The Goldsworth Series Box Set

by Davie J Toothill

  Dante did not pay attention as the prosecution called their first witness, admitting the coroner to the stand.

  He kept his eyes on Charley, waiting, hoping, to see her distress.

  * * *

  Naz hesitated as he reached the door. His anger and his frustration had spurred him on up until this moment and now he questioned whether he was making a big mistake. The thought of Amal and Sanjay, always having each other’s backs and never his, made him grit his teeth with indignation.

  He had knocked back a few drinks to give him some courage, but he wondered if he should have had another, just to give him that extra push.

  Taking a deep breath, glancing around to make sure nobody saw him, he knocked. There was no going back now, he thought, not that he wanted to.

  It was long moment before the door opened.

  Tyrese Banks stood there, in a vest and jeans, a beer in his hand.

  “What do you want?” he demanded.

  “I’m Naz Sidd-”

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are,” Tyrese cut him off. “What do you want?”

  Naz swallowed hard. Maybe this was a mistake, he thought. He cleared his throat. No, he reminded himself. He was not going to be pushed around by Sanjay and Amal anymore. This was the beginning of the end for them, and the start of his own rise, he decided.

  “I’ve got something to tell you,” Naz said. Tyrese looked nonplussed. “I think you’ll want to hear it.”

  * * *

  Aurora sat on the grass of the playing fields, Clint beside her. He looked well despite just being discharged from hospital, and after a brief visit to Clint’s parents’ flat to collect some of his belongings and bring them over to Aurora’s where he was staying, they had decided to make the most of the sunshine. Angel lay on a blanket in front of them, smiling excitedly at them. She put her fist in her mouth and gurgled, drooling with pleasure.

  She looked at Clint and pulled a face.

  “She always pulls that face,” Aurora laughed, nudging Clint in the arm. “A bit like you when you’re hungry.”

  Clint eyed her sideways, still laughing.

  “Oh really?” Clint asked, eyes widening. “I thought she looks like you, when you’re tired but you don’t want to admit it. Watch, in five minutes she’ll be fast asleep.”

  “Too much excitement maybe now her daddy is back home,” Aurora smiled. They shared a look, and Aurora felt relaxed for the first time in ages. She sighed. “This has been really nice.”

  “Yeah, the sunshine, the fresh air. I hated being stuck in that hospital,” Clint agreed. “And it’s good for her.”

  Aurora smiled as Clint looked down at their daughter with adoration.

  “True,” she said, “But I meant between us.”

  Clint looked at her, eyes hopeful.

  “Oh right,” he said, stammering. “Yeah it really has.”

  She could see he was excited by her words, hopeful, and nervous too. It reminded her of the days he had turned up at her flat, hoping to walk her to school.

  She took a deep breath, and her smile faltered.

  “I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting lately,” she said quietly. “It’s just -”

  “You don’t have to explain,” Clint said quickly.

  “Yeah, I really do,” Aurora said, remembering what her mum had said yesterday. “Clint, I love you and when I heard you testifying, I just felt so angry towards you. I couldn’t help myself, but I think now I can move on from that. Troy’s locked up, Shaniqua got the justice she deserved, and you did everything you could to make sure that happened. I shouldn’t have shut you out, I should have told you how I was feeling so we could’ve talked it through, or at least given you a chance. I’m sorry, Clint. After Troy got sentenced, I felt like everything cleared in my mind for the first time in so long. I felt free. And the anger disappeared, and I remembered how much I love you, Clint Jackson.”

  “Are you sure?” Clint asked, his voice thick with hope and longing. His eyes were wide, and Aurora’s heart swelled as she looked at him. “I mean, I love you too, but if you need more time then -”

  Aurora leant forward, clasping his face in her hands, and kissed him on the lips. It was a tender kiss, and Clint responded. The kiss deepened, and Aurora felt the longing in him. In herself. As he kissed her back, she felt the warmth from him. When they pulled away, Clint smiled at her, his eyes full of love, and she smiled back.

  “I want us to be together,” Aurora said, her hands still cupping his face. He beamed. “Troy killed my sister, he killed my friend. He took so much, and I won’t let him ruin us too.”

  Clint took her hands in his and squeezed them gently, reassuringly.

  “I promise I’ll never let you down again,” he said. His voice was soft but firm, and she knew that he meant it.

  They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, before Clint looked down at Angel. His smile widened. She looked and saw Angel fast asleep on her blanket.

  “I told you she’d fall asleep,” he laughed, nudging her playfully.

  Aurora laughed with him, her hand in his, as they looked down at their daughter, sleeping peacefully. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.

  * * *

  “You’re Sanjay’s cousin?” Tyrese asked.

  He studied the guy standing at his front door, looking around nervously as if afraid to be seen here. He did not have the looks or, apparently, the confidence that his cousins had. Tyrese wanted to slam the door in his face, but he was curious.

  “Couldn’t Sanjay have told me whatever this is? He has my number, you know. He didn’t have to send you.”

  “He doesn’t know I’m here,” Naz said, looking down. Perhaps he was having second thoughts about coming here, Tyrese thought.

  “Interesting,” Tyrese said, considering him. He stepped aside, opening the door further. “You have five minutes.”

  Naz hesitated on the threshold but stepped inside after a last glance over his shoulder, and looked around the kitchen, as if surprised to realise the infamous Banks brothers needed to eat too.

  Tyrese sat down at the kitchen table and gestured for Naz to do the same. He did, the chair legs scraping on the floor loudly.

  “Ssh,” Tyrese hissed. “My mum’s in the other room, mate.”

  “Sorry.”

  If he was surprised to realise he still lived with his mum, Naz didn’t show it. Or didn’t dare show it, Tyrese thought was the more likely.

  “Come on, your time’s ticking,” Tyrese prompted him, as Naz fidgeted, wringing his hands under the table.

  “Sanjay would kill me if he found out I was here,” he said quietly.

  “You don’t want me to invite him over then?” Tyrese murmured, and Naz’s eyes widened. Tyrese sighed, already regretting letting him in. “Jeez, it was a joke. Look, come on. I’ve got things to do, my brother just died if you hadn’t heard. The funeral’s tomorrow, so spit it out, for fuck’s sake.”

  “Right, right. I’m sorry,” Naz said, nodding, fidgeting again. He took a deep breath. “It’s just that, Sanjay is playing you.”

  “Come again?”

  “He’s playing you,” Naz repeated. “You and the Healy brothers.”

  Tyrese frowned. Trent had never trusted him. Perhaps his brother had not been such a fool after all.

  “Now why would he do that?” he asked.

  “He wants the Goldsworth for himself. Always has done.”

  “Then why was he working for me?” Tyrese asked, though he had an idea.

  “He wasn’t, not really,” Naz said, confirming his thoughts. “He’s been feeding stuff to Jayden Healy all along.”

  “Why?”

  “He wants to play you off against each other,” Naz said, his voice shaking, but he leant forward, more confident now that he had Tyrese’s full attention. “And it’s worked, hasn’t it?”

  “Not as far as I can see,” Tyrese said, shaking his head, wondering how long the deception had been going on for. “M
e and Jayden, we were in -”

  “Negotiations? Yeah, he knows.”

  “So what?”

  “That’s why he went to Corey instead,” Naz explained. “Told him about the truce, told him to take care of things himself.”

  “You think Sanjay killed my brother?” Tyrese asked.

  “No, but he put Corey up to it, didn’t he?”

  “Corey’s got a mind of his own, he didn’t need any encouragement,” Tyrese said, remembering Corey’s anger at Jessie’s funeral. “Sanjay didn’t pull the trigger.”

  “You’re sticking up for him?” Naz asked, incredulous.

  Tyrese wanted to slap him.

  “He’s did what he had to,” Tyrese shrugged. “Maybe I respect him a little more for that, even if he is a snake.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Naz asked, more desperate now.

  “Do about it?” Tyrese repeated, then smiled as realisation dawned. “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “I don’t know,” Naz said.

  “You want me to teach him a lesson?” Tyrese sniggered. “Why are you here, Naz? You fallen out with your cousin, and you thought you’d be a little bitch and betray Sanjay?”

  “Didn’t you betray your own brother?” Naz asked.

  He seemed to realise a second too late that he had overstepped the mark, as Tyrese reached across the table and grabbed him around the throat. The chair legs screeched on the floor as the chair crashed backwards, and Tyrese around the table in a second, Naz locked in his grip, squirming and sweating, pleading. Tyrese ignored him.

  “Listen, I’m out of the business now,” Tyrese hissed, pinning Naz against the counter, giving him a shake that made him wince. “You tell Sanjay that if he wants the Goldsworth, he can fucking have it. I don’t care, just keep me the fuck out of your little argument with him.”

  He dragged Naz to the door and opened it, throwing him out. Naz hit the balcony wall and let out a groan, clasping at his throat, catching his breath. Tyrese looked at him with disgust.

  “But, what about -” Naz started, but Tyrese slammed the door in his face.

  Alone in the kitchen, he realised he was breathing hard, with the exertion and with anger. He regained his composure. He realised that what he had said was true.

  He no longer wanted any part in the lifestyle he had once so admired and been absorbed in. It had brought nothing but bad luck and death. If Sanjay wanted the estate, he really could have it. He could deal with the Healy brothers, the stress, the police.

  His breathing began to steady, and Tyrese felt free for the first time in years.

  * * *

  The judge adjourned the trial for the day after Asher had given his evidence, and Dante tried to catch Charley’s eye before he was led out of the courtroom. She met his gaze and held it. The cheeky bitch had the nerve to curl her lips in disgust and hold her head high, as if she was some queen and he was nothing. As if she was better than him. It rankled with him, but he could do nothing about it.

  His arm was yanked by the guard and he was led out of the room. Charley watched him, a smile on her lips. He did not like that smile, because they both knew that the reason for it was that she was relieved by the first day of the trial. It had gone well for her, he thought, and not so well for him.

  The coroner and the police, one of whom was Charley’s brother, had given their evidence. Asher and the other officers had testified that they had seen Dante stab Bolton. It was hard to argue against the testimony of police officers, and Dante felt frustrated.

  He had a good life locked up but that did not mean that he did not want to be free, and it was frustrating that it seemed increasingly unlikely that he would see the outside of prison again.

  Charley knew it, and that was why she looked to be in such a good mood, Dante knew. His own mood soured as he was put back in the van to return to prison. The only thing that lifted his mood a little was the thought that though she might be smiling now, there was still time for that smile to be wiped off the smug bitch’s face once and for all.

  * * *

  Troy twisted the phone cord in his hand, trying not to rip the phone out of the wall in frustration, as the line continued to ring with no answer. The queue behind him was growing and this was his third attempt.

  He had hoped that Brandy would answer. He wanted to speak with her, hear her voice, tell her he was sorry for what had happened between them.

  “Come on Banks,” someone behind him groaned. “I don’t have all day mate.”

  Troy gritted his teeth. He turned to face the guy who had spoken but froze in shock. Goldie’s eyes widened in surprise and delight at the expression on his face. Troy knew Goldie, knew that he had raped Brandy, that he had killed his brother.

  Goldie still had the nerve to smile at him.

  In his ear, Troy heard the line disconnected.

  He slammed the phone back into its cradle and stepped back.

  “We should have a chat later, Troy,” Goldie called after him, as he went forward to replace him at the phone. Troy scowled at the rest of the queue as he traipsed back down the corridor, feeling Goldie’s malicious eyes following his retreating back.

  In his cell, he was relieved that he was alone, his cellmate stinking out somewhere else he was sure. He climbed up on to his bunk and slid the razor blade out from beneath his pillow. He had acquired the prohibited item from another inmate, who had been only too happy to supply him with it for a small fee.

  He wondered what Brandy was doing, if she had moved on or if she was thinking of him as much as he thought of her. Even if she had answered, what could he have said? Even if she forgave him, still loved him, would she wait thirty years for him to be released?

  He doubted it. If it was the other way around, would he wait for her?

  With these thoughts clouding his mind, he pressed the point of the razor into the flesh of his upper arm until it sank beneath the sink and a droplet of blood oozed out, followed by another. He breathed hard, feeling the pain, a momentary escape from his thoughts.

  He clenched his jaw against the pain and pressed harder.

  * * *

  Sanjay looked at Naz as he walked through the door, looking shamefaced. He wondered if his cousin felt bad for earlier, if he regretted what he had done and had come back with his tail between his legs. Amal glared at his cousin and gave him the cold shoulder.

  “What did you want to see me about?” Naz asked, apprehensive.

  Amal looked at him too, and Sanjay knew they must be wondering what was going on. His mood had been down since Tyrese had told him he was giving up and letting Jayden take over without complaint, but now he knew exactly what he needed to do.

  “I’ve got a plan,” Sanjay told them.

  “About time,” Naz muttered.

  Amal shot him a dark look, then turned to Sanjay.

  “What is it?”

  “We have to kill Jayden Healy,” Sanjay said.

  The room was silent. Even the fridge in the kitchen seemed to hush to let his words sink over them.

  “For real?” Amal managed, finally breaking the silence after a long minute.

  “Tyrese is giving up on the estate, and that means Jayden will take over,” Sanjay said. “If we take him out, we can sweep in. Jayden’s the brains, and nobody’s going to listen to Corey.”

  “Corey’s crazy,” Amal pointed out. “He’ll come after us, and he’ll see us dead, just like he did with Trent. Imagine what he’ll do to us if we kill his brother.”

  “Well, about that,” Sanjay said, allowing himself a smile. “I’ve had a stroke of pure genius.”

  “What’s that then?” Amal asked.

  “We frame Tyrese,” Sanjay said. “That way, whatever happens, we’re the only ones who can take over the estate after it all goes down. Jayden will be dead, Tyrese will be in prison for it or dead once Corey loses the plot, and then Corey will get sent down. Whatever happens, once Jayden is gone, we make our move. By the end of the
week at the latest, we’ll be the top dogs around here.”

  “End of the week?” Amal asked. Naz looked just as shocked as Amal sounded.

  “We take Jayden out tomorrow,” Sanjay said.

  He had given it a lot of thought, and it worked well. It was Trent’s funeral tomorrow and Tyrese would be drinking. Everyone would think he’d lost the plot and gone after Jayden in revenge for Trent’s death.

  “Tomorrow though?” Amal gasped, unable to stop himself. “You sure?”

  Sanjay looked up at him this time, eyes narrowing.

  “Why not?” he asked, bewildered. “You all right Amal?”

  “He’s scared,” Naz sneered. “Look at him, he’s bricking it.”

  “No, I’m not,” Amal snapped. He shot a venomous look at his cousin. “Anyway, you sure we should be trusting him with all this? He’s proved he can’t be trusted.”

  Naz’s sneer vanished. He blushed hard and shifted uncomfortably.

  “At least I’m not about to shit myself with nerves,” Naz hissed.

  “That’s good, Naz,” Sanjay said, holding up a hand to stop their bickering. Amal glared at his cousin. Sanjay turned to Naz. “Because you’re the one who’s going to kill Jayden.”

  Amal stared at his brother. Sanjay watched as Naz’s jaw drop open in shock.

  Naz stared at Sanjay in disbelief, as if expecting him to laugh and say he was just joking.

  “Me? Me kill Jayden Healy?” Naz stammered, looking directly at Sanjay, ignoring Amal stood a few feet away. “You can’t be serious, Sanjay.”

  “Him?” Amal echoed his shock. “After everything he’s done lately?”

  “That’s exactly why he’s doing it,” Sanjay said, smiling at them both, answering Amal’s question. He turned his attention to Naz. “You’ve said that you’re on our side, that you won’t play any more games and stab us in the back again, Naz. Now it’s time to prove it.”

  “I didn’t mean like this -” Naz groaned.

  “Well, I do,” Sanjay said, his smile belying the firmness of his voice.