Ruthless a Gripping and Gritty Crime Thriller

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘They came down here?’

  ‘It wasn’t here, actually. A previous life. But it wasn’t so far away.’

  ‘So these people can just come down here and treat people any way they like because there’s a lot of them?’

  ‘Happens in all walks of life. You just have to learn to accept your place in it all. This Aaron and his mates are nothing. They’re foot soldiers for something bigger. They give it all their attitude and they strut around like they’re something special but they’re the drug world’s version of the minimum wage and they get sent away for weeks on end to live in some squat. You wouldn’t swap your lifestyle with theirs, trust me on that. How many jobs are there out there where you start your working day by shoving a condom full of heroin up your arse? You couldn’t pay me enough.’

  ‘I guess, when you put it like that.’

  ‘Did they hurt your mate bad?’

  ‘Yeah. I don’t think she’ll be able to move on too soon, to “accept her place in life” like you said. I don’t think I will be able to either.’

  ‘You have to let it go, Rhiannon. You’re not meant for this.’

  ‘Maybe I am.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You said you had it out in a fair fight and you still lost out in the long run. You can’t fight these people — they’re always going to have the advantage. You can’t talk to the cops — so what’s left?’

  ‘The only option . . . you walk away. You thank your lucky stars it was your mate and not you. You do your best to make her feel better about the whole thing, and you walk away. Let nature take its course. This Aaron fella is somebody bigger’s dinner. You just have to wait it out.’

  ‘I want to see it. I want to be responsible for it. I want to bring the fucker down and for him to know that it was me.’

  William chuckled a little.

  ‘Don’t laugh at me.’

  ‘I didn’t know you could swear, that’s all.’

  Rhiannon didn’t reply. She sulked, her bottom lip jutting out further than her top, her brow furrowed. Suddenly William was reminded of who he was talking to. She was sixteen — a kid, and naïve with it. ‘You don’t get what you want. Not out here, Rhiannon. Not in this world. Go back to your foster home, wait for your new family to come and pick you out. They’re going to be good people. That’s how you get what you really want, which is a proper life. With a future.’

  ‘And what about you, William? What do you have to look forward to? What’s your future?’

  William turned to focus on what was left of the sun. It was treading water now, just a third visible. ‘I don’t know now. Me and Janey, we had this thing about having a flat with a good view of the sea. It was all we wanted, all we hoped for. The council do have a few places. We were onto them and onto them but they said they would never promise a sea view. I mean, it’s fair enough isn’t it? We got in with a housing officer, though. She was a good lady. Deborah was her name. She was really trying for us, but she was getting on and we went in to see her and she wasn’t there. One of her workmates told us she had suffered a massive heart attack. Just like that. I knew our chance died with her. Nobody else gave a damn.’

  ‘Maybe you’ll still get it.’

  ‘The sea view? It was our thing. Me and Janey. After our girl was taken away, it was all we had left.’ William had lowered his voice for the last part. Not enough, and immediately he wished he hadn’t said it at all.

  ‘Your girl?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter now, does it? None of it since Janey’s gone.’

  ‘You have a girl? A daughter?’

  ‘We had one.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s nothing like that. She’s still out there somewhere. They took her off us.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Rhiannon said again. She sounded like she was struggling all of a sudden.

  ‘Don’t be. They were right to. We were both battling our own demons. I’ve always had the drink, Janey’s always had the drugs. I was on both at the time. We were both a mess. It was no place for a kid.’

  ‘And you couldn’t sort yourself out? Did you not want to?’ There was no mistaking the edge to Rhiannon’s voice now.

  ‘I never wanted to do anything more in my whole life. But no, I couldn’t.’

  ‘Why the hell not? You sound just like my mum. She was always telling me just how much she wanted to change. So we could be better, so I would be proud of her. I never wanted to be proud of her — I wanted the normal kid-parent relationship where I’m trying to make her proud of me. Where I wasn’t carrying her to bed, or covering her over when she passed out drunk. Or covering for her at school or at Social meetings.’

  ‘I won’t make excuses. I don’t need to make excuses to you.’

  ‘No, you don’t and you couldn’t anyway. What if I was your daughter? If I was here and I was asking for your excuses, for your reasons, asking you why you couldn’t just stop drinking and start being a parent like everyone else?’

  William inhaled. He closed his eyes. ‘I don’t know. Every time I tried and failed I hit the bottle harder. I really got into the gear when they took her away. I would do anything to try and forget just what a fuck up I was. I just kept letting her down and every time I did, my addictions took a firmer hold. I haven’t even said her name since she left. I’m not quite brave enough. It hurts so much.’ William felt his voice break. He quickly sucked in the night air and swigged at his coffee. It was boiling hot, it burnt his lips and mouth but he forced it down.

  ‘You’re as bad as my mum. It’s never her fault. It’s always someone else or the way she’s wired. She used to say that a lot . . . “I guess I’m just wired different.”’

  William wiped at his eyes and exhaled a sudden laugh.

  ‘If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That was my comeback. Your mum would say to you she was wired different. Me, whenever it came up that the rest of my peers, my old work mates, my family were all leaving me behind with their normal jobs, looking after their kids, paying their mortgages, living their normal lives, I would quote that. I can’t even remember where I heard it from — just that I liked it. It made sense to me to start with, I think it offered me a way out, an explanation as to why I’m such a fuck up.’

  ‘Sounds about right.’

  ‘Sounds like a load of crap to me now. Your mum is probably closer. We are all wired different. Some of us like coffee and some of us need a cider.’ William struggled back to his feet. Rhiannon looked up at him. She still hugged her knees. ‘Are you staying here?’ he said.

  ‘No. I’m going to go back. I’ll speak to the Social in the morning about a move. I know all the right things to say about drugs and threats. It should be pretty immediate.’

  ‘No names mentioned though, right?’

  ‘No names mentioned. Doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, though — about running away and leaving these people to do what they like.’

  ‘They won’t be around for long. And if you did manage to get rid of them, all four of them, there would be four more on the next train down.’

  ‘And driving brand-new BMWs, I bet.’

  ‘Hire cars. Everything’s disposable. Belongs to someone else. These people don’t have anything but cash on the hip and that don’t last long. It’s not a career you want.’

  ‘What more do you need?’

  ‘Well, it to be your own for a start. I saw a bag of money — it was stuffed in the loft. Who knows how much was in there. There were drugs up there too and a spare key to their hire car so if the police try and stop them they can ditch the key they have on them and just walk away. They don’t actually have anything. They’re a raid from the cops or a rival gang away from being right up shit creek.’

  ‘Why throw away the key?’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘The car key. You said they ditch it.’

  ‘Ah, it’s an ol
d trick. The police try and pull them over and they get clear enough to park the car and lock it up and walk calmly away. They get stopped and searched and with no key on them there’s no link to the car and they might just get to keep walking. And the car doesn’t get searched. It’s a way of keeping your gear.’

  ‘What about forensics?’

  ‘Cops don’t do any forensic work until someone gets nicked. And for something serious. It’s expensive all that.’

  ‘Don’t you get arrested for driving off from the police?’

  ‘Maybe, assuming they can prove you were in it. The police stick the lights on and the gang might boot it round a corner or lose them in traffic, or run a red light. Nothing too serious. You park it up as soon as you can and swagger away. The police know the tactic but there’s nothing they can do about it. But my point is that all the risk, all the sleeping with a knife tucked in your belt or a gun under your pillow — it’s all for someone else. You might be skimming a bit off the top, but whatever it is, it isn’t worth it. These people will soon be gone, living their miserable existence somewhere else.’

  ‘So I just run away. And what? Wait for them to move on?’

  ‘Exactly. And they will. You say they’ve had a bit of a scare, one of their lot got rumbled, right? They might already be out of there. I would be making myself scarce if I was them.’

  ‘So you can go back then? To your home.’

  ‘Soon. I’m okay here for now.’

  ‘And maybe I don’t need to be running away still.’

  ‘What else do you have to stay here for? I would keep running if I were you. Not just because of them, there’s nothing here for you.’

  ‘What about that ruthless side of me? You told me I needed to be more ruthless.’

  ‘That was about being nice. This is different. You have to pick your battles, Rhiannon. This is one you can’t win.’

  ‘Why does life have to be a battle? It isn’t like that for everyone.’

  ‘It isn’t, you’re right. I know it don’t feel like it right now but you’ve got everything going for you. There’s no reason you can’t be that person with the good life. I reckon you’ll have your own family, be all the better as a mum because you’ve seen how shit it can be.’

  Rhiannon got to her feet. She rubbed some grit from her jeans. ‘Be careful, William.’

  ‘Don’t you worry about me.’

  ‘I am worried. Seems that your ruthlessness has really slipped.’

  ‘I’m a survivor. That means I can be whatever I need to be, when I need to be. Don’t look back, Rhiannon, not at me, not at this place. Not now, not ever.’

  Chapter 20

  Rhiannon pushed open the front door and she could immediately hear voices. They sounded agitated. One voice in particular was raised. It was Anais. She was talking to Rose in the kitchen. Rhiannon walked through to find out what was going on. Rose was sat on a chair, she had her head forward in her hands, her elbows resting on the table top. Anais was leaning on the table too, but from a standing position. She was talking to Rose, her tone was angry.

  ‘You just need to get rid. You can’t have someone bringing this sort of trouble to your home. It doesn’t matter what she’s been through.’

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Rhiannon said.

  Anais spun round like she had been stung. Her cheeks were flushed, she immediately stepped in close to Rhiannon. ‘You got some nerve coming back here! You’re not welcome anymore. You’re trouble and I knew it from the start.’

  ‘Anais!’ Rose scolded. She lifted her face. Rhiannon could immediately see reddening on her right cheek and around her eye. She had been crying, she had fresh tracks on her face.

  ‘What happened?’ Rhiannon demanded.

  ‘Your mates! That’s what happened!’ Anais snapped.

  ‘What are you talking about? What mates?’

  ‘Two black boys, yeah? Your mates, who know your name? They came and hammered on our door. Rose answered and they told her they were coming in to see you. She told them you weren’t here, but they wouldn’t take it from her. They forced their way in and when she wouldn’t tell them where you were they knocked her over. They made all sorts of threats. Rhiannon, what the hell have you brought to our door?’

  ‘Jesus! Rose, I’m so sorry. This has all gotten out of hand. I don’t know anything about it. I don’t know why they would come here.’

  ‘You know them though? You know who they are? They certainly know you.’ Anais spat, she still fronted Rhiannon up. Rhiannon attempted to step round her, to ignore her so she could talk to Rose. She didn’t care that Anais was upset.

  ‘I know who they are, yes, but they’re not here because of me. These are nasty people, I didn’t mean to get involved with them—’

  ‘I told you didn’t I, Rhiannon?’ Rose said, her voice quiet. She sounded meek. ‘I told you to be careful who you spent your time with. I take it these boys are friends of our Sam, are they?’

  Rhiannon shrugged. ‘I think they are. But it’s not Sam’s fault either. These are just horrible people. I don’t know why they came here to talk to me. Is Sam still here?’

  ‘She’s upstairs,’ Anais cut in. ‘She wouldn’t even come down when they were here. That spineless bitch won’t even talk to me.’

  ‘Okay, Anais, that’s enough.’ Rose whispered.

  ‘Yeah, Anais, that’s enough.’ Rhiannon flashed her a sneer. ‘You’ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of me from the moment I walked through the door.’

  ‘Yeah and I was right, weren’t I?’

  Rhiannon ignored Anais to talk to Rose. ‘Did they hurt you?’

  ‘Of course they did!’ Anais yelled. ‘You can see they did. Rose isn’t used to this. She doesn’t deserve this in her own home.’

  Rhiannon stayed fixed on Rose, waiting for an answer.

  Rose’s whole body shook with a sniff. ‘They forced their way in. They wouldn’t listen when I told them to get out and they grabbed my phone when I said I was calling the police. They threw it. It’s broken — it doesn’t work anymore. One of them was bigger. He grabbed me by the throat . . .’ Rose was back leaning into the table. The sniffs were now sobs. ‘He pushed me to the floor. I banged my head.’ Rose lifted watery eyes. ‘They went up to your room. I . . . I tidied it back up . . .’

  ‘Jesus, Rose. I’m so sorry. I’ll sort this out, I can sort this out.’

  ‘I don’t think you can, Rhiannon.’

  ‘I think you just need to go.’ Anais stepped behind Rose and put her arm around her.

  ‘Do you want me to go, Rose? Is that what you want?’

  ‘I think . . . I don’t know. I don’t think you can stay here.’

  Rhiannon stepped back. She used the kitchen side for support. This was so unfair. She hadn’t asked for any of this. She hadn’t done anything to make these people come looking for her.

  ‘Okay. I understand, Rose. I’ll call Theresa. Now. I was going to ask for a move anyway — to another town. I seem to have made a bit of a mess of this one. I reckon she’ll be able to move me tomorrow.’

  ‘She won’t, that won’t . . .’ Rose shook her head. She looked awkward, embarrassed. ‘You will need to phone her now, but you need to tell her that you’re homeless. That’s the only way you can get moved straight away.’

  ‘Homeless? You’re kicking me out?’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Rhiannon. I know you’ve had a terrible time but I have to look after me. I’m too old to be roughed up, not here in my home. And I have to protect Anais, here — she’s nothing to do with any of this. We don’t deserve to be caught up.’

  Rhiannon bit at her lip as she tried to quell the panic. ‘No. I suppose you don’t.’

  Rhiannon walked up the stairs to her room in a daze, her face a fixed expression of shock. She considered Sam’s room but changed her mind. She pushed her way into her own room. Immediately it looked different. All the surfaces were empty of her belongings, her backpack straining shut on the floor in fr
ont of her. Her bags already packed.

  She felt the panic again. She wasn’t going to be able to control it this time. She scooped up the bag and threw it on her back. She paced back down the stairs, conscious of keeping her footfalls quiet. She didn’t want anyone to see her break down. She doubted Rose would be looking to meet her anyway, to talk her out of leaving, to say she had changed her mind.

  She wasn’t.

  Rhiannon hurriedly tugged the front door open and left. Her eyes blurred with tears. It wasn’t sadness or panic anymore. It was something else.

  * * *

  Aaron greeted Mo with a clenched fist held out. Mo bumped off it then Aaron wrapped him up in a hug.

  ‘Good to see you, bro.’

  ‘Cheers, man.’ Mo stepped back. He eyed Danny who hesitated a little before stepping forward for the same embrace.

  ‘You popped your cherry then,’ Danny said, his smile seemed weak.

  ‘I guess I did. It’s no big deal.’

  ‘Shit food, though?’ Danny managed.

  ‘Just boring.’

  ‘Danny here wouldn’t know about the prison cell experience,’ Aaron said.

  ‘You make that sound like it’s a bad thing. You don’t want us getting caught, right?’

  Aaron smiled. ‘There are some things you can’t help, Danny. Like when someone rats you out.’

  ‘Is that what happened?’ Mo said, suddenly interested.

  ‘Let’s walk.’

  As soon as Mo had been released from custody he had walked to the train station in the centre of Langthorne. It was a ten-minute walk. The cops had given him a rail warrant and a handwritten free pass so he could travel back up to London. Just as well, seeing as how they had also taken all of his money off him. Mo knew the plan if he got arrested. They all did. He had gone just one stop up the line before getting off the train to meet with Aaron and Danny. This was a village on the outskirts of Langthorne called Westenhanger. It had a rundown-looking pub on the way out. It seemed to double as sort of café too, the men sat at a table. Aaron got them all a bacon sandwich. Mo tore at it; he hadn’t eaten well in the cells. He could see the sun falling over the shell of a derelict-looking racecourse through the window.