by Emmy Ellis
“Yeah, some dropped off service washes about six, but now you’re asking, there was a lull for a couple of hours where no one came in.”
Jason’s earlier theory was spot-on. Those kids had warned folks to stay away. This meant Cassie would also have to speak to the lady who ran The Pudding, ask her if she’d clocked the pair dicking about. It could wait until morning, though. Then, when she went to have that wave put in her hair, she’d question Cheryl.
A strange clatter came from the back yard, the same as when they’d vaulted over the fence. The thud of the downstairs door whacking against the wall had Jason darting out to stand at the top of the stairs. Cassie moved to the fireplace so she could watch him, and Helen jumped, letting out a belated shriek and clutching her chicken-skin neck.
“Where is she?” a man shouted. “Where the fuck is the woman?”
Cassie’s nerves almost broke, the last one hanging by a frayed piece of cotton. She stomped onto the landing, elbowing Jason aside, and stared at Zhang Wei storming upstairs, a worried-looking Li Jun haring after him.
“Stop,” Li Jun said. “This is for Cassie to fix, not you.”
“No, it is my job.” Zhang Wei barrelled into Cassie and flew into the living room.
She darted after him, shocked at the sight of Zhang Wei holding a machete-like knife above Helen. “She doesn’t know owt. And she doesn’t need to know owt either.” She hoped her warning for him to keep Jiang’s murder to himself penetrated the fuzz of anger surrounding him.
He glanced across at Cassie. “She is his family. Of course she knows.”
“Not everyone tells their relations what they’re up to like you do.” Cassie took a step closer. “Put that knife down.”
“You do not own me. You do not run me. I live elsewhere. Only the Barrington is yours.” Zhang Wei shook all over, his cheeks flaring red.
“But you’re on my turf, and unless you want to be dealt with, you’d better step the fuck away.” She held her hand out behind her. “Jason. Gun.”
It landed in her hand, and she pointed it at Zhang Wei’s chest. “I don’t want to do this, but I will, believe me. Helen is innocent.”
Helen curled up into a ball, whimpering. “What the fuck’s going on? Just get him out of here.”
“If you hurt her,” Cassie said, “I’ll pull the trigger whether your brother is here as a witness or not. He works for me, Helen works for me, and you used to work for my father. Where’s your loyalty?”
He clenched his teeth and spoke through them. “It belongs to my son.”
“I’ve fixed the issue, do you get that?” She relaxed a tad at the slight slump of his shoulders. “You’re angry your son left for China, I understand that, but Brett has also moved on.”
“Then Geoff must know something,” Zhang Wei said. “I will go to see him.”
Cassie cocked the gun. “I’m fucking warning you…”
“Please.” Li Jun stood between the gun and his brother, facing Cassie. “He is upset. I will take him to the Jade and explain things again.” He turned to grasp Zhang Wei’s elbow. “Come on now, my brother. We will leave. It is over.”
Zhang Wei lowered the blade to his side. “It will never be over.”
Was that his way of telling her he wouldn’t let this rest?
Stupid man.
“Leave,” Cassie said. “And do not come back here. You know the consequences if you do. This is your first and last warning, Zhang Wei, do I make myself clear?”
Li Jun guided him past Cassie, giving her a look that said: I’ll fix this, I promise. She knew he’d try, but whether his brother would listen to reason was another matter. While she liked Zhang Wei and had grown up seeing him in the Jade before he’d opened The Golden Dragon, she had no qualms about shooting the fucker.
Even if it meant Li Jun lost another family member.
“I make the rules here,” she said as they departed. “And never forget that.” She waited until the downstairs door clacked shut, cursing herself for leaving it ajar whether she had good reason to or not, then handed the gun back to Jason, who’d perked up somewhat at the threat of a gunshot and blood being shed.
Helen unfolded herself and stared up at Cassie. “What the fuck was that all about?”
Cassie bounced between maintaining the lie or telling her the truth. Which one would bring the desired result of Helen keeping her mouth shut? The lie. She gets too drunk in The Donny and might blab. “Brett also owes Zhang Wei money, okay? He took a loan out with him. I’ll repay him for now, and you’ll be in my debt. If I need you for owt, you’d better be on hand to carry it out, to pay it off, else I’ll let Zhang Wei come back and use that knife on you.”
Helen shook her head, frantic. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I thought so. Word of this shit gets out, I’ll be back, and I’ll use the gun next time.”
Cassie swept past Jason and down the stairs. In the yard, she sucked in a cold lungful of air and ground her teeth so hard it hurt. Li Jun must have told Zhang Wei about Brett. Why complicate matters? She couldn’t work out whether that was a violation or a natural thing to have said. He probably hadn’t expected Zhang Wei to come here.
She’d have a word with Nuwa at some point. That woman knew which side her bread was buttered, and she’d spell it out to her husband, who’d then pass it on to his brother.
One more instance like this, and Zhang Wei was on the road to seeing Marlene.
Jason came outside and closed the door. He stood beside her in the darkness.
“I suppose you gave Helen a little talking to an’ all,” she griped.
“I did as it happens, but not to do with tonight’s crap.”
Irritation prodded at her, her back going stiff. “So what did you talk to her about?”
He sighed, the noise loud. “I said if she ever went against you, ever did owt that gave you grief or hurt you, I’d fucking kill her myself. Bare hands round her neck in the squat.”
She allowed some of her anger to dissipate at that. Maybe he was the right man to have her back while she ran the Barrington. He was prepared to kill for her, and that said a lot. “Thank you.” It was all she could manage.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want anyone upsetting you. Goes against the grain, that.”
She prepared herself to climb the fence again then remembered she could unbolt the gate from this side. She did that and walked into the alley, heading for Jason’s car. She’d get him to drop her around the front to pick her own up, then she’d drive to the squat, set Brett’s clothing and the towels on fire, and go home to chat to Mam. It’d mean waking her if she wasn’t up waiting for Cassie, but it couldn’t be helped.
Mam was really her right hand, not Jason, she just kept in the background so he could play the big man. Cassie needed reassurance that she’d handled this okay, plus she wanted to know whether Mam thought Zhang Wei would be a problem in the future. She knew him better than Cassie.
It had been a long-arsed night, and she longed for her bed, a bit of normality, but that wasn’t in her immediate future. That was the problem with running the Barrington. Sometimes, you forgot to actually live your life.
Chapter Twelve
Francis stared at her daughter from her comfy chair in the living room—well, Lenny’s favourite chair—a glass of whiskey close to hand, the ice long melted. She’d been drinking during the evenings since Lenny had died, it helped her to sleep, but tonight, with Cassie coming home so late, insomnia had taken over the alcohol’s strength, muscling in. As far as Cassie was aware, Francis only had the one nightcap. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, and it was only to get Francis through this difficult time.
She sighed now the telling of Cassie’s update had come to an end. It seemed Cassie couldn’t see the woods for the trees, yet there was a loud alarm blaring in Francis’ head. She wasn’t one to mince words, so she’d give it to her child straight.
“Funny how Jason suggested kids must have been warning peopl
e away from the street, wasn’t it.”
There was enough sarcasm there for Cassie to pick up on it, but with her being so tired, maybe it wouldn’t click and Francis would have to spell it out—and she would.
Cassie frowned, spreading herself out along the sofa and drawing a pink velvet blanket over her. “So you’re saying he knew already?”
“It just seems off how he put the idea out there, that specific idea. I mean, come on, if he’d mentioned people warning others off, that’d be understandable, but kids? Who would choose lads? They’re not frightening, they don’t hold any weight with adults.”
Francis had warned Lenny that Jason was a bad choice, but her husband had had a soft spot for him, back from when he’d walked him home one time. He’d felt sorry for him, wanted to help him grow into a man of his own image, a Grafton without the name but with the same outlook on life—that Jason mattered and could do whatever he put his mind to. A son Francis wouldn’t give him. She’d said one child right from the start, and that was what she’d stuck to, despite Lenny trying to persuade her otherwise. He’d kept an eye on Jason for years, even going so far as to ensure the boy’s father walked out of his life and didn’t return, taking his place as much as he was able to with advice on doing well at school.
The lad had ‘ambition’, apparently, but Francis thought it was more an ego as big as a house and the aim to get so ingrained in their family setup they’d miss him if he wasn’t there. She saw right through him. Jason had his eye on the Barrington, she was sure of it.
“I see what you mean,” Cassie said, “but he didn’t act funny or owt when he said it. More like musing, coming up with ideas.” She positioned a cushion beneath her head and closed her eyes.
“He’s a clever one and would know exactly how to word it. He’s been studying you for months, I bet, feeling you out, seeing how much bullshit you’ll swallow. Studying you like you’re some lesson he has to learn off by heart.” Francis folded her arms.
“He seemed offended when I told him the kid idea was crap.” Cassie smiled and looked at Francis. “You know me, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, had to tell him my thoughts on the subject.”
“He would be offended. You undermined his grand idea of using children. I know I don’t have proof, just a gut feeling, but it’s him behind this, I’m telling you. When you speak to Cheryl tomorrow, you’ll see her son had to tell folks you’d given the order to keep out of the street, like Jason had said. Won’t that be a coincidence an’ all…which is what you’re meant to think. He’s taking the piss, basically saying you’re stupid. Open your eyes, girl, he’s a snake in the fucking grass no matter what your dad said. Lenny was blinded by him, got it into his head he was the son we never had. What he failed to notice was, Jason has no family loyalty to anyone except his mother. And himself.”
Cassie knuckled her eyes, smudging her mascara. “I’ll admit he rubs me up the wrong way. Gets right on my nerves at times.”
Francis huffed. “He’d rub elsewhere given half the chance.”
“Mam!”
“Well…” Francis smiled. “His sort like to climb between the sheets as well as working for you. Just watch him, that’s all I’m saying. Not everything your dad said was gospel. I loved the man to death, but he did have poor judgement at times, and I had to set him straight.”
“Lou seemed to say as much earlier—not about Dad but Jason.” Cassie’s frown came back, forming two lines between her eyebrows. “Now I come to think of it, he did seem to cough in certain places this evening, dipping his head like he didn’t want me to see his face. I just took it he was being his usual dick self, but now… Yes, he was a little shifty, but I can’t for the life of me think what was said or done for him to do that.”
At last, Francis was getting through. “So, you agree he’s got something to do with this?”
Cassie gaped at her. “Jason? He’s a prat, but to sink that low? And to be doing shit behind my back while walking beside me?”
Francis would have to pull out the big guns. It seemed she hadn’t got Cassie to see her side of things just yet. She decided to tell her something she’d been pondering on. “Remember Nathan Abbott?”
“What about him?”
“I recall you saying he swore he hadn’t skimmed any of the sex worker takings. Who were those takings given to?”
Cassie grimaced. “Jason.”
“And who did he give them to?”
“Me.”
“So unless he handed them to someone else in between, who else could have scraped off that cash?”
Cassie swallowed. “Bloody hell…”
“And you mentioned he’d gone AWOL for a while after taking Jiang’s body to the factory. A drive to clear his head because he was so angry over what had happened.” Francis laughed bitterly. “Oh, he’s good with the patter, I’ll give him that. But what if he went to shut Brett up? Another coincidence that he was dead when you got there?”
Cassie shoved the blanket off, stood, and walked to the window, parting the grey, crushed-velvet curtain to look out. Was she paranoid Jason had parked out there and watched the house?
“He’d have had blood on him, Mam. Brett’s throat was cut, and I dread to think what happened between his legs because there was blood there, too. Jason’s more of a gun user. Or strangulation.”
“He could have used another method to throw you off.” Francis drank the rest of her whiskey, the liquid burning on the way down. “Think, Cassie. If it’s him, we need to lay a trap. It’s what your dad would tell you—once he’d accepted he’d made an error putting Jason by your side.”
Cassie turned to face her, letting the curtain go. It swished then came to a stop. “That’s what I was thinking, about the trap. I need to catch him in the act, or only tell him something, a lie, and see what he does with it.” She massaged her temples. “I’m too tired tonight, and I’ve still got to fill in the ledger. Maybe we can come up with something between us tomorrow—after I’ve been to see Cheryl. Oh, and I want to chat to Jimmy, see if he’ll be my grass. Do you approve of him?”
Francis nodded, pleased her daughter was asking for her opinion. It meant she didn’t feel so useless. Or was the stress on ‘him’ a barb? She’d take the former, it hurt less. “He’s a rough little twat but a good kid deep down. He could help you with Jason. Your dad used him as a note runner when he was about fifteen. Never gave us a minute’s trouble, always returned with a reply in an envelope he hadn’t opened. Trustworthy. He just needs steering off the weed so his mind is sharper.”
“That’s settled then. I’ll say goodnight now in case you go up while I’m in the office.” Cassie walked over and kissed the top of Francis’ head, then left the room, her shoulders drooped from the effort of the night’s work.
Francis stared into space, thinking. If Lou had intimated as much about Jason, then Francis’ instincts were still working correctly—grief hadn’t dulled her sense of ensuring everything was running smoothly. She picked up her phone and browsed Facebook in her secret account. Her only friend on there was Lou. The green circle was beside her name, indicating she was still up, too. Francis opened WhatsApp, the safest messaging service, although Cassie still insisted on using texts for some reason. Another thing to sway her mind on.
She dashed out a few words.
Francis: What are your thoughts on Jason?
Lou: A shifty little bastard, you know that. Why won’t Cassie use Glen Maddock, for God’s sake? He’s the best man to help her settle in.
Francis: She probably feels she needs someone her own age. Maybe she thinks Glen would butt in and harp on about how Lenny would do it. He wouldn’t, we both know that, but whatever, she has her own mind. I curse Lenny for insisting Jason is her right hand.
Lou: He was weird earlier, that Jason. Weirder than usual.
Francis: I’ve just told her my feelings on the matter. I think he’s behind Brett and Jiang—and Abbott.
Lou: Wouldn’t surprise me.
; Francis: The fact Brett knew where the drugs were—and I’m not just talking about them being in the takeaway, but a specific place… Only a few of us know that.
Lou: Did Jason?
Francis: Yes.
Lou: Would any of the others have told?
Francis: They haven’t so far—well, as far as I’m aware. I don’t know how many people Li Jun thinks are in the know, but his family aren’t the type to blab. They know what they’d get if they did.
Lou: When Lenny was around, yes.
It was a good job Francis never took offence when Lou said things like that. She meant well, and anyroad, Francis had told her years ago never to hold back. If Lou had something to say, she must say it. While Francis loved Lenny, he’d sometimes tried to do everything for her, including thinking, and she’d needed Lou to keep her on an even keel where her own opinions were concerned.
But hadn’t she just done that to Cassie, attempt to take over her thoughts?
No, this was business, a different thing entirely. Jason had the ability to bring them down, and she wasn’t having it. The trap would prove things one way or the other. If he failed it, she’d know she’d done the right thing.
Francis: Cassie’s got the takeaway folks handled. It wouldn’t be them. Mind you, Zhang Wei went storming round Helen’s tonight while our Cass was there, so Li Jun had told him Brett killed Jiang. The stupid man had a knife like a machete.
Lou: Suppose he wanted to use the same sort of weapon that was used on his son. I can understand that.
Francis: I know you can.
Lou: And wanting retribution, lashing out at whoever’s next on the list after Brett.
Francis: He mentioned bothering Geoff next, but Cassie held a gun on him.
Lou: [laughing emojis] I bloody love that girl. Changing the subject… Me and you need to get together soon. I’ve got a plan of my own now we’re talking retribution.
Francis: Tomorrow?
Lou: I’ll come when Joe’s mucking out the pigs, in the morning about eleven. I’ll say I’m going for a drive.