Cara could do nothing but wait until it passed. After a few moments she felt she had to say something.
‘It’s nice that everyone turned up tonight. Really nice.’ She reached across and stroked the other woman’s arm.
Heather roused herself a little at the touch. ‘Aye, hen, it was. We’ve a great wee community here. A great wee community. They slag us off. Say we’re no-hopers, but the people here care, you know? They really care.’ She dabbed at the damp of her cheek as if barely aware she was doing so. ‘What did you want to talk to Danny about? I know you already told me, but I’m not listening so well…’ She tailed off by way of an apology.
‘Our Sean,’ Cara replied, not wanting to go back through all of that after all. It would only increase her despondency. ‘As I said, I wanted the Gadd woman to know what kind of man she’d been married to.’
‘Oh, God,’ said Heather her mouth open. ‘I should’ve thought. You’ve been through all of this with Sean. How could I be so selfish?’
‘Hey,’ said Cara, ‘that was some time ago. Yours is much more recent.’
‘It never fades though, eh?’
They stood in silence for a moment, each nursing their own loss.
Heather broke the silence. ‘Our Danny felt awful about what happened to Sean. Said it was a total accident what happened to that Christopher, but the Gadd fella refused to believe it. He was certain there was something else going on, apparently, and wanted Sean to suffer every broken bone that Christopher did.’
Cara winced.
‘Sorry, love. But you know all that, eh? Danny would have told you.’
‘He didn’t tell me much really. He left that wee detail out, to be honest.’
‘Was probably trying to save you any more hurt, love. That was our Danny over the back.’ She crossed her arms as if that simple act would bolster her strength. ‘The whole thing haunted him. He’d get drunk or be on something and talk about it for hours.’
‘I only wish he had talked to the cops at the time and Tommy Gadd would have had his heart attack behind bars.’
‘Aye, well, he was scared, eh? And he wasn’t a grass.’ Heather scratched at the side of her face, and Cara could see that her fingernails were all chewed to the quick. ‘Just as well.’ Heather continued. ‘Or it would have been the wrong man behind bars.’
‘Wait. Wrong man? What are you talking about?’ In an instant Cara’s heart had turned to a block of lead, her insides solid.
‘Oh, sorry, love, did Danny not tell you that bit?’
‘What bit?’
‘He was round the other day. On the cadge, until this big wedge of cash came his way.’ She rolled her eyes at the notion. ‘But you know … tough love. I’d done so much for him. I thought…’ Her eyes filled again and she rocked back and forth with the force of her emotion. Cara watched in an agony. How could she interrupt and beg the woman to tell her what she knew? ‘Would he still be alive if I’d given him…?’
‘Oh, Heather,’ Cara pulled her close. ‘You can’t torture yourself. I’ve seen it a thousand times. His life was chaotic.’ How to say this. ‘Something was bound to happen…’
Heather shuddered. Visibly pulled herself together. ‘You’re right, hen. But it doesn’t really help. I let my boy down and I’ll have to live with that.’ She wiped at her cheek with a delicateness that surprised. As if she was imagining touching the face of her son. Then she looked at Cara. ‘What were we saying?’
‘Danny had the wrong guy?’ And it was all Cara could do not to take her by the shoulders and give her a good shake until she told her everything she knew.
‘Right. Aye. So he said he was sure it was Tommy Gadd cos the guy was behaving like it was his son that had died, but then a few days after Tommy’s death was in the papers, Danny was up the town and saw the guy that had given Sean a doing.’ Heather looked at Cara, a question in her eyes. ‘Danny said he was so like the other guy he thought he’d seen a ghost. Did this Gadd fella have a brother? A twin or something?’
44
Bill squared up to Anton. ‘I said that’s enough.’
Now that he was on his feet it occurred to Paula that when she’d come in he’d had his hands behind his back as if they were tied. But now he had nothing around his wrists but his shirt sleeves.
‘Will somebody tell me what the hell’s going on?’ she demanded.
‘Sit down, Bill.’ Daphne’s voice barely concealed panic. She was looking from Bill to Anton and her face suggested she was worried about what Anton was capable of.
‘Yes, sit down, Bill,’ Anton said as he bared his teeth.
‘No. I’ve had enough. Time after time I’ve listened to you, and time after time you’ve gone too far. I want out. I’ve had enough of you and your threats.’
‘I don’t threaten, Billy, I act.’ He held the knife up. ‘Now unless you want this, you’ll sit down right now.’
But Bill stayed on his feet and stared at Anton as if considering making a challenge. If he did that someone was going to get hurt, thought Paula. Probably Bill.
Desperate to try and diffuse the situation she said, ‘Will someone please tell me what is going on here? Daphne? Bill?’
Daphne sat as if shrinking into herself, her face tight with fear. Bill examined Paula as if he was wondering how he could say what he needed to say.
There was a look of grim satisfaction on Anton’s face, as if all of his plans were about to come to terrible fruition.
‘Will you tell her, or will I?’ Anton asked Bill.
‘Don’t you…’ Bill began, but Anton held up the knife to silence him.
Then he turned to Paula. ‘Mr Gadd and I have been in business together for some time. Quite a few years actually. Selling a bit of this and a bit of that. Then he began to sample too much of the merchandise…’
‘Hey…’ Bill protested.
‘I will use this,’ Anton shouted, brandishing the knife again. ‘Sit. Now.’
Bill looked both furious and wary. Whatever had been in the script had not included this.
Anton waited, but Bill remained standing, almost daring Anton to use the knife. What did sampling too much of the merchandise mean? Drugs? Prostitution? Paula stared from Bill to Anton. Bill blinked first and sat down.
‘I thought you worked in that menswear shop,’ Paula said in a low voice.
Bill looked over at her. ‘Work it out, Paula for Christ’s sake. You always were the smart one.’
She studied Bill as if this was the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Didn’t he work in a men’s shop at all? Or was that just a front so people wouldn’t ask where the money was coming from? If it was drugs he was involved in she hadn’t seen any signs. Certainly, since Christopher died, Bill and Daphne had been less and less in their lives, but even so, how on earth did she miss all of this? With a turn of her stomach, she wondered just how much Thomas had been involved.
‘Your husband was mister goody two boots,’ Anton said, mangling the phrase. ‘He had no clue about drugs, but I worked out he was good prospect for helping me move big money for my clients, and then Father Joe made a mess of his gambles … it was like a gift.’ He gave her a nasty smile.
‘You mean you didn’t help Thomas rebuild the cottage?’
Anton threw his head back and laughed, as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. ‘I don’t know what way to use screwdriver. No way can I build house.’
Open-mouthed, Paula shook her head. Could she have been any more naïve? She’d have to process that fact later. If there was a later. She turned to Bill. ‘So, if Anton hadn’t already met you, Joe would never have got involved. You’re happy for your brother to believe he was responsible for all of this mess? How do you sleep at night, Bill Gadd?’ Her tone was scathing.
‘Hey,’ Daphne sat forward in her chair. ‘Your Tommy was no bloody saint. So get off Bill’s back, you little tart.’
Paula looked at Daphne as if she was a stranger. In this situation, why was she havi
ng a go at her? She struggled for something to say. All she could manage was, ‘Don’t talk to me like that.’
‘Oh, please.’ Daphne adopted a whiney tone. ‘Don’t talk to me like that.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘You were about to shag my husband.’
‘Wait … what?’ Daphne knew?
‘And if that isn’t a kicker.’ Daphne’s eyes were full of loathing. ‘If you knew what he’d gone through for you…’
‘Daphne,’ Bill shouted. ‘Enough.’
Daphne looked up at her husband, shifted on her seat and swallowed what it was she was about to say. Then went with. ‘Whatever, precious Paula. Know this. Tommy was no saint. He stole a million pounds from those accounts. And if we don’t get it back we could all die.’
At the mention of the missing money both men returned their attention to Paula. And from Anton’s expression his previous attempt at assault was about to be resumed.
Squirming in her chair, Paula thought about everything Anton had done so far. Her death, should he go that far, wasn’t going to be more than the weight of a feather on his conscience.
She needed to give him an answer.
But where could Thomas have hidden the money? And in this moment of danger she found she wasn’t that bothered about herself. If she died, she died. All she wanted was that it might be painless. But his next stop after her was bound to be Joe, and she’d fight to protect him. She needed to give Anton a place to search.
‘I check the cottage. Very thoroughly,’ Anton shrugged. ‘Nothing there.’
‘Please believe me. I’ll get down on my knees if it makes any difference, but I know nothing about this million pounds. I had no idea you people were involved in that much money.’
‘Then I have to show my bosses something or they kill me – after they rape my wife and daughter in front of my eyes. Better you than me and mine.’ He stepped towards her.
‘Wait. Wait,’ Paula shouted, putting her hands up in front of her. She was trembling so hard it was a wonder she could speak. ‘If you kill me you have no chance of finding the money.’
‘Go on,’ said Anton and took a step back. And another step back, moving until he was standing between the seated Daphne and Bill.
‘I knew Thomas best, right? I’m sure if given enough time I can work out where he hid the money. Please. I just need some time to think this through. Let’s all go and I’ll…’
‘I have no time, Mrs Gadd. My bosses need money now, or they need a body. That body cannot be mine.’
‘Oh, Jesus. How am I supposed to think about this right now?’ She was shaking so badly the words barely sounded in the room.
‘Perhaps you need a little help?’ asked Anton with a mild tone.
‘Yes. Help. I need some help.’
Anton smiled. ‘Then I hope this works for you.’
Without pausing, Anton swung to the right, hard and so fast his arm blurred as he buried his knife into Bill’s chest.
45
‘He said what?’ Cara couldn’t believe her ears.
‘Yeah,’ said Heather. ‘He had the wrong guy all along.’
‘But how could he…? How could…?’
‘You know, I’m not comfortable talking about all this drug stuff. It totally turned our Danny’s head and probably cost him his life. So, if you don’t mind I’d rather not. Not now, hen. I can’t handle it.’
‘But, Heather…’ Cara began, but reading the pain in the other woman’s face she couldn’t push her any further. ‘It’s just, for our Sean’s sake I need to know what’s going on,’ she finished, but heard the strength in her voice fade as she spoke.
‘Listen, doll. There’s a bunch of guys out the front. Speak to them. I really didn’t want some of them here at all.’ She shook her head. ‘What they do turns my stomach, but everybody needs to grieve, right? And maybe some of them will see what happened to Danny and take it as a warning.’
Heather looked into the near distance, drifting off. Cara steered her back to where her thought had been going. ‘The guys out front?’
‘Yeah. One of them, guy called Stan. He’s well in with all that crowd. Maybe he knows something? He’s got that cheeky-chappy thing going on. He probably tried to chat you up as you came in.’ She made a face of apology. ‘Have a word wi’ him.’ With that, she walked out of the kitchen and back to the group solicitation she’d been receiving before Cara came in.
Outside, Cara approached the group of men and youths, looking for the one who Heather referred to as Stan. When she reached them, the men split apart to let her through. She got a couple of smiles, nods and somebody asked how Danny’s ma was.
Unsure who she should answer, she spoke to them all, looking around at their faces. ‘Poor woman’s in a bad way.’
She got several low and gruff ‘ayes’ in response.
When she got through the other side and reached the pavement beyond the gathering, she had another look to see if Stan was there and with a sinking feeling realised he had gone. Looking at a couple of young men at the outskirts of the group, she picked one who looked most friendly.
‘Hey, mate,’ she said. ‘Do you know Stan?’
‘Sorry, missus,’ he said and shook his head. ‘Don’t know him.’
His friend looked at her and said, ‘Stan the Man?’
‘Yeah,’ said Cara hopefully.
‘Never heard of him,’ the man said. Then the two of them burst out laughing.
‘Very funny,’ Cara said, made a face at them and turned and walked away. Then she heard a shout. She turned; it was Stan making his way through the crowd.
‘You’re never leaving without saying cheerio?’ he said to her. ‘Just went inside for a … the loo and I come out and you’re about to leg it.’ He was holding both his arms out and Cara could see he was playing to the gallery, and realised that was also how she could get to him.
She gave him a stare and then turned and walked away.
He caught up to her and held her arm. ‘Did I say something to offend you?’ His smile was large, but she read a faint worry in his eyes that she might leave him with egg dripping from the tip of his nose. He wanted to impress the gang and was concerned she wouldn’t play along.
She took a couple more steps, allowing him to judge her pace, then dropped her head a little and said quietly, ‘It brought it all back you know?’ She allowed a little of her genuine sorrow to leak into her voice. ‘Seeing Heather in there. Talking about Danny…’
‘Sorry, darling, and here I’m acting all Jack the lad.’ He put an arm over her shoulders. And she allowed it, granted him that little prize … for a moment, and then quietly said, ‘Move your arm or I’ll mash your nuts.’
He moved his arm.
‘You knew our Sean, eh?’ She swung round to face him. ‘How?’
‘We did the odd job, here and there, you know?’ He was standing back from her now.
‘For the Gadds?’
His face changed. A wariness appeared in his eyes.
‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone. Sean died working for those bastards and Danny was my last hope to find out the truth.’ She allowed a little tear and inched closer to him.
‘That wasn’t what happened,’ Stan said. ‘Who told you that?’
‘It’s what I heard…’
‘No, I was there as well, doll, and I can tell you that was most definitely not what happened.’
‘Oh, Jesus,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t know who to believe.’ She gave a little sob, exaggerating it a little. ‘This is, like, old news. I mean who cares, right? Our Sean’s dead. Now Danny…’ She tailed off, allowing more of her genuine feelings to show.
Stan looked around as if assessing who was nearby. Then he stepped closer, put a hand on her shoulder, but with real tenderness now. ‘Listen, I’ll tell you what I know, but you can’t tell anyone. I mean anyone, or I’m toast. There’s some dangerous people involved here.’
‘Okay,’ she said making her eyes large. She put a hand on his
lower arm. ‘What can you tell me?’
‘Go to the polis with this and I’ll deny everything.’
She snorted. ‘To the polis I’m the crazy sister with a different theory every month. I’ve given up on the polis ever being any help on this.’
‘Right,’ said Stan making his mind up once and for all. ‘Not here. That car there…’ He nodded in the direction of a white Vauxhall Astra just two cars up.
Cara gave him a dead-eyed look.
‘Nae funny business, doll.’ He held his hands up. Cara pretended to weigh what he was offering.
‘Give me your car keys?’ She held out a hand.
‘Nice wee car, innit?’ And the cheeky chappy was back. ‘Want to go for a ride?’ He said the last few words louder. Got a cheer from his mates.
If he gave her what she wanted, Cara thought, he deserved that little victory. As he pulled the keys from his pocket she shot out her hand and grabbed them. His eyebrows went up.
‘Impressive reflexes you’ve got there. You some kind of secret ninja or something?’
She ignored his question, turned and walked towards his car, aimed the remote and pressed a button. Sitting in the passenger side, she kept hold of the car keys.
‘Aww, you not fancy a wee drive?’
‘Thanks for the offer, Stan, but would you mind if we just talked?’ She’d keep up the little woman act for as long as it took, although she was close to grabbing one of his fingers and snapping it if he didn’t get on with it.
‘And that’s the story of my love life right there, darling.’
After He Died Page 27
