The Goldsworth Series Box Set

by Davie J Toothill

  “No, maybe not because he’s thick as a short plank,” Sanjay said. “But you better make sure he doesn’t find out. We need his help, and he knows way too much for us to let loose, which is exactly what will happen if he finds out you’re with his ex-girlfriend.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it,” Amal said, suitably chastised.

  Sanjay nodded, relieved that his warning had been received.

  He went upstairs, kicking off his shoes, as he started writing a message back to Fernanda, hoping that he was already on the way to winning her back.

  * * *

  Troy lit a cigarette and ventured outside the front door of his flat to peer down at the courtyard below. It was beginning to get dark, and normally he preferred the cover of nighttime, feeling safer in the shadows than under the bright sunshine, but tonight he still felt his stomach churning, his mind a turmoil of mixed emotions.

  He looked down at the courtyard, a few drunks staggering along. He envied them for their carefree evening, whilst he was lumbered with these dark thoughts. He thought of Clint and the friendship they had once had, now reduced to threats thrown across the courtyard at each other. He thought about Brandy and what had prompted his sudden forgiveness, whether he still loved her or if he just remembered the love he had once had for her before he had cast it aside for his stupid crush on Aurora. These thoughts inevitably led him to think of Aurora and her shocking tirade against him. He could picture her even now waving the knife under his nose, threatening to do to him what he had done to Shaniqua. He wondered what he had ever seen in her, how he could ever have been attracted to the girl, especially when he’d had Brandy at his side, a girl who would literally have done anything for him, no matter what, no questions asked.

  Now he looked back at the past through their eyes, knowing that Aurora’s words were right, even if he hated her for it. It was his own fault that his friendship with Clint had fallen apart, just as it was his own fault that he had thrown his relationship with Brandy away. He could, and did, still hold Aurora responsible, but he knew that he must share the blame.

  He wondered what might be different if he had not killed Shaniqua. Would Brandy still be his girlfriend? Perhaps they would be cuddled up in bed together, or pre-drinking together preparing for a party. Their friends would be there, Tamar and Amal, even fat, red-haired Zoe, like some slobbering dog they could not get rid of. He would still be friends with Clint. Aurora would have no reason to hate him, would not show him such disrespect.

  Or would he have simply killed someone else that night? If not Shaniqua, then who? A different stranger. Another family who would hate him.

  He jumped as a shadow moved further along the balcony, near the stairwell, and he narrowed his eyes as trainers scuffed the concrete floor.

  “Hope you’re behaving yourself Troy,” Detective Patterson’s voice said, as the woman came into sight a short distance away. Her voice was quiet, but the warning was clear. She wore jeans and a gym-vest, a cap covering her face. Perhaps she was not supposed to be here. Not that it mattered, he thought, because she was here all the same.

  “What do you want?” Troy demanded, his voice shaking. He was rattled.

  “I just wanted to warn you that I’m watching,” Patterson said, taking a step closer, stopping just beyond the circle of light from the overheard bulb. “You make one wrong move, take one step out of line, and I’ll have you back in that cell before you can blink.”

  Troy swallowed hard. He felt tense at the thought of seeing the inside of a cell again.

  “Stay out of my business,” Troy said, trying to sound intimidating.

  Patterson let out a low laugh that held no amusement, only derision for his threat.

  “I’ll see you and your brothers locked up,” she said. Her voice held no doubt or indecision. She meant it. “Watch your back, Troy.”

  Then she was gone as quickly as she had appeared. Troy peered into the dark after her, but he saw nothing. He did not even hear her trainers on the stairs. He let out a long breath realising his cigarette had burnt out.

  He looked down at the empty courtyard and tossed the cigarette. His mind returned to his earlier thoughts, but now Serena Patterson’s warning echoed at the forefront of his mind along with the rest.

  She was out to get him, and Troy knew that it was no idle threat. The last time she had resolved to put him behind bars, that was exactly where he had ended up, which was why he felt his hands trembling at the thought that she was trying to see him sent back there.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Trent had not slept well, unable to keep his mind from lingering on unwelcome images of Adrianna and Sanjay’s bodies entwined in bed together, and yet he had a spring in his step when he showered and poured himself a coffee as morning dawned.

  Whilst he had tossed and turned sleeplessly in the night his thoughts had turned to how he would seek his revenge, how he would break Adrianna in mind and body, and gradually he had come up with a plan. As he sipped his coffee, burning his lips, he found that he was excited for his plan to come to fruition.

  He rang Adrianna. It was early, but she would never miss a call from him.

  “Babe,” he greeted her when she answered, almost choking on the word, forcing himself to sound cheerful. “What are you up to later on today?”

  Fucking Sanjay Siddiqui? He wanted to ask, but he resisted the urge.

  “I don’t know yet baby,” Adrianna replied, her voice groggy from sleep. Trent wondered if Sanjay was lying beside her right now, his hand draped across her stomach. He swallowed down his anger at the image. Adrianna purred down the line, “Why, what are you doing?”

  “I have a surprise for you,” Trent said. He did not need to feign excitement now.

  “Ooh, what kind of surprise?” Adrianna asked, excited, sleep forgotten.

  “I can’t tell you that babe. I don’t want to spoil it.”

  “Oh, that’s true,” Adrianna said, giggling. “I’m so excited. You’re such a sweetheart when you want to be, you know that Trent?”

  Trent scowled. He did not care what this rotten bitch thought about him.

  He told her to keep her afternoon free and that he would text her more details later. He hung up, leaving Adrianna to her excited musings as to what the surprise could be. The more she built her hopes up, let her fantasies run wild inside her head, the greater his revenge would be when she was brought crashing back to the grim reality of his plans.

  The thought made him smile.

  “You’re happy for this time in the morning,” Troy grumbled, joining him in the kitchen and rubbing his eyes. “Let me guess, you’re seeing that blonde later.” He rolled his eyes.

  “Not like that,” Trent said, shaking his head.

  “Lost interest?” Troy asked, pouring himself a coffee. “There’s plenty more -”

  “She fucked Sanjay Siddiqui,” Trent interrupted him, cracking his knuckles, not sure what had prompted him to share such a fact with his younger brother. It seemed that his bond with Troy had been strengthened since Troy had got out. Perhaps it was because Tyrese no longer seemed interested, Trent wondered.

  “Jeez,” Troy managed, looking as surprised as Trent was that he had told him. Troy finished pouring his coffee before he spoke. “You’re not going to let them get away with disrespecting you like that, are you?”

  Trent smiled at his brother. Troy understood his desire for revenge. Maybe that was why he had decided to share it with him.

  “I’m going to make the bitch wish she’d never been born,” Trent said.

  Troy nodded approvingly.

  Trent filled him in on what he had planned for her and Troy’s eyes widened. As he spoke, Trent wondered if he was going too far, but when he had finished and asked Troy for his opinion, Troy shook his head.

  “She deserves everything she gets,” he hissed. “Cheating on a Banks brother? She’s just lucky it wasn’t me she fucked over.”

  Trent found himself smiling again as he checke
d the time, counting down the hours until he could drop the pretence and teach Adrianna her much-needed lesson in respect.

  * * *

  Kojo was stirred from his sleep and opened his eyes, for a moment forgetting where he had ended up last night, before he heard Clint mutter something from his own bed across the small bedroom and remembered dragging himself off Kent’s bedroom floor and making it home after midnight.

  He reached for his phone on top of the chest of drawers, not lifting his head off the pillow. His phone was flashing with a message alert. He wondered if that had been what had woken him. Sleep was forgotten when he saw the text was from Troy.

  Glancing nervously across the room to his brother, who was lying on his side facing the wall, sleeping again, Kojo read the message.

  Troy needed him and his mates for a job this afternoon. It was top secret and it was at Trent’s request. More details would follow.

  He sent a message to Kent, giving him the heads up, before putting his phone under his pillow and closing his eyes. Sleep would not come though, no matter how tired he was. Nerves and excitement fluttered through him as he thought about his first job for the Banks brothers this afternoon and what it might entail.

  * * *

  Sanjay pressed the buzzer again, but the intercom continued to crackle with static. He knew that Fernanda was in her apartment two storeys up, but she was not answering the door. He pressed it again.

  “Fernanda, please,” he pleaded into the speaker. “Just five minutes. Please.”

  No response.

  “One minute,” he tried. “Thirty seconds.”

  The static continued uninterrupted. No reply.

  He wanted to smash the stupid intercom to pieces, but he knew it would do no good. Perhaps he had underestimated Fernanda’s anger. He had hoped that since she had started texting him back, things were progressing, and he would be able to win her around once again, but now he was left to second guess himself.

  She must need more time, he decided.

  Reluctantly he retreated down the steps from the building and back to his car. He glanced up to her windows. Had he just imagined that her curtains had twitched a moment ago? He climbed behind the wheel and swallowed down his disappointment. It would not do to dwell on it, not when he had other things he had to do today, things which required him to have his senses about him.

  It was a few hours drive in London traffic before he pulled through the prison gates. His hands gripped the wheel tightly. It did not bring back pleasant memories being here, and he wondered whether he was making a mistake in voluntarily walking back inside a prison.

  He parked and crossed the car park, keys shaking in his hand. He tried to calm himself down and had composed himself by the time he had gone through the security check point and walked into the visiting room.

  Pausing, he looked around, wondering how he would be able to identify Dante, but he spotted him at once. The other men were older, weary from the time they had already served, greeting their families and wives with well-practised forced joviality.

  Dante leant back in the plastic chair, one hand laying on the table and the other arm draped across the back of his chair, as if he owned the place. His face did not show any concern or apprehension, if anything he looked bored of waiting already. Catching sight of Sanjay, there was only a quick flash of acknowledgement in his eyes and a slight, almost imperceptible, nod of his shaved head.

  Sanjay sat down across the plastic table from him. Normally his broad shoulders and prison-gym physique were enough to intimidate someone, but Dante’s expression did not change from mild curiosity.

  “What brings you out here?” Dante asked, after a moment of silence had elapsed. Perhaps he was more than just curious after all, Sanjay thought, though his tone tried not to show it. “You were banged up here not so long ago, right? Surprised you came back.”

  Sanjay was not sure the best way to approach the topic, or what Dante’s reaction would be. Clearly Dante was not the type to be easily intimidated.

  “It’s not so bad now I’m sat on this side of the table,” Sanjay lied. He hated the smell, the sight of the place, and was anxious to get out. Dante raised an eyebrow, disbelieving, and Sanjay felt a stab of annoyance. “Anyway, it’s you who has a few questions to answer.”

  Dante tensed at this, and he was too slow to hide it.

  “Ask away,” Dante said, shrugging, recovering his composure quickly.

  “I run things for Tyrese Banks,” Sanjay told him, though he was sure Dante had already deduced this. “You can imagine how surprised I was when I realised there was still gear coming in here, can’t you, seeing that Troy got out and hasn’t said he left business in here to anyone else. Your little prison officer chum gave your name up to me straight away, so let’s cut to the chase, right Dante? What are you playing at?”

  Dante considered him for a long minute, and Sanjay could almost see him weighing up his options, the cogs turning behind his dark eyes.

  “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work it out, does it?” Dante said, before lowering his voice. “I was Troy’s cellmate and he showed me how to run things. When he got out, I decided to keep things going. Not a big deal, right?”

  “Not a big deal to you, maybe, but if Tyrese finds out that you’re selling his drugs and cutting him out of any profits, you’ll be a dead man.”

  “If?” Dante asked, raising an eyebrow, a smile creeping onto his lips. He leant a little closer, conspiratorial now. “You mean you haven’t told him yet?”

  “I thought I’d give you a chance to explain,” Sanjay replied. “Make sure I had all the facts before I did anything.”

  “You can tell yourself that Sanjay, but I think you like knowing something that Tyrese, your boss, doesn’t. You like getting one over on him, knowing someone’s fucking him over.”

  Sanjay was surprised at the nerve of him, but he had hit the nail on the head.

  “And there’s no reason for you to tell him anything,” Dante continued. Sanjay scoffed, but he found he was smirking along with him. “What would you gain?” he asked. “Or you could let me keep going in here, and I’ll let you take a cut for yourself. The Banks brothers never have to find out, not if you’re running things.”

  Sanjay had already made up his mind, perhaps had already known what he would do before he had step foot in the visitor’s room.

  “Besides, the Banks brothers won’t be around forever, will they?” Dante asked.

  Sanjay froze. He did not know whether Dante was just making a flippant remark or if he knew something of his plan, though he was sure that was impossible. Perhaps it was obvious, given the fact that he had already kept this from Tyrese and had come here in person rather than spilling all and sending Tyrese in all guns blazing.

  He nodded and lowered his voice to a whisper.

  “Next time I’ll get double the amount of gear sent in,” Sanjay said. “Tyrese will never notice and there’s no point doing this if we’re not making some serious money.”

  Dante smiled, nodding his head in agreement.

  “We understand each other,” he said. “You obviously have more ambition than Tyrese.”

  “And you clearly have more than Troy,” Sanjay said.

  “That’s not hard,” Dante laughed, and Sanjay joined in, both relaxing now that they had an understanding, a deal that was only the first of many Sanjay would make. He was chipping away at the Banks brothers’ empire, in anticipation that it would soon be his.

  * * *

  Talking with Trent about his revenge had stirred something within Troy and reminded him that there were still a lot of people on the estate who had wronged him, who should be made aware that he had not forgotten what they had done to him. Aurora’s outburst had rattled him, but she would get what was coming to her, as would Clint.

  They were not the only ones who had wronged him though.

  His thoughts turned to Zoe Taylor. Fat, ginger, pregnant Zoe, blabbing the first chance she got
when he had been arrested. He remembered the stress in the aftermath of Shaniqua’s death as he had warned Brandy over and again to keep her stupid friend quiet. Perhaps that was what had caused such a strain in their relationship. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to punish her.

  He had never been her friend, had never particularly liked the girl, but she had been Brandy’s best mate and so he had put up with her, let her come to parties and hang out with them though he had felt embarrassed that they should be seen with her.

  He wondered if Brandy was still close to her, if they had repaired whatever differences had come between them, but he realised he did not care that much. Zoe had to suffer, he decided, gritting his teeth as he remembered how she had taken the stand against him, had run her mouth in court. She probably thought she had done the right thing, just like Clint had done, wanting to please Aurora.

  Troy pulled on his trainers and left home, crossing the estate quickly, fists clenched. He felt excited and determined as he took the steps two at a time and was soon knocking on Zoe Taylor’s front door.

  She opened it, ginger hair in a messy knot at the back of her head, freckled skin as blotchy as it had always been, wearing a baggy top and dirty tracksuit bottoms.

  “I told you to take the keys,” she said, as if expecting someone else.

  She froze at the sight of him. Her eyes widened in fear, her mouth flapping wordlessly.

  She went to slam the door, but she was too slow for him and Troy pushed it open before she could stop him. He barged past her into the corridor and kicked the front door closed behind him. Zoe backed against the wall, shaking with fear. Troy smiled at her, enjoying her reaction, relishing it even.

  “Surprised to see me?” he said.

  “Troy, I -”

  “Shut your mouth, you useless sack of shit,” Troy hissed.

  Zoe fell quiet at once, and Troy cracked his knuckles, the sound loud in the silence.

  “You should have known I’d be paying you a visit, Zoe.”

  * * *

  Clint followed Marlena into the lounge, his feet dragging along the corridor with nerves at seeing Aurora and his daughter. Marlena had smiled in understanding as she had slid the bolt and let him into the flat, but it had done nothing to reassure him. He had spoken to Aurora over text briefly and she had agreed to let him see his daughter, for which Clint had been grateful.