The Sting

by Kimberley Chambers

Kim hugged Connie. ‘Thank you, Connie. For everything.’

  At the exact same time Kim’s passing-out parade was taking place, Tommy Darling was handed a gun. ‘Shoot him,’ Jack Darling ordered.

  Tommy was startled. ‘What! Why me?’

  ‘Why not?’ Jack snapped. Tommy’s weird behaviour had been bothering him for a while. The lad was part of the family now, so best he started pulling his socks up.

  Tommy glanced at Danny, Ronnie and Eugene. All eyes were on him, their expressions blank.

  Knowing he had no choice, Tommy stepped over the dead body of Glenn Archer and walked up to Alfie, who was still tied to a chair.

  ‘No, lad. Please God no. I’ll work for you, Jack. I’ll set the Colloffs up for you. On my dear old mum’s life I will,’ begged Alfie.

  Tommy glanced at Jack. ‘Do it,’ barked Jack.

  Tommy’s hands trembled as he placed the barrel against Alfie’s right temple. He owed Jack big time. Thanks to him he had a lovely gaff, a top-of-the-range motor and was earning more cash than he’d ever dreamed of. But most of all he had a family. He wasn’t a Boyle any more. He was a Darling. Tommy shut his eyes and pictured his perverted uncle’s fat face.

  Seconds later, he pulled the trigger …

  PART FOUR

  Hell is empty

  and all the devils are here.

  William Shakespeare

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  So that’s how I became a murderer, was easier than I thought to be honest. I wasn’t exactly proud of myself afterwards, but I felt no guilt neither. If the Archers hadn’t tried to wrong us Darlings, they’d still be alive. It was as simple as that.

  I’ve overheard firemen and coppers say, in the past, you get used to watching people die and it was no different in our world. Probably better if anything, as we were only witnessing wrong ’uns snuff it, not decent human beings, no women or kids.

  The only part of it I wasn’t fond of was the dismembering of the bodies. Neither was Danny. It was bloody hard work and it turned our stomachs. So much so, we couldn’t even fancy a Big Mac and chips until the following day.

  I didn’t like it but it seemed I had a gift for it. I did what I had to do. Jack, Ronnie, Danny and Eugene were my family now. They were loyal to me, as was Suzie.

  Or so I thought. How wrong can a man be?

  1983

  ‘What we doing today, Dad?’ asked six-year-old Robbie Darling. Saturdays were his favourite day of the week. His mum always went out shopping, so he and his dad spent the day alone, doing laddish things.

  Tommy grinned at his son. Robbie was the light of his life. His hair was dark, his eyes a chocolate brown and he had the cheekiest of grins. Jack reckoned he took after himself and his own father and, after seeing photos of them as kids, Tommy couldn’t help but agree. He hoped his son didn’t grow up like Jack though. He wanted Robbie to lead a normal life. ‘Choice is yours, boyo. Millwall are at home, if you wanna go there? But it’s such a nice day; we could take a trip to the seaside and see your Auntie Linda if you like?’

  ‘Seaside.’ Robbie clapped his hands excitedly. ‘But can we go McDonald’s first, please?’

  ‘Yeah. Course we can.’ Saturday daytime was Tommy’s only official time off work. The rest of the week he always had to have his pager handy in case he was needed for something or other, even on a Sunday. Jack had slowed down now, spent a lot of weekends with Suzie at their cottage in the countryside. Ronnie still had a screw loose, so it was up to himself and Danny to ensure the business was run properly.

  ‘I’m off out. Going down the Roman with Kerry,’ announced Donna.

  Tommy smirked. She wasn’t going out with Kerry; neither was she heading to Roman Road market. She was meeting her boyfriend. She’d been at it for a while – at least six months, Tommy reckoned. He could smell the sex on her when she came home. He wasn’t bothered, mind. As long as she kept it low key and he wasn’t made to look a fool. Whoever she was seeing didn’t live locally, as he’d checked the mileage on her Volkswagen Beetle.

  Donna bent down to hug Robbie. ‘Have a lovely day with Daddy.’

  ‘We’re going to the seaside, Mummy,’ Robbie announced.

  ‘Well, best you bring me back a stick of rock then,’ Donna beamed.

  Tommy smiled politely. With her permed blonde hair, sea-blue eyes and size-ten figure, Donna was still extremely attractive – but not to him. He hated the silly white leggings and turquoise blue jacket she was wearing with the massive shoulder pads. She thought she looked like something out of Dallas, but to Tommy she looked ridiculous. In fact, there wasn’t much about Donna he did like, apart from the son she’d given him. ‘Have a good shopping trip,’ he said.

  ‘Thanks. I will.’

  ‘Dad,’ Robbie said when his mother left the house. ‘Why don’t you and Mummy share a bedroom? You know my friend David? His mum and dad always sleep in the same bed.’

  Tommy picked his son up and swung him in the air. ‘Because your mother snores too bleedin’ much. Next question?’

  ‘Morning, bird. Lover boy not ’ere?’ asked Sam.

  ‘No. He had to work late again last night. Probably ’cause of that robbery. They still haven’t caught anyone.’ Earlier in the week gunmen had held up a Security Express van in Shoreditch and escaped with what was being described as the biggest cash haul in British history. It was the talk of the police force at present. Some were saying the sum involved was five million, but Kim had been told it was more like seven. ‘You look happy. I take it you spent the night at Jenny’s again?’

  ‘Sure did,’ Sam grinned. ‘Nymphomaniac, she is. Seriously can’t get enough of me.’

  Kim held her hands up. ‘That is way too much information while I’m eating my breakfast,’ she chuckled. Kim was thrilled Sam had finally found the woman of her dreams and it amused her greatly that Jenny was ten years older than Sam, had an eight-year-old son and looked a bit like Dolly Parton. You would never put the two together, but both Sam and Jenny seemed smitten since meeting four months ago at a gay bar in Greenwich.

  ‘I need a strong coffee. I had far too many Malibu and pineapples last night. My head’s bloody pounding,’ Sam sighed.

  Kim laughed. That was another thing that amused her greatly. Sam had always sunk pints until she met Jenny. Now she was a Malibu drinker.

  After leaving Hendon, Kim and Sam had rented a flat together in Seven Sisters. They’d since moved to Barnet. Barnet wasn’t cheap, but it was better than living in an area where they might be easily recognized.

  Sam was based at Islington police station, which had been Kim’s first posting, while Kim had moved over to Kings Cross. Both had been promoted to DS, so they wore plain clothes now rather than official uniforms. They were also trained SO10 officers, and as such would get called to New Scotland Yard to take part in undercover operations from time to time.

  Kim handed Sam a coffee. ‘That prostitute who was found in a bad way died early hours of this morning. Banksy called me to tell me.’

  ‘Poor cow,’ Sam replied. The woman in question had been in her early twenties. She’d been brutally raped, then beaten to a pulp. ‘Do they reckon it’s the same bloke who attacked that other brass last month?’

  ‘It’s looking that way. Both very similar attacks.’

  ‘Some twisted loony-tune, no doubt. I had some shit news yesterday an’ all. That Griffiths bloke who was shot in the back of the head last week. The witnesses have gone cold all of a sudden. Obviously been got at. We’re sure we know who did it – one of the Darlings out of South London. But proving it is gonna be difficult. The suspect has a water-tight alibi an’ all, the tosser.’

  Darling was an unusual surname. The only time Kim had heard it before was in relation to Tommy. He’d gone to live with a family in South London called Darling. ‘What’s the suspect’s first name?’

  Sam took the latest bulletins out of her bag. ‘The suspect is Ronnie; he’s the one at the top of the page. The others are family memb
ers. Proper little firm, they are. Darlings by name, but certainly not by nature. Jack, the father, did a long stretch for murder and they’re suspected of other killings. They’ve terrorized publicans south of the water for years, by all accounts. The victim in this case used to work for ’em, so we’ve got a motive, though fat lot of good that’ll do us with no bloody witnesses.’

  Kim’s complexion drained of colour as she stared at one photo in particular. He looked older, his face weather-beaten. His hair was cropped and he had a scar on his left cheek. There was no mistaking those eyes though. Kim shuddered. It was as if he was looking straight at her.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Sam asked.

  Kim pointed at Tommy. ‘I know him.’

  ‘Really! How?’

  Kim trusted Sam implicitly, but had never told her the full horror of her past. What was the point? Not only did she have no wish to think or speak about it, she’d thankfully moved on in life. ‘You remember me telling you I once had my heart broken when I was young?’

  ‘Yeah. Not by him, surely?’

  Kim nodded. ‘His surname was Boyle back then, not Darling. You can’t say anything. Imagine the stick I would get off Banksy and the guv’nor if they found out I’d once been in a relationship with a felon on their wanted list!’ Banksy was Kim’s work partner. He was a chauvinistic piss-taking bastard, but on the whole they worked well together. He was a bloody good copper.

  Sam’s eyes lit up. ‘Speak to the guv. You’d be perfect to go in undercover if you know Tommy. Would he be pleased to see you, do ya think? Where do you know him from? School?’

  ‘Yeah. Sort of. There was five of us who used to knock around together. I don’t want to go in undercover though, not on this case.’

  ‘But why not? The geezer broke your heart. Perhaps we could work together on this one? Think what it would do for our careers if we were to bring a firm like the Darlings down.’

  Kim shook her head. ‘No way. I’m not getting involved.’

  ‘You’re not still in contact with him are you?’

  Kim glared at her best friend. ‘Don’t talk shit. I haven’t seen him since I was fifteen.’

  ‘You’re long overdue a catch-up with him then. You could organize a school reunion or something similar,’ Sam grinned. ‘Please, think about it, mate. If we did this together and pulled it off, we’d make detective inspector before you know it.’

  In McDonald’s, Tommy was having one of his funny turns. A man sitting on a nearby table looked like a kiddy-fiddler and he kept looking over at himself and Robbie, smiling.

  ‘What you doing, Dad?’ Robbie asked, when his father snatched his quarter pounder off the table and put it back inside the brown bag.

  ‘Come on. We’re going. You can eat your grub in the car.’

  ‘But I want to eat it now. Why can’t we eat it here, Dad?’

  Aware that the man was still looking at them, Tommy leapt out of his seat, walked over to him and to the astonishment of the other diners, grabbed him by the throat. ‘What ya looking at, eh?’

  The startled man dropped his milkshake all over his trousers. ‘Your son. He reminds me of my own grandson, Toby,’ he stammered.

  ‘Liar! You’re a fucking nonce-case,’ Tommy hissed.

  Robbie tugged his father’s arm. ‘Stop it, Dad. Please stop it. Everyone is looking at us,’ he cried.

  One of the staff appeared. ‘Is there a problem?’

  Tommy released his grip on the man’s throat. ‘Nah. My son and I are just leaving.’

  ‘My food’s still on the table, Dad,’ Robbie sobbed, as his father dragged him out the door.

  ‘Leave it. I’ll get you another meal.’

  Tommy was shaking as he put the key in the ignition of his new silver Mercedes. He’d had one of his nightmares last night, the first in ages.

  ‘Why did you have a go at that man?’

  Tommy hugged his visibly upset son. He knew where his uncle lived and loathed himself for not having the guts to seek retribution. Trouble was, he couldn’t face the bastard. Neither could he face a long prison stretch for murder. ‘Because I didn’t like the way he kept looking at you. There are some bad men in this world, boy.’

  ‘Like the bogey-man?’

  ‘Yeah, similar. You don’t ever talk to strangers or accept a lift in a car if anyone offers you one. Understand?’

  ‘You’ve told me that loads of times.’

  ‘And now I’m telling you again, so just you remember it. Right, shall we head straight to the seaside, get something to eat there?’

  Robbie nodded.

  Tommy took a deep breath to calm himself. Sometimes it felt like his past was catching up with him and he had no idea how to stop it.

  ‘What do you think?’ Jay Delaney asked Kim. They were getting married this summer, had been saving like mad for their dream home. House-hunting wasn’t easy as they both worked long hours. Jay had recently been promoted to DS, and was now based in Hackney.

  ‘I think the kitchen is too small, and the garden.’

  ‘Sorry to waste your time, mate. It’s a lovely property but not quite what we’re looking for,’ Jay explained to the owners.

  Kim sat in the car with her eyes shut. She couldn’t get that image of Tommy out of her head; wished Sam had never shown it to her. She hated him. But did she hate him enough to put him inside? She’d moved on in life, was happy now. Visiting her past wasn’t something she would enjoy. She just wanted to forget all about Scratch and enjoy her life as Kim.

  New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ was on the radio. Jay turned it down. ‘Right, what’s up?’

  ‘I thought the kitchen and garden were too small.’

  ‘I’m not talking about the house. You’ve been acting strange since I picked you up. What’s wrong?’ He’d pursued Kim for months after leaving Hendon, until she had finally succumbed to his charms. They’d been together ever since. They were good together, trusted one another implicitly, but didn’t live in one another’s pockets. Jay often hung out with his work colleagues and Kim with hers. The only thing they seemed to disagree over was children. Jay wanted to start a family in the not-too-distant future, but Kim was adamant she didn’t want kids. She was very career-minded and all Jay could do was hope she would change her mind one day. He loved her enough to marry her though, whatever the outcome.

  Kim sighed deeply. She took the bulletin out of her handbag and placed it on Jay’s lap. If she couldn’t seek advice from the man she would soon be married to, then who could she seek advice from?

  She would only tell him the parts she needed him to know though. The rest was nobody’s business but hers.

  ‘Can I sit over there, Dad, with Jessica? Her dad said we can have an ice-cream. Is that OK?’ Robbie asked warily.

  Tommy grinned at his son. He’d found himself a little girlfriend today, kept holding her hand. ‘Yeah, course it is. Go on, off you trot.’

  ‘He’s a dear little soul, isn’t he?’ beamed Linda. She loved spending time with Tommy and her nephew, especially on days such as this when they could sit on the beach watching the world go by.

  Tommy cracked open a beer and stared at the sea. He felt chilled now, that earlier incident forgotten. He liked Clacton. It had a serenity about it that didn’t exist in South London. His dream was to one day live here alone with Robbie, but he couldn’t see that happening anytime soon. ‘How’re the Pipers doing?’ he asked.

  ‘They’re all good, thanks. Alice has a new boyfriend and seems quite loved up. How’s things between you and Donna?’

  ‘I haven’t seen much of her lately, so that’s good. She’s been going out a lot, glammed up to the nines with a spring in her step. She’s definitely got herself a fancy man, but I’ve no idea who he is.’

  ‘Oh, Tommy. That’s awful.’

  ‘Nah. It’s a good thing actually. I only wish she’d sod off with him – provided she left Robbie with me, of course. Over my dead body is she taking my boy to live with another bloke. He
r dad wouldn’t stand for that anyway. He’s old school, is Jack.’

  ‘I wish you could meet someone and be happy like I am. Paul is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,’ Linda gushed.

  Tommy put an arm around his sister’s shoulders. Paul was Mr Average. Nothing special to look at, or talk to; worked for his father, fitting carpets. He was perfect for Linda though and clearly adored her. Tommy would much rather his sister be with Mr Average than some bloody Jack-the-lad. ‘Nobody is happier for you than me, Sis. You made any wedding plans yet?’ Paul had surprised Linda last Christmas Day by getting down on one knee and popping the question.

  ‘We’ve looked at some brochures and venues. Neither of us are in any rush. We’d rather save up first, so we’ll have a deposit for our own home. We was thinking summer 1985. I definitely want a church wedding. Paul’s parents are going to pay for the reception and our honeymoon. Not as if I have a dad to ask, is it?’

  ‘Nah. But you got me. I want you to have the best wedding ever, Linda. How about I give you five grand towards it?’

  ‘Don’t be so silly. That’s way too much. I wouldn’t expect you to do that.’

  ‘But I want to, and I can afford to. You’re the only proper family I’ve got left.’

  Linda’s eyes welled up. ‘That’s so kind of you. You’re the best brother a girl could wish for. There is another favour I need to ask you though.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Would you walk me down the aisle, Tommy?’

  Tommy breathed deeply and stared at the calmness of the sea. He and Linda had tried to track Hazel down a couple of years ago. He had even hired a private detective, but to no avail. They hadn’t managed to track down that bastard Alexander either. It was obvious they’d changed their names, or possibly even emigrated. Whatever the explanation, it was clear Hazel wanted no more to do with him and Linda. Linda still had the same surname, so Hazel could easily have found her if she’d wanted to.

  ‘Say something, Tommy. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,’ Linda said.