The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘To make your acquaintance,’ he replied, his voice lightly mocking now. ‘This is just a friendly pre-visit, so to speak – to let you know that we can get to you, any time, anywhere. You’ve been having a lot of trouble lately, and I think it’s time we stopped fucking about and got us a little system going. Understand?’ Smiling when she nodded, his eyes glittered like jet in the scant light. ‘Good girl, Jenna. Because it winds me up like fuck having to say the same thing twice, so things should be nice and easy next time we meet, eh?’

  Jenna’s heart felt like a shard of ice had fallen through it. He knew her name!

  ‘For the record,’ he went on, stroking a finger down her cheek now. ‘If I hear that you’ve been talking to the police, we’ll be paying you another little visit – at that nice little apartment of yours. Ten Clifton Quay House, yeah?’ Smiling again as he watched the information sink in, he added, ‘Nice plants you got for the balcony last week, by the way. And the new kettle’s pretty funky, too.’

  Jenna was barely breathing now. They knew her name, where she lived, and that she’d bought new plants and a kettle. They must have been watching her. Or, worse – been inside her apartment. But how? It was alarmed, and the doors were manned by security, and there were CCTV cameras in all the corridors.

  ‘Bye for now, sexy,’ the man said now. ‘And don’t forget – no police, or you and me are gonna have real problems.’

  Turning from her abruptly then, he and his friends walked out the way they’d come.

  Holding her breath until she was sure they’d gone, Jenna rushed to the gate and relocked it, then ran to the back door, her heart beating furiously in her chest as she scrabbled to get the key into the lock.

  ‘That you, Jenna?’ Fabian asked, coming through from the bar with a glass of brandy in his hand when he heard the back door slam shut. Seeing the panicked look on her face, he put the glass down on the table and rushed to her.

  ‘What’s happened? Are you all right?’

  ‘Some m-men,’ she stuttered. ‘They came in when I opened the gate and p-pushed me into the corner.’

  ‘What did they do to you?’ Fabian asked, his eyes full of concern as he took her arm and led her to a chair. ‘Did they touch you?’

  Shaking her head, Jenna sat down. ‘Not really.’

  Frowning, Fabian went to the back door.

  ‘Don’t!’ she yelped, thinking that he was going to open it and go looking for the men. ‘There were four of them.’

  Tugging the bolts across, he said, ‘Don’t worry – I wasn’t being a hero. I just wanted to make sure they couldn’t get in if they came back.’ Reaching for his glass now, he handed it to her. ‘Take it,’ he insisted when she shook her head. ‘You need it. You’re shaking like a leaf.’

  Thanking him, Jenna sipped the drink and exhaled nervously when the liquid burned a soothing path down her throat.

  ‘Tell me what happened,’ Fabian said, pulling a chair up beside hers and reaching for her hand. ‘What did they look like?’

  ‘Quite big,’ she said, squinting as she tried to recall the details. ‘They were wearing dark clothes, but three of them had their hoods up so I couldn’t really see them. They were white, though, I think. And the main one had short black hair, and brown eyes.’

  ‘Are you sure? It is dark outside.’

  ‘I’m sure. He had a gold hoop earring in his right ear, with a little thing hanging off it – like a boxing glove, or something. And a thick gold neck-chain with a dog on it.’

  ‘Well, that’s good. The police should be able to do something with—’

  ‘No!’ Jenna glanced up, her eyes filled with fear. ‘No police.’

  Patting her hand to calm her down, Fabian said, ‘I know you’ve had a shock, Jenna, but we can’t just leave this or they’ll think they’ve got away with it and come back.’

  ‘They are coming back,’ she murmured, sliding her hand free. ‘They said they’d be seeing me soon.’

  ‘Why? Are they after money?’

  ‘No, I offered them my purse, but they didn’t want it.’

  ‘I don’t get it,’ Fabian muttered. ‘If it wasn’t a mugging, and they didn’t touch you, what did they want?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jenna admitted quietly. ‘But they said they’d be coming back to get a system going, or something. I’m not quite sure. Then they said they’d come to my apartment if I talked to the police.’

  Bubba had come in while they were talking. Hearing this, he came over and straddled a chair. ‘Sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing, and if you want my advice you’ll keep zipped about this until you know what they’re after, ’cos the Babs won’t be able to do nothing but have a word, and that’s just gonna piss them off.’

  ‘Babs?’ Jenna repeated confusedly.

  ‘Babylon,’ Bubba said. Then, seeing that she was still none the wiser: ‘Five-O?’

  ‘Police,’ Fabian explained.

  ‘Yeah, them,’ Bubba said. ‘They could really fuck it up if you send them after these blokes when they haven’t really done anything. And you can’t be doing with that – not if they know where your pad is.’

  ‘Are you sure they know where you live?’ Fabian chipped in. ‘They might just have been saying that to frighten you.’

  Taking another sip of the brandy, Jenna said, ‘They knew I’d got a new kettle. How would they have known about it unless they’d seen it?’

  ‘Did they actually describe it?’ Fabian asked, raising an eyebrow. When she shook her head, he smiled reassuringly. ‘There you go, then. We had a fair bit of publicity after we opened, don’t forget, so most of Manchester probably knows you moved back to take over your dad’s club. It wouldn’t be too hard to figure out that you’d have bought yourself a new kettle, would it?’

  Looking up at him, annoyed by his patronising tone, Jenna said, ‘So how did they know about the new plants I bought for my balcony last week, then? That’s pretty specific, don’t you think?’

  ‘They must be watching you,’ Bubba said immediately, echoing the conclusion that Jenna had already reached. ‘And if they are, it ain’t worth trying to second-guess them.’

  ‘So what’s she supposed to do?’ Fabian argued, irritated that Bubba was contradicting him when he was trying to get Jenna to calm down. ‘They’re obviously trying it on, seeing if she’s scared enough to do what they say. They’re probably watching from somewhere right now, waiting to see if she’s called the police. If they see a squad car pull up, we’ll probably never see them again. But when they don’t, they’ll know they’ve got to her, and they’ll keep coming back.’

  ‘They’ll come back either way,’ Bubba said, shrugging as he added, ‘that’s how these guys work.’ Looking at Jenna now, he said, ‘What was that you said about getting a system going?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jenna murmured, trying to remember. ‘I think he said he’d heard I’d been having trouble, and it was time to stop fucking about and get us a system going.’

  ‘Protection,’ Bubba declared. ‘They’ve obviously been behind all the shit that’s been happening, and now they’re going to charge you to make it stop.’

  ‘If that’s true, there’s not enough to pay them,’ Jenna said wearily. ‘The takings are so low that I was just considering closing down to cut my losses.’

  ‘You’re not serious?’ Fabian gasped. ‘You can’t do that. This place has been going for years. It’s an institution in Manchester.’

  ‘Do you think I don’t know that?’ Jenna snapped, guilt making her defensive. ‘I don’t want to close, I just can’t see a lot of choice. We’ve lost so many customers recently it isn’t even funny. And you can play spot-the-celebrity these days.’

  ‘Look, let’s just calm down and talk this over,’ Fabian said, desperate to find a solution. This was his club as much as it was hers. He’d been running it when her father was around, and he’d carried on when Jenna got here. It had been a little more of a challenge to manipulate her as easily as
he had James Lorde, but he’d managed, and he liked Zenith just how it was. If she were to close down now, he’d have to find a job somewhere else, and he didn’t want to have to go through the hassle.

  Sighing, Jenna shook her head. ‘I don’t want to talk right now, Fabian. I appreciate the concern, but I’m just too tired. I just want to go home and get my head down for a couple of hours, or I’ll never make it through tonight.’

  ‘Why not take tonight off?’ Bubba suggested. ‘I’m sure everyone will pull together and keep it running smooth. You need a break.’

  ‘I can’t,’ Jenna said, her eyes dark with worry. ‘I’d only be wondering what was happening here while I was away. What if those men come back and threaten anyone else? Or hurt someone, even.’

  ‘We’ll deal with it,’ Fabian said, agreeing with Bubba that Jenna was better off at home.

  ‘I can’t,’ she said again, more firmly this time. ‘It’d probably be even worse at home. I need to be here.’

  ‘Well, you know we’ve got your back,’ Bubba said. ‘Anything happens, we’re right in there.’

  ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that,’ Jenna said standing up. Anyway I’d better go, or I’ll have no time to get ready.’

  ‘Want us to walk you through the yard?’ Fabian offered.

  Shaking her head, Jenna said, ‘No. I’ll get a taxi out front.’

  ‘What about when you get home? Are you going to be all right going in?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll get the security guard to come in with me. Stop worrying, I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Ballsy lady,’ Bubba commented when she walked out.

  ‘Mmm,’ Fabian murmured. ‘Let’s just hope she doesn’t try to handle this on her own, or it could get a whole lot worse.’

  Going home, Jenna did exactly what she’d said she would and got the guard to come into the apartment with her. She had him check every room, window and door – under the pretext of being concerned about an ex-boyfriend breaking in – thanked him and gave him a ten-pound tip, asking him to let her know if he saw any suspicious men hanging around.

  Then, closing all the curtains and blinds, she turned on every light and took a shower. Feeling a little less tense after that, she poured herself a glass of juice and carried it into the bedroom, locking the door behind her. All she wanted to do was throw her hand in and run away. But she was shackled to the club now, up to her eyes in loan and mortgage repayments, and she couldn’t afford to even contemplate giving it up with all that hanging over her.

  Sighing, Jenna sat down heavily on the bed.

  Is this it? she thought, looking around. Am I going to spend the rest of my life locking myself into rooms, too scared to drive my own car home, having to ask a stranger to check out my apartment before I dare to go in?

  ‘No, I am not,’ she said out loud, slamming the glass down on the bedside table and reaching for her handbag.

  She might not be able to deal with this alone, but she knew one person who might be able to help.

  Taking the number out of her bag, Jenna reached for the phone.

  ‘Hello, Tony? Sorry to disturb you, but I think I need to see you . . .’

  14

  ‘Right, first things first,’ Tony said, sitting forward with his elbows on his knees. ‘You go back to work tonight as if nothing’s happened.’

  Frowning, Jenna plucked at the corner of a cushion. It was an hour since she’d called Tony, and he had arrived a short time ago with Eddie, and – for some strange reason – Leonard. Sitting with them in her apartment now, Jenna felt awkward, because it was the first time she’d had visitors since moving in, and they were all so big that they made her usually spacious lounge seem small and claustrophobic.

  ‘I don’t think I can do that,’ she said now. ‘What if they come back?’

  ‘Believe me, they won’t,’ Tony told her with absolute certainty.

  ‘How can you be so sure?’ she asked, sincerely doubting it.

  ‘Because I know how these guys work,’ Tony said, his voice calm, his eyes reassuring. ‘I will personally guarantee that you won’t be bothered again.’

  ‘I wish I could believe that,’ Jenna murmured wearily. ‘These last few weeks have been horrible. I just want to get things back to normal.’

  ‘I hate to say it,’ Tony said. ‘But I did warn you. Men like that prey on women like you, trying to run a business on your own. There’s too much money for them to resist.’

  ‘But that’s just it – there isn’t,’ Jenna said, glancing up with desperation in her eyes. ‘If there was, I’d probably pay them to keep them off my back. But there’s barely enough coming in now to pay the wages, never mind anything else.’

  ‘That bad?’ Tony asked.

  ‘Worse.’ Shaking her head, Jenna ran her hands through her hair. ‘God, I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’m in such a mess. I’ll be okay for another few weeks, but only because we did so well at the beginning. After that . . .’ She shrugged. ‘I’m seriously thinking of closing down.’

  ‘Oh, no, you mustn’t,’ Leonard chipped in. ‘Your dad wouldn’t want you to.’

  ‘I know.’ She sighed despondently. ‘But he wouldn’t want me to go through this, either.’

  ‘You don’t have to,’ Tony said. ‘Not now, because we’re going to help you.’

  Glancing up at him, Jenna gave him a defeated smile. ‘I hope you can.’

  ‘You know I can, or you wouldn’t have called me,’ Tony reminded her. ‘So, now I’m here, you’ve got to trust me enough to do what I say. And that means going back to work as if everything’s hunkydory, yeah?’

  ‘All right,’ Jenna agreed. ‘But can I call you if anything happens? Only I really don’t want to involve the police.’

  ‘Smart decision,’ Tony said, slipping one of his cigars out of the pack. ‘D’yuh mind?’

  Jenna would have preferred that he didn’t smoke in her lounge because the smell would linger for days. But if the alternative was the smell of her own blood when those men came round to ‘visit’, so be it.

  ‘I’ll get you an ashtray,’ she said, getting up. ‘Can I get anybody a drink?’

  ‘Scotch all round, if you’ve got it,’ Tony said, following her into the kitchen.

  Closing the door when they got there, he said, ‘You do know I’m going to sort this, don’t you?’ Holding on to her hand now when she passed him a saucer for his cigar ash, he added, ‘And there won’t be no comeback, ’cos when I deal with something it stays dealt with.’

  Looking into his eyes, Jenna saw the same dark intensity that she had seen when she’d first met him. She had sensed then that he would be deeply loyal to his chosen few, and deeply dangerous to many others. She was getting a taste of what that actually meant now, because he must consider her a friend or he wouldn’t be there.

  ‘Hey, what’s the matter?’ Tony asked when her eyes suddenly filled with tears. ‘Is there something you haven’t told me?’ Anger in his voice now, he said, ‘They didn’t touch you, did they? ’Cos if they did, they won’t just be dealt with, they’ll be—’

  ‘No.’ Shaking her head, Jenna bit her lip to bring herself under control. ‘I’m just glad you’re here,’ she said, aware that her chin was quivering. ‘I didn’t know who else to turn to.’

  Pulling her to him, Tony held her, saying quietly. ‘Well, I’m glad you chose me, ’cos I got a lot of time for you. You know that, right?’

  Feeling safe for the first time in weeks, Jenna rested her head against his broad chest and nodded.

  ‘I told you a while back that you and me would make a good team,’ he told her then. ‘And I offered to be your partner. Do you remember that?’

  Sniffing softly, Jenna gave another nod.

  ‘Well, I’m offering the same thing now,’ Tony went on. ‘Only I want you to really think about it this time, ’cos I can stop these men coming near you again, but what’s gonna happen when the next lot decide to try it on and I’m not here to protect you?’
Feeling Jenna tense in his arms, he rubbed her back soothingly. ‘Hey, I’m not trying to scare you, but you gotta be realistic. You got more than just these guys to worry about, by the sound of it, and I can help you all round. We can help each other, in fact, ’cos I got the money you need, and you got what I need to be able to stay over here.’

  Jenna’s mind was whirling. She hadn’t wanted a partner. Her dad had done without help for twenty-odd years, and she’d wanted to do the same. But the thought of going through more of what she’d been through recently just sapped all the fight out of her. And Tony was right – what would she do if this happened again and he wasn’t here to help her? And, as he’d said, he needed her just as much as she needed him. Could she really deny him the chance to make a go of it over here when he was putting himself out for her like this?

  ‘Okay,’ she murmured, feeling a rush of relief as soon as the word was out.

  ‘Okay?’ Easing her away from him, Tony gazed down at her. ‘You said that, right?’

  Looking up at him, Jenna smiled. ‘Yeah, I said it. I’ll let you buy into the club. On one condition.’

  ‘Name it.’

  ‘I keep fifty-one per cent. It might seem petty, but the extra one is for my dad.’

  Mulling it over for a second, Tony nodded. ‘You got a deal. But I’ve got a condition of my own.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Jenna reached behind her for the kitchen roll. Ripping a piece off, she blew her nose.

  ‘That you draw the contracts up in Lenny’s name,’ Tony said, perching on the back of one of the kitchen chairs now. ‘It’s my money, and I’ll be your actual partner, but that’s the way I want it.’

  ‘It’s not illegal, is it?’ Jenna asked worriedly.

  ‘Hey, come on, now.’ Tony drew his head back. ‘Do I look like a dodgy guy to you?’

  ‘No, but . . .’ Pausing, Jenna shrugged. ‘It just seems weird.’

  ‘Granted it ain’t the most conventional way to do business,’ Tony said. ‘But if you knew what I’ve been through since I got here, you’d understand. I was walking around with a million dollars in my pocket and nowhere to put it before Lenny offered me a helping hand. That’s why I want to do this for him now. We both know how bad he wants to be part of the whole club scene, and this is my way of thanking him for everything he’s done. With the added benefit of me getting my feet through the door, without the hassle of having to produce papers I ain’t got and can’t get.’