Reckoning

by Heather Atkinson

  Shane spotted Jared’s men the second they came through the door, not just because one of them had been in on the attack on the Laws outside Estelle’s flat - the man’s face sporting numerous bruises and a pissed off expression - but because they were the only ones who came through the door and didn’t look up at the sign showing visitors the way to the various departments. Shane was proud of himself for that piece of detective work. His thumbs, so dexterous when it came to texting, typed out a quick message and sent it to Jez and Riley’s phones. From the corner of his eye he saw Jez take out his phone when it vibrated and glance at the screen. Shane was full of admiration for the man, he’d just received a message telling him two men were here to kill him and he hadn’t even flinched. There was a world of difference between Jez and the thugs who had come for him because that’s all they were, thugs. There were no real brains or courage behind those faces.

  Shane’s phone vibrated in his hand. He opened up the text from Jez, which said follow. Looking up he saw Jez disappear through a door leading deeper into the hospital and the two thugs followed. Shane casually got up and sauntered after them.

  Curtis and Kirk were brimming over with excitement, especially Kirk. He’d been battered in Nottingham and he was looking forward to some payback. They followed Jez through the hospital, who appeared to be completely unaware they were there. The best thing was he was going to lead them straight to his pregnant wife, who they would use to draw out Ryan and Rachel. The boss wanted them gone too before they could retaliate for what they were about to do to their family.

  They panicked when they turned a corner and Jez had vanished.

  “Shit, where did he go?” sad Curtis.

  Shane, hanging back, rolled his eyes as he watched them dither. Finally they realised Jez had taken the staircase leading up to the next level and they hurried after him.

  Shane sent another text before going to meet up with Declan.

  Curtis and Kirk watched Jez enter a room at the far end of the corridor.

  “It’s a bit quiet, isn’t it?” said Kirk, suddenly feeling nervous.

  “Looks like the older part of the hospital,” replied Curtis. “It probably isn’t used as much as the newer part, which is perfect for us.”

  Kirk grinned then winced as one of the bruises on his face throbbed, a bruise put there by Jez Law’s fist. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”

  They crept down the corridor and peeked through the little window in the door to see Jez with his back to them, talking to a figure lying on the bed.

  “Ready?” said Curtis.

  Kirk nodded.

  They both drew the knives they carried as they burst through the door and Jez turned to face them.

  “Don’t fucking move,” said Curtis. He looked to Kirk, who released a groan and slid to the floor.

  “What the fuck’s up with you?” he demanded, kicking his colleague in the leg. “Get up.”

  “You’re a thick bastard,” sad Jez.

  Curtis’s stomach dropped when he realised the figure on the bed was in fact composed of pillows arranged to look like a person. Glancing back through the window in the door he saw the room across the corridor was empty, filled with broken furniture and other junk. They’d been set up.

  He just had time to glance over his shoulder to see a large figure lurking there who looked remarkably like Ryan Law. There was a pain in his head and he fell beside his friend, out cold.

  Riley looked down at them impassively. “If this is the best Jared Slattery has to offer then I don’t think you need to worry.”

  Jez hurried back to Cathy’s room, relieved to see Declan and Shane on her door.

  “She’s fine,” assured Declan.

  “Thanks,” he said with a shaky smile, patting both men on the shoulder, delighting Shane, who stood taller and prouder on sentry duty.

  Jez took a moment to compose himself before walking into Cathy’s room, not wanting to upset her in her condition.

  “They said the bleeding was to do with my blood type clashing with the baby’s,” she said. “Apparently my blood type’s negative and the baby’s is positive. They’ve given me an injection to stop it and said I can go home.”

  “You sure you’re fit to leave?” he said. “I don’t want you going before you’re ready.”

  “I’m absolutely fine. Come on, get me out of here before I have to eat any hospital food.”

  “Just a sec Babe,” he said when she started to climb out of bed. “Maureen, can I speak to her in private please?”

  She nodded. “I’ll be outside talking to that cute Irish boy,” she smiled mischievously before leaving the room.

  Jez sat on the bed beside Cathy and took her hand. “I think you could do with a nice break after all this. How would you like a few days at Abercraig Castle where Mikey and Amber got married?”

  Her eyes lit up. “Ooh that would be lovely. But I’d better check with the doctor that I‘m okay to travel that far.”

  “I’ve already asked, he said it’s fine, the flight’s only an hour. I called Rachel, she said we can use their suite. She’s already cleared it with the Laird, or the skirted fool as Ryan calls him.”

  “I would love that and the kids would too, the fresh air might get rid of Jack’s sniffle.”

  “Let’s go home and pack, I’ve already sorted out the transport.”

  Her delighted smile fell. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not coming with us?”

  “I’ve got some business to attend to.”

  “Oh no Jez, what’s going on now?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t treat me like I’m thick, I was too panicked to think why Declan was at our house earlier because I was bleeding. It’s happening again, isn’t it?”

  Jez sighed and nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you, it is and I want you well out of it. Please don’t put up a fight Babe, I need you with me on this one.”

  “I’m not going to argue Jez, I haven’t got the energy. Just be careful.”

  “I will. Promise.”

  “When is this going to end, all this war?”

  “We’re going to sort this and when we do no one will mess with us again.”

  “They will, eventually,” she said sadly.

  Jez started to panic. Cathy was always so supportive but right now she looked sick of it all. If he lost her he knew he wouldn’t be able to cope, with anything. “Please Cathy, I need you. I can’t do this without you.”

  “You’ll always have me,” she said, grabbing his hand. “I couldn’t be without you.”

  “I love you so much.”

  “Love you too you daft sod. Just make sure you get rid of whoever’s doing this.”

  He gazed into her determined eyes and smiled. “Damn right I will. Riley will take you and the kids to the airport where you’ll meet up with Amber and Josh. Please try not to worry about us, it’s nothing major, just a precaution. We need to think of this one too,” he said, stroking her belly.

  She took a deep breath in an attempt to still her fluttering heart, she was so scared for her husband. “I’ll do my best.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said, kissing her. He was so proud of his strong wife.

  CHAPTER 21

  Mikey was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his legs moving, plus he was leaving a trail of blood behind him that would lead Jared and his men straight to them.

  “Come on Boss, just a bit further. The cellar’s just around the corner,” said Grant, sweating beneath his weight. Jules jogged behind them, knives at the ready, constantly looking back over her shoulder. As yet she couldn’t see Jared or his men but she could hear shouting somewhere in the distance. The corridors of the compound were long and echoing and sound travelled far, another tactic of Frank Maguire’s to stop anyone from sneaking in, so the sounds she could hear were no indication of how far away their enemies were.

  “Don’t stop,” exclaimed Jules when Grant came to a halt.

  “I…have
to,” he panted. “He’s bloody heavy.”

  Sighing, Jules ducked under Mikey’s injured arm and bore some of his weight, taking a bit of the burden from Grant. She looked sideways at Mikey, worried by how hazy his eyes were. He looked back at her and she was reassured when something in them flared. The three of them staggered forwards together, Mikey continuing to drip blood.

  “We need to get him to hospital ASAP,” said Jules.

  “No,” said Mikey, the firmness in his tone giving Jules hope that he might survive. “They’ll call the police.”

  “They have to for a gunshot wound,” said Grant. “Mikey got rid of the drunken old sod Alex used, he’s got a really good doctor working for us now, he’s a surgeon too, he can sort it.”

  Jules didn’t like it, she preferred to think of Mikey getting proper hospital treatment, the full works, but she was sensible enough to realise they had no choice. “I really hope Mark’s waiting outside with the car,” she said as they reeled towards the cellar door.

  “He will be,” said Mikey grimly.

  Grant paused to unlock the door, doing his best not to fall under Mikey’s weight and they staggered inside. While Jules settled Mikey down on the floor, helping him lean back against the wall, Grant locked the heavy metal door behind them.

  “How are you doing?” Jules asked Mikey.

  “Fucking marvellous,” he said with a weak smile.

  “You look like crap.”

  He raised his good arm to press his fingertips to her face. “Typical Jules.”

  Jules put her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze, smiling gently.

  Grant noticed none of this because he was too busy pushing up the roll-up door leading outside into the yard. “Fuck, he’s not here,” he exclaimed, staring at the space where a car should be.

  “He will be, give him a chance,” called back Jules.

  “What if he’s dead?” Not even Grant would suggest that Mark Cameron had betrayed them or run away, it just wasn’t his style.

  “Mark’s not the type to get shot,” said Jules, making Mikey chuckle.

  His smile fell as he looked into her eyes. “Leave me behind,” he said. “It’s me they’re after.”

  “No fucking way,” she said.

  “I can’t let them take the compound, the move isn’t complete. They can’t get their hands on what we have stashed here. If they do it’s all over.” Mikey pulled a small black device with a red flick switch from his inner jacket pocket.

  “What’s that?” said Jules.

  “A detonator. If I flick this switch the whole place goes up.”

  “Jesus, you rigged the compound with explosives?” exclaimed Jules. She looked to Grant and noted that he didn’t look surprised by this revelation.

  Mikey nodded. “Yeah now do one, quickly. They’ll be here any minute.”

  “Detonate it from a distance,” said Jules.

  “I can’t, it has to be done inside the building, it’s not made that way.”

  “Why not you silly sod?

  “It’s a precaution so no one could steal it and detonate with us inside.”

  “Does Brogan know?”

  He shook his head.

  “Good, that means Jared doesn’t know either. Mikey, if you die then the whole family’s lost,” she said. “The McVay’s won’t do business with Jez on his own, not when Toni suspects Ryan of topping her brother and if we lose Glasgow’s backing we’re all fucking finished. And you’ve got Amber and Josh, think about them.”

  “I might not die, this room’s reinforced, it’s why I said we should come down here,” he murmured, voice weakening.

  “You can’t know that for sure. Even if this room does withstand the weight of the entire compound coming down on top of it the Slatterys might get here first and kill you. No Mikey, you can’t do this, I won’t let you.”

  “She’s right,” said Grant. “I’ll do it. Get him out of here Jules.”

  Mikey was starting to lose consciousness and Grant just caught the detonator as it slipped from his hand.

  Jules straightened up and patted Grant on the shoulder. “Thank you.”

  He nodded grimly. “Go before I decide not to be noble and change my mind.”

  She tried to haul Mikey to his feet and - despite how strong she was - he was a very big man and she couldn’t manage it. Grant helped her get him upright, wrapped one of Mikey’s arms around her neck, but when she tried to move she staggered under his weight and fell, Mikey landing on top of her.

  “Fuck me he’s heavy,” she groaned as Grant lifted him off her. “I can’t get him out of here. There’s no choice, you have to do it.”

  “I am not leaving a woman down here,” frowned Grant.

  “Don’t be so sexist, I can ignite a bomb as well as any man,” she snapped. “Now give me that.”

  Grant hesitated.

  “You know as well as I do Grant that if he dies everyone’s dead. He has to live and I can’t get him out.”

  He stared at the detonator, not liking this one bit.

  “We don’t have time for heroic gestures, just give me the fucking thing.”

  He sighed before dumping it in her hand. “Just make sure you get out, okay?”

  “You know me, more lives than a cat,” she said, forcing a smile she didn’t feel. From outside came the sound of a car horn and Mark rolled up in his Ford. “Don’t keep him waiting, he doesn’t like it,” she said.

  The sound of the car horn woke Mikey, who was dangling off Grant’s arm. He lifted his head. “Jules?”

  She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Get him out of here Grant.”

  Mikey suddenly got his fight back when he saw the detonator in her hand. “No, you’re not doing it.”

  “I have to, I haven’t got the strength to carry you out.”

  “Jules,” he cried.

  She grabbed his face in both hands and planted a firm kiss on his lips, causing Grant’s eyebrows to shoot up. “Goodbye Mikey,” she said gently. “Take care of Jez for me.”

  “No,” he roared.

  “Go,” she yelled at the sound of approaching footsteps and raised voices outside the metal door.

  Grant dragged a desperately protesting Mikey outside, Mark having to help haul him into the car because he was struggling so much. Just before he was shoved into the back of the car his eyes locked with hers.

  “Goodbye,” she said sadly.

  He opened his mouth to yell again but the car door was slammed shut. Mark gave her a respectful nod before jumping into the driver’s seat and she watched them safely drive away.

  “Dane was right, I am fucking mental,” she muttered, pulling the shutter back down, leaving just enough space at the bottom for her to roll under, if she survived. What the hell was she doing? This wasn’t like her. But all she could think about was her new family being slaughtered by the combined might of Essex and Glasgow. It couldn’t be allowed.

  Her attention was drawn to the door, which was being furiously attacked from the other side. She checked Mikey’s gun. One bullet.

  “Crap,” she said, stuffing the detonator into the pocket of her hoodie. Still, it was better than nothing. She was determined to take as many of them with her as she could, that way there would be less enemies for Mikey and her brothers to face.

  She checked her watch. Forty seconds. They needed at least another minute to fight their way out of the compound before it blew and she had no idea what sort of fight they’d have to get out.

  Gunshots filled the air as the morons on the other side finally realised trying to break the door down with brute strength was useless, so they shot the lock off instead. Calmly Jules cleared her mind and raised the weapon as the first man rushed into the room. He slipped on Mikey’s blood and went down, fortunately for him because that meant the bullet entered the leg of the moustached man who charged recklessly through the broken door behind him. Casting the gun aside, she drew her knives and prepared to fight. Just another thirty sec
onds then it should be safe to detonate without enveloping Mikey and the others in the blast.

  She started the silent countdown in her head…twenty nine, twenty eight…lashing out with the knives, going in low and stabbing one of the bastards in the kneecap, crippling him and he fell…twenty seven, twenty six…she punched the second man in the stomach, whacked him across the face with the hilt of the knife then slashed his neck with the blade. Unfortunately he moved and she missed the artery but it was enough to send him staggering backwards….twenty five, twenty four…Looking up, she just had chance to note the huge blond juggernaut charging at her before she was knocked off her feet and she lost her grip on the knives. As she hit the floor she immediately rolled, not allowing him to get a hold on her and kicked him in the stomach…twenty three, twenty two…he released a rush of air but it wasn’t enough to stop him and she dodged his huge fists. She grabbed his right arm, twisted it and punched him in the face, putting everything she had into it….twenty one, twenty…He looked back at her and smiled wickedly, blood trickling from his lip before backhanding her into a wall. Jules hit it hard, her vision blurring, hand groping for the detonator in the pocket of her hoodie as the man she took to be Jared Slattery grabbed her hood and dragged her backwards across the cold concrete floor….twenty…twenty one….nineteen…shit, the blow had made her lose count. When she slid her arms out of the sleeves the hoodie was pulled off her, leaving her in her black vest….seventeen seconds….back on track…just a bit longer and she could detonate. With no other weapon to hand she jumped to her feet and held up the detonator. Twelve, eleven...

  “Back off,” Jared yelled at his men, who had started to advance on her and they obeyed, forming a circle around them both. “What’s that, the garage door remote?” Jared smiled.

  The bastard actually thought it was funny. “No you prat. This is going to detonate a series of bombs planted around the compound. You’re not getting your hands on this place.” Ten…nine…