by KERRY BARNES
‘He is your son. Maybe we should listen to him. I mean, think about it. You don’t know him yet, but, in time, you’ll get to know him. After all, he has the same blood running through his veins.’
Willie backed off, trying to compose himself. But, inside, he was ready to rip the boy’s head off. Nevertheless, he understood what she was doing and decided this time not to act so recklessly. ‘All right, all right, I’m just upset. Liam could’ve died, that’s all I’m saying.’
Not realizing a game was now in play, Lucas felt he was in safe waters. ‘Okay, I won’t call you Dad, then, but the fact is you are me dad.’
Willie bit his lip but nodded equably enough. ‘I guess so.’ Those words stuck in the back of his throat, though. Lucas appeared to look like Liam’s double, but there, the similarity ended. There wasn’t a hint of niceness in his eyes – no cheeky smile or even a shy blush. It was as if he’d been born ugly inside and out.
Zara’s eyes flicked to Shelley, who had a scheming expression on her face.
Not taking any chances, Zara sidled up to Staffie and whispered in his ear, ‘Gag her and turn her around so that Lucas can’t see her face.’
Without even blinking, Staffie cut the duct tape off the roll that was hanging from her chair and wrapped it around her mouth. ‘There ya go, Shell. No gobbing off from you, now.’
Lucas’s eyes widened. ‘Er, what are ya doing?’
Zara smiled. ‘I want your full attention, Lucas, with no distractions. Now, you seem to be a savvy lad, and I’ve no need to tell you where your bread’s buttered, do I?’
He nodded with a conceited expression that grated on her; but, still, she held all the cards.
‘So, about Colin. Tell me what you think we should know, and I’ll see to it that you are initiated into the firm.’ She chose her words carefully so that they would resonate with the young lad.
‘Before I do that, what’s in it for me?’ he countered, with a sneer on his face.
Gotcha! Now, she knew she had his attention. ‘That’s up to you, Lucas. If we can trust you, then it will stand to reason that as Willie’s son you’ll be like the other boys and be a part of the firm. You’ll help to run the business. I’ve got cocaine shipments coming in, and I need a trustworthy lad who’ll oversee that, and, of course, you’ll have a decent motor and money in ya back pocket, around five grand a week.’ She paused and watched his expression. It was clear by the raised brows and open mouth that he was easily bought.
‘And what about me own drum?’
‘Don’t push it, Lucas. One thing at a time. Our lads have to show their worth before they get one of my Dockland penthouse apartments.’
Lucas felt like he wanted to wet himself with excitement. He knew about the Dockland pads and would give his right arm for one. ‘Okay, what do you want from me?’
That was it: it was all about greed and power with Lucas, and she knew then he would sell anyone down the river to get what he wanted.
Mike was laughing inside because Lucas was such a dork. As if he would ever get his hands on a single penny; still, he decided to take a seat and watch the show.
Willie looked at the small bar in the corner of the room and decided to help himself. He pulled the bottles of spirits from the shelf and offered everyone a drink, including Lucas, who nodded.
‘A vodka and orange, Lucas? We all love a good drink. You’ll get used to that.’
Zara smiled in relief that Willie was getting into character.
‘Right, Lucas, tell us what you think would be useful for us to know regarding your grandfather.’
As much as Lucas found it hard to answer to a woman, it seemed that the others respected her, so she could be the person handing out the money. ‘I don’t know where he lives, but he owns a jet because he flew me to Spain, you know, to …’ He didn’t like to say the words, in case he riled Willie up again. ‘He has two men that act as his bodyguards. They’re always with him, but they don’t say much. I think they’re called Raff and Gerry.’
Zara laughed. ‘Gerry? Is he in his fifties, red face, and a beer belly?’
Lucas nodded.
‘Well, your grandfarver is scraping the barrel if he thinks that wanker can handle himself.’ Mike laughed, along with Staffie. Willie, though, remained silent, watching.
Lucas now had the impression that his grandfather, as much as he was rich, perhaps didn’t have the clout he was led to believe, which only affirmed his allegiance to Willie’s firm or this woman, whoever she was. Eager to get fully onboard, he let his mouth run. ‘And while I was on the plane, I listened to my grandfather talking to some geezer about drugs.’
Zara rolled her eyes. ‘Lucas, if you’re gonna play detective and listen in on conversations, you need to gain some actual hard facts, ’cos that means fuck all to me. He could be talking about the right dose of paracetamol, for all I know.’
Willie poured himself another drink. He needed it because right now Lucas was irritating the life out of him, and he wondered how on earth he could have spawned a kid so weak.
‘He said something about this drug. I can’t remember its name, but it was one I hadn’t heard of. Flakes? Er, Flavel? I dunno, but he was getting heated with a bloke called Striker. At least I think that was his name.’
Zara shook her head. ‘Jesus, there’s a lot of “I don’t knows”, aren’t there? Was the drug called Flakka, by any chance?’
‘Yes! Yes, that’s the one. It’s Flakka.’
In wide-eyed surprise, Mike and Staffie looked at Zara as if she’d just uncovered a major plot.
Willie gulped his neat vodka and wiped his mouth, ready to speak. ‘Did Colin mention the name Torvic?’
Lucas frowned. ‘To tell ya the truth, I was struggling. I was so ill, I only remember small parts.’
Willie felt enraged when he thought about what Liam had endured, but he looked away so that Lucas couldn’t see his flared nostrils and angry expression.
‘And this Striker bloke, Lucas,’ asked Zara. ‘The one who Colin was talking to. Did you get the impression that your grandfather was in charge or did he seem beholden to the man?’
Lucas had to think carefully to understand what the woman was asking. ‘Er, do you mean was this Striker bloke the boss?’
Zara nodded, forcing herself to be patient. ‘Yes.’
Lucas tried to remember, but his memory was hazy. ‘Aah, yeah, I think my grandfather said something like “I’ll hold off the cargo from Poland, but can you let me know when you have a new buyer?” So, I’m not sure who was in charge, but I know he was more respectful to whoever this Striker fella was. Ya see, my grandfather is a moody man with no polite words for anyone, even me.’ He looked down, feeling sorry for himself.
‘It’s a shame, Lucas, that your grandfather, with all his money couldn’t see his way to setting you up in business. He may have saved your life, but, really, that was nothing to him but just a gesture that would ease his conscience. Ya see, men like him hate feeling any emotion, and having your death around his neck would piss him off because he wouldn’t have room in his selfish life for guilt.’
With an angry sneer, Lucas replied, ‘Yeah, I know, he’s a bastard. He wouldn’t even give me the shit off his shoe, so what d’ya want me to do?’
Zara looked over at Willie who was now holding an address book. ‘Is Colin’s address in there?’
Willie shook his head. ‘No, but there’s a phone number for him.’
‘Good. Right, Lucas, I want you to call him, and this is what I’m going to tell you to say, okay?’
Lucas looked at the men, who seemed to be ready for action. He wasn’t going to argue; he wanted what they had, and he knew he wasn’t going to get it from his grandfather. ‘Yeah, sure.’
He listened very carefully to the plan and repeated to Zara everything she’d told him to say.
‘Good lad. I can see you’re gonna be an asset to the firm.’
With that, Lucas puffed out his scrawny chest and grinned.<
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Yet when Willie looked at him, he was sickened by the twisted smile. He wasn’t even sweet, just pure nasty.
Willie turned away, and this time he looked at Shelley. He couldn’t see her face, but he could see she was shaking. He had to stop himself from thinking about the past when he’d cared for her. That was a long time ago, and he’d changed, yet so had she. He could forgive her for not telling him she was pregnant with his child, but he couldn’t forgive her for having Liam mutilated.
Mike handed Lucas the house phone, and as he took it, Mike pulled out a gun and then pointed it at Lucas’s head. ‘If you fuck up, boy, I won’t hesitate to pull this trigger …’ He gave an exaggerated smile. ‘Just a precaution, you understand?’
Lucas felt a little queasy. He’d never met a man so huge and ripped with such big muscles, not one in his late forties, that was. He wasn’t going to argue.
Willie reeled off the numbers as Lucas punched them in. The phone rang seven times before an angry voice answered. ‘Now, Shelley, I told you I never wanted to see you or hear your fucking voice again!’ The phone was on loudspeaker so they could all hear the outrage in Crawford’s voice.
‘It’s me, Lucas.’
‘What do you want?’
Just as Lucas was going to reply as planned, Zara had a sudden thought. She quickly placed her hand over the receiver and then disconnected the call. Lucas looked up, surprised. ‘What did I do wrong?’ he spat, as if he was talking to his mother.
Zara raised her brow. ‘Watch ya attitude. You did nothing wrong. I want you to wait. He’ll call back.’
Willie glared at her. ‘And how are you so sure?’
Zara smiled knowingly. ‘’Cos if he hated Shelley that much, he wouldn’t have bothered to answer the phone in the first place, would he?’
Bang on cue, the phone rang. Zara held up her hand. ‘Wait!’
Lucas didn’t move, and then the phone rang off.
‘What now?’ demanded Willie.
‘We wait, ’cos he’ll either turn up or call back, and if he calls back, I want you, Lucas, to answer and just say, “They’ve taken Mum” and then hang up.’
Again, the phone rang. Lucas looked up, awaiting the instruction, and then Zara nodded. Mike now held the gun to Lucas’s head.
‘They’ve taken Mum.’
Zara snatched the phone and listened.
‘You what? Who? When? Lucas? Lucas!’
She replaced the receiver. ‘Now, he’ll come over, and when he does, then we’ll know for sure that Colin cares enough to save your mother’s life.’ Zara then looked at Lucas. ‘And yours as well.’
Lucas suddenly jumped up from his chair, fuming. ‘You what? You said, I could be a part of your firm.’
Mike stood in front of Zara, and with one fluid movement, he pushed Lucas back onto his chair. ‘Jump up like that again, mush, and I’ll fucking straighten your corrugated nose back into shape.’
Willie grimaced and ran a finger down his own nose, feeling every uneven bump.
‘But you said I could be on your firm, I could have a motor, and …’
‘Oh, shut it, Lucas. I have real men on my firm, not snitches and backstabbers. You would’ve sold ya mother and your grandfather down the river in the blink of an eye and all for a fucking motor and a pad in the Docklands.’
Suddenly, Zara made her way over to Shelley. Tucking the gun under her arm, she ripped the duct tape from across her mouth.
Shelley’s face was red where the tape had been; she appeared like the Joker out of the movie Batman. ‘You heard all of that, didn’t ya? Now, tell me why you would want to save a kid who doesn’t give a flying fuck about you – his own mother?’
‘Oh, fuck off. You wouldn’t understand, so please don’t try and turn me against him, ’cos it won’t work.’
Zara laughed. ‘Well, either way, you’re both gonna fucking pay for what you did.’
The phone rang again, and Lucas stupidly thought he could reach it and warn his grandfather.
With a swift backhander, Mike stopped him before he’d even had a chance to touch the thing. The strike knocked Lucas off his feet and clean onto his back. ‘Don’t be a silly boy.’
Lucas wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and glared with utter contempt.
Mike laughed at him. ‘You’re a cocky little fucker, but, sadly, that bravado is all front. You’ve nothing behind it to back it up. Shame!’
‘Oh, don’t worry. My grandfather will fuck you all over. You just watch.’ He looked at the small amount of blood on the back of his hand and shuddered.
Staffie and Willie grinned at each other, now with a few vodkas down their necks. ‘He’s a small man behind a lot of money to buy his muscle, that’s all he is. The man can’t fight, and neither can his minders. Still, you weren’t to know,’ said Staffie, mockingly.
The phone rang again but only three rings this time.
Zara smiled. ‘He’s on his way.’
No one asked how she knew. They just accepted her word as gospel.
Shelley’s mouth was stinging as she glared with spite at the woman who exuded such confidence. ‘Lucas is right. You won’t get one over on me dad. He didn’t get to where he is by being brought down by a load of shitty cunts like youse.’ The tears of anger and frustration welled up.
Unexpectedly, Zara smacked her hard across the top of her cheekbone, using the handle of her gun.
‘Aaahh! What the fuck did you do that for? Think you’re hard, do you, ’cos I’m tied to a chair?’
‘No, love. I think when your father walks in and sees you with a huge purple lump and your right eye dragged down, he’ll feel sorry for you, and he’ll then take your situation very seriously. You see, as much as you think your ol’ man is tough, he’s still your father, and seeing his little girl battered will lower his guard.’
Again, she smacked Shelley’s other cheek, knocking her head back with dramatic force. ‘Just setting the stage, darling, nothing else.’
No more words left Shelley’s mouth. She knew she couldn’t wind this woman up or get out of this mess if she got lippy again. Instead, she remained with her head looking at the floor, the tears tumbling down her cheeks. She guessed that fighting wasn’t in her blood, and if she was honest with herself, she was only capable of a verbal catfight with a few scratches and hair pulling thrown into the mix.
Lucas slowly sat back on his chair, staring nervously at the woman; he wondered if in actual fact his grandfather would be a match for this lot. He mumbled something under his breath, which pricked Willie’s ears.
‘What did you say?’
Lucas peered up and grinned. ‘I said everyone is a gangster until a real gangster walks into the room.’
Willie threw his head back and laughed. ‘’Ere, Little Lord Fucking Fauntleroy’s been watching The Godfather.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘And what makes you think we’re gangsters?’
Lucas’s eyes twitched with nerves and anger. He hated being humiliated and it was far worse because this man was supposed to be his father. ‘It don’t take a lot of working out, does it? You come in here with guns, tie up me mother, and make all these threats … What are ya, then?’
Willie leaned forward, gripping the two arms of the chair, and glared deeply into Lucas’s eyes. ‘We’re a family that want to see justice served on a Christmas fucking platter.’
Lucas closed his eyes and looked down. Willie was a monster, and he decided it was best that from now on he kept his mouth shut and prayed that his grandfather would rescue him.
‘Take him upstairs, Staffie. I’m sure Lucas would rather be playing on his PlayStation than being stuck in here with us talking boring business.’
Lucas didn’t argue with the woman; he’d learned already that there was no messing with her. He got up and walked upstairs with Staffie, knowing there was no point in even shouting out if his grandfather turned up. He wasn’t in a heroic frame of mind anymore.
‘Draw the curtains
, in case Colin decides to come in through the back. Leave the front door unlocked,’ ordered Zara.
Willie did as she asked and then returned. ‘He’d better hurry up. I’m still starving. I ain’t had all of me turkey or the trimmings.’
‘He’ll be here,’ said Zara confidently.
Chapter 20
Gerry scrambled into the front seat of Colin’s Bentley. ‘So what’s going down, Boss?’ He looked behind him to find Raff loading up his gun.
‘I dunno, yet, but Lucas called. He said something like “They’ve taken Shelley.” Who “they” are, I’ve no idea, but the boy sounded serious, and now he ain’t answering the phone. I swear to God, if I get there, and he’s playing some joke, I’ll cut his tongue out so he can never speak to me again.’
Raff, a tall man in his mid-forties and dressed in a suit, looked up from his gun and into the rear-view mirror to catch a glimpse of Colin’s cruel expression. He often wondered why his boss was so against his daughter and her son. He never asked because he was only with Colin for one reason – money. Colin paid well to have around-the-clock minders, although Raff couldn’t understand why his boss took on Gerry. His only conclusion was that since Colin had climbed that wealthy ladder of his, over the years, with no attempts on his life, he felt he was invincible. He was a brash, hard-talking man, and he put the fear of God into people, but Raff was beginning to wonder why. Although the man gave the impression of being a Face because of the way he looked and spoke – he could frighten most souls – interestingly, Raff had never seen the man fight or even hold a gun for that matter. However, he was paid a whack and wasn’t going to question his boss regarding that.
His only concern was with this drugs set-up that Colin was taking over. Cocaine supplies to Ibiza and other holiday resorts where the punters were able to party all day and night were all very well, but Flakka seemed a whole different ballgame, and if Colin had decided to ship the drug from Poland to supply dealers in London, then he would call it a day. Turf wars and druggies weren’t his game, not from what he’d heard about the drug. He’d been surprised that Colin had even considered it, and it crossed his mind that his boss had somehow been put into a position where he didn’t really have a choice.
