by Dani Oakley
The doctor took his glass with a nod. “Thank you. You’re lucky to have such a supportive family, Mr. Carter.”
Dave ignored his brother and his glass of brandy. “So, Doctor, are you telling me this is only temporary? Trevor will get over this at some point, won’t he?”
The doctor nodded. “Yes, I think he’ll grow out of it. It could last a couple of days, maybe a few weeks, but eventually he’ll start talking again.”
Dave felt a rush of relief wash over him as he reached for his brandy.
After the doctor had left them with a prescription for Sandra, Dave sat down at the kitchen table opposite Gary. “Where have you been?”
“Here and there,” Gary said. “I went up to Manchester for a few days and did a bit of business.”
“Are you still taking that stuff?” Dave asked, examining Gary’s face and eyes for any telltale signs that he was still hooked on drugs.
Gary shook his head emphatically. “No, I’m hundred percent clean. I mean it, Dave. I’ve turned over a new leaf. I’ve come to realise how important family is.”
Dave searched his brother’s face, looking for any signs to indicate he was lying. But it was no good. Dave was seriously off his game. The senses that he normally relied on had deserted him, and all he could think about was that his brother was family, and family was precious.
Chapter 53
Martin Morton looked around the room, surveying the men he’d summoned to the meeting. They were gathered in the flat above the club. Red-haired Freddie sat on one of the armchairs. Henry the Hand, Tony and Big Tim were squeezed together on the sofa, and Martin stood in front of them.
He’d only invited his core men here. Men he could trust. He planned to take his business to the next level, and he didn’t want to take the unnecessary risks that came with revealing his scheme to his less trustworthy underlings.
He believed he could trust all of the men in this room.
“Good news, boys. We are expanding. It’s time we really made our mark. We need a few more places under our protection, and the first one I’ve picked out for us is The Lamb.”
There were a few confused looks from the men before Red-haired Freddie spoke up.
“The Lamb? Are you talking about the pub in Poplar?”
Martin nodded. “Yes, that’s the one.”
“But isn’t that on Dave Carter’s patch, boss.”
“Not anymore, Freddie. As far as I’m concerned, Dave Carter doesn’t have a patch. I’m going to take every single one of his properties and chase him out of the East End for good.”
A heavy silence fell over the room, and Martin studied each one of his men in turn.
If any of them had any doubts, it was better that they spoke up now. He didn’t want anyone working for him who wasn’t one hundred percent committed.
He knew he was better than Dave Carter, and he intended to prove it. But a leader was only as good as the men he had working for him, and if any of these men were yellow, he needed to know now.
Henry the Hand was the next man to speak up. “Sounds good to me, boss. Dave Carter has been asking for a smack for a long time. It’s time we put him in his place once and for all.”
There were murmurs of agreement from around the room.
Notably, Big Tim stayed silent. He’d been acting very strangely recently. Martin narrowed his eyes as he looked at him. Big Tim had always been his most trusted man. Martin didn’t want to believe that that had changed.
“What do you think, Tim?”
Big Tim turned his head to look at Martin. He gave a single nod. “Absolutely. The time is right.”
Red-haired Freddie still held back. Out of all of the men, Martin considered him the smartest. He could be a coarse bastard, and definitely enjoyed his drink a bit too much for Martin’s liking, but there was no denying that Red-haired Freddie had a way of looking at problems with an analytical mind.
“The Lamb is a big move, boss. It’s a statement. Don’t you think it might be better to start off with one of the smaller properties and take him by surprise? We could edge our way in. Take control slowly before he even knows what’s happening.”
Red-haired Freddie might be smart, but Martin thought he was wrong on this occasion. He’d underestimated how good Martin was.
Martin Morton was worth ten of Dave Carter, and he wasn’t afraid of anything that pathetic waste of space could throw at him.
“I don’t think we need to be too worried about Dave Carter, Freddie. The man comes from a long line of greengrocers for goodness sake. He’s just playing at this. Once we take away the central piece of his little empire, it will collapse. Trust me. It will fall down like a line of dominoes.”
Red-haired Freddie narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. “Okay, boss. The Lamb it is.”
* * *
At that same moment, just over a mile away, Dave Carter was also holding a meeting. He was pleased with how his two new recruits had turned out. Patrick Cunnings, in particular, seemed to have a knack for the roles Dave had assigned to him so far. Dave was currently employing him as a heavy, but he could see the kid had a natural ability for the work and had decided to promote him soon.
He’d asked his brother, Gary, Brian Moore and Patrick Cunnings to come and see him at the warehouse.
Getting back to work wasn’t easy. Lillian’s death had knocked him for six, and he’d taken quite a bit of time off to spend with his family. The new baby was sickly and was struggling to feed. Trevor was still in his silent phase, and Sandra still cried herself to sleep at night.
Dave knew grief took time to heal, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the loss of Lillian, but he couldn’t afford to let the business slide.
Luckily for him, the shops and pubs under his protection carried on much the same as usual, thankfully earning money. The new car workshop he’d set up was also ticking over nicely, thanks to Brian’s careful supervision. But in this business, Dave couldn’t afford to take his eye off the game.
There were plenty of wannabes, waiting in the wings, looking for a piece of the action and the chance to take over his patch. The most dangerous of these men was Martin Morton, and Dave had known that for a long time.
Dave leaned back in his chair, hands resting on his desk, and listened to his men’s condolences.
“I appreciate that,” Dave said to Patrick, who’d just murmured how sorry he was about Lillian’s passing.
“I’m not going to lie to you, lads. It’s been a very hard few weeks, but I need to get back to work for my own sanity and to keep this business running.”
Dave exhaled and leaned forward. “Charlie Williams is still behind bars, and it’s looking like Martin Morton killed Frank. He thinks he’s gotten away with it.”
Dave clenched his fists and shook his head. “But he hasn’t.”
Dave looked at his men in turn. “I’ve got it on good authority Martin Morton is planning a major hit on us, soon.”
Gary piped up, “Who told you that?”
Dave was known for playing the long game. He had always been a firm believer in informants. Information was critical in this business. It wasn’t all threats and violence. Most of the time, you could play on people’s emotions. If someone felt they had been slighted or hurt in the past by one of his rivals, Dave made it his business to reach out to them. It was surprising how long grudges could last, and Dave liked to exploit that. There was no extortion or violence. It was simply talking and extracting knowledge.
“I have an informant close to Martin Morton.”
“How close is this person to Martin?” Brian asked.
“Close enough. I’m not going to be sharing their identity, so there’s no point asking,” Dave said and gave a pointed look to his brother.
Gary shrugged.
“I want you all to be on your guard. We might need to react quickly, and when we do, we need to be ruthless. The way I see it, all of our properties are at risk. Although, I doubt he’s going to bother with the c
hain of greengrocers,” Dave said, and everyone chuckled.
All the men in the room were aware of Dave’s nickname among his enemies — the greengrocer, and while Dave himself could make a joke about it, none of them would have dared.
“The warehouse could also be a target,” Dave continued. “It’s prime real estate and perfect for selling and distributing booze and fags, so Martin will want a piece of the action.”
“So it could be one of the pubs or the warehouse. The informant doesn’t know where he is planning to hit us?” Brian asked.
Dave shook his head. “Not yet.”
Despite the unease of everyone else in the room, Dave smiled. It felt good to be back in the game and take his mind off the problems at home.
He needed to focus his full energy on beating Martin Morton, and that was exactly what he intended to do.
Chapter 54
Gary Carter tugged on the sleeves of his shirt. He had just taken a little pick me up. Not too much, as he didn’t want Dave to catch wind of it, but he needed a little to get going today. Things were about to get serious between the Morton gang and the Carters, and he needed to be on top of his game.
He hadn’t been lying exactly when he’d told Dave he’d given the stuff up. He’d tried. He really had, and he was determined to kick the habit again just as soon as they got past all these troubles with Martin Morton.
Gary knew Dave considered him a live wire, and it hurt that his own brother couldn’t trust him. Although he wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, he was well aware of the fact that he had screwed up the raid on The Three Grapes.
He’d let Martin Morton get the better of them on that occasion, and for that, he owed Dave big time.
To see his brother devastated after the death of his niece, poor little Lillian, cut Gary’s heart in two. Dave and Sandra had been such a happy little family. Life just wasn’t fair.
Gary was determined to help Dave out, whether he wanted his help or not. To do that, he needed to make sure his brother wasn’t hiding anything from him. Like this informant, for example. He was concerned it could be a trap laid by Martin Morton.
Ever since they were kids, Dave had always been a fan of talking things through, of using his brain over his fists. Which was all well and good, but Martin Morton was a sneaky bastard, and he didn’t want to risk his brother getting caught out.
Gary sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand as Dave walked past.
Dave looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Are you all right, Gary?”
Gary nodded. “Never better. Where are you off to?” Gary asked as Dave put on his coat.
“Bit of business,” Dave said and then, without another word, headed out the warehouse.
Gary chewed on his thumbnail and wondered what to do. He only hesitated for a moment before he followed Dave out of the warehouse.
He paused beside the door, waiting for Dave to get a safe enough distance away. Gary didn’t want to be seen following him.
He licked his lips, nervously and raked a hand through his hair. Dave would not be happy if he knew he was being trailed.
He kept a safe distance from Dave all the way up Blocksy Road. Despite the fact Dave owned a huge car workshop now, he still didn’t use the motors. He preferred to walk and always had done. He liked to know the lay of the land and to see the locals running their businesses in the area.
Dave had always said knowledge was power, and if he drove everywhere, he’d miss all those little things that added up to a wealth of knowledge. But it was bloody freezing today, and Gary wished he could have followed Dave in a car.
His hand shook as he lit a cigarette. He held it to his lips and breathed in deeply.
When Dave stopped to talk to an old geezer outside The Lamb, Gary made sure he stayed a safe distance away and hid in a shop doorway. He couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but he imagined it wasn’t anything important. The old geezer was very unlikely to be the informant. Whoever was spilling Martin Morton’s secrets to Dave, had to be close enough to Martin to get quality information.
Bleeding well get a move on.
Gary gave an impatient huff. He was freezing his knackers off, and Dave had just stopped to exchange a few pleasantries. Did his brother not feel the cold?
Gary wished his brother would hurry up. His hiding place was not ideal. He was blocking the entrance to the butcher’s shop, and two women had already passed by, looking at him curiously.
The shopkeeper tried to nudge open the door behind him, and Gary turned on him furiously.
Gary hissed, “Get back inside, you nosy bastard!”
The shopkeeper quickly did as he was told, turning the sign hanging on the window around to say closed and locking the door.
Gary peered round the corner and saw Dave had started walking again, so he slid out of his hiding place and continued to follow him.
They walked for some time, and Gary was on his third cigarette by the time they arrived at East India Dock Road.
Gary was starting to think this had been a wasted exercise. What was the point? Dave was probably just on one of his normal walkabouts. Gary hadn’t seen anyone that could possibly be Dave’s informant.
There was a cafe just up the road, on the right, and Gary thought about calling it a day and getting a nice hot cup of tea inside him. It was brass monkeys outside today.
Just when he was about to give up, he saw Dave turn off the pavement and head inside the Poplar Baths.
Gary frowned. What on earth was Dave doing going in there?
Keeping a safe distance from Dave, Gary also entered the baths. As soon as he went through the main entrance, he smelled the distinctive pong of chlorine, and he wrinkled his nose. Inside the little lobby, Gary turned in a circle, but there was no sign of Dave.
Flaming hell, he’d missed him. He’d frozen his balls off for the last half an hour, and it was all for nothing.
Gary was just about to give up when a movement caught the corner of his eye. When he turned, he saw a woman with dark hair, wearing a fitted red dress. She looked a little overdressed for the Poplar Baths and that intrigued Gary. He walked a little closer and saw Dave standing just around the corner, staring at the woman in red.
Now that was interesting. Dave was very proud of the fact he was a family man. Gary couldn’t understand it himself, but Dave was dedicated to Sandra and never so much as looked at another bird. So this was definitely a turn-up for the books. Gary smirked. So his dear old brother wasn’t perfect after all.
He could only see the woman from behind and wished he was a little closer. He’d like to see the woman who’d managed to turn Dave’s head.
Gary leaned back against the wall where he was half hidden by a noticeboard and watched as Dave approached the woman and started to talk.
Gary cursed under his breath. He wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but he was worried about getting too close in case Dave saw him.
He hung back in the shadows as a gaggle of children passed by, heading towards the swimming baths.
Rather them than me, Gary thought. He didn’t fancy going outside today with wet hair.
Just when Gary was thinking he’d never find out the identity of this mystery woman, she turned around, and Gary Carter got the shock of his life. It was Babs Morton.
Dave was standing there, bold as brass, talking to Babs Morton. It all clicked into place for Gary. Babs would have overheard a lot about Martin’s business. She was the perfect informant.
Gary grinned in admiration. Take that, Martin Morton. People might mockingly call him the greengrocer gangster, but Dave was a clever bastard.
All his life, people had underestimated Dave, but standing there watching his brother in action, Gary was astounded.
He’d always been a little jealous of his brother, and he tried to suppress that envy. Right now, that bitterness had disappeared out the window. Gary felt nothing but admiration.
He couldn’t deny the fact his brother had
outclassed Martin Morton by a bleeding mile.
* * *
Babs Morton gave a tight smile as she said goodbye to Dave Carter.
She still had twenty minutes to wait before the children came back from the baths.
She’d been meeting Dave Carter there for a little while, but she was going to suggest they met somewhere else next time. She couldn’t explain it, but she’d had the feeling someone was watching them.
But when she’d turned and looked around, there hadn’t been anyone there, so it was probably just her imagination. The whole affair made her a little nervous. She didn’t feel guilty at all because Martin deserved it. But it didn’t mean she wanted him to find out.
Babs sighed and looked down at her wedding ring. That was the problem with having men in charge. If women were in charge, no one would have these issues. They wouldn’t endanger their livelihood, or risk going to prison over some silly little tart.
Women dealt with things logically.
Pushing the pram up and down the corridor as she waited for Ruby and Derek, she reached in to comfort baby Emily as she started to grizzle.
She’d told Dave everything she knew about Martin, every scrap she thought he might be able to use against her husband. Of course, there had been plenty of gossip over Kathleen Diamond going missing after her relationship with Martin.
Dave had asked her if she thought Martin had done it. She was convinced he had. If he hadn’t put his own hands around the poor girl’s neck, then he’d definitely gotten one of his men to do it.
Babs shivered. Life with Martin had taught her to be ruthless, but thinking about that girl being strangled and then dumped in a canal like a piece of rubbish turned her stomach.
Kathleen had been a stupid little bitch; there was no doubt about that. She’d annoyed Babs no end by showing up like that in front of the children, but no one deserved to end up like that. No one.
She heard a commotion to her left, and when she turned, she saw Ruby and Derek coming out of the baths, arguing and pushing each other. Behind them, was the older child who Babs had paid to look after them.
