The Victim

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘I bet it’s Dad come to take us back,’ Harry whispered to his sister.

  Georgie nodded and squeezed his hand. Part of her had wanted to see her mother, even if it was only for a brief visit, but on the whole she couldn’t wait to get home to Ryan. She’d only been gone a few hours and was missing him already.

  ‘How we gonna play this, Dad?’ Ricky asked.

  Eddie had had his thinking cap on for the past five minutes. He’d had a feeling the O’Haras would come for the kids, which was why he’d ordered Terry and Stuart to stay in Glasgow, but he hadn’t reckoned on it being this quick. ‘Do you know anyone who has a silver Land Cruiser?’ Ed asked his grandchildren.

  Both glanced at one another and shook their heads. Their Uncle Billy drove one of those, but they’d been taught at an early age to keep their mouths shut.

  ‘What should I do, Ed?’ Raymond shouted out.

  ‘Pull in and drive straight to the pumps. There’s fuck-all they can do on a packed garage forecourt, is there?’ Ed replied.

  ‘Say they’ve got you-know-what?’ Ricky asked his father. He didn’t want to say too much in front of the kids.

  ‘Then they shoot at us and probably blow themselves up at the same time,’ Eddie said jokingly. He was acting more blasé than he actually felt and was cursing his decision not to bring any guns up to Scotland with him.

  Desperate to be reunited with his father, Harry sensed an opportunity and clutched the crotch of his tracksuit bottoms with both hands. ‘I need a wee again,’ he said.

  Eddie ignored his grandson and leaned over the passenger seat to try and get a look at the Land Cruiser in the wing mirrors. For obvious reasons, Ed had asked Flatnose to get hold of a van with no windows in the back, which was a bind now they were being followed.

  ‘Right, we’re at Kendal services. I’m pulling in now,’ Raymond shouted out.

  ‘You ain’t gonna hurt my dad, are ya?’ Georgie asked tearfully, as Gary took two baseball bats out of a navy-blue sports bag and handed one to Ricky.

  ‘We only ever hurt people who hurt us,’ Gary replied quite truthfully.

  ‘Where’s it gone? I can’t see it now,’ Eddie asked Raymond, as he stared in the wing mirror.

  ‘They followed us off the slip road, but I still couldn’t see who was driving. It’s too dark.’

  When Raymond pulled onto the garage forecourt, Ed clambered into the passenger seat. He turned around to face Ricky and Gary. ‘I’m getting out with Raymond. Yous stay with them two and watch ’em like a hawk.’

  Jed O’Hara parked the Land Cruiser out of view at the exit of the service station. ‘Give us the shooter,’ he said to his brother.

  Billy’s hand shook as he handed him the gun. Unlike Jed, and his deceased brother Marky, Billy had always been the runt of the litter when it came to bravado and he knew it. ‘You can’t just shoot ’em in the garage. You’ll get us both banged up,’ he said.

  ‘Just shut it and give me the bullets,’ Jed ordered.

  ‘The bullets are in the gun, ain’t they?’

  Jed glared at his brother. He was a sod for playing pranks on people himself, but Billy joking at a time like this just wasn’t funny. ‘Don’t mess about, Bill. My chavvies are in that fucking van.’

  ‘I ain’t messing with ya. All you said was get the gun; you didn’t say anything about bullets, did ya? I thought it was already loaded.’

  Absolutely furious, Jed whacked his brother over the head with the now useless weapon. ‘How’s the gun meant to work without any fucking bullets, you thick, useless cunt? Dad keeps the bullets separate in case the chavvies ever find the shooters,’ he screamed.

  Billy held his hands over his head in case he got clumped again. ‘I’m really sorry, Jed, but I didn’t know that it weren’t loaded. Dad might tell you everything, but he treats me like a dinlo and never tells me nothing.’

  ‘That’s ’cause you are a fucking dinlo,’ Jed said, turning the key in the ignition.

  ‘Where we going now? They ain’t come out the service station yet,’ Billy said, as Jed zoomed back onto the motorway.

  ‘Ring Dad and give me the phone,’ Jed yelled.

  Billy did as his brother asked. ‘You got bullets, ain’t ya? Where are ya now?’ he asked his father. On learning his dad’s gun was loaded and he was only about twenty miles behind him, Jed breathed a massive sigh of relief.

  Raymond was surprised to see no sign of the Land Cruiser as they left Kendal services. ‘Perhaps we got it wrong,’ he said to Eddie, who was now sitting in the passenger seat.

  ‘Nah, whoever it is will reappear, mark my words,’ Ed replied.

  Two miles down the M6, Ed’s wise words were proved right, as Raymond recognised the Land Cruiser sitting on the hard shoulder. ‘What’s the plan now?’ he asked his boss.

  ‘Turn the radio up,’ Ed ordered. He had some ideas, but didn’t want the kids to hear what he had to say. He leaned towards Raymond’s left ear. ‘It’s gotta be Jed and Jimmy in that motor. I reckon we should lead ’em over to the salvage yard and finish the job tonight.’

  ‘Do you still keep the shooters there? ’Cause I’ve a feeling the O’Haras might be armed,’ Raymond whispered.

  ‘Let me make some phone calls and I’ll talk to you in a sec,’ Ed replied.

  He rang Gina first. ‘You all right, Ed? Not at a disco, are you?’ Gina joked, as she heard the sound of Destiny’s Child blaring out in the background.

  ‘I need you to pack some stuff for you and the kids and go and stay at your mate Claire’s for a couple of days.’

  ‘What?’ Gina asked in amazement.

  ‘Look, we’ve got a problem this end. Nothing serious, but I don’t want you in the cottage alone tonight.’

  ‘I can’t go now. I’ve just bathed the kids and Rosie’s in bed already. I’ll go first thing in the morning,’ Gina said.

  ‘No you won’t, you’ll go tonight. Get your stuff packed and get out of there ASAP! Understand?’

  ‘OK,’ Gina replied. The seriousness of Eddie’s voice told her all she needed to know and she began to panic. ‘You will be all right, won’t you?’ she asked, trying not to cry.

  ‘Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Just do as I told you and ring me as soon as you get to Claire’s, OK?’

  Gina told Ed she loved him, ended the call and burst into tears. If anything happened to her wonderful husband, she just knew she would die of a broken heart.

  Stuart was next on Ed’s must-ring list. ‘I take it there’s no movement your end?’ he asked, knowing deep down it was a dumb question to ask.

  ‘Nope, been sitting ’ere like two stooges, me and Tel. Jed’s truck ain’t moved and Jimmy still ain’t back.’

  ‘Right, change of plan. Head back to Essex as fast as you can. I’ll give you more instructions on the way,’ Ed ordered.

  ‘I thought you wanted us to stay up ’ere and follow Jimmy and Jed,’ Stuart replied, bemused.

  ‘Too late. They’re already following us.’

  The hardest phone call for Eddie to make was the last one. ‘I wish I hadn’t told Frankie I had the kids with me. She’s fragile enough as it is and if she hears we’re being followed, she’ll lose the plot,’ Ed whispered to Raymond.

  ‘Don’t tell her. Just say we’ve broken down or something,’ Raymond suggested.

  Eddie paused before he punched in the number. He had never involved Joey in anything underhand before but for the first time ever, he desperately needed his son’s help.

  Frankie was just writing down the order for their Chinese takeaway when the phone rang. ‘Someone answer that,’ she shouted, as she bent down to pick up Brett’s Big Mac and fries. The messy little sod had just knocked his dinner off the tray and was now crying because it was scattered all over the carpet.

  ‘It’s your dad, Frankie, but he wants to speak to Joey,’ Babs shouted out.

  Frankie stood up and snatched the phone out of her friend’s hand. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked he
r father.

  ‘Nothing’s wrong. Well, apart from the van playing up, that is. Put Joey on, sweetheart, I need him to ring a mate of mine who’s a mechanic,’ Eddie lied.

  ‘Where are the kids?’ Frankie asked suspiciously.

  ‘In the back.’

  ‘Put ’em on the phone. Please let me say hello to ’em, Dad.’

  ‘They’re both asleep, Frankie, and you’ll have plenty of time to say hello to ’em when we get home. Now, put your brother on the phone, else we might spend the night on the motorway.’

  ‘What’s up, Dad?’ Joey asked as he put the receiver to his ear.

  ‘Keep smiling, and don’t let Frankie know that anything’s amiss, you get my drift?’ Eddie said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Joey replied, in an unconcerned tone.

  ‘The O’Haras are behind us on the motorway and I need your help, son. Is Frankie still standing next to you?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Right, when you put the phone down in a minute, pretend you’ve got to ring a mechanic mate of mine. Ask your sister for a pen and paper and I’ll give you a false phone number. Then, end the call and ring me back out of Frankie’s earshot on your mobile.’

  ‘I need a pen and paper,’ Joey told Frankie.

  Joey’s heart was beating rapidly as he took down the imaginary phone number. ‘Right, I’ll ring him now, Dad,’ he said.

  ‘If Frankie asks, I think the alternator’s on the blink.’

  ‘No probs,’ Joey said ending the call.

  ‘What’s a matter with the van?’ Frankie asked.

  ‘Dad reckons the alternator’s on the blink. He wants me to get one of his mechanic pals to ring him.’

  ‘Why don’t he just ring the AA?’

  ‘Because the van isn’t kosher, you div,’ Joey replied jovially. How he was putting on such a convincing act he didn’t know, but he could tell that his sister believed him.

  Frankie breathed a sigh of relief. ‘For a moment there I thought that something had gone proper wrong. I had visions of Jed and Jimmy following Dad or something.’

  Joey chuckled falsely. ‘You and your overactive imagination will get you into trouble one day, sis.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  After the conversation with his father, Joey’s appetite had all but disappeared by the time the Chinese takeaway arrived.

  ‘You ain’t eaten enough to keep a bleedin’ fly alive,’ Joyce said, poking her grandson in the arm.

  ‘I ain’t a lover of Chinese. Want some of my spare ribs?’ Stanley asked Joey.

  ‘No, I’m fine thanks, Grandad. I’m gonna have to pop out in a minute. Dom’s gotta drive me round to one of Dad’s mates,’ Joey announced.

  ‘Have I? First I’ve heard of it,’ Dominic said, laughing.

  Frankie put her plate on the table. ‘Who you got to go and see then?’ she asked, with distrust in her voice.

  ‘Dad said if his mechanic mate had his phone switched off, I had to go round to his house,’ Joey replied, as casually as he could.

  ‘Where’s this bloke live then?’

  ‘Dagenham,’ Joey lied, looking his sister straight in the eyes.

  Dominic knew his boyfriend better than anyone and he could tell that something was wrong. ‘Shall we go now?’ he asked him.

  Joey nodded and stood up.

  ‘You are coming back, ain’t ya? I want you here when the kids get home,’ Frankie insisted.

  Joey grinned. ‘Of course I am.’

  Jed O’Hara had always been a big believer that things in life happen for a reason. Obviously, he was still a bit pissed off with his brother Billy, but now he believed that fate had played its part. If he’d have run around that service station brandishing a gun he might have got himself nicked and, seeing he was now on the M1 with his father and Mickey Maloney behind, Jed convinced himself that it was a sign from above.

  ‘What you smiling at?’ Billy asked.

  ‘Do you know what Billy boy? I think you were destined to forget them bullets on purpose. We were meant to follow Mitchell and finish the job in Essex.’

  ‘What makes you think that, then?’

  ‘Because once me and Dad have done away with Eddie and his wanky little firm, I’m gonna find my other chavvie and kill that slag Frankie, an’ all.’

  Joey told Dominic to drive towards his father’s cottage and then fell silent.

  ‘What’s going on, Joey?’ Dom asked, minutes later.

  Taking a deep breath, Joey repeated what his father had told him.

  ‘So why are we going to his cottage?’ Dom asked, confused.

  ‘Because Dad’s asked me to get something he needs. Later on, he wants us to park at the Brentwood junction on the M25 and pick up the kids from him. He’s gonna ring us with a time.’

  Dominic felt a shiver run down his spine. ‘What exactly are we picking up from his cottage, Joey?’

  ‘You really don’t wanna know,’ Joey mumbled.

  Absolutely livid, Dominic mounted his Porsche onto a kerb. ‘If you don’t tell me, I’m not fucking driving you there, nor will I pick up the kids. What are we collecting, Joey?’

  Joey glanced at his boyfriend’s face. Dom was a laid-back sort of guy who rarely lost his rag, but on the odd occasion he did, he wasn’t pleasant. ‘He needs me to pick up a gun, if you must know. We need it in case the O’Haras know where Frankie lives and come to the house.’

  Dominic shook his head in total disbelief. All this sounded like a scene out of the film Pulp Fiction. He glared at his partner. ‘But you don’t even know how to use a gun, Joey.’

  ‘Yes I do – you pull the trigger,’ Joey replied sarcastically.

  ‘And what if I refuse to do this for you? I really don’t like the sound of it all, you know. It’s ridiculous and also fucking dangerous.’

  Joey had never been interested in learning to drive, but for the first time in his life, he wished he had. ‘Look, we won’t have the gun for long. My dad’s sending Stuart and Terry round to protect us and I’ll give it straight to them. Please, Dom, just drive, otherwise my dad will go mental.’

  Remembering the last falling-out he had had with Joey’s father, Dominic pulled off the kerb and drove towards his cottage.

  Noticing that her grandad and Raymond were in deep conversation in the front of the van and Gary and Ricky were doing the same in the back, Georgie O’Hara decided to have a little chat with her brother. Both children were well aware that their dad and Grandad Jimmy were now following them but, being the eldest, Georgie had taken it upon herself to think of a back-up plan if anything were to go wrong.

  ‘Where’s your phone?’ she whispered in Harry’s ear.

  ‘Back at the trailer. Where’s yours?’

  Georgie sighed. Her mobile had been in her big silver purse and had been left at the barn when she had got taken away.

  ‘Do you think Dad and Grandad will rescue us and take us back home?’ Harry asked in a hushed tone.

  Georgie squeezed her little brother’s hand. ‘Of course they will.’

  Joey hid the gun in his overnight bag and put it on top of the wardrobe so it was out of harm’s way. He didn’t know how he’d react if the O’Haras came to the house, but it was his duty to stick up for his sister.

  ‘What you being doing up there?’ Frankie asked accusingly as he came down the stairs. Dominic was sitting in the lounge with a face like thunder and she wasn’t stupid; she knew something was wrong.

  ‘I went upstairs to put me sweatshirt on. It’s turned bloody cold, ain’t it?’

  ‘Sod the weather, what’s up with Dom?’

  ‘Me and him have had a bit of a row. There’s a gay guy that’s started work in my office and he’s rang me a couple of times. Dom kicked off about it. You know how jealous he gets,’ Joey lied.

  Satisfied with her brother’s explanation, Frankie smiled. ‘Nan got up to go to the toilet while you were out and fell flat on her face. She’s OK, but well pissed, so can you help me get her up the st
airs? Her and Grandad can sleep in the spare room, and you and Dom can doss in Jordan’s.’

  ‘Come on, Nan, let’s get you to bed,’ Joey said as he walked into the lounge.

  ‘I made her a coffee, but she won’t drink it,’ Babs informed Frankie.

  ‘Always has to bleedin’ well show herself up,’ Stanley mumbled.

  ‘What did you say?’ Joyce asked.

  ‘Nothing, dear.’

  ‘I might be a bit tipsy, but there’s sod-all wrong with me hearing, you know,’ Joyce slurred as her grandchildren helped her off the sofa.

  ‘You and Grandad are gonna sleep in the double bed in the spare room. It’s freshly made up,’ Frankie said, knowing how particular her grandmother was on the subject of clean sheets.

  Joycie looked at Frankie as though she were mad. ‘I ain’t sleeping in the same bed as that cantankerous old goat,’ she said.

  ‘You’ll have to. We’ve only got five bedrooms, Nan, and Georgie and Harry will need one of those.’

  Stanley glared at his wife. She could be such an awkward old cow at times. ‘I don’t wanna sleep in the same bleedin’ bed as you, either. You snore like a drunken sailor.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad we agree for once, ’cause the thought of having you sleeping near me after you went off fornicating with that old slapper makes me feel physically sick.’

  At the mention of Pat the Pigeon, Stanley himself felt physically sick at the memories.

  ‘Babs can sleep with me – that’s if any of us end up getting any sleep. You can have Babs’ bed, Grandad,’ Frankie offered kindly.

  ‘Dirty old bastard,’ Joyce slurred, as Joey and Frankie took one arm each and led her out of the room.

  Stanley poked his tongue out behind his wife’s back then, once Joycie was out of earshot, turned to Dominic. ‘Hooked-nosed, evil old witch.’

  Approaching Milton Keynes, Eddie began to have serious doubts about his original plan. Dropping the kids at the A12 junction off the M25 would have been feasible if they only had one motor following them, but now there were two, it was far too dangerous.