Toxic

by Jacqui Rose

  Without saying another word, Jason Robinson nodded to his men as he got back into the car, driving off at speed. Laughing loudly, Eddie raised his hand and waved goodbye before turning back to head towards the beach.

  Ten minutes later, Eddie stood by the edge of the cliff as Johnny and his men skidded up in their black 4x4s. The driver’s door of the leading car opened and Johnny jumped out.

  ‘Where the fuck have you been? You were supposed to be waiting here.’

  ‘I’m sorry, it took me longer to get across the marshes than I thought.’

  In the dark, Johnny peered hard at Eddie. ‘What’s happened to your face?’

  ‘I was jumped on.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Jason Robinson.’

  Johnny stared at Eddie. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Enjoying his moment, watching Johnny begin to panic, Eddie put on a sham of distress. ‘Jason Robinson and his men, they did this. I thought they were going to kill me. I don’t know how they didn’t. They jumped me! I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’d just watched you guys seeing off Alfie and his men, and when they scarpered I thought it was sweet as. Didn’t think there was going to be a problem. Maybe it was my fault, but I had me guard down, so when they nabbed me, I wasn’t ready … He took the diamonds, Johnny.’

  Johnny grabbed hold of Eddie by the throat, squeezing it tightly as he screamed at the top of his voice. ‘Jason Robinson! What the fuck is he doing here! How did he know? Have you been talking?’

  Trying to get his breath, Eddie whispered his words. ‘Not me, I ain’t said anything. I know I owe him, but that don’t mean I’d tell him about this. Why would I?’

  ‘Someone has, and I want to know who that someone is.’

  Eddie coughed and spluttered as Johnny’s grip tightened. ‘I’d like to know that too because whoever it is needs to be taught a lesson. But as they were leaving, and I was lying on the ground, I did hear something …’

  Johnny dropped his grip, staring at Eddie with wild eyes. ‘What?’

  ‘I heard Jason say that he was heading up to Big Billy’s yard. I’m thinking he’s planning to take you all out. The element of surprise and all that.’

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Absolutely. But I warn you, he had a whole heap of men with him, more than I’ve seen with him before. He meant business. If I was you, I’d take all your men so you can blast him out of the water.’

  Eddie watched Johnny’s procession of cars speed off before he headed back to get the diamonds and he whistled, knowing that the spider was going to catch the perma-tanned fly, and his problems would cease to exist.

  71

  Hyperventilating, Bree tried to hold the panic attack at bay. She covered her mouth with a paper bag she’d found in Ryan’s bin and exhaled out before slowly inhaling and hoping that she wasn’t going to have a full-blown attack.

  What had she been thinking? How did she ever believe that she was going to get away with it? Now there was simply no escape. No way out of the situation she’d got herself into.

  Her phone was in her jacket, which was back in her mobile home, and Ryan’s window was locked tight. She’d also told Alfie she didn’t know whether she’d be able to call or not, so he wouldn’t be worried when she didn’t get in touch. Every option she had was shut.

  She was trapped. There was really nothing she could do apart from wait. Wait for Johnny to come back, wait for him to teach her a lesson, but without doubt this would be one of his ‘special’ lessons, saved for the times when he told her she’d been really bad. And every time she thought of that, her breathing became laboured and her chest became tight, and terror touched every part of her being.

  Holding her head, crying, trying to be strong, Bree tried to picture herself anywhere but where she was. But she couldn’t, she couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried, because there was no getting away from it. She was where she was and not soaring over any trees, not running through any fields, not swimming in any seas, but locked up in Ryan’s room, waiting.

  Fear ran through her and she could hardly stand as her whole body trembled. She stared at the window. The glass was reinforced, but if she had something solid maybe she could break it and just keep running without turning back. It was a long shot, but what else could she do? She knew it might be her only chance to get out before Johnny came back.

  Looking around Ryan’s room, Bree’s despair become total. There was nothing apart from the wicker wastepaper bin, a few books and a long-forgotten cup of tea. The only other thing in the room besides the cuckoo clock and the bed was the chest of drawers. Perhaps there was something in them she could use to break the window.

  Hurriedly, trying not to get up too much hope, she started pulling Ryan’s clothes out drawer by drawer. Pants and socks, jumpers and T-shirts, bottle tops and pebbles tucked away at the back, things that he loved collecting, but nothing that might help her.

  Kneeling on the soft wool carpet, Bree opened the bottom drawer. She gasped, staring as she saw the rolled-up blue plastic bag she’d hidden in a box in the barn. Ryan must have watched her hiding the bag and taken it for himself as he did so many other things; hoarding bits and pieces and saving them like they were treasure.

  She gently pulled out the bag and nervously peeked inside, catching her breath and feeling the same chill she’d felt the first time that she’d seen the tiny bones wrapped up in the dirty knitted shawl.

  Pushing the clothes back, Bree’s hand brushed against something else. It was a ragged hessian brown cloth. Curiously, she unwrapped it. She blinked – once, twice – staring in horror. It was more bones, looking like tiny skeletal remains wrapped up in a knitted yellow cardigan with white flower-shaped buttons … The yellow cardigan. The cardigan she had taken from the shop. No … No … No … She shook her head, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. Surely it wasn’t the same. She thought back …

  She looked down at the beautiful, yellow cardigan and smiled. It was so small and so delicate, with white flower-shaped buttons and a satin hem. She looked at the price tag. Too much for her to afford. But it was pretty … So pretty and she wanted it so much. Then quickly, without really thinking, Bree slipped the cardigan into her bag before hurriedly leaving the shop.

  Dropping the rag cloth and its contents as if they were on fire, Bree scrambled back, trying to get away, pushing herself into the far wall. She didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to look. Oh God. No … And then Bree Dwyer opened her mouth and began to scream.

  72

  Alfie Jennings paced about in the bed and breakfast. He couldn’t believe they’d been so close, so near to pulling it all off. He had no idea that Johnny had so many men working for him, or maybe it was more the case, how few men he had himself. But whatever the reason, it was all messed up now, and wherever the diamonds were, he couldn’t imagine how they could get them back. And on top of everything else to think about, there was Bree …

  ‘Fuck!’ He kicked the wall repeatedly, needing to take his anger out on something.

  ‘Can you just stop?’

  Janine interrupted Alfie’s thoughts. He glared at her furiously.

  ‘Shut up Janine, and start worrying about what we’ve just lost. Three million pounds’ worth of diamonds and the chance of a proper future.’

  Furious, and close to tears, Janine threw her hairbrush at him, catching him hard on his nose. ‘I blame you, Alfie. You mess everything and everybody up.’

  ‘I was trying to help, Janine. Something you wouldn’t know about.’

  ‘Then why are you here?’

  Alfie stared at her with hostility as Frankie, Lola and Vaughn watched on. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I don’t much like what you’ve done Alf, and I don’t know how I’m going to start to forgive you or Franny but I ain’t a monster.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  Janine shook her head. ‘You don’t get it do you? I feel for that Bree. Me heart goes
out to her. She sounds like she’s a scheming little mare, but sending her back to the likes of Johnny Dwyer, after she risked everything for you, wasn’t one of your cleverest moves.’

  ‘I never sent her back.’

  Janine stood up and as was her habit, she poked him hard in the chest. ‘No? But ask yourself what choice did you give her? Did any of you give her.’

  Angry, Alfie shook his head. ‘She couldn’t come here anyway, so don’t chew off me ear. She had the kids to think of, and this Ryan fella. There was no way she could just walk away because of what Johnny might do.’

  ‘Exactly, but you all still let her go.’

  Alfie began to pace, not wanting to admit what Janine was saying had more than a ring of truth to it. He snarled at her. ‘It’s not like that and you know it.’

  Janine looked at each of them in turn. ‘You lot need to go round there, and quick.’

  Frankie shook his head. ‘Come on Janine, we can’t just go barging in, we got to think it through. You should’ve seen the amount of men Johnny had.’

  Janine’s tone was contemptuous. ‘Heroes to the end, you lot. Bleedin’ hell if I ever need help, remind me to stick to Superman.’

  Alfie raised his voice but the worry, the fear for Bree he’d tried to put aside, began to creep in. ‘Just pack it in, will you? Leave it.’

  Ignoring Alfie’s request, Janine pushed some more. ‘Have you even spoken to her? Have you thought about what Johnny will do to her if he finds out that she gave you the heads-up? More to the point, Alfred, how can you be sure she’s safe right now?’

  Alfie Jennings stared at Janine and then at the others before heading for the door.

  ‘Come on you lot, hurry up, let’s go!’

  Eddie Styler could hardly contain his excitement as he ran up the stairs of his house. He had to make sure he got a move on, though he was certain by the time Johnny and Jason realised what was happening, he’d be halfway to Scotland. Adios, Essex.

  Taking the bag he’d already packed out of the wardrobe, Eddie ran back down the stairs to the kitchen, grabbing a large pink plastic bucket out of the cupboard along with four bottles of water and a family packet of crisps. He checked the time and, seeing it was just past midnight, he charged down the stairs to the basement and unlocked the wooden door.

  ‘Hello Sandra, how it’s going?’

  Grinning nastily, he threw the bucket at her which she managed to catch.

  ‘I’m afraid darlin,’ it looks like you’ll have to start pissing in that bucket again because I’m not going to be around. Shame about that, because I know just how much you hated it.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Ed? And what the hell have you done to your face?’

  ‘Never mind about me face sweetheart, because you’re finally going to get what you deserve, and so am I.’

  Sandra cut her eyes at Eddie, her tone was cold and flat. ‘And what is it that you deserve, Eddie? Cos, I can’t think of one bleedin’ thing.’

  ‘You should start being nice to me, Sandra.’

  ‘And why’s that then? How do you work that one out?’

  Eddie rattled the keys. ‘Because darlin’, I hold your future in my hands.’

  ‘You don’t make sense, you’re talking in riddles.’

  Annoyed at his wife’s attitude, Eddie snapped, his lips curling up into a sneer. ‘The reason you better be nice, Sandra, is that it’s down to me whether or not I let anybody know you’re in here.’ He paused, throwing the crisps and water to the other side of the room. ‘It’s been a long, miserable time coming Sand, but finally I’m on top. No more shitting on Eddie Styler. And as for what I deserve?’

  A grin spread across his face and he chuckled loudly.

  ‘These. These are what I deserve.’

  Out of his pocket Eddie pulled a small bag. He waved them about in the air.

  Shrugging, Sandra asked, ‘What’s that supposed to be? I still don’t know what you’re on about. I’m hardly going to be impressed with a dirty old bag, am I?’

  ‘I’m talking about diamonds, Sandra. Three million pounds’ worth of my diamonds. Not Johnny’s, not Jason’s and not your flipping brother’s. Mine. In my hand. Happy days, darlin’.’ He turned to walk away.

  ‘Where are you going, Ed?’

  With his back to Sandra, Eddie chortled. Revenge indeed was a sweet thing. He sighed contentedly. ‘To start a new life, that’s where, but don’t worry, in a couple of days I’ll let Alfie know you’re down here. But for now, it’s adios from me.’

  ‘Are you sure about that, Ed?’

  Sandra pulled back the trigger on the gun Alfie had given Bree. She pointed it at Eddie, who turned around, shock and horror filling his swollen, battered face in equal measures. She gestured him to move across to the far end of the room. Then, keeping the gun trained on him, Sandra moved to the door, closing and locking it behind her, leaving him in the dark.

  ‘No, Eddie, I think you’ll find it’s adios from me.’

  Deliberately choosing to drive down the country lanes to avoid taking the main roads, Alfie Jennings drove at speed through the village of Great Yeldham, anxiety mixing with adrenaline. At the tiny church, he put his foot down, hitting eighty as he sped on through, the street lights fading as they headed once more into the darkness of the night. As he raced round a corner his phone rang. He hit the answer button on the steering wheel.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Alfie, it’s me.’

  ‘Sandra, Jesus, where’ve you been?’

  Alfie could hear the urgency in his sister’s voice. ‘I ain’t got time to tell you now, but I’ve got Eddie … and he’s got the diamonds.’

  ‘What? Are you serious? How?’

  ‘It’s a long story but you need to get here. You need to hurry.’

  Driving over a pothole, Alfie swore, and skidded right at a deserted junction. ‘Sand, are you sure? I don’t want to get me hopes up.’

  ‘I’m certain, there’s no mistake. He’s in me basement. Can you come, right now?’

  ‘Of course. Listen, we were on our way to see if Bree was alright, but we can do a detour. Where are you now?’

  ‘I’m just near Hornchurch, I needed to get out of the house, go for a walk, Eddie’s banging at the door and it’s doing me head in.’

  ‘Okay, can you go back to the house? I’ll be there in about an hour. See you soon.’

  As Alfie cut off the call, Janine, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced across to him. ‘Are you sure we shouldn’t just go straight to Bree?’

  ‘It’ll be fine. It’ll just be a quick detour. Stop worrying.’

  But as he said it, Alfie Jennings knew that’s exactly what he was beginning to do.

  73

  Bree wanted to make as much noise as she could, so she picked up the bed, turning it over as she yelled at the top of her voice, tears streaming down her face. ‘Ma! Ma! Ma!’

  She held her stomach as she paced around, her thoughts racing, but they weren’t really making any kind of sense.

  ‘Ma! Ma!’

  Grabbing hold of the drawers, Bree pushed them over, sending them tumbling and crashing against the wall. She tore Ryan’s cuckoo clock off the wall, throwing it as hard as she could at the window. ‘Ma!’

  She hammered on the door, not caring, not feeling the fear that had crippled her for so many years. The fear that had stopped her walking out. The fear that had caused her to keep all the secrets. Now she had nothing left to lose. ‘Ma! Ma! Come here! I want to talk to you, come here!’

  The sound of the door being unlocked had Bree swivelling round, her eyes were wild, her face wet with tears. She charged at Ma, her arms flying as she lashed out.

  ‘Murderer! You killed her!’

  Bree fought with all her might as Ma clung onto her arms. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? You’re going to pay for this. You’ve gone mad! Just wait till Johnny comes home!’

  With hatred burning through her, Bree screamed at Ma. ‘Look!
Look!’

  She pointed to the yellow cardigan lying on the floor and a brief flicker of shock crossed Ma’s face.

  ‘How could you do it? How could you?’

  Ma, stronger and taller, slapped Bree across the face then gripped hold of her arm again, shaking her hard. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You said my baby went to relatives in Ireland, you told me she was fine.’

  ‘She is.’

  ‘Liar! Stop lying! Stop playing your games!’

  Bree broke away from Ma, sobbing and shaking, backing away.

  ‘All these years, Ma, all these years. I thought that one day I might have a chance to see her. You told me that one day you’d bring her back to me.’

  Full of rage now, Ma’s voice turned to scorn as she lunged towards Bree, cornering her in the room, standing inches away. ‘Then you’re stupid, ain’t you. You make Ryan look like he’s Bill Gates.’

  ‘But you told me I wasn’t well enough to look after her, then you told me it was better for her if she stayed where she was because she was happy, and I believed you! Because that’s all I wanted, for her to be happy.’

  ‘It just suited you to think that, eased your conscious. Face it Bree, you didn’t care. I did you a favour by telling you that.’

  Bree shook her head, gasping for air between sobs. ‘That’s not true, that’s not true!’

  ‘If it’s not true, then why did you stop asking? Stop wanting her back?’

  ‘Because it hurt too much.’

  ‘Then you’re the fool, ain’t you?’

  Bree leapt at Ma, her fingernails tearing at her face. She swung her fist, but Ma managed to push her away, sending her backwards to bang her head on the corner of a drawer. With blood running down her face, Bree began to rock. ‘You killed her! Why Ma, why?’