“Thanks,” she grinned.
“But you’re gone no longer than two hours. You can tell Jacob you’ve got a family do on. You call us the moment you’re done and you come straight home afterwards, no detours to your friends or the shops. And you don’t go anywhere alone with him, you stay somewhere public at all times.”
“Got it,” she said.
“We’re not doing this to be mean,” said Ryan. “We’re doing it to keep you safe.”
Leah recognised the anxiety shining out of both their eyes and nodded. She still felt guilty after what she’d put them through. “I know.”
“Good.”
“Thanks Dad,” she said hugging him before bestowing a hug on her mum. Most teenagers would have been mortified at the prospect of hugging their parents but not Leah. After the life-threatening situations they’d all endured and how many people they’d lost she knew how important it was to show those closest to you how much you loved them. “Right, I’ve got homework to do,” she said before exiting the room, the thunder of her footsteps on the stairs following a moment later.
“I don’t like this,” said Rachel.
“Me neither,” said Ryan. “But we have to trust her judgement. She’s seventeen now.”
“You heard what Ashley said about Jacob Wright.”
“But he’s no personal experience of him. Maybe the boy just needs someone to give him a chance?”
“Or maybe he’s a nutter just like Ashley said and he’s got Leah in his sights?”
“I think Leah’s had enough experience of nutters by now to know how to spot one. And you heard what she said, he’s the first boy she’s liked in two years. It was inevitable she started dated again and no matter who she picked we would always be nervous.”
“I would prefer it if she went out with a respectable boy from a good family.”
Ryan’s lips twitched. “Now who sounds like a snob.”
“I do not.”
“Yes you do. Besides, look at the serial killers who took me. All three of them were respected members of the community.”
A shiver ran down her spine. “You’re right.”
“Leah’s a smart girl, she’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” she sighed. “It’s too late anyway. She’s already smitten.”
CHAPTER 8
“What?” exclaimed Mikey after Jules had broken the news to him of Amber’s visit.
“Keep your voice down,” she said, indicating the boys playing on the floor.
“Sorry.”
Together they moved into the corner of the room, out of earshot of the children.
“What’s brought this on?” he said. “After two years?”
“God knows.”
“I don’t like it.”
“It is a bit suss. Or maybe she’s grown up?”
“Doubtful,” he muttered.
“She saw my engagement ring.”
“Good. I hope it brought it home that me and you are for life.”
Jules was unable to repress a smile at his words. “Yeah, I reckon so.”
“I don’t want her near our boys. They’re so happy.”
“They are but she is their biological mother.”
His eyebrows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that from you.”
“Think about it. There will come the day when they want to see her again. What if they find out when they’re older that we kept their mum from them? They might hate us for it.”
“You’re their mum.”
“No I’m not, as much as I’d love to be.”
“I don’t like it.”
“At least give the boys the option. We’ve no legal right to keep them from her.”
The corner of his mouth cocked into a smile. “Is this Jules Maguire standing before me talking about legality?”
She kissed him. “It’s better if we can keep everything nice and friendly, for their sake,” she said, nodding at the boys.
Mikey looked to his two oblivious sons and sighed. “I suppose you’re right but she gets one chance and one chance only.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” she said, taking his hands.
“I never thought I’d see the day you defended Amber.”
“I’m not doing it for her, I’m doing it for Zach and Josh.”
His gaze softened. “And that’s why you are so much better than her. You always put them first, even though I know this must be hurting you.”
“Because I love them.” She kissed him again. “And you.”
He took her face in his hands. “I can’t wait for you to be my wife.”
She flashed her trademark Venom smile. “Sure you want to be stuck with me for life?”
“Absolutely,” he smiled. “For better or for worse.”
“Till death us do part.”
A shiver ran down his spine. “Don’t say that.”
“Don’t tell me you’re superstitious?” she said, sliding her arms around his neck.
“No, course not,” he said, forcing a smile but her words haunted him.
Leah assumed Jacob had changed his mind about their date after school because he practically ignored her all day at college. She’d started the day in such a good mood too. Not only had her Aunty Jules called to ask her to be one of her bridesmaids but she was genuinely excited about her date too. But only once did she catch Jacob glancing her way at the end of biology class, stuffing everything into his backpack as quickly as possible and rushing out before she could follow.
“He is such a wanker,” said Sarah, outraged on her friend’s behalf. “You’re better off without him.”
“Probably,” she sighed.
However, as she left through the college gates she found him perched on a low wall. When he saw her he got to his feet.
“You ready then?” he said.
“For what?” she replied.
“To grab a burger.”
“I didn’t think you wanted to anymore since you’ve ignored me all day,” she frowned.
“I didn’t ignore you, I just treated you like I always do.”
“Then why bother?” she snapped.
He shrugged. “I find you entertaining.”
“Are you wanting a smack in the face?”
“I didn’t mean that to sound like it did. I just meant that you’re fun.”
“What are you doing now?” she said when he started to walk away.
“Going for a burger,” he called over his shoulder. “Are you coming or what?”
Leah was tempted to tell the arrogant prick to sod off. But she was doing this to help her mum and dad, so she swallowed her pride.
“Fine,” she muttered, stomping after him.
Katia was enjoying Liverpool more than she thought she would. It was an energetic, vibrant city but most of all she was having enormous fun plotting with the Claytons against the Maguires and Laws.
Andrew Clayton sat at the head of the large conference table on the top floor of an office block he owned. He was dressed immaculately in a very expensive suit complete with pearl-tipped tie pin and matching cufflinks. He was a large, imposing figure in his mid forties, dark hair swept back off his face, blue eyes bright and sharp.
Katia and Hayden sat opposite him at the table, Katia having to concentrate on his words, his Liverpudlian accent was so thick. Fortunately her husband was having no such problem. Beside Andrew sat his younger brother Luke who, in Katia’s opinion, was a bit stupid and lacked his brother’s business acumen and vision but he was unswervingly loyal to him and jumped at his every command. Rumour was he loved violence and inflicting pain, making him a very efficient torturer. Another two members of the Clayton firm were in attendance but they were leaving all the talking to Andrew.
“So you think Amber Maguire will get us the information we need?” Andrew asked Katia.
She nodded. “She knows what will happen if she doesn’t.”
“And what is that?”
“I will kill the silly bitch.”
>
“You’d go to all that trouble just for her?”
“Have you ever met her?”
“No.”
“If you had you’d understand why it would be a pleasure. She is very annoying. I don’t think it will be necessary anyway, I scared her into action.”
“It’s a good plan. The Maguires and Laws are notoriously secretive. She’s our only chance of getting inside information. Since Declan Maguire was kicked into touch they’ve only shored up security even more. It’s tougher to breach than a gnat’s chuff.”
Katia had no idea what this last sentence meant but she wasn’t going to waste time asking and risk looking foolish. “She will come through. We just need to make sure we’re ready to move when she does. But this plan won’t work if we leave any of the main players alive. Mikey, Jez, Jules, Grant, Mark and Shane, they all have to go. They are all capable of leading in the event the others are killed.”
“Even Shane? He’s so young.”
“Despite his age he is not to be underestimated.”
“And Ryan and Rachel?”
“They’ve got to go too, along with Battler and Bruiser. Only once they’re gone will we be completely secure with no risk of comebacks and Toni will be left with no choice but to work with us.”
“She might want her own retribution.”
“Together we outnumber her. As long as we stick together, we’re safe,” she said, eyes boring into Andrew. “That is the most vital element of our plan.”
“I understand that and you don’t need to worry about us stabbing you in the back. We need each other for our distribution line to work - from Glasgow, through here, down to you. The entire country,” he smiled, revealing a gold tooth in his upper left jaw.
“Our people must coordinate themselves as well,” said Katia. “If just one Maguire or Law escapes the plan could fail. They must all be taken out at once.”
Andrew looked to Hayden. “I hear you’re a shit hot sniper?”
Hayden nodded. “I’m ex-army.”
“That’ll come in very handy. Nathan here,” he said, nodding at one of his men standing at the back of the room. “Is an explosives expert. He’s never happier than when he’s blowing shit up.”
“A bomb,” said Katia thoughtfully. “The perfect way to get rid of many people all at once.”
“And a sniper to take out any who may survive the blast,” smiled Andrew. “It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Katia looked questioningly at her husband for an explanation of this phrase but he shook his head, indicating it wasn’t important. “How many men can you spare for this?” Hayden said instead.
“Well, Nathan of course plus Max here,” replied Andrew, indicating the man standing beside Nathan. “And another four. What about yourselves?”
“Me of course with another four men.”
“Eleven altogether,” said Andrew. “That should be enough. Any more and we run the risk of getting noticed.”
“We need to send one team down to Devon to take out Ryan, Rachel, Battler and Bruiser and another to Manchester. If it’s done simultaneously no one will have the chance to retaliate. Once it’s done we’ll rendezvous back here. No point us going back down south so soon, we’ll need to be here to take everything over before someone else does. The removal of the Laws and Maguires will open a dangerous power vacuum that others might try to take advantage of and there’s plenty stupid enough to try.”
Andrew slapped his palm down on the table. “Agreed. Christ, it’ll be good to finally get that fucking family out of the way, they’ve held onto power for far too long.” His eyes bored into Hayden. “You sure you’ve got the stomach for this? You worked for them once and I know you were pally with Ryan Law.”
“Katia and our crew is my priority. I couldn’t give a shit about the Laws and Maguires.”
Andrew’s gaze settled on Katia. “I heard Mikey Maguire nicked your kids. I suppose that’s reason enough for you to want to finish them off.”
“One of many,” she replied.
“Let’s hope Amber Maguire comes through otherwise we could be waiting for fucking years.”
“She will,” said Katia. “Trust me.”
The look Andrew gave her indicated he didn’t trust her an inch. Not that she could blame him, she didn’t trust him either. Once the Maguires and Laws were dead and they had their deal with Toni McVay it was only a matter of time before their two crews turned on each other. They knew that as much as Andrew Clayton did.
“Well gentlemen,” said Katia. “I think that concludes our business. For now.”
With that she got to her feet, all the men rising with her. At first she thought the Liverpudlians had decided to strike first, until she realised they were just being polite. She’d always found this eccentricity of the English amusing, especially from men such as these.
“I’ll be in touch as soon as Amber Maguire comes through with the information we need,” she said.
“I look forward to it,” said Clayton. “Soon, between us, we’ll have this whole fucking country sewn up.”
“Yes we will,” she replied before leaving followed by Hayden, Mick and the rest of their men.
As he passed him by, Hayden noticed Mick’s glum face. In fact he’d been decidedly unenthusiastic about this entire plan from the start, although he’d never said why. He decided to tackle him about it during the drive back down south. Their other man Peter was doing the driving, so he was free to talk.
“You don’t seem very keen on this plan,” began Hayden once they were on the outskirts of the city.
Katia, who had been gazing out of the window whipped round to look at Mick, her eyes full of concern. They both respected Mick’s opinion, he’d been with them since the beginning and after herself and Hayden he was next in the chain of command.
“It’s a good plan,” said Mick. “But…”
“But what?” said Katia, eyes narrowing. Despite how highly she held him in regard she wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate him if it served her purpose.
“Everyone who’s gone after the Maguires and Laws have wound up dead.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re going to start talking about curses,” sighed Katia. Mick was very intelligent and had no problem indulging in mindless violence but he was also extremely superstitious, wearing a plethora of charms and talismans around his neck to ward off bad luck. He also had an obsession with curses. If something went wrong for someone then he considered the person in question to be cursed.
“Not a curse, no,” he said. “The opposite. They’ve the luck of the devil that family. Anyone who goes after them is cursed.”
“Oh for God’s sake,” muttered Katia, rolling her eyes.
“Or maybe fate’s decreed that we’re the ones to take down the Laws and Maguires?” said Hayden. “That’s why all the others failed.”
“I’m not so sure,” he said, shaking his head.
“Don’t be so ridiculous,” said Katia. “You’re a grown man. They are not supermen, they are just people who can be killed, like anyone else.”
“But think about it - Uncle Terry, Jake, Frankie McVay, Alex Maguire, the Jordans, the Slatterys, three serial killers and no doubt more we don’t even know about. Anyone who goes after them winds up dead. I don’t want us to join that list.”
“We won’t,” said Katia. “Now is when that family’s luck runs out.”
Mick still didn’t appear convinced and he gazed out of the window, chewing his lip.
“Katia’s right,” said Hayden. “Everyone has their day and theirs has come.”
“And we can’t afford anyone getting cold feet,” hissed Katia. “That is what causes failure, not bad luck or curses.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you getting cold feet Mick?”
Recognising the danger in her eyes he hastily shook his head. “Nah, course not. Sorry, I’m being a right twat, aren’t I?”
“Just a bit,” said Hayden good-naturedly. “Now enough of that sort of talk. We�
��re so close to owning this entire country.”
Katia’s eyes glittered with pleasure and she rested her hand on his knee. “I want you so badly,” she whispered in his ear.
Hayden smiled and pressed the button for the privacy glass while kissing her, his hand pushing up her skirt.
Mick was glad they’d put up the privacy screen, it meant he could mull things over in peace. He had a bad feeling about all this. A very bad feeling.
CHAPTER 9
Leah sighed and bit into her burger, trying to ignore the glares Jacob was casting her.
“I said I’m sorry,” she repeated for the third time. “And I don’t see what’s so bad about me offering to pay.”
“You only did it because you’re rich and you think I’m from some poor, scummy family.”
“That’s not true. Who’s making assumptions now? It’s not my fault you’re sensitive.”
“I am not sensitive,” he said before taking a savage bite of his burger.
“Yes you are, that’s why you won’t let anyone near you.”
“What do you know about it?”
“Not much but I’d like to get to know you better, which is why I’m here you idiot.” She only realised she was shouting when everyone stopped to look at her. “Don’t laugh at me,” she said when Jacob sniggered.
“I like being with you. Everyone looks at you like you’re the weird one.”
“God you’re annoying.”
“Then why don’t you leave?”
“Because I find you…intriguing. I will leave if you keep laughing at me,” she said when he chuckled again.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude.”
“Yes you do, you enjoy it.”
“Well, maybe a bit. But you’re the only person who’s made any effort to talk to me since I arrived and I do appreciate it.”
“My friend Sarah tried and you ignored her.”
He frowned. “Sarah?”
“The girl I sit next to in biology. You thought she was called Sally.”
“Oh yeah, her. I’m crap with names.”
“Because everyone else isn’t worthy of your attention?” she said with a raised eyebrow.
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