by D. S. Butler
Jimmy ducked. The bacon rolls spilt out of the paper bag and scattered over the street.
As the motorcycle careered off, it took the corner too fast, and there was a screech as the bike fishtailed, and the man who had been riding pillion fell to the ground.
Jimmy’s heart was thundering in his chest. He couldn’t believe this had happened in broad daylight, and to make matters worse, as the motorcycle had passed him, he’d managed to get a glimpse of the driver, and he was sure he recognised him.
Jimmy got to his feet and then turned to ask Dave if he was okay. It was then he saw the blood.
The sound of the gunshot had brought the lads out from the workshop. Jimmy yelled at them to get an ambulance as he tried to help Dave.
He cradled Dave’s head in his lap, and blood seeped into his overalls as Georgie screamed.
“What happened? Who did it?” Charlie Williams asked as Brian and Big Tim jumped into a motor, declaring they would catch whoever was responsible.
It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to arrive. Dave drifted in and out of consciousness.
In the confusion, the rider who had fallen off the bike had managed to escape, despite Big Tim and Brian going after him.
Jimmy kept murmuring over and over that everything was going to be okay, but Dave only managed to mutter a few words in reply.
“Look after my boys, Jimmy.” He gripped Jimmy’s hand. “Did you see who it was?”
Jimmy hesitated before answering Dave’s question because he had caught a glimpse of a familiar pair of eyes behind the visor, but he didn’t want to tell Dave until he was absolutely sure.
Because if Jimmy was right, it would absolutely destroy Dave.
Chapter 47
The next few hours passed in a blur. The ambulance had taken Dave to hospital, and he had been immediately prepped for surgery.
Georgie sat on one of the hard-backed chairs in the waiting room as Jimmy paced in front of him.
“Where is Trevor?” Georgie asked for the tenth time since they’d arrived at the hospital. “We should tell him what’s happened.”
Jimmy was reluctant to leave Georgie, and he hadn’t wanted to leave the hospital until he’d known that Dave was going to be all right. But Georgie had a point. Trevor had to be told. That is if he didn’t already know, of course.
The more Jimmy thought about it, the more he thought he must have been mistaken. It had all happened so quickly, and he’d only caught a brief glimpse of the person riding the motorcycle. Maybe he’d been wrong.
He knew that Trevor was an angry young man, but surely even Trevor wouldn’t go this far.
“I’ll go and find him,” Jimmy said. “But you’d better stay here just in case.”
Georgie’s eyes widened in fright, and he stood up and gripped Jimmy’s arm. “Just in case what?”
“Just in case your dad wakes up and asks for you,” Jimmy said, even though that hadn’t been exactly what he meant.
Georgie released his grip and nodded. “All right.”
“Brian will be back in a bit. He’s just getting an update from Charlie and Tim.”
Georgie’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “An update about what?”
Sometimes, Georgie was hard work. “Charlie and Tim are trying to find out who shot your dad.”
“Oh, I see.”
“So Brian is going to stay here with you and Dave.”
Georgie accepted that without question, which was a good thing. He didn’t want Georgie asking why Brian had to stick around.
Brian was here because they were worried someone might try to finish Dave off.
Even if it had been Trevor riding the bike, he hadn’t been acting alone. Two men had attempted to murder Dave, and if they’d gone that far once, Jimmy reckoned they could easily do it again.
“Did you see the men on the bike? Did you recognise them?” Georgie asked.
Jimmy gave him a tight smile. He didn’t want to lie to Georgie, but he sure as hell couldn’t tell him the truth without proof.
Jimmy shook his head. “No. I would have told you if I had.”
* * *
Jimmy didn’t have a watch and could only guess at the time, but he was pretty sure he had missed his meeting with Martin Morton. Not that it was important now. When it came down to it, Jimmy would always put Dave first.
He patted Georgie on the arm. “Look, just stay here, and I’ll be back in a minute. I’m going to find out what the time is.”
As Jimmy started to walk away, he heard Georgie sniff, and when he turned around, he saw Dave’s son hunched over, his arms wrapped around his midsection as he rocked back and forth.
It wasn’t fair to leave him alone. He didn’t want to take Georgie with him if he was about to confront Trevor. He had no idea how Trevor would react, and he wouldn’t be able to ask him for the truth in Georgie’s presence.
There was no clock in the corridor, so Jimmy ducked into one of the wards, hoping to see a clock on the wall or a nurse he could ask for the time.
He was in luck. A stern-faced sister and a younger nurse walked towards him.
The older nurse was barking orders, describing a patient who had been recently admitted.
Jimmy opened his mouth to ask them if they could tell him the time when something the sister said made him pause.
“He fell off a motorcycle. He was lucky it wasn’t more serious. It looks as though he’s got off lightly with a few grazes and a broken arm.”
Jimmy paused. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?
He watched as the sister handed the younger nurse a chart, and the younger nurse stopped beside one of the beds, lifted the light-green, patterned curtain and went in to see the patient.
Jimmy stared at the curtain. London was a big place. No doubt, there were plenty of motorcycle accidents every day. It could be a coincidence, but Jimmy couldn’t rule it out. He had to check.
He took two steps forward, reaching out to grab hold of the curtain when a stern voice behind him said, “Can I help you, young man?”
He turned to see that the sister was watching him like a hawk.
Jimmy smiled at her as he turned around and tried his best to look innocent. “Do you have the time?”
The sister frowned and pursed her lips. Jimmy guessed it wouldn’t be easy to get one past her.
“It is a quarter to one. And you shouldn’t be hanging around the accident and emergency department,” she said primly.
Jimmy nodded and fell into step behind her, pretending to leave the ward. “Sorry, I lost my way. I’m here visiting my boss. He is having an operation.”
The sister’s face softened slightly, and she nodded. “Very well. But you’ll find you’ll be much more comfortable if you stay in the waiting area.”
“Of course,” Jimmy said. “Thank you.”
He pretended to walk back towards the waiting area, but as soon as the sister was out of sight and had walked down the other end of the corridor, Jimmy quickly darted back to the accident and emergency department.
He strode up to the curtain and yanked it back.
He was so shocked by what he saw he barely noticed the young nurse demanding to know who he was and what he wanted.
Jimmy stared at the man on the bed, who was having his arm attended to.
It was Gary Carter.
Gary’s face was a picture when he saw Jimmy.
His jaw hung open, and his eyes widened as he began to sweat.
“What happened, Gary?” Jimmy asked sharply, ignoring the young nurse who was insisting he leave because visitors’ hours weren’t until four o’clock.
“Oh, fancy seeing you here, Jimmy. I had a silly accident… I slipped… In the bath…”
As Gary gave his excuse for being in the hospital, the nurse turned to stare at him. A frown wrinkled her forehead, and she reached for her notes, flipping through the chart.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “That’s funny. I heard one of the nurses saying you’d
been in a motorcycle accident.”
Jimmy hadn’t thought it possible, but Gary’s eyes opened even wider, and he swallowed hard. “That must have been someone else. It wasn’t me.”
With his good arm, Gary reached up and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Jimmy stared at him in disgust. “Yes, that must have been it.”
But he gave Gary a look that said he knew exactly what he’d been up to.
It hadn’t escaped his attention that Gary hadn’t bothered to ask why Jimmy was at the hospital. That was obviously because he already knew about Dave.
Without saying another word, Jimmy turned around and stalked out, walking towards the waiting area.
There was no way he could leave Georgie here. Not when Gary Carter was just around the corner. Although Jimmy had a hard time believing Trevor could do something like this to Dave, he didn’t have such a hard time believing it of Gary.
He’d never liked Dave’s brother. There was something untrustworthy and snakelike about him.
“Come on,” Jimmy said as he strode up to Georgie. “I’m going to take you home.”
Georgie got shakily to his feet, still looking a little dazed. Jimmy reached for his coat and helped him shrug it on.
He put his arm around Georgie’s shoulders and guided him towards the corridor that led to the operating theatres.
Brian was standing resolutely at the entrance. His job was to protect Dave, and from the staunch, angry look on the man’s face, no one was going to get him to budge.
It was difficult in this game to know who to trust, especially when a man’s own brother could turn against him, but Brian was a good man, and Jimmy was confident Dave would be safe with him around.
Brian looked up as they approached. Before he could say anything, a doctor appeared through a set of double doors and said, “Georgie Carter?”
Georgie was too afraid to do anything but nod.
“Is there any news?” Jimmy asked.
The doctor nodded. He was the doctor who’d told them about the operation Dave needed when he’d arrived at the hospital over an hour ago.
“He made it through surgery, and everything went well,” the doctor said kindly, focusing on Georgie. “He is in recovery now, and he won’t be awake for some time. I think you should go home and come back during visiting hours later this afternoon.”
Jimmy nodded, but Brian said, “I’ll stay right here if you don’t mind.”
The doctor looked a little taken aback but said nothing.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Jimmy said, reaching to shake the doctor’s hand. “Thank you very much.”
After the doctor had left them, Jimmy considered telling Brian about seeing Gary, but he didn’t know what to do for the best. He didn’t have concrete proof. It was all circumstantial evidence, and although Jimmy absolutely believed there had been a plot between Gary Carter and his nephew, Trevor, he knew that Dave wouldn’t appreciate him spreading those tales around the East End unless he could prove it.
“I’m going to take Georgie home, Brian. We’ll be back later this afternoon.”
Brian nodded. “Fine. I’ll stay here and keep a look out.”
They were back in Poplar within twenty minutes, and Jimmy decided to leave Georgie at home.
“I’m going to pop out for a little while, Georgie. I want you to stay indoors and don’t open the door until I come back, do you understand?”
Georgie shook his head. “Where are you going?”
“I need to find Trevor,” Jimmy replied. “He still doesn’t know what’s going on remember.”
Georgie’s lower lip wobbled. “Can I come, too?”
Jimmy shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, Georgie, you need to stay here. But I won’t be long, I promise.”
* * *
Where the bloody hell was Jimmy Diamond? The boy was playing him for a fool.
Martin paced the area in front of the bar at his club.
He’d been furious when Tony passed on the message that Jimmy wanted to talk to him. Especially when Tony told him about the cocky way the little bastard demanded a meeting, but now the toe rag was keeping him waiting, and that was even worse.
Martin slammed his hand down on the bar.
“That boy has overstepped the mark,” he growled, looking at Tony as though he was personally responsible for this mess.
Tony was sitting in one of the small booths, leaning back casually on the plush velvet-upholstered seat. His long frame was stretched out, and his legs crossed at the ankles.
He smothered a yawn.
Martin tensed. “Sorry, I hope I’m not boring you, Bruv.”
Tony smirked. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Martin narrowed his eyes. His Lothario brother had probably been busy shagging some bird. He never had taken the business seriously. And now, he didn’t seem bothered by the cheek of Jimmy Diamond.
“Where the hell is he?” Martin asked.
Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. He told me he wanted to speak to you and would be back at midday.”
Martin gestured angrily at the clock. “That was over an hour ago!”
“I can tell the time, Martin,” Tony said dryly.
Martin whirled around on him. He could feel his pulse throbbing at the side of his forehead.
He clenched his fists at his sides. “He’s trying to make a fool of me.”
“Why would he do that?”
“The little bastard always wanted to get back at me. He’s never going to let sleeping dogs lie. I should have finished him off when I had the chance.”
Tony no longer looked so relaxed. He sat up straight and asked, “What do you mean?”
Martin waved away his question. He’d forgotten Tony didn’t know about that. He’d asked Tim to dispatch the mother and child. But, the lucky little bastard had been saved because he’d stayed with his grandmother and then Tim had lost his bottle when he was supposed to go back and sort things once and for all.
But Tony didn’t know any of that. No one did. Only Big Tim and Martin.
“I meant I should have paid him off and made his grandmother move out of the East End for good.”
Tony nodded, but he still watched his brother warily.
Martin looked again at the clock.
“The gutless little bastard. He’s probably chickened out.”
“Maybe that’s for the best. It would be better if you could just move on and forget all that stuff in the past.”
Martin sneered at his brother. “What would you know about it? You’ve always hung around for the leftovers at my table. You don’t know what it’s like to graft, not really.”
Martin was pushing Tony’s buttons. He hated the way his brother could be so calm, and he wanted to get under his skin.
There was one topic of conversation that always did the trick with Tony.
“You seen Babs recently?”
Tony’s eyes were cold as he met Martin’s. “You know I have.”
“You really should get your own woman, Tony. It is a little bit sad the way you’re always sniffing around Babs.”
Martin smiled as Tony got to his feet slowly and strode over to him. He was frustrated that Jimmy Diamond wasn’t here, and he was spoiling for a fight. He might not be able to beat the living daylights out of Jimmy Diamond, but he could have a good punch-up with his brother and release some of his pent-up rage.
But Tony surprised him by walking straight past him and heading for the door.
“Where the bloody hell do you think you’re going?” Martin raged, but Tony didn’t even look back.
He simply slammed the door to the club behind him as he stalked out onto the street.
Martin kicked the edge of the bar.
Now he was alone, and that wasn’t a good idea.
Not that he was scared of Jimmy Diamond. The very idea was laughable, but Jimmy had the backup of Dave Carter, and that could lead to complications.
Martin walked behind the bar an
d poured himself a whisky. He downed it in one and was filling the glass again when his brother stepped back into the club.
He was out of breath.
Martin frowned. “What’s up with you?”
“Dave Carter’s been shot,” Tony said, his eyes wide with shock as though he couldn’t believe the news himself. “Freddie just told me. He got shot outside the workshop an hour ago.”
Martin paused to process the information. That was the best news he had had in a long time, and it also explained why Jimmy hadn’t kept their meeting.
He downed the second shot of whisky and then slammed the glass on the bar.
“It wasn’t on your orders, was it?” Tony asked.
His brother was so transparent. It was clear he was wondering whether Martin had done this behind his back because he didn’t trust him.
But Martin wasn’t about to take responsibility for something he didn’t do, even though he would have been proud to have put a bullet in Dave Carter.
“It wasn’t me. Dave Carter has plenty of enemies. But I’d like to shake the hand of whoever gave the order.”
“Are you all right?” Tony asked, glancing out of the window. “Do you want me to stick around?”
Martin smirked. “No. I don’t need your help.”
He poured himself another whisky as Tony looked at him sadly and then turned and walked out of the club again.
Martin didn’t down this drink so quickly. He sipped it slowly as he came up with an idea.
Dave Carter would be in the hospital, and his men would be scattered, running around like headless chickens, trying to work out who was responsible. What better time to strike than this?
He was alone, with no backup, but what did that matter? He had always been alone, and there was no one on earth he trusted more than himself.
Someone had taken Dave Carter down, and Martin intended to take advantage.
Chapter 48
It took Martin only minutes to walk to the Carters’ house. He’d hammered on the door, but it had taken so long for anyone to come to the front door that Martin began to think that nobody was home.
