by Caz Finlay
Jake looked at his watch and Grace remembered that he and Connor were itching to get going.
‘Shall we get down to business then, gents? I have the paperwork here,’ Grace said as she pulled the manila folder out of her handbag. ‘I believe my solicitor sent you both a copy to look over before our meeting.’
‘Yes, she sent it yesterday. I’ve had a good read of it and it all looks legit to me,’ Luke answered, his brown eyes twinkling.
‘Great, shall we all sign on the dotted line then?’ Grace said as she produced her favourite Mont Blanc pen. It was the one she signed all of her most important deals with. She wasn’t usually a superstitious person, but she had never signed a bad deal with her lucky pen.
Grace and Michael were enjoying a drink alone. Connor and Jake had left shortly after signing the paperwork, and Danny and Luke had stayed for one more drink before heading back to their office to start packing up for the move to their new premises.
‘That was all easier than I thought it was going to be,’ Grace said as she sipped her fifth brandy of the afternoon.
‘The contracts?’ Michael asked.
‘No, I meant talking to Jake and Connor.’
‘Hmm, I know what you mean,’ he replied.
‘The contracts went well too,’ she laughed, feeling the alcohol going to her head all of a sudden.
‘Am I going to have to carry you out of here?’ Michael said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
‘Maybe?’
‘Shall I get you another?’
Grace looked into her glass and saw there was nothing left. ‘Are you going to have one with me?’ she asked. He’d only had one beer earlier with the boys and had switched to lime and soda after that.
‘Maybe?’ he replied.
‘We could ask your dad to keep hold of the kids for the night?’
‘And stay out drinking?’ he asked.
‘And dancing?’ she added with a grin.
Michael laughed. ‘I’ll ring my dad now then. Do you want another brandy?’
‘I’d love one,’ Grace replied. Then she watched her handsome husband walking over to the bar with his mobile phone against his ear. Grace smiled to herself. Jake and Connor were out of prison, and most importantly Jake seemed to be back to his usual self. She and Michael had made some plans for the future. Plans they had talked through and, crucially, plans that they were both in full agreement with – plans that would keep all of their family safe.
Life was good.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Luke looked across at his business partner and smiled as they drove along the Dock Road.
‘Did we just fucking do that?’ Danny asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
Luke nodded. ‘Yep. We fucking did, mate. We’re the new Managing Directors of the biggest security firm in the North West,’ he replied.
‘Fuck!’ Danny said with a laugh. ‘I think that deserves a celebration tonight, don’t you?’
‘Yeah. But we need to help pack up the offices first. There are some things in that safe that I’d rather nobody else saw.’
Danny nodded in agreement.
Luke Sullivan and Danny Alexander had been best mates since they’d met in a playground at the age of eight. They went to different schools but lived close by each other, albeit in very different conditions. Luke’s father, who had died shortly before he was born, had left his mother a significant amount of money and she had used some of it to buy a semi-detached house in Aigburth. Maggie Sullivan had thought she’d never have children and was shocked and elated to have fallen pregnant at the age of thirty-eight. She’d also worked as a sales rep for a local brewery and had been good at her job, so she earned a good wage and together they had enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle. After she’d died, when Luke was twenty, he had inherited everything, including the substantial nest egg she had built up over the years. It was that money that had allowed him and Danny to set up Sable Securities.
Danny’s childhood had been as far removed from Luke’s as it could possibly be. He and his sister, Stacey, lived in a two-up, two-down in Dingle on the border of Aigburth. They were abandoned by their mother when Danny was thirteen and Stacey just nine. Left with their abusive, alcoholic stepfather, Danny had practically had to raise Stacey, at least until he was sent to a Young Offenders Institution at the age of seventeen after braining his stepfather with a toaster and killing him outright. For years, Danny had had to defend himself from the man’s drunken outbursts, but when he’d started on Stacey too, it had been the tipping point and he’d got four years for manslaughter. Stacey had been sent to a children’s home, and though Danny had got her out again as soon as he’d left prison and found himself a job, he’d never forgiven himself for what had happened to her there.
Despite being from very different backgrounds, Luke and Danny had become firm friends upon their first meeting and remained so ever since. Despite the fact that Luke had gone to Liverpool University to study business while Danny had been learning how to fix bicycles in HMYOI Hindley, their differences had never come between them. Not that Luke was an angel, but he had always learned the fine art of not getting caught. Danny, on the other hand, had had no choice.
‘Let’s drop in and see our Stacey on the way. She said they’ve got a load of boxes left over from their office move we could have. Save us using Tesco bags?’ Danny said with a laugh, interrupting Luke’s train of thought.
‘Okay,’ Luke said, feigning uninterest. The truth was he welcomed any opportunity to see Danny’s younger sister, who was currently working as a secretary in a small accountancy firm in Kirkdale. She had moved to Manchester when she was eighteen, but had recently returned to Liverpool for reasons which Danny and Luke knew something of, although they both suspected they didn’t have the full story. Luke had always seen her as a little sister too –until about six months earlier, when she’d come back into his life and turned his world upside down. Not that either Danny or Stacey was aware of that fact. Stacey was off limits in more ways than one. She’d experienced more heartache in her twenty-four years than most people did in a lifetime.
Luke and Danny walked into Stacey’s small office to see her chatting to two uniformed police officers. Luke felt Danny’s uneasiness as he stood beside him and knew they were thinking exactly the same thing. What the hell were they doing here?
‘We’ll be in touch, Stacey,’ one of them said as he extended his hand to shake hers. ‘Thank you for your co-operation.’
‘No problem. Glad I could help,’ Stacey said as she shook his hand.
Danny eyed the police officers suspiciously as they brushed past him on their way out.
‘What’s going on, Stacey? It’s not that fucking prick again, is it? I’ll fucking—’ Danny shouted as soon as the officers were out of earshot.
‘Danny!’ she snapped. ‘Calm down. It’s nothing.’
‘The police don’t just visit you for nothing, Stacey. What the hell is going on?’
‘Simon is in trouble again, that’s all. The police are looking for him.’
‘I knew it was something to do with that fucker,’ Danny snarled. ‘I told you to let me deal with him properly. Has he been in touch with you?’
Luke saw the colour rising up Stacey’s neck and across her cheeks and felt for her. Simon was her ex-boyfriend, and a waste of fucking oxygen. He bought and sold women like they were cars and had been about to do the same to Stacey when Danny and Luke had got her out just in time. It was a source of hurt and embarrassment for her that she had been completely fooled by the nasty little prick and any mention of Simon’s name made her visibly uncomfortable. Luke wished he could take her out of there and let her get some air, but Danny wouldn’t leave it alone until he had some answers.
‘Yes. He’s found out I’m working here, and he’s called a few times.’
‘What? When?’ Danny shouted.
‘Can you just leave it … For God’s sake,’ Stacey snapped. ‘It’s been dealt with.’
>
Danny continued to stare at his sister, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why she hadn’t told him about this, while Luke looked at the floor and wished his best mate could be a little more tactful.
‘Why the hell didn’t you tell us about this?’ Danny shouted.
‘Because of this, Danny,’ she hissed. ‘Because I knew you’d overreact. You always do.’
‘But, Stacey—’
‘But nothing! I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself. He called here and when I finally spoke to him I told him I wanted nothing more to do with him. He hasn’t phoned since last week and now he’s disappeared anyway because the police are looking for him.’
‘The police are fucking useless,’ Danny snarled. ‘Let me and Luke handle it.’
‘There’s nothing to handle, Danny! Besides, I know exactly how you and Luke would handle this, and I’ve told you before, I want no part of that,’ she said quietly. ‘Just leave it to the police.’
Danny started to shake his head and was about to argue with her when Luke placed a hand on his arm. ‘Stacey’s right. Let her deal with this her own way.’
Danny glared at Luke, the vein pulsing in his temple before he let out a long breath and sat down in a chair. ‘Whatever,’ he finally said.
It was another ten minutes before Stacey Alexander finally herded her brother and his best mate out of the small office she worked in. Sitting back in her chair, she closed her eyes and let out a long, slow breath that she felt like she’d been holding in for hours. Danny and Luke could never discover the truth of all she had endured at the hands of Simon Hughes. If they did, they would never let her out of their sight again, but even worse, Simon would end up chopped into pieces and dumped in the Mersey. Despite her assurances otherwise, Stacey was terrified that her ex-boyfriend had found her, and she knew that he wasn’t the type to take no for an answer. But Danny had already given up enough of his life protecting her and she couldn’t bear him going to prison because of that again.
Danny slammed the car door closed behind him and folded his arms across his chest. Luke glanced sideways at him as he started the ignition and noted the stark contrast to when they’d got into the car outside The Blue Rooms less than an hour earlier. He knew better than to poke the bear when he was in a mood and silently pulled the car away from the kerb.
‘We should do something about this Simon cunt. I knew we should have fucking dealt with him when we had the chance,’ Danny growled after a few moments silence.
Luke nodded. ‘I know.’
‘Then why did you tell me to leave it alone in there then?’ he snapped. ‘Why didn’t you back me up?’
‘Because,’ Luke sighed, ‘your sister is almost as stubborn as you are. She doesn’t want our help, mate. And I understand why. We wouldn’t exactly be acting within the parameters of the law, would we? She’s finally getting her life back on track. And like it or not, Stacey is a grown woman. You can’t keep trying to wrap her in cotton wool. You’ll only end up pushing her away…’
‘What? You mean like I did last time?’ Danny snarled.
Luke shook his head. ‘I never said that.’
‘But that’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?’
‘For fuck’s sake, Danny. Don’t be putting none of your guilt on me. Nobody blames you for what happened to Stacey. Nobody except you anyway.’
Danny sank back into his seat. ‘If I hadn’t been so strict with her, Luke … If I’d just given her some leeway…’ he said with a sigh. ‘No wonder she fucked off as soon as she could.’
Luke put a hand on his best mate’s shoulder. ‘You did the best you could. You were a just a kid yourself, trying to bring up a teenager – and she wasn’t exactly easy,’ he reminded him.
‘Well, who could blame her for that?’ Danny shrugged before falling silent.
Luke was thankful that the rest of the journey was quiet. He understood Danny’s instinct to help Stacey. It was his instinct too. But the way they usually handled their problems was to beat them into submission, and they couldn’t do that this time. Stacey had just got back on her feet. She had just walked away from a life of violence and fear and Luke understood her need to distance herself from anything connected to that as much as possible. No, they had to let the police handle him, no matter how much it went against everything they believed in. The thought of Simon Hughes being anywhere near Stacey bothered Luke just as much as it did Danny. He wanted to protect her too, and that included hunting down that cunt and making him pay for every bit of pain he had ever caused her. But Luke was afraid that admitting that would make his feelings for his best mate’s little sister all too obvious.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Jake stepped out of his car and walked along the leafy street towards Siobhan’s house. He looked around at the large, beautifully maintained houses and thought what a nice place she had chosen to raise their daughter. He hated the fact that she was an hour’s drive away, but he understood why Siobhan had made the move, and he could see how she and Isla could build a nice life for themselves here.
Siobhan was renting a three-bed semi-detached house a ten-minute walk away from Carter’s Wine Bar, and she had put Isla into the small nursery nearby. His daughter seemed happy and settled and he knew that was all that really mattered, but it still hurt him not to have her close to him. He’d had an arrangement to have Isla for a couple of nights every fortnight before he’d gone to prison, but he’d never had a set routine and sometimes he’d cancel at the last minute. He realised now how unsettling that must have been for a young child, and in future he was going to make sure he made more of an effort to be a stable influence in her life.
Jake knocked on the door and waited for Siobhan to answer. She was expecting him, but he still wondered at the reception he’d get from her after the last time they’d met face to face. She had come to pick Isla up and had objected to the state that Jake was in. He’d called her a judgemental cow and they’d had a massive row. He was ashamed to admit it now, but she’d been right to have a go at him. He’d been drunk and on coke when he should have been looking after his daughter. Anything could have happened and he shuddered as he realised how lucky they had all been that nothing had.
Siobhan opened the door and gave him a quick look up and down. She obviously approved because her face broke into a huge smile. ‘Jake. You look great,’ she said.
‘Daddy!’ Isla shrieked as she came running down the hallway to the front door.
‘Isla,’ he said as he scooped her up into his arms. ‘My little princess. I’ve missed you so much.’
‘Missed you too, Daddy,’ she said as she placed her two chubby little hands on either side of his face.
Jake felt a rush of love for her that had him blinking back the tears and he pressed his face into her hair, inhaling the scent of Johnson’s baby shampoo.
‘Come in,’ Siobhan said as she ushered them both inside. ‘I’ll stick the kettle on.’
Ten minutes later, Jake was sitting on the sofa in Siobhan’s living room with Isla on his knee. Siobhan placed a hot mug of tea on the table beside him.
‘You look really good, Jake,’ Siobhan said again as she sat down opposite him on the armchair.
He laughed. ‘Don’t sound so surprised.’
‘I’m not,’ she said as she blushed slightly. ‘It’s just…’
‘I’m only kidding. I know I must have looked a bit rough the last time we met,’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry about that, Siobhan. I really am. I was completely out of order and you were right to have a go at me about it. It won’t happen again.’
Siobhan stared at him, her mouth open slightly.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked her.
She shook her head and laughed. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit you were wrong before. I’ve heard you say you were sorry dozens of times, but if I’m honest, Jake, I’ve never really believed you.’
‘Well, I mean it,’ he said in all seriousness, realising too that
she was probably right. He wondered if he had ever truly meant it before, or if it was just something that he used to say to make himself feel better.
‘I know,’ she said with a smile.
‘I’m sorry about everything, Siobhan,’ he said, suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt that he’d been burying deep inside himself for years. ‘About Paul, and the way I treated you. It was unfair and I should have told you the truth before we got married. But it was just so hard to admit it to myself, never mind to anyone else.’
Siobhan held up a hand as though to stop him talking. ‘Jake,’ she said as she blinked back the tears. ‘Please, don’t. I’m not exactly blameless here, am I?’
‘Well, no,’ he replied, remembering that she had slept with one of his best mates and then agreed to get married, despite not knowing whether Isla was Jake’s child or not. But none of that changed the fact that he had lied to her from the outset.
‘And I don’t just mean about Connor,’ she said, as though reading his mind.
Jake nodded and looked down at Isla, her long lashes resting against her pink cheeks. ‘She’s fallen asleep,’ he whispered.
‘She was so excited waiting for you that she wouldn’t have her nap. She’s exhausted.’
‘She deserves better than me, Siobhan,’ he said.
‘Don’t say that, Jake. She loves you. You’re her father.’
‘Well, she deserves better than what I’ve been offering for the past few months anyway.’
‘You were grieving,’ Siobhan said. ‘I know how much you loved Paul. How much you must miss him.’
‘I do, but plenty of people lose people they love and don’t turn into a complete mess, do they? And Isla deserves better than that. Paul’s memory deserves better.’
‘Well, it’s nice to see the Jake I knew back.’
‘And I am back, Siobhan. I don’t need drink or drugs to get through the day any more. So, when you’re happy to, I’d like to start having Isla overnight again. I thought maybe every other weekend, and one night through the week?’
