Blind Alley

by Danielle Ramsay

Then he heard the gunshot outside, the sound ricocheting through the silent night.

  ‘NOOO!’ Brady shouted.

  He tried to move. To get his arms free from the tape that restrained him to the chair.

  A swift crack to the side of his head stopped him.

  ‘Where is Nick?’ asked one of the brothers.

  ‘Fuck you!’ answered Brady. His dark eyes were filled with hatred.

  There was nothing they could do to him. It was over.

  He couldn’t remember how long he had tried not to scream. To hold the pain in. Eventually he did.

  The crowbar had come in handy. Every bone in his right hand had been obliterated. His left leg was definitely broken now. He had heard the sickening snap of the bones under the weight of the crowbar as it hit again. Then again. And again.

  Still he didn’t talk.

  They had used pliers on him. He passed out cold after the sixth fingernail had been pulled out.

  Again they threw water over his face. Dazed and exhausted, he came to.

  ‘Bring the girl in. Maybe that will make him talk.’ one of the brothers said.

  ‘If not, then cut his tongue out,’ ordered the other.

  Brady had only one thought racing through his mind: Claudia.

  Is she still alive? God . . . please let her be alive?

  But he had heard the gunshot outside.

  Brady watched as one of the two remaining guards left. Minutes later he returned with a young, brutally beaten woman. It took Brady a moment to recognise her. When he did his heart sank.

  Nicoletta . . .

  Claudia had been right. They had abducted her. They were back in the North-East tying up loose ends. Silencing ex-business partners and punishing those who had acted against them. Nicoletta – trafficked by the Dabkunas brothers and handed over as a gift to Ronnie Macmillan to seal their business deal – had talked to the police.

  Brady couldn’t look at her. Her bedraggled long blonde hair hung as limp as her bony arms. She had no fight left. Whatever they had done to her had killed her on the inside. She was just waiting for them to show mercy and execute her.

  ‘Nicoletta?’ Brady whispered, his throat hoarse.

  She looked at him. Recognition briefly flickered in her large brown eyes. Then it was gone.

  ‘If you do not tell us where your brother is we’ll kill her,’ said one of the Dabkunas brothers.

  One of the hired militia raised his semi-automatic rifle and pointed it at her head.

  Before Brady had a chance to talk a shot was fired. It was deafening. He watched as blood sprayed and her body collapsed to the ground.

  After that, everything turned black.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  ‘Jack? Can you hear me?’

  Brady blinked.

  ‘Oh God, Jack! Jack?’

  It took Brady a couple of moments to realise he had no idea what had happened to him. Or even who was talking to him.

  ‘Nurse!’ a voice screamed.

  Blackness came before the nurse.

  Two days passed in a morphine-induced blur. Brady had seen countless faces – most of which he didn’t recognise. Or want to recognise. Two days of not knowing where he was or why. All he felt was pain, despite the morphine drip. Every part of him ached. It was unbearable. But most of all it hurt to breathe.

  It was only when he realised that he had survived that pieces of the jigsaw started falling into place.

  When he next opened his eyes he saw her – Claudia. She had her head on his stomach. Even though he couldn’t see her face he knew it was her. The wild, unruly red hair a giveaway. He knew she was asleep. Could feel her chest rising gently against him.

  Relief coursed through him.

  She’s alive . . . Fuck, she’s alive . . .

  As if aware, she stirred. Half asleep, she raised her head and looked at him.

  ‘Oh God, Jack!’ Tears spilled down her cheeks as she reached out to his face and touched him, as if making sure he was really there.

  Brady stared at the damage to her face. At what they had done to her. He could feel the pain and anger inside start to build as he took it in. But she was alive.

  Thank God she was alive.

  ‘Harry?’ Claudia cried out suddenly.

  Brady watched as she turned and looked expectantly at the open door. For some reason he couldn’t move. Nor could he talk.

  Conrad ran into the room. He stopped when he saw Brady.

  ‘Sir?’

  The word hung in the air.

  Brady wasn’t sure what was going on or why Conrad was looking at him as if he’d come back from the dead.

  A few more days passed by in a drug-induced blur. But Claudia had stayed. She had refused to leave him. Too scared.

  ‘I . . . thought they had . . .’ Brady couldn’t bring himself to say it.

  ‘Killed me?’ Claudia asked.

  He attempted to nod his head but it hurt too much. Everything hurt.

  Claudia closed her eyes as if blocking out the memory.

  ‘It’s OK. Tell me when you’re ready.’

  She opened her eyes and looked at him. They flashed emerald green. She was a fighter. Always had been.

  ‘When he took me outside . . . I thought . . . I thought I was going to die. That he would shoot me and then . . . Then they would kill you. I knew they had Nicoletta. I hadn’t seen her but I’d heard her screams when those bastards had tortured her. I heard her beg . . . I didn’t understand what she was saying but I knew the desperation in her voice. She was begging for her life . . .’ Claudia faltered, unable to continue.

  She turned her head away for a moment, unable to look him in the eye. ‘I knew they wanted you to see her die. I understood that much. And then . . . then they planned on killing you.’

  Tears escaped down her bruised and swollen face. The fight had left her eyes. Replaced by a pained sadness.

  Brady attempted to smile at her. Reassure her. But he couldn’t. After all, he had seen them shoot Nicoletta in front of him. He had watched as her body had crumpled and fallen to the ground. Then he had no memory of anything else.

  ‘I’m sorry . . . I . . .’

  ‘Take your time,’ Brady said. His voice was gentle. Paternalistic even. He resisted asking her what had happened to Nicoletta. Resisted asking the crucial question – was she dead? He had to let Claudia tell him in her own time. After all, he wasn’t going anywhere.

  ‘It happened so quickly. One minute I had a gun to my head and then the next thing I knew he’d been knocked to the ground and someone else had a gun pointed at that bastard. There were two of them. One scrawny guy and another one who was tall with muscles and long dreadlocks. They forced the guard onto his knees with his hands behind his head.’

  Claudia didn’t need to tell Brady who they were. He already knew that they were Madley’s men – Weasel Face and Gibbs.

  ‘The one with the dreadlocks grabbed me and made me walk. There was a car down by the water. I didn’t know who they were or what they wanted. All I knew was that they had saved my life. The next thing I heard was a gunshot.’

  Brady had heard the same shot, believing it had been aimed at Claudia.

  ‘The other guy who stayed behind?’

  Claudia nodded as she swallowed slowly. ‘He shot him.’

  Brady realised it must have been Weasel Face. Gibbs had taken her to a waiting car – Madley’s – and Weasel Face had stayed behind and shot the kidnapper. He knew it would have been execution style. Gun to the back of the head. He expected no less from Weasel Face. Despite all Brady’s reservations about Madley’s employee, he now accepted that he was indebted to him.

  But why? None of it made sense.

  ‘I know . . .’ Claudia said, seeing the confusion on his face. ‘I didn’t understand it at the time either. I still don’t.’

  ‘The car?’ Brady asked.

  ‘We get to this black car and I’m forced into the back. Inside there was a man . . .’ she paused.
‘Well-dressed, handsome?’

  Brady didn’t react. But he recognised the description.

  ‘He never told you his name?’

  ‘No. He instructed me to follow his exact orders. That under no circumstances was I to mention him or his two men.’

  Brady nodded.

  ‘Then the scrawny guy came back. He opened the back door and handed the gun to me. I . . . I didn’t know why.’

  But Brady knew exactly why. ‘They wanted you to say that the guard took you outside to kill you. Realising you were going to die you struggled with him and managed to get the gun. That you shot him in self-defence before he shot you.’

  Claudia nodded, surprised.

  It didn’t take a lot to figure out. The question Brady wanted answering was how Madley knew what was going on. How the fuck did he know to turn up when he did?

  ‘What happened next?’ Brady questioned.

  ‘The thin guy who gave me the gun then hands me the dead guard’s mobile phone. I’m told to call 999 if I want to save your life.’

  Brady was taken aback by this comment. He couldn’t say why. But he understood perfectly why Madley would have instructed Claudia to use the dead guard’s mobile phone. Madley wanted no connection to the scene. He had turned up, saved Claudia’s life, then Brady’s and left. No questions. No police investigation – nothing.

  ‘I did as instructed and called 999. I explained what was happening and then . . .’ she looked at Brady and shook her head. ‘It’s all a blur now. It happened so fast, it’s like it never happened. You know? The two men turning up like that. The third one in the car calmly telling me what I had to do. Then they drive off, leaving me holding a gun and a dead man’s phone.’

  Brady looked at her. He didn’t know what to say. He was still trying to make sense of Madley’s actions.

  ‘I never mentioned them to the police.’ She looked at Brady. ‘You know him, don’t you? The man in the suit? The one who gave the orders?’

  Brady thought about telling her the truth. Just for a brief moment. But he knew it was better this way. The less she knew the better. He gave her a non-committal shrug.

  She frowned at him. It was clear that she didn’t believe him.

  ‘So, they left, and—’ Brady asked, ignoring her questioning eyes.

  She sighed heavily. ‘Within minutes the police turned up. Or should I say the Armed Response Unit. It was them who saved your life and Nicoletta’s . . .’

  Brady stared at her in disbelief. He wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.

  ‘Nicoletta? She’s . . .?’

  Claudia nodded. Her eyes had lit up. ‘Yes, she’s alive. But she’s in a bad way . . .’

  ‘Where? Where is she?’ Brady said, expectantly looking at the door.

  ‘She was transferred to the RVI in Newcastle. I don’t know the exact details but I know it’s still touch and go.’

  Brady sank back as relief took hold. ‘I thought . . . I saw them shoot her. I saw her fall to the ground.’

  ‘They stormed the building. It was so fast. It was over within seconds. From what I was told they shot the kidnapper holding Nicoletta. He went down, taking her with him.’

  Brady realised the spray of blood he’d seen when Nicoletta had collapsed must have been from when one of the Armed Response team had shot the man restraining her.

  ‘Do you remember anything of what happened next?’ Claudia asked.

  He shook his head. ‘Nothing. The next thing I remember is waking up in here with you asleep on me,’ Brady said, smiling at her.

  He realised her eyes were filled with tears.

  ‘You got shot . . .’ she whispered. ‘Not by our lot. By one of them. DCI Gates said one of the kidnappers had a rifle aimed at Nicoletta’s head. So one of our officers shot him before he had a chance to shoot Nicoletta . . . or you. But when the bullet hit the guard, his body jerked forward, causing his rifle to go off. The bullet went straight through you.’

  Brady wasn’t surprised. It accounted for the pain in his chest – and the fact he couldn’t move.

  ‘DCI Gates?’ Brady asked.

  ‘He turned up with Conrad shortly after. He was really worried about you . . . we all were. When I heard the shots go off inside that warehouse I had no idea whether you were still alive . . . I . . . I . . . thought that they had . . .’ Claudia faltered, unable to say it.

  Brady wanted to touch her. Reassure her that everything was all right now. That it was over. Then he remembered. There was one last detail missing. The most crucial part to the whole piece.

  ‘The Dabkunas brothers?’ Brady asked, unable to hide the fear from his voice.

  ‘Oh, Christ! I’m sorry . . . I should have told you,’ Claudia said. ‘They were shot. Killed when the Armed Response Unit stormed the warehouse.’

  ‘You’re sure?’ Brady asked, not quite believing it.

  She nodded. ‘Nobody needed reassuring more than I did that they were dead.’

  Brady was exhausted. He still couldn’t quite figure out how he’d survived. All he knew was that he was tired. Too tired to talk any more. For the first time in six months he could close his eyes with the reassurance that it was finally over. That those bastards were dead. Nobody else would get hurt by them. And Nicoletta? He wanted to see her. He had to. He needed to be sure. He had to be certain that what he thought he’d witnessed had not actually happened.

  Chapter Fifty

  ‘Jack?’

  Brady opened his eyes.

  ‘They’re calling again. This is the sixth time today. Do you want to answer it?’

  Brady looked at the nurse. ‘I can’t . . .’

  ‘I know, pet. Why don’t I hold the phone to your ear? Promise I won’t listen,’ she reassured him.

  Brady trusted Janice. He knew her life story. She had shared every detail of her painful divorce, her three adult children and her latest grandchild. She was a large woman in more ways than one and had a voracious appetite for everything – including taking care of him.

  Brady nodded reluctantly. He knew who it was and knew they wouldn’t stop until they’d talked to him.

  ‘Here you go,’ Janice said as she picked the phone up and placed it by his ear.

  ‘Yeah?’ Brady muttered reluctantly.

  ‘Jack! You took your fucking time!’ Madley replied.

  Brady didn’t respond.

  ‘So? When do you get out?’

  ‘In a week or so . . .’

  ‘Good.’

  There was an awkward silence. Both lost for words.

  The nurse looked at Brady. ‘Listen, I’ll wedge this pillow here. OK? It should hold the phone in place so it’ll give you some privacy.’

  Before Brady had a chance to object she had gone, closing the door behind her.

  Brady sighed. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. But whether or not Madley would be forthcoming was another matter.

  ‘How did you know?’

  ‘Know what? That you’d been shot? It’s been all over the news. You even made national headlines for a week.’

  Brady should have expected as much. Madley wasn’t the sort to talk.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’

  ‘Depends,’ Madley answered.

  There were only two questions that bothered Brady now.

  ‘That morning when I turned up unannounced?’

  ‘Go on,’ instructed Madley.

  ‘It was Mayor Macmillan, wasn’t it?’

  Madley didn’t answer. But his silence was enough.

  It didn’t make any sense. ‘Why?’

  ‘Business. He offered to buy me out.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I told him I wasn’t interested.’

  It was simple but honest. Enough to quell any doubts Brady might have had. He had known Madley long enough to tell when he was lying. But there was still one more question Brady needed answering – Weasel Face. Brady had seen him visiting Jake Munroe in prison hours after Munroe had stab
bed Ronnie Macmillan to death. Why?

  ‘Jake Munroe had a visitor when he was in prison,’ Brady ventured.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah. It was the same day Ronnie Macmillan was killed.’

  Silence.

  Brady waited. Madley knew what he was asking and why.

  ‘Maybe there were some questions that he needed to ask Munroe.’

  ‘Like what?’ Brady replied.

  ‘Who he was working for and why.’

  Brady accepted what Madley had said. Why not? Madley had saved his life. And in doing so, he had saved Claudia’s and Nicoletta’s. Brady could never thank Madley enough. He had been in trouble and Madley had come to his aid – no questions asked.

  ‘Thanks,’ Brady said.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘You know for what.’

  A week later, Brady was being discharged. He looked at the wheelchair in the corner of his room and wondered how the fuck he was going to cope. But before he got a chance to get overly maudlin there was a knock at his door. A tentative knock.

  ‘Yeah?’ Brady called out.

  The door opened.

  It took Brady a moment to realise who was standing there. She was the last person he had expected to see.

  She looked at him nervously.

  Brady wasn’t sure whether she was awkward because of his physical condition or if it was the on-going effect of what she’d endured.

  ‘Hey,’ Brady said.

  ‘Hi . . .’

  ‘It’s great to see you,’ Brady replied, smiling.

  ‘I . . . asked DC Kodovesky if I could visit you. She said that you’re going home today?’

  Brady nodded. ‘Yeah. They’re kicking me out. Too much trouble, they said.’

  She looked at him and smiled weakly. But it was enough. He hadn’t ever imagined Chloe Winters smiling again – let alone at him.

  ‘Do you want to come in?’ Brady asked.

  She shook her head. ‘No . . . I can’t stay. I . . . I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for getting him.’

  With that she turned and left.

  ‘Chloe?’ Brady called out. But to no avail. She had gone.

  Chapter Fifty-One