‘Sorry for what?’ Alex said, tapping the edge of the glass irritably with his fingertips. ‘For leaving me dangling? For never committing to me? Come on, Jimmy.’ Alex had never felt so angry with Jimmy in all his life. ‘I put up with a lot from you over the years, Jimmy, you and I both know that. All those tarts you used to surround yourself with. The bimbos that you used to parade around, too embarrassed to confess who you really are. Too weak to admit you are gay. Fuck, you even had me doing it too. The pair of us both acting out a lie in public in case anyone guessed our dirty little secret.’
Alex stood up, unable to bear Jimmy sitting in such close proximity to him.
‘You know how I feel about you, how I’ve always felt about you. Even when you insisted on marrying that fucking fruit loop, Colleen. How did that turn out for you, huh, Jimmy? Your good little wife at home.’
Pouring himself another drink, Alex drank it down in one.
‘That bitch got the ultimate prize, and the irony is since the day she married you, she hasn’t wanted you. How fucked up is that? As soon as she realised what you are, she didn’t want to know.’ He stared at Jimmy. ‘I know you, Jimmy. The good, the bad and the ugly. Why was that never enough for you?’
‘You know why,’ Jimmy argued.
‘Oh fuck off will you, Jimmy!’ Alex said, as they both stumbled back onto the same argument that their relationship had always boiled down to.
Jimmy was embarrassed to admit to the world, to himself, that he was gay because somehow he’d convinced himself that being gay was something to be ashamed of. That it meant that people wouldn’t respect him, that people wouldn’t take him seriously.
‘This isn’t the dark ages, Jimmy. No one gives a shit if you’re gay, straight or you bend both fucking ways. You hid behind Colleen like she was some kind of shield. As if having a wife and kids would somehow stop the world from seeing the real you.’
Alex slammed his glass down on the side.
‘But I saw you, Jimmy. I saw you and I fucking loved you.’ Alex loved him still. Jimmy was all Alex had ever wanted. He knew Jimmy’s demons and he didn’t care. But Alex would never, ever be enough for Jimmy Byrne. He was finally admitting to himself now, after years of going it alone, of stealing whatever small scraps that Jimmy would offer him.
What a waste of time. The man was a walking, talking fucking cliché. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere other than round in circles. Alex needed to get a grip. He needed to think of a way to sort this shit out. He couldn’t even look at him right now. Couldn’t bear the sight of him.
‘Take off your clothes,’ Alex said.
Startled, Jimmy narrowed his eyes, which only caused Alex to really cop the hump with him.
‘You’re covered in blood, Jimmy. You need a shower. Take off your clothes. I’m going to have to get rid of them.’ As if he’d touch Jimmy now, after he knew where he’d just come from. What he’d just done.
Jimmy did as he was told. Stepping out of his clothes, he threw them down in a pile on the cold tiles of Alex’s kitchen floor, standing in his friend’s apartment completely stark bollock naked.
Taking them, Alex placed the lot in a bin bag, before leaving the room to turn on the shower for Jimmy.
‘What’s his address?’ Alex said, returning just a few minutes later and throwing him a towel. ‘I’ll get some of the men around there to do the clean-up. We’ll get the laptop too. We’ll get it sorted.’
Reciting the address, Jimmy nodded gratefully.
‘Get yourself cleaned up,’ Alex said, about to walk out of the room, knowing that tonight he would end up doing what he always did: cleaning up Jimmy Byrne’s fucking mess.
Only the drama wasn’t over yet.
He heard a message come through on Jimmy’s pager.
Jimmy read the text, then holding out the pager to Alex, he waited for the words to sink in before adding, ‘I’m being blackmailed. This is just the start. Whoever Gavin was working with wants half a million pounds.’
Thirty-Three
‘Dad?’ Nancy Byrne asked, walking into her office at the back of the warehouse, only to find her dad sitting at the desk, rummaging through the desk drawers, just where she and Daniel had been told they would find him by one of the other ‘concerned’ workers. There were files and folders everywhere.
Spotting the bottle of whisky on the desk, Daniel picked it up and stared at the small amount of liquid.
‘Fucking hell, Dad, you on a mission or something tonight?’ he asked playfully, sensing that something was up with his father, as the man had barely bothered to acknowledge their presence.
‘We’ve already got one drunk in the family we don’t need another.’
‘What did you just say?’ Jimmy said. Stopping what he was doing, he glared at Daniel as the boy stood in front of him, a twisted smirk on his face. ‘Have some fucking respect for your mother.’
‘Who said I was talking about my mother?’ Daniel bit back, not letting his father get the better of him.
‘What are you doing here, Dad?’ Nancy asked, as her dad went back to the files, pulling out bits of paper from all the company’s accounts folders and throwing them on the floor when he saw that they weren’t what he’d been looking for.
Nancy had always prided herself on keeping every bit of paperwork in order: clearly marked and organised in folders exactly where she knew everything should be. It would take her ages to clear up all this mess.
‘I need to sort out some finances, Nancy. You’re going to have to help me.’ Jimmy had been searching through the figures unable to make head nor tail of the system that Nancy had going. Not that he doubted everything was in perfect order. Nancy might have a pretty head on her shoulders, but the girl had a sharp mind for numbers too.
‘I need to move some money about, but I don’t want Alex getting wind of it.’ Getting up, Jimmy indicated to Nancy to come and sit down at her computer.
‘What do you need it for?’ she asked, wondering what the hell was going on here, why her father seemed so on edge and why he was trying to take money from his own company but yet he didn’t want Alex to know anything about it.
‘It’s personal,’ Jimmy said, pacing the office, working himself up into a frenzy. His head was all over the place. ‘Can you do it or not?’ he asked, raising his voice as he stared up at the clock. ‘I haven’t got all fucking night, Nancy.’
‘Okay! Okay,’ Nancy said quickly not used to hearing her father swear when he spoke to her. ‘How much do you want?’ she asked, as she logged on to the accountancy system.
‘A lot,’ he said rubbing his head. ‘Too fucking much.’
‘How much is a lot?’
Jimmy stopped walking up and down the room and stood tapping his fingers on the desk; he didn’t want to even speak the words out loud, but he knew that he needed his daughter’s help. He’d be screwed otherwise. He couldn’t access funds like that without making sure the money they’d tucked away was all accounted for. Alex was as shrewd as fuck when it came to their money.
‘I need half a million pounds.’
Nancy laughed. Then seeing the seriousness on her father’s face she shook her head.
‘I can’t cover up for a sum of money that big?’
‘Well, Nancy, you are going to have to try. I’m not messing. I need that money, and I need it now.’
Nancy not only handled the legitimate side of the accountancy she also sorted out all the other money that Jimmy and Alex had hidden away. A lot of it was tied up in other ventures, but the men had a good bit stashed away too. If her father wanted half a million pounds then Nancy could get it for him, but it would take a bit of juggling about if he didn’t want Alex to notice.
Alex Costa rarely missed a trick.
‘Okay, well. Let me see what I can do,’ she said, looking at her brother for help, hoping that he would step in and talk some sense into their father. Seeing that he was more edgy than usual and drunk too, she knew that there would be no arguing
with him.
‘Do you need it right now, Dad?’ Daniel asked. ‘Why don’t we go home and get some dinner, yeah? You look like you could do with a decent meal inside you. How much have you had to drink, eh?’ While trying to placate Jimmy, Daniel was attempting to guide him out of the office, mistakenly thinking that his father was so pissed, Daniel could easily manipulate him in to going home.
Only Jimmy wasn’t playing.
‘Why don’t you fuck off home yourself, Daniel?’ Jimmy said, swiping his son’s hand away from him. ‘This is serious. It’s not a fucking game. Why do you always treat everything like a game?’
‘Dad!’ Nancy said, hearing her father’s complete overreaction. He was taking Daniel’s actions completely out of context.
‘Daniel was only trying to help.’
‘Help? Daniel? Do me a favour. The boy ain’t got the clout to know how to fucking well help, let me tell you. Go on, go home, Daniel. Nancy can help me here. Your sister knows what she’s doing. You are about as useful as a chocolate bleeding teapot.’
Even as he said the words Jimmy knew he was acting like a first prize prick, but he just couldn’t help himself. He and Daniel had always had a volatile relationship. The boy had a way of winding him up just by breathing.
Only now, Jimmy had the added bonus of seeing Gavin Hurst staring back at him whenever he looked at his son. The two young men had been so similar in age. Just the sight of Daniel made Jimmy feel physically sick, he was so consumed by guilt at what he’d done. Who he was. He just wanted this all to be over. He wanted to get the money and get all of this shit sorted out once and for all.
‘Well in that case, I’ll leave you in Nancy’s more than capable hands, shall I?’ Daniel said with a sneer, his nose firmly put out that once again his father seemed to do nothing but put him down.
‘Daniel, don’t go!’ Nancy called out, as her brother ignored her pleas and stormed out of the office.
His sister was annoying him just as much as his father. Daniel’d had enough of pretending that his father’s words didn’t hurt him. Nothing he ever said or did would ever be anywhere as good as Jimmy’s precious Nancy.
And as of tonight, he’d given up trying.
Thirty-Four
Placing the freshly made lasagne on the table, Joanie Byrne sat down beside her husband as Michael did the honours and dished up for everyone.
‘Well this is looking lovely,’ Michael said as he spooned the food onto the plates, not drawing any attention to the fact that dinner time in the Byrne household had turned into a very strange affair indeed. Colleen was sitting at the table with them once again, for the second time that week, at Michael’s insistence and the strangest thing of all was that Joanie hadn’t protested.
Ever since Edel’s funeral, where Colleen had got herself worked up into such a state, Michael had insisted on the two women calling it a truce. Michael felt sorry for the woman: Colleen had lost her mother after all. Edel Walsh was a hard act to follow, Michael thought sadly to himself. The woman’s death had affected them all. Joanie must have felt that too, not to have kicked up a fuss.
‘Well, I can’t have you all going hungry now, can I?’ Joanie smiled tightly. Still not keen at having to put up with Colleen’s company, but for now she would keep her peace with the woman. Not wanting Nancy and Daniel to think she was a complete heartless cow.
‘Are we dishing up for your father then or not?’ Joanie said, quizzing Nancy once more. She’d convinced herself that Nancy knew more than she was letting on.
‘He didn’t say, Nan. I told you. He didn’t say much,’ Nancy said tartly, knowing that her grandmother was like a dog with a bone once she got a notion in her head.
‘I just think it’s strange that he didn’t mention where he was going tonight?’ Joanie knew that she was acting irrationally, but staring at Nancy, she knew she had every right to be. The girl was so like her father in so many ways, even down to the way she lied. Just like Jimmy – badly. Joanie could always tell.
‘It’s not like him to get drunk in the middle of the day, is it? And why was he hanging around the office?’
Nancy shook her head, wishing she’d never started the conversation now. She should have just said that she hadn’t seen her father.
Her nan just wouldn’t drop it.
‘Are you sure there’s not anything that you’re not telling me, missy?’ Joanie said, not believing that Jimmy was just slightly ‘worse for wear’ this evening, as Nancy had so diplomatically put it. She had a feeling her son was in some kind of trouble and was unable to shake the awful feeling that lingered in the pit of her stomach.
‘She’s told you all she knows, Joanie. Leave her be. You do know he’s a grown man, Joanie? I don’t think Jimmy’s answered to anyone about his whereabouts since he was thirteen,’ Michael quipped, trying to make light of his wife’s strange behaviour as she picked at Nancy about her beloved son.
‘I’m worried about him, that’s all,’ Joanie said. ‘Unlike yourself.’
Michael might not give two hoots about Jimmy, but Joanie knew her own boy better than anyone else here at the table. She was his mother after all. It was as if she had a sixth sense for these types of things. Lately he’d been acting so strange. He just hadn’t been himself. He’d been short-tempered and snappy, even with her.
‘He seems to have a lot on his mind. It’s not work, is it? You’d tell us if you knew anything, wouldn’t you?’ Joanie said, her question more of a statement.
She knew that Nancy wouldn’t tell them jack shit. Nancy and Jimmy were thicker than thieves. Her granddaughter worked for Jimmy full-time now. A sharp brain for figures, Jimmy trusted the girl implicitly to do his accounts, and Nancy wanted to be accepted into her father’s business so badly, to help her father run his empire, she was only too happy to take on whatever role he offered. Nancy probably knew all sorts of things about her father’s business dealings, and Joanie would never be any the wiser.
‘Jesus, Joanie. Will you drop it? She’s just said that she doesn’t know anything else. Will you leave her be, so she can eat her dinner instead of making her endure the Spanish bleeding Inquisition.’
‘Oh be quiet, Michael. No one was asking you to pipe up,’ Joanie said, her voice full of irritation as she continued to stare at Nancy, knowing full well she knew more than she was letting on.
‘Another delightful family dinner I see!’ Daniel smirked as he walked into the kitchen and got himself a beer from the fridge; then taking the bottle of orange juice, he filled his mother’s glass, not bothering to offer a drink to anyone else.
Everyone stared at him, no one more surprised than Colleen at her son’s rare token gesture. Her son had softened to her of late too. Ever since her mother’s funeral. She suspected that, like Joanie and the rest of them, he just felt sorry for her. The novelty would soon wear off, she thought, but for now she was happy to take whatever the boy gave her, which was more than could be said for her daughter. Nancy was pretending like she wasn’t even in the room.
‘What?’ Daniel said, his eyes wide as he took in the puzzled faces of his family. ‘Can’t I even pour my own mother a drink?’ Though he knew the response his gesture would get him. They were as predictable as ever. Besides, he enjoyed winding the rest of his family up, the quizzical look in their eyes as they tried to work out what his motives were.
‘Dad not back yet?’ he asked, downing his beer. Having caught the tail end of the conversation they’d all been having, Daniel wasn’t done with his vexatious routine just yet.
‘Did you see him as well then, Daniel? I know there’s something going on. Your sister said he’d had a bit to drink. Did he say anything to you?’
‘He didn’t say much, did he, Nance? Too busy slurring his speech; he’d had way more than a bit to drink. He was half-cut. Rude as fuck to me. How the tables have turned, eh?’ he quipped, nodding at his sober mother.
‘Oh piss off, Daniel,’ Nancy said, recognising that her brother was on one of
his wind-ups. She moved her food around her plate, her appetite gone. The truth be told, she was worrying about her father too. She’d never seen him like he was this evening. Her nan was right to feel worried. Something wasn’t right. It hadn’t been for days.
‘Here, Grandad, do you remember when we were small and you used to refer to my dad as “Saint Jimmy” whenever you copped the hump with him and you thought that no one could hear you?’
Joanie bristled, staring at her husband, immediately annoyed that the man had disrespected Jimmy in front of his children. Even if it was way back when the kids were small.
‘Did I?’ Michael coughed down his food, not sure how to react as he felt Joanie glaring at him. ‘I don’t really recall—’
‘Yeah, you used to always say it whenever he pissed you off and Nan flapped around him making a fuss of him. Don’t you remember? “Oh here we go again, everyone fall over themselves for Saint-fucking-Jimmy”,’ Daniel mocked his voice, not caring that he seemed to be the only one in the room that found his impression in any way funny.
‘Watch your mouth, Daniel,’ Joanie retorted, much to her grandson’s amusement, before he continued as if she’d said nothing.
‘Well, this is Saint Nancy. Butter don’t melt, does it, sis? Little Nancy can’t do any wrong, can she?’
‘Oh fuck off, Daniel,’ Nancy said, scraping her chair back. She’d had enough. She wasn’t in the mood to sit here listening to her brother spouting crap. Sometimes Daniel really did make it hard for himself. She’d actually felt sorry for him earlier, hearing the way that her father spoke to him, and seeing the visible hurt on his face. Now though she realised that Daniel probably deserved it. Her father was right, he never took anything seriously. Everything was just a joke to her brother.
‘I take it you haven’t told Nan about the money?’
About to walk out of the room, Nancy stopped as she heard Daniel’s voice.
The Betrayed: A shocking, gritty thriller that will hook you from the first page Page 23