Ruby's Palace

by KERRY BARNES

  “You and the Vincents have taken my life away from me and now I have nothing. Your family will know what it’s like to feel like I do!”

  Ruby was convinced then her own mother wanted to take her life.

  She tried again to get to her feet but another hard kick deadened her leg and she fell down again.

  “But why, Mum? Why me?”

  Jesse laughed: a false, sadistic laugh. “Because you were supposed to be Kenneth Napper’s, not a fucking Vincent.” There, it was said.

  Ruby took a while before the penny dropped but there was nothing she could say.

  Another kick came. This time it was to Ruby’s stomach. She winced and doubled over. Her bag was tucked up under her and she knew her only hope of rescue was to phone someone.

  Ruby’s hands scrambled around inside her bag, desperately searching for the mobile. She was hiding her actions. There it was. She snatched it, instantaneously pressing the redial button. The last call she had made was to Jack. With her hand still inside, Jesse kicked again, this time sending the bag and phone flying across the room. However, she hadn’t realised that Ruby had just dialled the number and now the phone was lying on the floor and Jack could hear everything.

  “Mum! Mum, please stop!” Ruby’s voice was high pitched and terrified.

  “Please don't kill me, not in my bedroom!” she cried repeatedly, as she prayed her brother had answered the phone and could hear her.

  The knife came down and plunged into Ruby’s arm. Her swift movement had diverted the blade away from her chest.

  Frantically, she rolled under her bed, hoping her mother could not reach her. Jesse fell to her knees and tried fishing under the bed for a limb to drag Ruby out. The pain in Ruby’s arm wasn’t as bad as it looked. The blood was seeping along the floor but the fear was greater. Ruby was like a caged animal. She snatched Jesse’s hand and bit down hard, causing Jesse to scream. But that didn’t stop her. She gripped Ruby’s ankle and dragged her out. With the other hand she plunged the knife into Ruby’s leg.

  “Now take that, you fucking little tramp,” spat Jesse.

  Ruby was struck twice now and felt faint. Her blood was everywhere – thick and warm. The pain was excruciating. Ruby took a deep breath, trying to hold on to reality. She needed help or she would die.

  Jesse got to her feet and looked at the red liquid and the pleading look on her daughter’s face. The leg wound was more serious. It had severed the main artery and was pumping blood everywhere.

  “Thought I wouldn’t get you back, did ya? Thought I would forget all the shit you and your family put me through? Oh no, this lady ain’t forgetting nothing…” Jesse was breathless, gripped by anger and hate. “I can’t wait to see the look on that Francesca’s face. Two dead kids, and the precious Ruby’s Palace run by your widower, and the O’Connell’s. Poetic justice, as I see it… and when I’m done with you, I’m coming for Jack!”

  Ruby heard those words. They were like a red rag to a bull. She used her last piece of strength to lunge forward and seize Jesse by her legs. Jesse lost her balance and landed heavily on the floor. Her head wrenched back and struck the chunky metal rabbit doorstop. Stunned, she dropped the knife. Ruby snatched the weapon instantly and plunged the blade into Jesse’s side, tearing through the muscles which pocketed the ribs. The movement was so quick that Jesse had no time to divert away and save herself.

  Ruby just managed to see the last look of devastation on her mother’s face before her world became dark and cold.

  *

  Jack had answered his sister’s call, ready to give her a mouthful, when suddenly he realised that this wasn’t a normal call at all. The repetitive words, with terror in her voice, made him realise right away she was in danger. He put it on loud speaker and faced his dad. Sam’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  Kizzy was still in the office and could hear the anguish. Thinking quickly, she pulled from her bag her own mobile and dialled the police and ambulance.

  “Jack, what’s your address?”

  He couldn’t speak: he was too transfixed by the screams. Sam grabbed the phone and relayed to the ambulance the address and then the police were put on the line.

  “Mr Vincent, please don’t move. Stay where you are and keep the line open to your daughter. We need to know exactly what is happening. When we approach the house we will need more information!”

  Sam was listening to the police and the desperate cries from his daughter.

  “Hurry, smash the fucking door down. Do whatever you have to, but just get her out!”

  “Okay, sir, please try to keep calm. Now, how old is your daughter?” came the very calm middle-aged voice of Sergeant Powers.

  “Forget the fucking questions. Just get there, hurry up!” Sam was screaming.

  “We are on our way. I’m talking to you from the car, sir. I am just a street away from her. Please stay calm.”

  Jack was sick, with the vomit coming up and out of his mouth and nose. He couldn’t handle listening to the torment. He feared the worst. His mother had a knife and Ruby was pleading.

  Kizzy pulled the baby wipes from a drawer and helped clean him up.

  “I can’t stand this. I’m going over there!” cried Sam.

  “No, Mr Vincent, you need to hear Ruby. If you take the phone, you might lose signal. Please listen to the sergeant.”

  Sam looked at Kizzy and knew she was making sense. He nodded.

  There was silence, not even a whisper.

  “Oh no!” cried Jack, who was convinced Ruby was dead.

  “I am gonna kill her, I swear to God. I will murder that cunt with my bare hands.” The tears streamed down his angry face.

  Kizzy grabbed his arm. “Slow down, Jack, think first, be careful. You don’t know what’s happened yet.”

  He stopped in his tracks.

  “Kiz, I know you mean well, but I have to go.”

  She glanced at Sam, who nodded.

  With that, Jack and his father were gone. They tore away, nearly crashing into Levi’s car, the car which Ocean still happened to have.

  “Idiot!” shouted Ocean.

  Kizzy searched the office for a phone. Sam had taken hers. There wasn’t a landline but she felt awkward hanging around. She wiped her face with a baby wipe and strolled out of the back door. The car park wasn’t exactly full, as most customers caught a taxi home. She headed in the direction of the cab rank, hoping one would be early, awaiting a pickup.

  There, standing by a car, was Ocean. The moonlight shone against his long curls. There was no mistaking his silhouette. Her heart leapt to her mouth. Instantly, she put her head down and tried to look inconspicuous. But a good-looking woman rarely goes unnoticed. Ocean glanced her way and gasped. That surely could not be his Kizzy, not here.

  She took a momentary look and was faced with the intense stare from the man she had once loved so much.

  Kizzy carried on walking as if he didn’t exist. She wasn’t ready to face him. She wanted to get away, to her caravan, her home. She had done what she had set out to do – tell the truth, be kind and hold her head up high. However, she hadn’t planned on getting caught up in other Vincent family issues. It was best to keep walking.

  She could hear her name being called, Ocean behind her.

  “Kizzy, my Kizzy gal, what are you doing here?” His voice was racked with dread and his nerves had made him breathless.

  She spun around and made Ocean stop dead in his tracks.

  “I have come to do what is right!” She didn’t shout or scream.

  Ocean stared straight at her, his face lined with shock and guilt.

  “What do you mean, my baby?” But he knew what she meant. It was written all over her face.

  “You wanted the club, Ocean. Above everything, you had to have the Palace. That poor girl, Ruby, lying dead in her bedroom, and you were after her for her money.” Kizzy shook her head in shame for him.

  “Dead, you say?” Ocean was calm. These weren’t the words of a
man who had just heard his wife was dead. “Look, my Kizzy, it’s only ever been you that I have loved. I did all this for you, for us, for our kids.”

  She looked on in disgust.

  “Kiz, you can have it all.” He pointed to the club. “That, there, belongs to me!”

  She could not believe he was so cold and selfish.

  “Did you not hear me right? Your wife is dead on her bedroom floor and you’re talking about owning her club!”

  Ocean grabbed Kizzy’s arms. “I did it for you. Remember when the Vincents tried to cut you up? I did this for us, for our future. Look, I didn’t love her, I just married her for you.” His voice was pleading.

  Kizzy moved away from his grip.

  “You married her for me! How stupid do you sound? So, tell me this, Ocean, did you sleep with her for me too?”

  Ocean opened his mouth but nothing came out. How would he answer that one? She seemed more beautiful than he had ever seen her before.

  “Look, Kiz, I’m sorry. I made a huge mistake. I never meant to hurt you. I was just planning for our future.”

  She looked him up and down. “You really don’t know me at all, do you?”

  Ocean’s heart was being ripped from his chest. “Of course I know you. I was the man in your dreams, remember?”

  He smiled, hoping she would soften – the way she always did.

  “No, Ocean, you are not the man in my dreams. I’ve moved on.” She looked at the club then back at Ocean.

  “No, Kiz. Please tell me you still love me; please don’t say you’ve met…” He held his hands behind his head and took a deep breath. “Not a Vincent, please say it’s not!”

  Kizzy didn’t like to lie but he wasn’t worth worrying about. She smiled and walked away.

  Ocean fell to the floor and sobbed. He didn’t want the Palace, Ruby or the status. His passion in life was now stepping into a taxi.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  After the incident at the house, the bloodshed and heartache, the Vincents vowed to take down anyone who even planned to get in their way. Their hate for the O’Connells was so great. They had lured Ruby in and played a sick game, and no one gets away with that, especially a drug dealing travelling family. But it was Jack who had the most anger. He had loved his sister so much he didn’t care if his liberty was on the line. He would destroy Ocean.

  Johnnie O’Connell had gotten wind his nephews had fucked up and now the Vincents were after them, so he had assumed that the whole site was not safe. Being the bigger man, and the one with the most savvy, he went and paid the old man Bill Vincent a visit. He took a cab. It would have been unwise to take the scrap van. Bill was at home, enjoying his Sunday roast, when there was a bang on the door. Mary, his wife, rolled her eyes. “I bet one of the boys is nursing a hangover – I dunno.”

  Bill got up from his seat and walked slowly to the hallway. He was still a fair size for an older man.

  Johnnie O’Connell stepped back as the door opened and removed his flap cap.

  Bill frowned and tried to recall the man’s face. Then it hit him. It was the old man O’Connell. He raised his eyebrow.

  “Mr Vincent, sorry to disturb you, but can I have a man-to-man talk with you? I don’t want no trouble.”

  Bill looked at the ageing gypsy and, out of respect, invited him in.

  Mary made the tea and offered Johnnie a seat.

  “So, what can I do for you?” Bill kept his face stern, fully informed of the trouble with the O’Connells. He had as much hate for them as his sons, but guessed that the old man had nothing to do with it. He knew him as a straight, old school traveller, who kept himself to himself and mixed with his own kind.

  “I suppose your boys have told ya about me boys’ wrongdoings?” He bowed his head in shame.

  “Wrongdoings, you say?”

  “Yeah, I ain’t into their drug dealing shit, told ‘em to stop it, but they think they know best… I warned them not to mess with your family, but the bastards ignored me.”

  “So, Johnnie, why are you here? Cos it’s my reckoning my boys won’t let this go, not after what happened to our Ruby.” He took a deep breath and sucked up his emotions. “Like you, Johnnie, I can’t tell my lot what to do.”

  Johnnie was nodding in agreement. “Don’t get me wrong, Mr Vincent, those scumbags deserve all they get, and more. I am truly sorry for what happened to your granddaughter, fucking terrible, mate!”

  Bill scratched his head. “So you’re not here to warn us off, then?”

  Johnnie laughed. “Nah, to be honest, I know they are family, but I have disowned them. Truth is, I hate them, even my own boy. I lost all feelings for him. I never brought him up to deal drugs… of course, our kind have a way of life, wheeling and dealing, but not that shit, messing up innocent kiddies. Fuck ‘em. If your boys take out my boys, then so be it. I, for one, won’t shed a tear.”

  Bill, taken aback by this last statement, but also very relieved, asked, “So what do you want from me?”

  “Well, Bill, I know you’re a fair man, and I guess you have brought your boys up to be fair, so all I ask is they don’t burn down me site. We have little ‘uns on there and we ain’t all bad.”

  Bill threw his head back and laughed. “Cor, Johnnie, you have listened to too many rumours. Look, mate, I give you my word. Your site will be left standing. No one, and I mean no one, other than those involved, will get hurt!”

  Johnnie’s shoulders relaxed and he sipped his tea. “I was just packing me bags ready to leave, then I thought I should pay you a visit. So glad I did. At least I can stay in me own van without sleeping with one eye open.”

  Bill shook his hand and, as soon as he had left, he got on the phone to Dan.

  *

  Dan had been in a meeting with the boys, planning how to stop the O’Connells once and for all. Fred wanted to go in all guns blazing as usual and Sam demanded he be the one to personally kick seven colours of shit out of Billy.

  “Shush, it’s Dad,” he said in a serious tone. Even as grown men, they still had the utmost respect for their parents. He listened carefully and answered for all in the room to hear.

  “Don’t worry, Dad, you have my word!”

  Fred rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me he wants us to leave it, after all those fuckers have put us through, especially our Ruby?”

  Dan shook his head and smirked. “Dad is with us but on one condition. We keep it well away from the site.”

  Sam frowned. “As if we would!”

  “The fucking mackerels ain’t so stupid as to hide on the camp. They know we could bulldoze the place,” said Dan, still smirking.

  “They are hiding somewhere and, trust me, it’s only a matter of time before someone squeals. I’ve got some of the lads with their ears to the ground. We have time and patience… well, maybe not you, Freddie boy. Patience is not one of your fortes.” He laughed.

  By the time the club opened, news arrived of where the O’Connells were hiding – a farmhouse in Kent. Fred rubbed his hands together. Right, now I am gonna rip a few heads off, he thought to himself. The brothers sat around the table in the office and, over a few brandies, plotted their revenge.

  The door flew open and in walked Jack. He was dressed in jeans and a black jacket. He was tall and stocky but today, unlike his usual calm self, he was fiery-eyed and confident.

  “So you know where they are?” His voice changed, deep and husky.

  “’Ere, Jackie, you ain’t coming, mate. This ain’t your war. No need to get your hands dirty, you save that for the ring!” said Joe, who had been quiet throughout the discussion. He tended to take a back seat and listen to his brothers, knowing he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.

  “No disrespect, Uncle Joe, but this is more my fight than any of you. Ruby was my concern: my sister, my fight!” His voice was almost demonic, cold and harsh.

  There was silence as they stared.

  “I am going to take care of those scumbags myself, for Ruby!�
��

  “Look, boy —” Fred didn’t have a chance to finish.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I am no boy. I might not be aggressive like you, Fred, but those lowlifes fucked me over, and my sister, and they won’t see what’s hit ‘em, when I get hold of them!”

  Fred smiled. “I call you boy, ‘cos, Jack, you’re our boy. When you’re fucking fifty years old we will still call you ‘boy’. I am well aware that you’re a man. And, yes, I hate to admit it, but you could beat the shit out of me if you had to, but we can sort out those O’Connells ourselves, no need to get your hands dirty!”

  Jack bit the inside of his lip and flared his nostrils. “You don’t get it, do you? Those bastards planned our Ruby’s murder. They knew Jesse was going to kill her. What fucking cunt does that to a kid: marries her, promises her the world, and then leaves her to die, just to get their hands on a club? And they thought Ocean would be a wealthy widower, all their fucking prayers answered. Well, I’m gonna answer their prayers because, when I get my hands on them, they’ll beg to die, and I’ll honour their pleas.”

  Sam stepped forward and put his arm around Jack’s shoulders. “You have been through too much. This will haunt you!”

  Jack shrugged his father off. “Not taking them out will fucking haunt me. I have seen a lot in my life. What fucks my head up is not being there at the right time to do anything. I wasn’t there for Ruby, and look what happened to her! Well, I am going to do what’s right – remove the nightmares, the thoughts that control me – ‘cos there will be four less O’Connells, four less scumbags, four less cruel creatures roaming around. Trust me, I can help in more ways than you know!”

  Dan nodded and put out his hand to shake Jack’s. “Okay, boy, sit your arse down and listen to the plan.”

  He pulled up a chair, giving him the respect to have his say.

  *