“It’s been so good having you around,” said Beth, embracing Rachel.
“It’s been lovely seeing you every day,” said Rachel, hugging her back.
“You could continue seeing us every day if you moved back to Manchester.”
“Sorry mate, Devon’s our home now. You could always move down there?”
“Nah, my home’s here, my parents are here and my businesses.”
“But we’ll be back up as soon as the baby’s born,” said Rachel, gently pressing a hand to her friend’s stomach.
“You’d better, you and Ryan are going to be godparents.”
Sensing someone staring at her, Rachel looked round, not surprised to find the source of her unease was Archie. He was on a brief visit from his grandmother’s so he could say goodbye to his family. “You going to give your aunty a hug?” she said, opening her arms to him.
Archie glanced at Riley, who gave him a warning look. Archie walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, a delighted Rachel hugging him back. “It was lovely seeing you,” she said, kissing the top of his head.
When he looked up at her she forced herself not to recoil. His eyes were shards of ice, jaw tense with rage. It was how Alex had looked at her in his madness and hatred. Hastily she released him and took a step back, willing the smile back on her face so no one would see what was wrong. However Ryan had seen everything. After hugging Riley and the other two children she hastily left, Ryan following, looking back over his shoulder at the boy, who stared back at him unflinchingly.
When Jackson arrived at the home to visit Jules he was surprised to find she wasn’t in her room.
“She’s gone for hydrotherapy,” Catherine told him, directing him to a wing of the home he’d never been in before.
He found Jules in the shallow end of a swimming pool with two women in dark blue bathing costumes. She was sitting in a chair so her lower half was submerged. He watched as one of the women took her hands and gently helped her to her feet. The delight in Jules’s eyes to finally be standing made his heart soar. She hadn’t looked this alive since she’d woken up.
She spotted him standing at the edge of the pool and beamed. “Jax, me stand.”
He tried not to wince at her childlike speech. This was progress. “It’s great babe, you’re doing so well.”
“She is that,” said one of the woman leading her by the hands, who he recognised as her physiotherapist. “Can you put one foot in front of the other Jules?”
Screwing up her face in concentration, she pushed forward her right foot, which smoothly moved through the water.
“Well done,” said the physio. “Now the left.”
Jules laughed out loud when her left foot followed. She took another four steps before her knees buckled and the physios helped her back to the chair.
“Dammit,” said Jules.
“That was excellent progress,” said the physio. “Remember, your legs haven’t walked in eight weeks. You need to give them time.”
“Time,” she muttered, fed up of hearing the same old thing. She didn’t have time. More people might come to kill her.
“Listen to them Jules.” Jackson looked to the physios. “She can be incredibly stubborn.”
“Good. Stubborn is what we need right now, isn’t it Jules?”
She gave a reluctant smile. “Yeah.”
“You ready to try again?”
“Always,” she said, all eagerness.
Jackson couldn’t help but be proud of her strength. His wife was one determined lady.
This time she managed to take six steps before her legs gave way.
“See, progress already,” said the physio as she replaced her in the chair.
“Why are you doing this in a pool?” said Jackson.
“The anti-gravity effect allows for greater freedom of movement. Plus the resistance of the water works quicker to build up muscle strength.”
“And won’t hurt if I fall,” said Jules.
“There is that too,” smiled the physio.
After trying for another half hour and Jules taking a total of ten steps all at once, she was exhausted, so they brought the session to an end.
“We’ll get you showered and changed and take you back to your room,” the physio told Jules.
She was about to make a wisecrack about showering with two women but just managed to stop herself, thinking that would go down like a lead balloon. However this did make her feel a bit more like her old self, which cheered her immensely.
Jackson waited in her room for her to be brought back, freshly showered, her hair dried, hanging down her back in a black wave, gleaming like it used to. She’d gone from looking so fragile to more robust in a few days, which was very heartening.
She was helped into bed, tired but happy.
“You are so unbelievably strong,” said Jackson when the physios had gone, taking her hand and kissing it.
“I know,” she smiled. “I walk again.”
“Course you will. You already are.”
She ran her fingertips down his face. “Thank you…for being here.”
“I always will be.”
“I know hard for you…this place…illness.”
“Yeah, I’ve always been crap with stuff like that but for better or for worse. I meant it when I said it on our wedding day.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said, desperately trying to push the memory of his betrayal out of his mind. He’d avoided Cindy ever since Jules had woken up but she worked at the ring where he fought, he was going to see her again one day and it scared him because there was something irresistible between them. He’d always resisted it before but ever since he’d weakened and given in he was afraid he’d be tempted to do it again and the Maguires and Laws were not a family you betrayed. His thoughts involuntarily turned to Amber and her revolting offer. Part of him had expected her to blurt out his dirty secret but she never had, probably too afraid of him revealing hers. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since that cringe-making time at her house and he hoped never to clap eyes on the manipulative cow again.
“I thought I might bring Cara back, to try again,” he said. “You’re looking more like your old self.”
“Cara,” she beamed.
“What is it?” he said when her smile fell.
Jules was thinking of the attempt on her life. “No, don’t.”
“Why not? I thought you’d be desperate to see her?”
“I am but danger.”
“Danger? Is that why Paula’s guarding your door again?”
She nodded.
“What happened?”
Even with her poor speech he managed to deduce that a group of men had come here to kill her, one even shooting into her room. Mikey had stuck a photo of the family over the hole the bullet had left in the wall.
“Jesus,” he exclaimed when she’d finished.
“They cowards,” she said.
“If they’d wanted to do that to you why didn’t they come when you were in the coma?”
“They want me to know it them. No fun if I don’t know and feel no pain.”
Jackson was horrified, her words making him feel sick. “That’s horrible.”
She shrugged. “What I would do.”
He fought the urge to run from the room. Before the coma she never would have said something like that to him. “You would?”
She nodded.
“And what if they try again?”
“Possible, so this why bad idea to bring Cara.”
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry, I can’t let her near the place until I know it’s safe.”
“I hope soon. Mikey and Jez make sure.”
“And how will they do that? Actually, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know.”
“You should know. Dangerous for you here.”
“It’s not going to keep me away,” he said, taking her hand.
CHAPTER 16
“Come
on Steve, open up,” said Tom. He looked back at the line of seven men behind him who were all wondering why their local was still locked up.
“He’s probably shacked up with some old tart,” he told them.
They all grumbled and nodded in agreement, pissed off because they hadn’t had their daily fix of lager yet.
They all watched as a black Audi rolled to a halt at the kerb, wondering if Steve had finally deigned to arrive. The back doors were pushed open by masked figures and out of each door was thrown a battered slab of meat.
The doors were pulled shut and the car set off down the street at a sedate, almost leisurely pace.
They all stared at the unmoving slabs of meat in silence.
“Go on then,” one of the men urged Tom.
“Go on what?”
“Go and see who it is.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re sort of our leader.”
“Says who?”
“Oh go on,” he said, nudging him forwards.
“Fine, if you lot are too scared.”
Tom swallowed hard and stepped down off the pavement, approaching the lumps lying in the road. It was fortunate they were on a quiet street or they would have been run over by now.
Tentatively he nudged the first body with the toe of his shoe but it didn’t move. When he nudged harder the body flopped onto its back and Tom gasped and leapt back when he saw it was Steve. Even though his face was ruined he could tell it was him because of the tacky anchor tattoo on his right forearm. It looked like something big and heavy had been dropped on him several times, his body bearing many marks of torture.
He turned to the second body, which he didn’t need to turn over as they were sprawled on their back, similarly mangled. “Jesus Pat, I warned you, didn’t I?”
He frowned at the piece of paper pinned to the front of Pat’s white vest. It was a drawing of a snake, eyes glowing bright red, fangs bared and dripping poison.
“Venom,” he whispered.
If Steve and Pat were here, what had happened to his friends? Where were Charlie and Rob?
Although the deaths of Steve and Pat had only just been discovered and hadn’t yet had chance to circulate around the city, Charlie, Rob and Sam had heard of their disappearance and had holed up together in a flat owned by an ex-girlfriend of Sam’s who he was still friendly with, plotting how they could reach Jules.
“She’s got security guarding her now at the home,” said Rob miserably. “We should have done it while we had the chance.”
“But we didn’t get the chance, did we?” said Charlie.
“I shouldn’t have left Pat behind,” said Sam, feeling terrible. “If I’d stayed with him the Maguires and Laws might not have got him.”
“We don’t know that they did get him.”
“Course they did. That’s the only reason he’d vanish. He’ll turn up dead soon, just mark my words.”
“Like we will if we’re not careful,” said Charlie.
“Maybe we should just get out of Manchester?” said Rob. “Let things cool down a bit.”
“If we do we’ll never get that bitch,” said Charlie. “She’ll be back to full strength and we’ll never get near her.”
“Maybe it’s for the best?” said Rob. “We did our best but we failed. End of story.”
“I am not giving up.” He looked to Sam. “What about you?”
“No way am I giving up either. I let Pat down once, I won’t do it again. We’ve been best mates since high school.”
“Good man.”
“You’re both nuts,” said Rob. “Haven’t you learnt yet what happens to people who fuck with the Maguires and Laws? Look at Terry and Jake, then Alex. The Jordans, the Slatterys and everyone in Manchester who went over to their side, plus three serial killers. For fuck’s sake, the rumour mill says they even topped Frankie McVay. Don’t you see a pattern emerging?” he said sarcastically.
“That’s not going to be us, we’re smarter than that shower.”
“Shower?” he exclaimed. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, getting to his feet.
“Where do you think you’re going?” said Charlie.
“Far away from you. We were lucky to escape with our lives once but you can’t see that. You might have a death wish but I bloody don’t.”
With that he walked out of the flat, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Good riddance,” said Charlie. “We don’t need him anyway. Three’s a crowd.”
“I don’t care about him,” said Sam. “I don’t care about anyone except getting that bitch. For Pat.”
“And we will,” said Charlie, patting him on the shoulder. “And we’ll be marked out as local legends at the same time.”
Leah’s hand shook as she dialled Reid’s number. She was back in Devon so she couldn’t put it off any longer, she had to face him. She was afraid the consequences would be worse if she didn’t. At least she didn’t need to worry about her family overhearing her. They were all in the house while she was in the stables with Sophia, her horse. She stroked her beautiful mane, finding her presence a comfort as she pressed the phone to her ear.
“Finally,” purred Reid’s deep voice after only three rings. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I had no choice,” she retorted, determined to keep in mind her Aunt Jules’s words about being strong. “My aunt woke from her coma, I was surrounded by family.”
“Even your uncles, Jez and Mikey?”
“Yes,” she said flatly, finding his interest in her family creepy now. Why hadn’t she seen how weird he was before? She could have saved herself so much hassle.
“I need to see you,” he breathed.
Leah had been expecting this. “Fine,” she said, deciding she was going to sort this shit out once and for all. Being scared was so exhausting. “But you don’t come near the house. Mum and Dad are looking for who attacked those four men. I don’t want you on their radar.”
“I’d love to meet them.”
“Well you can’t,” she huffed. Jesus, was the man deranged? Clearly the answer to that question was yes.
“Alright, if you insist gorgeous. So where?”
“At the café in the shopping centre.”
“I was hoping for somewhere more intimate.”
“Tough.”
“Ooh, sassy. You know how that excites me.”
“It’s the café or nothing.” No way was she going anywhere isolated with him.
“I accept, if it means I get to see you.”
“I’ll see you there ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Don’t be late.” With that she hung up, hands shaking. She took in a few, deep breaths. She could do this. After all, she was a Law.
Once the kids were in bed, Ryan and Rachel settled down on the couch together to discuss their plan to track down whoever had attacked those four men, which had almost led to them getting arrested.
“I don’t want to drag Battler and Bruiser into this,” said Rachel. “They’ve already helped us out so much. Plus Daina’s just had the baby and their business is snowed under with work.”
“Agreed. We’ll do this together, nice and quietly.”
“The only question is, where do we start?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” he sighed. “I can’t think of anyone around here, apart from ourselves, who would do something like that.”
“Which is why Ashley came straight to our door to blame us.”
“Whoever it is, they’re not on our radar or the police’s. Hello Teddy,” he smiled when the large ginger cat jumped onto his lap.
Rachel smiled. Ryan hadn’t taken to this stray they’d adopted, until Teddy had tripped up a police officer. After seeing off his abusive previous owner, Ryan and Teddy had been inseparable ever since. He didn’t even moan when he got ginger fur all over his clothes.
“My instinct,” began Ryan, stroking Teddy, “is this is someone new to this type of thing. Perhaps
they’ve heard whispers of what we’ve done and decided to have a go too. However, they lack control and discipline, indicating they’re young and inexperienced.”
“How young?”
“Most likely late teens, early twenties,” said Ryan. “Probably with a history of petty crime behind them. Judging by the damage they inflicted on the four men they know how to handle themselves.”
“How many?”
“Three or four. Not too big but enough of them to confidently take on four experienced criminals. I suspect one of them is female.”
“Really?” said Rachel. “You do surprise me.”
“I suspect the over-the-top nature of the violence was an attempt to impress.”
“Wow and you got all that from the little bit of information Ashley gave you?”
“Must I keep reminding you that I’m a genius?”
“You sound like Jules.”
He smiled. “Thank you.”
“Not so long ago you’d have taken that as an insult.”
“Not anymore,” he said before kissing her, pressing her back into the couch, Teddy taking this as his cue to jump down off his knee.
At the sickening sounds that emanated from below, Leah quietly crept back to her bedroom and shut the door, terrified. Her dad had perfectly described Reid’s little gang. Already he was onto them. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with them. Little did he know the female he was referring to was his own daughter.
Leah anxiously waited for Reid at the café in the shopping centre in Newton Abbott. It was a Sunday and the place had only just opened, so it was nice and quiet, the only other people in the café being the two waitresses, who were idly chatting by the till and a little old lady tucking into a scone, Leah screwing up her nose as she dripped cream all down her wrinkled chin.
She was distracted from the scene by Reid strutting in and Leah was annoyed when her heart skipped a beat. It was easy to dislike him when he was far away but he was so gorgeous with that long jet black hair, the ends dyed dark blue and those intense blue eyes. He was clad in his trademark black leather jacket covered in patches and ripped blue jeans. He could give the men in her family a run for their money in the looks stakes, although he wasn’t as bulked up as they were.
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