Her father had a cut lip, and blood was trickling down his chin.
“You’re a heartless bastard, Martin!” Uncle Tony said furiously, pointing in her father’s direction.
Ruby had never seen her uncle look so furious in all the years she’d known him. She gawped at the blood on her father’s face. Had Uncle Tony hit him?
“Get out of my sight,” her father roared, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand.
Ruby stared at the pair of them in disbelief. What on earth had they argued about?
Ruby noticed that Jimmy was trying to get her father’s attention by tugging on his sleeve. She winced. Did the kid have no sense of danger?
Her father shook him off and began to walk away.
“I’m Jimmy,” he called after Ruby’s father.
Her father turned around and snarled, “So what?”
Jimmy looked vulnerable and scared, and Ruby really felt for him. She wanted to stop him and clamp her hand over his mouth to make him shut up because she knew he was only going to get hurt.
“I think you’re my father,” Jimmy said in a small voice.
Ruby’s father paused, and his eyes scanned Jimmy’s face. “You’re a Diamond, aren’t you?”
The relief was clear on Jimmy’s face, and a smile tugged up the corners of his mouth. “Yes, that’s right. My mother –” Jimmy began to say, but her father interrupted him.
“Your mother was a whore, who would open her legs to anyone. You ain’t my son.”
Her father turned on his heel and began to stalk up the street. “Ruby, get a sodding move on, girl!”
Ruby turned to rush after her father, but at the last moment, she sent an apologetic glance at Jimmy.
The poor kid didn’t say anything. He just stood there, watching them walk away.
Ruby hadn’t expected it to go well, but her father’s reaction had been even worse than she’d anticipated.
She glanced back at Jimmy and couldn’t help feeling sorry for the poor boy.
CHAPTER 43
Gary Carter crossed the yard and headed to the workshop. He had to update Dave on the latest news after the arrests at the Patterson’s boxing club, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
When it had all kicked off, Gary hadn’t been expecting it. If he had known he would have to have a meeting with his brother, he wouldn’t have touched the coke. He’d only had a little sniff, just enough to get going, but Dave had some kind of obsession with Gary’s use of drugs, and he was like a bloody bloodhound. It wasn’t as if Gary was really an addict. He just did a little coke now and again to keep him alert.
His brother didn’t understand that, though, and the last thing Gary needed was Dave threatening to cut him off again. He ran a hand over his face and tried to focus. He needed to keep calm and speak evenly so Dave wouldn’t suspect he’d taken anything.
He should be all right. It had been over an hour since Gary had taken it, and the effects were already wearing off. They didn’t seem to last very long these days at all, and he seemed to need more and more to have the same effect. Gary suspected the quality of the drugs must have gone downhill. He didn’t even want to consider the fact that he could be building up a tolerance to the drug.
He’d managed to kick it for a little while, but it was so hard to stay away permanently.
Inside the workshop, the usual suspects were there along with Dave. Little Georgie was filling up the bucket ready to start washing the cars, and Gary noticed his usual sidekick, Jimmy Diamond, was missing.
Dave looked up sharply as Gary entered the workshop.
“What’s the latest?” he asked.
Everyone in the garage turned to look at Gary. They had all heard the news about the drugs bust down at the docks, and they knew the Mortons were involved.
They also knew that Dave had somehow been behind it.
The trouble was, Dave wasn’t going to be happy when he heard Martin had managed to escape scot-free, and unfortunately for Gary, he was the one who had to deliver the bad news.
“The police arrested Babs.”
Dave cursed and sat down heavily on a metal stool, set back by one of the workbenches. “And Martin?”
Gary shook his head. “He’s going about business as usual. He wasn’t there apparently. It was just Babs on her own.”
Dave shook his head. “Why would she have gone alone?” He clenched his teeth in frustration.
“Gerald is in hospital. He was stabbed, but luckily for him, it wasn’t a life-threatening wound,” Gary added.
Charlie stood close by but said nothing, and Brian returned to work on one of the motors. Big Tim loomed behind them as he watched the exchange between Dave and his brother.
“I don’t understand why the police were involved, though, bruv,” Gary said. “I mean you wouldn’t have tipped them off would you?”
Dave looked up sharply. “What do you take me for? A grass? Of course, I didn’t. I just let the Fang family know that the Pattersons were their new competitors. I figured the Fangs would come down on Martin Morton like a ton of bricks.” Dave shook his head. “I was so sure he was going to be there. I can’t believe he let Babs go on her own.”
“Well, at least you got one Morton out of the way, I suppose,” Gary said with a chuckle, trying to make light of it. “That’s better than nothing.”
Dave stood up and walked away, too angry to even talk to his brother any longer.
Gary shrugged and looked at Charlie. “It’s not my fault. I’m just delivering the news.”
Charlie nodded and then said quietly, “I think he had a bit of a soft spot for Babs. He’d been planning this for a while to coincide with Martin’s release so he won’t be happy.”
“Well, I didn’t expect him to hang out the bunting, but he doesn’t have to take it out on me,” Gary said moodily.
Charlie Williams narrowed his eyes and looked at Gary. “Are you all right? You seem a little on edge?”
Gary scowled. Charlie Williams still held a grudge against him after all these years. It hadn’t really been Gary’s fault, but Charlie had laid the blame on his door just because he’d taken a small amount of coke before doing a job, and Charlie had managed to get himself shot and then arrested.
Gary turned away from Charlie, feeling quite unwelcome. He wandered over to see where Big Tim was talking to young Georgie. Tim was asking Georgie where Jimmy had got to.
Gary was hardly listening. It didn’t sound very interesting. He was considering knocking off work for the day and heading to the pub, after all, it didn’t seem like any of them would miss him. His presence was obviously not required. But then he heard Tim say something that piqued his interest.
“What did you just say?” Gary asked loudly, attracting the attention of everybody in the workshop.
Little Georgie blinked up at his uncle. He didn’t like it when people raised their voices. “Jimmy’s father is Martin Morton. He just found out.”
Gary did a double take and then turned around to look at Charlie, who was standing close to his shoulder. “Did you know about this?”
Charlie cocked his head to one side. “I suspected. I remember hearing gossip at the time. Surely you heard people talking about it, too. I was the one who got locked away, not you.”
Gary scowled. Trust Charlie to bring that up again.
“Are you ever going to let sleeping dogs lie?” Gary asked.
Before they could continue their squabble further, Dave walked over and crouched down beside his son. “Is Jimmy all right?”
Little Georgie nodded. “I think so.”
“Well, we can’t have him hanging around here anymore, can we?” Gary said. “He’s going to have divided loyalties that’s for sure.”
“I’ll have a word with him,” Dave said.
“What?” Gary now knew that Dave really had gone off his rocker. They couldn’t have a little bastard like Jimmy Diamond hanging around, not now they knew that his father was their biggest rival.<
br />
But Dave turned away from him and looked over at the man who had just walked into the workshop. Knuckles Bancroft.
The grey-haired ex-boxer shuffled up to them, and Dave patted him on the shoulder and then took him off to the office, no doubt for payment.
Gary guessed that answered one question. Knuckles Bancroft must’ve been the snitch providing Dave with information about Patterson’s business.
Brian was still at work on the motor, and Charlie had gone to help him. Tim was helping Georgie wash the motors, and Dave was dealing with Knuckles Bancroft.
Everybody had a job to do apart from Gary. He shrugged. He knew when he wasn’t wanted. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled out of the workshop, heading for the pub.
* * *
Jimmy Diamond was absolutely devastated, and he turned to the only person he had always been able to rely on: his nan.
Visiting hours at the hospital were long over, but Jimmy didn’t care. He snuck past the nursing station, creeping past a nurse, who was chatting with a porter in the corridor outside the ward.
The lights on the ward had already been dimmed for the night, and the blinds had been drawn.
The only sounds were the slight muffled snores and groans of the patients. Jimmy snuck past them all and headed to his nan’s bed at the end of the ward.
She had her eyes closed. She wasn’t lying flat but was propped up on her pillows.
There was a chair by the bed, and Jimmy kneeled on it and leaned over to grab hold of his nan’s hand. He knew he shouldn’t be bothering her because she was ill, but he felt so alone and hurt he needed her to put her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay.
* * *
Mary Diamond’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw her grandson beside her.
She thought she was dreaming at first. They said your life flashes before your eyes before you go, and she thought perhaps this might be her time, but as her hands brushed through his hair, she realised he wasn’t a figment of her imagination.
As poor little Jimmy’s body was wracked with sobs, Mary pushed herself up in bed, horrified. “What on earth has happened, Jimmy?”
At first, the boy was too distraught to talk, then the story came out in spits and spurts as he described his run-in with Martin Morton.
Mary felt like cold ice had spread across her heart as she heard the way the nasty bastard had treated her grandson.
“I told you to stay away, Jimmy. Why didn’t you listen to me?”
Jimmy shook his head and tearfully said, “I’m sorry. I just wanted to know who my dad was.”
“He’s a nasty piece of work, Jimmy. And you are not to let him upset you. He may be your father, but you’ve got none of the Morton in you, my boy. You’re a Diamond, through and through.”
As Jimmy’s sobs returned, Mary could do nothing but hold the poor boy as he cried his heart out.
* * *
Jimmy had never felt so miserable in his life. Of course, Martin’s reaction had been like a kick in the teeth, but it wasn’t only that. Deep down, Jimmy knew there was something bad about him. But he couldn’t confess that to his nan or to Linda.
They both thought Jimmy was a good boy, with none of Martin Morton’s traits, but they didn’t know the truth.
Jimmy was just as bad as Martin Morton. He’d told a terrible lie to Dave Carter because he wanted to get Linda’s husband in trouble. He knew it was his fault. Geoff hadn’t committed suicide, Jimmy had gotten him killed.
It had been a decision made in haste, and Linda would despise him if she knew. He wasn’t even sure if his nan would be able to forgive him for such a terrible thing.
What would Linda say if she knew Geoff hadn’t jumped from that bridge? He’d been pushed, and he’d been pushed because of what Jimmy had said.
He’d been so angry at Geoff’s treatment of Linda that Jimmy had wanted to get him back. He knew his lie would get Geoff into terrible trouble, and yet he hadn’t cared.
Jimmy tried to wipe away his tears because he knew he was upsetting his nan.
He was evil, and he didn’t want his nan to know what he was really like. He wanted to be a Diamond through and through just like she said, but deep down, Jimmy was scared he had more of Martin Morton’s characteristics buried inside him.
“Now, listen to me, Jimmy,” his nan said. “You must stay away from Martin Morton, do you hear me? He is dangerous.”
Before Jimmy could reply, he heard a startled exclamation from the entrance to the ward, and when he turned, he saw the nurse was rushing over towards them.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing, young man? Visiting hours were over ages ago.” She clapped her hands together until Jimmy stood up.
“Don’t be too hard on him nurse,” Mary said. “He’s had a bit of an upset today.”
The nurse’s stern features softened for a moment. “That doesn’t excuse him from entering the ward at this time of night. We have visiting hours for a reason. Our patients need their rest. Now, come along, young man.”
Jimmy kissed his nan goodbye and then followed the nurse sheepishly out of the ward.
He was going to have to go back to Linda’s now and hope she didn’t notice how guilty he felt over Geoff’s death. Linda had been so kind, allowing Jimmy to stay in her house, and she had no idea what he had done. If Jimmy had anything to do with it, she would never find out.
CHAPTER 44
L inda sat on the bed looking down at Geoff’s old shirts. She’d been trying to pack up his belongings. Her mother had told her it was a bad idea, and that she wasn’t ready to do it yet, but she didn’t know the real truth. Linda may have been a little shocked, but she wasn’t sad Geoff had gone. She was relieved. Her love for Geoff had died a long time ago. How could anyone have loved a monster like that?
Deep down, she felt the stirring of guilt and tried to ignore it. She kept trying to tell herself that she had nothing to feel guilty for. She wasn’t behind Geoff’s decision to commit suicide. He’d obviously been a very troubled man and had taken that out on Linda.
Linda could dwell on it and try to work out what had made Geoff the way he had been, but there wasn’t any point. The best thing she could do now was move on with her life and make a fresh start.
Of course, she would have to be careful not to be seen to be moving on too quickly as that would bring more gossip to her door, and she could do without that.
Linda began to fold a pair of Geoff’s old trousers when she heard the door open.
That had to be Jimmy. She’d prepared a shepherd’s pie for their supper, and it would be almost ready by now. She left the rest of Geoff’s clothes discarded on the bed and went downstairs.
When she saw Jimmy, she immediately knew he was upset. His eyes were red as if he’d been crying very recently.
Linda immediately thought something terrible had happened to Mary.
“What’s wrong, Jimmy?”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nothing.”
But Linda knew that wasn’t true. The boy looked thoroughly miserable.
She wondered whether he didn’t want to burden her because of Geoff’s suicide. Jimmy probably thought she had enough on her plate right now.
“Come and sit down,” Linda said kindly, leading him to the kitchen table. “I’ll just put the carrots on, and we can have dinner together in a few minutes.”
She lit the gas under the pot of carrots and then moved across to the table and sat beside Jimmy.
“I know something has happened to upset you, and I want you to tell me what it was. If you don’t tell me, I’m going to be up all night worrying, and that’s not very fair, is it?”
Jimmy turned his dark blue eyes on Linda, and he looked so sad, Linda wished there was something she could do to make him feel better.
After a pause, Jimmy took a deep breath and said, “I went to see my father.”
Linda put a hand to her throat. She had known that nothing good would come from Ma
ry telling Jimmy about his father. There had been plenty of gossip at the time, so Jimmy would have found out eventually, but right now, with all the turmoil going on and Martin Morton getting early release from prison, this was the worst possible time for Jimmy to learn about his father.
Jimmy’s eyes filled with tears as he told Linda he had spoken to Martin, and the man had said horrible things about his mother.
For a moment, Linda was too shocked to talk. She hadn’t liked Martin Morton at the time, and after everything that happened to Kathleen, she thought the world would be a much better place without Martin Morton.
She reached out and held Jimmy’s hand. “You mustn’t listen to him, Jimmy. He’s a very nasty man. Please, promise me you will never talk to him again or even go anywhere near him.”
She wanted Jimmy to understand the importance of staying away from Martin Morton, but she couldn’t say too much because she didn’t want to put the fear of God into the boy.
“That’s what Nan said, too. But it isn’t fair. He is my father, and I should make him understand.”
“No, you mustn’t,” Linda said urgently.
Jimmy continued as though he hadn’t even heard Linda’s comment, “I’ll make him take back those horrible things he said. I just approached him at the wrong time. He was angry because he had just had an argument with somebody.”
Linda’s head was spinning. She had to make the boy see sense. He could not go anywhere near Martin Morton. “No! Jimmy, it’s important. You mustn’t go near him.”
Linda’s hand was gripping his so tightly, Jimmy flinched.
“Why? Why should I have to stay away from him? He’s my father.”
“Because your mother was murdered, Jimmy.”
Jimmy paused and released his hand from Linda’s tight grip. “Do you think Martin Morton murdered my mother?” Jimmy asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Linda swallowed hard. She hadn’t meant to reveal so much to Jimmy, but she had to make sure he stayed away. Perhaps when Mary got out of hospital, she could persuade her to take the boy somewhere safer. She could feel Jimmy’s eyes burning into her, and she knew he would see through any lies she told him.
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