by Jacqui Rose
‘Who is this?’
‘Bunny.’
Teddy smiled. Ah yes, the beautiful Bunny, he could almost still taste her. ‘How can I help you?’
‘What the hell are you playing at?’
‘You’ve lost me.’
Bunny shouted down the phone. ‘What are you doing giving my daughter your number?’
‘Oh, that.’
‘Don’t play games with me, but it’s not me you’ll have to worry about. It’s Del.’
Teddy roared with laughter. A high-pitched, hyena laugh.
‘Del? I don’t think anyone will have to worry about him again.’
‘What … what do you mean?’
In a faraway place in Teddy’s mind, a part of him knew he was saying too much, but he was past caring. ‘Let’s just say there’s an early birthday present waiting for him – but something more than candles will get blown out.’ The line went dead.
Del Williams kept his eyes on the road, but gave a quick glance to his ringing phone. He saw the caller ID. Fuck that. He’d lost count how many times Bunny had called. If she thought for a moment he was going to talk to her she must have her head up her arse. He threw the phone on the dashboard, pressing his foot harder on the accelerator. His phone rang again. What the hell did she want from him? What was she going to say to make it better? Nothing. Sweet F.A.
She’d told him that she’d been happy about sleeping with Teddy Davies. And he never wanted to speak to her again.
Pick up. Pick up. He needed to pick up. Voicemail. Shit. She dialled Del again. Voicemail. She had to get through to him. Bunny looked at the clock, her mind racing. There was nothing else for it. Running into Star’s bedroom, she spoke in a rush. ‘Star, I’ve got to go out. You stay here. Don’t answer the door or the phone. I’ll be back when I can. Claudia’s going to be here in the next five minutes or so. Tell me you’ll be okay?’
‘I’ll be fine.’ Star smiled at her mum, then turned back to the cartoon she was watching.
‘I love you, Star, always remember that.’
Bunny ran out of the room, grabbing the keys to Del’s other Range Rover.
Del sped through the country lanes towards his house, taking the tight turns without slowing down. He turned right at the junction without looking, almost crashing into a car coming the other way. The constant phone calls were doing his head in. He couldn’t turn his phone off in case Milo called, but it was distracting him and causing him to get edgy, which he couldn’t afford to be. He needed to be sharp and he certainly wouldn’t be that if he went headlong into another vehicle.
The turning at Rettendon village took Del towards his sprawling estate. Driving towards the beginning of his farmland the phone went again. This had to stop. Del grabbed the phone, pressing answer. ‘What, Bunny? What the fuck do you want? What part of me not answering the frigging phone makes you think I want to talk to you?’
‘It’s me.’
Del slowed down the Range Rover. ‘Who’s me?’
‘Burkey.’
Del let out a sigh. Christ, he had to stop getting so worked up.
‘Bird causing you grief?’
Del snapped. ‘Listen, I don’t want to talk about it, mate. What can I do for you?’
‘It’s sorted.’
‘What’s sorted?’
‘What you asked me to sort.’
‘Sort?’
Fat Man sounded pleased with himself. ‘Yeah, it’s sorted.’
‘Fuck’s sake, Burkey. What are you talking about?’
‘The thing you asked me to sort.’
Del lost his patience. ‘Don’t start all that again. I dunno what you’re talking about. Spit it out.’
‘I can’t on the phone.’
‘Then why the fuck did you call?’
‘Because I thought you’d want to know.’
‘Want to know about what?’
‘The thing I sorted.’
Del yelled down the phone. ‘Just tell me.’
‘Edith.’
‘Edith?’
‘Yeah, what you wanted me to sort out about Edith.’
Del frowned. ‘I never asked you to do anything. If she’s giving you trouble …’
Sitting in the sun on his yacht docked outside Marbella, drinking a very pink pina colada, Fat Man interrupted Del. ‘You asked me to deal with Edith. No mess-ups, you said. You wanted it finished once and for all.’
Del pulled up on the side of the road, his tyres churning up the sun-dried mud. He slammed his foot on the brake, lurching forward. ‘Burkey. Please say you didn’t do what I think you did.’
Fat Man spoke slowly. ‘It depends what you think I did.’
Del bellowed down the phone. ‘Did you or didn’t you put a hit on Edith?’
‘Yes. But only after you told me to.’
Del rubbed his face, trying to erase the stress. ‘If I did, I was pissed out of my skull. Why the fuck did you listen to me?’
‘Del …’
‘I don’t want to hear it. I just want you to stop it right now!’
‘How can I stop it?’
‘Phone them. You must be able to phone them.’
‘I can’t stop it. You know that as well as I do. It’s not like I have the number.’
‘Get it. Someone must have.’
‘Del, you know how it works. There is no number.’
Del exhaled, trying to steady himself. ‘Okay. Okay … where though? Where’s it happening?’
‘At her flat in Chigwell … at ten.’
Del’s wheel skidded as he put his foot on the accelerator, then he took his handbrake off as the Range Rover went into overdrive. Milo would have to wait. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He turned the leather steering wheel, U-turning towards Rettendon and out the other side towards Chigwell.
He reached for the phone, dialling Edith’s number. Answer machine. It was typical of Edith. Del slammed his fist on the steering wheel.
The impact of the hit swerved the car to the right, edging it over to the other lane and making Del lose control for a moment as he only narrowly missed crashing into another Range Rover driving at high speed the other way.
Bunny swerved. Christ. Some drivers. She hooted her horn at the other car speeding past her in the other direction. Slowing down and regaining control of the car, Bunny tried dialling Del again. Voicemail. She wiped her eyes, not wanting the tears to blur her vision. She tried again. Please answer. Please. Voicemail. Looking at the car clock, Bunny put her foot down on the accelerator.
At the sign for Rettendon, Bunny checked the GPS. It was only another couple of miles. Speeding up some more, she turned left as she switched on the headlights and headed down the road as dusk began to draw in.
A few minutes later, she saw a dirt track heading off to the right and the GPS told her she’d reached her destination. She turned right into the private bridleway, slowing down further as the wheels of the Range Rover plunged into the dips and crevices of the uneven track.
The trees and high bushes almost enclosed the private road. Darkness began to cloak the night and Bunny felt a shiver down her spine. There wasn’t a sound nor a light, apart from the moon high in the cloudless summer sky.
Just a few metres in front of her, Bunny saw a closed gate. She halted and moved to get out of the car to open the gate.
Putting her hand on the door, Bunny saw a bright light and then nothing … Nothing at all as a dozen Kalashnikov machine guns fired a hail of bullets, ripping through the metal of the car.
A moment later, Bunny Barker lay motionless in a pool of her own blood.
34
Del Williams didn’t bother to wait. He didn’t bother to ring. He just lifted his leg and kicked down the door, a Colt .380 Mustang in his hand. He ran through the corridor, pushing his body against the wall, his body charged. He could hear the television on in the front room and cautiously he edged towards the sitting-room door, cocking his gun, ready for action
‘What the bleedin’ hell are
you …’ Edith stopped as she saw the gun in Del’s hand. Her face paled and she raised her hands.
‘Listen babe, you don’t have to do this. I know you and me have had our fallouts, but there ain’t no need for this. It wasn’t my idea, I swear darlin’. You know I wouldn’t do anything like that to you. If you want to know whose idea it was, it was that toerag …’
Before Edith could finish her sentence, Del yelled, ‘Get down!’ He threw himself at Edith, pushing her into the front room. She banged to the floor as a masked gunman raced into the flat. Del rolled over as a shot fired out. He crouched down, aiming his gun at the legs of the intruder. His first aim missed. His second hit. The startled gunman, taken aback that there was someone else in the flat besides Edith, dropped to his knees, screaming out in agony as he held his leg.
Rushing across to the man, Del tackled the gun from him, slamming his head onto the floor and pressing his knee into his back as he held the gun against his temple. Hissing into the man’s ear, Del snarled, ‘Do not try anything, otherwise I will kill you. Do you understand me?’ The man nodded.
‘This job is finished, do you understand?’ The man nodded again. ‘You’ll still get your money. I’ll even double it up for the inconvenience, but I’m calling it off. The hit is off. I’ll get my doctor to come and pick you up to sort out that leg. I’m sorry I had to shoot you. You know how it is.’ The man nodded, before falling unconscious in his own blood.
An hour and a half later, the doctor had come and gone and Del Williams sat on the chair in Edith’s kitchen, spinning his Colt .380 round and round on the smooth and shiny surface of the kitchen table. His forehead was lined with a deep frown. ‘What did you mean?’ He looked at Edith, still with the hand on his gun. ‘What did you mean Edith when you said you wouldn’t do anything like that? It wasn’t your idea … What was it you wouldn’t do?’
Edith looked first at Del then at the gun. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I think you do. I think you know exactly what I’m talking about – but the fact is, you just ain’t saying. You need to start talking.’
For the second time that night, Edith Williams paled.
On the north side of Soho, Milo Burkov received a call from his men. ‘It’s done.’
On the south side of London, Teddy Davies received a call from Milo. ‘It’s done.’
On the west side of Chigwell, Edith Williams received a call from Teddy. ‘It’s done.’
Edith glanced across her kitchen at Del and simply replied, ‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’
35
Del was getting bored. It was clear Edith wasn’t going to tell him a thing. Perhaps there was nothing to tell – but what she’d said had struck him as odd. He also wanted to confront her about sleeping with Teddy, but the last thing he wanted was for Edith to think he was jealous. It just pissed him off. Big time. All along she’d played the wronged wife, when in reality he’d found out she was humping anything that moved. But more importantly, he didn’t want to confront her because then he’d have to talk about Teddy, which would make him think about Bunny, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that.
Putting his gun away in his jacket pocket, Del stood up. He guessed there’d be plenty of time to pull Edith up about it once he’d got his head straight. Anyway, he had more to worry about than her. Thanks to Burkey’s fuck up, he’d had to mug Milo off, and that was just what he couldn’t afford to do. And looking across at his wife who was stuffing her mouth with a half-eaten cold kebab, Del Williams couldn’t even say coming to save Edith had been worth it.
He gazed at Edith coldly. ‘I’m off.’
Edith looked at Del slyly. ‘I’m going back to Marbella tomorrow … back to the villa.’
Del didn’t have time for this. ‘Do what you want Edith. You usually fucking do.’
As he headed for the door, Edith stopped him. ‘You know what I’m curious about. I’m curious why that gunman came here looking for you. Why did you say he was looking for you, ’cos it just don’t ring right with me? Why would anyone think of looking here for you, especially now you’re shacked up with that scrubby little whore of yours? Bunnykins.’
Del stared at Edith, disdain on his face. ‘You’re right, Edith. I was lying. They weren’t looking for me. They were looking for you. You and your big mouth. They were going to put a bullet in your head. And maybe I should’ve let them – but like a mug, I didn’t think even you deserved that. So do yourself a favour, sweetheart, and keep your nasty comments to yourself, because if you don’t, next time I swear I’ll pull the trigger my-bleedin’-self.’
Del stomped out to his car, leaving Edith open-mouthed. His phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, he sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for it. He pressed the red button sending the caller straight to voicemail. Almost instantly, the phone rang again. This was going to do his nut in. Del answered immediately, growling down the phone. He couldn’t deal with constant calls; he had to think of his next move with Milo. There was nothing else for it. He pressed the answer button, snarling down the phone.
‘Listen Claudia, I don’t know what Bunny has told you, but I don’t need you chewing me frigging ear off as well. Stay out of it, doll, okay? Just leave me alone and don’t call my fucking phone. And that goes for both you and her. Is that clear?’
‘Bunny’s been shot.’
Silence.
‘Del? Did you hear me? Bunny’s been shot.’
‘Del? Del? Listen to me. Del?’
Del began to shake with shock. He put the phone down on Claudia and held it close to his chest, hearing it ring. Feeling it vibrate against his heart.
The phone continued to ring over and over as he got in his car and began to drive, heading almost blindly for London.
At the traffic lights, he swerved off the road to a sound of horns. He grabbed the phone, slamming it against the dashboard. Both hands clung onto the steering wheel as he bent forward, his head leaning on the wheel. Del’s whole body trembled. He gripped the wheel tightly, desperate to stop himself going into spasms.
The phone rang again. Del slowly raised his head, staring at it as if it was his personal Kryptonite. Eventually he reached across, scraping it along the dash. He swallowed, bringing the phone up to his ear.
‘Just tell me. Is she dead?’
Del slowly pushed open the heavy frosted-glass doors. The scene that greeted him was calm and serene, the polar opposite of how he was feeling. He looked around. A metal hospital bed sat centre stage. Racks of machines and screens sat on the shelving units that hung either side of the bed by steel chains attached to the ceiling.
A variety of clear tubes and multi-coloured electric wires were draped neatly between the bed’s medical equipment and the wall. And in the middle of the bed lay Bunny. Still and pale, her blonde hair matted and wrapped up to the side, her eyes shut, without a flicker of movement. The only movement came from the trickles of blood running down the many tubes, collecting in one of the several plastic bottles hanging under the bed. The smell of iodine was thick in the air. A long anglepoise lamp cast a yellow glow over Bunny’s pale face. But to Del, Bunny looked more beautiful than she’d ever done. His very own sleeping beauty. The love he felt for her in that moment, as he stood listening to the sounds of the beeping monitors, almost overwhelmed him.
‘You can talk to her. She’ll probably be able to hear you.’ The small grey-haired intensive care nurse smiled at Del warmly.
‘Will she be okay?’
Earnestly the nurse answered, talking in a whisper. ‘Yes, I believe she will. It seems the car she was driving was bulletproof so thankfully it took the brunt of the bullets. The ones which actually hit her missed her vital organs. They went into her sides, arms and lower back. We don’t think there’ll be any lasting damage, but we won’t know for certain for a couple of days. But the doctors seem optimistic.’ The nurse paused as Del went to sit down by the bed. ‘If it wasn’t for the car she’d be dead.’
Del waited f
or the nurse to walk away, then took Bunny’s hand in his. ‘Bun. I don’t know if you can hear me, babe. But I’m sorry, doll. Not just for this, for everything. I’ve been a proper mug. I never meant any of the stuff I said. You know what I’m like; a bleedin’ hot-head. Always blowing off. When Claudia called …’ Del stopped and exhaled, his emotions getting the better of him. It took a couple of minutes to find his composure and when he continued, Del was aware his voice was cracking. ‘When Claudia called to say you’d been shot, me whole world stopped. I can’t imagine life without you. You gave me a right scare. I don’t know what I’d have done if … if …’
Del couldn’t continue. He rested his head on Bunny’s hand.
‘Daddy!’ Star ran up to Del, flinging herself on him and holding on for dear life. Del looked at his daughter, an exhausted smile on his face. ‘I missed you, sweetheart.’
‘I missed you too. I tried calling but you never answered. Did you lose your phone?’
Del gazed at Star. His eyes filled with tears as he realised she was giving him a way out from admitting he’d been a shitty dad. An arsehole. He nodded, ashamed of himself. ‘Yes Star. Yes baby, I lost my phone.’
‘That’s what I thought.’
Claudia stood behind Star and Del. She bristled slightly at how easily Del had been let off the hook with Star. He hadn’t seen the hurt in Star’s face or listened to her cry. He was a chump. But then most men were, though she supposed in fairness to Del he was better than most of the chumps Claudia had met in her time. She pursed her lips, wanting to make sure Del read her disapproval of the situation.
‘Del.’
‘Claudia.’
‘What about the baby? Will the baby be all right?’ Star stood with her back to her dad, kissing her mum’s hand.
Del started. ‘What you talking about, sweetheart?’
‘The baby, Daddy. Mummy’s baby.’
Del turned Star gently round. He scanned her face. ‘Star. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Come on, Star. Let’s go and get a drink.’ Claudia gestured to Star, wanting to break up the conversation. As Claudia placed her hand on Star’s arm, Del brushed it lightly away. ‘No, Claudia. I want to hear this. Star, tell me what it’s all about.’