The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘What should I do?’ Jenna asked, feeling a little safer now.

  ‘Nothing,’ Vibes said. ‘If you’re not in any immediate danger, don’t say or do anything out of the ordinary. Just do what you usually do so you don’t raise his suspicions. Let him think everything’s fine, so he can’t blame you when the Feds move in on him.’

  Exhaling shakily, Jenna said, ‘Okay, I’ll try. But I hope they don’t take too long.’

  ‘I don’t know what they’ll have to put in place to do it,’ Vibes said. ‘They might have to liaise with your cops, or your government, or something, to get permission to come after him. But if they want him bad enough, they’ll get to him. It’s just a matter of holding out till they make their move.’

  ‘Right, well, I’ll pretend I don’t know anything,’ Jenna promised. ‘But please hurry up and get here.’

  ‘Soon as I can, I’ll be there,’ he assured her. ‘Do me a favour,’ he said then. ‘Go see Kalli – make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. Not that she’ll mean to, but she’s seriously worried about you and she might give something away.’

  ‘I was about to call her when you rang,’ Jenna told him. ‘I was going to take her out for coffee.’

  ‘Do it,’ Vibes said. ‘I’ll call you later, to make sure everything’s all right.’

  Hanging up, Jenna leaned her head back and hugged the phone to her breast. Swiping the tears away after a moment, she called Kalli and arranged to meet her. Then she turned the car around and set off back to Manchester.

  She’d have to act as if nothing were out of the ordinary for the next few days, and it would be hard now that she knew exactly what Tony Allen was really about. But, with luck, then it would be over.

  22

  The men came out of the airport and paused to light cigarettes. They had one small suitcase each, containing just the essentials for a week-long stay, although they had no intention of staying that long if they didn’t have to. Hailing one of the waiting cabs when they had finished their smokes, they climbed into the back with their cases on their laps.

  ‘Waterford Hotel,’ one of them told the driver.

  ‘Americans?’ he asked, setting off. ‘I got a sister lives up that way. You might know her? She lives up in Richmond. Name’s Pat Hillman.’

  ‘Maybe,’ the man replied, his eyes hidden by dark shades.

  They stayed silent for the rest of the journey. Paying the driver when he pulled up around the corner from the Waterford, they got out and walked around to take a look at the hotel. Watching the front doors for a while, they gave each other a nod and entered the foyer.

  ‘Two singles,’ one of them said to the receptionist.

  ‘Certainly, sir.’ She smiled. ‘If I could just take your details?’

  Handing their room passes to them when they had been processed, she said, ‘Would you like one of our porters to carry your cases up for you?’

  ‘No, thanks, we can manage,’ he told her, smiling. ‘Have a nice day, ma’am.’

  ‘Oh, I love it when you people say that,’ she giggled. ‘It sounds just like The Blues Brothers. We’ve another American gentleman on the third floor who sounds just like you, and it makes me go all weak when he says it.’

  ‘That right?’ the man said, still smiling as he walked away.

  Melody was asleep on the couch when she heard the knock on the door. Groaning, she picked herself up and hobbled to answer it. It had been two days since Tony had beaten her half to death, and she hadn’t set foot out of the room since. Even if Tony had let her – which he definitely wouldn’t – she wouldn’t have wanted to, because she was too ashamed of the bruises.

  Thinking that this would be the room-service boy delivering the painkillers she’d sent down for earlier, she opened the door a crack and stuck her hand out.

  Knocked back by the force of the man’s shoulder barging the door, she landed in a heap of agony halfway across the room.

  ‘Who are you?’ she screamed when the man and his friend came in, closing the door behind them. ‘Don’t you fucking touch me!’ Opening her mouth, she screamed at the top of her voice.

  Pulling a gun out of his pocket, the man slammed it butt-down on her nose. Then, waiting to see if anybody had heard the scream and was coming to investigate, the two men relaxed after a few minutes and set about searching the room.

  23

  Tony and Eddie found the duty manager waiting for them when they got back to the hotel at four that morning.

  ‘Excuse me, sir, but could I have a quick word?’ he said, approaching them nervously.

  ‘Yeah, what?’ Tony grunted, hoping this wasn’t some stupid shit that could have waited till morning.

  ‘It just that, well, some of the other guests have been complaining about the noises coming from your room while you’ve been staying with us,’ the manager told him, feeling more awkward than he’d ever felt in his life before. ‘Now, I realise that people do argue,’ he went on, trying to be diplomatic. ‘But I’m afraid that this cannot be allowed to continue.’

  ‘What you getting at?’ Tony interrupted snappily. ‘I ain’t uttered a sound in days.’

  ‘With respect,’ the manager said, ‘the, um, screams were loud enough to reach the guests on the floor below your suite this evening.’

  ‘Screams?’ Tony narrowed his eyes.

  ‘Yes, and as it isn’t the first time your, um, wife has been heard to scream in that manner, I’m afraid it’s fallen to me to ask that you refrain from whatever activity you’re involved in that may be causing it.’

  ‘You couldn’t just say that in plain fucking English, could you?’ Tony snarled. ‘I haven’t got a fucking clue what you’re talking about. I’ve been out all night. I’ve just this second got back.’

  ‘Well, then maybe you could speak to your wife?’ The manager raised an eyebrow. ‘I did try knocking earlier, after the other guests complained of the noise of furniture being moved about up there. I didn’t get an answer. But I would have been within my rights to use my pass key to gain entry. It was only the fact that you’ve been with us for so long that prevented me from doing so. But I would appreciate it if you could resolve the matter so that we don’t have to have any more complaints.’

  ‘The furniture being moved about?’ Tony said, looking at him with dark eyes. ‘Was that before or after the screams?’

  ‘After,’ the manager said. ‘Which was why I eventually went up there. But I don’t really think—’

  Trailing off as Tony and Eddie abruptly walked away, he turned to the receptionist and flapped his hands.

  Taking the stairs at a run, Tony and Eddie came out at the third floor and walked cautiously up to the door of Tony’s suite. Pressing his ear to the wood, Tony listened for a minute. Hearing nothing, he took his phone out and called Melody on her mobile. They could hear it ringing inside, but Melody didn’t answer. Cutting his phone off, Tony eased the door handle down. Just as he’d expected, the door was unlocked. Cracking it open, he stayed to the side and peered in. Melody was lying on the floor a few feet in, her face a bloody mess, her nightdress pulled up over her bruised thighs, her legs spread wide and displaying her nakedness.

  Muttering ‘Fuck!’Tony waved Eddie in and told him to watch the door. Then, creeping quietly around the room he checked every corner and cupboard. Then he went into the bedroom and did the same in there and in the bathroom. Satisfied that no one was hiding, he switched the lamp on.

  Illuminated, Melody looked even worse. Her tongue was hanging out of the corner of her mouth and her bulging eyes were already clouded. She’d been strangled, raped and, for good measure, shot through the middle of her forehead.

  Gazing down at her, Tony shook his head, then reached for the quilt off the couch and threw it over her. Sticking his hand down the back of the couch then, he dragged all his money out.

  Stuffing everything he had into one of his cases, he and Eddie left the room, locking the door behind them, and made their escape through the
fire exit.

  24

  ‘Have you seen the news?’ Kalli gasped when Jenna answered the phone.

  ‘No, I’m on my way to the airport,’ Jenna told her. ‘Why, what’s up?’

  ‘Melody Fisher’s been murdered. They found her at her hotel, and the police are looking for Tony and Eddie.’

  Swerving onto the hard shoulder, Jenna pulled up and grabbed the phone from its hands-free holder. ‘You’re joking?’

  ‘No, it’s all over the news. Big pictures of her, and everything. They reckon she was shot through the head. It’s so awful. She looks so beautiful in the pictures, but to think of her shot dead like that, it just makes you feel weird.’

  ‘Right, I’ll pick up some papers when I’ve met Vibes,’ Jenna said, restarting the engine. ‘Stay at home. I’ll come there as soon as I get back.’

  ‘With Vibes?’ Kalli asked.

  ‘Of course. He’s dying to see you.’

  Vibes saw Jenna as soon as she walked through the automatic doors. Swallowing hard, because she looked just as beautiful as ever, he got up and called out to her.

  Turning, Jenna saw him and threw a hand over her mouth.

  Seconds later she was in his arms, kissing him and telling him that she loved him too.

  25

  ‘No, Mr Allen was not my partner,’ Jenna told DI Seddon, who was questioning her along with two American detectives. ‘He was a customer. Mr Drake here is my partner.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right,’ Leonard affirmed, aware that Avril was glaring at him, making sure that he didn’t get the story wrong. ‘As Miss Lorde has already told you, Mr Allen was a customer. Unfortunately, however, I allowed him into my life when I agreed to sell some of my paintings to him. He – Tony, that is – paid for them with a banker’s draft, which I deposited in my account. But not long after, he began to call on me for favours, and before I knew it he was demanding money, and threatening to hurt my wife if I didn’t pay.’

  ‘And you never thought to report this to the police?’ Seddon asked, frowning.

  ‘I’m not the bravest of men,’ Leonard admitted, blushing deeply. ‘And I’m afraid I took his threats at face value.’

  ‘So, none of this business belonged to Anthony Cerrullo?’ Detective Martinez chipped in, looking Leonard over with a scornful sneer.

  ‘None whatsoever,’ Jenna told him, drawing his attention to herself to give Leonard a break. He was having a hard enough time keeping it together as it was without these men looking down on him. Getting up, she took the contracts out of her safe and showed them. ‘See, just me and Mr Drake.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Knight said, looking them over and handing them back.

  ‘Has anybody come over to identify them?’ Jenna asked, afraid that she might be faced with a whole new problem if Tony’s relatives tried to stake a claim on his shares. If he’d told them the arrangement, and they were anything like him, they’d be bound to try and muscle in.

  ‘We don’t know of any family, as yet,’ Martinez replied, giving her a whole different look than the one he’d been giving Leonard. ‘But it’s highly unlikely that their own mothers could ID them, the state they’re in. The ID we found scattered about the canal bank in back of the hotel indicates that they were the bodies of Cerrullo and Derby – or Tony Allen and Eddie, as you knew them. We’ll go on that for now, see what the DNA turns up when we get them back to the States. Maybe we’ll trace family that way.’ Pausing, he shrugged. ‘Someone’s got to bury them, and it sure as hell ain’t gonna be at our expense.’

  Shaking her head, Jenna exhaled loudly. ‘I can’t say I particularly liked them, but it’s horrible to think of them being shot in the face like that.’

  ‘Typical Mafia execution,’ Martinez informed her knowledgeably. ‘We deal with this kind of shi—stuff every day back home.’

  ‘So, have you any idea who did it?’

  ‘Oh, yeah, and our guys are already onto it,’ Martinez told her, puffing his chest out proudly. These English cops were so disorganised, they hadn’t even thought to check the hotel register after they found the bodies. If they had, they’d have found out about the two American-Italians who had booked in earlier that day, then disappeared without so much as touching their minibars or beds. And they might then have followed it up, as Martinez and Knight had, and learned that the men had caught an early-morning flight back to New York.

  ‘Right, well, we’d best get moving,’ Knight said now. There was nothing worth sticking around for, and Bill looked to be getting a little too friendly with the lady boss. ‘Nice meeting you folks. Sorry to put you out with this.’

  ‘It’s no problem,’ Jenna assured him, standing up to show them out. ‘I’m just sorry we couldn’t be more help.’

  Walking them down to the front door, Jenna shook Knight’s and Martinez’s hands and wished them a safe journey home. Thanking DI Seddon then, she said, ‘You will let us know if you find Melody’s family, won’t you? I’d hate to think of her being buried with no one to pay their respects.’

  ‘I’ll keep in touch,’ Seddon promised. Lowering his voice then so that Knight and Martinez wouldn’t hear, he said, ‘Think yourself lucky you weren’t involved with Cerrullo, ’cos I’ve got a feeling these guys would have been all over your club and your accounts.’

  ‘Well, there’s nothing here for them,’ Jenna told him, folding her arms. ‘And there never will be, because I’ve got no intention of ever letting anyone worm their way into my club.’

  ‘Good for you,’ Seddon said approvingly.

  ‘Do you think they were convinced?’ Avril asked when the detectives had left and Jenna had come back.

  ‘I think so,’ Vibes said, reaching for Jenna’s hand. ‘You did good, Princess.’

  Gazing into his beautiful eyes, she smiled. ‘Thanks.’

  Winking at her, Vibes turned back to Leonard and Avril. ‘Bet you’re glad it’s all over.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Leonard said, sighing softly. ‘It’s been quite an ordeal, I must admit. I was, um, thinking,’ he said then. ‘Maybe we should think about having the ownership reverted back to Jenna, now that Tony is no longer around.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Avril chipped in firmly. ‘With respect, Jenna, my husband’s name is on the contract as a legitimate partner.’

  ‘Yes, and I’m quite happy for it to stay that way,’ Jenna assured her. Turning to Leonard then, she smiled. ‘I’ve thought it through, and it seems a waste to let everything slip now. So, if you’re willing, I’d be quite happy for you to pick up where Tony left off and continue running your private members’ club.’

  ‘Really?’ Leonard gasped, hardly able to believe his good fortune. ‘Well, of course, I’d be delighted. Oh, but there are a few changes I’d wish to make,’ he said then, casting a quick glance at Avril. ‘I wasn’t too happy with the waitresses, you see.’

  Chuckling softly, Jenna said, ‘I’m not really surprised. I never thought they’d suit your more upmarket clientele, but Tony wanted them, so what could I do? Just send them back in here. I’ll put them back on their regular posts.’

  ‘I’m not sure you’d want to do that if you knew what they’d been doing in there,’ Leonard told her quietly. ‘I’m afraid they weren’t very . . . nice.’

  ‘Oh?’ Vibes peered at him with a smile in his eyes. ‘How so?’

  ‘They were lap-dancing and prostituting,’ Avril told him bluntly. ‘If I’d known, I would have put a stop to it there and then. But Leonard isn’t the most forceful of characters, as you’ve probably surmised, and he went along with Tony Allen’s orders not to tell me. Didn’t you, dear?’ She gave Leonard a spiky smile.

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ he muttered, folding his arms.

  ‘Well, I can’t keep them on if they were doing that,’ Jenna said. ‘I’ll let them go when they come in tonight. Better still, I’ll find their numbers and call them, so I don’t even have to look at them.’ Sighing, she shook her head. ‘Never mind. There’s plenty more will be
glad of the work. But in the meantime, you’ll have to choose some of the others, I suppose.’

  ‘Oh, right,’ Leonard said, licking his lips nervously. ‘Well, um, if you’re in agreement, I wouldn’t mind taking that polite girl from the VIP bar.’

  ‘Not Kalli,’ Jenna said quickly. ‘Sorry, but I can’t lose her. In fact, I’m planning to promote her to bar manager. She’s been practically running the place anyway, and now that Maurice has decided to retire I think she’s the perfect replacement.’

  ‘No, no, not her,’ Leonard said. ‘The other one – the quiet one. Diane. That’s it.’

  ‘Oh, right, well, fine.’ Jenna shrugged. ‘I’m sure she’d be an asset. Anyone else in mind?’

  ‘Um, yes, maybe the boy who works with her – Austin, I think his name is.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Avril snorted.

  ‘He’s very good,’ Jenna told her. ‘And he and Diane do work well together.’

  ‘No, dear, I don’t think he’s at all suitable,’ Avril said firmly. ‘Leonard will take another of the young ladies, won’t you, Leonard?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ he murmured, looking down at his hands. She obviously knew. And if she knew, it was over.

  Tapping on the door just then, Kalli popped her head in. ‘Anybody want anything? Only I’m about to go.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Vibes said, smiling up at her. ‘We’ll walk you out.’ Standing up, still holding Jenna’s hand, he said, ‘If everybody’s ready?’

  ‘Yes, absolutely,’ Leonard said, jumping lightly to his feet, already over Austin because the future looked quite bright without him. ‘We shall see you tonight, then.’ Turning to Jenna, he bowed. ‘Partner.’

  Smiling, Jenna looped her arm through Vibes’s and held on tight as they all walked out together. Now that she’d got him back, she was never letting go again.

  EPILOGUE