Dividing Line

by Heather Atkinson

  The minutes tick by as Rachel stands behind her front door, waiting for the cavalry to arrive, baseball bat at the ready. Anxiously she watches the door start to splinter, the abuse they spew at her becoming more vile.

  As suddenly as they started the blows stop and she hears the pounding of running feet and a scream. Then it all goes quiet. She hardly dare breathe as she listens intently.

  “Rach open up, it's me,” calls Danny.

  Sighing with relief she unlocks the door and throws it open. Danny hurries in and slams it shut behind him. He grasps her by the shoulders and studies her with concern.

  “Are you alright? They didn't hurt you?”

  “No, I’m fine. Just a bit shaken up.”

  “Pack some things. You're coming home with me.”

  She nods, hurries into her bedroom and starts throwing clothes into a bag. Danny peers out of the window and sees people gathering in the courtyard below.

  “Time to go,” he calls.

  Rachel appears with a bulging backpack slung over her shoulder. Danny picks up the baseball bat.

  “Mind if I borrow this?”

  “No.”

  She looks so edgy he gives her a reassuring kiss. “We'll be okay, just keep behind me and when we go out the door do not look to the left. Understand?”

  Rachel glances at his bruised and bloodied hands encased in knuckle dusters. She swallows nervously and nods.

  “Ready?”

  “Wait,” she says, pulling a can of pepper spray out of her bag. “Okay, ready,” she replies steadily.

  Danny opens the door and they step out onto the empty walkway. Rachel glances down at a pool of blood and recalling Danny's advice she does not dare look to the left. He takes her hand and they hurry to the first flight of stairs, encountering no one as they race down the steps. As they reach the ground level they are confronted by a gang of four men. The leader, a very tall skinhead with lots of piercings, approaches them. He is of equal height to Danny and the two men square up to each other. Jamie Law is the youngest of the five Law brothers, the family that runs the Montford Estate.

  “Get out of the way Jamie,” says Danny.

  “I can't let you take one of our women,” he replies.

  Rachel is outraged. “I am not one of your women. I live in this dump, that's all. I'm not your property.”

  Danny smiles. With her head tilted back and black eyes blazing she looks magnificent.

  “We don't like Maguires coming onto our patch,” hisses Jamie.

  “We're leaving now. If you try to stop us then…,” says Danny, indicating the baseball bat.

  The men laugh. “Don't think your father's name will give you any protection here.”

  “You take on me, you take on my whole family,” snarls Danny.

  This gives Jamie pause for thought. Danny senses his hesitation and presses home his advantage.

  “We're leaving. Now.”

  Taking Rachel's hand, they skirt round the gang to the gate in the wire fence.

  “You're not getting off this estate,” yells Jamie as another four men join them.

  They advance on Rachel and Danny, who continue to back up towards the gate. Then Rachel remembers her can of pepper spray.

  “Any good at baseball Danny?” she says, holding the can out for him to see.

  He divines her meaning and grins. “I'm not bad.”

  She smiles and throws the can up into the air. Danny hits it hard with the bat, sending it into the midst of the gang where it lands on the ground and bursts, covering them in pepper spray. They clutch at their faces in agony as Danny and Rachel run through the gate onto the Henley, laughing.

  Back in the safety of Danny’s apartment, Rachel tends to the cuts on his hands.

  “I suppose I need to find somewhere else to live. Don't worry, you'll have your space back in a few days,” she says.

  He tilts her face up to his. “When I said you could stay here I meant permanently.”

  “You mean move in with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You don't think it's a bit soon?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Okay,” she replies after a brief pause before breaking into a grin.

  He smiles, pulls her towards him and kisses her.

  Superintendent Jarvis is very pleased. The first meeting of The Coalition is in progress. In attendance are four of the most powerful figures in the city, including himself. They are comprised of Lord Davenport, a very influential man in the House of Lords and a local landowner, Jeremy Hammond, owner of a national newspaper and May Roberts, a Crown Court judge.

  These figures are fed up of the crime and violence tearing their city apart, the vast majority stemming from the Henley and Montford estates. Conventional methods have failed to produce any results and now they are looking to Superintendent Jarvis to provide the unconventional. He has received some intelligence that might be the answer to their prayers.

  “Two of my officers have informed me that Danny Maguire has moved a Montford girl into his flat,” begins Jarvis..

  “So?” replies Lord Davenport with a shrug of the shoulders. He is a tall, powerfully built man with a black moustache and thick black hair, greying at the temples. Despite his intimidating size and powerful connections he is an abject coward.

  Jarvis is irritated by their slowness but he does his best not to show it. “So this is totally unheard of. Montford and Henley are rivals. They hate each other therefore never the twain shall meet and there are a lot of bad feelings about this relationship.”

  “The Maguires control the Henley. No one will go against them,” says Jeremy, his voice light and lilting.

  “Yes but the residents of the Montford Estate don't like one of their own fraternising with the enemy and they are after Danny's blood. Apparently he humiliated them on their own patch.”

  “I still don't see where you're going with this,” says Lord Davenport.

  “I'm saying we use this to our advantage. We can stir up a war between the Maguires and the Laws that will destroy them both. While the truce holds both gangs can operate efficiently. A long drawn out war is bad for business. Not only will their activities be restricted but they will kill each other in the process too.”

  Lord Davenport and Jeremy nod in approval but May is unconvinced.

  “I'm not sure. We risk compromising the Maguires and they've been a check on the lower criminal fraternity for years. If they lose the war then we lose that line of defence.”

  “It's a risk worth taking. We wipe out the Laws and the Maguires then my officers will crush the lower orders and peace will be restored to our city.”

  The three look at each other and nod.

  “Very well,” says Davenport loftily. “You may proceed Superintendent.”

  “This is highly illegal,” replies Jarvis, “so I will need all the protection you can give me.”

  “Don't worry, that's taken care of,” says May confidently.

  Blissfully unaware of what the powers-that-be have in store for them, things settle down for Rachel and Danny. The Montford Estate leave them pretty much alone after Rachel moves out but she does lose a lot of her friends in the process, all except for the ever-loyal Beth. Despite this Danny and Rachel are happy together, until Danny's formidable father pays a visit.

  Frank Maguire grew up on an estate just like the Montford.In his late fifties he is the eldest of three children, his sister Sharon two years younger and Terry - an unexpected surprise - ten years younger. Frank's parents had been good, God-fearing people who tried to keep their kids on the straight and narrow but when Frank's father unexpectedly died of a ruptured stomach ulcer at the age of forty the teenage Frank had to take over as head of the household. Times were hard and jobs were in short supply. Frank had never been a scholar so he had been forced to turn to the only thing he knew and that was thieving. He was pretty good at it too. He was wily and used his brain rather than his considerable brawn. Soon he came to the attention o
f the upper echelons of the criminal fraternity and by the time he was twenty he was working as an enforcer. This quickly led to armed robbery, at which he was extremely adept. He loved the planning and preparation, the months of watching the target, working out escape routes. He left nothing to chance and his timing was impeccable. Soon he was making a lucrative career out of the robberies and was proud of the fact that not once had he used his gun. He never even bothered to load it, just in case he got caught. His sheer size and booming voice was enough to reduce his prey to quivering, obedient wrecks.

  Frank's mother knew exactly what he was up to but she swallowed it. For the first time in her life she had cash to treat herself to a few luxuries and even take a holiday. The alternative was poverty so she deluded herself into thinking that her eldest son was a successful businessman. After that she had no qualms about spending the cash and neither did Sharon. Frank then found himself working for Michael Granger, the major villain of the city at the time. Granger recognised Frank’s potential and trained him in the more subtle sides of the business. After all, armed robbery is a mug's game and sooner or later you get caught, no matter how sly you are. Frank learned that to survive in their game for any length of time you had to take a backseat and keep a low profile. He brought Terry in on the business when he was eighteen and was pleased by how quickly he learnt, he was a natural.

  When Michael Granger died of lung cancer following a thirty a day habit, Frank was the perfect candidate to take over, which he did with absolutely no resistance, Terry rising with him as his number two. From that moment on the Maguires’ rise to power was unstoppable. The one fly in the ointment was the Law family, the only ones fearless enough to stand against them.

  True to form Frank Maguire doesn't knock, he just strides straight in as though he is too important to respect other people's privacy. He finds Rachel alone, who is both surprised and a little wary to finally meet him.

  “Don't worry I'm Danny's dad, Frank. You must be Rachel?”

  “I am,” she smiles, shaking his proffered hand. “Danny's not in at the moment.”

  “Actually it's you I want to see.”

  Frank Maguire by comparison makes his son look small. A mountain of a man, he wears expensive tailored suits that he constantly looks on the verge of bursting out of. He has a mane of thick shaggy sandy-coloured hair and a large round face. His eyes are small and dark and look out suspiciously from beneath bushy eyebrows. His presence is enormous and the air seems to become electrified when he’s around.

  He looks out of the window towards the Montford Estate. “Look at them, scurrying about like gutter rats, which is exactly what they are.”

  Rachel isn't sure what she should reply to this remark.

  “I came from an estate just like that but I had the wherewithal to get myself out of it. They're happy to stay where they are, sponging off the Government.” He turns to Rachel, eyes full of anger. “And now my own son has moved one of these gutter rats into his house.”

  Rachel is all too aware that this is a dangerous man but she is still angry. “Excuse me, I'm not like that. I'm a nurse, I’ve bettered myself.”

  “You come from that toilet, which to me says it all.”

  “How dare you,” she retorts, outraged by his hypocrisy.

  “I bet you couldn't believe your luck when you saw this place, eh? Must be a palace after the shithole you were dragged up in.”

  “I don't care about Danny's money or this flat. I wouldn't care if he lived in a cardboard box under a bridge, I would still want to be with him,” she says passionately.

  “You know how many women my son's had? Loads of ‘em. You're just one in a very long line.”

  “And how many of those women did he ask to move in with him?”

  Frank glowers at her, knowing full well she is the only one.

  “I love your son more than anything. I would never hurt him and I will always be loyal. Surely that is what counts, not where I come from.”

  “Spare me, I've just had my lunch. Now, I'll keep this simple and straightforward. I want you to end it. Today. If you don't then I'll make sure he suffers the entire time you’re together. If you truly love him then you won’t want him to suffer, will you?”

  Rachel shakes with rage, her black eyes flashing. “What's it got to do with you? Danny's a grown man. He has the right to see whoever he wants.”

  “Cos I don't want my blood making a fool out of me. I fought tooth and nail to get where I am today so my son could have the best possible life and I'm not having him settling down with some cheap tart.”

  “You've no right to do this.”

  He shoves his face so close to hers that she can make out every craggy line but she refuses to be intimidated and remains tall and proud. “I always get what I want Rachel. Believe me, you don't want to get on my bad side.”

  He turns and stalks towards the door, confident in the knowledge that she will do as he has ordered. She glares at his back with hatred, angry tears welling in her eyes.

  Danny is happier than he can ever remember. He used to spend every night at one of his pubs or clubs drinking and chatting up the women. Now all he wants to do is curl up on the couch at home with Rachel drinking wine and watching films then take her into his bed and explore her over and over. He never thought he'd see the day but this woman has shown him there is so much more to life. He's just picked up an engagement ring and he is going to propose tonight. It might be a bit soon but his instincts tell him it’s right and his instincts have never let him down yet. He carries a bunch of her favourite flowers and he hopes no one sees him. If he’s spotted with a bunch of lilies he'll never live it down.

  As he opens the door his smile drops. Rachel is red eyed, as though she’s been crying, her bags packed. The flowers fall from his hand.

  “What's going on?” He's almost afraid to ask the question because he knows what the answer will be.

  “I'm leaving,” she replies hoarsely. “It's not working.”

  He feels like he's been hit by a bus. “But...I thought we were happy.”

  “We were but not anymore,” she says, a tear sliding down her cheek.

  He knows this is all wrong, he knows she is lying. “Why are you doing this Rach? We’re great together.”

  She tries to sound as cold as possible. “No we’re not.”

  She picks up her bags and attempts to walk past him but he grabs her arm and pulls her close.

  “I'm not letting you do this.” He is horrified to feel tears welling in his eyes, it makes him feel foolish.

  “You can't stop me,” she says firmly.

  “Oh yeah?” He kisses her and she responds passionately. He cups her face in his hands, heart pounding with fear that he’s going to lose her. “You see?”

  “I'm sorry,” she whispers before pulling away.

  She strokes his face with her fingertips before forcing herself to walk out, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving him devastated.

  CHAPTER 4

  Rachel strolls down the high street clutching a rake of shopping bags, feeling wretched. Not even some retail therapy has improved her mood. Her mobile phone rings and she pulls it out of her pocket to see Beth’s number flashing up on the screen. She sighs and puts it back, not in the mood for talking to anyone. It's been a week since she left Danny and the pain isn't letting up. He still rings her several times a day. After the first few days she stopped answering, hoping he'd get the message but he hasn't. Even Beth knows something's wrong about it all but Rachel can't tell her. Frank had paid Rachel another visit a couple of days after his first. He'd had the cheek to come round to her parent's house where she’s staying until she finds another place, after all she can't return to her old flat. Thankfully her parents had both been out at the time. If they'd known Frank Maguire had been in their house they'd have gone apoplectic. He'd given her more threats against Danny, just to make sure she wouldn't weaken and go back to him but there’s no danger of that. Any man willing to s
acrifice his own son's happiness just to save face is cold hearted enough to carry out his threats and she'll never do anything to hurt Danny. Christ she misses him.

  She is snapped out of her reverie when a woman a few feet ahead of her drops to the pavement and starts fitting. Rachel crouches beside her, takes off her jacket and slides it under her head to stop her injuring herself. Then she phones for an ambulance. The woman is middle-aged and attractive with blond hair and bright blue eyes.

  “Quick, prise her jaw open before she swallows her tongue,” screeches an hysterical bystander. “We can use these spoons I've just bought.”

  “Keep back,” says Rachel. “There's no danger of that until the fit has ended. The tongue is a muscle and goes rigid during a fit, like all the other muscles. The only danger is of her biting it off.”

  “And how do you know that?” demands the woman.

  “I'm a nurse.”

  “Oh,” replies the woman sheepishly.

  “Idiot,” Rachel mutters.

  When the fit ends the woman’s eyes slowly flicker open, struggling to focus on Rachel’s face. Rachel puts her in the recovery position then holds her hand and speaks soft, reassuring words. A police officer shows up to move on the gawpers just as the paramedics arrive.

  “Alright Rachel,” chirps one of them. “Never off duty, eh?”

  She briefs them on what happened then watches as they carefully put the woman in the ambulance and drive away. Rachel's phone rings again and she tuts in annoyance when she sees Beth’s name. She rejects the call and puts it back in her pocket.

  Rachel turns up to work feeling even more depressed. The moment she arrives on the ward she is confronted by an angry Beth.

  “Why the hell didn't you answer your phone? I've been trying to get hold of you all bloody day.”

  “Sorry but I wasn't in a talking mood.”

  “I was trying to let you know that Danny was brought in last night.”

  Rachel visibly pales. “What happened? Is he alright?”

  “He was stabbed in the stomach.”