Even Angels Fall (34 page)

The rain is still falling outside, but it has slowed to a light mist that swirls around Alex as he crosses the road towards the car park. As he climbs into the driver’s seat his phone vibrates in his pocket and he slams the door shut, tapping the message icon as he turns his keys in the ignition. His heart drops through his chest and his blood runs cold when he sees Marcus’ name highlighted on the screen.

‘Where’s my money?’

Alex hurls his phone onto the passenger seat and clenches his fists so tightly they turn white. He leans his head back and screws his eyes shut, breathing deeply through his nose as he tries to bring his temper under control. In a moment of blind fury he punches the steering wheel several times and slams his fist onto the dashboard as his anger and frustration boil over, causing him to lash out, violently. As he slowly regains control and manages to pull himself together, he grabs hold of his phone and types out a message, hitting send without a second thought.

‘Tomorrow.’

Alex is ready for a showdown. He is ready to face Marcus and finally give him exactly what he deserves. Seeing Tom tonight, lying there fighting for his life in that hospital bed has changed Alex’s perspective entirely and he is enraged beyond compare. It is time for pay back and he is out for blood.

Janet fastens her jacket and smiles kindly at the portly businessman who is holding the door for her, thanking him as she dashes out of the large, glass fronted office building at the edge of Granary Wharf. Why she has to come to these meetings with the director of her firm she will never understand. She dutifully takes notes and neatly types them up on her return, only to file them away where they are never looked at again. A huge waste of time in her opinion, but at least it gets her out and about for the best part of a day.

It is just after lunchtime and her boss and his associate are now off to be wined and dined, leaving Janet to find her own way back to the opposite end of town. She stands, debating whether or not she should head out for something to eat herself or go and catch a bus while the midday traffic is relatively quiet, when she spots a young girl crossing the square towards her. It takes a moment for Janet to understand why she has such a strong feeling of recognition towards this girl, but as the gut-wrenching realisation suddenly dawns, she hurls herself forward without a second thought. Curly blonde hair, brown eyes, pretty… she remembers. This girl was perched on her kitchen counter at the start of the year, the same day she confronted Abbey about her truancy from school. Her name is Lucy, she is sure of it and she will without a doubt know how and where to find her daughter.

Janet battles her way through the throngs of commuters, businessmen and shoppers in the general direction that Lucy was heading but she temporarily loses sight of her. She stops; frantically searching through the crowds, disheartened and almost on the verge of giving up, when she spots her again, turning a corner down one of the little cobbled side streets that lead back towards the City Centre.

Janet follows, keeping a safe distance as she crosses the bridge out onto Neville Street, before walking up towards the train station. It is there that Lucy veers off and takes a left into the circular, paved entrance way of a posh apartment block. Janet watches from the corner of the road as she types a number into a keypad and unlocks the main door, pulling it firmly shut behind her as she enters. This must be it. This must be where Abbey is hiding out. Janet feels a massive surge of relief and for the first time in a very long time, a renewed sense of hope. She scrambles for her mobile in her handbag and makes a quick call to work, explaining rather hurriedly that something urgent has come up and she needs to take an unscheduled afternoon off. As she picks up her pace and practically runs towards the bus stop she dials Peter’s mobile and he answers promptly on the second ring…

“I have news about Abbey. Get Anna, I’ll meet you at home…”

Lucy is completely oblivious to the fact that she has just been followed, as she is distracted by a million and one things that are playing on her mind. She isn’t looking forward to this. She knows something is wrong - she could tell by the tone in Nathan’s voice - but as usual he wouldn’t explain himself over the phone.

As she approaches the door she can hear raised voices and is greeted in the kitchen by Alex, Darren, Liam and Nathan. They are clearly on their way out and looking like they mean serious business. Abbey and Sophie are standing across the room, visibly upset and apparently reeling from the aftermath of a big argument.

“We’ve got to go…” Alex picks up his keys and gestures to the lads.

“What’s going on?” Lucy asks, and Nathan instantly moves over to stand by her side.

“We’re off to pay Marcus a visit…” Alex answers her question but doesn’t take his eyes off Abbey, who looks scared and incredibly worried, her expression pleading.

“Marcus? Why…?”

“He wants his money…” Alex quips.

“You don’t have his money…”

“I know… but he’s going to get something else instead…” The malice and anger that laden Alex’s voice, make Lucy recoil, and it suddenly dawns on her what all of this means. She stares up at Nathan but before she can say anything he shakes his head apologetically and let’s go of her hand, stepping away.

“This has to end babe, it’s gone on for too long…”

“And Tom paid the price…” Darren adds.

“But he’ll kill you…” Lucy gasps, horrified and incensed.

“No he won’t. I’m tired of playing his fucking games… it’s time he got what’s coming to him. This ends today…” Alex throws down his authority and everyone knows that he is not to be argued with further. Liam is ready and raring to go and all it takes is a simple nod from Alex and he is out of the flat. Darren follows behind - much to Sophie’s dismay - and Nathan and Alex are the last to leave, both of them glancing back at Lucy and Abbey before the door slams shut behind them.

“Why didn’t you get here sooner?” Sophie snaps.

“I couldn’t have stopped this; they can’t be talked round…” Lucy replies, knowingly. She has seen Alex like this before - and her brother - she knows what it means when they behave in this way. Any begging, pleading and screaming is a waste of breath when they are this determined, “What happened? Why now?” She frowns.

“Alex went to see Tom…” Abbey states, flatly, and Lucy instantly understands.

“And now he might get one of the others put in a fucking coma too…” Sophie shouts, her voice shaking as she explodes with anger. Abbey glares at her in disgust, but before she has chance to retaliate Lucy steps in and jumps to Alex’s defence.

“This isn’t his fault Soph and you know it. Tom’s a grown man, he makes his own decisions. He could have said no and stuck to it but he didn’t… because Alex needed him and that’s what we do. We’re family, we’re there for each other no matter what, no matter how fucked up things get. Blaming him isn’t going to change anything…”

“But this is only going to make things worse…” Sophie sobs, “Your boyfriend, your brother… how can you be so level headed when they’re acting like this…?”

“Because someone fucking has to be…” Lucy laughs, throwing her arms up in exasperation before calmly folding them across her chest and taking a breath, “Look… at the end of the day, Tom is one of us, he’s Alex’s best friend and he almost died. That was Marcus’ fault. You can’t seriously believe for one second that the lads were just gonna let that go…”

Sophie stares in silence before shaking her head with frustration, completely worn out and utterly defeated. There is no point in arguing and she knows it. Loyalty, brotherhood, friendship… they are the foundations that their group is built upon. The love they have for each other is more important than anything else and when one of them is hurt, they all hurt. Tom was never going to go un-avenged. There was always going to be a fall out; a retaliation. It is just so unexpected and out of the blue that it has all rapidly come to a head today. This is beyond serious, a real game changer and nobody knows where the chips will fall or what the outcome will be.

Alex isn’t thinking in the long term. He is tired of constantly trying to plan three steps ahead in an attempt to predict Marcus’ behaviour. He is the definition of unpredictable and Alex has learnt that there is absolutely no way to keep track of him. What they are about to do is unbelievably dangerous. Things have finally reached breaking point, but if Alex is honest with himself, it is an unavoidable scenario that has been brewing for a very long time. The hostility and animosity between them has slowly been gathering momentum for years and it has finally become too much to simply ignore. Marcus has gone too far and has goaded him for the final time.

The strip club is open for business all day every day, but as it is relatively early in the afternoon there are only two customers propping up the bar when Alex and the others arrive. It is dark inside, and the atmosphere feels very oppressive. There is a lone girl dancing on a pole in the middle of the vast room, her face resigned and impassive as she goes through the motions with a serious lack of enthusiasm. The bar man breaks away from his animated conversation with an imposing looking bouncer, and they both stand to attention as the four of them approach.

“We’re here to see Marcus…” Alex announces and the bouncer squares up to him with a sinister smile.

“He isn’t expecting you until later…”

“Well I’m here now…” Alex doesn’t wait for him to respond again, too pent up and angry to be wasting time with one of Marcus’ lowlife minions. He has no patience for this sort of bullshit today and as a result, he springs forward with absolutely no warning and punches him hard in the face. He collapses to the floor, knocked out cold, and the barman gawps in shock, “I take it he’s in his office?” Alex asks, and the kid nods back timidly without saying a word.

Marcus is leaning against his desk with a glass of whiskey in his hand, talking to three of his henchmen - laughing and joking without a care in the world - and it makes Alex’s blood boil even more. They all turn at the unexpected interruption and there is a brief flicker of shock and anger on Marcus’ face before he quickly composes himself, slipping back into the polite yet threatening demeanour he so often uses in Alex’s presence.

“Well this is a surprise…” He smiles broadly as he places his glass down and fastens his suit jacket, “I take it you couldn’t wait to pay me what you owe me, Mr Matthews?”

Alex stands in the middle of the room glaring at Marcus, his seething hatred filling every single pore of his body as he thinks of Tom and everything he has lost. The nasty, vicious little smirk that he has plastered across his face only adds to Alex’s rage and the atmosphere in the room shifts. You can cut the tension with a knife as Marcus saunters arrogantly towards the front of his desk with his performing monkey’s flanking him on either side, two to the left and one to the right. Alex, Liam, Darren and Nathan mirror their position. At least the fight will be fair at four on four, although the way Alex is feeling right now he could probably take them all out single handed and wipe that self-righteous smile clean of Holt’s face.

“Well?” Marcus prompts, his friendly façade slipping.

“I don’t have any money for you…” Alex informs him, defiantly.

“Now you see that is disappointing. I take it that’s why you’ve brought reinforcements, because you’ve failed to get me my cash?”

“I paid a price…” Alex scowls, trying to keep his simmering rage under control as it builds with every passing second.

“Yes, so I heard…” Marcus laughs as he looks across at his cohorts, all of them smiling maliciously with great amusement, “I would say the gangs all here, but then there is one person missing… Tom Warner, am I right? Not exactly one of the greatest thinkers of our time and a cocky little fucker to boot if I remember correctly? He was better than anyone else I know at stealing cars though, I’ll give him that. I guess he’s been forced into an early retirement mind you, considering his current state?”

Alex sways ever so lightly on the spot, back and forth from foot to foot, his impatience barely containable as he yearns to dish out his revenge. Although only a slight movement, it doesn’t go unnoticed by Marcus and he alters his stance in anticipation.

“Like I said… a debt was paid…”

“That’s all well and good, but we still have a problem here don’t we Alex? Seen as though my deal was with you and not your comatose, soon to be incarcerated friend…?” Marcus’ vindictive smirk widens into a full blown satisfied grin as his words have a noticeable effect on Alex. He knows exactly which buttons to press and he is thoroughly enjoying himself.

“You son of a bitch…” Alex spits, “This is all because of you. My best mate is in hospital with the police at his bedside because I was bending my fucking back trying to get you money… and for what? God, you know I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was actually fucking intimidated by you, I mean what a joke…” Alex shakes his head in disbelief and Marcus’s face drops.

“Be very careful…” He threatens quietly, but the flood gates are open, the words are flowing and Alex is no longer holding back.

“Why? What the fuck are you gonna do? Don’t fucking pretend to me that this is business because we all know what this is really about don’t we…?” Alex takes a step forward and Liam, Nathan and Darren close in around him as Marcus’ men do the same, shifting defensively, “You’re just a sad old man who can’t let go. You can’t stand the fact that I’m getting the deals you would have got back in the day when you actually had some fucking credibility. You’re a laughing stock, and I swear to god, I am not scared of you…”

“You should be…” Marcus snarls through gritted teeth and Alex takes another step closer, staring menacingly into his eyes, completely defiant.

“I surpassed you, Marcus. I out grew you… and all this, constantly attacking me, coming after me any way you can, trying to bring me down… you do it because I’m better than you, and deep down you fucking know it…”

There is no greater revenge for Alex than witnessing Marcus in that moment, standing there speechless and utterly stunned. Not only has he been verbally ridiculed in front of his entourage, but the words ring entirely true. He has been made to look stupid, he has no come back or snappy retort and the feeling is sweeter and more rewarding than any physical punch could ever be.