Betrayed (35 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Rosie knew she was chancing it big time, but couldn’t resist. Despite Garcia telling her to stay away, she was outside the hotel and as close to the bus as she dared. Matt was positioned above the cafe after greasing the palms of the owner to let him use his balcony for pictures.

‘You shouldn’t be here, Rosie. You know that.’

‘What the heck, Javier. Nobody knows me. I’m just blending into the background. Don’t worry.’ She looked around as the fans began boarding the bus, throwing holdalls inside the open luggage compartment at the side. ‘So, where’s the cavalry?’

‘They’ll be here any minute now.’ Javier moved away from her. ‘I’m going to get out of the way. I suggest you do the same.’

Rosie was knackered, but the strong painkillers definitely made her feel a little euphoric. No wonder people got addicted to them. Adrian was at the cafe outside the hotel
sipping coffee, his arm bandaged; he’d been limping badly. She went across and sat beside him.

‘You okay?’

‘I’m okay,’ he said, his eyes searching everywhere. ‘Is very painful, but it could have been worse.’

‘I was so scared. I thought we were done for. Really I did.’

Adrian puffed out his cheeks, running a hand over his close-cropped hair. He looked past Rosie into the distance.

‘You want the truth? So did I. Until the police came through that door, I really thought that was it.’ He leaned across and shook her hand, then held it a little longer, his eyes soft as he smiled. ‘Seems we’ve come a long way from the cafe in Glasgow, my friend.’

Rosie felt a little choked.

‘Yeah. Bet you’re glad I met you that day! It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster.’

‘Of course. Always. Is life. What happens, happens. Was meant to be.’

‘And if we’d got thrown off that building?’

‘Then that was also what was meant to be.’

Rosie looked at the dark smudges under his eyes and wondered what it must be like to be inside his head after everything he’d been through.

‘I wish I could share your philosophical approach, but I’ll probably be having nightmares for the rest of my life.’

Adrian squeezed her hand then he reached over and tenderly brushed his fingers across her cheek.

‘The nightmares can’t get you, Rosie. Always remember that. They are only nightmares.’ He sighed. ‘You may think you will never be free of them … but, you are free. You just learn to live alongside them.’

Their eyes locked for a long moment, then Adrian glanced over her shoulder.

‘Look. Our friends are coming out of the hotel.’

Rosie turned around to see McGregor and Donna come out together. Then behind them, Jimmy and Mitch. Jimmy was carrying the black holdall, looking unhappy. Jimmy’s father was behind them, his face like flint.

Rosie watched as they walked towards the bus, then all of them stopped.

‘I’m going to get a little closer to this, Adrian. See if I can hear anything.’

She moved through the crowd and stood a few feet away where Jimmy had his back to her. She overheard them talk.

‘Listen, lads,’ Eddie said. ‘Donna and me aren’t getting the bus. We’re going to have a couple of days down on the Costa del Sol, then fly home from Malaga.’

‘What?’ Jimmy looked shocked. ‘Not getting the bus? But what about the …’ He leaned into Eddie. ‘What about the gear, Eddie?’ He glanced down at the holdall.

‘It’s fine. You take it. It’s not a problem. I’ll pick it up when I get back. Just take it to your house.’

‘Fuck’s sake, Eddie!’ Jimmy said. ‘What’s the score?’

Eddie glared at him, surprised, and took a step forward, his mouth tight.

‘The score, Jimmy, is you do what you’re fucking told. You ask no questions. That clear?’

‘Is there some problem, Eddie?’ Jimmy persisted. ‘You never mentioned you were staying on before.’

‘Oh. Do I need to run it past you?’ He looked at Mitch who was shifting around on his feet, looking at the ground. ‘Listen to him, Mitch. What the fuck is this?’

‘It’s just that you never mentioned it, boss,’ Mitch said a little sheepishly.

‘Well I’m fucking mentioning it now. Right! I call the shots here. Now get the fuck onto that bus. Take the gear with you and watch it. Because if you turn up in Glasgow without it you’re going to have to find a hundred grand. Got that?’

‘I don’t understand,’ Jimmy protested.

‘You don’t need to understand. Until you’re big enough to give out orders, your job is to obey them. Right? If you’ve got a problem with that, then you’ve got an even bigger problem than you think.’

They stood in silence.

Rosie stepped back and went around the front where she knew Jimmy would see her. His face was ashen and he looked humiliated as a few of the fans stood around watching the altercation. His eyes met Rosie’s and he quickly looked away. Rosie’s mobile rang.

‘It’s showtime, Rosie. Stand back out of the way, for Christ’s sake.’ It was Javier.

‘Okay. I’m doing it.’ She backed off a little, into the crowd.

As she did, two Guardia Civil cars screeched up next to the bus, sirens blaring. Then a Policia Nacional van drew up behind it. Fans and tourists stopped in their tracks, bewildered at the sudden activity. Police armed with submachine guns piled out of the van and the cars, surrounding the bus. Garcia emerged from the front seat of one of the squad cars, along with two of the other detectives she’d seen with him. Four armed guards went onto the bus and ordered everyone onto the pavement. Then they emptied the boot of the bus and told everyone to stand by their own bags. Rosie watched the commotion and buzz of conversation among the passengers.

‘What the fuck’s going on?’ one fan snapped to a Guardia Civil officer. ‘What’s this all about?’

‘Wait where you are. We are searching the bus.’

‘What the fuck for? We’re football fans.’

‘You don’t want to be arrested, you will keep your mouth shut.’ He made a zipping gesture across his mouth.

‘Aye, what for, like? Arrested for what? I’ve got fucking civil rights, ya dago Tim bastard.’

Garcia and three other detectives pushed through the fans to where Eddie and the others were standing.

‘Hand over your bags,’ one of the officers barked.

Rosie watched as Jimmy froze. He looked at Eddie who
handed over his small rucksack, and Donna her little travel case. Mitch looked at Jimmy then at Eddie.

‘Boss?’ Jimmy said.

Eddie said nothing.

The detectives took the bag off Jimmy and opened it up, nodding to Garcia.

‘This your bag?’ the officer said to Jimmy.

He looked at Eddie, who still said nothing.

Then he glanced at his father, whose face was grey. Jimmy opened his mouth to speak as Eddie glowered at him.

‘No, it’s not his bag.’

Everyone looked around.

It was Jimmy’s father.

‘It’s
his
bag,’ he said, stabbing a finger towards Eddie.

‘Da,’ Jimmy said.

‘It’s not
my
bag, officer.’ Eddie gave the cop a stunned look.

‘It’s
his
bag,’ Jimmy’s father said again, this time louder. ‘He’s a lying, slimy bastard.’ He pushed out of the crowd and punched Eddie square on the face. ‘You’re a fucking disgrace to everything you’re supposed to stand for. A cheap, lying, cheating, grassing bastard.’ He punched him again. ‘And you’re trying to stick my laddie in to save your own skin.’

For a second Eddie looked dazed from the punch, then he wiped blood from his nose.

‘Fuck you, Jack! You’re in fucking trouble for this. You’re a dead man walking.’

‘Aye, you’re right, you prick. I
am
a dead man walking. But I’ll go to my grave with my conscience clear. Not like you. You’re nothing but a fucking user. And you’re a rapist.’ He glanced at Jimmy then back to Eddie. ‘Well your number’s up. You’re finished.’ He nodded to Garcia who was standing a few feet away.

Eddie was white as a sheet. He glanced at Garcia then at Jimmy’s father.

‘What? You grassed me up? You’re a dead man.’ He turned to Jimmy. ‘That’s your da, Jimmy. He’s a grass. A UVF hero all his days and look at him now. A fucking grass.’ He spat blood on the ground. ‘Shoot him, Jimmy. Do it now. Do it now or face the consequences.’

Jimmy did nothing. Eddie turned to Mitch.

‘Mitch! Shoot him!’

Mitch didn’t move. He looked at Eddie, then at Jimmy and his father. He said nothing. The police moved in to arrest all of them.

Jimmy’s da turned his back, and as he did, a shot rang out. He sank to his knees. Eddie stood with the gun in his hand, and within a split second two officers grabbed him from behind and forced him face down on the ground.

Jimmy wrestled free from the officers who had grabbed him and rushed over to his father.

‘Oh Da!’ He knelt on the ground, cradling him in his arms as blood gushed from his stomach and spread across his shirt. ‘Oh Da. You shouldn’t have got involved.’

‘I did the right thing, Jimmy. For the first time in my life, I did the right thing. Now you do the same.’

‘Get an ambulance!’ Jimmy screamed as he tried to stem the blood with his hand.

‘It’s too late, son. It’s too late for me. But not for you. Now go and get that lassie and have the life I didn’t have. Because I failed, son. I failed your mother and I failed you.’ His breathing quickly became shallow as a pool of blood spread across the ground. ‘There
is
no cause now, it’s all a fucking lie. Just save yourself.’

‘Da, please.’ Tears streamed down Jimmy’s face. ‘I love you, Da. I’m sorry.’

His father’s eyes stared back at him blankly as his head dropped to the side.

Two police officers pulled Jimmy roughly to his feet. His arms were forced behind his back as he was handcuffed, and he stood weeping as his father was taken away on a stretcher. Rosie caught Jimmy’s eye and he looked back at her, his face etched with pain, as he was frogmarched past her and into the back of the police van.

‘I feel a bit sorry for him,’ Rosie said to Javier as the police pushed them back.

‘Don’t,’ Javier said. ‘They are all bastards. They deserve everything they get.’

‘I think Jimmy will stick Eddie in,’ she said. ‘I’d take a bet on it.’

Eddie struggled with the officers as they dragged him
to his feet. His mouth was bleeding from being pushed face first onto the ground. As they hauled him towards the police car, he turned his head to where Donna stood yards away with Rosie.

‘Donna. Get a lawyer for me. Now!’

Donna looked at him, the years of contempt written all over her face. She shook her head slowly.

‘What the fuck, Donna?’ he spat. ‘You fucking whore. You better never show your face again in Glasgow.’

Rosie put a comforting arm around Donna’s shoulder as she broke down.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Eddie growled as he came face to face with Rosie.

‘I’m Rosie Gilmour.’ She gave him a defiant look. ‘I’m from the
Post
, Eddie. You wouldn’t have a wee comment for the newspaper, would you?’ She tried to keep her face straight.

‘Fuck you! You’re dead.’

‘That’ll do.’ Rosie allowed herself half a wry smile.

She motioned Donna to a table at the cafe, and she sat down, wiping her tears with a tissue.

Rosie patted her shoulder. ‘It’s over now, Donna.’

Donna nodded. ‘Not for me. Not yet. I still have to go back home.’

‘But Eddie won’t be there. He’ll not be there for a very long time. You don’t have to stay there. Listen. I can make a call right now, talk to the cops about the bank card and
you won’t see Eddie for the rest of your life. That’s if he ever gets out of jail here.’

‘But what if they track me down?’

‘They won’t track you down. You can go to the other side of the world. You just tell me when you’re ready.’

Donna sniffed and sobbed.

‘You know, my whole life has been about covering for him, Rosie. Everything he’s done, the people he beat, the money he hid. Everything. And I got my face punched twice a week into the bargain. If it wasn’t for my kids … Christ! How am I going to tell them?’

‘You might be surprised. They might be on your side.’

‘They’ve watched the abuse for years, that’s why they all left home as soon as they could.’

‘Just let me know when you’re ready.’

She sat for a long moment, dabbing her eyes. Then she looked at Rosie, her face set.

‘I’m ready.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Rosie watched as Adrian loaded up the hired car for his journey back to Bosnia. He’d decided to drive rather than run the risk of being stopped at the airport. Garcia had told Javier that the Policia Nacional wanted to talk to him about the small matter of shooting Flinty Jackson with one of their guns. Adrian wouldn’t be in trouble over it, he assured her – they just needed to tie up the loose ends of the investigation. But Adrian wasn’t waiting around to be scrutinised by the police, and Rosie had to agree with him.

‘So.’ He turned to Rosie as he closed the boot. ‘I get started now. It’s a very long way.’

There was an awkward moment as they faced each other, Rosie not quite able to read the expression in his eyes.

‘I will miss you, my friend.’ He rolled up the sleeves of his khaki shirt, exposing his bandaged arm.

‘Me too, Adrian.’ The image of both of them on the roof flashed through her mind. She didn’t really know what to
say, so she just stepped forward and hugged him. ‘I wouldn’t be here without you.’

He held her tight. ‘Of course you would. You are the lucky reporter.’ He eased himself away, little lines appearing at the sides of his eyes as he smiled.

‘So what now? Do you think you will stay in Bosnia?’

He pursed his lips. ‘I don’t know. Nothing much there for me, apart from my mother, and … my sister has her own life now. I like Spain very much, but I think I must stay away from here for a while after this.’ He gazed beyond Rosie. ‘I like to come to Scotland again maybe. But I need to find a real job. Not like I was – working in the biscuit factory or as concierge in the hotel. I want to have proper work, maybe some kind of life there. You know what I mean?’