The Victim

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘Follow her,’ Ed ordered Stuart as Frankie showed the girl out. Anyone could change their phone number, but it was more difficult to change their bloody abode.

  ‘Where you goin’?’ Frankie asked, as Stuart walked towards the front door.

  ‘I’ve just gotta pop out for a bit, I’ll be back soon.’

  Frankie poured herself a vodka and her dad a Scotch. ‘So, what’s the plan? Can we go to Scotland tomorrow? If I ring DI Blyth, I reckon she’ll come with us. If we turn up with the Old Bill in tow, the O’Haras will have to give me my kids back.’

  ‘No, we ain’t involving no Old Bill, so you can get that silly idea out your head.’

  ‘Why not? Blyth’s always been good to me and I know she’ll help me get Georgie and Harry back.’

  ‘Because if the O’Haras get one whiff of the filth, they’ll gallop off faster than Red Rum once could. Seriously, Frankie, the Old Bill are fuck-up merchants, most of ’em couldn’t catch a cold, love. I’ll get ya your kids back and as soon as I bring ’em home, you can ring that Blyth bird and tell her what’s happened. Until then, you don’t tell a fuckin’ soul, OK?’

  Frankie nodded.

  ‘Right, I’m gonna make some phone calls. I ain’t schlepping all the way up to Joanie’s gaff at this time of night, so I’ll get all the lads over here.’

  Eddie rang Larry first to tell him the score, then he called Gary, Ricky and Raymond and ordered them to meet him at Frankie’s. He took deep breaths before he rang Terry Baldwin. If what Katie had said about Jed being alive turned out to be true, he would not be a happy man. With a plan forming in his mind, he punched in Baldwin’s number. ‘Meet me at Frankie’s, mate. It’s urgent,’ he said politely. He ended the call and stared at the phone. ‘Cunt,’ he mumbled.

  Stuart was back within half an hour. Ed ran to greet him and put his finger to his lips to warn him to keep schtum about where he had been. ‘Where did she go?’ he whispered. Stu repeated the address he had seen on the piece of paper and Eddie breathed a massive sigh of relief. Surely that Katie bird wouldn’t give both her phone numbers and her home address if she was lying. Then again, knowing travellers as well as he did, the whole thing could be a set-up and the O’Haras could be waiting to blow his brains out when he got to Glasgow.

  Frankie was looking out of the window.

  ‘What you doing?’ Eddie asked, as she ran to the front door.

  ‘Letting Joey and Dom in. I rang Joey while you were on the phone, told him what had happened and asked him to come over. Don’t worry, we can sit upstairs and have a drink if you need privacy,’ Frankie replied sarcastically.

  Joey held his twin sister in a tight embrace. ‘Don’t build your hopes up too much, Frankie, in case it’s another wild goose chase,’ he warned her.

  ‘I think Katie’s telling the truth, I really do, Joey,’ Frankie told him.

  ‘But I remember you talking about her when you were in prison, sis. You hated her and was positive that she was working as Jed’s spy.’

  ‘Oh, that’s fucking great, that is. We’ll probably drive up to Glasgow and all be bastard-well shot at. Why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?’ Eddie shouted at his daughter.

  ‘I thought Katie was a wrong ’un in prison, but I don’t think she is now,’ Frankie replied tearfully.

  ‘Don’t have a go at her, Dad, she’s upset,’ Joey said angrily.

  ‘And you’ll all be fucking upset if I schlep all the way to poxy Glasgow and get me brains blown out,’ Ed replied unfeelingly.

  ‘I’m gonna take Frankie upstairs. Pour us some drinks, Dom, and we can talk in her bedroom,’ Joey said. He could tell his dad was in a real shitty mood and when he was like that there was no reasoning with him.

  Gary and Ricky were the next to arrive and were shocked to be told what had happened. ‘What you gonna do about Baldwin if he has fucked up? You gonna keep him on?’ Gary asked.

  Ed shrugged. ‘Can’t sack him, can I? He knows too much. I’ve only got two choices, forgive him or kill him.’

  ‘You can’t kill him Dad, Terry’s a good geezer,’ Ricky said, sticking up for the man.

  ‘No point worrying about it now. For all we know, this pikey bird might be fucking lying,’ Ed replied.

  Raymond was the next to turn up. ‘Jesus Christ,’ he said, as Eddie explained the story to him.

  Hearing another car engine, Gary looked out of the window. ‘Baldwin’s just pulled up. Now, let’s not get on his case, let’s just worry about getting the kids back for now, eh?’

  Everybody agreed, bar Eddie. He didn’t reply.

  ‘I can’t believe it. I’m positive it was Jed that I killed,’ Terry said, as Gary explained what had happened to him.

  ‘But how positive? I asked you before if you’d seen the cunt’s face and you said no,’ Eddie yelled, inches away from Terry’s face.

  ‘Listen, you told me that Jed would be with Jimmy that night, and I know it weren’t him I killed. He had a youngster’s baseball cap on, for fuck’s sake. If what this girl is saying is true, then it ain’t my fault. If I’d have known that his cousin was gonna be with him, I’d have made sure I clocked Jed’s face when I shot him. All I know is that I killed the driver and he was a young ’un. It most certainly wasn’t Jimmy O’Hara.’

  ‘Terry’s right, Ed. If we gave him the wrong information, then it ain’t his fault,’ Raymond said, bravely defending his colleague.

  Stuart, who was usually the one to sit back and let all the others do the talking, was getting angrier by the second. ‘This is fucking ridiculous. Poor Frankie is sat upstairs in bits wondering if her kids are coming home and all we’ve done so far is sit here blaming each other. Why don’t we just concentrate on bringing Georgie and Harry home, eh? Surely that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?’

  Eddie felt a bit guilty as he ran his hands through his hair. Stuart was right, and had made him feel like a complete moron. ‘I’m sorry, Stu’s right, so let’s get cracking. This is the plan.’

  Everybody listened intently as Eddie began to explain. ‘I suggest we use two untraceable vans with stickers down the side again. I’ll ring Flatnose in the morning to sort those out. Once we’ve got the motors, we drive straight up to Scotland. I’ve already found out the proper name of the boozer that Jimmy O’Hara supposedly drinks in. It’s called the Babbity Bowster and the tart on directory enquiries said there’s nothing of a similar name, so that’s got to be kosher. What we do then is follow Jimmy back from the boozer – he’s bound to be half-pissed, so won’t be that vigilant. We can take it in turns to tail him, and I’ll make sure Freddie gets us two completely different vans, that way Jimmy won’t notice anything following him. Once we find out where the cunt’s living, we keep watch on his gaff. We wait for Jimmy and Jed to both go out, snatch the kids and bring ’em home. Job done!’

  Gary and Ricky glanced at one another. Their father made everything sound so easy, but in their minds his plan was full of pitfalls.

  ‘How we gonna know what the kids look like now? There could be hundreds of kids living there, for all we know. You know what these pikeys are like, they bang ’em out one after the other,’ Ricky said.

  ‘We’ll know. I’m gonna go out tomorrow and purchase the most expensive binoculars money can buy. Georgie and Harry have gotta be living with Jimmy and Alice, Jed, or both. They’re my flesh and blood, I’ll fucking know ’em when I see ’em, don’t you worry about that,’ Ed snapped.

  Gary picked up the bottle of Scotch and topped everyone’s glasses up. ‘If Jed is still alive, he’ll be down ’ere like a rocket trying to snatch the kids back. Even if he ain’t, Jimmy will. We need to kill ’em, Dad. It’s the only way to end it once and for all,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t you think I know that? We are gonna kill ’em once the dust settles. Remember, we’re gonna have to inform the authorities that the kids are back home, and if Jed and Jimmy disappear at the same time Georgie and Harry are snatched, the Old Bill will be all over
us like a swarm of bees. I know pikeys don’t usually deal with the filth, but that fat slag Alice will be on the phone to ’em as quick as you can say Bob’s your uncle if her whole family vanish. What we’ve got to do is bide our time just for a couple of weeks, sort ourselves out with strong alibis, and then deal with Jed and Jimmy.’

  ‘I doubt they’ll stay on the same site or wherever it is they’re living, Ed. Not if they know you know where they are,’ Terry added.

  ‘I know that. That’s why you’ll be staying up in Scotland watching their every movement, Tel,’ Ed replied, enjoying the look of shock on the man’s face.

  ‘I can’t do that, Ed. I can take it in turns with someone else if you like. My Anne will go apeshit if I fuck off for weeks on end. She moans that I’m always working all the time as it is.’

  ‘She won’t go as apeshit as I will when I find out for definite that you’ve shot the wrong bloke, so I’d button it if I were you and do as you’re told. Anyway, if you ain’t made a cock-up, then you won’t need to stay up there, will ya? And if you have, you wanna think yourself lucky I don’t blow your kneecaps off.’

  Recognising the look of fire in Eddie Mitchell’s eyes, Terry Baldwin didn’t argue. ‘OK, mate, I’ll do it,’ he replied wisely.

  ‘Anyway, you won’t be on your own, Stu’s gonna be with you,’ Ed informed him.

  ‘Why me?’ Stuart asked. The thought of not seeing Frankie for weeks made him feel instantly depressed.

  ‘Because you’re single. I can’t let Tel do this on his own. Say the O’Haras spot him following ’em, and he goes missing or something? We never work alone, you know that, boy.’

  ‘OK,’ Stuart said, knowing he had no choice but to agree.

  ‘How we gonna grab the kids? I mean, they ain’t toddlers no more, are they?’ Raymond asked.

  ‘The same way you grabbed Frankie that night in Tilbury. We bundle ’em in the van and, if necessary, tie ’em up, Raymondo. We’ll go well prepared; we might need to use duct tape on ’em or something to stop ’em screaming. They’re bound to be frightened and kick up a fuss, ain’t they?’

  ‘You can’t tie ’em up like hostages. They’re only young and they’re your grandchildren,’ Ricky piped up, horrified.

  Eddie smirked and shook his head in amused disbelief. He knew exactly what type of children he’d be bringing home with him, but nobody else seemed to have a clue.

  ‘I don’t care if we have to drive the whole journey with canvas sacks over the kids’ heads, as long as we get them home. They ain’t gonna be normal children, you know. How can they be when they’ve been dragged up by them scumbag cunts? They’ll be loud, wild and probably fucking violent. You won’t recognise their nature, and neither will I. They’ll be out-and-out gypsy kids. Getting ’em home is the easy part; getting them to adjust to living a normal life will be far more difficult. You mark my words on that one.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Forty-eight hours later, Eddie and the boys set off for bonny Scotland. Stuart drove the blue van, accompanied by Terry Baldwin and Raymond. Ed drove the white one and was joined by Gary and Ricky.

  ‘So did you book us somewhere to stay in the end?’ Ricky asked his father.

  ‘Yeah, I booked us three rooms in a B&B in the town centre. I rang up a few and this one was a bit dearer than the others, so it should be OK. It’s only five minutes from the boozer that Jimmy supposedly drinks in.’

  ‘Why don’t we ring up the pub later and ask if Jimmy’s in there? Or do you think that’s a bit dodgy?’ Gary asked.

  ‘It’s way too dodgy, and for all we know he might be using a different surname now. Jimmy’s a slippery cunt and the last thing we wanna do is alert him that someone’s looking for him. If he does another runner, we’re fucked.’

  ‘Have you let Larry know what’s going on?’ Ricky asked.

  ‘Yep. Providing things go to plan, I’ll bell him as soon as we’ve got the kids and are on the way home. He’s gonna get Carol Cullen involved again, and he’ll notify the Old Bill. I got that Blyth bird’s number off Frankie, so he can ring her directly.’

  ‘Just think, this time in twenty-four hours, Frankie might be reunited with her kids,’ Gary said in an upbeat manner.

  ‘Let’s hope so, boy, but let’s not build our hopes up too much, ’cause nothing’s ever fucking straightforward when it involves Jed and Jimmy O’Hara.’

  * * *

  Frankie put the quilt over her head to shut out the light that was peeping through the gap in the curtains. She’d had an awful night’s sleep, and every time she dozed off she’d dreamed about her kids returning home, which had then woken her up again.

  ‘You awake, sweet child?’ Babs asked, opening the bedroom door with a tray in her hand.

  ‘You ain’t cooked me breakfast, have you?’ Frankie asked, sitting up.

  ‘Two boiled eggs and two slices of toast. You have to eat something, Frankie, or you’ll make yourself ill.’

  ‘I can’t face food until I hear some news. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach and I keep feeling sick.’

  Babs sat down on the edge of the bed and handed Frankie a slice of toast. ‘Please, just eat that for me,’ she urged.

  ‘I spent the whole night wondering what they might look like now. When they were kids, Georgie was the extrovert out of the two. Harry was quite timid. Do you think they’ll recognise me? Say they’re happy living with Jed and they don’t like me or something?’ Frankie said anxiously.

  Babs put the tray on the floor and hugged her worried friend. She had been astounded when she’d returned from her mum’s house and heard Frankie’s news, and she just hoped that at long last there would be a happy ending for Frankie. ‘Obviously it’s gonna be a little strange for Georgie and Harry at first, but they’ll soon adapt, kids always do. I’m sure they’ll remember you, mate, and I bet they’ve wondered how you are millions of times over the years. They are gonna love you, Frankie, everybody does, so stop worrying that pretty head of yours. Now, shall we go out and do something today to take our minds off things? How about going to the pictures or having a browse around the shops?’

  Frankie shook her head. ‘I can’t concentrate on watching a film and I couldn’t face going shopping. I think I’ll ring Joey, get him to come over. He’s a great comfort to me when the going gets tough, he always has been.’

  The journey up to Glasgow took Eddie and the boys seven-and-a-half hours. They’d spent over an hour stuck in rush-hour traffic, and had also stopped at a service station for some much-needed breakfast.

  Ed wasn’t overawed by the vans that they’d acquired. Flatnose Freddie knew that Eddie didn’t like using big beasts for anything undercover, but because the vans had to be got at short notice, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and a Renault Trafic was all Flatnose could come up with. ‘They’re both newish, clean and untraceable, so stop worrying, they’ll be fine,’ Freddie had assured him.

  The B&B was clean, tidy, but also very basic.

  ‘Hardly the fucking Ritz, is it?’ Raymond complained to Eddie.

  ‘It’ll do us. Hopefully, we’ll only be here a couple of days – if all goes well, that is.’

  Eddie unpacked his bag and hung his clothes up in the musty, old-fashioned-looking wardrobe. ‘Smells fucking rotten, that does. I’m glad I never brought any good clobber with me,’ he moaned.

  Raymond laughed. ‘Come on, let’s go and meet the others.’

  Gary, Ricky, Stuart and Terry were already waiting in reception. Seeing Terry in deep conversation with the owner of the B&B, Ed strolled over.

  ‘So you’re property developers, are you? Your friend was just telling me about your plans to build flats,’ the woman commented.

  Eddie smiled politely. He could tell the woman was a nosy old cow and made a mental note to find somewhere else for Stuart and Terry to stay when he and the others went home. ‘We have to go now. We musn’t be late for our meeting,’ he replied, dragging Terry away.

  ‘Don’t forg
et, breakfast is served at eight,’ the woman shouted out.

  Eddie ignored her, and half-shoved the lads out the door. ‘I don’t like her one little bit. If we don’t get no joy in a day or two, I’ll check us into a hotel somewhere.’

  ‘She was all right. She was only trying to be friendly, I think,’ Terry said.

  ‘Nah, she was a complete wrong ’un. I can sense ’em a mile off, mate,’ Ed replied knowingly.

  ‘So, what’s occurring now? I dunno about yous lot, but I could kill a quick pint. My mouth feels like a nun’s fucking crotch,’ Ricky said blatantly.

  ‘We ain’t ’ere to party. We’ll pick the vans up and plot ourselves somewhere near that boozer. The quicker we find O’Hara, the quicker we get home,’ Ed snapped.

  ‘But it’s only one o’clock. Jimmy ain’t gonna go for a lunchtime pint and leave this early, is he?’ Ricky replied.

  Ed glared at his son. ‘I don’t care if we stake out that boozer until ten o’clock tonight. We’ve come ’ere for one reason only – to get them kids back – and the quicker we achieve it, the better.’

  Unaware that Eddie Mitchell was on his tail, Jed O’Hara was in an extremely buoyant mood. Marrying Lola had been the best decision he’d ever made and, for the first time ever, Jed was loyal to his woman, and felt no urge to play around with others. ‘I always told you you’d be happy with a nice travelling girl, didn’t I? We need to stick with our own kind, not them gorjer shit-bags,’ his mum told him on a regular basis. Jed had to admit that for once she was right.

  Sammy’s murder had knocked the stuffing out of Jed for a very long time. The bullets were meant for him, he knew that, and if it wasn’t for his psychic mother having one of her premonitions, he would now be six feet under. His mum’s tearful phone call was the only reason Jed had swapped seats with Sammy on that fateful night. He had been driving the horse-box in a very drunken state, and after he’d spoken to his mum, he’d allowed Sammy to take the wheel to ensure they got home safely. Picturing his cousin’s smiling face, Jed sighed. He would never forget all the blood and gore, and the look of death on Sammy’s face. The images of those particular things would live with him for ever.