The Boy With the Latchkey

by Cathy Sharp

  Sandra stared at him, not quite sure what he was saying. ‘You’re offering me a home where I can bring up my daughter and have her friend to stay if she wants it and the authorities agree … why?’

  ‘Because I’m getting older and if I don’t do something with my life now I never shall,’ Ikey said and laughed softly. ‘You’re a very attractive lady, Sandra Miller. I would ask you to change your name to Blake, but I doubt you would agree. You haven’t known me long enough. I had the advantage, because I knew you through Archie months ago … and when I saw you I realised that the impossible had happened. I felt happy again. I shan’t talk of love yet, because love grows over time – but you made me want to be happy, Sandra. I’m offering you separate bedrooms but in every other way it will be your home – and perhaps one day … but that’s up to you …’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘You’ve taken my breath away, Ikey. I hardly know what to say.’

  ‘Yes would do …’

  ‘I never expected anything like this would ever happen …’ Sandra’s mind was whirling. She knew that he was offering her a chance of real happiness and a way of keeping her family together. ‘Why am I dithering? It’s a wonderful offer – thank you. When can we move in?’ She laughed. ‘Oh dear, how impatient of me …’

  ‘I’m hoping very shortly,’ Ikey said. ‘Let’s keep it to ourselves for the moment, and then we’ll tell the kids when things are more settled.’

  ‘Yes, yes, and yes,’ Sandra said and laughed for pleasure. This extraordinary man had changed her life so much in such a short space of time. She would take his offer of a home for herself and the children and perhaps one day she would be more than his housekeeper, but for now it was enough.

  It was more than enough. Tears burned at the back of Sandra’s eyes and the bitterness of the last few months was washed away by the kindness of others – Sister Beatrice and the friends she’d made at St Saviour’s, and now this mysterious man she hardly knew.

  Ikey had told her the reason why he no longer worked as a uniformed police officer, though she knew he did undercover work for his friend who was a police inspector. He worked in a wood yard, did odd jobs for his friends and lived a very unconventional life.

  Was she a fool to throw in her lot with such a man? She sensed a mystery about him still, and yet she trusted him – and nothing would make her give up the chance to live in a nice little house, and care for her children and him …

  CHAPTER 29

  Ikey frowned as he followed the man shadowing Billy Baggins, as he walked home late that evening. It was late November now and the nights were cold. This was a part of his work that Ikey didn’t relish, the hanging about dark streets in all weathers, but he’d chosen it after his wife died and Jonathan asked him to go under cover. He’d been at rock bottom, empty and despairing until his friend made him pull back from the brink, asking if he would help stamp out the corruption they’d known was at work in the force.

  ‘If you take on the work no one must ever guess,’ he’d said. ‘You will need to ruin your reputation, lose your friends and go against all your principles – but if we’re to wipe out this corruption I need your help to do it.’

  At first Ikey had declined, saying that he couldn’t do it, but his drinking had brought him down and he’d discovered that his friends looked the other way; he was no longer invited to official functions and he felt shut out – and, worse than all the rest, he couldn’t stand being at home alone after Catherine had died in that terrible motor accident. She’d been driving his car and the brakes had failed; the collision with a brewery lorry had resulted in her death in hospital three days later. His darling Catherine had never regained consciousness, never smiled at him or spoken to him again. After her funeral he’d embarked on a drinking spree that ended only when he woke in a prison cell in a filthy state and his friend had taken him home, provided him with a bath, a hot meal and clean clothes.

  ‘If you’re going to spend your life on the streets drinking until you’re out of your head, you may as well do the job I asked you to … unless you’re determined to kill yourself?’ Jon gave him a straight look.

  ‘What is there left for me? I might as well be dead.’

  ‘I thought you might want to nail a man who is hiding behind his uniform to get rich on the corruption of others?’

  ‘Who would believe anything I said these days?’

  ‘This time we’ll play it clever. I want you to go undercover, live in the shadows and watch one of our officers. He’s in league with Connolly, I’m certain of it – but unless we can find concrete proof, we’ll never prove it. I’m not sure how many of my men are taking bribes – you’re the only one I can trust, Nat …’

  ‘Call me Ikey?’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It’s a corruption of my middle name and more suitable for a down-and-out than Nathaniel Blake.’

  ‘Good man, I knew I could trust you – we’ll get them, Ikey. And I’ll be there to back you up every step of the way …’

  That conversation had changed everything. Ikey had pulled himself up, even though he let others believe he was still drinking, still living rough. Now he had a mission in life, a purpose that helped him forget the pain of losing his wife.

  What he’d learned on the streets had led to the arrest of several lesser criminals, but as yet he hadn’t found the link between a certain police inspector and Connolly. He already knew a lot about the affairs of Billy’s old boss; where certain goods were stored – and a flat Connolly visited alone and in secret. It was here that any tangible evidence was likely to be found, and Ikey was waiting for clearance to go in but they had to be careful, because if word was leaked anything incriminating would be destroyed. Ikey wanted Jon to let him go in alone but so far his friend was being cautious.

  Connolly knew someone was poking their nose into his affairs. It had taken patience to piece all the threads together, because on the face of it the man was perfectly respectable, but Ikey had watched and waited and now he was certain. Connolly was handling stolen goods. Not just the petty thefts, like the clothes from Sam’s place. No, he was buying stolen jewellery, gold and silver, and if Ikey was right, he was telling the thieves where to steal from – persuading them to steal to order.

  Ikey had got most of the information from contacts he’d made on the street, men who lived on the fringes of society, hearing whispers, taking risks to get him the evidence he needed, and in return he gave them friendship, small amounts of money and help when they needed it. He knew where the stolen goods were hidden, where they had come from, and who had taken them, but they needed to catch Connolly actually in possession of the stuff, and that wasn’t so easy. When he’d discovered the secret hideout and with the last piece in place, he’d given all the evidence to his friend in the force and now Ikey was following Billy, protecting him as he did night after night from the menacing shadow that trailed him …

  Ikey was lost in thoughts of the future and failed to notice the shadow looming behind him. Hearing something at the last moment, he turned just as the cosh was brought down on the side of his head. He knew when he saw the man’s face that he was finished; Stevie Baker was the kind of coward that crept up from behind; this was a murder to order and Ikey was the victim. He’d upset Connolly a little too much. Even as Ikey lost consciousness he heard a shout and pounding feet, but he had no idea what happened next, because he was lost in the blackness …

  ‘Billy?’ Sister Beatrice looked at him in horror as she saw that he was covered in blood. ‘What have you been doing? Are you hurt?’

  ‘Most of it is his blood – Ikey’s,’ Billy told her, looking grim. ‘I drove him off – Stevie Baker. He’s Connolly’s man and he tried to murder Ikey. I knew I was being followed tonight and then I heard the shouting and I went back to see what was going on. I saw Ikey fall, Sister, and that made me see red. So I went for Stevie and took him by surprise. He’d got an iron bar as a weapon and I hadn’t so that’s why I look like this … b
ut he never was much good in a fair fight and he’s looking worse – and he’s in prison tonight. Sergeant Sallis saw what was going on. He blew his whistle and charged in and then two more coppers came and overpowered Stevie. It seems they were on the watch for him … He’s wanted for running prostitutes and beating women up – and they’d had a tip-off that he was in the area …’

  ‘Billy! Billy Baggins, do you always have to be a hero?’ Sister asked crossly. ‘What am I going to do with you? Why haven’t you gone to the hospital?’

  ‘I went with Ikey, but he’s in a bad way, Sister – and then I came to tell you and Mrs Miller. I thought you should both know … he’s going to need your prayers, Sister Beatrice, and she’ll want to know.’

  ‘Yes, she will,’ Sister agreed. ‘I understand Sandra has consented to be his housekeeper and this may alter things for her …’

  ‘Well, I’d best get back home then.’

  ‘You mostly certainly will not,’ Sister Beatrice said. ‘You have cuts on your face that need attention and you will not leave here until you allow me to bathe them for you. Come into the isolation ward. There are no patients in at the moment. Be sensible, Billy. If you wander round the streets like that you’ll be arrested for breaking the peace.’

  ‘Yes, Sister, thank you, Sister.’ Billy attempted a grin and winced, becoming aware that he hurt all over. ‘If you don’t mind I might have a lie down for a bit. I feel odd …’ He swayed and felt her hand steadying him, her voice telling him what to do, just as if he were back in the dorm and one of her boys again.

  ‘I am sorry to wake you so early,’ Sister Beatrice said as Sandra opened her door, wearing her night things. ‘But Billy brought the news about an hour ago and he’s now sleeping in my ward – and I thought you would want to know …’

  Sandra clutched at her robe, an icy feeling at her nape. ‘Is it Ikey? Is he hurt?’

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid he is, quite badly, Sandra. Billy told me the news and a few moments ago Sergeant Sallis rang me – he says that Ikey’s condition is critical. He’s had an operation and they think it is touch and go whether he lives through the next twenty-four hours …’

  ‘Oh no!’ The blood drained from Sandra’s face. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘He was taken into the London,’ Sister Beatrice replied. ‘I am so very sorry, my dear. I know he offered you a home and a job, but you are still welcome here – though that is not much consolation when a friend is ill …’

  ‘No,’ Sandra said, unable to say more, because her throat felt as if it were closing and she thought she might die of the agony seeping through her. ‘I’m grateful but …’

  ‘Yes, I understand,’ Sister Beatrice said. ‘Is there any-thing I can do for you, Sandra? Anything at all?’

  ‘I’ll get dressed and call a taxi. Would you look after June if she wakes and worries about me?’

  ‘I’ll wake her and take her into my office,’ Sister said. ‘She can have some cocoa and biscuits with me, and I’ll explain where you are and why.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Sandra said and went back into her bedroom to quickly pull on her clothes. June stirred and Sister Beatrice woke her, helping her dress and taking her to the door. June ran back and hugged Sandra.

  ‘You will come back, Mum?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Sandra said. ‘Go with Sister please. She will look after you. I’m not leaving you, I just have to go to the hospital and sit with Ikey for a while, but I promise I’ll come back. You do believe me, sweetheart?’

  ‘Yes, Mum. I’ll be all right with Sister Beatrice …’

  Sandra was thoughtful as she dressed. June was still afraid of losing her mother again, but she was past the stage of clinging to her all the time. She was so grateful that June was getting better, albeit slowly, and she knew it was due to Ikey that she had her back at all. If he hadn’t risked everything to snatch June that day she might have been taken out of the country and lost to her family forever. A sob rose in her throat. She owed so much to Ikey and if he died … if he died she didn’t think she could bear it …

  ‘Mum, I came as soon as Billy told me,’ Archie said as he sat down beside her on the hard seats in the hospital corridor. The walls were painted dark cream and the only windows were high up, making it seem very dark. ‘Have you seen him? Have they told you how he is?’

  ‘They say he came through the operation all right, but there is still some swelling over his brain and they don’t know what will happen … If it goes down within a few hours he’ll be all right with not too much damage done except for a few scars and some cuts and bruises …’ Sandra gave a little sob. ‘Oh, Archie, he’s such a good man, a kind generous man – and he didn’t deserve this …’

  ‘No, he didn’t,’ Archie said and looked upset. ‘I knew what he was doin’ was dangerous, but he wouldn’t tell me and he wouldn’t let me help.’

  ‘I should think not. If I lost you, too …’ Tears slipped down her cheeks and she reached for his hand. ‘I would’ve lost June if it hadn’t been for him …’

  ‘He saved me from being abused,’ Archie said. ‘He’s my best friend – I love him, Mum. I care about him the way I did Dad – and I don’t want him to die …’

  ‘I care about him too,’ Sandra admitted. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if he leaves me. I thought after your dad died I’d never be loved again, but he did love me, Archie and I … I love him.’

  ‘Then he won’t die, he can’t,’ Archie said and scrubbed at his face because he was crying. ‘Sister Beatrice says she’s praying for him – and I am too.’

  ‘And me,’ Sandra whispered, reaching for his hand to hold it. ‘God has to listen to us, doesn’t he? He can’t let him die when we all love him …’ She caught her breath as a doctor in a long white coat walked towards them, looking up at him with more appeal in her eyes than she knew. ‘Is he …?’ her voice broke on a sob.

  ‘Mr Blake is through the worst of it,’ the doctor said and smiled. ‘I’m pleased to tell you that the swelling has reduced considerably and we have every hope that he will pull through. He’s going to be ill for some time, of course, but we are fairly confident that there will be no serious damage to his brain.’

  ‘You mean you still don’t know?’ Sandra was aghast.

  ‘We think because the swelling has reduced he will be fine, but we can’t be sure until he wakes up. However, he is through the dangerous stage, Mrs Miller. I suggest you go home. We’ll telephone you at St Saviour’s and let you know the moment you can visit him.’

  ‘I want to stay here …’ Sandra protested but Archie took hold of her arm.

  ‘June needs you, Mum.’

  ‘Yes …’ Sandra’s eyes pricked with tears. ‘Yes, I must go – but you will ring as soon as he’s awake?’

  ‘Someone will notify you of any change in his condition,’ was the answer she was given.

  Sandra felt like screaming that it wasn’t good enough. She wanted to be with him, to tell Ikey he was loved and needed, but knew they weren’t going to let her near him until he was conscious and they knew more about how he was.

  Reluctantly, she let Archie take her out of the hospital and on to a bus. It was so unfair. If she’d been Ikey’s wife, she could have sat with him for as long as she liked, but because she was just a friend she had to wait until they allowed visitors.

  ‘It’s going to be all right, Mum,’ Archie said as he paid their bus fares back to Halfpenny Street. ‘Ikey will come through. Sister told me she believed it and I believe her. I don’t reckon God would dare to let Ikey die after she prayed for him.’

  ‘You shouldn’t say such things, it’s irreverent,’ his mother rebuked him, but somehow she felt better. Surely with all Ikey’s friends praying for him it would be a hard-hearted god that would let him die …

  CHAPTER 30

  ‘Oh, Billy, why do you always go charging in?’ Mary Ellen said as she saw the way his face had swelled on one side and the black ring around his eye that was gradually turning
purple. ‘I don’t want you mixed up in things like that …’

  ‘I had to help Ikey. He was there because he was following me, protecting me, like he did most nights. Ikey thought I was in danger from Connolly, but it was him they were out to get – because he knew what they were and he found the proof … even though he probably doesn’t realise it …’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Sergeant Sallis told me that they’d found all the evi-dence they needed at Connolly’s secret hide-out: letters, registers of payments made and received and a lot more paperwork. Connolly, Stevie Baker, Ricky Martin and half a dozen others are behind bars awaiting trial for robbery, grievous bodily harm and attempted murder. He said that the Birmingham police picked up Ricky Martin and sent him back to London and now he’s singing like a canary telling them everything. According to him, Connolly is the master criminal round here, worse than the Krays, and they all had to do what he said or …’ He chopped his hand across his throat and Mary Ellen gasped in horror.

  ‘Oh, Billy, they might have killed you …’

  ‘They might but they didn’t – and Ikey played his part keeping me safe. He’d warned me what was going on when I told him I was being followed and when I saw him go down I had to help him, didn’t I?’

  ‘Yes, you did,’ Mary Ellen agreed and smiled. Billy was still the impetuous brave lad he’d been when they were first at St Saviour’s together and he always would be – and she loved him so much. ‘But I’m glad you’re not the one lying in the hospital.’

  ‘He’s woken up,’ Billy told her. ‘I went and asked this morning but they wouldn’t let me see him. They said Sandra Miller was there and only one visitor is allowed in a day at the moment. He’s still very ill, Ellie, and it will be a while before he can leave hospital.’