by Roberta Kray
The next call she made was to her mother. ‘I need Terry’s number.’
‘Oh,’ Kathleen said, sounding surprised. ‘So you’ve decided to contact him again. I didn’t think—’
‘Will you give it me or not?’ Iris said curtly. ‘I can’t hang about. I’m in a hurry.’
Kathleen sighed and gave her the number. Iris scribbled it down and said a quick goodbye. She stared at the digits for a while, wondering if she really had the courage to go through with this. But then, remembering that Guy was probably already on his way, she punched the number into her phone. It rang a couple of times before he answered.
‘Terry Street.’
‘It’s Iris,’ she said. ‘I need to see you. Can you come to Tobias Grand & Sons?’
‘Now?’
‘No second chances,’ she said, echoing his own words that last time they’d met. ‘It’s now or never.’
‘I’ll be there,’ he said.
Iris’s hand started to shake as she dialled the final number. She had another brief moment of doubt. But there was no going back now. The wheels had already been set in motion.
A young woman answered. ‘Good afternoon. Belles. How can I help?’
‘Put me through to Chris Street,’ Iris said.
‘Who’s calling?’
‘Just put me through,’ Iris said insistently. ‘Believe me, love, he’ll want to talk to me. And he won’t thank you for keeping me waiting.’
Perhaps there was something suitably threatening about her tone because after a short pause the girl did exactly as requested. There were a series of clicks at the other end of the line.
‘Yeah? Chris Street.’
‘It’s Iris O’Donnell.’
‘Who?’
Iris frowned. It wasn’t quite the response she’d been expecting. Why was he pretending he didn’t know who she was? Perhaps he was worried that the cops were listening in. ‘Iris O’Donnell,’ she repeated. In case she was right about the phone being tapped, and not wanting the cops to know any more than they should, she quickly added: ‘We’ve met before, at Tobias Grand & Sons.’
Chris Street gave a hiss of frustration. ‘Look, if it’s about the bill for the funeral, I’ve already spoken to your boss. I’ll have it with you by the end of the week.’
Iris raised her eyes to the ceiling. Was he being deliberately obtuse? ‘It’s not about the funeral.’ She had to think of something that would get him here - and get him here in a hurry. ‘It’s to do with Liam. If you want to know the truth about how your brother died, then get yourself over to Tobias Grand.’
That got his attention. Instantly, his voice took on a harsher edge. ‘What? What are you talking about?’
‘You heard. And I wouldn’t hang about. Your father’s already on his way.’ Iris cut the connection and turned off the phone. She walked through to reception, sat down behind the desk and waited for it all to begin.
Chapter Sixty-four
Guy was the first to arrive. As he came through the door, Iris was painfully aware of all the reasons she’d loved him. It wasn’t just his good looks and charm - although any woman could be forgiven for falling for those - but the way he looked at her, into her, with those intense blue eyes. Even now, after knowing what he’d done, a tiny part of her still desired him.
‘I’m so sorry, Iris,’ he said. ‘What happened with Noah today, it was a terrible mistake. No, a mistake doesn’t even begin to describe it. We should never have . . .’ He stepped forward, reaching out his hand, but Iris shrank away. She couldn’t bear to be touched by him.
‘Come through to the back,’ she said coolly. ‘We can’t talk here.’
Guy didn’t sit down and nor did she. They circled around each other for a few seconds and then met in the centre of the room. Guy was the first to speak again. ‘I don’t know where to begin. I know you can’t ever forgive me, but it didn’t mean anything. ’
‘Is that supposed to make me feel better? That you had some meaningless romp with your business partner?’
‘What I’m trying to say is—’
‘How long have the two of you been together?’ She remembered the laughter she’d heard as she’d opened the door to the flat. They’d probably been laughing at her. ‘Did it start in school? Have the two of you been together since then?’
‘It’s not like that. I swear to you. It was the first and only time. It’s never happened before and it never will again. It was a moment of madness. I can’t tell you how disgusted I feel, how ashamed.’
‘Just how stupid do you think I am?’ Iris shook her head. ‘No, you’d better not answer that. It can’t have been easy for him, watching while you . . . Or is he so besotted that he’ll put up with anything?’
Guy gave a groan, pulling his hand down the length of his face. ‘It was the first time,’ he repeated. ‘I’d had a few drinks - more than a few. I’m not trying to make excuses, but with everything that’s been going on recently . . . We got talking about stuff, about my mother, about the past, about the way she died. It all got a bit emotional.’
Iris could hardly bear to listen to him. All she could keep thinking about was what she’d lost. But what she’d lost was something that she’d never really had. ‘It was all to do with Terry Street, wasn’t it? You knew I was his daughter. You always knew, right from the beginning. You had everything planned from the very first day you came here. God, I bet you even made sure that fight took place.’
‘No!’ He vehemently shook his head. ‘That’s not true.’ He reached out and this time managed to take hold of her arms. His eyes were bright, almost tearful with pleading. ‘You’re the only woman, the only person, I’ve ever truly loved. Please don’t throw it all away. Give me a second chance, Iris. I’m begging you. I need you. You’re everything to me.’
For a second, Iris faltered. Every atom of her rational being was screaming out that he was lying. It was only her heart that refused to comply. What if he was telling the truth?
‘Don’t believe a word he says. The only person that bastard loves is himself.’
The rasping voice came from behind and Iris quickly turned. Terry Street was standing by the door. She wondered how long he’d been there, how much he’d heard.
‘What are you doing here?’ Guy said fiercely. ‘You’re not wanted. Get out and leave us alone!’
Terry gazed at him, a cold, thin smile on his lips. He glanced at Iris before looking back at him again. ‘What’s the matter, son? Trouble in paradise?’
‘Get out!’ Guy shouted. ‘Get out or I’ll fucking throw you out.’
‘Come on then,’ Terry taunted. ‘I’m waiting.’
Guy’s hands were still grasping Iris’s arms and she felt his grip tighten. Just like that time outside the Dog, she could feel the rage running through him. ‘You’re nothing to her,’ Guy said. ‘Nothing! You’re just a murderous shit who happens to have screwed her mother.’
‘And what are you?’ Terry retorted. ‘Just a useless shit who wanted to screw his own mother.’
Guy released his hold on Iris, his eyes blazing with hate.
As the two men advanced towards each other, Gerald Grand appeared. His voice was sharp with irritation. ‘What’s going on here? What’s . . .’ And then, recognising Terry, he instinctively moved back. ‘Oh, Mr Street. I didn’t realise it was you.’ As if he wasn’t sure if Terry had been legally released from prison or had somehow managed an audacious escape, his face took on an anxious expression. His tone, however, became more benign. ‘Er . . . is there something I can help you with?’
‘Yes,’ Terry said sharply. ‘You can fuck off and let me talk to my daughter.’
Gerald’s eyes grew large and round and his cheeks took on a purplish hue. His pronounced Adam’s apple bounced up and down in his throat. He stared at Iris. She could see the shock on his face and knew exactly what he was thinking: it was no problem organising a funeral for the wife of a local gangster, but employing his offspring was a step too far. Find
ing out that she was related to a minor villain like Michael had been bad enough, but discovering she was the daughter of Terry Street . . .
Iris might have been amused if she hadn’t had more pressing things on her mind. As it was, she didn’t give a damn about what Gerald thought of her any more. No matter what happened next, she would never work for Tobias Grand & Sons again. Her life in Kellston was over. ‘If you could just give us a few minutes?’ she said. ‘There won’t be any trouble. I promise.’
Gerald, understandably, didn’t look that convinced but was smart enough to withdraw from the scene. Everyone was silent until the door had closed on his office again.
Iris turned to the two men left in the room. She narrowed her eyes and glared at them. ‘If you want to beat the shit out of each other you can do it somewhere else. You’ve both messed up my life in one way or another so the least you can do is give me some answers.’
‘What do you want to know?’ Terry said. Ignoring the ‘No Smoking’ sign on the wall, he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped one out and lit it. He took a drag and blew the smoke through his nose in one long, thin stream. ‘I presume you’ve already discovered that you’re not his one true love, that the only reason he took up with you was to get at me? It was all about revenge. He knew that I wanted to make contact again: his drunken witch of a mother must have told him that. And he also knew that the one way he could get at me was to form a relationship with you.’
Iris knew that what he actually meant was to sleep with her, to use and abuse her in the way that would hurt Terry most. Her stomach made a heaving motion.
‘You’re perverted,’ Guy said. ‘A fucking liar! It’s serious between me and Iris. I love her. I want to be with her. It’s got nothing to do with her being your daughter.’
‘Like hell it hasn’t,’ Terry said. ‘You don’t give a damn about her. You never did. All you ever wanted was to take her away from me.’
‘As if she was ever with you. You think she wants a man like you for her father? You disgust her. You make her sick.’
‘And how do you think you make her feel?’
‘Stop it!’ Iris snapped. She already knew that she’d been used and didn’t need it rubbing in. She looked at Guy. ‘You can stop pretending now. It’s over.’
‘You heard her,’ Terry said. ‘She doesn’t want to listen to your lies.’
‘Or yours,’ Iris said. She stared at Terry’s gaunt face, searching - as she had searched so many times before when she’d studied the photographs of Sean - for some signs of a family resemblance. But now, instead of wanting to find some features they might have in common, she wanted to find nothing. Terry’s eyes were dark, his lips much thinner than hers, his cheeks sunken. Her gaze slid quickly down over the rest of his body. Although he wasn’t as tall or broad as his two sons, he still gave the impression of a sinewy strength. As he lifted the cigarette to his mouth again, she noticed his misshapen knuckles, evidence no doubt of the amount of jaws he’d broken. ‘Guy’s not the only one who’s deceived me.’
‘That wasn’t my fault. Ask your mother. I wanted to see you. She was the one who wouldn’t allow it.’
‘He’s lying,’ Guy said. ‘He paid your mother to leave. He was desperate to keep his filthy little secret quiet. That’s all you ever were to him - something dirty to be swept under the carpet, to be hidden away. If he could have drowned you at birth, he would. Even after he got his own son killed, he couldn’t face up to what he’d done. He crawled back to Lizzie and got her to cover everything up. He made her lie to the cops about what really happened that night.’
It was at that moment, as she heard those dreadful words, that Iris realised just how bitter and twisted Guy Wilder really was. She’d heard a different story from her mother and it was a version, despite all the deceit that had gone before, that she was certain was true.
‘He’s the one who’s lying,’ Terry said. ‘It wasn’t like that.’ There was an almost desperate edge to his tone as if he was genuinely distraught at the thought of her believing Guy’s lies.
Iris nodded. She had no desire to take Terry’s side, to take anyone’s side, but she was determined to get to the truth. ‘I know.’
Guy looked at her. ‘So you’re going to trust him over me? You’re going to believe that vicious bastard?’
‘Dad? What’s going on?’
All three of them turned to see Terry’s two sons standing in the doorway. It was Chris who had spoken. Iris took a breath. So now everyone was here. It was like one of those scenes in an old-fashioned drama, an Agatha Christie perhaps, where everything finally came to a head.
‘Thanks for coming,’ she said.
‘What is this?’ Guy said. ‘What the hell are they doing here?’
Iris smiled at him. ‘I thought it might be nice for us all to get together.’
Guy’s face hardened. It suddenly became cold and calculating. ‘You’ve set me up, you bitch!’
Iris didn’t bother to reply. After what he’d done, she didn’t feel the need to justify herself.
Chris Street stared at her. ‘Are you the one who called me? You said it was about Liam.’
‘Yeah, meet your sister,’ Guy said. ‘If you want to know why Liam died, the answer’s standing right in front of you.’
‘They know that already,’ Iris said. ‘Why do you think they hired their thugs to follow me around?’
But Chris Street just looked confused. ‘What thugs? Sister? What the fuck are you talking about?’
‘The boys don’t know about Sean,’ Terry said to her softly. ‘Or about you. I haven’t had the chance to talk to them yet.’
‘Oh,’ Guy said, ‘that’s classic! He hasn’t even got the guts to tell his own kids about you. That’s how much he cares about his beloved daughter.’
‘They must know about him,’ Iris said. ‘Guy talked to them. I was threatened - at the flat, at Columbia Road market; they even had someone following me around. And he came here.’ Iris nodded towards Danny. ‘He came here and had a go at me.’
Terry, looking bemused, glared at his son. ‘Danny?’
Danny Street was shifting from one foot to another, gazing around the room. He had a shifty nervous look in his eyes and Iris recalled what Vita had told her. If it was true about what he’d been up to in the basement, then perhaps he was only concerned that his gruesome secret might be about to be revealed.
‘Danny?’ Terry said again.
Danny slowly focused his attention back on his father. ‘Shit, I don’t know what’s she’s going on about. She’s talkin’ crap. I don’t know nothin’ about any Sean geezer. Yeah, I came here, but it wasn’t to do with her. I was looking for that Toby Grand. The little ponce owes me money.’
Iris frowned, thinking back to that day. Was it possible that she’d made a mistake? He’d never actually mentioned Sean. Perhaps, already on edge, she’d jumped to an entirely wrong conclusion.
Terry took another deep drag on his cigarette. ‘It wasn’t my boys,’ he said. He turned his stony gaze on Guy. ‘There’s only one person who’d have wanted to scare you like that, someone who wanted you to rely on him, to need him.’
Iris shook her head as she followed Terry’s gaze. ‘No, tell me that it wasn’t you,’ she whispered. ‘Christ, it was, wasn’t it?’ She lifted her hands to momentarily cover her face. Suddenly it was all so utterly clear to her. ‘You hired those men to threaten me! You made me believe that my father was in Kellston, that he was in danger, that I needed you to help me find him.’
Guy gave a small dismissive shrug. ‘It was all so easy, babe. You were so fucking desperate to believe that he was back.’
‘You did what?’ Terry growled.
Iris heard the anger in his voice. It was an echo of her own personal rage and frustration and just for a second, for an unexpected second, she felt grateful that he was standing up for her. No sooner had the thought entered her head than she pushed it abruptly away. He might be her biological father
, but she refused to feel any kind of connection to him.
‘You heard,’ Guy said.
Realising that one or the other might be about to turn this into a more physical argument, Iris quickly stepped between the two of them again. The settling of their differences could wait until she’d got the answers she needed. ‘But why? Why would you want to do that to me?’
‘It was nothing personal,’ Guy said. ‘I like you, I really do.’
‘It’s just that he hates me more,’ Terry said.
‘And Jenks,’ she murmured, still trying to come to terms with the depth of Guy’s betrayal. ‘What about him?’
Guy grinned. ‘Ah, the Weasel would do anything for money. All I had to do was slip him a few bob and get him to approach you in the pub.’
‘Like mother, like son,’ Terry spat out contemptuously. ‘I might have guessed.’
‘Yeah,’ Guy said, ‘the Weasel came to see my mother a few months back, told her that Terry here was paying him to sniff around some girl in Kellston. He didn’t know who she was of course, but my mother did. Iris O’Donnell, her husband’s bastard child.’ He grinned at Terry. ‘Is that why you killed her, because she wasn’t going to put up with it? Did she threaten to tell your precious boys the truth?’
‘She’s our sister?’ Chris Street suddenly said, as if the fact had only just sunk in. He looked Iris up and down as if she was something he’d scraped off the bottom of his shoe.
‘Half-sister,’ Iris corrected him. ‘And I’m as overjoyed about it as you are.’
‘It’s complicated,’ Terry said.
Guy sneered. ‘Oh, it’s not that complicated. Lizzie was drinking a lot, wasn’t she? That loose mouth of hers could have got you in all sorts of trouble. I mean, shit, she was even talking to me, telling me all about your sordid little affair. She was going to blow the lid on what really happened with Liam, wasn’t she?’
‘I didn’t kill her,’ Terry said.
‘No,’ Guy said. ‘You got someone else to do your dirty work for you. Not that I’m complaining - it’s nothing more than the whore deserved and it saved me the trouble of doing it myself.’