No Mercy: The brand new novel from the Queen of Crime

by Martina Cole

  He might be a family man but, as he often said, he wasn’t a fucking eunuch. There was too much strange and too little time. He was surrounded by it – it was basically an occupational hazard.

  His Lorna enjoyed him making love to her, and he felt the same. But once every six weeks wasn’t exactly his idea of a lively fucking sex life. She could do without it for months and not bat a fucking eyelid. That was her prerogative – she was the mother of two boys now, and his wife; she deserved his utmost respect. They had different body clocks, different outlooks, and completely different ideas when it came to the boudoir. Lorna accepted that and, after that palaver with Mandy, he made sure that his dalliances never, ever encroached on their relationship. Consequently, they had a truly wonderful life. They were happy and contented when they were together, and that was all that mattered to him.

  Once the lift arrived at the offices, he started to laugh, and Roy laughed with him, even though he didn’t know quite what the joke was. But Angus did have an infectious laugh.

  ‘Did you see him and all, Roy?’

  Roy shook his head but was still laughing. Desmond Mabele and Jonathan Heartland, his minders, just stood there watching. Both had faces like a well-slapped arse. They knew they were not paid to give opinions.

  ‘See who?’

  Angus wasn’t laughing any more. ‘Dicky Matthews was at the main bar with that little queen. What’s his name? He was with Geoffrey for a while. Star? Starina? One of them fucking drag names.’

  Roy wasn’t laughing now either. He stared at Angus for long moments before saying quietly, ‘Sharina, is that who you mean?’

  Angus nodded, relieved to have got the right person. It would have driven him mad otherwise. ‘That’s it, him. He’s got some fucking front, showing his boat-race here.’

  Roy shrugged nonchalantly – he wasn’t sure what Angus was getting at. ‘Why would you think that, Angus? He ain’t done nothing to us. He is always in those circles – you know that as well as I do.’

  Angus looked at Roy and said seriously, ‘He was with that treacherous bastard Jackie Saunders when we took him out. I didn’t like him then, and I like him even less now.’

  Roy tried to brush his concerns aside. ‘Come on, Angus, think about it. He is a tart! He is like our girls – they are with whoever has the money. He is no threat to us.’

  Angus shook his head. ‘I just don’t trust him, Roy, there’s something off about him. I warned Geoffrey Pole about him, and he will tell you that himself. That boy has a slipperiness about him, something not fucking kosher. And now he’s here with Dicky? He’s a pretty boy, I get that. But he ain’t that pretty.’

  Roy thought about it; he could understand where Angus was coming from. He was amazed at how Angus had even noticed him – particularly in a club that could comfortably hold a thousand people. But Angus had that edge, and he had to admire him for it.

  ‘I will keep an eye on him, Angus, OK?’

  Angus nodded. ‘You do that. And remember, he was the last person to see Jackie Saunders alive.’

  The implication was there, and Roy was sensible enough to take what he was hearing seriously. ‘Of course I do, Angus.’

  Angus rubbed his hands together and said to his minders jovially, ‘Well, come on, lads, throw a couple of lines and I will pour the Jameson’s. This is going to be a night to remember.’

  They all laughed, but Roy was distracted. Angus had undoubtedly picked up on something. He had a strange knack of sniffing out not just traitors but outright skulduggery. He could smell a con from a thousand feet away, and he was always right. He had inherited that from his mother.

  It was a skill that had kept Diana’s old man in the driving seat for so long, and her at the top of her game. It made the people they worked with trust her judgement and respect it. Both Diana and Angus could smell a bullshitter within nanoseconds, and that was a real bonus in their game.

  Roy would look into this little queen, and he would find out the score with him.

  As Angus always opined, you could never be too cautious. That had been proved on more than one occasion.

  Chapter Fifty-six

  Lorna stopped to catch her breath for a moment, and stretched happily.

  She loved the early mornings, and she liked to run. That had become her thing over the last few years. She had really got into running; it was weird because she had never been what could be called the energetic type. But she had taken up jogging after her second son, Sean, was born, and it had eventually turned into actual running.

  She had joined a gym, and it had been good at first, but it had not been right for her. She didn’t like that there were so many people there. Then she had started running with her personal trainer, and she had found that she actually enjoyed it – no one had been more surprised than her. She still had the personal trainer, twice a week, but now he came to the house and they did a workout here. She was in fantastic shape even after two kids.

  She ran every day, and she felt so much healthier for it, but it also afforded her time to think. She did her best thinking while she was running, and that had just added to the attraction. She ran across their land, and that was a real treat, because she loved running in the darkness, just her and her thoughts. It was when she finally felt free. She ran in the dark until the sun came up. That was something she really treasured; it was just a fantastic feeling to chase the sunrise.

  As much as she loved her children, there was something about the time to herself in the really early morning that appealed to her. There was the quiet and the knowledge that she was completely alone.

  More or less anyway.

  She knew that there were armed men around the property; that was a given, considering the life they lived. But Angus had ensured that she didn’t see them, so she could have the illusion of solitude. She regretted that they had to have people around them night and day, but a part of her recognised that it was the price they had to pay for the life they lived. It was a very privileged life that she loved, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything. Angus told her just enough of what he was doing so that if he ever had a capture – God forbid – and the Old Bill ever questioned her, she would know exactly what she needed to say. He didn’t want her to worry about anything else.

  As she ran back towards her house, she stopped under the silver birch trees that they couldn’t touch, because they were under a protection order. That was something she loved too – that these trees had been there for hundreds of years. She could hear Angus’s car coming down the drive and she sighed sadly. Her peace was broken. She took a deep breath and started to run again towards her beautiful home.

  It was much bigger these days, and it looked stunning in the morning light. They had added to it, but made sure the newer parts looked as old as the rest of it, and she never tired of admiring what she had achieved with it.

  Angus got out of the Bentley and he waited patiently until she ran into his open arms, then he kissed her heartily and hugged her to him.

  ‘You and your bleeding running, girl. But you do look good on it, lady.’

  She grinned with pleasure, because that was exactly what she wanted to hear.

  ‘You look like shit, Angus. Another all-nighter?’

  Angus opened his arms in a gesture of supplication.

  ‘You know my work starts when everyone else is going to bed, darling.’

  Lorna kissed him once again on the lips.

  ‘Come on, Angus, I’ll cook you a good breakfast before you go to bed. The boys will be up soon and we can all eat together.’

  On days like this, Angus just couldn’t fault her. She knew exactly what he needed, and she gave it to him. He was the luckiest man on the planet.

  ‘That sounds absolutely perfect, my lovely.’

  They walked into the house together, wrapped in each other’s arms, and his driver shook his head sagely and wished his wife had been so easy-going. She could cause a fight in an empty house.

  There was no denyi
ng it, Angus Davis was one fucking jammy bastard, in more ways than one.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Diana was listening to Roy as he explained her son’s reservations about Sharina, the little queen who kept on popping up where he wasn’t wanted.

  ‘He was with Roger Matthews’ boy? Dicky?’ Diana was interested now.

  Roy laughed. ‘Well, he is the gay one, isn’t he? So yeah. But I think your Angus might have a point. That lad seems to be around a lot of people we have dealt with, in one way or another. There’s no telling what he knows or who he might spill to.’

  Diana nodded. ‘I get what you’re saying, but it could just be a coincidence. I mean, let’s face it, they are always together. They are all gay guys – friends – it’s no different to us lot out and about, is it?’

  Roy knew she was speaking sense, but he also felt that her son had an excellent radar for traitors.

  ‘Look, Di, I will lay my cards on the table. Over the years, there’s one thing I have had to accept, and that is your boy is a lot like you. He can sniff out a fucking romancer from a hundred paces. If he says this bastard needs looking at then I am right behind him.’

  Diana was willing to agree that he had a point. She had a sixth sense, and she had always hoped that her son had inherited it, because in their game it was a real bonus.

  ‘OK, if you are so adamant then you make sure someone keeps an eye on him. After all, Trigger, like you say, he does seem to keep some interesting company. I will bankroll whatever you think is necessary.’

  Roy nodded. She had called him Trigger, and that was a term of endearment between them. And she had also said she would give him carte blanche, and pay for it, so her son didn’t know the extent of their digging. He could understand that too. Angus didn’t need to know, unless there was something worth knowing.

  Roy Rogers was well pleased. He would be all over that little fucker like a rash. Now Sharina was on his radar, he’d decided he didn’t trust him for a moment.

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  Angus was in his offices in Old Compton Street. He felt right at home here, and he loved this particular club.

  It was the venue that he felt had really put him on the map. He had a nostalgia for it, because he had opened it with a huge party for his mum. That had been an absolute blinder of a night. Anyone who was anyone was there and Angus had never felt more the Big I Am until that moment, everyone praising his beautiful wife and baby and marvelling at what a benevolent son he was to Diana to throw her such a spectacular celebration.

  The club had just grown bigger and more famous as the years had gone on. It was becoming an institution, and so it should. He had a wonderful staff too – loyal and honest. From this place alone he could now prove his lifestyle to the taxman, should that ever become necessary. This place, like all his others, was straighter than the majority of the clientele. That was the fucking best thing about it; they were doing so well with the legitimate clubs that everything else was basically bunce.

  He was looking forward to seeing Geoffrey Pole. After their rocky start, they had become very good friends over the years, and now he genuinely liked the guy. It was one of the rare times Angus’s gut instinct had been off – he could admit that now. Geoffrey had proven his loyalty and his worth. He was on the ball in certain circles, and that was always worth knowing. Geoffrey had the knack of being able to find out anything, if the price was right.

  He heard Geoffrey before he saw him, and he smiled at the man’s determination to make himself known to all and sundry. He was just so loud, and camper than a row of tents. That was the Geoffrey he knew and loved.

  When he walked into the room, Angus hugged him like a brother and said seriously, ‘This was supposed to be a private meeting, remember.’

  Geoffrey laughed loudly as he said, ‘For me, darling, this is!’

  Angus Davis laughed with him because, in reality, he knew he couldn’t have expected anything else. ‘You are a funny fucker, Geoffrey.’

  Geoffrey Pole put his hands under his chin, as if he was praying, and rolled his eyes like an ingénue as he said, ‘I love it when you talk dirty to me, Angus.’

  They both laughed again. They had developed a good friendship, and that was important to them both.

  They needed each other, and they were both more than aware of that.

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  Diana and Gabriel were in a private club in Brixton.

  Gabriel had inherited this place, many years before, from a win while playing poker. He had kept it, although few people knew that he actually owned it. He had let the original owner and his wife and kids stay there, as if nothing untoward had happened. They paid him a peppercorn rent, and life went on as usual. But occasionally, like today, he requested the use of the rooms for his private business. It was a deal that worked well for all involved.

  Janelle, the landlord’s wife, brought through a tray of drinks, and Diana smiled her thanks. On the tray was a bottle of Jameson’s and six glasses.

  ‘How are the boys, Janelle? Bloody hell, the spit of their father I hear!’

  Janelle laughed. ‘Oh, they’re their father’s sons all right. But what can I do, Di?’

  The two women laughed together, both comfortable in each other’s company.

  ‘I hear you, darling.’

  They chatted for another few minutes, and then Janelle left them to it.

  They were in the back of the club and waiting for the knock on the door. When it came, they looked at one another for a few seconds and then Gabriel let their guests inside.

  Dicky Matthews was already on his dignity; he was under the mistaken impression that he was important in some way. Diana was looking forward to disabusing him of that notion, but she knew how to play the game – especially with ice creams like him. He was an embarrassment to himself and his family – a bully, no more and no less. He was everything that was wrong with the new wave of Faces.

  Smiling widely, she said, ‘Oh my goodness, just look at you, all grown-up.’

  Dicky visibly relaxed at her tone and remembered that this woman was a good friend of his mum and his dad. ‘So what’s with the cloak and dagger then?’ He could hear the nervousness in his own voice and he didn’t like it. But Diana Davis was a legend in her own lunchtime and he was suddenly acutely aware that he was here in the middle of Brixton, alone and vulnerable, and being interrogated by a woman who the hardest of men spoke of with respect.

  Diana poured them all a large whiskey and said, ‘That is exactly what I was going to ask you! Great minds, eh?’

  Gabriel held out a chair and said quietly, ‘I’d sit down, if I was you.’

  Dicky Matthews did exactly as he had been told. He really didn’t know what else to do.

  Chapter Sixty

  ‘Do you know what, Angus? Sometimes you really fucking annoy me.’

  Angus was genuinely taken aback. He could hear the anger in Geoffrey’s voice, and that was something he had not expected. He had a lot of respect for this man, and he assumed that Geoffrey knew that. He stood up suddenly; he was not only annoyed himself now, he was really offended.

  He looked at Geoffrey and said seriously, ‘How the fuck can you say something like that to me?’

  Geoffrey sighed heavily and, waving his hands, he said, ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, sit down and get off your high horse for five minutes! Just have a day off, will you? Honestly, Angus, how long have we been mates? And I mean mates, real friends.’

  Angus shook his head in bewilderment. ‘Years, Geoff, fucking years.’

  Geoffrey Pole nodded his head pointedly at the answer. ‘Precisely, and yet you bring me here to ask me about some kind of skulduggery, without thinking that if I had heard anything about it, I would have come and told you anyway. Because I have in the past, remember?’

  Angus knew that what the man said was true, and he had to hold his hand up. But, in all honesty, today wasn’t really the day for heart-searching and breathtaking honesty. He just wan
ted answers, and he wanted them quick.

  ‘Geoff, listen to me, I know that if you had heard anything credible, you would have shared it with me before now. But I also know that there is something going on with Dicky Matthews and that queen, fucking Sharina, or whatever she calls herself. She was with Jackie before he was outed permanently. Now I called you here to ask you, as a friend, if you think that cunt is on a mission. Only she seems to be in a lot of company that has – shall we say? – fucked me and other people I know right off.’

  Geoffrey swallowed down his drink, and then he said saucily, ‘OK, I can see where you are coming from. But, honestly, all I ever knew him as was a bum chum – no more and no less – and let’s face it, he ain’t getting any younger. I will ask around and see what I can find out, but seriously I have never heard his name mentioned outside of a bedroom. He isn’t what us gays would call “in the first flush of youth” – and, in fairness to him, he was a beautiful boy in his day. But you know us lot, fucking dog years, over the hill by twenty-five.

  ‘I can’t see it myself. He is just with whoever is paying for his drinks. He isn’t capable of thinking anything through logically, and he certainly couldn’t work a con. More fool him! If he had used his brain when he was younger, he would be sitting pretty now, with his own drum and a bit of a pension. Believe me, Angus, an original thought in his head would die of fucking loneliness.’

  Angus shrugged genially. ‘I hope I’m wrong, Geoffrey, but by the same token he seems to keep strange bedfellows, from my point of view. I just need to know if he might become a problem to me in the future, and I am sure you can understand my reasoning.’

  Geoffrey nodded and smiled. There was another underlying threat, and that was as it should be, because Geoffrey would have done the same thing had he been in Angus’s position.