“So that’s why you went looking for her that night? To kill her?”
“I had no choice, surely you can see that? Even if I’d paid her the money, there would have been no guarantee she’d keep her mouth shut. Anyway, what’s that little scrubber got to do with anything after all these years? That’s all in the past.”
“The knife you used to kill her isn’t in the past. That’s very much in the present.”
“What do you mean, in the present? You got rid of the knife that night.”
“No, Karl, I kept it. In fact the knife is with my solicitor right now, along with a letter to the police telling them where to find Paula’s body. If you try to harm either me or Erica, it gets posted.”
“You bastard,” Karl spat. “You fucking bastard. After all I’ve done for you.” A cold anger swept through his body and he could feel the sweat trickling down the back of his neck. His hands began to tremble. “So tell me, what are you planning? To disappear into the sunset with the beautiful Erica by your side? It’ll never work. She’s too good for you. You’ll never make her happy.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Joe yelled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He walked towards the door leading to the foyer. “Oh, there’s something else you might want to know.”
“What’s that?”
“Charlotte is Paula’s daughter.”
“What? Paula’s daughter? I… I don’t understand. How…? When…?”
But the room was empty. Joe was already in his car heading towards the Belmont Cafe.
EIGHTY-EIGHT
Erica sat nervously at the table in the Belmont Café. It was a popular venue for office workers who popped in each morning for their fancy caffeine fix. Erica had just finished her cappuccino and croissant when she saw two familiar faces coming towards her.
“Shirley,” she greeted as Shirley and Colin approached.
“I thought it was you,” Shirley grinned drawing up a chair to the table. “I’m so glad to see you, Erica, I’d have hated leaving and not saying goodbye.”
“Karl did mention you were retiring,” Erica lied. What Karl had actually said was that he had sacked both her and Colin.
Colin gave a roguish grin as he joined the two women. “Good morning, Erica, I want you to be one of the first to know.” He reached over and held up Shirley’s left hand showing a shiny gold band.
“You’ve got married? Oh that’s wonderful,” Erica smiled.
“This morning,” he beamed. “Leeds Register Office at eight forty-five.” He leant down and kissed Shirley’s hand affectionately.
“Congratulations. I hope you’ll both be very happy.” Erica put her arm around Shirley, giving her a hug. “So, you’ll be off to start your new life in Scotland?”
“Well, no, not exactly,” Colin said slightly embarrassed. “That’s what we want people to think, what we want Karl to think really.”
“We’re going to live in Spain,” Shirley blurted excitedly. “We go there next week. Colin’s bought a villa by the sea. It’s wonderful, Erica, you’d love it. Four bedrooms, two balconies and…”
“We’d prefer it if you kept that to yourself,” Colin suddenly became serious. “Things could become… well, a little awkward I suppose when Karl finds out I… err … well, let’s just say…” He removed his glasses and began polishing them furiously with a paper napkin.
“Don’t worry, Colin, your secret’s safe with me,” Erica smiled reassuringly.
“Let’s all have a nice cappuccino to celebrate,” Colin suggested. Replacing his glasses, he walked over to the counter.
It was then that Shirley noticed the luggage down the side of the table. “Going anywhere nice, Erica?” she asked, nodding towards the cases.
Erica looked at her friend, tears stinging her eyes. “I’ve left him, Shirley,” she whispered, her body trembling slightly. “I’ve left Karl and I’m going away with Joe. He should be here soon.”
“About bloody time,” Shirley grinned. “I don’t know what you saw in that bully. I hated him, I don’t mind telling you.” Colin joined them at the table. “Did you hear that, love? Erica has left that bastard Karl and is running off with Joe. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Colin took Erica’s hand and gently squeezed it. “I think you’ve done the right thing,” he said with sincerity. “The things I know about that man, you wouldn’t believe. You’ll be so much happier with Joe. I’ve always thought so.”
“What do you mean?” Shirley said indignantly. “You knew about Joe and Erica and never said anything to me?”
“Of course I knew, dear,” he said as he patted Shirley’s hand kindly. “A blind man could see they were in love.”
“Oh dear, I thought we were being discreet,” Erica blushed.
“Nothing much gets past me, isn’t that right, Shirley?”
Shirley nodded in agreement. “That’s right, very astute is Colin.”
Erica checked her watch looked anxiously out of the window.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here,” Shirley said reassuringly. “We’ll wait with you until he gets here.”
“Thanks,” Erica smiled appreciatively. “He shouldn’t be long. He said he’d be here by ten and it’s only a quarter to.”
The waitress came over to the table carrying a tray with the three drinks. Colin nodded and smiled his appreciation. Shirley stared out of the window and for a few minutes there was silence.
“Cedar Road’s just down there,” Shirley said wistfully, pointing down the street opposite. “That was my beat when I first started working for Karl.”
“Yes, I remember. Karl gave up the street girls when he opened the clubs and the agency. He said it made him a lot more money with half the hassle.”
“That’s right. It’s been taken over by foreigners now. Nasty, vicious little bastards most of them from what I’ve heard.” Shirley sipped her coffee. “I have some very happy memories working in Cedar Road. I made some good mates there. They’ve all moved on now, of course.”
“Don’t you see any of the girls?” Erica asked.
“Susie’s still knocking around. I bump into her now and again. She’s looking rough these days. I think she’s on drugs, the silly cow.”
“Was Susie the tall thin girl who loved wearing red plastic?”
“Yes, that’s Susie. Then there was Lynda. I hear she married a punter and lives the high life now down in London. Always did land on her feet did Lynda.”
“I don’t remember her.”
“You won’t do, she wasn’t with Karl long. It’s young Paula that I miss the most,” Shirley sighed. “She just left one night and never came back. She went off with that boyfriend of hers most probably. It would have been nice if she’d said goodbye though. You knew Paula, didn’t you, Erica?”
“Yes, we were both in care at the same time.”
“I don’t suppose she ever got in touch with you after she left?”
Erica shook her head but remained silent.
“There were rumours that she had a kid, but I don’t know if that’s true. Paula was always talking of running off with this bloke. She said he was the love of her life. He was a policeman, can you believe that? A bloody policeman of all things. The stories Paula would tell about what he got up to, you wouldn’t believe.” Shirley took out an e-cigarette from her bag and put it to her lips. “You see over there by the side of the pub, that’s Coopers Alley. Paula told me her policeman friend found his first dead body in there. A schoolteacher he was. He got mugged, throat cut from ear to ear. I still can’t walk past there without getting the shivers.”
Erica sat bolt upright and stared attentively at Shirley. “A schoolteacher? Are you sure about that, Shirley?”
“Yes, of course I’m sure. It was in all the papers at the time. They never did catch who did it.” Shirley sipped at her coffee and turned to face her friend. “Erica, are you alright, love? You’ve gone as white as a sheet.”
“I’m not surprised she looks fain
t, all this talk of murder,” Colin snapped. “This is meant to be a happy time, Shirley. We should be… Oh look, Erica. It’s Joe. Hey, Joe,” he shouted. “We’re over here.”
EIGHTY-NINE
Karl sat motionless for a few minutes after Joe had left. His breathing became laboured. His vision was blurred and a dull pain filled his chest as sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Erica, gone? She couldn’t be gone, she belonged to him. Joe and Erica together? This wasn’t right. Erica was his wife. They had to be stopped. He must stop them. Karl stumbled unsteadily out into the foyer. His office. He must get to his office. He had to think, to plan.
“Are you okay, boss?” It was Peter. “You don’t look well, Karl.”
“I’m fine,” he replied as he slowly climbed the stairs.
“David Glendenning’s here. I told him to wait in your office.”
“What the fuck does he want?” Karl muttered, more to himself than to Peter. “I can’t see anybody now, I’ve things to do.”
David was standing by the window with his back to the room when Karl entered. He was used to seeing his friend well-groomed and smartly dressed so David’s dishevelled appearance surprised him.
“What’s up?” he asked abruptly. “I’m too busy for a chat this morning, David. I’ve got stuff to do and…”
He stopped as David turned round to face him. David’s eyes were bloodshot and tears were streaming down his face, a face that hadn’t seen a razor in several days.
“Christ, man, what’s happened to you? You look bloody awful.”
David was sobbing silently but did not speak.
Karl walked over to the cabinet and poured two large whiskies. “Here, drink this,” he said, handing him a glass.
David took the glass and drank the contents in one gulp.
“Well, what’s happened? Have those bastards given you the push? Don’t worry if they have. I told you there’s always a job here for you. I…”
“I heard what you said,” David spoke in almost a whisper, his body trembling. “I was down there,” he indicated the cupboard leading to the back stairs. “I heard everything you said to Joe. Everything.”
Karl was breathless as he reached for his pills from the desk drawer. “David, believe me that bastard Meadows deserved to die. He was a paedophile, a dirty, filthy kiddy fiddler. He tried to seduce my Erica. I had to kill him, he…”
“Meadows? I don’t give a fuck about Meadows. I’m talking about Paula. You killed my Paula.”
“Paula? What the fuck’s she got to do with anything? Paula was nothing but a cheap little tart who tried her hand at blackmail. She got what she deserved.”
David sat heavily on the couch placing his bowed head in his hands. “I killed a girl once,” he said shakily. “That skinny little thing who worked here. The one that was raped by Victor.”
“Lindsay? You killed Lindsay? What the fuck did you do that for?”
“I was at the station the night she reported the rape. Lindsay recognised me when I came to the club’s opening. She threatened to tell my wife and my boss that I was a member at the Emerald.” Tears began to roll down his cheeks and he wiped them away with his coat sleeve. “I did her in her flat a couple of days later. I was so angry. I kept hitting her and hitting her. The ironic thing though is that I was put in charge of the investigation into her death. Can you believe that? Those stupid bastards at the station didn’t have a clue.” He drained his glass before continuing. “But there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t think about that poor kid.”
“Well, you more than most will understand that sometimes things have to be done for the greater good. Both our lives have been better since these people were eliminated.”
“Eliminated? You mean murdered.”
“We both did what had to be done. It’s over now, let’s just forget about it and move on.”
“Move on? I can’t move on, not without Paula. I loved her, don’t you understand? We were going to be together and… Where’s Charlotte? I have to speak to Charlotte. I have to explain to her about…”
“Don’t talk to me about Charlotte. She’s in big trouble when I find her.”
“What are you planning to do? Kill her like you killed her mother?”
Karl leaned back in his chair, his chest pains were getting stronger. “I need an ambulance,” he gasped, reaching for the telephone. He attempted to dial for help but David snatched the phone from his grasp.
“Tell me where she is. Charlotte’s my daughter and I have a right to see her.” David was yelling now, his face contorted with rage as he grabbed Karl by the shoulders. “What have you done with her? I need to see her.”
“She’s gone,” Karl said in almost a whisper. “I don’t know where she is. Now let go of me, you stupid bastard. I need an ambulance.”
David released his grip and walked back to the window. “The trouble with us, Karl, is that we both have bad blood. Maybe that’s why we remained friends all these years.” He laughed, the shrill laugh of a man losing his mind. “I came here to say goodbye. I was going to top myself.”
“Don’t be bloody stupid,” Karl hissed breathlessly as he hurriedly dialled 999. “Nothing can be that bad, mate. Tomorrow things will look different – Ambulance – urgent – Karl Maddox – Emerald Club, Fleming Street – chest pains.” He put down the receiver. “Now why don’t you get yourself cleaned up and…”
Karl stared at his friend, panic beginning to take over from the pains in his chest. “What the fuck are you doing? Put that gun down, David. Don’t point it at me, you stupid bastard.”
“I hadn’t planned to take you with me,” David sobbed, “but you killed my Paula, my beautiful, sweet Paula, and now you’re planning to kill my daughter. I can’t let you do that.”
“No, don’t. Put the gun down. I’ll leave Charlotte alone, believe me, David. I…”
Peter was in the foyer when he heard the first gunshot. He was halfway up the staircase when the second rang out.
NINETY
Joe and Erica were in the First Class Departure Lounge at Manchester Airport.
“I heard from Charlotte this morning,” Erica said excitedly. “She’s invited Marion to go to Ireland to live with her and Patrick.”
“Good for her,” Joe smiled. “I hope everything works out for her. She deserves some happiness.”
“Well, I’m going to look round Duty Free for ten minutes,” Erica smiled as she kissed Joe lightly on the cheek. “Do you want anything?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll just get a coffee and wait here, but don’t be long, darling. The flight will be called in half an hour.”
Erica waved as she lightly skipped over to the shops. She had never felt as happy as she did right now. Life with Joe was going to be wonderful, something she had always dreamt of but never thought would happen. Happily she began looking through the perfumes displayed in one of the glass cabinets when she felt someone touch her lightly on the shoulder.
“Erica, it is you, isn’t it?” She turned round quickly, her heart racing. Behind her was an attractive black woman in her late thirties looking very stylish in a dark blue tailored trouser suit and pale pink blouse.
“Angela. Oh how lovely to see you after all these years.” Both women embraced. “You’re looking well. Joe will be so pleased to see you.”
“Joe? My brother’s here?”
“Yes, Joe and I are together now. He’s in the Departure Lounge. We’re going to France. Do you want to come and say hello?”
Angela looked anxious.
“Are you sure he still wants to see me after what I did? I really am sorry you know. It was a very bad time for me.”
“Of course he wants to see you. He talks about you all the time, wondering what you’re up to. Are you still with Ray?”
“Oh, please don’t mention that man. I haven’t seen him in years. Actually it was rather frightening what happened.”
“What was frightening? What do you mean?”
“Whe
n we left Leeds after we stole the money, we went to Manchester and stayed in a hotel. We were walking back from a restaurant one night when a van pulled up and three men jumped out. They grabbed Ray and bundled him into the back of the van.”
“Who were they?” Erica asked with concern.
“I honestly don’t know. I was too frightened to report it to the police. I stayed at the hotel for a few more days but I didn’t hear a word from Ray so eventually I left.”
“Angie, you must have been terrified.”
“Yes I was, but it made me take a long hard look at my life and I decided it had to change. I got a job as a receptionist in a hospital and that’s how I met Josh.”
“Josh?”
“This is him,” she said proudly, taking out a photograph from her bag. “Josh is a doctor and these are our two boys, Nathan and Daniel.” She quickly scribbled a telephone number on the back of the photograph before handing it to Erica.
“We’re taking the kids to Disneyland,” she grinned. “Will you ask Joe to give me a call in a couple of weeks when we get back? I miss him so much.”
“Of course I will. He’ll be so excited to get in touch.”
“Angie, hurry up love, they’re calling our flight.”
Erica turned to see a handsome black man of about forty with a young boy in his arms and an older boy by his side.
“That’s Josh,” she beamed. “I must go, but please, give my love to Joe.”
Erica waved goodbye and made her way back to the Departure Lounge.
Joe got a coffee and a newspaper from the stand. He felt worried. What if the threat of revealing the knife was not enough to stop Karl perusing them? Deciding to take Erica away had happened so quickly, he hadn’t had time to make a proper plan. Joe knew he had to get her away from Karl as quickly as possible. He looked around anxiously, half expecting to see Karl bursting into the Departure Lounge at any moment.
Bad Blood Rising Page 27
