by D. S. Butler
As he stood beside her, she gently applied the antiseptic to his grazed cheek.
When she’d finished, she said, “There you go. All done.”
Jimmy thanked her, and when she moved to start clearing up the mess on the floor, he said, “Wait a minute.”
He grabbed the bottle of iodine, put a few drops on a fresh piece of cotton wool and handed it to Linda so she could attend to her own injured skin.
Linda took it from him with a shaking hand, and her eyes filled with fresh tears. “Thank you, Jimmy.”
Afterwards, Jimmy helped her to clean up the mess. Neither of them spoke about what had happened. It didn’t take a genius to work out that Geoff was a wife-beater, and Jimmy knew better than anyone that talking things through never helped anyone at the end of the day. Nothing changed. He could talk about his mother as much as he liked, but nothing would bring her back.
Chapter 26
Babs Morton was beside herself. One minute, she felt scared to death about what had happened to Old Mo, but the next, she was furious with herself for not seeing it through. Babs had always considered herself a tough old bird, but today had revealed her fears and insecurities. To make matters worse, her mini breakdown had been witnessed by Freddie, Henry and worst of all, Tony.
She had come home from the warehouse and gotten straight into bed. An hour spent crying and wailing into her pillow hadn’t really made her feel much better. All it had done was smudge her eye makeup.
So she’d spent the rest of the day chain-smoking and drinking extra strong tea at the kitchen table.
When she heard a knock at the front door, Babs was tempted to ignore it. She didn’t want to face anyone right now, but curiosity got the better of her, and she peeked through the front room window to see who it was.
Tony. The sight of him made Babs feel sick, but she couldn’t ignore him. She’d have to deal with him eventually and now was as good a time as any. She would have to listen to him scold her like a schoolgirl and what made it worse was that Babs knew she deserved it. She had let everyone down.
She opened the front door and stood back so Tony could come in. She didn’t say anything but blinked at him, feeling very sorry for herself.
Tony looked like a different person. There was none of the rage she had seen on his face earlier today. Instead, he looked at her with sympathy.
“Come on, Babs. Let’s have a brew,” he said kindly.
But Babs wasn’t taken in. She was just waiting for Tony to rub her nose in it. For the past few years, Babs had been on at him to be a stronger leader, and when it came down to it, Babs was the coward, not Tony.
She led the way into the kitchen and filled the kettle. When she turned to talk to him, to her horror, she burst into tears.
Tony, who had been about to sit down at the kitchen table, opened his arms and walked across to her. “Don’t cry, Babs. It’s not that bad. It’s all sorted out now.”
Babs allowed him to gather her in his arms and stroke her hair. It felt nice to be held and comforted. Babs had tried to be strong for so long, she’d almost talked herself into the fact she didn’t need anyone else.
The truth of the matter was she had vastly underestimated Tony.
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect it to be so hard.”
Tony continued to stroke her hair as he said, “Doing something like that is never easy, Babs. If you found it easy, I’d think there was something wrong with you.”
Losing patience with herself more than Tony, Babs pushed him away. “That’s easy for you to say. You weren’t the one who bottled it, were you?”
She turned away and busied herself making the tea, trying to get her emotions back under control. Letting Tony see her like this was humiliating.
So, she hadn’t handled things well and panicked. It was only to be expected. It was her first time, after all.
Tony gave her the space she needed and went to sit down at the kitchen table. He didn’t speak again until Babs set the teapot down in front of him.
“Do you want to know what happened after you left?”
Babs felt her throat tighten, and for one horrible moment, she thought she might be about to be sick. She shook her head quickly. “No.”
She could feel Tony’s eyes on her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Fair enough. I thought we should talk about what we are going to do next, though. We need to find a way to move forward.”
Babs’ hands shook as she poured the tea. “You are just trying to make me feel better. You don’t really want me putting my twopenn’orth in, do you?”
“Of course, I do, Babs.” He reached up and took her hand. “Come on. It was just a little setback. This isn’t like you. Nothing normally stops you putting your oar in,” he teased.
Babs’ cheeks flushed pink, and she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, and then realised what he was doing. She gave a small smile. “You cheeky blighter.”
The truth was Babs wasn’t sure. What had happened with Old Mo had shaken her to the core and made her doubt her ability. She’d been so full of confidence, but that had trickled away and had been replaced by anxiety.
“I’m sorry, Tony. I should have just let you run the business the way you saw fit. I shouldn’t have interfered.”
Tony gave her a wry smile. “Who the hell are you? And what have you done with my sister-in-law? That’s not Babs Morton talking. Look, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t you visit Patterson’s boxing club tomorrow, eh?”
“I thought you were against that?”
Tony nodded. “I was, but I’ve decided you’re right. We do need to expand.”
“Are you just saying that to try and make me feel better?”
Tony grinned, but he shook his head. “No, Babs. I thought about what you said, and you’re right. So will you do it?”
Babs sipped her cup of tea thoughtfully. She had been badly shaken today, but she still believed that getting a cut of Patterson’s side business was a good idea. If she could secure the Mortons a piece of that particular pie, it would show both Tony and Martin what she was capable of, and it would restore her own confidence.
After a moment, she smiled and nodded. She was fully aware that Tony was charming her. Everyone always said Tony could charm the birds out of the trees, but Babs didn’t care. He had made her feel good about herself again and given her a challenge. Babs couldn’t wait to get started.
* * *
Despite a horrific journey from Surrey back to the East End, Ruby Morton was feeling on top of the world. Her throat was parched, and her feet were killing her, but as she gazed around the streets of the East End, feeling the sun on her back, she couldn’t help being cheerful. She was back home exactly where she belonged.
Her travels hadn’t been a particularly pleasant experience, but thankfully, she had made it back in one piece. She hadn’t expected hitchhiking to be so arduous. At first, no one had stopped for her, and it felt like she’d walked for miles. Then she’d been picked up by a lorry driver and soon wished she hadn’t been. The dirty old pervert hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her, but when they’d stopped at a petrol station, Ruby had made her escape. The dirty bastard had followed her into the rest area and demanded payment, but Ruby was having none of that. She’d kneed him between the legs and swiftly made her get away.
The next driver had taken her as far as Limehouse. That had been a much more pleasant experience. He was an old chap who kept warning Ruby about the dangers of hitchhiking. But it wasn’t as if she’d had much choice. She had absolutely no money and no other way to get back to the East End.
As she got closer to her house, Ruby’s good mood seemed to desert her. She wasn’t sure how her mother was going to react. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. Her mother was guaranteed to fly off the handle.
She took a deep breath and pushed open the front door, preparing herself for her mother’s sharp tongue and possibly some stinging slaps, but she heard voices in the kitchen
. Her mother wasn’t alone.
Uncle Tony! Ruby couldn’t believe her luck. If one person was guaranteed to be on her side, it would be him. She thought the world of her uncle.
As Ruby strode into the kitchen, Babs’ jaw dropped open. “What the bleeding hell…?”
Ruby grinned. “Hello, Mum.”
* * *
Babs could barely believe her eyes. How on earth could Ruby be here in the kitchen when she was supposed to be in Surrey? She rubbed her eyes, bewildered, unable to process the fact that her daughter was standing right in front of her.
Then as it sunk in, Babs got to her feet. “If you have run away from that school, I swear to God…”
Ruby’s smile was replaced by a scowl, but before Babs could lay into her daughter properly, Tony stood up.
“Hello, darling,” he said, drawing his niece into his arms and kissing her on the forehead. “Long time, no see.”
Babs was speechless. As Tony grinned and stroked his niece’s hair, Babs could only think that those fingers had been clutching Old Mo’s hair only a short while ago. It all flashed before her eyes again, and as she closed her eyes, she could visualise Tony drawing the knife across Mo’s exposed throat.
She clapped a hand to her mouth and stifled a sob.
Tony frowned, concerned. “Are you all right, Babs?”
Babs finally found her voice again. “No, I am bleeding not all right, thanks to this little madam. You get upstairs! I’ll deal with you in a minute.”
Ruby put a hand on her hip and glared at her mother. “I’m not going back there. I don’t care what you say. That school is awful.”
Babs sunk back down into a chair with a heavy sigh. This was all she needed today. Somehow she would have to find the time to beg and plead with Ruby’s school to let her back again. Goodness only knew what they would say.
“You really are a selfish child,” Babs said. “You don’t know the hoops I had to jump through to get you into that school. You should be grateful. And you needn’t look at me like that. You’ll go back to school if you know what’s good for you.”
“They won’t have me back anyway,” Ruby said confidently.
Babs’ eyes narrowed. “Why? What did you do?”
A wide smile spread across Ruby’s face. “I locked Sister Bernadette in one of the unused rooms.”
Babs gasped and crossed herself. “You little heathen!”
Tony turned away and tried to stifle his laughter, but didn’t quite manage it.
“Don’t encourage her, for goodness sake!” Babs said, clamping a hand to her forehead theatrically. “You are going to be the death of me, girl.”
Chapter 27
William Moss sat across the table from Martin Morton in the recreation area of the prison. He stretched himself back in the chair casually and interlinked his fingers behind his head as he surveyed the other inmates in the area. No one else had dared touch him since Martin Morton had taken him under his wing, and that had given William confidence.
When he’d been sentenced, William had been expecting to be eaten alive inside. He wasn’t the type of man who typically thrived in prison. He had never done anything illegal in his life, and it had shocked him to the core that a legal system he believed in so fervently had let him down. William thought he knew himself very well but soon found prison revealed a side of his personality he’d previously kept hidden.
William had been the fall guy for his old boss’s corruption, and their betrayal had eaten into him day after day until Martin had approached him.
Martin still had a couple of years left on his sentence, but he was determined to get out before then. He needed a better legal team for his appeal, but nobody would touch his case no matter how much money Martin had promised them.
William was overjoyed to give Martin the name of his old firm.
He grinned, imagining the face of old Mr. Forsyth when he realised William had stitched him up. He’d persuaded Martin that if he worked on his case inside, and Mr. Forsyth was the public face of their legal team, they had a good chance of getting Martin out early. Of course, Mr. Forsyth hadn’t exactly been willing to go along with the plan at first, and who could blame him? A link to the criminal underworld was not something a solicitor took on lightly.
After his first request for legal representation was refused, Martin had arranged for some of his men to visit Mr. Forsyth, who miraculously changed his tune and was happy to come on board.
“Well, what do you think?” Martin Morton demanded.
William quickly straightened in his chair. He’d been daydreaming and hadn’t been listening. It wasn’t hard to guess what Martin had been talking about, though. It was all he ever talked about: How to get out of prison.
“I think you’re going to be out of here before you know it. Although I don’t know what I’ll do when you leave.”
Martin looked satisfied at his answer, and William breathed a sigh of relief.
“I told you, you need to toughen up. When I’m gone, hit the first bastard that tries it on. Hit him hard, and hit him first. Make sure he goes down and stays down. Show everyone you’re not a victim.”
William nodded, although, he couldn’t really see that plan working. He’d never been one to use his fists. He preferred to use his brain.
“How long have you got left?” Martin asked.
“Another few years at least, even if I get time off for good behaviour.”
“Well, when you do get out, look me up. I’ll sort you out a job.”
William grinned. “Really?” He could never have imagined feeling so excited at a job offer from someone like Martin Morton, but the fact of the matter was when he left prison, William would be unemployable. All those years studying law would be wasted, but in Martin’s organisation, a criminal record could be overlooked.
“Sure,” Martin said. “You helped me out a lot in here. I pay my debts.”
William’s face fell. Martin probably meant his job offer was dependent on him getting out early. If William’s work and scheming against Mr. Forsyth came to nothing, and Martin was forced to serve out the remainder of his sentence, William would be back where he started — unemployed and without a future.
“I don’t see why they can’t bump up the hearing date,” Martin said.
This wasn’t the first time William had heard Martin moaning about this, and more than once, he’d tried to explain that the law was its own mistress and wouldn’t be hurried along, not even for Martin Morton.
But that answer didn’t satisfy Martin, and William had learned to just nod and agree with him. It was the safest way.
“What are you most looking forward to when you get out?” Martin asked. “I’ve been in here so bleeding long I’ve probably forgotten how to live my old life.”
William doubted that very much. A man like Martin Morton would slip into his old life like he was slipping on a pair of old, worn, comfortable shoes. Prison didn’t work for someone like him. He wouldn’t come out a changed man. When he was released, he would be angry, more determined and more dangerous than ever.
“I miss my Eloise most of all,” William said.
“I didn’t know you had a girl?”
Of course, he didn’t, usually Martin Morton couldn’t care less about William’s personal life. He only cared what he could do for him. Which made this conversation very odd. Martin was in a strange mood, very reflective, and William couldn’t help wondering whether something had happened.
“I don’t anymore. She finished with me as soon as I was sentenced.”
Martin laughed, and William looked up, shocked. All right, he hadn’t exactly expected sympathy from Martin, but he didn’t think the man would laugh at him.
“Don’t look so miserable, son. I keep telling you. Everyone will let you down eventually. You can’t trust anyone in this world. Keep your guard up at all times.”
William wondered whether someone had recently betrayed Martin. He couldn’t imagine anyone being so stupid,
but he was intrigued enough to ask, “Did someone let you down?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, William regretted them. The number one rule when dealing with Martin Morton was to not ask questions.
Martin looked at him sharply, but then he relaxed and said, “I learnt someone had been cheating me. Someone who’d been close to me for a number of years.”
William couldn’t fathom it. Would anybody really dare to cross Martin Morton?
“I’m sorry about that,” William said, unable to think of anything better to say.
“Not as sorry as the bastard who double-crossed me was.” The look on Martin’s face sent a shiver down William’s spine.
“I take it he won’t be doing it again.”
“No. You know what they say, fool me once…”
William nodded. “Ah, yes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
“I have a slightly different version of that saying.”
“Really?”
Martin gave a cruel smile. “Yes, fool me once, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
Chapter 28
The following morning, Babs Morton set off early, leaving her daughter Ruby sound asleep in bed, the lazy mare. They’d had a huge row last night, but the stubborn little cow refused to see sense. Right now, Babs had more important things to worry about. She’d have to deal with Ruby later, when she got back.
She was paying a visit this morning, dropping in unannounced to Patterson’s boxing club. She was going alone. At first, she thought it might be better to take red-haired Freddie and Henry the Hand with her. Showing a little bit of muscle sometimes told these people you meant business, but Babs thought she would try the softly, softly approach first and see how she got on.
She was determined to make a success of this. She still felt like a fool after messing everything up with Old Mo.