The Family Man

by T. J. Lebbon

  ‘You killed Jazz,’ Daisy said.

  ‘Your poor pet,’ Sonja replied.

  ‘Fuck you,’ Emma said softly, but loud enough for Sonja to hear. The woman didn’t even blink. Emma caught Daisy’s eye and shook her head.

  Daisy pressed her lips together and glared at the woman.

  ‘How have you been?’ Andy asked.

  ‘Oh, not too bad. My knees are giving me gip. I should probably wear glasses, but you know, an old woman’s pride.’ Sonja laughed and it lit up her face. She continued looking back and forth between them, making sure none of them made any foolish moves.

  Where are the others? Emma thought.

  ‘You’ve all been very stupid,’ Sonja said.

  ‘You’re the stupid one!’ Daisy said.

  ‘Is that right, young lady?’

  ‘The police are on their way right now! I have a phone; Mum and Dad don’t know about it, and that prick certainly doesn’t.’ She nodded at Andy.

  Emma and Dom exchanged a glance. Does she really have a phone? But Emma knew her daughter, sometimes better than she knew herself. She could tell that she was lying. Her voice was slightly higher than usual, her head was tilted subtly to the left. She would not have called the police. Not after what had happened, what she had seen her father doing.

  ‘He is a prick, you’re right about that,’ Sonja said.

  Emma scanned the pub, looking past a wall of potted plants towards the entrance. The place was so busy that the constant movement confused her.

  ‘My daughter’s behind you,’ Sonja said. ‘She’s carrying a .44 Magnum. She gut-shot a man with that gun two years ago in Cumbria, blew out his spine and guts. Probably took him hours to die.’

  Emma glanced over her shoulder. A young couple sat on the table directly behind her, eating bangers and mash and surfing their phones. Beyond them, an attractive woman sat alone. She had her hands crossed on the table before her, nothing to eat or drink. She wore a white vest speckled with dark spots, and several plasters were pasted onto her shoulder and upper arm. She was staring past Emma at Andy, and did not even acknowledge her gaze.

  ‘Probably a couple of blades, too,’ Sonja said. ‘Mary always did like her blades.’

  ‘Not always,’ Andy said.

  ‘Near enough always.’ Sonja leaned over and picked up Dom’s coffee. She didn’t even glance at him when she took a slurp. ‘Euch. Too much sugar. That’s bad for your health. Sugar’s addictive, and if you don’t watch out you’ll get diabetes. You look reasonably fit, I suppose. But not as fit as my son. Andy always did take his health and well-being seriously. Which is why I’m surprised at what he’s doing now.’

  ‘This is all about my well-being,’ Andy said. ‘My mental health, and my future safety, Mother.’

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself, boy. My one and only child is sitting over there with a gun warming against her thigh.’

  ‘So I’m a bastard and she’s a bitch. What does that make you?’

  ‘In charge,’ Sonja said. She tapped her chair. ‘I’m in the seat, boy, because you made two big mistakes. You should never have been so clumsy. Should have killed us that first time. But your biggest mistake was resurfacing to finish the job.’

  ‘What?’ Dom sat forward. It was a sudden movement, and beyond him, just past the trellised plants, Emma saw another movement that mirrored his. And then she saw him, Lip, the man who’d chased her and Daisy through Usk, the one who’d heaved a rock at Dom’s head. He was watching them from across the pub, little more than twenty feet away, and she had no idea how she hadn’t seen him before.

  Maybe because he’s a blank, she thought. His face said nothing. He leaned against a column again, arms crossed, looking around as if waiting for someone. Yet all of his attention was on them.

  ‘Oh, so what fairy tale did he tell you?’ Sonja asked Dom, smiling. ‘That we beat him? Were nasty to him?’ She put on a faux-kid’s voice. ‘Poor little boy felt picked on by his family?’

  ‘He said you got too cruel,’ Dom said. ‘So he stole money from you and left.’

  ‘And so he did,’ Sonja said. ‘After trying to kill us all.’

  ‘We don’t care,’ Emma said. ‘About you, him, any of it.’ She spoke louder than she’d intended, half-shouting to intrude into the conversation and make herself heard. For a couple of seconds the chatter on the tables and chairs around them faded out, then drifted back in again louder than before. No one wanted to hear an argument. ‘None of it matters. He’s no friend of ours, and he never was. Whatever sick history the two of you have, why can’t you just take it away from us? We have the money in our car. Take it and go.’

  Sonja smiled at her. It was not as complete as before, creasing her mouth but barely touching her eyes. It was probably her true smile.

  ‘Too late,’ she said. She looked at Daisy. ‘Far too late.’

  Emma slid forward in her seat, perching on the edge, less than two feet from Sonja now. She was aware of Lip moving closer, and Andy tensed, hand slipping down between his hip and the side of the leather armchair.

  ‘If you even think about touching her, I will kill you,’ Emma said.

  Sonja raised her eyebrows, stared at Emma. Her smile slipped. ‘Yes, I really believe you would.’

  Emma felt a rush of something she didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t power, and she wasn’t stupid enough to believe that she’d scared this woman. Maybe it was pride in herself.

  ‘But let me fill you in on a few things,’ Sonja said. ‘This isn’t only about what Andy tried to do to us back then. And it’s certainly not about money. Hitting the post office before us, to spite us and goad us into coming after him … it’s partly that. But it’s all about Frank. My nephew. Your friend killed him.’

  ‘Like Emma said, he’s no friend,’ Dom said.

  ‘Yet you’re still with him.’

  ‘Not for long.’ Dom looked around, spotting Lip behind him. Andy followed his gaze and gave Lip the finger. The man’s expression did not flicker.

  ‘Lip’s a monster,’ Emma said. ‘What are you doing with him? How can a mother be happy that her daughter’s with someone like him?’

  ‘Don’t try to engage her mothering sensibilities,’ Andy said. ‘She never had any.’

  ‘So what is this?’ Dom asked. He leaned forward, reaching for his coffee then changing his mind when he remembered she’d drunk from the mug. ‘What do you want from us? Emma’s right, we have the money, and you can take every penny. But what more?’

  ‘You,’ Sonja said. ‘You helped my bastard son kill Frank.’

  ‘No, I—’

  ‘And from the looks of you, maybe it was you that did for Cal, too.’

  ‘He was threatening my daughter,’ Dom said quietly.

  ‘Don’t worry, I hardly knew him,’ Sonja said. ‘But did it feel good?’

  ‘You’re just sick!’ Daisy shouted. She jumped up. ‘My dad’s good and you’re a bitch, and I hate you!’

  Stillness shifted quickly to movement. Emma panicked, heart hammering, but everything seemed to move very, very slowly.

  Lip closed in, approaching Dom from behind. He was carrying something in his right hand.

  Still seated, Andy lifted a gun from by his side. The gun Dom had been carrying. He looked around, eyes wide, and saw Lip coming for him. There was something about Andy’s expression that chilled Emma. A cool, excited hunger.

  She realised that this was what he’d wanted all along.

  ‘Andy!’

  The voice was loud, cheery, filled with delight. The woman who’d called out now stood directly behind Sonja, both hands resting on her shoulders. In her right hand, Emma saw a metallic glint.

  Andy froze, gun held on his thigh. Anyone can see that, Emma thought. But people only saw what they want to see.

  Daisy eased back down onto the sofa next to her father.

  ‘Haven’t seen you in ages!’ the woman continued. ‘And as for you …’ She shook Sonja gently by the shoulders
so that the blade scraped against the side of her neck, its handle hidden beneath her forearm. She leaned down, laughing, exuding bonhomie.

  ‘Great to see you again,’ Andy said, continuing the charade. His eyes were feral. Cold. Still gripping the gun, he went to stand.

  Dom stood and stepped in front of him. Emma saw immediately what he was doing, and she felt winded, every instant the last before a gunshot blasted out. But it did not come. Whatever Andy had been about to do, Dom had prevented.

  Lip paused where he was. Someone tried to get past him, muttered something, shoved. Emma was quite convinced that Lip was mad. But she also believed that he valued his health, and his freedom. His gaze didn’t flicker away from this new arrival. He was assessing her, weighing the situation. In his hand were a knife and fork clasped together.

  Jane Smith, Emma thought, and she had never been so pleased to see a stranger.

  Of average height, middle-aged, with short, spiky blonde hair, she wore a stud in her nose and looked thin, wiry and fit. Her shorts-clad legs were landscaped with muscle, her arms the same. She was tanned but too thin and weathered to appear healthy. The smile did not sit well on her face.

  ‘Who the fuck are you?’ Sonja asked.

  ‘Trouble,’ the woman said. ‘Tell your dogs to back down.’

  ‘They’re not doing anything.’

  ‘The tall one with hair shaggier than an old man’s ball sack is too close, and he’s ready to come closer. He does, I’ll stick that cutlery in his eyes. The woman has left her table and is trying to circle behind me. Neither of these situations makes me comfortable. When I’m not comfortable I tend to get nervous, and when I get nervous, I twitch.’

  The movement was incredibly fast and almost unnoticeable, but Emma saw Sonja wince as the woman flicked at her neck. A spot of blood bloomed and dripped down to the collar of her blouse.

  Sonja raised her hand, then dropped it again. Emma saw Lip blink and ease a step back, although he did not appear at all troubled by this new turn of events. Mary paused several feet behind Andy, close to a mirrored pillar, hand resting on a shelf stacked with used glasses. Both were now in the woman’s line of sight, but probably still too far away in the noisy surroundings to hear any discussion.

  ‘You two sit down,’ the woman said to Dom and Andy. Dom sat and Daisy clasped his hand. Andy remained standing, glancing back and forth between Sonja and Jane Smith.

  ‘But we can—’ he started.

  ‘Sit. Down.’

  Andy eased back into his seat and slipped the gun down between his leg and the armchair’s arm.

  ‘You can all call me Jane.’ She was a woman chatting to old friends. No one nearby could hear the discussion above the piped music, the hiss and pop of nearby coffee machines, the scrapes of cutlery and the raised voices of families, kids and businessmen making phone calls. ‘I’m in charge. And to make you all certain of that, here’s a little bit of psychology for you.’

  She nodded at Emma. ‘You, your husband and the girl have the most to lose here. You’re the innocent ones. Though I see he’s been in the wars.’ She turned and looked at Andy. ‘You’re already neck-deep in shit. Including shit that sticks because, from what I just heard, you’ve already lied to me before today. But you still want to get out and away from this in one piece.’ She nodded and smiled at Lip where he stood fifteen feet away, then glanced across at Mary. ‘You three came here for something you won’t get. You’re professional. You’ve been doing this sort of thing for a long time; you know how to handle yourselves. Him especially.’

  Lip lifted up and down almost imperceptibly on the balls of his feet, ready to pounce.

  Jane Smith raised her voice so that Lip could hear. ‘But even Lip doesn’t want his coffee spilled. Because he likes this too much. He has plans, and he doesn’t want things to end. Get caught, go to prison …’ She shrugged. ‘I guess he could do people in their cells. But it wouldn’t be the same.’

  ‘And the point of all this is?’ Sonja asked.

  ‘The point is, you’ve all got more to lose than me. I don’t care what happens here. There’s very little I do care about.’ Emma watched the woman looking around, casually and carefully keeping an eye on the situation. ‘And because I have nothing to lose, I’m the one who’s now calling the shots. Agreed?’ She shook Sonja slightly.

  ‘Agreed,’ Sonja said.

  ‘Good,’ the woman said. ‘Now do as I say and call your dogs in closer.’

  Rose exuded control. She was confident with that, and she felt reasonably certain that Sonja, Mary and Lip would understand the balance of things. They didn’t know who she was or why she was here, but they would understand her expertise. It was plain to see. And they’d hopefully believe that everything she’d said was right – she really did have the least to lose.

  Dom and his family would remain quiet and scared, and they’d do whatever she said. Andy had called for her help. She’d already heard details that suggested he’d lied to her the first time they’d met, but that was something to resolve later. For now, he was happy that she was here.

  Mary was subdued. She could see her mother with a blade to her jugular.

  But Lip was unknown territory. If something was going to go wrong here, Rose knew that he would be the most likely instigator. He was unreadable, and that worried her. His eyes seemed painted on, cool and cruel, and his messy hair and big beard hid any expression he might have. Knowing what he’d already done made him the centre of her attention.

  She glanced around the large, open-plan pub. It was chaotic and noisy, but their apparent scene of calm did not seem so out of place. People moved left and right, carrying food and drinks or hauling toddlers, but there were also families and groups sitting and eating, and here and there simply chatting and having a drink. Two hundred witnesses, and several prominent CCTV cameras to back them up.

  Sonja waved to Mary and Lip. Mary came first. Lip hesitated for a moment, then took a few steps forward. He still held the knife and fork. They were good weapons, because no one would give them a second glance. The Leatherneck knife Rose held was bulky, but for now she was hiding it well enough between her arm and Sonja’s shoulder.

  Lip and Mary stood beside the plant-smothered trellis, just behind the comfy sofa.

  This was a loaded moment. Andy had already revealed the gun, and she couldn’t keep her knife hidden forever. People took a while to see and understand something out of the norm. But once someone raised the alarm, things would start moving quickly.

  If that happened, Andy and Lip would be the first to act.

  ‘You and the girl, over with your wife,’ Rose said to Dom. She really didn’t want the two of them being so close to Lip. One quick move from him, a swing of the hand, and he could bury a fork in Dom’s ear without anyone even noticing.

  She kept her eyes on Lip. He was a cool customer, his eyes chilling. There really was nothing there, just black windows onto his darker soul. She’d met and tangled with some psychopaths, but he was something else. He glanced around at them all, placing everyone, assessing his options. Rose didn’t like that. It was the sign of a man used to being in charge.

  ‘Where’s Holt?’ Rose asked.

  ‘Who’s Holt?’ Andy asked.

  ‘I’m not asking you.’

  Lip tilted his head slightly. Very little about his expression changed.

  ‘Dead,’ Mary said. ‘I slit his throat.’ She was talking too loud. A man walking by holding a toddler’s hand glanced back at her, then across at Rose standing behind Sonja. He hurried on his way.

  Rose knew that they didn’t have long. Such pressure would never ease; it would always blow.

  ‘Liar,’ Rose said, without even looking at Mary.

  ‘He’s waiting for me,’ Lip said. ‘I’ll be back to see him soon.’

  Rose lowered her left hand from Sonja’s shoulder, closer to the deep pocket containing her pistol. She kept the blade pressed against Sonja’s neck. She could feel the blood there, st
icky, cool.

  ‘Where?’

  Lip shrugged.

  ‘Your Jeep’s covered in blood,’ she said. ‘With the back doors open, it’ll soon attract attention.’

  Maybe Lip frowned, just a little and not for long.

  ‘We’re going,’ Rose said. ‘Me, Andy, and the family. You three are staying here.’

  ‘Who the fuck are you?’ Mary said.

  ‘Like I told your mother. Trouble.’

  Lip moved. Only slightly, but enough to draw her attention. At the same time Mary pulled a gun from her shorts pocket, tensing, ready to lift it and let loose in a crowded cafe, kids laughing and milling and eating, adults never realising what awful dangers existed in their midst.

  There and then, Rose finally knew for sure how mad they all were.

  She crouched a little, as if to whisper in Sonja’s ear, and shoved the blade into her skin. She felt the slight give as it parted around the knife.

  Sonja cried out, a small whine that she tried to turn into a cough. She knew that she would be the first to die. And mad or not, she obviously wanted to live.

  Lip casually stepped sideways and gripped Mary’s arm. He pulled her close so that the weapon was sandwiched between them.

  To Rose’s left, Andy was tensed in his seat. His own gun was visible again, held down by his knee. Past him, a couple of young men in shorts and T-shirts were looking their way, frowning. One was leaning close to the other, saying something and pointing at Mary. They weren’t talking about her good looks.

  Rose knew that they had maybe seconds before the alarm was raised.

  She smiled at the young men, rolled her eyes. They turned away, no longer chatting.

  ‘Up,’ she said to Emma. The woman stood with her husband and daughter. Andy also stood. He was still holding his weapon down by his leg. ‘Put that away,’ Rose said.

  ‘You’re joking!’