Aftermath (Dividing Line #6) (11 page)

The thieving slobby git was waiting for her outside the portakabin that acted as an office, watching her approach with his arms folded across his bloated belly, a patronising smile on his lips people usually reserved for the very young or the very stupid.

“Beth. To what do I owe this pleasure?” he said as though she was three. She’d never cared about him enough to let him bother her before but now his attitude sent her temper skyrocketing.

“I want to see the books.”

“Why?” he said, making no move to carry out her order.

“Because I said so.” She saw his men milling about the yard, doing nothing in particular. “Oy you lot, get your lazy backsides over here right now.”

“Beth, maybe you should go home. This is no place for a lady,” smiled Bill.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Bill was startled. Up until now she’d been nothing but polite and even a little fawning, wanting him to take the responsibility for this business she didn’t understand off her shoulders.

She turned her attention back to the men meandering across the yard, hands in their pockets. “If you lot don’t pick up the pace you’ll be down the fucking job centre this afternoon.”

It had the desired effect and within seconds they were all ranged together.

“You,” she began, jabbing a finger in Bill’s chest, which sank into his soft flesh. “You’ve been stealing from me.” Beth thought she might actually kill him with her bare hands when he smiled condescendingly.

“No I haven’t Beth. You’re confused. Go home and put your feet up and leave everything to me.”

“It’s Mrs Maguire to you. Do you know what that means?” She experienced a surge of sadistic pleasure when his smile dropped. “If you don’t stop treating me like I’m fucking five I’ll get Mikey down here and we’ll see what he has to say about you selling vehicles for cash and pocketing the proceeds. Did you seriously think you could rip off our family? Are you that fucking stupid?”

He swallowed hard. “Listen Beth…Mrs Maguire…I don’t know what you’ve heard but it’s wrong, I swear. I wouldn’t dream of…”

“Don’t give me that old fanny. You’ve been ripping us off left, right and centre. Well it stops here. You are out.”

The irritating smile returned. “You’re sacking me? You can’t do that.”

“Oh yes I can. I’m the boss here, no matter what you think, and if I say you’re out then you’re out.”

Bill looked to his colleagues for help. “You don’t want rid of me, do you lads? This place will fall apart without me.”

They all shuffled and looked down at their feet.

“Looks like they don’t agree,” said Beth.

“Lads,” he exclaimed. “I’ve been the gaffer here for years, I am this yard.”

“You’re out on your arse, that’s what you are,” she said.

Bill drew himself up to his full height and glared down at her with hard eyes. “Who’s going to make me go? You little lady? All you can do is hide behind Mikey. Without him you’re fucking nothing. Oh Jesus,” he groaned, folding in half when she kneed him in the balls.

“Get this piece of shit out of
my
yard,” she told the other lads.

As two of the men hauled him upright by his armpits, Beth hissed at Bill, “think yourself lucky you’re leaving here with your
              kneecaps intact. You don’t ever rip off the Maguires, do you fucking understand?”

“Piss off you silly little bitch. Ow,” he yelped when she kicked him hard in the shin.

“Talk to me like that once more and I’ll pop your pathetic little scrotum with my stiletto. If you ever come back here you’ll end up in the back of one of those cars,” she said, gesturing to the piles of scrap lying about like abandoned bodies. “Get him out of here,” she told the other men.

As Bill was dragged protesting to the gates Beth strode into the portakabin and slammed the door shut before breaking into a smile.

“Thanks Rach,” she said to herself. Her friend was a good teacher.

Humming happily to herself she booted up the computer, intending to thoroughly go through all the records to see just how much Bill had messed things up. She stared at the screen, chewing on her lip before bringing up her e-mail inbox instead. Still nothing from Riley. She’d waited, hoping he’d contact her first but nothing. There might be a reasonable explanation, such as he might not be anywhere near a computer but this lack of contact worried her. So she started to type.

Hi Riley

Just a quick message to say hello. Hope you’re well and looking after yourself out there. I really hope we can still be friends, I miss your messages. I understand you aren’t always near civilisation but please get in touch. I miss you.

Beth.

Before she could think about what she was doing she’d hit send. She sat back in the creaky old chair, feeling a little better but also nervous. He might reply and tell her to get lost or, even worse, he might not reply at all. She still couldn’t figure out how she felt about him. She liked him, she missed him, but she wasn’t ready for a relationship. The sex had been great but it took a lot more than that to make a relationship work. Her feelings for Alex and Nick were all tangled up in what she felt for Riley and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t untangle them. One step at a time. First she needed to find out if he was still talking to her.

CHAPTER 13

Shane watched the figure clad in black ascend the stairs. The woman was slim and attractive but looked scary as hell with her leather jacket, studded boots and wild-eyed stare. As she stomped up the stairs Shane felt sorry for whoever she was going to visit.

He was filled with glee when he realised she was going to Estelle’s flat. He’d been watching her flat for days and nothing. He’d been itching for a chance to call Ryan Law, to show him what he was capable of and that time had finally arrived.

Shane pulled his phone out of his pocket to call him then hesitated. He’d wait until the woman had gone. As yet he had no idea who she was or why she was here and he knew Ryan would want details. Ringing him with nothing would only make him look stupid. Instead he sat back on the wall and waited.

“Who are you?” said Estelle when she pulled the door open.

“Don’t you recognise me Mummy?” replied Jules.

Estelle looked into her hard grey eyes and swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re on about. Bugger off.”

When she tried to close the door Jules kicked it open and barged her way inside.

“Get out,” yelled Estelle, backing up down the hall.

Jules backhanded her, knocking her into a wall. “Aren’t you going to welcome your little girl home?” she yelled.

“What the bloody hell is all this racket about?” grumbled a deep voice. “I’m trying to get some kip.” Brian emerged from the bedroom in his vest and boxers, scratching his crotch. “Who are you?”

“Stop her Brian, she’s mad. She hit me,” cried Estelle.

“Alright madam, you’re out of here,” said Brian, grabbing Jules by the arm and steering her towards the door. “Ah, fuck,” he cried when she took his wrist in both hands and twisted his arm up his back.

“I’m her daughter. She sold me when I was a baby. Bet she didn’t tell you that.” Brian crumpled when Jules punched him in the stomach. She tried to drag him to the door but he was far too heavy and she yanked at his arm, getting madder and madder. “Get out unless you want me to cut your tiny little cock off,” she snarled, pulling a knife from the leather sheath attached to her wrist.

“Your kids are fucking mental Estelle,” exclaimed Brain, staring at the blade in horror.

“Out. Now,” snarled Jules.

“I’m fucking gone,” he said, scrambling to his feet and racing for the door. At the threshold he paused, realising he was in his underwear. “My clothes…”

“Out.”

“Okay,” he said, hastily exiting. Through the closed door Jules heard him exclaim, “not again.”

While she’d been distracted by Brian, Estelle had taken the opportunity to snatch a knife from the block in the kitchen and she cowered in a corner, holding it out before her.

“Don’t come near me. I will use this.”

Jules drew both knives from the leather sheaths strapped to her wrists, causing Estelle to blanch and drop hers.

“Wise move.” Jules kicked away the knife she’d dropped, sending it skittering under the stained couch, then replaced her own weapons in the sheaths, pulling the sleeves of her black hoodie neatly over them.

“What do you want?” demanded Estelle.

“To talk.” Jules crouched before her, pinning Estelle with her gaze. “And I warn you, I don’t take kindly to being lied to. It’s a shame Daddy’s not here to join our little reunion. Too bad he’s dead. I would have liked to meet him.”

Estelle just stared at her in shock before recovering herself. “Get out of my flat,” she screeched.

“Make me.” When Estelle pressed herself back against the wall Jules laughed. “Didn’t think so. All I want is for you to answer a few questions, then I’ll leave you in peace.”

“Fine,” she sighed.

“You may sit down.”

Slowly Estelle got to her feet, keeping one suspicious eye on Jules, afraid it was a trick. She lowered herself onto the couch, watching Jules pace the sticky floor while working herself up into a fit of rage.

“I know all about you Estelle,” she began. “I know you sold me to the Parkers. Alice told me everything.”

“It was for the best. I couldn’t look after you, I already had a boy who was leeching every penny I earned.”

“Little Ryan? I can only imagine what his childhood was like, but it can’t have been as bad as mine.”

“I did right by you, my beautiful little girl.”

“You went on to have five more kids and you kept them all, the boys anyway. You sent your other daughter to live with her dad.”

“He wanted her and he was welcome to her. No one wanted the boys.”

“If they had you would have given them up too, no doubt?”

“Yeah, why shouldn’t I?” she sneered. “Aren’t I allowed a life too?”

“You should never have been a parent. Far too fucking selfish.”

“I wasn’t selfish with you, I gave you to a rich family who could give you the life I never could.”

“When you put it like that it sounds quite reasonable.” Jules loomed over her. “Did you know they were a couple of pervs when you sold me?”

“No. Terry told me they were good people.”

“Liar.”

Jules uttered the word quietly but Estelle still jumped. “I’m not.”

“You bloody well are. You see, Alice told me everything. You met with her and Leighton while you were still pregnant. They insisted on meeting the mother first to see how beautiful you were. They wanted a nice looking kid and now we know why. Once they’d got bored playing mummy and daddy they wanted a pretty girl their sick paedo friends would like. You knew what would happen if you handed me over to them and you did it anyway because all you cared about was the cash.”

“That’s not true.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” Jules bellowed in her face. She leaned over Estelle, planting her hands on the back of the couch either side of her head, so close their noses almost touched, Estelle’s grey eyes pregnant with fear while Jules’s burned with rage. “Does Ryan know you tried to sell him to the Parkers too?”

“I didn’t.”

Jules slapped her again. “What did I warn you about lying? You tried to do a deal, buy one get one half price, but they weren’t interested, they only wanted girls. You know what the sad thing is? Part of me wishes they’d accepted your offer because me and Ryan would have enjoyed a few years of living the privileged life and still got our good educations. Only difference is, by the time I turned thirteen I would have had a big hard bastard of a brother who might have stopped those bad things happening to me. Or you could have kept me. Granted, it would have been a shit life, I would have been poor, but I would have been surrounded by brothers, I would have been protected.”

“You did alright out of it, didn’t you?” sneered Estelle, getting her fight back. “When Alice was burnt to a crisp and Leighton pulled a disappearing act she handed control of everything to you. You had the bank accounts, the house, the cars, the fucking lot. What I don’t understand is, if you’re so loaded, why did you start running round with Lucifer’s Shadow? I heard you did all Jasper’s dirty work, popping off anyone he didn’t like. Know what I think?”

“I doubt you’re capable of thinking at all.”

“I know all about you too, Venom. Assassin. You don’t need the cash. You torture and kill because you like it.”

“You know fuck all about me.”

“Bollocks. I’ve heard all the stories. Don’t come in here with your bleeding heart stories because I’m not interested. You’re just like Ryan, a criminal and a murderer hiding behind a fucking cloak of righteousness. Boo hoo the evil woman treated me badly when I was a kid.” Her haggard face screwed itself up into a nasty sneer, creating more wrinkles. “It’s just an excuse to do what you bloody well like, to hurt who you want with a clear conscience. I’m tired of being your scapegoat. You’re grown-ups now, you can’t blame Mummy anymore.”

“When were you ever a mum?”

“I gave birth to you.”

“And that’s where your contribution ended. I was born small and premature because you couldn’t stop abusing yourself when you were pregnant, you selfish old bitch. But you forgot one thing.”

“What?” she mocked.

“That one day I’d get bigger and I’d return to hold you to account. And here I am.” Jules pulled one of the knives and caressed the blade with her fingertips.

“What are you going to do with that?” said Estelle, visibly shrinking.

“I’m still deciding which part of you to stick it in.” Her fingers glided along the steel with great care. “These are the only things I’ve ever been able to rely on. People let you down but knives are constant. Leighton Parker found that out, to his cost.”

“Listen Jules, maybe we can start again?” said Estelle, her throat turning dry. “We could still have that relationship if you want?”

Jules’s answering look dramatically lowered the temperature in the room. “Why do you think I’d ever want a relationship with an evil, drugged up loser slut like you? Everything about you repulses me - the way you look, the way you live, the way you smell, like stale sweat and sex. The only reason I came here was to show you that no one can escape the consequences of their actions. All your life you’ve done what the fuck you wanted and not given a shit, but you can’t live a life like that and never pay the price. Now it’s time to cough up.”

“Jules, don’t…”

Estelle went silent when she pointed the tip of the blade at her. “First tell me, has Ryan been asking about me?”

“Y…yes. He came here a few days ago with his snooty bitch of a wife.”

“Rachel Law, yes I know her,” she said, eyes narrowing. “What did you tell them?”

“The truth. They wouldn’t leave until I did.” Estelle noted how set Jules’s face had gone at the mention of Ryan and Rachel and hoped she could get on her good side with a shared hatred. “They think they’re so fucking superior because they’re loaded. They came in here looking down their noses at me, at the way I live.”

“You can’t really blame them for that. Fucking Stig of the Dump would look down on this place. So, what did they think about you selling me?”

“They…” She almost told the truth before correcting herself. “They didn’t give a shit. Ryan was just relieved there was one less mouth to feed when he was growing up. You dreamed of a big brother to look after you but you would have been disappointed in him. All he ever does is look out for number one. Actually, I think he approved.”

“You wouldn’t be bullshitting me again, would you? Because I wouldn’t advise it.”

“No, really. You’ve no idea what they’re like. They pretend they’re these benevolent business people, making donations to charity, flashing the cash to impress everyone when really they don’t care about anyone but themselves. Even their kids take a back seat. It’s Ryan and Rachel all the way and fuck everyone else.”

“If you’re being honest then why did they come all the way down here to ask about me? Why not just pick up the phone?”

“Ryan likes to torment me, waving money in front of my face, saying he’ll give it to me to help out then taking it back. He thinks it’s funny. He also wanted to get the full story on you. Apparently you hurt his precious Rachel.”

The corner of Jules’s mouth lifted into a smile.

“That’s what you should do if you really want to get at Ryan, go after his darling wife. That would hurt him more than anything. Worships her he does.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“We could work out a way together of tackling them.”

“You’d conspire against your own son?”

“With my daughter.”

“And what’s to stop you doing the same thing to me? No, I can handle this on my own. I don’t need the help of a backstabbing drug-addled demon. That’s how I’ve always thought of you, as a satanic force whose only purpose on this earth is to cause as many people as much misery as possible. I’m almost done here, then you’ll never see me again. Just one more thing.”

“What?”

Jules’s smile was emotionless and chilled Estelle to the core. “I know what I’m going to do with the knife.”

As she raised the weapon Estelle screamed.