by Martina Cole
Alan’s voice was dismissive. ‘You tell whoever is putting these lies about that I have known Georgio Brunos since childhood and he would no more be involved with beasting than he would be a grass. Who told you, Jonnie? Let me sort them out myself.’
Jonnie’s voice came over the line so low Alan thought he had not heard him correctly.
‘Say that again, Jonnie. Who?’
‘Nick Carvello, and you know Nick. He wants to know the score.’
Alan put the phone down, convinced the whole world had gone mad. Nick Carvello was not a man to cross at any time, but his thoughts on beasting were legendary. If he thought Georgio was involved in anything like that, Georgio could kiss goodbye to his jump and probably the use of his legs.
Picking up the phone again, he dialled a number and realised that his hands were shaking.
He was in for an even bigger shock.
Donna picked up the phone only after the policewoman nodded at her to do so.
‘Hello.’ Her voice was small, frightened.
She listened to Alan’s voice and cut him off. ‘I can’t talk, Mum, the police are here, searching the house.’
She put the phone down and looked once more at the policewoman, who stared back at her as if she found her offensive. Donna dropped her eyes in confusion. She could hear Dolly’s strident voice coming from the small office.
‘You’ve got a bleedin’ nerve, coming round here and turning over law-abiding people! What are you doing? I’ve only just cleaned that place up! I hope you’re going to tidy up when you go!’
Donna sank down on a chair in her lounge and listened to the noise and confusion around her. The lounge looked like a bomb had dropped on it. Drawers were turned out, the carpet had been pulled up, the glassware in the cabinets was scattered all over the place. They were taking up the bedroom floorboards now and she could hear the dull thump of tools and the muted voices of the police officers as they laughed and joked their way through their job.
Standing, she walked towards the door. The policewoman immediately stood in front of her.
‘You’re not going anywhere, lady.’
The voice was deep, manly, and Donna saw as well as heard the contempt in the woman before her. A rush of annoyance came over her and she shoved the woman out of her way roughly.
‘You got the “lady” bit right anyway. Now I want to talk to whoever is in charge, and I want to know what bloody grounds they have for tearing apart my home!’
She stormed out into the hallway and stood uncertainly for a few moments, not sure exactly what to do. Picking up the onyx hall phone she dialled Harry and Bunty’s number. Harry answered himself.
‘Hello, Harry? The police are turning over my home and you said if I needed any help, I only had to ask. Well, I am asking now. Georgio is already doing eighteen years. What more do these bloody people want, eh? What else is he supposed to have done?’ She asked Harry the questions as if he could answer them and this wasn’t lost on him.
‘Stay put, Donna. I’ll see what I can do.’
She smiled grimly into the mouthpiece. ‘You do that, Harry. You do that.’
Slamming down the phone, she stormed up the stairs and walked into her bedroom. A male CID officer was holding up a sheer black bra; he had obviously just made a joke and Donna felt the rage build inside.
‘Well, as you can see, young man, they’re hardly big enough to hide anything inside, so why don’t you put my underwear back in the drawer like a good little boy and then get the hell out of my house!’
Frank Laughton was standing in the doorway of the ensuite bathroom and he felt a moment’s sympathy for the woman in front of him. He could see the hurt, fear and confusion in her face.
‘We’re only doing our job, love,’ he told her steadily. ‘We have had information relating to a series of crimes we believe your husband was involved in. We have to follow it up.’
Donna looked into the man’s face and said through clenched teeth, ‘Well, I hope you can prove it, because I have never even had so much as a parking ticket. This is my home, I own it lock, stock and barrel, and I know my rights. I’ll haul your arses into court over this, boy, for harassment, whatever. But I’ll see that you pay for this day’s work. If it’s the last thing I ever do, I will make you smirk on the other side of your face. My husband is doing eighteen years - isn’t that enough for you, Mr Laughton? What have we ever done to you, eh? What is all this really about?’
Laughton couldn’t look her in the face. Instead he walked to her dressing table and pushed her underwear back into the drawers.
‘Your husband is a violent criminal, whether you like to admit to that or not, love. He was tried by a jury and put away in accordance with the laws of this land. We have gained information, as I said earlier, that your husband, Georgio Brunos, was involved in other activities. A man who was arrested on charges of manslaughter and robbery has put your husband’s name forward, and we are honour bound to check out the accusations he made.’
Donna clenched her fists and said to Laughton, ‘So you think I have money hidden under the floorboards, do you?’
He laughed. ‘Not you, love. Maybe your husband hid something there. It has been known before.’
‘You turned this house upside down after you arrested him the first time. If anything is there now, Mr Laughton, you must think that I put it there. Surely that follows, doesn’t it. So are you accusing me of anything today?’
Laughton sighed heavily and looked around him at the younger policemen. His look said Donna was a foolish woman and this was not lost on her. Turning, she stormed from the room. At the bottom of the stairs the policewoman was standing with her arms folded. Donna ignored her and slipped past into the kitchen.
This room was also a shambles. Dolly sat at the kitchen table, her face a tight mask of anger.
‘Bloody real, ain’t it, eh? Have you seen what they’ve done to his office? Like a shithouse it is. I hope to Christ they’re going to clear up behind them.’
As she spoke the phone rang and Donna picked it up, pushing another police officer out of her way as she did so and glaring at him until he walked away from her.
‘Hello?’ She smiled and held out the phone. ‘Tell Mr Laughton it’s his superior on the phone, would you?’
Ten minutes later Donna shut the front door behind Laughton and his officers. She watched from her lounge window as the police cars all moved off her drive, shame at what had happened vying with rage inside her. As soon as the last car departed she ran into Georgio’s office. The desk drawer had been forced open and she felt afraid, even though she wasn’t sure why. Dolly stood in the doorway and held out the fax and another bundle of letters.
‘Are these what you’re looking for, Donna?’
She took the papers from Dolly’s outstretched hand. Taking the floppy disc from her own pocket, she held the whole bundle to her chest.
‘Oh, Dolly, thank you.’
Dolly looked into her eyes. Then, shaking her head, she turned away.
‘You’re in over your head, lovie. I’ve seen it coming for weeks.’ Her voice was sad. ‘I’ll make us both a cuppa and then we can get cleared up. Maeve will be here before you know it, and probably Stephen, so be prepared.’
Donna looked down at the papers and the disc. She didn’t know why these were important, but instinctively she felt they were. Sitting on the office chair, she wondered what had happened to her over the last year to make her change so much. Was it because of Georgio or was he just a symptom, not the cause? Whatever had happened she knew one thing now for sure. She was indeed in over her head, and even if she wanted to get out of it all, she couldn’t.
That was the worst of it. She was in for the duration now.
The days of choices were over.
Alan listened to the policeman’s voice and fought down the urge to tell him to shut the fuck up. Instead he murmured the right words. Putting down the phone, he poured himself another scotch and sat by his window, wat
ching the world of Soho coming to life. It seemed a young man by the name of Danny Kilbride had put Georgio’s name up for three robberies in Essex. Alan knew that the boy was lying. What he needed to find out was who the boy was lying for - and why.
His bell rang and he pressed the intercom gingerly, not sure what other surprises the night might hold for him. It was Stephen Brunos and Alan let him in, relieved it wasn’t the police, wondering why he was so sure they would be coming for him.
Stephen looked as suave as ever, only a few tell-tale worry lines across his forehead to show what he really felt.
‘I suppose you’ve heard?’ Alan said. ‘It seems a young feller by the name of Danny Kilbride has put Georgio’s face in the frame. I heard from Jonnie H. tonight that Georgio was to be fitted up but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.’
Stephen shrugged. ‘It’s all bullshit. Probably another of Lewis’s games.’
Alan saw the logic of this and nodded. ‘I also heard today that Georgio is involved with beasting,’ he went on. ‘Is there any truth in that?’
He watched Stephen’s eyes widen to their utmost.
‘What the fuck do you think, Alan? Can you see Georgio involved in anything like that? I mean, you know him as well as anyone does, don’t you? It’s another bloody load of shite. I bet Lewis is having a field day. Can you imagine what it will be like for Georgio inside if that mud ever sticks?’
Alan sipped his scotch again, his mind reeling from all the shocks of the day.
‘Georgio has made some bad enemies, Alan,’ Stephen went on, ‘and I think you know exactly what the score is with him and Lewis. But that aside, we want him out. We all want him out, don’t we? When is the jump, Alan, tell me that.’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know - early in the New Year, I should think. What has Georgio said to you about it all?’
Alan watched Stephen battle it out with himself. He knew that Stephen knew nothing, and that’s how Georgio wanted it. Why Stephen should think Alan would tell him remained to be seen . . .
‘How much do you know, Stephen? Only Georgio is keeping a very close mouth about everything to me. In fact, I think only Donna really knows what is going on.’
He watched Stephen’s reaction.
‘I don’t know any more than you do, Alan,’ Brunos admitted bitterly. ‘Donna and me aren’t exactly friends these days. She sticks her nose into everything - the bitch is a pain in the arse. Once Georgio is out I hope to Christ he drops her like last week’s news. Do you want to know what really makes me laugh? She’s seen more of him since he’s been banged up than she did in all their years of marriage. You know Georgio, he was always off gallivanting somewhere.’
Stephen laughed delightedly. ‘That woman is like a fucking leech, do you know that? She has hung on to him for the last twenty years by her fingernails. Well, I could blow her world wide open but I won’t. Not just yet. I’m waiting till I can do her the most damage. Then I’ll open my mouth and I’ll enjoy watching her squirm.’
Alan was shocked at the hatred in Stephen’s voice as he spoke about Donna. He hadn’t realised just how bad Stephen’s animosity towards her had grown.
‘What’s Donna ever done to you, Stephen?’ He was genuinely curious.
Stephen looked into Alan’s eyes and said seriously, ‘She’s tried to push her way into my businesses, and I can tell you now, Alan, no one, but no one, does that. Even Georgio didn’t ask me what I was doing. She could cause everyone so much trouble if she wanted to. If she got arrested she’d be singing her little heart out before they’d finished cautioning her. Think about that the next time you have any dealings with her. She is unreliable and she is a woman. The two go hand in hand. I wouldn’t trust any woman, but her less than any of them. She is dangerous, very dangerous, and my brother can’t see that.’
‘Your brother loves his wife very much.’
Stephen sniggered. ‘Oh he does, does he? We’ll see about that, Alan. Donna Brunos has got a short sharp shock coming to her, and I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out exactly what it is.’
He glanced at his watch. ‘I’d better make my way over to her. The police should be long gone by now and I have to play the dutiful brother.’ He sneered again. ‘But I’ll have me day with her. If you only knew the half of it!’
He laughed, but it was a hollow sound. ‘Beasting? Georgio? Now I’ve heard everything!’
Alan let him out and went over everything that Stephen had said in his mind.
Why did he hate Donna so much? What was the real cause of it? And what could Stephen possibly know that could harm her so much? The two questions lingered in his mind, even as he picked up the phone to find out all he could about Danny Kilbride and Donald Lewis.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Bunty’s face was a picture. In spite of his fear, Harry was enjoying her discomfiture.
‘That woman could inadvertently blow the lot of us out of the water. Can’t we do anything?’ she whined.
Stephen yawned behind his hand. He had never liked Bunty; he cared for her even less than he did Donna.
‘We need to keep calm, Bunty,’ he told her now. ‘I’m going out to Sri Lanka tomorrow, and I’ll sort everything out when I get there. Once this little lot is over, things can go back to normal again. We’re all making a lot of money, you two especially. Georgio’s money is being banked for him. Stop worrying! It was a fright, but it’s over.’
Bunty looked at him with open animosity. ‘What do you know about it all? My Harry had to lay his arse on the line tonight to stop that bitch down the road from being hassled. She knows a lot more than she’s letting on, Stephen. You’d better find out just how much she does know. Ask Georgio what he’s told her. She has us all over a barrel at the moment.’
Stephen stood up. ‘I’ll sort it all out, OK? I just said I would, didn’t I?’ His teeth were gritted. ‘Once I have seen Candy and the man I’ll have everything sorted and we can get back to normal. By the New Year most of the operation will be in Germany and France anyway. Relax, stop worrying, and most of all, play the game. No one would suspect you two. As for this Danny Kilbride, he’s working for Lewis or my name’s Jack Nicholson. It’s just another fright for Georgio, that’s all. Lewis is trying it on to make Georgio pay him the money. If we keep cool heads, we’ll be home and dry in no time at all. Now I’d better get round to Donna and do my concerned brother-in-law bit.’
Harry watched Stephen as he left the house.
‘What do you think, Bunty? Should we take a dive now? Pass it all over to Georgio and Stephen?’
Bunty made a very unladylike snorting noise with her lips.
‘Don’t talk out of your rectum, Harry, you know it annoys me. We could make a blasted fortune in the next twelve months. Look how much we’ve already earned.’ She flopped down on to the sofa beside her husband and laughed gently.
‘We’ll give it one more year, then me and you can retire with Daddy and do all the things we ever wanted to do without ever having to worry where the money’s coming from.’
Harry closed his eyes.
After tonight, the prospect of the money didn’t seem so appealing to him. They were involved in something so big, the very thought of it scared him, and caused him sleepless nights. His wife, who as a woman should have been against what they were doing, was getting greedier and greedier by the day. He wished he had never met Georgio Brunos, wished he had never been tempted to get involved in any of it.
In fact, he wished he had never met Bunty, her father, or any of them.
‘What are you thinking about, Harry?’
Bunty’s voice was harsh. The nasal twang grated on Harry’s ears.
‘What am I thinking about? You actually, darling.’
He saw the absurd look of pleasure on her face and sighed again.
He was trapped, and he knew it.
Donna watched as Stephen nailed down the floorboards and relaid the carpets. He tutted loudly.
‘You�
�ll have to get a proper carpet-fitter in to replace this lot. They’ve just ripped it away from its tracks. Bloody bastards they are. I bet you got a shock when you came home from the visit and found them in your house, didn’t you?’
His voice was neutral and Donna nodded in agreement. The emerald-green suit was crumpled now, and her make-up smudged. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and sighed. The house was still upside down. Maeve and Dolly were clearing up downstairs and Donna was supposed to be doing the bedrooms.
‘That’s the understatement of the year. Still, at least they didn’t find anything. That’s the main thing.’
Stephen was amazed at her words. For Donna to openly admit that there could have been something to find shocked him. It seemed that she had finally grown up. Georgio had always been like some kind of god to her. It pleased Stephen to see the once too-good-to-be-true Donna Brunos finally embroiled in things that were not legal. He smiled to himself as he stood up.
‘Georgio is a survivor, Donna. He’ll get over this lot the same as he’s always gotten away with everything else.’
Donna looked at him quizzically. ‘I hardly call doing eighteen years getting away with anything, do you?’
Stephen pursed his lips and thought before he answered her. ‘It depends on what he was supposed to be getting away with, doesn’t it? You have obviously realised that your golden boy is involved in some pretty heavy stuff. If the half of it were known he’d still be locked up, but they’d throw away the key. But there, that’s nothing to do with me, is it?’
He smiled at her superciliously and Donna felt an urge to take back her fist and slam it into his insufferable face.
She was saved from answering by Maeve bustling into the room with two mugs of coffee.
‘Oh, look at the state of this place, would you! What the hell were they looking for, I ask meself?’ She glanced around the room and shook her head. ‘Here, drink this.’ She gave them both a mug of coffee. ‘What time is your flight tomorrow, Stephen?’
‘At two-thirty. I’m going to shoot off in a minute, I haven’t even packed yet.’
