by D. S. Butler
Inspector Peel smirked and looked at Tony. “Oh, I’m afraid your brother won’t be out so quickly this time. Not when we’ve got the gun that killed Keith Parker with your brother’s fingerprints all over it.”
Tony’s jaw fell open, and he stared at Martin open-mouthed.
Martin shook his head. That wasn’t possible. He hadn't shot Keith. He’d ordered his men to do it, but he’d never touched the gun himself…
Then the memory came back to him. Meeting with Dave… The gun on the table…
“The bastard. It’s Dave Carter. He’s fitted me up for this. He got me to hold the gun, but it wasn’t me. I never killed him.”
Inspector Peel chuckled, and Martin turned on him. “You’re going to regret this. I’m innocent.”
“That’s what they all say, Mr. Morton,” Inspector Peel said as he walked beside the struggling Martin Morton and escorted him out of the club.
Dave was in his office at the warehouse on Blocksy Road when Gary burst in with a grin on his face. “He’s been nicked!”
Dave looked up from his paperwork. “About time, too.”
It had taken the police longer than he’d hoped to build their case.
“I just saw the Old Bill leading Martin Morton out of his club. Rumour has it, he’s going down for a long time,” Gary said gleefully.
Just as Gary finished speaking, Brian Moore also burst into the office. “Have you heard about Morton?”
Dave smiled. He may have had to wait longer than he wanted for the police to build their case, but it was worth it. Charlie would be free within days.
Dave leaned back in his chair and looked with satisfaction at Brian and Gary. They’d waited for this day for a very long time.
“It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve done it, boys. We got revenge on that piece of scum for taking out Frank the Face and for leaving poor old Charlie to bleed to death on a pile of rubbish. But our hard work has only just started.”
Gary and Brian exchanged puzzled looks.
“The real work starts now,” Dave said. “We expand, and we annihilate anyone who might want to step into Martin Morton’s shoes.”
Gary grinned. “Right you are, bruv. We’ll be behind you one hundred percent.”
Dave chucked his pen down on the desk. Things had worked out perfectly. With Martin Morton out of the picture, nothing could stop him from taking over the whole of the East End, and that was exactly what he intended to do.
Epilogue
Five years later
Jimmy Diamond was dressed in his new school uniform for his first day of school. He looked so grown up, Bev thought with a sigh. She wished Mary could have seen him today. Bev walked Jimmy to school, and when he turned to wave at her at the school gates, she felt a lump in her throat.
When she got home, she sat down to write a letter to Mary, telling her all about it. She’d been taking care of Jimmy for five years now, and she loved him as if he was her own grandchild. She felt sad that Mary had to miss out on all these milestones.
She tried to write down every little bit of description in the letter so Mary would feel like she’d been a part of it.
Bev spent the rest of the day anxiously worrying about Jimmy, hoping he’d be all right at school. He was a good lad, and there was no reason to think he wouldn't get on well, but Bev couldn’t help fretting.
When three o’clock finally rolled around, and she was able to go and pick him up, she couldn’t race around to the school fast enough.
Although she’d made sure to get to the school by three fifteen, there was absolutely no sign of Jimmy. She waited by the school gates for a little while until all the mothers had left with their children. Then the panic really set in.
She rushed into the school and asked the first teacher she saw where she could find Jimmy Diamond.
“Oh, he left a little while ago. Someone came to pick him up.”
Bev felt as if a bucket of cold water had just been thrown over her. “Who? Who picked him up?”
Her heart was thundering in her chest as the teacher frowned. “A woman picked him up. Jimmy seemed perfectly happy to go with her. Is something wrong?”
Bev was practically in tears, and her heart was beating nineteen to the dozen as she raced back home. As she approached her bungalow, she caught sight of Jimmy sitting on the wall, waiting for her.
The rush of relief she felt was quickly replaced by anger when she saw Mary sitting on the wall beside him.
“What the bleeding hell are you playing at? I nearly had kittens when I turned up at the school and found Jimmy wasn’t there.”
Bev’s voice trailed away as she looked at Mary.
Her face was gaunt and heavily lined. She’d aged quickly after Kathleen had passed, and she now looked at least ten years older than she really was.
Bev’s heart softened. She understood that Mary missed her grandson desperately.
“Oh, well, no real harm was done, I suppose. Why don’t we go indoors and have a nice cup of tea?
Mary shook her head. “There’s no time for that, Bev. I just called in so we could say goodbye.”
“Goodbye? What do you mean?”
“I’m taking him back home, Bev. Back to where he belongs. Jimmy is coming back with me to the East End.”
“You can’t do that! It’s not safe, and he’s happy here with me.”
Mary shook her head and set her mouth in a firm line as she regarded Bev steadily. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for Jimmy and me. But it’s safe enough now. Martin Morton has been locked up a long time, and all his old henchmen are working for other people or keeping their heads down.”
Bev felt sick. Surely, Mary couldn’t be serious?
“So,” Mary said, looking down at Jimmy with a smile. “I’m taking him home, Bev. It’s time he learned the truth about his mother.”
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A Note from Dani
Thank you for reading! Not only did you pick up this book and take a chance on an author you may not have read before, but you made it through to the end, and now you’re reading this as well.
I’ll let you in on a secret. D.S Butler and Dani Oakley are one person: me. Butler is my maiden name and Oakley is my married name.
I’ve been writing books for a few years now under the name D. S. Butler, but I wanted to write something a little different. As I’ve always loved to read, and I’m a huge fan of Martina Cole, a gritty gangster thriller was right up my alley.
I loved writing East End Trouble. I originally planned to give Martin Morton his comeuppance by sending him to prison, and ending on a happy note, but when I got to the end of the book, there was still so much story to tell. Mary wasn’t going to be content with Martin Morton going to prison - she’d want a harsher punishment than that! And then I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to Jimmy as he grew up. Would he be obsessed with revenge? How would he cope growing up without his mother, and how would he react when he found out he was the son of a notorious gangster?
As this book was already sitting at 100,000 words, I decided to carry the story on in a new book: East End Diamond. I couldn’t help adding a teaser in the epilogue of East End Trouble, hinting of trouble ahead for the characters. Some readers weren’t too keen on that. They wanted to know what happens immediately. I suppose that’s a compliment. At least, I hope so!
The East End in this book is part of a bygone age. I can remember sitting on the arm of Nan’s chair, listening to her stories about life in the East End. She was born in Canning Town and never wanted to move out of London even as she grew older and things changed. My mum moved away from the East End when she married my dad, who was born in South London. (They met for their first date in the Blind Beggar in Whitechapel, followed by a trip to Southend the next weekend!)
I was lucky to have two sets of amazing grandparents and a brilliant and lo
yal family. The way I write about the East End is coloured by my memories, including boisterous family New Year’s Eve parties at my grandparents. (My Nan was the eldest of nine children! And my mum was the eldest of five!)
My Nan and Pops would often take me and my brothers to the market at Chrisp Street. They’d buy us lunch and one of us would ask for pie and mash, another would ask for saveloy and pease pudding and the other would want a cone of chips! We were spoilt rotten and we adored them.
After they died, we spent less time there, but I still have lots of family in the area. My lovely Auntie Maureen lives in Stepney and used to manage a pub on the Mile End Road. My cousin Sam, lives on the Isle of Dogs. I still feel very connected to the area, even though I don’t visit much these days.
Well, enough reminiscing! I have a favour to ask. If you enjoyed this book, please give it a rating on Amazon. Your encouragement means the world to me and reviews help authors more than you can imagine. Especially, self-published authors like me who are trying to do everything on their own. I’m going to keep writing these books whether I get amazing reviews or not, but I might be motivated to write a bit faster with the encouragement *smile*.
Want to ask any questions? Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/D.S.Butler.Author/
Want to know when the next book will be out? Join the free email list here: http://www.danioakleybooks.com/newsletter/
Thanks again,
Dani :)
@DaniOakley1
D.S.Butler.Author
www.danioakleybooks.com
Also by Dani Oakley
There are two follow on books in the East End Series:
East End Diamond
East End Retribution
Dani Oakley also writes under the name D.S. Butler. You can find the books here:
Deadly Obsession
Deadly Motive
Deadly Revenge
Deadly Justice
Deadly Ritual
Deadly Payback
Deadly Game
If you would like to be informed when the new Dani Oakley book is released, sign up for the newsletter:
http://www.danioakleybooks.com/newsletter/