘eart’s content!’
He gave a low chuckle. ‘Mind you! Once I’ve got me mitts on them bottles, I’ll up anchor and away. As for you, matey, well, you can go to buggery for all I care!’
To him, Frank was just a stranger in a boozer who’d bought him a drink. ‘I gave you a bed for the night, and that’s all yer getting! Yer ain’t sliding yer feet under my table for months on end, no siree! Bottles or no bottles!’
Slithering further into the bed, he smiled at the prospect of the booze he was about to enjoy.
What he could not have known was that Frank had heard, and with every cutting word, the bargee had well and truly sealed his fate.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
IT WAS MIDNIGHT by the time Frank arrived at the Luton and Dunstable hospital. With dogged determination, and keeping his ear to the ground, he had found out where Joe was.
As always, the place wa
s lit up inside and out. There were ambulances arriving and departing; people rushing to and fro; some carrying stretchered casualties; and others waiting anxiously as their loved ones were rushed into the emergency ward.
On the far side of the front entrance two women in nurse’s uniform stood chatting and smoking, and stamping their feet on the ground as the late night cold air enveloped them.
‘Bide your time, Frank,’ he murmured, being careful to keep a low profile. ‘You don’t want to be charging in there like a bull at a gate. You need to be calm and quiet…wait for the right time, and the job will be a good one.’
He smiled at the thought of dealing Joe a hammer blow, without physically lifting a finger.
He constantly took a mental note of the exterior layout as he went.
During his time on the run, Frank had learned the many wiles and tricks of a convict. He now reminded himself that it was wise to clock every possible exit, and anything else that might aid a quick and easy escape should it be needed.
He took a while to familiarise himself with the building itself. There were four different entrances to the hospital; the main one, the one for emergencies only, a side entrance for staff and porters and possibly deliveries, and a more discreet one, which he assumed to be the boiler house and storage place, and which might possibly hold an inner access to the hospital corridors.
‘If I can get in, then I can get out!’
He began to relax. In the event of anyone raising the alarm, such information would serve him well. As would the fact that he had parked his car in a most strategically favourable position; with its nose pointed to the exit, and no possibility of anyone parking between him and a clean escape.
Fastening his jacket, he sleeked back his hair, which he had deliberately grown much longer than normal. He then put on the discreet, rimless spectacles he’d purchased some time ago. That done, he headed for the main entrance; his shifty eyes constantly darting about, looking for anything that might pose a threat.
Feeling confident, he sauntered through the main doors.
On seeing the little shop at the corner, he approached it cautiously. For a moment he lingered, pretending to browse, while discreetly surveying the whole area.
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