The Victim (34 page)

‘What’s a matter? Do you know her or something?’ Stuart asked, concerned.

‘She’s a pikey. I was inside with her. What the fuck does she want? Why has she turned up here?’

‘Stay in the car, I’ll sort it,’ Stuart said gruffly.

‘Please get rid of her. I hate her,’ Frankie begged him.

‘What do you want?’ Stuart asked, as he slammed the door of his BMW. The girl had long brown hair and looked as rough as old boots, so he could understand why Frankie didn’t like her very much.

‘I need to speak to Frankie. It’s really important,’ the girl replied in a strange kind of accent.

‘You talk to me, then,’ Stuart said angrily.

The girl ignored Stuart, ducked past him and ran over to the car.

Frankie was frightened now and quickly locked her door. She’d always thought that Katie was one of Jed’s spies and wondered if Jed had sent her to snatch Brett. ‘Go away, leave me alone!’ she screamed tearfully.

‘Please listen to me, Frankie. I’m trying to help you,’ Katie pleaded with her.

‘Right, that’s enough, get in your car and fuck off,’ Stuart warned, grabbing Katie by the shoulders.

‘Frankie, I know where Georige and Harry are,’ Katie screamed as she was dragged away.

‘Get in the car and lock the doors, Stuart. I’ll speak to her,’ Frankie shouted out.

‘Don’t get out, she might be a fucking loony,’ Stuart said apprehensively.

Frankie ignored his advice and, as he got back in the car, she got out and nervously faced Katie.

‘What’s a matter? Is Mummy OK?’ Brett asked, crying. All the shouting had woken him up.

‘Your mother’s fine. She’ll be back in a minute,’ Stuart reassured him.

‘What do you mean, you know where my kids are?’ Frankie spat, as she walked towards Katie.

‘They’re in Scotland. They’re living on a private site in Glasgow with Jed, Jimmy and Alice.’

‘You fucking liar. Jed’s dead,’ Frankie screamed.

Katie glared at the angry girl she was so desperately trying to help. ‘No he ain’t. Jed’s alive and if you’d just trust me for once, I can prove it to ya.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Frankie was shell-shocked as she stared at Katie in a gobsmacked silence.

‘I ain’t lying. I swear on my chavvies’ lives, I ain’t lying,’ Katie said.

Stuart lifted Brett out of the back of the car and walked towards where Frankie and Katie were standing. ‘What’s goin’ on?’

‘She reckons Jed’s still alive and is living in Glasgow with Georgie and Harry,’ Frankie replied. She felt sick and her legs and hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Stuart glared at Katie. If she was building Frankie’s hopes up and playing some sick joke, he would personally kill the fucking girl himself. ‘Let’s go inside. We can’t talk properly out here,’ he commented sensibly.

‘So, what’s the address? Have you seen my kids? What do they look like?’ Frankie rambled. She had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start.

‘What’s a matter, Mummy?’ Brett asked, tugging Frankie’s arm.

‘Can you put him to bed for me and then pour us all a large brandy or something?’ Frankie asked Stuart.

As Stu left the room, Katie answered some of Frankie’s questions. ‘I went to a family funeral a few weeks back and my cousin Danny was there with his wife, Trisha. When Trish’s pissed, she’s a bit of a blabbermouth and she was the one that told me about Jed. They’d been loads of rumours flying about over the years as to why the O’Haras had disappeared. Some people thought Jed had been murdered, but Trish reckons his cousin Sammy was killed, not him. That’s why the O’Haras left, apparently, ’cause they knew the bullets were meant for Jed.’

‘Have you got an actual address for him?’ Frankie asked. She was still very sceptical.

‘No, I couldn’t ask too much, ’cause I didn’t want people to get suspicious, but I wrote down all the info I managed to get out of Trish for yer. I was worried I’d forget it if I didn’t.’

As Stuart walked back in the room, Frankie told Katie to repeat what she’d just said. Stuart felt his hand tremble slightly as he poured out the brandies. If what Katie was saying was true, and Terry Baldwin had shot the wrong person, Eddie would go fucking apeshit.

Frankie studied the piece of paper that Katie had given her. ‘Who’s Babby Bower?’ she asked, confused.

‘It’s the pub in Glasgow Jimmy O’Hara drinks in. I dunno if I got the name exactly right, I ain’t much good at spelling, but that’s what it sounded like.’

Stuart handed the girls their drinks and snatched the piece of paper from Frankie. ‘Who’s Mickey Maloney?’ he asked Katie.

‘He’s the bloke that owns the land where Jed and the kids are meant to be living. Jimmy and Alice live there as well, so Trish reckons.’

‘So, why did this Trish tell you all this?’ Stuart asked suspicously.

‘Because she knows that Sammy raped me and I had his kid. She wanted me to know that I ain’t ever got to worry about him turning up again. It was my cousin Danny that told her Sammy was the one that got murdered and Jed is still alive. Trish might have been drunk when she told me, but I know she weren’t lying. The truth comes out in drink, don’t it?’

‘Where you going?’ Frankie asked, as Stuart got up.

‘To get me phone out the car. We need to tell your Dad all this, Frankie.’

‘No, you can’t tell him. He’ll go mental; he’ll do something stupid and get himself locked up again. Ring DI Blyth instead, I’ve got her number in the address book, she’ll know what to do,’ Frankie insisted.

Usually Stuart allowed Frankie to get her own way with things, but on this occasion he couldn’t. Ignoring her advice, Stuart picked up his car keys and walked out of the room.

Over in Rettendon, Eddie Mitchell was winding up his wife. When they’d stopped the motor earlier, she’d thoroughly enjoyed their spur-of-the-moment liaison, but since returning home she’d had her appalled head on instead.

‘Don’t you ever do that to me again, Eddie Mitchell. It wasn’t even that dark. Say the police would have pulled up or something? They’d have definitely reported us to social services for leaving the kids unattended.’

Eddie laughed out loud. ‘A bit of spontaneity never hurt anyone, and you certainly weren’t complaining earlier.’

‘I’ll answer that while you pour me another glass of wine,’ Gina said haughtily as the phone rang.

Ed took a bottle of Pinot Grigio out of the fridge and was about to open it when Gina dashed into the kitchen. ‘It’s Stuart. He said it’s really urgent.’

Eddie snatched the phone off her. ‘What’s up?’ he asked. When Stuart answered his question, Ed’s face paled within seconds.

‘I’m coming over right now. Keep the girl there,’ he insisted.

‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Gina asked him.

Eddie picked up his bunch of keys and ran to the front door. ‘I’ll explain later.’

Frankie spent the next twenty minutes firing question after question at Katie. She was now ninety-nine per cent sure that the girl was telling the truth, but she would never be totally convinced until she saw her children with her own eyes. Over the years, because she had thought Jed was dead, Frankie had tried to erase what he had done to her grandfather from her mind. Apart from Babs and DI Blyth, she had never told another living soul about her and Kerry’s discovery, but if Jed was still alive, perhaps she should have told her dad. If he ever found out that she knew, her dad would disown her, Frankie was sure of that.

‘Explain to my dad outside what’s happened, so I can talk to Katie alone for a minute,’ Frankie said, as she heard Ed’s car pull up outside.

‘I’d better go soon. I left the kids with my sister and she’ll be wondering where I’ve got to.’

‘You’d better leave your address and phone number, in case I need to contact you again. I’ll give you my number an’ all. How did you find out where I live, by the way?’

‘I’ve known roughly where you lived for a while. I only live in Basildon meself and I have a lot of mates round this way. One of my mates, Dawn, her son David goes to the same school as your Brett. Dawn don’t live anywhere posh like you, though. She lives in a tower block near the town centre. Anyway, I asked her to follow you home from the school so I could come and see you myself.’

Frankie had heard Aaron mention a boy called David. ‘So is David’s mum a traveller?’ she asked, paranoid. Her dad had moved her from Upney and bought the house in Brentwood just so Brett could go to a better school and mix with a better class of kid. Also, if this David’s mother was a traveller and Jed was still alive, she might tell him which school Brett attended and he might try and abduct him as well.

‘No, Dawn ain’t a traveller. Apart from my own family, I don’t mix with many travellers. Most of my mates are gorjer girls.’

Suddenly the lounge door flung open and Eddie flew into the room like a man possessed. ‘This best not be some kind of a sick fucking wind-up, ’cause if it is and my daughter gets her heart broken once again, I’ll break more than your heart and I mean that,’ he snarled at Katie.

‘Dad, stop it. See, this is why I didn’t want him involved – I knew he’d lose the plot,’ Frankie screamed. Katie looked petrified and if Eddie continued shooting his mouth off and making dumbass threats, then he would lose them the only bloody lead to her kids that they had. ‘Katie’s not lying. I know her well enough to know that much. She hates the O’Haras just as much as we do,’ Frankie said, glaring at her father.

‘I’d better go now. Do you wanna meet up again tomorrow?’ Katie asked, standing up.

‘Oh no you don’t,’ Eddie spat, standing in front of the girl so she couldn’t leave.

Frankie stood up and with fire in her eyes, ordered her father to sit down and calm down. ‘I’ve got Katie’s address, home number and her mobile number,’ she told him.

‘And have you checked out the address and tried ringing the fucking number?’ Eddie asked cockily. He hated pikeys so much that he found it hard to believe that there was a decent one among their breed.

‘Ring my mobile now if you like, and my landline. My sister will answer ’cause she’s looking after the kids for me at my house,’ Katie said worriedly.

Frankie did what Katie had suggested and was relieved as her mobile rang. She then tried her landline and handed the phone to Katie as a woman answered. ‘Tell my mate how we’re related, and also tell her whose house you’re at now and the address,’ Katie asked.

Frankie put the phone to her father’s ear as Katie’s sister confirmed what they had already been told. She gave the phone back to Katie, waited until she’d ended the call and took her by the arm. ‘Right, you get home to your kids now, mate, and I’ll call as soon as I have some news. If the news is good, I’ll take you out for a nice meal to say thank you.’

‘Follow her,’ Ed ordered Stuart as Frankie showed the girl out. Anyone could change their phone number, but it was more difficult to change their bloody abode.

‘Where you goin’?’ Frankie asked, as Stuart walked towards the front door.

‘I’ve just gotta pop out for a bit, I’ll be back soon.’

Frankie poured herself a vodka and her dad a Scotch. ‘So, what’s the plan? Can we go to Scotland tomorrow? If I ring DI Blyth, I reckon she’ll come with us. If we turn up with the Old Bill in tow, the O’Haras will have to give me my kids back.’

‘No, we ain’t involving no Old Bill, so you can get that silly idea out your head.’

‘Why not? Blyth’s always been good to me and I know she’ll help me get Georgie and Harry back.’

‘Because if the O’Haras get one whiff of the filth, they’ll gallop off faster than Red Rum once could. Seriously, Frankie, the Old Bill are fuck-up merchants, most of ’em couldn’t catch a cold, love. I’ll get ya your kids back and as soon as I bring ’em home, you can ring that Blyth bird and tell her what’s happened. Until then, you don’t tell a fuckin’ soul, OK?’

Frankie nodded.

‘Right, I’m gonna make some phone calls. I ain’t schlepping all the way up to Joanie’s gaff at this time of night, so I’ll get all the lads over here.’

Eddie rang Larry first to tell him the score, then he called Gary, Ricky and Raymond and ordered them to meet him at Frankie’s. He took deep breaths before he rang Terry Baldwin. If what Katie had said about Jed being alive turned out to be true, he would not be a happy man. With a plan forming in his mind, he punched in Baldwin’s number. ‘Meet me at Frankie’s, mate. It’s urgent,’ he said politely. He ended the call and stared at the phone. ‘Cunt,’ he mumbled.

Stuart was back within half an hour. Ed ran to greet him and put his finger to his lips to warn him to keep schtum about where he had been. ‘Where did she go?’ he whispered. Stu repeated the address he had seen on the piece of paper and Eddie breathed a massive sigh of relief. Surely that Katie bird wouldn’t give both her phone numbers and her home address if she was lying. Then again, knowing travellers as well as he did, the whole thing could be a set-up and the O’Haras could be waiting to blow his brains out when he got to Glasgow.

Frankie was looking out of the window.

‘What you doing?’ Eddie asked, as she ran to the front door.

‘Letting Joey and Dom in. I rang Joey while you were on the phone, told him what had happened and asked him to come over. Don’t worry, we can sit upstairs and have a drink if you need privacy,’ Frankie replied sarcastically.

Joey held his twin sister in a tight embrace. ‘Don’t build your hopes up too much, Frankie, in case it’s another wild goose chase,’ he warned her.

‘I think Katie’s telling the truth, I really do, Joey,’ Frankie told him.

‘But I remember you talking about her when you were in prison, sis. You hated her and was positive that she was working as Jed’s spy.’

‘Oh, that’s fucking great, that is. We’ll probably drive up to Glasgow and all be bastard-well shot at. Why didn’t you tell me all this earlier?’ Eddie shouted at his daughter.

‘I thought Katie was a wrong ’un in prison, but I don’t think she is now,’ Frankie replied tearfully.

‘Don’t have a go at her, Dad, she’s upset,’ Joey said angrily.

‘And you’ll all be fucking upset if I schlep all the way to poxy Glasgow and get me brains blown out,’ Ed replied unfeelingly.

‘I’m gonna take Frankie upstairs. Pour us some drinks, Dom, and we can talk in her bedroom,’ Joey said. He could tell his dad was in a real shitty mood and when he was like that there was no reasoning with him.

Gary and Ricky were the next to arrive and were shocked to be told what had happened. ‘What you gonna do about Baldwin if he has fucked up? You gonna keep him on?’ Gary asked.

Ed shrugged. ‘Can’t sack him, can I? He knows too much. I’ve only got two choices, forgive him or kill him.’

‘You can’t kill him Dad, Terry’s a good geezer,’ Ricky said, sticking up for the man.

‘No point worrying about it now. For all we know, this pikey bird might be fucking lying,’ Ed replied.

Raymond was the next to turn up. ‘Jesus Christ,’ he said, as Eddie explained the story to him.

Hearing another car engine, Gary looked out of the window. ‘Baldwin’s just pulled up. Now, let’s not get on his case, let’s just worry about getting the kids back for now, eh?’

Everybody agreed, bar Eddie. He didn’t reply.

‘I can’t believe it. I’m positive it was Jed that I killed,’ Terry said, as Gary explained what had happened to him.