The Victim

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘Turn the radio up again,’ Ed ordered Raymond.

  As Raymond did so, Ed leaned towards him. ‘We can’t drop the kids off at the slip road. It’s too dodgy and I don’t want Joey and Dom getting hurt. Think of somewhere we can meet up where they’ll be loads of people milling about.’

  ‘It’ll be gone ten by the time we get back, Ed, so there ain’t many places gonna be busy. Surely we’re better meeting Dom and Joey at a garage. I can’t see the O’Haras pulling onto the forecourt, ’cause they’re all camera’d up,’ Raymond suggested.

  ‘But what if they do?’

  Raymond shrugged. ‘It’s a chance we’re gonna have to take. Get Joey to make sure Dom parks up away from the pumps and turns the headlights off. I’m sure the O’Haras won’t pull in behind us; they didn’t at the service station, did they?’

  Eddie rubbed the stubble on his chin. ‘What garage do ya reckon’s best to stop at? We can’t use the one near Brentwood nick, as it’s too near to Frankie’s gaff.’

  ‘I reckon we’re better taking the 127 turn-off. If we stop at that garage opposite Palms Hotel, the O’Haras will probably pull up near Ardleigh Green lights and wait for us there. They definitely ain’t gonna wanna create a scene where there’s cameras, Ed.’

  Eddie took his phone out of his pocket. ‘Let’s hope you’re fucking right, Raymondo, ’cause if you ain’t, Joey and Dom might be in shit street an’ all.’

  As the evening wore on, Frankie was becoming more suspicious by the minute. Joey’s behaviour was odd, to say the least, and even though he was trying to join in the conversation, Frankie knew him well enough to know that something was wrong. Everybody had gone to bed now apart from Babs, Joey, Dom and herself and as her brother stared at his phone again, Frankie felt her hackles start to rise.

  ‘Whaddya keep checking your fucking phone for? I know something’s wrong, Joey, so you might as well just tell me what it is.’

  Eddie had ordered Joey to say nothing to Frankie until he’d picked the children up so, as he was just about to lie, Joey was relieved as his phone burst into life. ‘We’ll leave now,’ he said, after listening to his father’s instructions.

  ‘You ain’t going nowhere until you tell me what’s going on,’ Frankie yelled, blocking the doorway with her body.

  ‘I won’t be long and as soon as I get back I’ll explain, I promise.’

  ‘You fucking tell me now, Joey, else I’m coming with you.’

  ‘I’m going to pick the kids up, if you must know. Now, get out the way, else we’re gonna be late.’

  Frankie stood open-mouthed as her brother and Dominic pushed past her. When the door slammed, she turned to Babs. ‘I knew something would go wrong. I thought it was all too good to be true,’ she shouted tearfully.

  Babs hugged her. ‘You don’t even know that anything’s wrong yet. Perhaps your dad has to go somewhere afterwards.’

  Frankie shook her head furiously. ‘If my dad has involved my gay brother in all of this, then something is very fucking wrong.’

  Jed looked at his fuel tank and ordered his brother to ring their father and pass him the phone.

  ‘What’s up?’ Jimmy asked.

  ‘I’m nearly out of juice. I reckon the cunts will take the next turn-off, but even if they don’t, I’m gonna have to fill up. There’s a garage not far past the Post House, ain’t there? I’ll fill up there, then catch you back up. Don’t lose ’em, for fuck’s sake.’

  Jimmy chuckled. ‘Me and Mickey are right behind ’em. The only place Mitchell’s going is inside a coffin, boy.’

  * * *

  Georgie and Harry looked startled as their grandfather ordered their hands to be tied up again. ‘What have we done wrong?’ Georgie complained.

  As Gary did the deed, Eddie looked around and leaned over the seat. ‘In a minute you’re getting out the van. Your Uncle Joey is picking you up and he’s taking you home to your mum. We’ll be round to see you again either later tonight or tomorrow.’

  Feeling his chance of escaping slipping away, Harry glared at his grandad. ‘What you gonna do to my dad? If you do anything bad to him, I’ll tell the gavvers and get ’em to lock you up.’

  ‘And if you ain’t nice to your mother, I’ll have you locked up an’ all. Your mum loves you very much and once you get to know her properly, you’ll love her as well,’ Ed replied.

  ‘Are you gonna hurt our dad and grandad?’ Georgie asked nervously.

  ‘No. I’m gonna send ’em back to Glasgow, that’s all,’ Eddie lied.

  ‘Right, we’re only five minutes from the garage now, Ed. We’ve definitely lost one of ’em and he ain’t reappeared yet,’ Raymond said.

  ‘Bats ready boys, just in case we need ’em. Raymondo reckons they won’t follow us ’cause of the cameras, hence the change of plan,’ Ed explained.

  When Gary and Ricky grabbed the baseball bats, Harry looked fearfully at his sister and began to cry. He’d always got annoyed with his Nanny Alice for fussing over him like an old mother hen, but he wished he could have a big cuddle from her now.

  Georgie winked at her brother as reassurance that everything would be all right. For now it was the only comfort she could offer him.

  Joey and Dominic were still barely on speaking terms. Dom was furious that Joey had sort of threatened him with his father and, not for the first time in his life, wondered what sort of family he’d got himself involved with.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Joey asked softly. His boyfriend’s hands were visibly shaking and Joey felt terribly guilty for involving him, but he couldn’t drive himself, so had had little choice.

  ‘Yeah, I’m fucking fantastic,’ Dominic replied, his voice full of sarcasm.

  Joey glanced at his watch. His dad had told him to park by the bit of the garage where you put air in the tyres.

  ‘Tell the cashier that you’ve got a puncture if he or she looks at you strange. Let ’em know you’re waiting for someone who’s bringing a spare and then we’ll reverse up to you, get the kids out the back and shoot off. Give it a couple of minutes then you drive off,’ were his dad’s exact instructions.

  ‘I wonder what will happen if the O’Haras pull in here as well,’ Joey said nervously.

  Dominic glared at his partner. ‘Shame you never brought the gun with you. We could have shot them and got ourselves locked up for twenty years. It might not sound like much fun, but I’m sure it would have been better than us getting killed, which is what will probably happen now. Never again will I let you talk me into anything like this, Joey, and I mean never!’

  ‘Right, ’ere goes, lads,’ Raymond shouted as he swerved onto the garage forecourt at high speed. Breathing a sigh of relief as Jimmy’s Shogun drove past, Raymond swung the van around and reversed up to Dominic’s motor. Eddie jumped out of the front, opened the back doors and urged Gary and Ricky to get the kids out double quick.

  ‘Why are they tied up?’ Joey asked, horrified.

  ‘Because they tried to do a runner earlier. Just get ’em home and untie ’em there. Do not let them out of your sight for one minute, OK?’

  Joey nodded and jumped in the back with the kids. ‘Wait until my dad pulls away, then drive off a minute or so later,’ he told Dom.

  Appalled that both children had their hands tied up, Dominic shook his head in disbelief. If the cashier had clocked them and written down his number plate, the police would be hunting for him, thinking he was a dangerous paedophile on the loose.

  Joey smiled lovingly at both of the children as he digested their appearances. Georgie resembled Frankie, but looked a lot older than he expected. As for Harry, he was unrecognisable.

  ‘Hello, I’m your Uncle Joey. Your Mummy’s going to be so pleased to see you,’ Joey said, his eyes welling up with emotion.

  Harry stared at his uncle. His earlier upset had been replaced by pure anger and he was livid now he didn’t have his family on his tail. ‘We’re still gonna live with our dad and yous can’t stop us. We don’t even wann
a see our mum, do we, Georgie? We like living where we are, and that ain’t gonna change, so why don’t you shitcunts just leave us alone?’

  ‘We hate you, you bastards!’ Georgie screamed.

  ‘Drive, Dom,’ Joey ordered. He locked eyes with his boyfriend through the interior mirror and both knew exactly what the other was thinking. Poor bloody Frankie.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  As predicted by Raymond, Jimmy’s Shogun was parked on the pavement at Ardleigh Green traffic lights.

  ‘Do a left here and head to Dagenham, Raymondo,’ Eddie said.

  ‘I’m sure the soppy cunts think we don’t know we’re being followed. Why else would they hang two or three cars back all the time?’ Ray replied.

  ‘Any sign of the other motor?’ Eddie asked. He was worried it had headed towards Frankie’s house.

  ‘Ain’t seen it yet, mate. Probably stopped for petrol, unless the bastard broke down,’ Raymond replied.

  Glad to be rid of the kids so they could now talk openly, Gary leaned his head over the front seat. ‘So, what’s the plan now? I take it the shooters are in the usual place?’

  Eddie nodded. A couple of years back he’d had a new toilet built inside the scrapyard and it had been especially designed by a pal of his, with a false floor underneath. Ed had very few dealings with the salvage yard these days, so apart from the one handgun he kept at home to protect his family, anything else untoward was hidden there. Ed still had contacts inside the police force and if he ever got tipped off that the Old Bill were on his case, it wouldn’t take him long to clear the yard of anything that could be incriminating.

  ‘That’s the only hitch we have. If the O’Haras are armed it’s gonna take us a few minutes or so to get the guns out,’ he replied.

  ‘How about if me and Gal are dropped off, you and Ray continue in the van, then come back five minutes later?’ Ricky suggested.

  Ed’s scrapyard was just off the A13 and because of where it was situated, he immediately shook his head. ‘Too dodgy. If they’re behind us they’ll definitely see you get out. I think we’re just gonna have to hope they ain’t armed, and three of us can distract ’em with our knives and bats while the other makes a dash for the guns. Who’s the fastest runner?’ he asked jokingly. Eddie knew that if the O’Haras were armed, they could all be in shit street, and part of him now wished he’d got the handgun from Joey. The reason he hadn’t was that protecting Frankie and Brett was top of his agenda and once Stuart and Terry were on home turf, he knew they would be absolutely fine. He dialled Stu’s number again.

  ‘Where are you now?’ he asked hopefully.

  ‘Just leaving Newport Pagnall services. We needed juice,’ Stuart explained.

  ‘Put your foot down as far as it will go. We’ve temporarily lost one of the bastards,’ Ed explained.

  ‘Where did you lose ’em?’ Stuart asked, dreading the answer.

  ‘The Brentwood turn-off, but don’t worry ’cause Joey’s got you-know-what and he should be at Frankie’s about now.’

  Stuart felt sick as Ed ended the call. As much as he liked Joey, in a situation such as this Joey was going to be about as much use as a chocolate teapot. He turned to Terry. ‘We need to hurry. I think Frankie might be in danger.’

  The nearer Joey got to Frankie’s house, the more worried about how the children were going to adapt to their new life he became. ‘We’re nearly home now,’ he explained kindly.

  ‘But this ain’t our home,’ Harry spat.

  ‘Is our mum gonna be there waiting for us?’ Georgie asked, genuinely interested. She had no intention of ever living with her mother again, but still had a strange urge to meet her and see what she was like.

  ‘Of course she is. Your mum’s waited for ages for this moment.’

  ‘Well we ain’t! We don’t love her. We love our Dad, Nan and Grandad Jimmy,’ Harry said nastily.

  With his sister’s happiness in the forefront of his mind, Joey stared at his nephew. ‘You’d better snap out of your foul mood, Harry, ’cause if you say one thing to hurt your mother, I shall fucking hurt you twice as hard, you got that?’

  Aware that his uncle was giving him daggers, Harry looked away.

  ‘Pass me my mobile, Dom, it’s in the front somewhere,’ Joey said, as his musical ringtone came to life.

  Dominic didn’t answer, but did as he was asked. Tonight’s events had absolutely petrified him and he was beginning to wonder if he and Joey now had a future together.

  ‘What’s up?’ Joey asked his dad.

  ‘You home yet?’

  ‘Nearly. Why? What’s wrong?’

  ‘Just make sure you ain’t being followed, boy. We’ve lost one of the motors, the Land Cruiser. If you see it sitting near Frankie’s, get Dom to drop you off, then tell him to drive off with the kids still inside.’

  Joey looked out of the back window. ‘There’s nothing behind us. If need be, where should Dom drive to?’

  ‘Oh, hang on a minute. It’s OK, panic over, the bastard’s behind us again, Ray’s just spotted him.’

  Joey breathed a massive sigh of relief. He wasn’t made of the same steel as his dad and brothers and the thought of pointing a gun at someone, even if it was to protect his sister, filled him with total dread. ‘Please be careful, Dad,’ Joey urged.

  ‘Of course I will, but if you ain’t heard anything from me in, say, four hours, ring Flatnose and tell him to come and look for us. You know where we’ll be, don’t you? And you’ve got Flatnose’s number? If you have to ring him, just tell him the score, he’ll know what to do. He sort of knows about what’s going on anyway, I rang him earlier, but you’re the only one I’ve actually told where we’re heading.’

  ‘I’ve got both his numbers, but if I ring him at two or three in the morning, will he be awake?’ Joey asked anxiously.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘What about Larry?’ Joey asked.

  ‘Don’t ring him yet. I’ll call him tomorrow. Look, try not to worry, boy, as I’m sure everything is gonna be fine, but if something does go wrong, never forget how much I love you and also promise me you’ll always take care of Frankie for me.’

  Aware that his eyes had welled up, Joey did his best to keep the emotion out of his voice. ‘I promise and I love you too, Dad.’

  Eagerly awaiting the return of her children, Frankie was glued to the window in the living room. ‘Where are they, Babs? They’ve been gone ages. What if something’s wrong?’

  Babs put a comforting arm around her friend’s shoulder. ‘They’ve not even been gone half an hour yet; it seems longer ’cause you’re so excited. Everything is gonna be just fine, and whenever Babbsy say that, she always right.’

  ‘Keep watch for me while I go a toilet again. I’ve got the shits through nerves and look at my hands, I can’t keep ’em still. Say they don’t remember me, or even worse, hate my guts for taking them away from their father? I just want them to be happy, Babs, and I’m so worried they might not be able to settle into a normal life. Them travellers are such a different breed from us, they really are.’

  Babs wanted to reassure Frankie that the kids would easily adapt, but from what Frankie had told her about the O’Haras, she knew she would only be lying to her friend. She chose her words extremely carefully. ‘Whatever problems you have with them, sweet child, please remember that a mother’s love will always shine through in the end. No person in any child’s life can ever be more special to them than the woman that brought them into this world.’

  Eddie felt quite emotional as the van hurtled towards Dagenham. Usually, when faced with any violent-looking situation, Ed was brimming with confidence, but because he knew it would take them a good few minutes to retrieve the guns from under the toilet floor, he wondered if he was making the right decision by heading to the yard. If he survived, but something happened to his sons or Raymond, he would never forgive himself. It would feel like a repeat of Jessica’s death all over again.

  ‘What’s up, Dad?
You ain’t having second thoughts, are ya?’ Gary asked.

  ‘Nah, I’m just a bit worried they could be armed and we won’t get to the guns in time, that’s all. We can’t back out now, though, I’ve waited too many years for this fucking moment. Give your families a bell. Tell ’em you love ’em, just in case something goes tits-up.’

  Raymond felt physically sick. If his boss had doubts, then they were all in trouble, and he so wished that he was at home with Polly and Chelsea. Visions of Jessica’s mutilated corpse flashed through his mind and, feeling dizzy, he slowed down and leaned out of the window.

  ‘What the fuck you doing?’ Ricky shouted.

  Raymond hadn’t eaten much all day, so rather than actually be sick, he just heaved. ‘Sorry, my guts have felt dodgy since that poxy sandwich this morning. I’m fine now,’ he lied.

  Gary was fuming with his old man for putting the fear of God into everyone. He knew his father’s words had caused Raymond to feel nauseous. ‘Are you going soft in your old age or what? Them thick pikey cunts have been following us all the way from Scotland yet they’re still hanging way back. They’re that dense they don’t even think we’ve clocked they’re on our tail. As for ringing our families, saying our possible goodbyes, I’ve never heard such a load of old bollocks in all of my life. We’re the Mitchells, for fuck’s sake, and I, for one, ain’t scared of no bastard.’

  Eddie digested his son’s words and, feeling embarrassed, nodded. ‘You’re dead right, Gal. Come on, let’s fucking finish this, lads.’

  Frankie could barely breathe when Dom’s car finally appeared outside. Her legs felt like jelly as she ran out to the drive.

  ‘My babies, my little babies,’ she sobbed, as she approached the car.

  Joey got out, shut the door, and held his tearful sister in his arms.

  ‘Let me see ’em. I wanna hold ’em,’ Frankie screamed hysterically.

  ‘Calm down, you’ll frighten them. They’re nothing like you remember them, so don’t act too shocked, eh? They’re going to need plenty of time to settle; they’ve had a hard life, remember?’ Joey warned.