‘Christ! I didn’t fucking mean to kill him. Not here. Not tonight.’ Staring down at his once crisp white shirt, his eyes registered sprays of claret before his brain did.
Blood. Stuart’s blood.
He was covered in it.
The brute force of his every punch had relieved the hot rage that he’d felt towards Stuart. Coming here tonight, and trying to publicly humiliate him at his own wedding.
‘Fuck,’ Jimmy said again. His hand over his mouth. Shocked. Sickened by his actions. It was as if he’d just blacked out.
‘We need to get him the fuck out of here,’ Alex said, the panic evident in his voice at the predicament Jimmy had just put them in. It was almost one o’clock in the morning. Once the music stopped and people came off the dance floor, they’d never be able to get rid of Stuart’s body. The place would be crawling with people and by the time they’d all fucked off to bed, it would be starting to get light. If they got caught for this, the police would throw away the key.
Alex was panicking. Pacing the floor, shaking his head in dismay, he could see that Jimmy clearly wasn’t thinking straight right now. It would be down to him to get this shit sorted out and quickly.
‘Jimmy?’
Turning around the two men stared in horror as Colleen stepped out from the shadows of the doorway.
The girl looked at the two men, then down at the ground, a strangled scream leaving her throat as her eyes rested on the bloodied man.
‘What’s happened?’ she cried. Her eyes searching Jimmy’s for an answer. Willing him to say something that would make this all right.
She eyed his blood-splattered shirt. His swollen red fits. Then looking back down at what was left of the battered body on the ground, she knew without a doubt that whoever he was, he was dead.
‘What have you done, Jimmy?’ Colleen was shaking. Her hand trembled violently as she held it over her mouth, trying to stop another scream from escaping. To stop herself from throwing up.
‘Colleen, baby!’ Jimmy said, stepping towards his new wife, as if to shield her from the horrors of what was already ingrained into her brain. ‘It’s not what you think.’
‘Don’t touch me,’ Colleen spat; seeing the blood on Jimmy’s outstretched hands, the look of shock and disgust on Alex’s face, she knew that Jimmy was lying.
‘You murdered him?’ she said, erratically shaking her head from side to side, as if the words she spoke couldn’t be the truth. She was crying now, her face streaming with tears and black steaks of mascara.
‘He’s dead? You did this? You murdered him, Jimmy?’ she asked, her voice almost a whisper, as if she was speaking only to herself, trying to make sense of it all.
She was going into shock, her voice loud, high-pitched as she realised what she’d just witnessed.
A loud, deranged wail escaped from her mouth.
‘HE’S DEAD. YOU KILLED HIM. YOU’RE A MURDERER, JIMMY, A MURDERER. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?’
Jimmy was there, wrapping his arms around Colleen, hugging her, muffling her cries as he led her back, away from the sickening sight of the boy he’d just brutally killed.
‘It’s okay, Colleen. It’s not what you think.’
‘Jimmy?’
Joanie was there then too.
She’d heard the loud commotion from the far end of the courtyard. Thinking that Jimmy and Colleen were having some kind of spat, she’d decided to investigate. Only now, staring at her son covered in blood, the dead body on the ground, she realised that the newlyweds having a lover’s tiff was the least of her worries.
‘What the hell’s going on, Jimmy?’ Joanie said as she took in the harrowing sight.
‘Mum, you need to go back inside,’ Jimmy warned, the situation suddenly getting well out of control.
Colleen was wailing like a banshee, beside herself, crying. Jimmy wouldn’t be able to let the girl out of his sight.
‘You need to send Reggie Wilkins out here. He’ll help Alex sort out all of this.’
Joanie went to open her mouth, but no sound came.
‘Mum?’ Jimmy said, his voice stern as he tried to get his mother to snap out of her shocked trance. ‘We need to get this sorted. We can’t let anyone come out here. You need to keep them all inside while we fix things.’ Jimmy eyed his mother, making sure that she was well aware of the severity of the situation. Whatever her thoughts were about Jimmy’s actions tonight, this wasn’t the time and place to voice them.
They needed to act fast.
‘Do you think you can do that, Mum? Keep everyone inside?’
Joanie Byrne nodded obediently.
‘I’m going to take Colleen back upstairs. Alex, you and Reggie need to get him moved and get this place cleaned up—’
Interrupted while giving out his orders, Jimmy bristled as he recognised a voice calling out to them.
‘Jimmy? Colleen? Are you out here?’ the woman called.
Jimmy and Joanie locked eyes as they heard Edel Walsh’s voice booming out from the venue doors.
‘Is that you, Jimmy?’
‘Mum?’
Joanie Byrne didn’t speak. Nodding, she did as her son had instructed. Turning on her heel, she did the one and only thing that she could do: she was saving Jimmy’s arse, plastering the biggest smile onto her face as she marched back towards the venue to see to Edel Walsh.
‘Oh, Joanie. I was just going looking for my Colleen. Have you seen her?’ Edel said, searching through the darkness from where Joanie had just come. Edel could have sworn she’d just heard raised voices. ‘I just wanted to check that she was all right.’
‘I have indeed seen her.’ Joanie Byrne grinned, taking Edel Walsh by her arm and leading her back inside the hall. ‘And she’s more than fine. The two love birds have called it a night; they’ve both gone up to their honeymoon suite.’
‘Ah!’ Edel said, sad that Colleen hadn’t said good night to her old mum before she’d called it a night. ‘I wonder if I should just pop up and say good night to them both.’
Joanie shook her head. Friendly, she led the woman back into the hall and closed the doors behind her. Bolting the locks.
Joanie Byrne smiled.
‘You’ll do no such thing, Edel. Those two looked more than preoccupied when I left them. I’m sure they have better things to do on their wedding night than chat to you, if you know what I mean.’
Seeing the slight disappointment on Edel’s face, Joanie winked.
‘Don’t look so down, Edel. It’s been a beautiful day, and you know what happens after weddings?’ She raised her eyes playfully. ‘Babies!’
Edel grinned then too. Happily letting Joanie lead her to the bar.
* * *
Clinking a champagne glass loudly to quieten down the room, Joanie shouted above the throng of noise and people; her voice commanding everyone’s attention as she made her speech.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen! Jimmy asked me to inform you all that he and his beautiful bride have now retired to the honeymoon suite for the night.’
A loud crowd of cheers and claps ensued and Joanie smiled before she continued: ‘But Jimmy told me to tell you all that he wants you to carry on without him. He said to make sure that you drink this bar dry!’
Picking up the champagne glasses that the barmen were topping up at the bar, on Joanie’s instruction, she lifted one of the glasses nearest to her into the air.
‘To Jimmy and Colleen Byrne – To the Happy Couple!’
Everyone raised their glasses high in the air to match their spirits.
Edel followed suit, realising that it was selfish of her to be upset at not saying good night to Colleen. It was only natural that she wouldn’t be her daughter’s first thought tonight. Edel would have to get used to that now. Of course Jimmy and Colleen had other things on their minds. It was their wedding night after all.
‘Kinky buggers,’ Edel said good-naturedly as she winked at Joanie, a huge smile appearing on her face. ‘Here, Joanie, this means that we coul
d be expectant grandmas before the night’s out.’
Clinking her glass against Edel’s, Joanie downed her champagne in one, her nerves shot to pieces at tonight’s events.
It might be Jimmy and Colleen’s wedding night, but the last thing on their minds tonight would be making her and Edel grandmothers.
Twenty-Two
Staring down at her naked body as she lay in the roll top bath, Colleen couldn’t remember stepping into the water. Scanning the bathroom, in search of her wedding dress, she couldn’t even remember taking it off, but there it was, lying in a heap just inside the doorway. The gown once beautiful, embellished with tiny shimmering pearls, a delicate layer of tulle, was now abandoned on the floor. Tainted for ever more.
A vague memory flashed in her mind of Jimmy undressing her. He’d been speaking to her, his words soft and gentle as he’d guided her carefully into the bath.
She’d watched him. Her eyes fixed on Jimmy, as he stood at the opposite end of the bathroom. As he stood in the shower beside her. Watched him in silence as he undid the buttons on his once crisp white shirt, now ruined by the jagged sprays of red, and let it fall to the floor. Watched him standing under the warm water, running red, cascading down his body, and forming a pool of pink at his feet before finally dispersing down the plughole.
He was gone now.
She could see him through the small crack in the bathroom door. Pacing the bedroom suite.
Alex was there too.
Colleen strained to listen to their hushed voices, their words filled with panic.
‘We put him in the back of Reggie’s motor. He’s going to make sure that the body’s disposed of. We’ll burn it. Make sure there’s nothing left of it. Mikey and Jay-Jay are doing a clean-up op at the barn as we speak. The guests have all fucked off home now, and the ones that are staying here at the hotel have called it a night. I told the night staff to shut the bars so that no one can pull an all-nighter. The place will be like new again by the morning. No one will be any the wiser.’
Alex.
The man sounded like a robot. His tone cold. Devoid of any feeling.
Colleen could see Jimmy. Nodding, as he made his way over to the minibar.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ he said, as he peered into the fridge that had been stocked with only champagne and fancy chocolates for the newlyweds. ‘I need a fucking proper drink, not this shit.’
Grabbing hold of the bottle, Jimmy popped the champagne cork.
Colleen jumped at the sudden noise, the water she was sitting in sloshing over the top of the bath.
She felt cold. Freezing in fact.
The haze of steam that drifted up from the surface of the water told her that the water was warm. Colleen couldn’t feel its heat.
Lifting her hand up in front of her face, she stared for a few moments at the water dripping from her newly manicured nails, her wedding rings glistening under the bright bathroom lights, wondering if this was all real.
It was.
She was really here.
She was numb.
She realised she was crying, sobbing uncontrollably, a stream of tears running down her face, dripping down into the bright red hue of bloodied water, as it swished all around her. The watery, red liquid lapping up over her pale white stomach.
Blood?
She felt herself begin to panic as a sudden flashback filled her mind. This time she could see it all so clearly.
Jimmy and Alex standing over the body. The vicious look on Jimmy’s face. His fury. Remembering how she’d tried to call out for help but no noise had escaped her mouth. How Jimmy had taken her in his arms, desperate to console her, and to try and stop the strangled screams escaping from her mouth.
Blood all over Jimmy. All over her. All over her beautiful dress.
The young man, his life snatched away from him so brutally, and now Jimmy was sitting in the next room drinking champagne.
‘What about her?’
Hearing Alex’s question, Colleen almost stopped breathing. She hadn’t even considered that she could be in danger. But she was, wasn’t she?
Holding the edge of the tub tightly, so that she could stay deadly still, she wondered if they had forgotten about her in here, if they didn’t realise she could hear their conversation. She could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, beating loudly. Her pulse quickening to match it.
‘What if she talks; might she talk, Jimmy? What are you going to do about her?’
Colleen felt sick, panic engulfing her as she waited for Jimmy to answer.
He finally spoke. His voice sharp, adamant.
‘I’m not going to do anything to her.’ Jimmy was incredulous. ‘She’s my wife!’
Colleen stood up, suddenly claustrophobic. Desperate to get out of the bath, out of this room. Away from Jimmy and Alex and their sickening ways.
A strangled cry escaped from her mouth as she sent the water cascading from the tub, splashing out all over the floor in her urge to get out of the water, away from the blood. From Jimmy. The urge so strong, she slipped in her haste.
Jimmy was there then. Standing at her side, holding her up. Taking a bathrobe from the heated rail behind him, he wrapped it around her, as he held her tight to him once more.
She could smell that familiar musky scent of his. The smell that used to make her feel so safe. Now it was suffocating her. His lingering scent overpowering her; she felt dizzy and sick.
‘Come and lie down, Colleen. You’ve had a nasty shock.’
Scared for her life, Colleen didn’t know what else to do but play along. Knowing what Alex had just said and what Jimmy was more than capable of, Colleen could only nod obediently as she allowed Jimmy to lead her into the bedroom.
Sitting down on the bed, she saw the look that Jimmy exchanged with Alex, before Alex quickly left the room.
Then Jimmy handed her a glass of champagne.
Colleen stared at the drink, horrified. Jimmy, seeing the look on his new wife’s face explained: ‘It’s all there is. Drink it, it’s for the shock. It will take the edge off.’
Holding the champagne flute to her lips, Colleen sipped the liquid, choking as she tried to swallow it down, her throat constricted by the heavy lump of emotion there. Hot bile threatened to push it back out.
Jimmy tipped the glass, making sure that Colleen drank it all.
She was crying again. Big racking sobs making her whole body shake. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go and find her mum, tell her everything.
Jimmy wouldn’t allow that.
‘Lie down, Colleen. Rest. You’ve had a fright,’ he said. His voice softly spoken, soothing almost, as he lifted the covers and helped Colleen slip inside, wrapping the blankets around her tightly so that they engulfed her trembling body.
She obediently complied. Doing as she was told, she lay her head on the pillow, the thick towelling robe still wrapped tightly around her too. She hadn’t realised how exhausted she was. Her body suddenly so weak and tired, her eyes heavy, unaware that Jimmy had laced her drink with the sleeping tablets that Alex had brought for him to use.
Closing her eyes, she could feel Jimmy sitting beside her, the warmth of his hand on her head as he stroked her wet hair. Soothing, rhythmic movements, giving Colleen a fleeting feeling that everything would be all right again. That somehow this had all been one big, awful mistake.
Jimmy wasn’t a monster?
Not her Jimmy?
She was gone then. Her confused thoughts replaced with the oblivion of nothingness as she was plunged into complete darkness. Her sleep, because of the drugs Jimmy had given her, would be void of nightmares.
The same couldn’t be said for the reality she faced when she finally woke up.
Part Two
1985
Twenty-Three
‘Well that’s me done for the day.’ Shaking off his work boots so that he didn’t get mud all over Joanie’s pristinely clean floors and give the woman something else to moan about, Michael Byrne m
ade his way into the kitchen.
‘I swept up all the leaves out there, and gave the shed a good tidying too,’ he lied, convinced that he’d managed to get away with the fact he’d been hiding out in his shed for the past two hours catching up on the Match of the Day highlights on his miniature television set. The little portable analogue TV that he’d bought himself from Woolworths had been a lifesaver these past few years. His only escape from Joanie. Of course, he couldn’t let on that he actually enjoyed himself out there in the shed. He had to make out that he’d been busy doing his chores. Otherwise the woman would put a stop to that too. Anything to make his life hell. That was all Joanie seemed to live for.
‘I’m exhausted. Any chance of a nice cup of coffee?’ Michael asked, hoping that his wife might be in a good mood and oblige.
‘Kettle’s there,’ Joanie said tartly. Not bothering to look up from where she was standing, rooting around inside the kitchen drawer for her reading glasses, Joanie found them and slipped them on. Scrutinising her husband, she shook her head.
‘And don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to, Michael. Tidying the shed? Is that what you call hiding away out there? I wasn’t born yesterday. I bet you were out there pawing over those cheap newspapers with all those tarts that call themselves Page Three girls, and watching the football, weren’t you?’
About to deny that that indeed was exactly what he had been doing, Michael decided not to bother arguing with the woman. Joanie had a penchant for being able to spot his bullshit from a mile off. His best bet was to come clean. Apologise profusely to keep the old nag happy. Anything for an easy life. Though life was never ever easy being married to Joanie Byrne.
‘You got me, Joanie.’ Michael held his hands up, shooting her a wry smile as he tried instead to make a joke out of his little fib. What he really wanted to do was scream. This is what Joanie and her incessant nagging had driven him too. He was a grown man having to hide out in his tiny four foot by six foot little wooden sanctuary, just so he could get away from the old bag, and even that place was no longer sacred anymore it seemed.
The Betrayed: A shocking, gritty thriller that will hook you from the first page Page 16