Joey sat down next to his sister’s bed. ‘What happened, Frankie? Talk to me,’ he pleaded, as he stared into his sister’s haunted eyes.
Frankie squeezed his hand. She wanted to tell him the truth, tell him that Raymond had kidnapped her, but she was still sedated, in shock, and unable to speak properly.
A few doors away, Stanley clutched Joyce’s hand. She was still sound asleep, but Stanley was sure she could hear him. ‘You should have listened to me all them years ago, Joycie. If Jess hadn’t married Eddie, we wouldn’t be mourning our daughter’s death. We should have put our foot down when she was seventeen and she first met him. I always knew he was a villain, a wrong ’un, and still I let her marry him. How are Frankie and Joey ever gonna get over this, eh, Joycie? Their lives are ruined and so are ours. I hope that bastard doesn’t wake up. He deserves to die, not our Jess. I hate him, Joycie, I really do.’
Joyce’s eyes flickered open. ‘You were right all along about him, Stanley. I’m just sorry I didn’t listen to you,’ she mumbled.
Unable to read properly, Jed kept stopping staff to ask them whether he was going in the right direction.
‘Go straight down the end of this corridor, then turn left,’ a nurse told him.
As Jed and Sammy ran around the corner, they came face to face with Raymond. ‘Where’s Frankie? What’s happened?’ Jed asked him.
Raymond led Jed away from the Old Bill. ‘This is all your fault, you pikey cunt. My sister’s dead because of you. What are you doing up here anyway? Just do one, will ya?’ Ray said viciously.
‘If you don’t tell me what’s happened, I swear I’ll cause a fucking riot,’ Jed yelled.
Seeing the Old Bill had reappeared, Raymond realised that he had no option but to tell him. ‘Frankie’s not injured, but her mum’s dead. Eddie’s been shot as well. I don’t know how he is ’cause no one will tell me.’
Jed looked at Raymond in astonishment. ‘What happened? How did Jess die?’
‘I don’t fucking know,’ Raymond spat.
Seeing a copper walk over to them, Raymond put his arm around Jed’s shoulder. ‘Say nothing about what went on. Go and see Frankie and make sure she keeps schtum as well,’ he whispered.
Jed nodded and went in search of his girlfriend. The copper walked up to Raymond. ‘Your brother-in-law’s OK. I think he’s in recovery.’
Raymond took a deep breath. ‘Thanks for letting us know.’
‘How is she, Joey?’ Jed asked as he sat on a chair next to Frankie.
‘She’s sedated. She’s still in shock. What are we gonna do, Jed? My mum’s dead,’ Joey sobbed.
As Jed stood up, Joey threw himself into his arms. Jed didn’t know what to do. He was positive Frankie’s brother was an iron and he didn’t really want to touch him. ‘Move out the way, Joey. I wanna talk to Frankie,’ he said awkwardly.
As Jed held her hand, Frankie opened her eyes. ‘I’m sorry about your mum. I’ll look after you from now on, I promise I will. Is the baby OK? Have they checked you out?’
‘I’m having a scan in the morning. Please don’t leave me, Jed, stay here with me,’ she whispered.
‘I’m going nowhere,’ Jed assured her.
Eddie Mitchell woke up in the early hours. At first his brain was fuzzy, but within minutes he remembered everything. ‘Jessica! Jessica!’ he cried, the tears rolling down his cheeks.
The Irish nurse walked over to him. ‘You’re going to be OK, Mr Mitchell. You had a nasty bullet wound and lost a lot of blood, but you’re in the best place here. We’ll have you back on your feet in no time.’
‘Are the police still here?’ Eddie asked groggily.
The nurse nodded. Eddie was in a private room and the police were waiting outside the door. ‘Can you tell ’em to come in. I have a confession to make,’ Eddie whispered.
Raymond stood outside smoking another cigarette. The whole episode had been a nightmare and had made him take stock of his life. He had already planned what he was going to do. He was going to propose to Polly, settle down and go straight. What he had seen in that trailer had put him off violence for life and he would never forget the sight of his sister’s mutilated body lying on that floor for the rest of his days.
‘Are you OK, Uncle Raymond?’ Joey asked, as he walked up to him.
Joey felt like a spare part now that Jed had arrived, and he couldn’t wait to leave the hospital and grieve in peace. Raymond put his arm around Joey’s shoulder. ‘I think I should ring your uncles Paulie and Ronny to tell ’em what’s happened. They can tell Reg and Auntie Joan. They’re all gonna find out, anyway.’
Joey nodded dumbly. His mum was dead and nothing else really mattered any more.
Sergeant Lineker could barely believe his ears as Eddie Mitchell confessed to murdering his own wife.
‘So, it was mistaken identity? You thought that Mrs Mitchell was somebody else?’
Propped up against his pillow, a tearful Eddie nodded. ‘My daughter’s pregnant. She’s only sixteen and I went there to shoot her boyfriend. I didn’t know that my wife was there and when I saw this big pair of dealer boots poking out from under the bed, I assumed it was Jed, Frankie’s fella. My Jessica and me were so happy. She was pregnant again and we were over the moon. I loved her more than anyone or anything,’ Eddie said.
Sergeant Lineker glanced at his colleague. A full confession was the last thing they had expected to come out of Eddie Mitchell’s mouth. ‘You get some rest. You need to speak to your solicitor tomorrow. We’ll set the wheels in motion.’
As the two coppers left the room, Eddie covered his face with his hands and howled. He had never admitted to a crime before in his life, but this was different. He had murdered his own wife and unborn child in cold blood, and spending the rest of his life in prison was what Eddie felt he deserved.
Stanley walked back into the room where his wife was. ‘The doctor said that we can go home soon,’ he told her.
Joyce sat up and clung on to her husband for dear life.
‘Come on, let it all out,’ Stanley said, as she sobbed on his shoulder. He felt like crying himself, but had to be strong for her sake.
‘What are we gonna go without her, Stanley? She was my life,’ Joyce wept.
Stanley felt his eyes welling up. ‘I really don’t know, but we’ll manage somehow, darling.’
‘I’m gonna pop outside with Sammy to have a fag. Shall I bring you a coffee back?’ Jed asked Frankie.
Frankie nodded. ‘See if you can find Joey for me. He can sit with me while you’re gone.’
Jed nodded and left the room.
‘Your sister wants you,’ he told Joey as he walked past him.
Outside, Sammy handed Jed a cigarette. ‘I might shoot off in a minute. Will you be all right here on your own?’
‘I’ll be fine. Frankie will probably be allowed to go home in the morning, so I’ll stop here with her,’ Jed replied.
Sammy shook his cousin’s hand. ‘You know where I am if you need me. Ring me tomorrow,’ he said, as he went to walk away.
Jed grabbed hold of him. ‘Sam, that thing we done, you must never tell anyone, especially not now. Promise me you won’t?’
‘I swear, you have my word,’ Sammy replied.
Jed leaned against the wall as his cousin walked away. Thank God he’d had the brains to burn them photos he’d stolen as souvenirs. No one but him and Sammy knew the truth. He hadn’t even told his dad.
Jed smiled as he thought back to that night. Murdering Harry Mitchell had been all his idea. He had planned it with precision and, due to his cleverness, they’d got away with it.
In Jed’s eyes, Harry Mitchell had deserved to die. Butch, Jed’s grandfather, had had his life ruined by Mitchell. Butch had never recovered from being shot in the foot. He walked with a severe limp from that day onwards and spent the latter part of his life living as a recluse.
Jed had plotted the operation from start to finish. He’d recruited Sammy’s younger brother, Billy,
and his pals to act as decoys. Six times Jed had driven them over to Harry’s and paid them fifty quid to cause mayhem. The boys had no idea what Jed was up to. He’d told them that the man had knocked him for money.
‘See that house over there, number thirty-one? I want you to hang about outside and make a nuisance of yourselves. Make sure all the neighbours see and hear you, but keep your hoods up at all times so they can’t see your faces. You’ve gotta shout, scream, throw stones, knock on the doors. I need you to be as noisy as you can,’ Jed ordered.
On the night of the murder, Jed had paid the boys their money, driven them back to Essex, then he and Sammy Boy had returned to Canning Town. They knew Harry was in, as they’d seen the lights go on and off earlier.
Jed had chosen Christmas Eve for a reason. He knew there’d be loads of noise on the streets, therefore Mitchell’s shouts and screams would blend in with those of drunken revellers.
At eleven o’clock, Harry’s house was in complete darkness.
‘Let’s give it an hour, make sure the old shit-cunt’s asleep,’ Jed told Sammy.
Sitting across the road in the back of a hooky van, Jed and Sammy amused themselves by secretly poking fun at the merry worshippers heading off to midnight mass. At a quarter to twelve, Jed checked the coast was clear and told his cousin to follow him.
‘Right, put your gloves on and your hood up. Time to give old Harry boy his Christmas present,’ Jed whispered, as they crept through the alleyway that led to Harry Mitchell’s back garden.
Jed knew they’d have no problem gaining entry. He’d done his homework and was aware that Mitchell left the louvres open in the conservatory to let his cat in and out. Jed then expertly removed the louvres one by one, climbed in, then urged Sammy to do the same.
Jed waited until he got to the lounge before he switched his torch on. Spotting the photos of young Harry with a pretty woman, Jed smiled. ‘Once we’ve finished him off, we’ll take a couple of them pictures as souvenirs. We need to rough the place up a bit, make a mess, but we’ll have to do it quietly,’ Jed whispered.
Gesticulating for Sammy to follow him up the stairs, Jed clutched his baseball bat tightly in both hands. He’d waited a long time for this moment and felt high on adrenalin.
Harry’s snoring sounded like a pig snorting and Jed grinned as he tiptoed towards his bedroom. The door was open, and as Jed stood over the sleeping man, he was filled with a mixture of excitement and hatred. Glancing at Sammy, he lifted the bat in the air and smashed it as hard as he could over Harry’s head.
Instinct took over and a dazed Harry staggered out of the bed and lunged at Jed. ‘Who are you? What the fuck do you want?’ he shouted, as his feeble punches failed to connect.
Jed hit Harry once more and laughed as he fell to the floor. ‘Not as strong as you thought you were, eh?’ he goaded.
‘Tie up his arms and legs then shine the torch on him,’ Jed told Sammy.
Recognising the accent was that of a traveller, Harry knew he was in trouble. For many years he’d slept with a gun under his bed and his only hope now was to make a grab for it. With the two blows he’d received to his head, Harry was no match for his fit young attacker. Clocking Harry’s hand creeping under the bed, Jed repeatedly stamped on it with his right foot.
As Harry felt his wrist snap, he screamed out in pain. Sammy tied Harry’s arms up, ‘Who are you? One of the fucking O’Haras? I’m warning you – you kill me and my Eddie will break every bone in your useless pikey body,’ Harry shouted.
Jed laughed as Sammy tied Harry’s legs up. Harry reminded him of an oven-ready chicken, ‘Sorry, did I forget to introduce myself? I’m Jed O’Hara, Butch’s grandson, and this is my cousin, Sammy. I take it you remember my grandfather?’
Annoyed that Harry didn’t reply, Jed booted him in the head. ‘Answer me, you old shit-cunt.’
Harry was in so much pain he could barely speak. ‘What happened with your grandfather was business, nothing personal,’ he croaked.
‘I’ll give you fucking personal,’ Jed spat, tying the gag around Harry’s mouth.
Jed could sense Harry’s despair. Watching him choking, trying to say something, Jed loosened the gag.
‘Please don’t kill me. I beg you not to. If you kill me, you’re signing your own death warrant. The feud between our families ended years ago. To start it up again now will cause an absolute bloodbath.’
Jed tightened the gag once more. He had to finish what he’d come here to do. ‘My grandfather turned into a hermit because of you. You killed his spirit and now I’m gonna kill yours. So go fuck your grandmother.’
As Jed lifted up the baseball bat, Harry began to wriggle like a fish out of water.
‘Hurry up, Jed. Finish him off and let’s get out of here,’ Sammy urged his cousin.
Jed looked into Harry’s petrified eyes and smiled. ‘Happy Christmas. I hope you rot in hell,’ he whispered, repeatedly smashing the bat over Harry’s skull.
As blood sprayed everywhere, Sammy felt queasy. ‘Come on, Jed, that’s enough,’ he said.
Even though he knew Harry was dead, Jed couldn’t stop. His victim’s head was already bashed to a pulp, so Jed started to smash the bat against his teeth.
Frightened, Sammy grabbed Jed and pushed him against the wall. ‘Whaddya doing? The old cunt’s been dead five minutes. We need to get out of here, Jed. If we don’t, we’re both looking at prison.’
The word prison seemed to snap Jed out of his violent trance. Checking he’d left no clues in the bedroom, Jed followed Sammy downstairs.
‘Open a few drawers and throw some stuff on the floor. It has to look like a burglary,’ Jed said, as he stuffed some photos inside his jacket.
Ten minutes later, with the house looking completely ransacked, Jed and Sammy climbed out the same way they’d got in.
‘Excuse me. Do you know what the visiting hours are?’
Jed’s daydream was ended by the woman standing in front of him. ‘Sorry. What did you say?’
The woman repeated her question.
‘I’ve no idea. Ask a nurse,’ Jed told her.
Taking the last drag on his fag, Jed flicked the butt into the air. Everything had turned out OK in the end. Harry was long gone, Jessica was dead, Eddie was looking at a life sentence, which meant Frankie and the baby were all his.
Unable to stop himself, Jed began to laugh. He couldn’t wait to tell his father that Eddie Mitchell had tried to shoot him, but instead had killed his own wife. For years his dad had banged on about getting his own back on the Mitchells and now, without his dad even knowing, he’d done it for him.
Jed grinned as he strolled back into the hospital. Thanks to him, the feud was finally over.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thi
rty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
The Feud Page 40