by Karen Clow
CHAPTER 61
Saturday morning everyone except the twins, were downstairs by seven. After all the adults had eaten breakfast, Mickey insisted on Billy driving the two ladies to look at the cottage. Maria kissed him and told him to stop worrying they would be fine.
“I know babe, but what if you weren’t? I’d be a single dad raising five kids single handed!”
After Jess confirmed that Mary didn’t mind watching Becky, Maria said they would be back within the hour.
They had only travelled for a few minutes when Maria pointed to the cottage. Walking up to the garden path a few minutes later, Billy looked through the window and stated it was nothing a stick of dynamite wouldn’t put right!
“Oh come on Billy,” joked Maria “where’s your sense of adventure?”
They spent about half an hour looking round the place; obviously they had no idea what the upstairs was like, but if the downstairs rooms were anything to go by, it was probably as bad, if not worse.
On the drive home, they talked about the state of the place. Billy was less enthusiastic than the girls, but he did say that for the right price it could be a good investment.
Back at the house, Mickey was in the study talking on the phone with Tony. The call was to confirm that the film of Davy which Mickey had sent to him had arrived safely. Tony confirmed his courier had delivered it Rodney Hopper’s.
Mickey ended the call when Den knocked on the door to tell him the girls were back.
Five minutes later, Mickey joined them in the kitchen. Smiling at the two women he asked what they thought of the cottage. Jess was the first to say it was lovely Mickey. Winking at Maria, he suggested her and Jess going to the auction with Den the following week. Maria looked shocked, they knew nothing about auctions.
“Good job I do then ain’t it,” said Den “I used to take Mickey and Fay to auctions all the time when they were kids.”
Maria smiled at Jess and asked what she thought. Jess thought it sounded exciting.
“In fact why don’t I let you two have it as a project?” suggested Mickey “I’ll buy it and you two can do it up however you like, on a budget of course.”
Everyone laughed.
Maria could see by the look on Jess’s face that she liked the idea.
CHAPTER 62
Davy had spent most of the evening in his office at the club. Seb had opted out of going, he wasn’t feeling too well. Davy had told him it was probably pre opening nerves, but he understood and didn’t make a scene about him staying home. Jake and Pinky were working the bar that night when at around half one, Davy walked over to speak to them. He asked if they could meet him at the club Sunday afternoon around four o’clock?
Both lads nodded.
Danny drove him home at two o’clock that morning, throughout the journey they talked about the grand opening.
“We’re going to be extremely busy on Saturday and as it will probably be a very late night, you can take the whole of Sunday off Danny. I’ve been meaning to ask you how the afternoon school run went when you followed the kid?”
“It was worse than the morning boss, traffic was heaving!”
“Did they stop anywhere this time?”
“No, her bodyguard went into the school grounds to collect her then they drove straight home. I lost them in traffic a couple of times, but he didn’t stop.”
“Good, at least my friend will be happy to know that. Did you manage to get any more photos?”
“Yeah I was going to give them to you earlier, but you were talking to Seb, so I thought I’d wait.”
“Glad you did, you know what he’s like, worries about everything and with the grand opening looming he’s like a fucking cat on hot bricks. So where are the photos then?”
Danny reached into his jacket pocket and took out an envelope.
“You did well Danny, I’ll pass these onto the kid’s dad. Just out of curiosity, did you print these off yourself?”
“Yeah, I did them on my computer; I can get them done professionally if they’re not clear enough.”
“No they’re fine Dan, but I think we should keep this to ourselves. You know what people are like and the kid’s dad wants to keep it low key.”
“I can understand that boss, being he’s a rich man you can’t be too careful nowadays.”
“That’s right Danny, so mum’s the word hey.”
Danny nodded. Davy felt smug that he’d been that easy to use.
The Sheridan’s house was anything but calm that Saturday morning. Seb was a bundle of nerves; the party for the opening of his studio was now only hours away. Davy kept telling him to calm down. They were having a late breakfast come brunch with Danny, before leaving for the studio to check that the party organisers were running on time.
It was just before eleven, they were about to leave when the house phone rang. Davy told them to wait for him in the car, he would answer it, just in case it was important. When he picked it up, it was an unfamiliar voice that asked if he was speaking to Davy Sheridan. Davy said it was.
“Good, Rodney Hopper here, I have something I think belongs to you.”
“Yeah, I recognise your voice now Rodney, but I can’t think of anything you’d have of mine.”
“Let’s just say, I think you’ll want it back. It’s a film of you and one of your queer friends.” Davy’s heart raced, he began sweating as he tried to regain his composure.
“Assuming you do have such a film Mr Hopper, I’d like to know how you got it.”
“I don’t think you need worry about that,” said Rodney sarcastically “but out of respect for your granddad I will tell you someone sent it to me, with information telling me that it is worth five hundred grand. Now as a business man yourself, you can see why I’ve called you. Obviously you’ve upset someone, who for reasons best known to them, don’t want to pursue the issue themselves. So I’m prepared to offer you a deal of two hundred and fifty grand and I’ll deliver it to you personally.”
Davy was seething as he ranted down the phone, “I want the film back and I’m not about to pay for the fucking privilege!”
“Listen hear you arrogant little bastard! I could make a lot of money from this filth. I called you in the hope that you would see sense and deal with the matter, which I know is what Dave senior would have done. So I’ll ask you one more time, do we have a deal or not? Don’t think you can come crawling to me in a week’s time, I want an answer now, yes or no?”
Davy thought about it for a moment, the last thing he wanted was trouble with Rodney, his reputation alone was enough to give anyone nightmares.
“I’ll have the money by the end of next week!” said Davy arrogantly.
“Good, I’m glad we’ve managed to come to an agreement, but due to your fucking lack of respect when I’m doing you a favour, the price has gone up to three hundred.”
Davy wanted to tell him to go and fuck himself, but he knew better than to be rude again, so he simply agreed.
“I look forward to seeing you Davy; I’ll call you on Friday to arrange a convenient time for me to call.”
Davy paced up and down the floor, he was so angry that he smashed a glass lamp in his temper. He felt frustrated not knowing who was doing this to him, even wondering to himself if Rodney Hopper could have orchestrated the whole thing to make it look like it was someone else. Mentally the strain was taking its toll on him. Now his hand was being forced; he’d have to snatch the kid. He hadn’t noticed Seb standing in the doorway; spotting him he snapped and asked what the fuck he was looking at.
“We thought we heard glass breaking” he replied nervously, fearful of Davy’s temper, “I came back to see if you were alright.”
“Do I fucking look alright? Everything is crashing down around me and you ask if I’m fucking alright! Someone is trying to fucking ruin me you stupid bastard!”
At that moment, Seb turned to go back to the car.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going Seb I’m talking to
you!”
Physically shaking with fear, his voice quivering as he said he’d wait for him in the car.
“You’ll fucking wait here!” shouted Davy as he grabbed him “don’t you understand, someone is taking my business away from me and that includes your fucking studio?”
“Please Davy don’t hurt me.”
Davy saw this as weakness, so without so much as a second thought he punched him in the face. Seb hit the floor almost unconscious. Within seconds Davy’s temper spiralled out of control. Kicking and punching he screamed at him, he was going to find the people responsible and fucking kill them.
Seb was just lying there, motionless.
Danny appeared and immediately ran towards Davy to stop him. Grabbing him just as Davy took a swing at him, Danny shouted for him to calm down. Despite being his boss, he was not about to let him thump him. Finally, Davy seemed to be calming down. Danny released him then went to check Seb. There were no signs of life; his face was covered in blood. Danny noticed that there was blood coming from one of his ears as he checked his neck for a pulse, but there was nothing. Looking at Davy he shook his head and stated Seb was dead.
Davy rushed over and knelt down on the floor next to where Seb laid. Sobbing he held his lover’s limp body in his arms, repeating over and over how sorry he was. Finally, Danny pulled him away. They couldn’t help Seb and Davy needed to pull himself together. Davy was shaking and rambling about how much he loved Seb while Danny poured him a drink. Knocking the drink back in one he looked at Danny.
“I loved him Danny, I never meant for this to happen, but he didn’t understand.”
“Seb knew you loved him boss, it was an accident. We need to sort this out. What about the bash tonight? People will start asking questions if he’s not there.”
“Cancel it, I couldn’t go now anyway. What are we going to do about the body?”
“I’ll take care of it boss. What do you want to say about cancelling tonight? If you say he’s not well, his family may turn up here to see him?”
“What if we say he’s gone away because he couldn’t handle it? We can always say when he turns up we’ll reschedule the opening.”
“Yeah, I think anyone who knew him well enough would buy that, everyone knows he was worried about tonight.”
“Are you sure you can get rid of the body?”
“Course, but maybe we should go to the club tonight, try to keep things as normal as we can? I’ll dump his body after I drop you off later when the club shuts.”
“You’re a good bloke Danny, when I get things sorted there’ll be a big bonus in it for you.”
“Maybe we should get someone else to phone and tell everyone? What about Michelle down the club, she worked in an office before she had her kids.”
“If you think she’s ok Danny, we’ll run with her. Give her a call now the sooner everyone knows the better. She can do it from the club office; tell her you’ll meet her there. Take a hundred from the petty cash and give it to her, make sure she says what we agreed on, ok?”
A few moments later, Danny was talking to Michelle telling her that Davy was frantic with worry because Seb had gone AWOL. Lying he told her Seb had called to say he wasn’t coming back for a few days; he’d got himself so worked up over it.
“Oh poor Seb, I’d be happy to do it. What if you don’t find him though, shouldn’t you call the police? People do strange things under pressure Danny.”
“If he’s not back in a couple of days we will, but chances are if we don’t find him today, he’ll turn up at the club tonight. Anyway babe, can you meet me there in half hour and I’ll give you the guest list.”
“That’ll be fine; I’ll drop the kids at my mum’s and then meet you there. Tell Davy not to worry, I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
As Danny closed his phone, Davy nodded and thanked him.
Before he left to meet Michelle, they rolled Seb’s body into a duvet. Davy said he would clear up while Danny went to meet Michelle.
CHAPTER 63
George and Monica arrived in Kent later than expected due to a flat tyre. It was almost two o’clock when they pulled up at the house. From the moment they parked the car, the boys wanted to ride their ponies. Mickey suggested Billy and Shaun going with George to the stables. They knew it was his way of getting Monica alone and sounding her out about Davy.
After the others left, Mickey was just about to suggest he and the two ladies taking a coffee through to the lounge, when his mobile rang. It was Lenny.
“Glad I caught you Mickey, have you said anything to Monica about the Davy situation?”
“Not yet, why?”
“Hold fire Mickey, something’s up. They’ve cancelled tonight’s opening of that queer blokes dance school, Davy’s got some woman calling everyone.”
“That is a surprise. I would have thought with the people on the guest list Davy would be chomping at the bit to see it through. Do you know why they’ve cancelled?”
“Well, according to this bird who’s calling everyone, lover boy has gone missing. She’s telling everyone it’s because he’s had a bout of last minute nerves, if you believe that load of bollocks. I’m telling you something’s happened, there’s no way Davy would let him cancel because of his fucking nerves. All I’m saying is don’t say anything yet. I heard Danny tell the bird if they don’t find him today they’ll be at the club tonight. Maybe they’ll talk about whatever has happened; I just think it’s worth hanging on.”
“You could be right Len. Tony said the package arrived at Rodney’s this morning, maybe that’s got something to do with it? Regarding the other issue, he can’t do anything ‘til Monday at the earliest, so we’ve got a couple of days.”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as I know what’s going on.”
Mickey joined the women and asked Monica how things were going. She joked and said she’d heard that Maria and Jess were going into the property development business. They talked about the cottage.
As the day passed, Den was surprised Mickey hadn’t mentioned anything to Monica. It wasn’t until they were called for dinner Mickey quickly told him what Lenny had said.
Monica and her family didn’t leave until almost ten o’clock as it wasn’t a school night. They declined the offer to stay as George had things to do the following morning.
Mickey was hoping Lenny would get back to him that night. When his phone rang at half eleven, he was happy to hear Lenny’s voice. He took the call in his study on the pretext everyone was watching a film and he couldn’t hear him.
“I was right Mickey; I think Davy’s topped lover boy. I’ve just recorded a conversation between him and Danny Monk; they’ve talked about getting rid of the body. Danny is going to dump the body in the pond behind the old gas works; you know the one in Military Road. I used to play there when I was a kid, but for the last thirty years it’s just been left to deteriorate and overgrow. I heard him tell Davy there are already two bodies there which he disposed of for Dave senior.”
“Is there any chance you could pass that information onto George without him being able to trace the call Len?”
“Piece of piss all I need is his mobile number; do you think he’ll follow up on it?”
“I think so, but if he needs convincing just mention about my girls being kidnapped, he knows that was never reported. That should get his attention. Just make sure he catches them actually putting the body in the car; or waits until Danny is dumping it because he’ll need solid evidence.”
Mickey gave him the number before ending the call.
George and Monica hadn’t been home long. Having put the boys straight to bed, she had just made a drink and taken it through to the lounge when George’s mobile rang.
“What’s the betting we’ve left something at Maria’s?” she giggled.
George answered his phone expecting to hear Maria’s voice. Lenny used a muffler so George wouldn’t recognise his voice.
“Is that Detective George Davage?”
<
br /> “Who is this?” asked George suspiciously.
“That’s not important detective. I’m going to give you some information, so listen very carefully. Davy Sheridan and Danny Monk are going to dispose of a body tonight. It will happen around half two this morning at Sheridan’s house. Danny Monk will drive to the old gas works in Military Road; he’ll dump the body in a bog round the back of the building. You’ll find at least two more bodies there, do not approach them until they either move the body or dump it. Do you understand?”
“Who is this? Why are you giving me this information when you could just call the police?”
“Davy Sheridan has coppers on his payroll, but we know you’re kosher. Sheridan was behind the kidnapping of Mickey Mann’s kids, it was never reported officially. I will send you a recording of a conversation between Sheridan and Danny Monk that took place earlier this evening. There will also be another recording which if you listen to carefully, you will hear that Davy Sheridan intends to kidnap another kid.”
“Why don’t we meet up so we can talk about this?”
Lenny knew he had to say something, because now George was acting like a detective.
“There won’t be any meetings and this call is untraceable. The only reason I’ve given you this information is because certain people seem to trust you, I won’t call again.”
Monica looked at him and asked who it was. George told her what had been said and that he should call the station and report it.
“George, someone has obviously given you this information for a reason. Whoever it was knows that you’re a good detective, the fact that they were specific about waiting to catch them red handed tells us something?”
He knew she was right; his gut feeling was that the caller had been referring to Mickey when he’d said certain people trust him.
“Davy Sheridan is a piece of shit,” said Monica “just like his granddad was. I think you should follow up on it. Sounds to me like someone wants Davy to take a fall, this could be it.”