Fighting Chance

by Shaun Baines

  He looked over his shoulder and saw the guys waiting in the car with the engine running.

  “Are you sure we should have shot this guy?” Dougherty asked.

  “I think it was the best move.”

  “Yeah, well I think different. He could have been useful.”

  “Tony knows where the money comes from, but there’s only one man who has access to what we need.”

  Dougherty shoved his hands in his pockets and stuck out his lower lip. It reminded Fairbanks of the greasy adolescent who had forced him to kill an innocent dog just to survive.

  “You’re not thinking far enough ahead. I let you get away with a lot because you’re smart, but you’re not smarter than me,” Dougherty said.

  “Really? And what would you have done, boss?”

  “There might have been more money,” Dougherty said, picking at a spot on his cheek. “Tony could have led us to it.”

  Fairbanks rarely carried a hand gun, preferring the range of his Remington rifle, but it was necessary for the next part of his plan. He produced a Colt Eagle from his pocket and pointed it at Dougherty, who barely had time to register he was in trouble before his left kneecap disappeared in a mist of blood and bone. He crumpled to the ground, growling in pain, hissing and spitting as he tried to keep the agony under control.

  “It’s time I got rid of you. Too many questions, Dougherty. Too much petulance. You’ve been useful, but I need to take charge now. Men like you can’t take orders and men like that can’t work for me.”

  “You can’t do this. I run the Orphans. Not you.”

  “Things change.” Fairbanks’ gun was raised toward Dougherty’s face when he heard a phone ringing. It wasn’t his or Dougherty’s. The sound came from Tony’s corpse. Keeping his gun trained on Dougherty, he went through Tony’s pockets until he found it. The screen was smeared with blood, but he saw Scott Dayton’s name in green.

  He had spent years fantasising about killing Dougherty. He’d thought of hanging him, gutting him, setting dogs on him, burning him alive. The choice was endless, but a chance encounter with Ed Dayton provided the answer. It would be his biggest score yet and Dougherty held the key.

  “This isn’t over, Fairbanks.”

  “Course it is. You just don’t know it yet. See you later, boss.” He snapped his heels together and gave Dougherty a fake salute before running to the door.

  The world was spinning for Dougherty. His leg wept blood and he was light headed. Pressing his hands into the floor, he prevented it from revolving out of control. His anger fuelled his consciousness. He wasn’t finished yet, he vowed. He’d stay alive. He’d use the last of his strength to wait for the Daytons. He’d tell them everything. He’d betray his crew, if it meant Fairbanks paid for his treachery.

  Dougherty fixed his eyes on the open door. His final breath would be spent on revenge.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was early morning and the hospital canteen was busy. Doctors and nurses squeezed between white Formica tables, sipping coffee or carrying breakfast trays. As a seat became vacant, there was a rush toward it, like the first empty space in a car park. The canteen staff stood behind the serving area in hairnets, their faces damp from hot bacon or curdled eggs. Like the doctors, their coats were white, but theirs were stained with food.

  Daniel and Lily waited for a free table. He had told her about the missing medical charts on the way to the canteen. A group of four nurses pushed away their plates and gathered their belongings. An office manager in a pressed linen suit strode forward. Daniel caught his eye and he diverted left, depositing his cornflakes in a swing bin before swiftly leaving.

  “But Hilltop’s been so good to her, Daniel,” Lily said as she sat down. “He’s looked after every one of us at one stage or another. Has someone stolen them? What about her mother? What was her name again?”

  “The last I heard of Tawnee, she was burning her way through the money Dad paid her to keep quiet. I doubt she even knows her daughter’s in hospital, much less cares about it.”

  Daniel tipped two sachets of sugar into his coffee and stirred slowly.

  “Hey, since when did you have a sweet tooth?”

  Lily smiled at him. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and his heart raced.

  “People change,” he said.

  “Do you remember the present you got me for my fifteenth birthday?”

  Daniel remembered all too well and lowered his head.

  Lily laughed, tapping her finger on her chin. “What was it again?” She reached over and took his hand in both of hers. “Oh, yes. A basket of fruit. For a fifteen year old girl. And what did you say?”

  He cleared his throat. “Chocolate rots your teeth.”

  “I can still picture your face. Big Daniel Dayton like a lovesick puppy.”

  A flush rose in his cheeks and he sipped his coffee, his face twisting at the taste. “Too sweet,” he said, pushing the cup away from him.

  Lily rubbed her fingers over his knuckles and he tried not to look at her.

  “I was right, though” he said. “You have a beautiful smile.”

  A young nurse carrying a slice of toast approached and indicated one of the free seats next to them. “Are these taken?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison. They watched her go and Daniel turned to Lily. “You knew I was in love with you?”

  “Everybody knew.”

  Her hands were warm and soft. They were the right size for his, he thought. He saw a sliver of pale skin on her wedding finger and realised her ring was missing. She caught him looking and placed her hand under the table.

  “Scott and I are over. He worked all the time and when he came home, I could tell he’d rather be back out on the streets. He’s great with Eisha. He really is. It’s me he doesn’t love anymore. He moved out months ago.”

  “Is there anyone else?” Daniel asked.

  “No,” said Lily. “Not for me, anyway and Scott would have told me if he was seeing someone. He owes me that much.”

  Lily didn’t know about Scott and Monica, but then that was hardly a surprise. He doubted anyone knew, least of all his father. The Daytons thrived on secrets, but if that one was discovered, it would go nuclear. His father’s legacy would be reduced to a radioactive wasteland.

  “Scott knew I was in love with you,” he said.

  “I don’t think so, Daniel. Human relationships don’t really compute with him. They’re too hard to understand.”

  “Why did you marry him then?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  He looked around the canteen wondering what other people were talking about. Their day ahead? The one before? Their future and their pasts?

  She reached out for him again, but he withdrew his hand and stared at the table.

  “I’d bought you fruit, but he got you that necklace. I remember how you looked at him when he put it around your neck.”

  Stiffening in her chair, a look of realisation dawned on Lily’s face. “That’s why you stopped coming around, isn’t it? It’s why you stopped talking to me. You thought I liked Scott more than you? I was fifteen, Daniel. You bought me a stupid ass present. He got me a necklace. Of course, I was pleased. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Daniel shrugged, feeling like an awkward teenager.

  She tied her hair back, fastening it into a knot, revealing to Daniel the face he had fallen in love with all those years ago. “You think you see everything with your ‘magical powers,’ but you’re as blind as the rest of us. It took one look to cut me out of your life.”

  “But I was right. You were engaged in under six months.”

  “Because of you, Daniel, you fucking moron. You were disappearing. I couldn’t think of any other way of keeping you near.”

  There was a crash as a member of the canteen staff dropped a pile of plates on the floor. White shards shattered outwards in a star formation followed by sardonic applause by a handful of doctors. Daniel watched as brushes were fou
nd and the mess hurriedly swept away, feeling Lily’s gaze upon him with every passing minute.

  She sighed. “You’re just like him, you know? Scott keeps everything hidden away, afraid that if he shows even a glimpse of himself, it’s a weakness.”

  When she finished talking, there were tears in her eyes.

  “What was it like being married to him?” Daniel asked.

  “He never raised his voice to me. He never laughed or cried or joked or sulked. Humans are supposed to be spontaneous, aren’t they? But not Scott. Giving me that necklace was the only time I feel like he showed himself to me.”

  On the way to the party, Scott noticed the present Daniel had bought for Lily. It hadn’t occurred to him to bring a gift so he mugged a young mother pushing a pram two streets from Lily’s house. He took her necklace and threw a hundred pounds at her feet. That was Scott’s true self. Not the man Lily had pinned her dreams on.

  But it had been his own foolish pride that pushed her into his brother’s arms. All that wasted time, he thought. If only he had said something. If only he could make her see now.

  He took her hand, lightly caressing the white band of her missing ring.

  “Don’t do this to me, Daniel. Not again,” she said, drying her eyes.

  “Lily, I - “

  Daniel’s iPhone trilled from his inside pocket. He looked at the screen and frowned. Lily retracted her hand and he excused himself with a scowl. It was his father, his voice stern, but excited. There was no need for Daniel to speak. It was a one-sided conversation. When his father hung up, he returned to Lily, but didn’t take a seat. “Can you look in on Eisha for me?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. I just have to go.”

  “It’s not nothing, Daniel. You don’t have to protect me from everything.”

  “Keep on at that nurse to find her records. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but judging by the look on her face, he failed.

  “That’s what you said nine months ago,” she said, standing from the table. “There’s nothing more important to you than Dayton business, is there? Just like Scott.”

  And he watched her leave, like he did on the night of her fifteenth birthday.

  Chapter Seventeen

  By the time Daniel reached Nail Fantastic, the place was crawling with criminality he didn’t want to associate with. A man in cotton overalls and neoprene gloves scrubbed and cleaned the stairs outside. Daniel stepped over him to get inside where two more men rolled a body in black plastic sheeting. They sealed it shut with duct tape while they chatted about a recent Newcastle/Sunderland derby game.

  “The problem with Mackems is they don’t know how to take a beating,” said the young man with a centre parting in his hair.

  The other looked up from his task. “My wife’s a Mackem, dickhead.” Daniel pushed passed them, walking around more bodies wrapped and sealed before he arrived.

  Ed signalled him over to a group of men standing around Phoney Tony’s desk.

  “What happened?” asked Daniel.

  Mosely took Daniel’s hand. “Glad to have you back, mate,” he said, casting a glance at Ed. Daniel pulled his hand free, resisting the urge to wipe it clean on his trousers.

  “Looks like Fairbanks hit Tony and his boys,” Ed said. He hadn’t shaved and his bristles were flecked with white. “Blew his driver in half with a shotgun. We reckon a sniper took out Paulo, Rickman and Sticks.”

  “A sniper?”

  “Someone good with a rifle anyway. He made off with fifty thousand pounds.”

  Scott stood next to his father, staring straight ahead. He was dressed in another tailored suit. As he adjusted his silver cufflinks, the light lanced Daniel’s eye making him wince. Bronson greeted him with a nod from behind Tony’s desk while a thick neck black guy Daniel had never met ignored him completely. The group waited in silence while the clean-up crew departed, heaving the bodies down the stairs and into a waiting van. They would be weighed down and dumped into the Tyne later.

  “Is this place going to be clean enough if the police come sniffing?” asked Bronson.

  Scott waved his concerns aside. “The lads have done a good job. Even if they did find something, all they’d know was that Tony and his boys were here.”

  “We’ll torch the place just in case. It’s not worth anything now,” Ed said.

  “Does anyone live above the shop?” asked Daniel.

  “It will look better if they burn too,” Scott said, finally deigning to look at him.

  Daniel returned his gaze, stony faced. “Have you brought your big boy matches or will you get one of your minions to get their hands dirty for you?”

  The temperature dropped and Bronson shivered. Scott moved toward Daniel, who turned on him, his fists clenched. Ed stepped in between. “They’re good people. They know not to get involved. We’ll get them out before we start the fire,” he said.

  Daniel winked at his brother.

  “What’s the matter with you, knob face?” Scott shouted at Bronson as he warmed his hands under his armpits.

  “What am I doing here?” Daniel asked his father.

  “We want you to talk to this guy.”

  No Neck guy moved to reveal a man gagged and bound to Tony’s chair. His eyes brimmed with fear.

  “What happened?” Daniel asked, indicating the ruptured knee cap. Someone’s belt was tied tightly around his thigh. It stemmed the flow of blood, but it seemed like there was more out than in. “Who applied the tourniquet?”

  “I thought it was a good idea to keep him stable,” said Mosely.

  “He was passed out when we got here,” Scott said. “Maybe Tony or one of his boys got off a round before they went down?”

  “He’s one of Fairbanks’ gang. We recognise him from CCTV outside The Glitterball,” Ed added.

  “I found the footage,” Mosely said to no-one.

  “He did Scalper?” Daniel asked. The guy was big enough, but he didn’t have the heart to face a man like Scalper Brown.

  “He was the guy who pretended to have Fairbanks up against the wall while his mates did the dirty work,” Ed said.

  “You want me to get him to rat on his boss? Could be he’s more scared of him than he is of you. I would be.”

  Scott stepped around his father and pushed Daniel in the chest. “If you’re so scared of Fairbanks, why don’t you fuck off back to Scotland? You ran off before. Why don’t you run off again, you little nancy?”

  “Will you fucking put a sock in it for two seconds?” Ed pinched the bridge of his nose. “In case you two fuckheads hadn’t realised, this is the first chance we’ve had to get some real intel. This guy can tell us where he is. We get some tools and finish this up before lunch.”

  Ed turned to Scott, gripping him by the shoulder. “You and Daniel have things to sort out, but this isn’t the time. I know you feel like I’ve stepped on your toes by bringing Daniel here, but he can get this information quickly and without a fuss. We’ve already had to clean up a bucket of blood this morning and I don’t want to have to call the guys back. If he can’t get him to talk, then we’ll resort to your methods. You’ve got your pliers?”

  Scott nodded.

  “Good boy,” he said, before looking to Daniel. “The quicker you get him to talk, the quicker you get the guy who hurt your daughter. Are you ready?”

  His father was right and, not wanting to spend any more time with his family than he had to, Daniel closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He opened them and observed. Dilated pupils. Taut neck muscles. Forward posture. Fear, certainly, but there was more. Daniel circled him, drinking him in, consuming him. Flexing fingers. Flared nostrils. Set jaw. It was anger. The man strained against his bonds, but it wasn’t an attempt at escape.

  “You don’t need me here,” he said.

  “I said that from the start,” Scott said.

  Daniel ignored the comment. “He’ll tell you anything you want. Somet
hing happened. This guy wants to talk.”

  Daniel nodded at Bronson, who ripped off the gag. The man winced and took a deep breath. As the air hit his lungs, he coughed, frothy saliva gathering at the corners of his mouth.

  “Give him some water,” Ed said.

  Mosely lifted a bottle of water to his lips and he finished it in three messy gulps.

  “My leg. I need something for the pain,” he said.

  Daniel wasn’t inclined to ease his pain just yet, but Mosely produced a small vial and drew out its contents with a syringe.

  “What’s that?” Scott asked.

  “Morphine. It will clear his head so he can focus on your questions.”

  “Why are you carrying morphine?” Ed asked. “It’s not exactly a street drug, is it?”

  Mosely plunged the syringe into a shoulder and watched as the man’s face relaxed. “You’d be surprised what people take these days.”

  Ed shot a look at Scott, who gave a small shrug of his shoulders.

  Daniel pushed Mosely aside and positioned himself directly in front of their prisoner. He wanted to be this man’s whole world for the next five minutes. Anything this guy wanted, he had to know it was going through Daniel first; a classic interrogation technique.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Marcus Dougherty.”

  “Have you been working with Fairbanks long?”

  “Since we were kids. We were a tight bunch until he turned up.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Dougherty licked his lips, leaving a trail of wet that turned Daniel’s stomach. “People came and went. The ones who went didn’t like Fairbanks. They thought his ideas were stupid. They didn’t believe in him.”

  “How many are in your crew?” Ed shouted over Daniel’s shoulder.

  “Six, including me.”

  “Only six? Against us?” Scott asked, pressing a hand over his heart. Daniel knew there was a gun holstered there. His brother was feeling threatened.