Top Dog

by Kerry Kaya

  “Kill him, Fred.”

  He looked Freddie in the eye. He wasn’t scared of him anymore. There was nothing left that Freddie could do to hurt him, which he’d not already done. He welcomed death, only not today, not yet. There was something he needed to do first. “It was Danny McKay.” He then bolted toward the front door. He fumbled with the door handle, before flinging it open, then ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He could hear Freddie screaming behind him, but he didn’t stop, he didn’t look back. He kept on running.

  * * *

  Josie Morgan held a sheet of paper aloft in her hand. “Guv, I’ve got something.”

  Ronnie got up from his seat and walked over to where Josie was sat at her desk.

  “Look, I’ve found a social services report, dating back to when Lewis Hart was born. He’d been placed under child protection from birth.”

  Ronnie peered at the sheet of paper.

  “Look at the father’s name, a Lee Hart. Now I’ve checked him out, and he was released from Belmarsh prison just over a year ago.”

  Josie now had his full attention. “What was he in for?”

  “You’re not going to believe this. He served life for the murder of Adam Christos, the uncle of our victim.”

  Ronnie could feel his heart begin to beat wildly inside his chest. “So, this Lee Hart murdered Adam Christos, then Lewis Hart, the son of said Lee, was shot and killed in the restaurant owned by the Christos family? And now Nico Kallas, nephew of Adam Christos, is found murdered. Am I getting this right?”

  Josie nodded her head. “It’s a revenge killing, guv. You kill one of mine, I’ll kill one of yours, type of thing. It’s got to be.”

  Ronnie punched his fist in the air. “I knew it! I knew there was more to this case than met the eye. “Right, everyone,” he shouted out. “Lee Hart has just become our number one suspect. He needs to be found, and I need to have a serious word with him. In fact, the first person to find out his whereabouts, gets a drink, on me.”

  * * *

  Danny slammed down the phone. He’d just ended a call to their brief, and as a result, he was fuming. “Lee fucking Hart. It was him who gave the pills to Aaron.”

  Moray’s eyes were wide. “So the bastard sold my boy the pills, then tipped off the old bill?”

  “Yep, that cunt is a fucking snake in the grass, mate. I told you we should have left him hanging from a hook.”

  Moray could taste his anger, so palpable was his fury. “The dirty, no good bastard.” He grabbed up his car keys. “I don’t care if I go down for this. That bastard is finished.”

  Danny didn’t need telling twice. He already knew Moray would kill him. He quickly punched a number into his phone, then brought it up to his ear. If anyone could find the bastard, it would be the Carter brothers. He and Moray were going to need all the help they could get in locating him. Lee Hart’s days were numbered.

  * * *

  All of the Carter boys had gathered at Tommy’s home, in Epping, Essex. Tommy shook Danny’s and Moray’s hands, as he ushered them inside. “Jonny, pour out the drinks,” he ordered, as he led the two men into the lounge.

  He had a nice house, and was proud of it. His wife, Stacey, had excellent taste, and had decorated the place to a high standard. It was like a show home.

  “Give me the low down.”

  “That fucking bastard Lee Hart, has set my two boys up. They’re looking at doing a lump, and I want the bastard found and brought to me.”

  The father of a daughter and two sons himself, Tommy could feel Moray’s pain. “Finish up your drinks, and then get out and find this bastard. Make sure you’re tooled up,” he told his brothers. He’d known Lee vaguely, when they’d been kids, and even then, he hadn’t liked him. Everyone knew Lee couldn’t be trusted, and that he had loose lips. “We’ll find him, Moray, don’t you worry about that.”

  “I want him alive.”

  “Of course. You heard him, lads, make sure the bastard is alive. You can give him a couple of digs, but that’s it, nothing more.”

  * * *

  “That fucking McKay. I knew it. I knew it was him, all along.” Freddie was furious. He stabbed the knife in the air as he spoke. “I told you, you should have killed that fucker stone dead, instead of pissing around and leaving him still alive. Well, now you can get out there, find the bastard, and bring him to me.”

  “Can’t you get one of the other lads to find him?” Lee wiped at his clammy forehead. He didn’t want to go out looking for Danny McKay. A coward through and through, he was scared of the man. He only liked intimidating the youngsters, such as Matty, and then, only because he knew they would be terrified by his reputation, all thanks to the murder he’d supposedly committed.

  “No, I fucking can’t.” He wasn’t prepared to have his business interests known publicly. His firm was hanging by a fine thread as it was, and more than anything, he didn’t want to lose face.

  “What about Matty? What are you going to do with him? You can’t let him get away with what he’s done. He knows too much.”

  “Don’t you think I already know that? I’ll find him. I’ve always found him before, and besides, he can’t run forever.”

  * * *

  Moray was pumped up, as they drove from Epping, toward Romford. Every muscle was straining. In his hand, he held a house brick. It was a makeshift tool, and the beauty of it, was that no fingerprints could be taken from it.

  For the past ten minutes, they’d sat in silence, each of them trying to think of where Lee Hart could be holed up.

  “He has to be living local, if he uses the snooker club, in Romford.”

  “It’s still a big area to cover though, mate. He could have travelled there from Barking, Dagenham, or any of the surrounding areas. He could even be living in Romford itself.” Danny flicked the switch on the indicator, as they approached Hainault. They were in Freddie’s neck of the woods. “He could even be living with that cunt, Freddie. Do you want to swing by his place, and check he’s not there?”

  “Nah, I can’t see him being there. He knows you know where Freddie lives. He’ll be hiding out elsewhere.”

  “Maybe.” Danny continued driving. He glanced toward Freddie’s turn off anyway, just in case. “I reckon it was him, who had me shot. I still think Freddie was involved in it somehow. But after what he’s done to the boys, he’s not gonna let me get off scot-free, is he?”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing. Well, I can tell you now, he’s not gonna get away with this.” Moray gripped the brick tighter. He couldn’t wait to smash it into Lee’s face. In fact, the thought of what he was going to do to the slimy bastard, was the only thing stopping him from going insane.

  “Oi.” Danny pushed his foot down hard on the brake, causing Moray to throw his hand down on the dashboard to save himself.

  “Is it him?” Moray turned back in his seat, craning his neck, to see why Danny had pulled the car over.

  “No, but someone who’ll know where he is.” Danny threw the seatbelt away from him, and jumped out of the motor.

  Matty was fast, but not as fast as Danny. He grabbed hold of Matty’s jacket and dragged him back toward the car.

  Climbing out of the motor, Moray looked the young lad over. He looked to be about the same age as his Colm. He could see from the blood and bruising on the lad’s face, that someone had recently done him over. He looked toward Danny, expectantly.

  “One of Freddie’s boys,” he stated to Moray. “I want a fucking word with you, you little bastard, and I want you to tell me everything,” he growled, throwing Matty into the front passenger seat.

  * * *

  Matty was scared. His stomach lurched, and he could feel his heart begin to pound inside his chest. He may not be scared of Freddie anymore, but Danny McKay was a completely different kettle of fish. The story about the murder and the hook were still fresh in his mind, and as a result, he was terrified.

  He’d always had a feeling it would be Danny, who su
ssed out his secret about the runaways, and what Freddie and the others did to them. That had to be the reason he’d grabbed hold of him. Maybe Freddie had even told Danny it was him, who went out and recruited them, knowing the man would kill him stone dead, saving Freddie the trouble of getting his own hands dirty.

  He began to cry. His cheeks were wet within seconds. Snot hung down from his nose in tendrils, and he swiped at it with the cuff of his sleeve, as he tried to catch his breath between each sob. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do it! They made me. I never touch them, I’m not like that. Honest, I only go and get the lads. Please don’t kill me. It’s Freddie and the others who do it, not me.”

  * * *

  Danny stared hard at the boy. He had no idea what he was talking about. He watched through narrowed eyes, as his small frame cowered beside him. He turned to look at Moray in the back seat, and saw the same confusion spread across his face.

  “I promise, I don’t touch them, on my life. It’s Freddie who does it, not me.”

  “What the fuck is this?” Moray glanced toward Danny, before staring back at Matty.

  Danny shrugged his shoulders. Matty’s words were echoing inside his head. He couldn’t make head, nor tail of it. What did Freddie have to do with kids?

  “Fucking hell, Danny.”

  Danny turned back to look at Moray. He gave a tiny shake of his head, his forehead furrowed. He still didn’t understand.

  Sitting forward, Moray’s fingertips had turned white, as he gripped onto the leather headrest. “Boys, Danny? Think about it. Boys.” He pressed his hand toward his mouth, and he swallowed down the repulsion he felt. Of all the things he thought Freddie was, a nonce wasn’t one of them.

  Danny’s eyes widened. He wiped his hand across his ashen face and turned to look across at Matty. He felt physically sick. He got it now. No wonder Freddie had surrounded himself with kids in the firm. He lunged toward the boy and roared. “You dirty, no good cunt.”

  It took all of Moray’s strength to pull Danny off of the lad. “Not here. It’s too open. We’ll be fucking seen. We need to find out what’s going on first.”

  Feeling sickness rise up inside of him, Danny opened the car door, and hung his head out. He took deep breaths to quash the sickening wave of nausea that rippled through him. How had he never guessed what Freddie was? He thought back to when he was fifteen, and had joined Freddie’s firm. Had the man intended to use him, too?

  He tried to think back to when he was young and had been in the man’s company. So many times, it had been just the two of them alone. There had been so many opportunities for Freddie to make a move. Maybe he already had, and he’d not been mature enough to realise what the man was doing.

  His mind instantly went to little Danny. Freddie had always taken an interest in his son. The innocent remarks he’d made about his boy being a handsome little lad, now appeared sinister. He began to heave. He couldn’t stop the wave of nausea, and tipping his head forward even farther, he vomited until his stomach was empty.

  Wiping his hand across his mouth, Danny sat up. He took a swig from a bottle of water, and then promptly spat it out onto the roadside, before closing the car door. His face was pale, drained of all colour.

  He looked across at Matty and felt him flinch as he leant across him. He opened up the glove box, searching for a piece of paper. Anything would do, as long as it could be written on. He pulled out a tattered envelope and a pen, and then thrust them into Matty’s hands. “Write down the names of everyone involved. Who did it, the boys, everyone.”

  Matty stared down at the envelope in his hand. “I can’t.”

  “Write it all fucking down,” Danny roared.

  Shaking his head, Matty looked Danny in the eyes. “I can’t. This is not big enough.”

  “Fucking hell.” Slumping backwards, Moray gasped from the back seat. What the fuck had they stumbled across?

  * * *

  After a quick trip to a supermarket, Danny walked out with a pad of paper. He climbed back into his car and handed the pad over to Matty.

  “What are we going to do now?” Moray asked. “We can’t just sit in the car park all day, waiting for this piece of shit to write everything down. We’ll have to take him to your place, then I can get back out searching for that cunt, Lee. If we’re lucky, he and Freddie might even be together … kill two birds with one stone.”

  Matty was alarmed. While he was out in the open, he’d felt relatively safe that they wouldn’t hurt him. But if they took him to Danny’s flat, he knew for sure, he wouldn’t come out of there alive. They would kill him stone dead, maybe Danny even kept his hook there. He began to cry once again. The enormity of the situation was hitting him full on. “Please, don’t kill me.”

  “Is this bastard getting on your nerves, or is it just me?” Danny asked.

  “Just take him back to your place. I can’t be doing this, with all of this snivelling bollocks.”

  Starting the ignition, Danny eased out of the car park. Other than the sobs, which came from Matty, the men remained silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts, as they tried to think back to when they, themselves were fifteen.

  * * *

  “Sit there and write down two lists, one for who the perpetrators are, and a second one for the kids,” Danny ordered, as he pushed Matty down onto the sofa. “And make sure you put down everyone involved, do you understand me?”

  Matty nodded his head. He didn’t dare speak. He sat as still as a statue, and began writing.

  “I need to get out looking for Lee, mate. I can’t sit in here all day doing nothing. I need to keep active.” Moray clenched and unclenched his fists. The thought of what he was going to do to Lee was the only thing stopping him from thinking too much about the fate of his boys.

  Danny paused, as he thought through their next move. “Get on the blower to the Carters. Find out where they’ve already searched. You don’t want to be going back on yourself. I’ll stay here with this little bastard.”

  Moray shot a glance toward Matty. The hatred he felt for nonces was enough to make him want to commit murder. “Yeah, I’ll do that.” He walked through to the kitchen to make his phone calls, and closed the door behind him as he did so.

  Hovering behind Matty, Danny watched as the boy jotted down the names. Already he could see a few he recognised, and he felt a sense of anger begin to bubble inside of him. No wonder Freddie had never had his collar felt. He had enough old bill in his pocket to ensure him of that. He closed his eyes. He still couldn’t get his head around it all. How had Freddie kept this hidden for so long, and right underneath their noses, too?

  “Right, the Carters have had no joy as of yet. I was thinking of trying The Tavern.”

  “I doubt he’d show his face in there. People don’t forget easily, and everyone knows what a tosser he is. You’d be better off trying all the snooker halls. If I remember rightly, he used to play a fair bit, before he went inside.”

  “Yeah, you’re right he did. I’ll start there, instead.”

  “Let me know when you find the bastard and just keep a hold of him. Wait for me to get there, before you do anything.”

  Reluctantly, Moray nodded his head. “I’ll try, but can’t promise I won’t tear him limb from limb.”

  “He’s with Freddie at his house.”

  The two men turned to look at Matty. What with everything coming out about Freddie, they’d completely forgotten to ask the boy if he knew of Lee’s whereabouts.

  “What did I fucking tell you? I knew he’d be with that cunt. Get back on the blower to Tommy Carter. You’re going to need them. Oh, and take these, the keys for Freddie’s lock up. You’ll have to take them somewhere.” Danny handed over a set of keys that Freddie had given to him, before all of the trouble had started up. No doubt the man had forgotten he still had them.

  “Is it secure and out of the way?”

  “It’s perfect, mate. I picked the place out myself.” Scribbling down the address, Danny
passed across a scrap of paper.

  “I’ll give you a bell when we’ve got them then. What are we going to do with him?” Moray glared toward Matty.

  “Once you’ve got Freddie and Lee at the lock up, I’ll bring him over.”

  Satisfied, Moray nodded his head. He couldn’t stay in the room a moment longer. He didn’t trust himself to not grab Matty around the throat and throttle the life out of him.

  Danny waited until Moray had left the flat, then sat down heavily. Resisting the urge to kick the boy in the head, he didn’t take his eyes off of him, and sat quietly brooding over his fate. He’d always felt a hatred for the kid, he’d just not been able to put a finger on the reason why. Now, everything made sense to him. He now knew why the boy had got underneath his skin so much. He must have had some kind of sixth sense as to what he was.

  * * *

  Matty continued writing down the list of names. He was almost finished, and had just two more to add, yet he could barely bring himself to write them down. Even though Freddie and the others had never touched them, they were still involved. He’d promised the two little boys so many times that he would take them away from their mum, and now, he knew that wouldn’t be possible. It was out of his hands. Danny McKay was going to kill him.

  He began to cry. What would the boys do now? He wrote down the names, Sam and Jack, then passed the sheets of paper across to Danny. He felt so ashamed, as Danny studied the lists. He couldn’t even look at the man. He looked down at his lap, and allowed hot salty tears to slip down his cheeks. He didn’t wipe them away. He let them fall freely. His heart was breaking all over again.