by Martina Cole
Now Diana let out a real laugh, throaty and deep. Angus knew that laugh.
‘Oh my God, I’d forgotten about that! And my Angus was in nick, and he had arranged the delivery. Oh fucking hell, what were we like?’
They laughed together again, and Solomon once more filled up the glasses. But both Angus and Diana noticed that it was Solomon who was drinking the most, and Diana knew that was unusual for him.
‘We go back a long way, Diana, and we have always been straight with each other. So now I will be completely straight with you.’
Diana sipped her drink. She had a feeling that she knew what this man was going to say.
‘My son Michael was a terrible disappointment to me, my brothers and my sons . . . but his mother and his sisters . . .’ He shrugged sadly. ‘They loved him and he loved them. What can I say? I couldn’t do it to his mother. But today, I can promise you that he is gone, it’s over for him. My Daniel is seeing to that as we speak. But what I will tell you is that, whatever he was, he wasn’t the person that you are looking for. You need to look at Dicky Matthews and his latest associates.’
Diana didn’t say a word.
Solomon took a deep sip of his drink, before continuing, ‘No disrespect, Diana, but I didn’t want my youngest son found like a paper chase all around London – his mother would never have coped with that. He is her baby. It’s why I have never done anything about him until today.’
Diana Davis looked at this man who she had known and who she had worked with for many, many years, and she felt a stab of shame.
‘Solly, all we wanted was to find out what he knew.’
Solomon smiled sadly and, filling their glasses once more, he said, ‘Who he knew, you mean. My son Daniel will give you everything you need to know, you have my word.’
That was enough for Diana.
‘Come on, it’s over. It’s all in the past.’ He held up his glass in a toast. ‘L’chaim! That is Hebrew for “to life”. How ironic is that?’
Diana held up her glass, but she wondered how Solly could ever get over what he had done. His wife had served the food and left the room, and Diana knew that he would have told her what was happening. She would take some comfort from knowing that her sons would give her baby boy a good death. They would ensure that, at least, he would have a decent burial.
Such was life.
Chapter Sixty-seven
Roger Matthews was worried because he had heard the whispers about Solly’s boy, and he had also heard that his own son was somehow involved.
He didn’t have anything to do with his Dicky unless he really had to, because the lad irritated him beyond measure. It wasn’t because he was gay either; Roger had known that from when Dicky was three and insisted that his mother paint his toenails along with hers. He was a queen from the day he could walk, and that had never bothered Roger. Dicky was his son, and he had loved him. He still did.
He had never had a problem with all that – he had never cared. He had three strapping sons and a daughter and he loved them all, and always would, but his Dicky could try the patience of a saint. He had a knack of getting himself into situations that needed his father’s expertise to extract him from. He finally had to tell him, none too gently, that he was on his own and he had to start sorting his own fucking problems. After all, you could only do so much for your children, and if they didn’t get with the programme then they had to learn about the big bad world the hard way.
Now, though, he knew that he couldn’t stick to that resolution, because his son had got himself into shit that was deeper than the Atlantic Ocean and twice as bastard dangerous. He could cheerfully fucking chin him, and he had a feeling that he might just do that, if the occasion should present itself.
He also had to sort it out personally to ensure that the rest of his family wouldn’t be tainted by his son’s blatant stupidity. He was so angry he could almost taste it. That one of his sons could be this fucking impervious to what his actions could cause for his family was just beyond Roger’s comprehension.
Angus Davis was not a lad to cross – everyone knew that these days. He had made a name for himself outside of his family business. He had a reputation as fair but cruel if crossed and, like everyone else in their world, Roger Matthews had heard the rumours about him.
Angus Davis was the new breed of villain. It couldn’t be denied that anyone who crossed him seemed to disappear. And if they ever turned up, it seemed they didn’t die of natural causes. That was not unusual in their world. But when it was rumoured that he had left people to starve to death, or removed body parts and left them to bleed out, it put a completely different complexion on things, naturally. Angus had a nasty streak in him, and anyone who didn’t understand that before doing any kind of business with him, shouldn’t be allowed out on their own.
He had his creds, did Angus. But then he also had his mother and her fucking weight behind him, should he need it, and that wasn’t something to be dismissed either. Even though Roger Matthews knew that he had his own creds, he was also sensible enough to recognise that his were nowhere near the Davis clan’s, especially when it came to the matriarch. She was as hard as nails. Everyone knew that she could be cruel if the fancy took her, and that fucking son of hers had obviously inherited that trait.
What Roger needed to find out was what had actually gone down, and then try to work from there. But he couldn’t seem to locate his errant son, and that was a worry in itself. He smiled as best he could as his eldest son pulled up outside their main betting office. He could rely on Marcus to sort things out with the minimum of fuss. But he didn’t feel his usual sense of comfort at that thought. This was where he did most of his serious business, and this was where he should feel fucking safe – except he didn’t feel it now. In fact, he felt as if he was waiting for a bomb to drop. It had been years since he had felt this vulnerable, and he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it at all. He knew that the proverbial shit was about to hit the fan.
This was a situation that needed to be handled with tact and diplomacy; it would be pointless starting any kind of war.
He couldn’t take the Davis family on. All he could do was swallow his knob and sort this out as best he could, with the minimum of aggravation.
Chapter Sixty-eight
Angus and Roy were eating lunch at The Ivy restaurant. Angus kept a table there – booked regularly for three days a week – and that wasn’t cheap, by anyone’s standards. It was one of his favourite places to eat, and his presence added to his persona of being a minor celebrity.
He often dined with soap stars and, occasionally, with credible actors who he would be introduced to by mutual friends. It never ceased to amaze him how certain people were drawn towards the criminal world. And he was an intelligent boy; they could only add to his credibility. He knew the value of being in the tabloids better than the agents who were always ringing his team and begging for him to give their latest munter a few column inches. It was all grist to his mill, because having such a high profile guaranteed that he was never ‘seen’ where certain incidences might occur.
He smiled at Roy as he watched him drink his beer. ‘Only you would drink beer in here, when I have ordered us a lovely bottle of Chablis.’
Roy grinned. ‘I’ll have one glass, but wine gives me terrible indigestion. I’m a Red Stripe boy – always have been, always will be. Unless I am here, of course, and then I drink a Peroni.’
Angus began to laugh. ‘I think we should get up a petition and make them stock Red Stripe.’ He poured Roy a glass of wine anyway.
Roy picked it up and, toasting him, he sipped it before grimacing and pretending to shudder in disgust. ‘Angus, as your mum always says, you can’t educate haddock.’
They laughed together, and then both set about their food.
‘You ready for this meeting? I tell you, Roy, I have a bad feeling about it, you know? There’s still something off, but I can’t fucking work it out.’
Roy swallowed his food do
wn and, burping loudly, he put a hand to his mouth quickly. ‘If we have missed something, I am fucked if I know what it is. But, like you, I do feel uneasy.’
Angus looked at his friend seriously because he knew that if they both felt like this, something wasn’t right. They were both experienced enough to know that it generally paid to listen to their instincts. They were quiet again for long moments, until a wannabe actor who had appeared in a couple of episodes of EastEnders recognised them and descended on them like they were the second coming.
Angus was going to give him the bum’s rush but there were a couple of girls with him, and one of them appealed to him. Standing up, all smiles, and acting like he had just found his long-lost brother, Angus shook the man’s hand and then invited them all to join him. Roy shook his head as he watched them settle at the table and start ordering champagne cocktails.
The skinny blonde with the expensive new tits, the bleached hair and shoes from Peacocks was pulled into the booth next to Angus and, as he turned the full force of his personality on her, Roy Rogers knew that she didn’t stand a chance. But they had a meeting – and even Angus wouldn’t dare to miss that. It was what they would call a real wonderer, because it had been requested without any reason by someone who they had no interest in.
Though, of course, now that person was suddenly at the very top of their agenda.
Chapter Sixty-nine
Diana was the first to arrive in Bethnal Green and she came in via the back entrance of Roger Matthews’ betting shop, with Gabriel by her side.
She was confident enough not to bring her minders inside with her. They waited outside and looked exactly like what they were being paid to look: menacing. They didn’t like her going into situations alone, and she appreciated that, but she also knew that, if push ever came to shove, she could look after herself.
Roger Matthews was nervous and that was evident. Diana could find it in her heart to feel sorrow for him; his son had brought a great worry down on his head, and she believed that Roger didn’t know what any of this was actually about. She admired him for trying to sort it though. Requesting this meeting had taken a lot of guts on his part. Roger was a decent man and that went a long way to explaining why she was gracing this fucker with her presence.
She had always been of the opinion that, if you used your loaf, you could find out what you needed to know without violence or force. It was always her last resort. If she was pushed, she would make sure that the people concerned didn’t forget that they had brought it on themselves.
Diana smiled her huge smile that made people think they were important to her, and she said genially, ‘Always lovely to see you, Roger. I hope you have a drink here for me.’
Roger relaxed visibly at her kind words and said quickly, ‘Of course, Diana, I have a bottle of Jameson’s, and some information you need to know.’
As he poured them all a glass, his hands were visibly shaking. Gabriel looked at Diana and, shrugging gently, he raised his eyebrows because, like her, he wondered what this was all going to lead to.
When his eldest son, Marcus, came into the room, Roger turned to Diana and Gabriel and smiled. He was already feeling better with his son beside him.
If he had found out one thing with all this latest shite, it was that he was getting too old for any kind of skulduggery.
Chapter Seventy
Angus was in his element. The girl was called Destiny and, even though he had thought that might be a piss-take, he had eventually accepted that was her real name. She had finally shown him her library card, and he couldn’t decide what he found the more outrageous: that she was really called Destiny, or that she had a fucking library card.
Both were incongruous and required him to suspend his disbelief. But once she had stripped off in his office in Old Compton Street, he had stopped caring. It was only when Roy had finally hammered on his door in anger, reminding him that they should already be in Bethnal Green, that he thanked her profusely and hurried her out into the bar.
He left her with her friends and an open tab, and he whistled cheerily as he finally made his way to his car and threw away her phone number. He certainly wouldn’t be riding that again. She was all right, but not exactly a keeper. Roy was fuming and, even though Angus knew he had been out of order, he really thought that what had held him up had been tantamount to an emergency.
‘Come on, Roy, you saw her, she was ripe for the picking! And, in her favour, she had a library card. I swear to God! I know I can exaggerate the charms of my amours at times but – I mean, come on – a fucking library card! That’s a one-up to Blockbuster Video.’
Eventually, Roy had to laugh at him, because he was so earnest.
Only Angus could argue that an emergency fuck was an excuse to be late for a meeting like this one.
Chapter Seventy-one
‘Is Angus coming?’
Diana had to admit she was as annoyed as young Marcus. She was very impressed with this lad. He had a presence about him, and that wasn’t just because he was so good-looking – though that helped, obviously. He was well built, he clearly worked out and, even though he was showing due deference to his visitors, he wasn’t being subservient. She had seen bigger men than him fold when she had interviewed them.
She sensed that Gabriel felt the same, because he was chatting to Marcus and his father while they waited for her son to finally arrive. She could quite happily smack her Angus at times, and this was one of them. She knew that it had to be a female – that would always be her son’s weakness. As much as he loved Lorna, her son couldn’t resist his attraction to strange.
Lorna was utterly self-contained, and Diana had sussed out early on that Lorna wasn’t that enamoured of the sexual side of her marriage. But that was her prerogative; it didn’t appeal to every woman. Lorna was the wife, the mother; she was the girl that Angus had loved from the moment he met her and who he saw as his soulmate. She was everything that he wanted in a life partner; her whole life revolved around his home and his kids, and that suited them both. But Lorna had to know that her husband wasn’t faithful, and Diana wondered what she thought about it deep down.
When she had tried to broach the subject with Lorna, she had shut down. Lorna was like a closed book – a cold, distant look came into her eyes when anyone tried to talk to her about things she didn’t want to acknowledge. Diana had taken the hint and never again tried to discuss anything remotely personal with her son’s wife.
On the surface, Lorna was a wonderful wife and mother, but no one seemed able to get close to her to know what she was really thinking. Diana worried what would happen when the perfect surface cracked. It always did. Her main concern was her grandsons, who she adored. Not that she got to spend much time with them. Even at five and three, Lorna kept them on a strict timetable which didn’t allow much time for freedom.
Angus let Lorna have her way – Diana knew he would do anything to keep his wife happy. And he would even ban his mother from their house if Lorna felt she wasn’t toeing the line. Lorna was more than capable of insisting on that if she felt threatened in any way, shape or form.
Diana walked a fine line with that girl, and she did it for her grandchildren, not her son. If only Lorna could understand that she was on her side. Diana would be the best friend she could ever have asked for if she let her in; she would defend her to the death.
She snuck another look at her watch and decided that, when this was all over, she was going to launch that son of hers into outer fucking space.
Chapter Seventy-two
Lorna had been running for two hours, and she felt the energy suffusing her body.
It was such a rush – now she ran in the afternoons and evenings as well as the mornings – whenever she felt the need to relax. She felt almost high whenever she finished a long run – not that she would know what that was like, of course. She only drank occasionally, and she had never touched a drug in her life. She was very against anything like that, though she didn’t count wi
ne. She felt that wine was harmless – after all, everyone did it. It was even in the Bible. Didn’t Jesus change the water into wine for a wedding? His endorsement was good enough for her.
As she walked into her kitchen, she could smell the aroma of the casserole that she had prepared earlier. She made sure that her boys had a good diet, and she also made sure that they ate whatever food she put in front of them. There was none of this ‘I don’t eat vegetables’ crap in her home; her children ate what she cooked for them, and that was that. When she heard the way some of the mothers carried on about their children! Her sons had never had a McDonald’s, ever – and if it was left to her, they never would.
She loved them, but she wasn’t easy on them. That was something she had decided on from day one, and she had kept to it. Angus was quite happy to back her up, and that was important, because he was not often around, due to the hours he had to work. They had a long weekend together every five weeks, and that was when they could be a proper family. That suited her too, if she was honest. They had a wonderful few days of making love, and just enjoying time with each other.
Her Angus would never be a nine-to-five man, but she relished being in charge of the house and the children, without Angus being there constantly. She actually liked her own company and she enjoyed being alone. That was why their marriage worked so well; they were compatible, even though they were worlds apart in many ways.
Chapter Seventy-three
Roy Rogers took the call on his car phone and sighed in annoyance.
