Retribution

by Heather Atkinson

  “I was only helping her into bed,” said Mikey.

  “As long as you don’t join her we won’t have a problem.”

  “You…silly,” said Jules, pointing at her brother.

  “Charming, after I come charging over here and everything.”

  “Mikey help me…support…I need…Jackson not same…”

  “Yeah, I get that,” he said, expression softening. “But I don’t want either of you doing something you might regret. You have kids to think of.”

  “Yeah, alright,” said Mikey. “Stop going on. What did Riley say?”

  “He’s sending Paula over. She’ll be here in about an hour. Riley can’t come, he’s taken Beth and the kids away for the weekend. Apparently they’ve sent Archie to stay with Beth’s mum for a while and they’re making the most of the break from that little nut job. He said to give you all their love and they’ll visit as soon as they get back.”

  Jules smiled. She never thought she’d see the day Riley Cutter passed on his love to her.

  “What tell…nurses?” said Jules, not wanting Catherine to ever know how close she’d come to danger.

  “We’ll tell them we’ve heard there might be a threat. We are not going to mention what happened here today.”

  She nodded, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Sorry…so tired.”

  “You get some rest,” said Mikey softly. He wanted to take her hand or stroke her hair but didn’t dare with Jez there.

  She nodded, a gentle smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep.

  “What?” said Mikey when Jez frowned at him.

  “You know and I’m not going to repeat myself. Come on, help me get that hole in the window covered up before she catches her death.”

  Mikey shuddered at the turn of phrase.

  Pat gazed over his shoulder at Catherine, starry-eyed as she pressed her soft, warm hands to his bruised lower back.

  “Ow,” he said.

  “Sorry,” she replied. “You’ve got a nasty bruise.”

  “Yeah, it hurts like a bugger.”

  He was disappointed when she pulled his shirt back down but to his delight she stood right before him and shone a small pocket torch in his eyes.

  “The good news is you don’t seem concussed.”

  “Hmmm,” was all he said, enjoying her closeness and how nice she smelled.

  “You should be fine after some time with your feet up. Get yourself home, I’ll tell Sister.”

  “I don’t know how you put up with her.”

  “She might seem harsh but she’s fair and she’s very good at what she does. Right, that’s you,” she said, removing the nitrile gloves she’d put on to examine him and tossing them into a bin.

  “Already?” he said, panicking. No doubt Jez and Mikey’s men would be waiting for him.

  “Yep. Get yourself off home and quick before Sister has you doing something else.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “I won’t hear of it. You need to rest that back.”

  “Well, okay,” he said reluctantly, knowing he had little choice. He couldn’t hide in here for the rest of his life, although the idea was tempting.

  Catherine flashed him a smile before leaving. Looking up at the wall, Pat grinned when he saw the window.

  He tugged at the handle, relieved when it opened outwards and he climbed onto the sill, wincing at the pain in his lower back. He looked out but couldn’t see anyone.

  He dropped to the ground, grumbling at the pain in his back and forced himself upright. He pushed the window shut, not wanting to leave any evidence of where he’d been.

  “Going somewhere?” said a voice.

  Pat whipped round to see Grant and Mark pressed back against the wall, where he hadn’t been able to see them when he’d looked out of the window.

  “Oh fuck,” said Pat.

  Steve rushed into his house, slammed the door shut and locked it. He’d failed. Badly. Why did he have to take his time removing his disguise? He should have shot the cow the second he saw her but no, he had to draw it out like a dick. Then he’d been chased by Mark and Grant, who worked for Mikey and Jez. Fortunately he’d had a head start on them so he’d managed to get away, but only just. He wasn’t sure whether they’d recognised him or not. With the padding he looked bulkier than usual and he’d put his cap back on. He might have got away with it. Now he was glad Jules hadn’t recognised him, so she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone.

  He filled a tumbler with vodka and threw it down his neck, steadying his nerves before heading upstairs to change, stuffing the delivery driver’s uniform into a bag. First things first, he had to dispose of that as well as the gun.

  He raced back downstairs and opened the front door - to be confronted by Shane and Declan, who worked for Mikey and Jez. Despite how young Shane was, the look on his face was frightening, as was the gun in his hand.

  “Get in the fucking car,” said Shane.

  CHAPTER 15

  Mikey and Jez looked down severely at Pat and Steve, who were both in their underwear, tied to chairs in an isolated barn out in the country where they now brought anyone they wanted to question.

  “Where are their clothes?” said Jez.

  “We didn’t know what you had in mind Boss,” said Shane. “So we thought we’d give you better access.”

  “We’re not going to shag them if that’s what you were thinking,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t know about Mikey but my tastes don’t run to fat, sweaty and ugly.” He glared at the two prisoners. “What the fuck did you think you were doing, going after my sister? What’s worse is that you couldn’t do it when she was at full strength, you had to wait until she was at her weakest and even then you couldn’t face her up close and personal. Fucking pathetic cowards.”

  “Your sister’s pissed off a lot of people in this city,” said Steve. Now he knew he was going to die he was determined to have his say first. “Do you think we’re the only ones who are going to make a play for her?”

  “It did cross our minds,” said a stony-faced Mikey. “Which is why we’re going to make an example of you two.”

  Both Steve and Pat swallowed hard.

  “And don’t think we don’t know about your little friends who were there today as well,” he continued. “We’ll be catching up with them very soon.”

  Jules had fallen asleep and was disappointed to wake and find Jez and Mikey gone. Still, on her door was a rather attractive tough-looking blond who Jez had told her earlier was called Paula and who worked for Riley. If she’d been feeling more herself she would have got a thrill from having her as a bodyguard but the last thing she felt like doing was flirting.

  As her physical muscle was still so feeble, Jules decided to try and flex her mental muscle instead. Jackson had brought in some books, at her request and she was determined to tackle them. Just because her mathematical skills were dead in the water didn’t mean other skills were and she wanted to test that theory.

  She bypassed the books in Latin, thinking she needed to ease herself back in with something that hopefully wouldn’t be too taxing, so she decided to go for a book on physics. Most people would have found this book overwhelming but she loved the subject, learning about energy, motion, gravity, it fascinated her. She went for a beginner’s book and after staring at the first few pages and taking nothing in she cast that one aside and instead went for something gentler, a nice book on Oriental history. Her anger spiked when she had the same result, unable to absorb a single word. In fact she couldn’t even decipher some of the words and that book joined the one on the floor.

  Refusing to be downcast, she decided to try a fictional book instead. She loved the classics and Wuthering Heights was her very favourite, Heathcliff was right up her street but she struggled with the archaic language. With tears prickling her eyes one of her favourite novels joined the others on the floor.

  Determined not to give in to despair, she picked something with a more modern vernacular - Truma
n Capote’s The Early Stories. Although the language was much easier to deal with she still struggled to follow the words. It was as though her brain couldn’t make sense of a plot.

  “Fuck,” she yelled, hurling the book across the room.

  Paula’s head popped around the door. “You okay?”

  “Fine,” muttered Jules.

  Deciding Jules looked like a woman who wanted to be left alone, Paula closed the door.

  Jules buried her face in her hands and let the tears fall. Everyone was constantly telling her not to expect everything at once, that it might all come back but what if it didn’t? She wasn’t sure what was more frightening - never regaining full use of her body or permanently losing the full use of her mind. At least if her body didn’t work properly she could still focus on books and learning but without that too she’d wither away, she knew it.

  When Ryan walked in he found her crying into her hands, torn between despair and fury.

  Without a word he retrieved Wuthering Heights off the floor, sat beside her and began to read.

  “You no treat me like child,” she said.

  “I’m not Jules. I just know you love this story, that’s all.”

  Her anger dissolved and she settled onto her side, watching him as he read, finding the sound of his deep, smooth voice soothing. “Thank you,” she said.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied before continuing to read, Jules eternally grateful for his simple comfort.

  Rachel arrived at the hospital with the kids an hour later to find Ryan reading to his sister, who was gazing up at him with a gentle smile.

  Feeling much happier, Jules grinned at her visitors. “Hello.”

  Leah was heartened to see her looking so much brighter. “How are you feeling?” she said, approaching her bedside and taking her hand, to Jules’s delight.

  “Better…thank you,” she said, taking her time, wanting the words to come out right.

  “You look better, your eyes are so bright,” she beamed. “And your cheeks are rosy.”

  “I go…out…today.”

  “That’s great. Did you walk?”

  Jules’s smile faltered. “No. Chair,” she said, gesturing to the wheelchair in the corner.

  “Oh. Never mind, you’ll soon be walking again. You’re so tough.”

  “Thank you,” she said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

  “What happened to the window?” said Rachel, gesturing to the plywood Jez and Mikey had hammered into place.

  “Bird,” replied Jules. She glanced meaningfully at her brother, who picked up in her eyes that there was something she wanted to tell him.

  “Leah, why don’t you take the boys to get a snack from the vending machine?” he said.

  “I thought you hated vending machine food?” she replied.

  “Normally yes, but everyone deserves a treat. Get something for yourself too.”

  “Okay. Can we have chocolate?”

  “Just this once.”

  “Great,” said Leah, taking the boys’ hands and leading them to the door. Their parents rarely allowed them to eat confectionary so she wasn’t going to let this chance slip through her fingers.

  “What happened?” said Ryan after the children had gone, Rachel pulling a chair up beside his to listen.

  “Men come…try kill me.”

  “What?” he said, voice low and hard. “Who?”

  “Steve…” She trailed off, unable to recall his last name. “Own pub. Pat Evans, Charlie O…something. And two friends.”

  “Never heard of them,” said Ryan.

  “Mikey and Jez come. Protect me. They get Pat and going for others.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “So that’s why Paula’s on the door?”

  Jules nodded.

  “Paula’s good at what she does but will she be enough?” said Rachel. “Others might come. You’ve annoyed a lot of people over the years Jules, I’m sorry to say it but it’s true.”

  “I know,” she said. “Mikey and Jez make…oh what word? You know, to show everyone…”

  “You mean they’re going to make an example of them?” said Ryan.

  “Yes, that it.”

  “If they do a good enough job that should be enough to warn off any other would-be attackers,” said Rachel. “After destroying the Slattery’s empire everyone is reluctant to take them on.”

  “Slattery,” growled Jules, hands curling into fists, twisting the sheets.

  Rachel and Ryan glanced at each other. “You’re looking a bit psychotic there little sis,” said Ryan.

  “I kill him,” she seethed.

  “Another reason for you to keep fighting to get back on your feet,” said Ryan. “And you will.”

  “I fucking will if it means I get to kill that bastard.” Her eyes widened with surprise. “I speak right…I spoke proper…dammit.”

  “See, you’re getting there already,” said Rachel.

  “My hate for Slattery do it,” she glowered.

  “Perhaps. Keep it up.”

  Jules’s lips twitched into a grim smile.

  “We came to let you know that we have to go home tomorrow,” said Ryan. “We’re booked on an early flight. We’re really sorry but the kids have school…”

  “Course and is okay. You spend much time here. I…” She grunted when the word she wanted wouldn’t come. “Starts with ‘a’.”

  “Appreciate?” offered Rachel.

  Jules nodded. “Yes, I appreciate,” she said, enunciating the word slowly and carefully. “You not stay here forever.”

  “But we will visit regularly,” said Ryan. “And I’ll ring every day.”

  “No need.”

  “I want to. You’d do the same for me.”

  She nodded. “I would.”

  “And don’t discard these so easily,” he said, replacing the books on the bedside cabinet. “It will come back. All that knowledge is still there in that big brain of yours. You just need to find the key to unlock it again.”

  She was genuinely grateful for his words. Coming from Ryan they were comforting.

  “And when you’re feeling up to it you must come down to see us again. Have some rest and relaxation.”

  “No relax last time I visit,” she said wryly, thinking of the attack on herself and Rachel by a gang of local thugs, as well as the other fights she’d got into.

  “This time we’ll make sure it is,” said Rachel.

  Ryan looked to Rachel and nodded. She produced an item wrapped in a carrier bag from her handbag. She handed it to Ryan, who pulled out a book and handed it to Jules. She ran her fingers over the front cover, she’d always loved the feel of a fresh new book, untouched by anyone else. The title indicated it was about the Mesoamerican culture.

  “Our next challenge,” said Ryan. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

  “I will be,” she smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime,” he said, bending to kiss the top of her head.

  The children returned to the room and Rachel sighed. “Ethan, how have you got chocolate all over your face?”

  “Because he’s a messy little snot,” said Leah.

  “That’s not a nice way to talk about your brother,” said Rachel while Jules sniggered.

  “Well he is. I wondered if I could speak to Aunty Jules in private?”

  “Course you can honey,” said Rachel, a little puzzled.

  She filed out with the children, Ryan following, Leah remaining silent until they’d gone.

  “You alright?” Jules asked her, concerned.

  “I…yes…no,” she sighed, tears prickling her eyes.

  Jules pointed to the chair Ryan had vacated. “Sit. Tell.”

  Leah sat down, desperate to pour out the entire sordid story about her and Reid but now the moment she’d so desperately desired was here she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Jules already had so much to deal with, it wasn’t fair to put more on her shoulders. “I met this boy,” she began, d
eciding to go with a much watered-down version.

  “Yes?” prompted Jules when she went quiet.

  “I…like him, a lot but he’s a bit too…intense for me. What do I do?”

  “Intense?”

  “He’s trying to pressure me into doing something I don’t want.”

  Jules’s eyes flared, thinking she meant he was pressuring her into having sex and Leah let her believe that. “You grab his bits…like this,” she said, screwing her hand up into a fist. “And say if he no stop you make sure he no ever have sex again.”

  “Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” she said, enjoying the thought of doing that to Reid.

  “You strong girl. You proud girl. No let any boy force you.”

  Jules’s words empowered Leah and she sat up straighter in her seat. “You’re right. No one tells me what to do, except Mum and Dad.”

  “Yes. Listen to them. They know things. Stupid little boy not know.”

  Leah nodded. “You’re certainly right there.”

  “I wish I well. I come down and sort him for you.”

  “Thanks Aunty Jules but this is something I need to do myself. I feel better just talking to you about it.”

  “Your Mum and Dad know?”

  She shook her head. “Dad would kill him.”

  “Probably but if gets too much you tell them. You very strong but still young.”

  “Yeah, I will,” she said, wishing she could tell her the whole truth, she hated lying to her.

  Jules’s eyes turned hazy as she struggled to recall something. “When I asleep I hear you tell me you in trouble.”

  Leah held her breath, desperately trying to recall exactly what she’d said while Jules had been in the coma. She’d read that coma patients could hear what went on around them but she hadn’t really considered how true that was.

  “So that what it about?” said Jules.

  Leah resisted the urge to sigh with relief and nodded.

  “Men pigs sometimes.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to find that out.”

  After saying their goodbyes to Jules, Ryan, Rachel and the kids headed over to Cathy and Jez’s, then to Beth and Riley’s.