The New Friend

by Alex Kane

  Charlene’s eyes narrowed as she took the phone from her. ‘Yeah, your little friend out there told me all about your drug-peddling here. Was ten years in the jail not enough for you? You want back in?’

  Roxanne shook her head. ‘Are you still jealous that I was shagging Jez back then? Do you know what, Charlene? I did know you and Jez were together, but I’d just arrived in Spain and I thought, fuck it.’ Roxanne spun the lie so well, she almost believed it herself. There was nothing that she would be able to say to Charlene that would make her believe anything else. She truly believed that Roxanne had screwed her over willingly, so why not use it and wind her up about it? Roxanne would only hit the same brick wall she had twenty years ago if she tried to convince her that she’d had no idea that Charlene was seeing Jez.

  ‘I wanted to live, I wanted to have fun,’ she continued. ‘Did you come all the way from Majorca to find out if your husband was still sleeping with me? Woah, that’s intense, and a little psycho if you ask me.’

  Roxanne laughed and watched as Charlene’s shoulders tensed. It was crazy to think that they’d been best friends once.

  ‘No, I didn’t come here for that. Well, not only that. I came to do this.’

  Charlene swung her arm up and back-handed Roxanne across the face. Her cheek exploded as Charlene’s diamond ring connected with her skin and she fell to the floor. A foot flew at her face and Roxanne buried her head in her hands and tried to angle away from the blow. Charlene clearly anticipated the defence and changed her tactic and Roxanne felt a boot to the stomach. One, two, three more before she relented.

  ‘That’s for fucking up my marriage before it even got started. You can fucking have him, you two deserve each other. And you can tell him that the next time you see him.’

  The sound Charlene made as she hawked back as much saliva as she could made Roxanne rage, but she couldn’t get to her feet from the pain of the blows.

  Saliva rained down on her before the sound of heeled boots left the room via the back door. Roxanne stayed down for a few moments, trying to regain some of her composure. She’d never been treated that way, not even in the early days at Kirktonhill. She felt humiliated even though she was on her own. Had Arabella known this was going to happen? Roxanne hadn’t told Arabella about her time in Majorca, or about Charlene, so how could she have known? Unless Charlene had told her everything. But they were strangers, so why would Charlene spill all to Arabella?

  Roxanne attempted to get to her feet but the pain in her stomach kept her down. She managed to pull herself to a sitting position and leaned her back against the cupboard. The door opened just a few inches. When she looked up, she saw Arabella’s face peering through the gap.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked, slipping into the room and closing the door behind her. ‘Did that girl do this to you?’

  ‘Oh, don’t give me that shit, Arabella. You knew fine well what was going to happen in here and you let it happen because you can’t handle the fact that I have control over this place.’ Roxanne winced as she moved onto her knees and stood up. Glancing in the small mirror on the opposite side of the wall, she saw the blood trickling down her face from where Charlene had hit her. Bitch, she thought. But the attack was not unlike the way Roxanne would have handled the situation herself. She had to give it to Charlene, she had some back hand on her.

  ‘I didn’t know she was going to physically attack you, Roxanne. I don’t condone violence. Not anymore.’

  ‘You mean after you murdered that guy on the river path?’ Roxanne sneered. ‘You’re so full of shit, Arabella.’

  Arabella didn’t respond, instead she moved past Roxanne and opened a drawer, pulled out an envelope and handed it to her.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘It’s the papers for this place. Here, take them. You want full control then you can have it. I want nothing to do with any of it.’

  Roxanne looked down at the envelope and took the papers out, glanced over them and smiled. ‘What’s the catch?’

  ‘No catch. I had Eddie contact his solicitor first thing. He fast-tracked it. The place is yours. Run it into the ground, turn it into a brothel for all I care. I’m done. All you have to do is sign and the place is yours.’

  Arabella turned and headed for the back door, but before she left, she said, ‘Just make sure you read it. I don’t want you coming to me and telling me that I’ve screwed you over when things go wrong here.’

  ‘You’re trying to tell me that you’re signing this business over to me?’ Roxanne winced again.

  ‘Yes. I’ve told Eddie everything and I don’t want anything to do with this place if you’ve got your claws into it. I’m not having you drag me down. I got out of prison and I want it to stay that way.’

  Roxanne narrowed her eyes, tried to play things coolly even though her face was pulsing with pain and her ribs and stomach felt as though they were about to fall out of her arse. ‘You do know what Eddie’s been up to, don’t you?’

  Arabella nodded and smiled. ‘Yes, I know everything. Have a nice life, Rox.’

  With that, Arabella exited the salon via the back door and as it closed behind her, Roxanne stared down at the papers in her hands and smiled. As easy as that? It had taken a lot less time than she’d first anticipated, but Arabella had been very easy to manipulate. From the first time they met in prison, Roxanne knew that Arabella was someone that could be used to get what she wanted. But she’d never have betted she’d get a business out of her. Regardless of the pain from the beating Charlene had just given her, Roxanne couldn’t help but smile.

  Pulling the papers out, she read over the first page and it all looked legit. She’d run it past Jake. Or maybe she wouldn’t. He’d been so distant lately, maybe this was what she needed. A fresh start away from Jake. Maybe she’d go legit herself? She didn’t know the first thing about business but she could learn.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  ‘Hi,’ Arabella called as she stepped into the flat. ‘I’m back.’

  Eddie appeared in the hall to greet her and smiled. ‘Job done?’

  Arabella nodded. ‘Yep. She fell for it hook, line and sinker. Stupid bitch.’

  ‘Good.’ Eddie said.

  ‘But there’s something else. Something happened that I didn’t expect. That girl that came to the salon to see Roxanne. She took her phone and when I left, she handed it to me outside. Told me that there was something on it that I should see and that I was stupid to ever have trusted Roxanne in the first place.’

  Eddie smirked. ‘I could have told you that from day one.’

  Arabella didn’t care that Eddie had a smart mouth on him. Right now, all she cared about was showing him the contents of Roxanne’s phone. She grabbed his hand and led him into the lounge before sitting down on the couch. Eddie sat down beside her and watched as she opened up the phone.

  ‘The stupid bitch didn’t even have a passcode on it. That’s what ten years in the jail will do to you. You miss the movement of technology.’

  Eddie smiled and stared down at the screen as Arabella went into the video gallery and selected the first video.

  ‘This is the one she showed me from that night. I still can’t remember anything at all and you know what? I think she spiked my drink so that I would forget this. It makes perfect sense.’

  Arabella hadn’t had a long time to think about it, but Roxanne was a bad seed and Arabella had been drawn to the likes of her throughout her life, ever since she’d gone into the care system.

  Glancing down at the screen, she talked Eddie through the short clip as they watched together. Arabella was standing over the body of the man on the river path, crying and wailing about what had happened. ‘Looks cut and dried, doesn’t it? I mean, with my record, this video isn’t far short of a confession. But then there’s this.’

  Arabella shut off the clip, opened the next one and hit play. She was silent as Eddie took in what was happening on the screen.

  ‘Jesus,’ he said at the en
d. ‘She filmed the entire fucking thing? What the hell did she do, prop the phone up against the wall? She’s sick in the head.’

  Arabella nodded. ‘I didn’t know her at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d got away with other murders if this is how she goes about her business.’

  Eddie took the phone from Arabella’s hand and slid it into his pocket before getting to his feet. ‘We need to show this to the police. They need to get her off the street, Arabella.’

  Arabella nodded. ‘I know.’

  Eddie took a breath and pulled out his own phone.

  ‘Billy, it’s Eddie. I’ve got something I think you’ll be interested in.’

  * * *

  Eddie stood outside the building, Roxanne’s phone in one hand as he smoked a cigarette. He glared down at the phone and felt the rage building inside him. Roxanne had made no effort to hide her crimes. They were all in her phone, like some kind of trophy that she could look at whenever she wanted. She was definitely sick in the head; that Eddie was sure of.

  He stared down at the images on the screen of Scarlett lying there. Her lips blue and her face puffy, covered in blood and cuts, she hardly looked like herself. That was absolutely not the way Eddie had left her. Roxanne had gone in after he’d left and killed her. What kind of sick person took pictures of a dead person, especially one she’d just killed?

  ‘Can you use this?’ Eddie asked. ‘Would this be enough to get her out of our hair for good?’

  Billy took a draw of his own cigarette and nodded, keeping his eye out on the road. ‘Aye. This should be fine. And your missus is sure she signed that confession?’

  ‘Roxanne’s reckless. Arabella is certain she’ll sign it if she thinks it’s business transfer papers. But we might not even have to use it now we have this.’

  ‘Aye,’ Billy said. ‘Let’s hope not because it’s not exactly legal.’

  Eddie frowned. He hadn’t thought of DS Drysdale as a bent police officer. But with everything that had happened since Arabella’s release, anything was possible.

  Eddie couldn’t help but think that Scarlett’s death was his fault. If he hadn’t bought the salon for Arabella, Scarlett would never have come into contact with Roxanne and she’d still be alive.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  More drugs packages were set and ready to go. His supply had been flying out the door. Roxanne had been a dab hand at getting those girls to sell drugs and they were making a small fortune. That in itself was great, but on top of that Cole hadn’t been near a casino or a betting shop in a week, since he’d told Eddie about Jake. It had been difficult, but he’d needed to do it so he could afford the fee for the private investigator to find out what had happened to his brother.

  Opening the door to Roxanne, Eddie and Jake, he welcomed them in and closed the door. This little team they had going was working well and if Cole ever needed to return to Glasgow once he’d made his money, then he knew who he’d be coming to for work.

  ‘Alright, mate?’ Eddie nodded.

  Cole sensed the tension in the air and regarded them all. ‘What’s going on?’ Roxanne stood with her back to Eddie and Jake looked like a kid who’d woken up to fuck all presents on Christmas morning.

  ‘Eddie here can’t handle the fact that I screwed over his missus and he knew fuck all about it. Big businessman took his eye off the ball,’ Roxanne sneered.

  ‘Can I just get the gear so I can get the fuck away from her?’ Eddie said. Jake shot him a look but said nothing.

  ‘Are you going to let him speak to me like that?’ Roxanne said, reaching out and giving Jake a shove.

  ‘Wow, wow, wow. Seems the only person who took their eye off the ball is me. What the fuck’s going on?’ Cole said.

  Before anyone could answer, the heavy footsteps outside the front door alerted Cole to the CCTV screen in the kitchen. He moved towards it and glared at it as it projected an image of the street. No police cars, no riot vans.

  A gentle knock on the door caused a stir in Cole’s belly that made him feel sick. Something wasn’t right. He reached the hall and watched as Eddie pulled the door open. It all happened so quickly, Cole had to blink to check his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

  ‘Come in lads,’ Eddie said, stepping back.

  The two men stepped into the flat and Cole straightened his back. This was it. The moment he’d been dreading, yet expecting.

  ‘I told you I’d find you in the end, Cole.’

  Cole glared at Jez Kennedy and then at the other guy. Roxanne looked confused, but Cole noticed how the corner of Jake’s mouth was raised in a very subtle smile.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Roxanne asked.

  ‘Never you mind,’ Jez replied. He glanced at her and said, ‘Jesus, what happened to your face?’

  ‘Your missus happened to my face. Did you know she was here?’

  ‘No, I didn’t.’ He turned away from her and took a step forward, adjusting his coat. ‘So, tell me Cole. Where’s my money? And my mother’s wedding ring?’

  Cole narrowed his eyes and shook his head. ‘I don’t have them.’

  ‘Please don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me. You and I both know you took one hundred grand of my cash as well as my mother’s wedding ring and I want them back. With interest, of course.’

  Roxanne turned and glared at Cole. ‘You stole money from Jez Kennedy? Jesus Christ, Cole. Are you on a death wish?’

  ‘No, I didn’t steal money from him. I don’t know what he’s talking about.’

  ‘Shall I just contact the Albanians then? Have them come and deal with you?’ Jez said.

  Cole froze. The thought of the Albanians getting him was enough to cause him to drop dead with fear on the spot. Just as Cole was about to answer, there was a swift movement from Jez, his hand a blur as it reached in and grabbed the handgun from the inside pocket of his coat.

  Before Cole could move, the side of the gun connected with his temple and he went down quickly.

  ‘Jesus Christ, Jez. What are you doing?’ Roxanne shouted.

  Cole felt his eyes closing but before the light went out, he saw Jake kneeling down in front of him with that wry smile across his face.

  ‘Good luck getting out of this one, Cole.’ He stood up, and his face was replaced with Jez’s.

  ‘Shame I’ve not got the same carpet I used to wrap your brother in twenty years ago,’ Jez whispered. ‘Two brothers, one carpet. One bin lorry. Suppose I’ll have to use my imagination with this one.’ The words stung as the realisation kicked in, but he couldn’t move. The blow to the side of the head had stunned him.

  The last thing he remembered was Jez’s foot coming towards his face. The pain as it connected with his mouth. A black shadow crept in from the sides of his eyes then.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Billy Drysdale sat opposite Cole Woods and waited for him to come to. Jez had tied him up and sat him on a chair in the middle of the floor in the living room before heading into the bedroom to search the place for cash. He’d found plenty of it and had already bagged it up. There was more than he was owed and Billy had been promised a good amount of it if he went with Jez’s plan. Go rogue. He’d had to, to keep his own crime out of the spotlight.

  ‘He made any sounds yet?’ Jez asked.

  ‘Nah, nothing. He will, though,’ Billy replied. ‘Here, how did you know that girl, Roxanne?’

  Jez shook his head. ‘We were a thing once. After you went home from Majorca, I met her. I was shagging her and her mate at the same time. Trust me, don’t ever do that. It’s a bigger headache than it’s worth.’

  ‘Hang on,’ Billy said. ‘What about Charlene?’

  ‘Aye, she and Charlene were mates. It all got a bit messy and Charlene found out, nearly killed Roxanne and I never heard the fucking end of it, mate.’

  Billy couldn’t help but laugh. ‘So, you and Charlene made a go of it anyway?’

  ‘Had to mate, she was pregnant at the time. It was shit from the
beginning. We could have had our good times. It’s just that she never got over it. She always said that the beginning of a relationship shouldn’t be based on lies and cheating. I suppose in a way she’s right. But the way she acted just drove a wedge between us, you know? If you’re going to forgive someone, you can’t throw their mistakes in their face at every opportunity you get.’

  Billy nodded and wondered how Jez had survived in a marriage where his wife had zero trust for him. Billy had always felt a little jealous, that Jez was out in Spain living the high life while he was working hard to get to the top of his own game. But in truth, Jez had never been that happy at all. The thought exited his mind as Cole Woods began to shift in his seat.

  ‘Here we go,’ Jez breathed. He stepped closer to Cole and bent down. ‘Oi, Woods. You awake?’

  Billy looked away as Cole grunted in response. He knew that Jez would kill Cole, not just because they had to get rid of him to keep his brother’s murder quiet, but because he’d crossed a line. Stealing that amount of cash was a stupid thing to do, but to take Jez’s mum’s ring was something else entirely. And to have thought he would get away with it was just baffling. Billy knew that Jez was a resourceful man. He’d make sure that the job was done with no comeback, hire a hit man if he had to. Billy couldn’t be a part of that. He just couldn’t.

  ‘You’re a fucking cunt, Kennedy,’ Cole said through broken teeth and swollen lips.

  ‘That I am, wee man. Now, DS Drysdale here is going to leave us to it. He has some police work to do,’ Jez said sarcastically. ‘It’s just you and me, Woods.’

  Billy looked at Jez as he nodded towards the door. ‘Go. Do what you need to do with the rest of them. I couldn’t care less. I got what I came for. I’ll be in touch.’