Dirty Dealings
Page 23
‘What! For Christ’s sake, spit it out. What is wrong?’ He felt the panic rise in him; he knew something had gone terribly wrong.
‘Jake is dead, too. They have both been found by a man walking his dog on the South Bank. I am going to arrange flights home as soon as possible. Get in touch with Jack, obviously he is distraught. Apparently the police contacted him. I don’t know the rest of it. I am going to call Ralph. Ring me back when you get hold of Jack.’
Julie waited. She knew Tony was still on the line, but there was silence.
‘Are you there, Tony? Speak to me.’ Julie prompted him in her most authoritative voice. She knew this would knock the wind out of his sails and no one had expected this. ‘Answer me!’ she shouted.
‘I’m here. Jake can’t be dead, Julie. He can’t be.’ The lump in Tony’s throat rose and he could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He was shocked into silence. ‘Jack must have got it wrong.’ The sob left his throat and Julie could hear him crying.
‘Listen to me. Wipe your fucking eyes and contact Jack. Both his parents have died tonight. Now, do as you’re told, I’m going to ring Ralph.’ Julie started shouting at him to bring him out of his shocked state. Tough love, you might say, but she had to get through to him. ‘Are you listening to me, Tony? Do as I say, find out what has happened.’ Again, Julie did her best to prompt him.
‘Yes. Yes. I hear you.’ Tony’s voice was barely above a whisper. His heart was pounding and he felt dizzy. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he wiped his face with his hands and tried composing himself. ‘I’ll ring Jack now and call you when I can.’
‘You call Jack and I will call you in one bloody hour. Do you think I am hanging around here for you to ring me? No. Do what you have to. We’ll get some flights, try and hold it together.’ With that, Julie ended the call. There was no point in carrying on; Tony was in a state. She wouldn’t have expected anything else. No one had expected this.
‘I’m sorry, Julie, I was going to tell him but I just can’t believe it. Jake is dead. How? Why?’ Francesca fell into Julie’s arms and sobbed. It was pretty obvious to Julie she would have to take charge here. First things first; she had to get them both a stiff drink, then she would call Ralph. She sat Francesca down in a chair.
‘Drink this, it will do you good,’ she said moments later, handing a brandy to Francesca. She gulped her own straight down. Dear God, she needed it. Her mind was all over the place. What the hell had gone wrong? ‘I am going to ring Ralph,’ she said, and she picked up the phone.
***
‘Thanks for coming, Uncle Tony. I didn’t want to go and identify the bodies without you.’ Throwing his arms around Tony, Jack tried composing himself in front of the police officers at the station.
Ralph had already contacted Tony and put him on the alert. He knew, now the news was out, there would probably be the odd journalist sneaking around and so warned him to be on his guard.
‘I was at the apartment, Jack. What with Francesca being away I had a few drinks and stayed there. I had left my mobile on vibrate. Thank God I still have a landline, eh?’ As much as Tony felt like breaking down and crying himself, he knew he had to be strong for Jack. The next few minutes were going to be the worst of his life and something he would remember forever.
‘Are you ready, Mr Sinclair?’ The detective looked at Tony and then back at Jack. ‘We have a car waiting. This won’t take long, but if you would rather wait …’ Her voice trailed off. She had been in this job for years and she knew there was never a good time to identify a body, but it had to be done.
‘No, I’ll come now.’ Then Jack faltered. ‘Is it okay if my Uncle Tony comes as well?’ His eyes were filling with tears and he wiped them on his shirt sleeve.
The female detective was an older woman, possibly late fifties. She had obviously been dragged out of bed for this. Her brown hair was pulled back with an Eighties scrunchie and she had a tracksuit on. She had known about Tony Lambrianu and Jake Sinclair for years, but the very idea of this grown man saying ‘Uncle Tony’ nearly made her smile. The most notorious gangster in London was ‘Uncle Tony’. It sounded almost laughable.
‘Yes. Of course. Just take your time, Jack, there is no rush. Whenever you’re ready ... okay?’ She led the way to the car and Tony and Jake followed.
Police officers stood in the mortuary watching and waiting as the attendant pulled back the white sheets from Sharon and Jake’s bodies in turn, to show Tony and Jack. They knew it was them. Not only did they have identification on them, Jake was known to the police. But they had to follow protocol.
Almost collapsing onto Tony, Jack cried out and burst into tears. This huge young man clung to Tony like a baby as he cried. Holding him, Tony looked over his shoulder at the officer in charge and nodded. Looking at the two bodies again, he could see the bullet holes.
The female detective held out some tissues for Jack. It was a sad moment and she hated this side of the job. This poor young man had lost both of his parents in one night.
‘What happened?’ Tony tried remaining calm, but he needed to know what had happened – although it was pretty clear from the bullet holes.
‘We’re not sure, Mr Lambrianu. It’s still early days. A passer-by found them while walking his dog and called the police. There are a lot of investigations to do, but first we had to officially identify the bodies.’
‘They are not bodies!’ Jack turned and screamed at her. ‘That’s my Mum and Dad. They have been shot and you haven’t done anything about it!’ He was distraught and upset.
The female detective could have bitten her tongue. She looked down at the floor and then back up at Jack. ‘Yes. Of course. Sorry, Mr Sinclair. Maybe we should leave now.’ She walked to the door and opened it for them both. Tony had his arm around Jack’s waist and steered him towards the door, and then he turned back and looked at Jake. His beloved brother. Maybe not biologically, but by God they were brothers in every possible way. Lying there on that cold slab was his brother, partner and friend. One of the few people he had trusted all of his life. Looking across the other side of the room he saw Sharon. Hate filled him. How he hated her at this very moment. He half-wished she were alive so that he could kill her himself! What confused him more was that she had two bullet holes in her.
Emotions were at an all-time high. Tony felt numb. He felt guilty because as he looked into Jack’s tear-filled eyes he knew that Jake had gone to kill his mother. How on earth had Jake ended up on a slab in the mortuary beside her? Eventually, all cried out and with a few whiskies down him, Jack fell asleep out of exhaustion and drunkenness.
Sweeping his hair back, Tony at last had time to breathe and think. It had only been a short while, a couple of hours at most, but it seemed like an eternity.
Looking around the apartment where he had shared so many good times with Jake, he felt sick. Never again would he see that boyish smile of Jake’s, or tease him for always looking in the fridge for something to eat. The voice of reason had left his side. Jake always saw the other person’s point of view. Running to the bathroom he threw up. Tears came without invite. Alone in the bathroom he sat curled up on the floor and cried like he thought he would never stop.
After walking into the apartment, Ralph looked around. Seeing the half-empty whisky bottle on the coffee table, he walked to the bedroom. Jack was lying on his back, snoring, still dressed and half-unconscious. Then he heard a noise and walked to the bathroom. The door was shut but he could hear muffled sounds through it. He knew it was Tony. ‘You in there, Tony? It’s me, Ralph,’ he said, as he knocked on the door.
Pressing his head closer to the door, Ralph could hear Tony was crying. What else did he expect? Tony and Jake were like Laurel and Hardy. This poor bastard had just lost the other half of himself. ‘I’m going to make some coffee.’
At last Tony came into the lounge where Ralph was sitting. His face was red and his eyes were swollen, but Ralph said nothing. ‘Get that down you, we need to talk.’
Trying to be all matter-of-fact, Ralph carried on. ‘There is more to this than we know, Tony. I’ve been doing some digging with a few friends of mine and it seems there were three people killed last night.’
Raising his head, Tony looked at Ralph, shocked. Forgetting his sorrow for a moment, he said in disbelief, ‘Three bodies? Who was the other one?’ His voice was croaky. After clearing his throat, he spoke again. ‘Who was the other person, Ralph?’ He knew he looked shocking but he really didn’t care.
Smacking his lips together and throwing his hands up in the air, Ralph looked bewildered. ‘At a guess, I think it was Sharon’s boyfriend, but I’m not sure. He had a gun on him, but it hadn’t been fired. As far as I can gather, Sharon shot Jake. Forensics have told the police that the bullet that killed Jake came from the gun that Sharon was holding. It has her fingerprints all over it. I don’t for the bloody life of me know who killed Sharon or the boyfriend. Believe me, Tony, I really don’t know.’
Tony frowned, then looked up, bewildered, as a thought crossed his mind. ‘Was it that bloody Don Carlos? Did he set this up?’ Standing up, Tony started stomping around the room. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? Don Carlos had done this. He was desperate for Sharon to die, no matter what.
‘Sit down, lad! No. it wasn’t him. He is as shocked as all of us, believe me. It’s a bloody mystery, Tony. No one knows who it was. I did wonder if you had anything to do with it. What about Jake’s driver?’
‘Me? You think I would kill Jake? You bastard!’ Tony went to slap Ralph, but Ralph held his arm up and stopped him. He took no offence, he knew Tony was just lashing out. But this story became more Agatha Christie by the minute.
‘No, you bloody fool. Sharon! I wondered if you had set this other guy up to kill Sharon! Look, just sit down. You will wake him up in the other room and we don’t need that right now.’
Looking across at the bedroom door, Tony nodded. ‘Hand on heart, Ralph, you really don’t know? And you don’t think it was Don Carlos?’
‘Hand on heart, Tony, I swear I really don’t know.’ Ralph shook his head. This was all hard for him to take in.
‘Then we’ll do some digging and find out who was behind this. I mean to get to the bottom of this.’
Ralph had no doubts about that and he would do his best to help, but even he was confused. ‘Julie and the family will be back home this afternoon. You need to stay strong, Tony. Elle is in a pretty bad way, by all accounts. I will do whatever I can. I’m not Jake, but I’m here. Do you hear me?’
‘Elle! Oh, my God, I had forgotten about her. Shit, Ralph, I should ring her.’ Putting his head in his hands, Tony felt a stab of guilt. Elle had never crossed his mind. Dear God, how could he be so selfish?
‘Leave it for now, Tony. They are going to be back later. You can’t think of everything. We’ll sort it. Julie and Francesca are with her. So is the rest of the family.’
‘What am I going to say to her, Ralph? Jake was her son. He lived with her long before I did. She had him as a young boy. Fuck’s sake, how could I be so thoughtless.’ Tears filled Tony’s eyes again while Ralph sat there and looked on. There was nothing he could do or say to make him feel better. There was nothing he could do to make himself feel better. Jake had been a part of them both for years. And now he was dead.
CHAPTER 24
CUCKOOS IN THE NEST
‘How is Elle doing?’ Julie looked around at the kitchen which had always been so full of life, but it was empty. ‘It’s been a week, Francesca, and we’re no further on.’
‘She is doing okay. She has Albert and Tony. The girls are popping in, but you know Elle. Stiff upper lip and all that. She is waiting for them to release the body. She keeps saying she needs Jake to rest in peace. I don’t know how long that is going to take. Their investigations are taking them nowhere. All Tony does is keep busy. He is working himself into a frazzle, and Jack hasn’t said much.’ Fran felt deflated. Ever since they had got back from Italy there seemed to be a dark cloud over the house. The worst thing of all was there were no answers.
‘It will get better, Fran. Everyone grieves in their own way. You have to let them get on with it. Let’s be honest, there has been no time to grieve. It’s all over the newspapers. “Gangland boss shot dead by wife”. Fucking hell, they are making a meal of it. Everyone is wondering who killed Sharon. Bloody hell, some nutters the other day even said it was Lord Lucan! What the fuck he has to do with it I don’t know.’ Julie tried to laugh to break the tension but she could see Fran was beside herself with worry.
‘I don’t know how this will affect Tony. He has never been without Jake. We’re all upset, but Tony and Elle had a lot of history with Jake. Bloody hell, Julie, I saw Tony looking at photos the other day. Photos I have never seen before. They are of him and Jake at the beach with Elle, school photos they had taken together. Can you believe that? Tony’s school photo. Now the newspapers would love to see that.’ Smiling, Francesca squeezed Julie’s hand. As usual Julie had taken the reins and looked after everyone, shouting at Tony to ‘man up’ in the process. It had got worse for Jack when it was confirmed that his mum had shot his dad.
‘I heard Sharon’s family are all in mourning for her. I couldn’t give a shit! And that sister of hers, bad-mouthing Jake as a bad husband, hasn’t helped matters. You know what, Francesca? I have already made my mind up when this all dies down that bitch is going to get what is coming to her.’
‘Stop it, Julie. Don’t you think there is enough bad feeling and death around at the moment? I feel sorry for Jack. He is being pulled in every direction. Whose side does he take? They forget it has been proved Sharon shot Jake, but they insist she didn’t and it was a set up. This is divided loyalties. They are making him choose a side. It’s disgusting.’
‘No, they are trying to make money out of this. I presume, unless she has stated otherwise, that Jack will get her share, plus Jake’s. Wow. That makes the fireman a great prospect and an even better prospect for that greedy family.’ Julie laughed. ‘What a valuable family member to those work-shy bastards.’
‘Actually, Julie, you have a point.’ Francesca agreed with her friend; none of this had even occurred to her. ‘Jack will be a very rich man and a member of the family they will want on their side. Sharon always kept them.’
‘I know I have a point, Fran. The question is … can they poison Jack’s mind against his father?’
‘I hope not.’ The sadness in Francesca’s voice said it all. Jake had been a good father and adored Jack. The last thing Francesca wanted was to have his memory tainted. ‘I don’t want Jack to have to choose. He has to be able to make his own mind up, Julie. He knows we’re here for him, and Bobby is looking after him, but whatever he decides I will go along with.’
‘No, you bloody won’t!’ Julie was adamant. ‘He is a part of our family. How many fucking Christmas and birthday cards did he get off that lot? Christ, he hasn’t met half of them. They are like cockroaches coming out of the woodwork all waiting for their handout. There is no choice, Francesca. He is our family and you have been a mother to him. He belongs here with us. Well, you.’ Julie corrected herself and poured another glass of wine. ‘No, Fran, love. Every birthday party was here. I agree with Tony. There is no contest. Jack is our family. Fuck them all, especially that sister of Sharon’s!’
‘Mum! Are you in?’ Bobby walked down the hallway with Jack. ‘Ah, there you are. Hi, Julie, how are you?’ After walking over and kissing her on the cheek, Bobby turned and kissed Francesca. ‘Jack, sit down, will you.’ Jack did as he was told and sat at the table.
After lighting a cigarette, Julie blew the smoke into the air, crossed her arms and looked at Bobby. ‘Why are you here? What’s up, guys?’ Julie eyed them suspiciously.
‘Well, it’s Uncle Tony,’ said Jack. ‘The police have been in touch; they want to come and see me; but Uncle Tony wants us to have it here. A family meeting. I would rather be here with you all, if that’s alright with you.’
‘Ah, good, lads, you’re here.’ Tony rubbed his hands together. ‘The police should be here anytime. They are on their way.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on. Is anyone hungry?’ Francesca looked around the kitchen. No one wanted anything to eat. They were far too interested in their expectations of what the police wanted. Small talk carried on and finally the buzzer went on the intercom for the gates to be opened.
The two detectives sat down. They asked Jack how he was and told them all that they were releasing Jake and Sharon’s bodies.
‘Is that it? Is there no update?’ asked Tony.
‘The truth is, Mr Lambrianu, we are investigating this but half of it seems already to be solved.’ The female detective looked across at Jack. ‘Sorry, Jack, but we both know that your mum shot your dad. Forensics have been over everything with a fine-tooth comb. Your father was also carrying a gun, but it was still in its holster. As for your mum, Jack. Well. What can I say? There are no leads. We will carry on investigating it, of course. But there are no eye witnesses. The man who was found in the opposite alleyway, we believe was your mum’s boyfriend. We traced him back to a bed and breakfast. He and your mum had been staying there. Do you want your mum and dad sent to any particular funeral parlour? We can arrange that.’ The detective waited. She looked across at Tony, waiting for him to intervene.
‘I have been in touch with a funeral director. This is their card.’ Tony took a card out of his wallet and handed it over to the detective. ‘This is for Jake and Jake only. I don’t give a fuck what you do with her body,’ snarled Tony.
‘Tony. Stop it.’ Standing beside Jack, Francesca put her arm on his shoulder. ‘Whatever you think of Sharon she was Jack’s mum. Have some respect.’
‘Respect! Are you fucking crazy, Francesca? You are talking about a woman that murdered my brother and robbed that lad of his father. That slut had already left everyone behind.’ Tony’s eyes darkened and his face flushed pink.