Tainted Love: The gritty new thriller from the #1 bestseller

by Kimberley Chambers

  Nadia’s arms and legs flapping reminded Vinny of a bird desperately trying to fly with an injured wing, and that only heightened the intensity of his orgasm.

  ‘Jesus wept! I needed that. You can get dressed now,’ Vinny ordered, rolling onto his back.

  When Nadia did not reply, Vinny shook her. ‘Wake up. Don’t mess about.’

  Panic setting in when there was still no reply, Vinny rolled Nadia onto her front. She felt like a dead weight, looked lifeless. He manically pumped at her chest. ‘Wake up, girl. Don’t do this to me. Fucking open your eyes, will ya?’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Sweating profusely as he managed to rip out another of Nadia’s teeth, Vinny handed the pliers to Carl. ‘Your turn to play dentist. I need a glass of water.’

  Vinny still felt a bit high, but had sobered up now. He couldn’t believe what he’d done, but he’d told Jay Boy and Carl it was a sex game that had gone wrong, and thankfully both seemed to believe him. No way could he have told them the truth: that Nadia was choking and flapping around while he throttled her to death. He honestly hadn’t meant to kill her though. Imagining she was Bella was where it had all gone wrong.

  Jay Boy had been ordered to go out and steal a motor. Not a flash car, van, or old banger because they were always liable to get a tug off the Old Bill in the middle of the night. A sensible motor. The plan then was to shove Nadia in the boot, drive her miles away and burn her and the car to cinders. Hopefully, with her gnashers removed, the Old Bill wouldn’t have a clue who she was. She’d be nothing more than a pile of ashes.

  ‘I’ve sorted the motor. It’s perfect. A Ford Cortina, and I managed to nick a mini-cab aerial an’ all, so I’ve shoved that on the back. Plates have already been changed. We set to go?’ Jay Boy asked.

  ‘Not yet. Still trying to get her teeth out.’

  Jay Boy sighed. He loved working for Vinny, but seriously didn’t need all this other shit that went with his job at the club. He had Jilly and her kid to consider now. ‘Well we’d better get a move on. Fuck burning her when it’s light.’

  The Enemy had become impatient. He’d stalked Vivian a few times now, and whenever he’d been about to strike, something had occurred to stop him from doing so. It was as though God was warning him it wasn’t meant to be.

  He’d also followed Vinny and Michael on a couple of occasions. They usually had their henchmen with them and the Enemy wasn’t stupid. No way did he want to go back inside, which was why he’d now turned his attention to Brenda.

  It was common knowledge that Queenie wasn’t as close to Brenda as her sons, but she was still her only daughter. He’d also heard through the grapevine that Little Vinny was getting married this weekend, so to spoil the wedding would be an added bonus.

  After a bloody long wait, the Enemy finally saw Brenda and her drunken friend stagger from the Eastbrook pub. He crossed the road and glanced around. The pub was situated near traffic lights and he needed to wait for a lull in the passing cars.

  After tottering unsteadily along Rainham Road South for a few minutes, the women decided to get some chips. The Enemy was dressed like a nerd again, and pulled the hood of his duffel coat over his head. He’d done his homework. The nearest cab firm was a five-minute walk away, but unfortunately it was within spitting distance of Dagenham Police Station. Would the drunken mingers head there or would they walk home? The Enemy had learned Brenda lived in Oldmead House, which would be a bit of a schlep given the state she was in.

  He watched and waited while the girls sat on the pavement, mauling their food like animals. Realizing there were no people or cars in sight, the Enemy put his hand inside his satchel. It was now or never, he thought, as he ran towards Brenda.

  Ginger Sharon glanced up as he approached. ‘Buy your own fucking grub,’ she slurred.

  The Enemy didn’t reply. He aimed straight for Brenda’s stomach, plunging the knife in three times.

  When the ginger bird dropped her chips and started to scream manically, the Enemy turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could down Oxlow Lane.

  ‘Bobby Jackson’s son. Don’t tell the police – tell my brothers,’ Brenda gurgled. They were the last words she ever spoke.

  Having had no time to prepare for the disposal of this particular body, Vinny Butler ordered Carl to drive the Cortina to Purfleet. He knew the area reasonably well as that was where he’d killed Ahmed and Burak.

  Vinny hadn’t fancied sitting in the stolen car with his latest victim in the boot, so had chosen to accompany Jay Boy. His pal was driving and Carl was following them.

  ‘Do you wanna talk about what happened?’ Jay Boy asked Vinny.

  ‘No point, is there? She’s dead. As I told you earlier, it was a sex game that went wrong,’ Vinny lied, flicking another of Nadia’s teeth out the window as they cruised along the A13. It had been Jay Boy who’d dislodged the last of them. Bastards to get out, they’d been, especially the molars.

  ‘You should try and find yourself a decent bird, Vin. I’ve never been happier since I settled down with my Jilly. Playing the field ain’t all it’s cracked up to be at times.’

  ‘Tell me about it. Just drive and don’t lecture me, Jay. I’m so not in the mood. My love life has had disaster stamped all over it, ever since I found out what me cock was for. I think we turn off soon. Slow down a bit.’

  ‘I know exactly where to turn off. It’s not yet, Vin.’

  Eight minutes later, Carl Tanner pulled up behind Jay Boy’s motor. He’d felt no nerves driving about with a dead body in the boot. His previous career as a con man had taught him how to control any form of anxiety.

  The area Vinny had chosen was that desolate you could’ve heard a pin drop. ‘I think we should burn her separately. I need to make sure she’s totally unrecognizable. We can set fire to the motor afterwards,’ Vinny said.

  Jay Boy was worried. ‘Vin, it’s nearly four, and it’ll be getting light soon. Let’s just burn her in the boot and get the fuck out of here. We’ve got to go home in my motor – which happens to be registered in my bloody name.’

  ‘Want me to do the honours?’ Carl offered, waving a petrol container in the air.

  Ignoring Jay Boy’s advice, Vinny opened the boot and dragged the girl out. She was wrapped in a sheet. He urged Carl to help him pull her along the lane a bit, and with no remorse whatsoever, callously poured the petrol over her, then struck a match.

  Jay Boy gagged as the smell of burning flesh hit his nostrils. He was no wimp, but setting fire to random women was something he would never be able to get his head around. The poor bird had only gone out for a drink earlier, must have a family who would be devastated to never see her again. As much as he respected Vinny, now he was planning to marry Jilly and start a family himself, at times such as this Jay Boy did wonder if he should quit his job, while he was still able to.

  Vivian Harris had always been a light sleeper, and since her fall-out with Queenie, woke up sporadically throughout the night.

  Hearing a car engine, Vivian glanced at her radio/alarm clock, then got out of bed. ‘Oh no,’ she gasped, as she spotted two coppers get out of a marked car outside Queenie’s.

  Queenie’s heart beat wildly when she opened the front door. Surely Vinny hadn’t been arrested? Or worse still, was dead? ‘Whatever’s the matter?’ she asked.

  ‘May we come inside please, Queenie?’ DC Marriot asked. He knew the woman well, had often spoken to her around the shops and market.

  ‘It’s all right, Queen. I’m here,’ Vivian assured, leading her sister into the front room and urging her to sit down. She could tell by the look on the Old Bill’s faces that it was extremely bad news. They didn’t knock you up in the middle of the night for anything less.

  Queenie felt as though she was in a trance as she stared at Marriot.

  ‘I’m afraid we have some bad news for you, Queenie.’

  ‘Not my Vinny or Michael? Please tell me it ain’t my boys,’ Queenie gabbled.

  ‘The
re was an incident in Dagenham earlier. A woman received a fatal stab wound and we strongly believe that woman was your daughter, Brenda. Obviously, we will need somebody to formally identify the body,’ Marriot’s colleague explained.

  ‘Brenda! Stabbed! But she’s still alive, right?’ Queenie exclaimed.

  Their terrible row forgotten, Vivian held her sister in her arms. ‘No, Queen. Fatal means fatal. I’m so sorry, my darling. Poor Brenda.’

  Slumped in the armchair, Queenie shook her head in disbelief. ‘My baby girl. I did love her, ya know. In ’ere I always loved her,’ she wept, patting the left-hand side of her ribs.

  ‘What happened? Was Bren at home?’ Vivian asked. She couldn’t believe their family had been cursed with yet another death. It was surreal.

  ‘Brenda’s friend was with her when the incident happened. They’d been drinking in the Eastbrook pub. That is all the information we have at present, but I can assure you the police will do everything in their power to catch the person responsible.’

  ‘Bren’s boyfriend beat her up recently. Dave Green his name is. It’s got to be him who stabbed her,’ Vivian told Marriot.

  ‘Some officers from Dagenham are with Mr Green now. He was in the Cross Keys pub when the incident occurred, and is helping the police with their enquiries,’ Marriot’s colleague replied.

  The last time Queenie had laid eyes on her daughter was when she was lying in a hospital bed. As memories of her final conversation with Brenda came flooding back, Queenie sobbed uncontrollably. ‘I told Bren I wished I’d never given birth to her. Told her she was dead in my eyes, and now she is. What a terrible wicked mother I am.’

  When Marriot and his colleague glanced awkwardly at one another, Vivian shouted, ‘Make yourselves useful, will ya? Pour my sister a brandy, it’s in that cabinet. Can’t you see she’s in shock?’

  Jay Boy and Carl were absolutely knackered. After setting fire to the girl and the car, Vinny had insisted they accompany him back to the flat so they could scrub it from top to bottom and wipe away any trace of her. They’d also dumped his mattress and bedding for him. That too had gone up in a puff of smoke.

  ‘I’ll get Edna to come in later today and give this one last going over. And I’ll need you to pick me up a new mattress, lads. Thanks for your help. There’ll be an extra five grand in both your wage packets this week. Remember, nobody must get wind of this, Michael included. It’s to be kept between the three of us.’

  Jay Boy slouched on the sofa. ‘Are you sure nobody clocked you in the pub with the bird, Vin? You absolutely positive she was alone there?’

  ‘She told me she’d never been in that boozer before. Said she’d been out with a mate, they’d rowed, and she’d stumbled in there. We were both pissed, and I swear I only spoke to her for a minute before she suggested going somewhere quieter. I reckon she’d actually had a row with a bloke rather than a mate, ’cause she made it perfectly clear she wanted a good fucking. She said she was starving, hadn’t eaten all day, so I told her to go and get something to eat, then meet me where I’d parked my car in half an hour. Which reminds me. Shit! We need to scrub the fucking car an’ all. Her fingerprints must be all over it. In fact, I think you should burn that as well. I’ll report it as stolen.’

  ‘Jesus, Vin. Let’s just wipe it clean, eh? If by any chance the bizzies pay you a visit, don’t you think they’ll be even more suspicious to see you have a new mattress and your car has been stolen and found burned out? I know you’ve arranged an alibi for the three of us, but we’ll all be in shit-street if you keep setting fire to stuff. Me and Carl will clean the motor for you. Then let’s all get some kip.’

  ‘I read an article in the paper recently. It said in years to come, people will be getting nicked for crimes committed now thanks to advances in DNA technology,’ Vinny warned.

  ‘Vin, I can barely keep my eyes open. It’s been a helluva long night. Why don’t me and Jay give the car a clean, then we can all think a bit straighter once we’ve slept. Are you sure the Kelly brothers are good for our alibi?’ Carl asked.

  ‘Of course. If tugged, I’d better admit I had a beer in that boozer, in case anybody saw me. Then yous two picked me up from the flat in Jay’s motor and we drove over to Kent for a card game with the Kellys. That will account for Jay’s car being spotted along the A13 – not that it would have been.’

  When Vinny’s landline rang again, he pulled the plug out the wall. His mother had been constantly phoning while they were trying to clean the flat up, and Vinny guessed it was because she hadn’t been able to get hold of him for the past twenty-four hours and was worried. No way was he in the mood to talk to her now, or anybody else for that matter.

  ‘I’ll take your car, Vin, and drop it back this afternoon,’ Jay Boy said.

  Vinny was that tired, he felt stoned. He put his weary head in his hands. ‘I can’t believe my son is getting married on Saturday, and I’ve had to deal with all this shit.’

  Carl and Jay Boy glanced at one another, both thinking the same. If this ever came to light, they’d be going down as well. For a murder they did not commit.

  Michael Butler was having the twenty-four hours from hell. Katy had been far too besotted with him to have been seeing other blokes on the side, so if she was in the family way, it was most likely his. He’d been reaching for the phone to make the dreaded call to her when his mother had rung to inform him his sister had been stabbed to death. Michael couldn’t believe it. He might not have been close to Brenda in recent years, but he had when they were kids. She was the nearest to him in age, and he couldn’t believe their paths would never cross again. Growing up, Bren had been a vibrant, pretty girl and tears stung Michael’s eyes as he remembered the times he’d met her from school. Full of attitude she’d been, a true Butler. Should he and Vinny have done more to help her sort her life out in latter years? Well, that thought would haunt him for ever now. They had tried to help her a few times, but Bren was headstrong, just like they were. Perhaps they should have been more forceful? Made her go into rehab, God rest her soul. She was their only sister, after all.

  Nobody had been able to get hold of Vinny, so it was Michael who had the difficult task of accompanying his mother and aunt to identify Brenda’s body. The only good thing to come out of all this was that his aunt and mother seemed to have forgotten the stupid argument over his father.

  Michael spoke to the police officer alone, then walked over to his mother. ‘I think you should let me identify the body, Mum. You’ll have plenty of time to say a proper goodbye to Bren once the police have wrapped up their enquiries.’

  ‘No!’ A tearful Queenie clenched her sister’s hand and shook her head vehemently. ‘I gave birth to that girl and I need to see her for myself. You stay here, Viv’s coming in with me.’

  The police officer led Queenie and Vivian into a room. The whole place smelt awful, an unrecognizable stench that was obviously associated with death. When the man lifted back the shroud to reveal the face, Queenie put her hand over her mouth. There wasn’t a mark on Brenda. She looked asleep rather than dead. ‘I’m so sorry, Bren. I did love you. Please forgive me for what I said. I didn’t mean it. Of course I wish you’d been born,’ Queenie said.

  ‘She looks at peace now, Queen,’ Vivian pointed out.

  Tears rolling down her cheeks, Queenie nodded. ‘Yes. She does, bless her. Maybe being in heaven will do her a favour? I doubt she’ll be able to buy booze up there. She’ll be able to redeem herself and start afresh.’

  ‘I’m sure she will. Plus she’ll have your Roy, my Lenny, Adam and Molly keeping an eye on her. And our lovely mum. What’s gonna happen to Tara and Tommy though? Poor little ha’p’orths must be traumatized. We should go and pick ’em up, Queen, take ’em back to yours.’

  ‘They can’t live with me. I’ve got enough on me plate with Ava,’ Queenie said bluntly.

  ‘We can’t leave ’em with that tosser Dave. They’re not even his. And he’s an alkie,’ Vivian argued. />
  ‘Best somebody tracks down Dean Smart then. He’s their bloody father,’ Queenie hissed.

  The copper and mortuary staff exchanged glances. They’d heard some strange conversations in their time, eavesdropping on family members as they identified loved ones, but never one quite as odd as this.

  Vinny Butler was disorientated as he sat bolt upright. Had he heard a hammering on his front door or dreamt it?

  ‘Vinny, it’s Michael. I know you’re in there ’cause I rung Jay Boy. Open the fucking door.’

  Relief flooding through his veins it wasn’t the Old Bill, Vinny stumbled out of bed. Surely Michael hadn’t found out about the bird? ‘What’s up?’ he asked, feeling edgy.

  ‘What’s up! What’s fucking up! Why ain’t you been answering your phone? Mum and me have been trying to get hold of you since the early hours of this morning.’

  ‘Sorry. I had a card game that went on most the night and I’ve got the hangover from hell. What’s the matter? Has something happened?’

  Annoyed with himself for not doing more for Brenda, and furious with Vinny for being on the missing list, Michael decided to break the news brutally. ‘Er, you could say that. Our sister got stabbed to death last night. I’ve already taken Mum to identify Bren’s body.’

  Vinny slumped into the armchair with his head in his hands. ‘What exactly happened? That cunt Dave, it’s got to be.’

  ‘Is that all you’ve got to say? Our little sister’s dead, Vin. We should’ve done more for her. It’s our fault. She was one of our own.’

  ‘No, it isn’t our fault. Well, not mine anyway,’ Vinny replied, his face devoid of any emotion. ‘While you were focusing solely on your own fucking problems, including that unreliable bit of fluff you’re so obsessed with, I was actually trying to help our sister. Found her a nice flat and a decent clinic to get her off the booze, but Bren being Bren, she threw it all back in my face. She was beyond help, unfortunately.’