Darkness

by Heather Atkinson

  He rushed out of the room, leaving them all to gaze at Jules with disappointed eyes, all except for Amber, who hoped she never woke up.

  “I’m going to get something to drink,” muttered Leah, not wanting everyone to see how disappointed she was, quietly slipping out the door.

  “She heard us talking about Jared escaping,” Jackson said. He ran his fingers through Jules’s hair. “If you can hear me babe, I swear to you he won’t touch you or Cara ever again.”

  “Yeah, too right,” said Jez.

  “Is Jared still a threat?” said Jackson.

  “We don’t think so,” replied Ryan. “He’s a spent force. There’s no way he’ll be stupid enough to come up here.”

  “I really hope you’re right.”

  “I think you and Cara should continue staying at the hotel,” said Rachel. “Beth won’t mind, until the threat’s been…”

  “Removed?” ended Jackson for her.

  “Yes, I suppose you could put it like that.”

  “The sooner the better in my opinion.” He looked uncertain when Cara pointed at her mum, wanting to sit with her. “What do you think?” he asked Rachel. “What if she knocks some of the tubes?”

  “Sit her on the bed next to her but keep hold of her.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  They all watched as Jackson placed Cara beside her mother, who stared at her expectantly, obviously thinking she was going to wake up and when she didn’t she turned to Jackson, expecting him to be able to wake her up but he just looked back at her helplessly. “I’m sorry sweetheart,” he said. “She’s still asleep. Best not disturb her.”

  For a moment they all thought Cara was going to cry but instead she lay down beside her mum, nuzzling her face into her arm, her eyes already sliding shut, exhausted by her adventures.

  “We’ll give you some time alone, just the three of you,” said Rachel with a meaningful look at Amber.

  Amber pretended to have no idea what she was insinuating and swept past her with her nose in the air, a distracted Mikey following.

  Leaving Riley to watch over Jules they left the ward, Ryan frowning when he saw Leah chatting with Shane.

  “Oh yes, what’s this?” he said.

  Shane snapped to attention. “Err, me and Leah were just talking about music.”

  “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” said Ryan, eyes narrowing.

  Shane nodded. “Yeah, I should get back to base, lots to do and that.” He looked to Leah. “Nice to meet you,” he said politely before hobbling away.

  “Dad, why did you scare him off? He’s cute.”

  “Because he’s too old for you and I have no wish for you to fraternise with someone like him.”

  “You mean someone who was like you when you were younger?” She screwed her nose up. “Actually, that’s a bit creepy.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” he said flatly. “Besides, me and you need to have a little chat.”

  “About what?”

  “Your mother told me you helped her fend off some hired muscle.”

  “Muscle?” spluttered Leah. “More like a bunch of big jessies.”

  “It’s not upset you?”

  “You must be joking. Actually it was quite funny, they were useless.”

  Ryan looked to Rachel in astonishment, as secretly proud as she was of their daughter.

  CHAPTER 38

  Katia flew at Hayden the second he came through the door, winding her arms around his neck.

  “What’s wrong?” he said.

  “Jared’s alive,” she replied, gazing up at him with scared eyes.

  “Oh shit, He’s not here, is he?”

  “No, thank God. He called, he wants you to meet him at this address,” she said, holding out a piece of paper to him.

  Hayden frowned at the address. “I know this area, it’s not too far from The Homestead, it must be a bolthole of his.”

  “He was very angry on the phone, he made lots of threats against the Laws and Maguires.”

  “Did he say how many men he has with him?”

  “None. They all died or ran away.”

  “I warned him he was employing retards.”

  “He wants you and our men to go with him to Manchester to kill Mikey and Jez.”

  “And he seriously thinks we’re capable of that, after they kicked his arse in his own home, which he always bragged was impregnable. Obviously he didn’t learn anything from his own attack on the Maguire compound.”

  “Because he is a stupid pig man,” she snapped. “He is injured. You must go and put him out of his misery. Then we can wipe out the equally stupid Cake man and we will be in charge of Essex.”

  Hayden wasn’t so sure it would be so easy to get rid of Gerry Cake. He was intelligent and strong. Plus he had Mikey and Jez backing him up. But first he had to sort out Jared. He took out his phone and called Mick.

  Ten minutes after he’d concluded the call the front door swung open and Hayden’s heart sank when Robbie Jordan limped into the room on a massively swollen ankle, clothes torn and streaked with mud, light brown hair dishevelled, a twig tangled in it.

  “Robbie,” exclaimed Katia, rushing to him. “What happened?”

  “I was at The Homestead when it was attacked,” he began. “Jesus, I need to sit down, I’m knackered.”

  “Of course, come through,” said Katia, assisting him to limp into the lounge.

  Robbie practically fell onto the couch, exhausted.

  “How did you escape?” said Katia.

  “Through the back garden and over the wall. I hurt my ankle in the process.”

  “Rest it on here,” said Katia, pulling up a footstool and gently resting his injured appendage on it. As she’d had medical training in Slovakia she was equipped to treat him. Gently she probed the ankle, making Robbie grimace. “It is just a bad sprain,” she pronounced. “Nothing broken.”

  “Thank Christ for that,” he said. “I was lucky I was at the rear of the house when the attack started. It meant I could get away.”

  “Well thank God you did,” said Katia. “I had no idea you were even in there, I didn’t think any of our men were.”

  “Hayden sent me,” he said, throwing him an accusing look.

  “I asked Robbie to check Jared’s security,” he replied. “How was I to know he was going to get caught up in it all?”

  “Well he is fine, thankfully,” said Katia.

  Hayden was distracted from the infuriating situation by a knock at the door. He hurried to answer it, glad to see Mick. “You ready?” he said, walking inside.

  “Just give me a sec,” said Hayden, returning to the lounge, hating the sight of Katia fussing around Robbie, plumping up the cushions and pouring him a whisky. “Mick’s here,” he told her.

  She planted a kiss on his lips. “Be careful, please. An animal is most dangerous when it is wounded.”

  “I will be.” He hugged her, looking over her shoulder at Robbie, who smirked and raised his whisky glass in a toast. “Back soon,” he said throwing a warning look at the little worm before leaving.

  Hayden didn’t speak until he and Mick were outside the building and heading towards the car. “That jammy little bastard Robbie Jordan’s still alive.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” said Mick, who shared Hayden’s feelings about him.

  “He did a runner just as the Laws and Maguires arrived.”

  “Typical of that little coward, I bet he pissed his pants when that lot showed up.”

  “No doubt about it and now he’s got Katia fussing round him like he’s some sort of wounded puppy.”

  “Don’t sweat it. The little turd will get his soon.”

  “Oh yes he will,” hissed Hayden.

  Jared nursed his wounds in the small cottage he’d quietly purchased under an assumed name. In his line of work it always made sense to have a place to run to and not even his mum had known about this.

  He released a groan and cradled his head in his hands
when he thought of her. At the time it had seemed like a good idea to leave her to her fate, especially after what she’d done to Jules but now the grief was pressing down on him. She might have been the psycho bitch from hell but she was his mum, the only member of his family still living and he’d left her to die. It was the look in her eyes that had been the worst, the pain of betrayal but he’d done it for Jules and Cara. As long as Tanya was alive she wouldn’t have let the little girl go and she belonged in Manchester with her family. He couldn’t stand seeing her so terrified, it wasn’t right. He’d done the right thing for his daughter who, ironically, was the only blood relative he had left. Cara was back where she belonged but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to go after Mikey and Jez for this fucking piss take. His own men were either dead or scattered to the four winds and they’d been fucking useless, the lot of them. Hayden had warned him more than once but he’d thought he was being paranoid. Now he wished he’d listened to him. Fortunately Hayden had recruited real foot soldiers, professionals who wouldn’t runaway screaming if they were attacked and who could shoot in a straight line and he was going to use them to get revenge.

  He grimaced as he pressed an ice pack to a huge bruise across his ribs. Being hit by Ryan Law had felt like being hit by a bulldozer. Never before had Jared come across someone he couldn’t beat in a physical fight, his sheer size and brute strength had always seen him through. Today had been a very harsh life lesson and he’d realised he wasn’t invulnerable. Ryan Law was a massive threat to him but then again it was rumoured he’d killed Alex Maguire, who had seemed like an unstoppable force. So, after he’d taken care of Mikey and Jez he would go to Devon to deal with Ryan and Rachel, because guaranteed that black eyed bitch would want revenge for her dead husband and she was pretty formidable too.

  He sighed and hung his head with the weight of it all. So many enemies, so little time.

  “You took your fucking time,” he said when Hayden walked in with Mick.

  “It took us a while to find this place,” said Hayden. “It’s pretty off the grid. Even our sat nav had no idea it was here.”

  “And that’s one reason why I bought it.”

  Hayden was surprised by how battered Jared looked. His torso - which was bare so he could apply ice to his many bruises - was a patchwork of black and blue, his face swollen. Plus his neck looked like someone had tried to throttle him. “You badly hurt?” he said.

  “What do you fucking think?” Jared snarled. He took a deep breath, struggling to contain the raging monster inside that was desperately trying to unleash itself on the world. He couldn’t lose it with Hayden, he needed him on his side if he was ever going to get revenge. “Sorry, it’s been a trying day.”

  “So I believe. The Homestead has been burnt to the ground.”

  “Bastards,” he sighed.

  “What about your mum?”

  “Dead, I think.”

  “You don’t know for sure?”

  “I think Mikey Maguire got her but in all the chaos I didn’t actually see him kill her but I’m pretty sure he did.”

  Hayden wished he could be sure because if Tanya was dead the Slatterys were well and truly finished. “I’ll see what I can find out from my contact.”

  “Cheers, I appreciate that.” Jared thought it would probably be better for him if she was dead because if she’d survived she would kill him for his betrayal and he wasn’t sure he had it in him to kill her twice. “How come you lot never turned up?”

  “We did set off but it’s a bit of a drive to The Homestead. By the time we arrived the whole place was up in flames and surrounded by coppers.”

  Jared sighed heavily, the thought of the home where he’d lived all his life gone, causing him immense pain, compounding the grief of losing his mother. “I suppose,” was all he replied.

  “So, have you managed to find anyone else?” said Hayden.

  “No, fucking two faced treacherous bastards. But then again, we were hit hard and fast. They arrived in some great big fucking tank, it looked like something out of a film. We didn’t stand a chance.”

  “We’ll see who we can round up, we’re going to need all hands on deck if we’re attacking Manchester. You’re still set on that?”

  “Too right I am. I want revenge.”

  Hayden knew arguing with the man was useless. Once his mind was made up there was no changing it.

  Jared got to his feet, wincing. All he wanted to do was flop into bed and sleep for three days but he wouldn’t be able to rest until he was back on top. If he didn’t do something quick all his competitors would do their best to exterminate him.

  “I’m starving,” he said, pulling his shirt back on and turning to the fridge. “You want anything?”

  “No thanks, I’m good,” said Hayden.

  “What about you Mick?” said Jared, head stuck in the fridge. Thank Christ he’d ensured this place always remained fully stocked in case of emergencies. He gathered together a pack of eggs, cheese and tomatoes, intent on making an omelette.

  While Jared’s attention was drawn to the interior of the fridge, Hayden nodded at Mick, who nodded back and they both drew their guns.

  It was only because the fridge was stainless steel and the cleaner kept the door polished to within an inch of its life that Jared spied Hayden and Mick draw their guns. Jared pushed aside all the frantic thoughts that ran through his mind about betrayal and all the accompanying rage. He was careful to keep his movements slow, as though he hadn’t noticed.

  As he turned from the fridge he hurled all the food at them. It was so unexpected it caused them both to falter and he threw himself through the back door and outside, so relieved he’d left the car keys in the ignition, just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. As he sped towards the car he pulled his own gun from his belt, turned and fired back at the house. It was ironic that when he wasn’t aiming at anything in particular his aim was spot on and Hayden and Mick were forced to duck back into the house as bullets ploughed through the open door.

  Jared jumped into the car, started the engine and sped off, leaving Hayden and Mick to scramble to their own car. But they didn’t know the area like Jared did, he’d spent his entire childhood exploring this countryside and he knew every nook and cranny. He was only on the main road running past the house for a few seconds before he veered onto a dirt track that led up a winding road through farmland. But instead of continuing to drive he stopped the car and killed the engine, holding his breath, praying his gamble worked.

  It did.

  Hayden and Mick continued along the main road, past the narrow turnoff Jared had taken that you wouldn’t even know was there unless you were a local, which neither of those backstabbing bastards were.

  Once the sound of their car had died away, Jared turned his own car around and headed in the opposite direction. He couldn’t go back to his hideout now, the one he’d kept carefully hidden for years. Why the fuck had he invited them there? Now he had nowhere to go, every chancer in the area would try to take him out if they could, thinking they could claim the top spot. It was vital he get out of Essex. He had friends in south London, they would shelter him. Or would they? He’d thought Hayden would help him out but that prick had decided to seize things for himself. Well he and his Slovakian slapper had just been added to his shit list too. Right now he had no friends. Any of them could turn on him. But where could he go? He couldn’t head up north with that being Law and Maguire territory and the McVays ruled half of Scotland. He was really fond of Devon and he knew the area well but Ryan and Rachel lived there. Thanks to his enemies the country felt to be shrinking. Instead he decided to go into Wales where, as far as he knew, there were no powerful criminal families. If there were he wasn’t aware of them. He believed Pembrokeshire was nice this time of year, somewhere quiet where he could lick his wounds. From there he’d decide whether to leave the country or stand and fight, he was far from down and out. He still had his wallet and access to all the Slattery finances,
which were considerable.

  Jared put his foot down on the accelerator as he left the narrow country roads and joined the bypass, heading for the motorway. He was far from finished.

  “Fuck, I can’t believe he got away,” exclaimed Hayden while Mick drove, both of them scanning the area for Jared’s Mercedes. “First he escapes the Laws and Maguires, now us. That is one lucky bastard.”

  “And how did he suddenly become a good shot?” said Mick. “He couldn’t have hit a fucking barn door before with a gun.”

  “Because he wasn’t aiming, that’s how. That is one jammy git.”

  “We have to take him down before he comes for us because he will.”

  “You think?” snarled Hayden, furious. He couldn’t believe what should have been a simple hit had gone so drastically wrong. Now their most dangerous enemy was at large and Robbie Jordan, the little weasel, was still alive. What an almighty fuck-up today had been. “We need to track the bastard down pronto. I’ll get onto my contact, see if they can trace his car. We’ve got eyes all over this county, more than Jared even knows. If he turns up we’ll find out.”

  “If he’s got any sense, which I think he does, he’ll get out of Essex.”

  “I agree and with a bit of luck he’ll stay away.”

  “He’s finished anyway, no one would back a lame duck like him. After getting his arse kicked in Manchester then down here no one will want to work with him. He’s fucking cursed.”

  Hayden thought it odd how Mick, a very practical and violent man, had a strong superstitious streak. Beneath his pristine shirts Hayden knew he always wore a St Christopher medal, a cross and various other talismans of protection that he insisted had kept him safe over the years. He often talked about people being cursed, which Hayden thought was a bit strange but he was his best man so he’d never told him that. “You’re not wrong. He’s made a prat of himself once too often and the Laws and Maguires have made him look like a disorganised amateur. He’s finished and Essex is wide open.”