Shadows to Ashes

by Tori de Clare

  This is all she knew for sure: everyone in Solomon’s circle was in it for life. Or they lost their life somehow. Because he never let people go. His circle was incomplete without her and he was inviting her right into the centre of it with him, challenging her to unravel the mystery of Vincent Solomon, if she could. A hell of a risk on his part, but he couldn’t not play for what he wanted.

  And he wanted her.

  He never gambled unless he would win. So it wasn’t a gamble, he’d said so himself. He was a con-artist, clever and manipulative. His players surrounded him, protecting him to the death so that the law could pin nothing on him.

  Where did all his money come from? Who else was in the circle? How far did his connections span? How many secrets had Lorie and Nathan taken to the grave? How many more had paid the ultimate price for involvement? These were the things she didn’t know, and the answers lay within that house and within the life of Vincent Solomon. And he was daring her to enter his den, to find her answers.

  Conclusion: it’d be crazy, senseless to get involved.

  But the reality was carving a hole inside her: Dan was behind bars and he was innocent. It might be too late for the others now, but while Dan was still breathing, she’d fight with everything she possessed, for him.

  Six days to the deadline.

  And so the thought began to germinate, just as Solomon knew it would. He’d seeded it there himself – the thought that there was no other way, that she was the only one who could get close enough to unravel him. She exited the garage and paced to the back door, her legs fuelled by agitation, the same phrase parading through her head.

  If I don’t end this who will?

  ***

  ‘A few words then back to work,’ Solomon said to his bouncers, his crew with the muscles in the black suits and the cropped hair and tattoos. They were at the club in Solomon’s private office, the very room where Reggie Janes had entered uninvited.

  ‘I met our friend Reggie,’ Solomon said, eyeing the group.

  Damien Carter tried to fold his arms, but it was a struggle. They were muscle-locked. ‘Where did you find him?’

  ‘Did I say I found him, Damien? I said I met him. He found me.’ Solomon waited. No one spoke, but the odd grunt slipped out. ‘He came right here to the club and he knew the code to this room because he’d seen you people enter it, and so he helped himself to me after you’d gone and gave me one hell of a surprise. You all know how I feel about surprises.’

  ‘Why did he come here?’ Noel Beresford piped up.

  ‘Because he could! And because he wanted to know exactly who was looking for him and why. The more poignant question is: why didn’t you find him before he found me?’

  No one interrupted the silence that followed.

  ‘So, brothers,’ Solomon continued, ‘He’s thrown the gauntlet down and issued a challenge, a simple and straight forward one. Find him. He knows you’re looking. He said he’ll make it easy for you. His aim is to humiliate me.’ Solomon shook his head. ‘So think of this as training. An exercise.’

  Chambers piped up, ‘So it’s for fun then?’

  ‘Fun?’ Solomon snapped. The word might have been foreign. ‘This guy abducted Naomi and I paid two million to prise her from him. I was ready to hurt him, but I couldn’t get near him because he out-played me. And then he strides right in here and makes a fool of me on my own patch because you’re utterly incompetent. Throw in the fact that Charlie was all over him like a virus and you have the full picture. Sound like fun?’

  Several heads shook simultaneously now.

  ‘Warning. This guy’s smart and he’s in top shape. Find him, tell me where he is. Don’t try any heroics or he could hurt you badly.’

  ‘Huh! Let him try,’ Chambers said. ‘I’d take him on any day, whoever he is.’

  ‘That’s because you’re stupid.’ Solomon eyed Chambers directly. ‘I’m not wasting words about this. If you want to take him on, then simply find him before he finds me again.’

  Solomon’s phone vibrated against his thigh.

  ‘One more thing. I’ve changed the security number for this room. From now on, you want to get in here, you knock on the door.’

  A flick of his head and the Muscles were sent packing. They headed gracelessly for the door, all overblown arms and sweaty heads and necks the sizes of melons.

  Solomon checked his phone.

  ‘What does he want?’

  Joel’s message said, ‘I’m hear to see u where are u in youre office?’

  Solomon sighed. ‘Why?’ Poor spelling, abbreviated text lingo, an absence of punctuation. He resented having to decode a message before he could even respond to it. Irritated, he tapped back, ‘In English, please.’

  A few minutes passed before there was a heavy rap at the door. Solomon opened it and Joel staggered in, drunk, which still didn’t excuse him from a sloppy text in Solomon’s book.

  ‘There you are.’

  ‘Ah, my brother from another mother,’ Solomon said. ‘Always a pleasure.’

  Joel tried to focus on Vincent. ‘I’m gonna tell her everything, I’ve decided.’

  ‘Wait, sit down. Assemble a decent sentence and tell me plainly what you’re talking about.’

  Joel bumbled to the nearest chair and dropped into it. ‘You can stick your threats and your slick tongue, Vincent. I’m going to tell Annabel everything, then you’ve got nothing over me anymore. Get that?’

  ‘This is what happens to a person with a limited IQ who can’t hold his drink.’

  ‘No. I’ve had a few, but this has been up here for a long time now. Too long.’ He pointed at his head. ‘I’m going to tell her about you and Charlie. About how you put me up to following her to Japan and freakin’ grooming her to get to Henry. It’s screwing with my head, man.’

  ‘You didn’t need me to twist your arm to follow Annabel to Japan.’

  ‘Because I fancied her, right? Ever since you had me studying her, taking stupid classes with Lorie and learning every little detail about her so I could be her dream guy. I fell for her, man. I never wanted to hurt her, so I used you as much as you used me and I won Annabel. And now I love her and she loves me and we’re having a kid and this is proper messed up.’

  ‘And what good do you think will come of a noble confession?’

  ‘Nothing! Either way, I’m screwed.’

  ‘Correct. She thinks you’re an only child and she’ll realise that everything you’ve ever told her is a lie. She’ll never trust you again. You want to detonate an explosive like that with the baby due in, what, three months?’

  ‘Five weeks!’ Joel yelled. ‘I’m going to be a father in five weeks and my girlfriend knows jack about the real me. I can’t keep it up. It’s killing me, man, the whole thing. We should be living together now. I should be looking after her, but she won’t leave Naomi because you’re stirring your pot and screwing her over too. Getting too messy. Too screwed up.’ He dug his hands in his mass of hair and curled his fists around it and began to sob. ‘Henry hates me.’

  ‘Boo hoo. And the feeling isn’t mutual?’

  He looked up with huge, dripping wide eyes. ‘No. I pity the guy and I’ve never known why this feud has anything to do with me.’

  ‘That’s a big four-letter word, for you.’

  ‘Up yours. If you’re just going to –’

  ‘It’s about loyalty, Joel. It’s because of Henry Hamilton that our father –’

  ‘Don’t you think I know all that? Look, Henry didn’t have a choice. Dad was a criminal, face it.’ He wiped his nose on his sleeve. ‘You’re one too. You’re crooked and not right in the head and you should be doing time, not Dan Stone. I feel bad that Dan ended up in the slammer. If I never told you I was going to the Maldives, Charlie wouldn’t have –’

  ‘Is this a long story?’

  Joel said, ‘I’m not like you and Charlie. You don’t even want me as part of your clan, so I quit. I want out, permanently. Not gonna let you dictate
to me anymore. I don’t sleep.’

  Joel tried to stand and Solomon shoved him in the chest until he’d thudded back in the chair. Solomon leant over and spoke quietly and clearly in his face. ‘It’s taken years of patient work to reach this point and you’re threatening to be the pea in the princess’s bed, Joel. Henry is sweating profusely right now and Naomi is about to move in with me.’

  ‘What are you on about now?’

  ‘I’ve made her an offer she won’t refuse. One game of chess, one move a day. She’ll stay with me until it’s over. If she wins, Dan’s sentence will be cut very short. If she loses, Dan stays where he is and Naomi is going to get awfully lonely. I anticipate she’s going to need someone to hold her hand and my feeling is that Annabel’s going to be too busy. And Camilla’s definitely the wrong person for the job.’

  ‘So you’ve blackmailed her? You’re supposed to have feelings for the girl!’

  ‘I have. I got her a Steinway in anticipation of her stay with me.’

  ‘She has a dog already.’

  Dense as a Great Dane’s dung. ‘A Steinway is a piano.’

  ‘She’s got one of them an’ all,’ Joel yelled. ‘Don’t hold her hostage, man, let her go. That’s what I’m prepared to do for Annabel. She’ll probably dump me and I’ll deserve it.’ Tears wet his face, but he fought on. ‘I might never see my son grow up, but at least he’ll know that I loved his mam enough to tell the truth.’

  Solomon stepped back and observed Joel rubbing his eyes and massaging his wet fingers into his hair and his hair standing on end. ‘I really must learn to play the violin so that I can whip it out for touching moments just like this one.’ Joel snivelled and looked at the floor, broken and defeated. Fighting words, but he was scared. ‘You’re slicing a big gash in the parachute, Joel, and I’m on the drop with you, which would mean a crash for me too. It’s not going to happen. You need to think very carefully about your next move.’

  Joel, red in the face, struggled to lean forward and stand up. Having managed it, he headed for the door.

  ‘I have done. Decision’s already made.’

  Joel wrestled with the door before vanishing through it. It took Solomon around twenty seconds to reach a firm decision, the only one he could make. He’d been too soft with Joel since the betrayal. Too distracted with Naomi, that was the thing. He should have nailed Joel sooner. He’d have to delegate again. He reached for his phone and dialled Charlie’s number. She answered promptly, which relieved him.

  ‘Charlie, where are you right now?’

  ‘At home.’ She yawned. ‘It’s dull around here since the Hamiltons left.’

  ‘Your life is about to improve then. I have an opportunity for you to redeem yourself and atone for past mistakes.’

  ‘I’m intrigued.’

  ‘We’re keeping this strictly in the family. Understand?’

  ‘Course.’

  ‘It’s about Joel. He’s just been here to the club. Let’s say he’s ready to do the unthinkable and bare his soul to his girlfriend.’

  ‘Is he stupid?’

  ‘You know he is. He has all the intellectual capacity of a rodent.’

  ‘They say rats are intelligent.’

  ‘This one isn’t. He’s the thick one at the back who can’t find the drain. You know what Dad used to say about Joel’s mother: nice legs, shame about the brain? So it’s hardly his fault, but like all rodents, he’s becoming a nuisance.’

  ‘So what are we talking here?’

  ‘What would you do if you had a rat in the house?’

  She said, ‘I’d get a cat on the job, or I’d poison the thing.’

  ‘No cat. Strictly family business, like I said. So poison the rat.’

  ‘Vincent, have you thought this through? If Joel disappears and Annabel’s all alone, you can forget your new house guest. Naomi will never leave Annabel alone with a baby, not even for Dan’s sake.’

  ‘She’d do anything for Dan, you said so yourself.’

  ‘This is her heavily pregnant twin we’re talking about. How can she abandon her if something happens to Joel?’

  ‘She’s going to have to decide who’s more important, Dan or Annabel.’

  ‘Come on, Vincent. That’s a gamble too far even for you.’

  Solomon swore. He hated that she had a point. He could almost feel her satisfaction slithering down the phone while he was suffering a distinct and unfamiliar feeling of losing control.

  Charlie cut into his thoughts. ‘Why don’t you leave this to me, just for once, hmm? I know your head’s fuzzy right now, but Joel isn’t going to do this while he’s drunk, or over the phone. He’ll sober up, then he’ll plan to talk to her in person, which gives me chance to intercept. I know just what to do to stall him.’

  Solomon drank her words. He’d never admit it, but they were calming him, restoring his hopes, securing his dreams.

  ‘So you’re sure you’ve got this covered then?’

  She giggled, at a time like this! ‘Course.’

  ‘Take this seriously. I’m trusting you,’ he said. ‘You know how I feel about trust.’

  ‘What’s in it for me?’ Charlie chimed, as bold as Big Ben.

  ‘A restoration of your credibility.’

  ‘I want Janes.’

  ‘He’s an enemy.’

  ‘You know the saying – keep friends close, enemies closer. I could do that for you too.’

  Silence. Then Vincent said, ‘Janes is the chief rat, leader of the pack, the one with a Master’s in rodent tactics.’

  ‘That’s why I want him,’ Charlie said, the smile back in her voice. ‘Someone should know what his plans are.’

  Vincent was clutching the phone to his ear. His other hand was clenched by his side. The beginnings of a dull headache throbbed behind his eyes. This was wasting time. Joel was the prime concern. ‘To be discussed. Get on Joel’s case right now. He’s just left the club so –’

  ‘Vincent, leave it to me means exactly that.’

  ‘Do not let me down this time.’

  27

  Charlie slid her feet into black boots and her arms into a black jacket, which she zipped to the top. She’d had one glass of wine which wouldn’t stop her from driving. She drank in small, controlled amounts. Two reasons: she was body-obsessed and she liked to be ready for work at all times. So she was capable of driving, sharp decision-making and scooting out at this hour in search of a half-wit who was somehow her half-brother.

  Being sharp and available anytime meant bonuses in her pay packet. And Charlie liked money almost as much as she enjoyed power. So tonight was shaping up nicely – out on a job fuelled by the euphoria that she’d just scored a major point with Vincent. Was there any sweeter feeling? One, perhaps. The anticipation of seeing Janes again coupled with the unspeakable thrill of the possibilities that might develop if they teamed up.

  She’d sensed some uncertainty in Vincent recently. A small chink, but Charlie was the perceptive type, acutely aware of any trace of weakness. The chink could become a chunk. Vincent’s cage had been rattled by a few events: Janes showing up at the club having got past the Muscles, his infatuation with the Hamilton kid which had marred his judgement and had him counting down to her arrival, then his latest problem: Joel announcing his plans to spill everything to the other Hamilton girl.

  To Charlie, frailty in others marked an opportunity for her, no exceptions. And aligning herself with a guy like Janes could really open doors. Vincent’s spineless approach with the Hamiltons had crept beneath her skin and caused some irritation. Left to her, she’d have booted the hornet’s nest without mercy and sent all the pictures to Camilla that would demolish her marriage to Henry and decimate her self-worth. Then she’d have sat back and enjoyed watching the aftermath of the girls in pieces following a pointless confession by Joel. She would have destroyed the whole family without even breaking the law. They were ripe, easy pickings now.

  But Vincent, some weird OCD thing going on and havin
g found the only adult virgin in Manchester who hadn’t made vows in a monastery, had fixated on the piano player with some laughable notion that he could worm his way past her Mozart collection and into her bed.

  It was shameful really, unforgivable after the promise made to their father to get even with Henry. Granted, there’d been some entertainment value in watching Vincent plotting to break in a virtual nun (she even had the cross), and make her his second in command or something, but it was also as frustrating as hell to have the capacity to crush and not use it. As unnatural as sucking a grape. She daren’t voice this itch, of course, and while Vincent was top dog, she’d fall in line with the pack and excel at her job. But the thought of Naomi Hamilton moving into Vincent’s house . . . The thought of her being alone in there, unchecked . . .

  Yes, the thought! Which thought naturally gave rise to many others. But lately, she’d been fantasising about working with Janes. A partnership, imagine that! Never achievable with Vincent. Maybe with Janes on side . . .

  Head swimming, Charlie drove to central Manchester. It took thirty minutes of car park scouring to find Joel in his car, seat reclined, eyes closed, a jacket slung over him. She’d climbed inside his thick head and worked out his movements step by step. He’d driven from Newcastle to Manchester, parked his car, wandered into the nearest bar, drained several glasses – marshalling the nerve to confront Vincent – then he’d rehearsed his lines and marched to the club to offload his little speech. Then, without money for a hotel, he’d have planned to sleep the booze off in the car and talk to Annabel at first light.

  Right on all counts.

  Charlie rapped on the window. Joel’s lips were parted. His hair was sprawled out across the headrest. He didn’t move. She knocked again, and again until an eye opened and then a hand groped for the door handle.

  He started to sit up, all arms and hair. The door began to open and Charlie helped it the rest of the way.

  ‘What are you . . . ? Leave me alone.’

  ‘I can’t just leave you here like this.’

  ‘Since when have you ever given a shiny crap about anyone but yourself?’