Rough Cut: Rosie Gilmour 6 (33 page)

‘Mr O’Neill . . . Er . . . James.’

Silence. He went across to the worktop and lifted his shotgun.

‘James, could you please listen to me for a minute?’

He put down the gun.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to shoot you. There’s been enough killing for one day. Those bastards deserved to die. They’d have killed my boy.’

‘You’re right, James,’ Nikki gushed, too enthusiastically.

‘James. Look. Can we explain?’

He nodded, said nothing. To their surprise, he took out a knife from the kitchen drawer and began to free them. Euan appeared in the doorway in his wheelchair.

‘Are you going to get the police?’ Julie asked.

He shook his head.

‘No police.’

‘What about the bodies?’

He said nothing.

Nikki glanced at Julie; both of them were wondering if he was out of his mind.

Julie took a breath.

‘Can you please just let us go?’

‘Tell me what this is about.’

‘It’s a long story. Too long. Please just let us go. Is it okay if I get up? I want to get that case out of their car.’

He stood to the side and let her pass.

Nikki got to her feet, but her legs were weak and she supported herself on the worktop. She started to cry.

‘I’m sorry,’ she sniffled.

The farmer looked at her for a long moment.

‘You’re that girl, aren’t you?’

‘What?’

‘The one who got her arm cut. The one who was in the paper.’ He glanced at her stump.

She sniffed and nodded.

‘It’s all part of this, isn’t it? You were on the run from them. Is that right?’

Nikki nodded.

‘I’m sorry. We brought you all this trouble.’

‘They were going to use my son. Maybe take him hostage or something. They’d have killed him.’

‘I’m so sorry, Mr O’Neill.’

He said nothing, looked away.

‘I know about bastards like them. What they do to people. I don’t know what you did to get them to cut your
arm off, but my son did nothing, except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was bastards like them who left him with brain damage.’

Euan looked at the floor. Silence. Julie came into the room carrying attaché case. The farmer turned to her. She went into her handbag and rummaged around.

‘James. We’d just like to get into our car and drive away and you will never see us again. I promise you, we will never talk to anyone about what went on today. We are going far away from here and nobody will know a thing.’

His gaze moved beyond her, as though he was bewildered. Julie went across to him and opened her hand. Two rough diamonds were in the palm.

‘Please take these.’

He looked at her, then at Nikki and finally at Euan.

‘What are they?’

‘Rough diamonds.’

James glanced at Euan, who wheeled across the room.

‘Is that what this is all about? Did you steal them?’

‘As I said, its a long story.’ She paused and glanced at Nikki. ‘Look, James. We took the case during something we were involved in. It was stupid. We didn’t even know what was inside. Honest. By the time we did, it was too late, they were going to kill us anyway. Gordy was going to kill us, and so was Vanner, after he killed Gordy.’ She swallowed. ‘You saved our lives . . . I want you to have them.’

He shook his head.

‘What am I supposed to do with them?’

‘Just keep them for a while. Then go somewhere and get a good jeweller who knows about stuff like this. It might take a while, but you’ll find someone who will help. But you have to be careful – don’t do it till all this dies down.’ She looked at Euan. ‘They’re worth a lot of money. I know that for sure.’

James shook his head.

‘I can’t. I don’t want to be involved.’

‘Please. You must. What difference does it make now? You’re already involved.’ Julie gestured at the bodies on the floor and outside. ‘Just take them. I know you need the money . . . If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be renting out your house. Get the place fixed up so that Euan can live independently. Or take him abroad where he’ll get better treatment. You can pay for it with these.’

Nikki turned to Euan. ‘We’re so sorry, Euan.’

Julie took James’ hand and opened it. She placed the diamonds in it and closed it. He said nothing and turned to Euan, who slowly nodded.

Julie glanced at Nikki and they both made for the door.

‘Good luck. And . . . thanks,’ Julie said as they walked out and got into the car.

*

Rosie and Matt struggled through the mud to get back to the car.

‘Did you get anything?’

‘I got some images, but don’t know how good they are.’

‘Could you see Julie and Nikki anywhere?’

‘No. They’re definitely not in any picture. They must be in the house.’

‘Do you think they’ve been shot?’

‘I don’t know, but before you suggest it, I’m not going up there to find out.’

‘No. I know. Let’s just get on the road and get out of here.’

‘You going to phone the cops?’

‘I can’t. Not until I get in touch with Julie. Let’s just get to the car first, then I’ll phone.’

They got the car, feet thick with mud, and Rosie threw herself onto the passenger seat. Her hands shook as she punched in Julie’s number again.

‘Rosie!’

Relief flooded through her.

‘Nikki? Are you okay?’

‘Yes. We’re on the road. Jesus, Rosie! It was totally mental up there.’

‘Is Julie alright?’

‘Yeah. She’s driving. We left about ten minutes ago. We’re hammering it on the motorway.’

‘Okay. So you’re not hurt?’

‘Julie got a punch in the face from that big Vanner guy.’

‘Vanner? He was there? Christ!’

‘I know. He must have been coming up to do Gordy.
Turned out they were all there. Like a convention of arseholes.’

Rosie could feel herself smiling.

‘So what the hell happened? We could hear gunshots.’

‘Gunshots? It was like
Pulp Fiction
!’

‘So what happened?’

‘The farmer shot Gordy and his driver.’

‘The farmer? The old guy? You’re joking.’

‘No. They were going to kill his son, or take him with them as a hostage or something. We didn’t see it as we were tied up to chairs in the kitchen, next to Vanner and his minder’s dead bodies on the floor.’

‘Christ! Who killed them?’

‘Gordy’s driver.’

‘Shit! So there are four dead bodies?’

‘Yep. Two in the house and Gordy and his driver in the car. The farmer just blasted them to fuck.’

‘Unbelievable! How the hell did the son get involved? He’s in a wheelchair.’

‘I know. He happened to call over to the house as we were preparing for big Gordy to arrive, then suddenly, out of nowhere, Johnny Vanner appeared in the back door. We nearly shat ourselves.’

‘I’ll bet. So has the farmer phoned the cops?’

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘He said no cops. He’ll deal with it.’

‘What the Christ? He’s a farmer, not a hitman.’

‘I don’t know, Rosie. We didn’t stay long enough to ask questions. We just got the hell out of it. We’re heading south, as planned.’

‘Did you get anything on tape?’

‘Yeah. A lot.’

‘The shootings?’

‘Probably the noise, but not on the camera. Vanner tied us up to chairs, so we’d maybe be too low down to record faces.’

‘Okay. Just keep driving. We’ll catch up with you later.’

Rosie hung up and slumped back in her seat, rolling down the window for some air.

‘What’s happened?’ Matt said.

Rosie shook her head.

‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Jesus Christ, Matt! It sounds like a bloodbath up there. But the girls are out and on their way south.’

‘Who’s dead?’

‘Four. Vanner, his minder, Gordy and his driver.’

‘Fuck me! Who shot who?’

‘Believe it or not, the farmer shot Gordy and his driver. Apparently Gordy’s driver shot Vanner and his minder in the house.’

‘So the farmer shot two people. Mind you, he was in that kind of mood.’ Matt smiled. ‘He looked like one of those mad bastards that is all mild-mannered until you push him over the edge.’

‘I guess that’s what happened.’

‘What about cops?’

‘No cops. Not yet. Let’s just get to the cafe up off the motorway before we head south. I feel shaky. I need to eat something.’

*

In the driving rain and sleet, it was nearly two hours by the time Rosie and Matt pulled into the roadside cafe outside Abbington, close to the Scottish border. Nikki had phoned to say they’d stopped there, but were planning to hit the road to Manchester before it got dark. The cafe car park wasn’t busy and Rosie scanned the cars as they drove in.

‘That’s Julie’s car,’ she said to Matt as he parked.

‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance they were followed? I hope we’re not walking into something.’

‘Don’t even think that way.’

Rosie’s mobile rang and she pulled it out of her coat pocket. It was McGuire.

‘What’s happening, Gilmour?’

Rosie made impatient eyes at Matt.

‘Er . . . Can’t talk right now, Mick. But I’ll be back on the road in half an hour and I’ll call you back.’

‘What the fuck’s happening?’

‘A lot, Mick. A lot has happened. I’m going to meet Julie and Nikki now.’

‘So they got away?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What about Gordy?’

‘I’ll tell you when I phone you.’

‘That means he’s fucking dead.’

‘Mick, I need to go. Don’t worry. I’ll call you soon.’

‘Christ al-fucking-mighty, Gilmour!’

Rosie hung up.

‘He’s not happy,’ she said to Matt.

Matt chuckled.

‘He’s going to go mental when you tell him what happened.’

‘Well. Let’s see what we’ve got here first.’

Matt held open the swing door and Rosie walked in. Nikki spotted her and waved her good arm.

‘So,’ Rosie said as she slid into the booth. ‘You made it.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t quite believe you got out of there alive. All we could hear was gunshots.’

‘
You
can’t believe it,’ Julie piped up, taking a mouthful of her sandwich. ‘You should have seen it from where we were sitting, tied to chairs, waiting for someone to blow our heads off. Honest to Christ, Rosie! I don’t even know how I drove down here. It’s a complete blur – I just kept driving on nerves and fear. When I got in here, I nearly passed out in the car park.’

Rosie looked at both of them. The waitress arrived and both her and Matt ordered tea. Matt asked for a pastry.

‘Are you okay now? The two of you?’

They nodded, but Rosie could see Nikki had been crying, her face blotchy and eyes red. She began to fill up again.

‘I . . . I was so scared, Rosie. Still am. It’s all just getting on top of me.’ Tears spilled over. ‘They killed Paul, my husband.’

‘Paul? Who killed him?’

Julie made a slightly frustrated face.

‘Big Gordy killed him. So he said anyway.’ She put her arm over Nikki’s shoulder. ‘Listen, Nikki. It was Paul who grassed us up to Gordy. Don’t shed any bloody tears over him.’

Nikki sniffed.

‘I used to love him. I’ve known him all my life.’

‘Aye. But he
ruined
your life. It’s because of that wee gambling, cheating bastard that we’re in this mess at all. If he hadn’t done in all your money, you wouldn’t have ended up as an escort and none of this shit would have happened. Don’t start looking at it with rosy specs now, Nikki. You were well shot of him. And the point is, he grassed us for money, knowing he would get us killed. That’s the kind of bastard he was.’ She dabbed at Nikki’s wet cheeks with a napkin. ‘Come on. You’re better than this. Your new life starts here.’

Nikki nodded, swallowing hard. Rosie glanced at Matt. She was dying to see what they had on tape, but had to allow them a moment. She resisted the urge to look at her
watch. The tea arrived and Matt scoffed the pastry as if he was on a day out in the country.

Eventually Julie produced the tape and the camera from her bag and handed it to Matt. He immediately put it onto his laptop and began running it through.

‘Okay, before we listen to the tape,’ Rosie looked at both women, ‘can you just walk me through what happened?’

Julie began from the moment they were in the bedroom getting ready to meet big Gordy. Rosie listened, took notes, used her own tape recorder to get it down. Right now, she didn’t know what she was going to do with it all. It was explosive stuff, but there were bodies piling up with every sentence, and sooner or later, the cops would have to be involved. The farmer sounded like a decent guy – albeit with some kind of crazed vigilante streak – but at the moment he was looking at two killings. Even if he claimed self-defence, it did look a bit over the top. Matt turned his laptop around and they looked at the footage. At first, Vanner was on the tape and he had some gorilla with him. They could hear his conversation clearly. Brilliant. They could see Euan on it, in his wheelchair, his face a mix of fear, anger and frustration that he could do nothing. Then they heard the front door being opened. By that time the girls must have been tied to the chairs, because everything was only visible from waist height and below. They could clearly hear Gordy’s voice and the argument. Then the shotgun fire.

‘It’s all pretty stunning stuff,’ Rosie said, delighted, but still not sure how this would pan out. They’d have to take it to the cops. McGuire would never touch this in a million years, but it was so good. Better to have it than not have it. And if they did hand the tape to the police, they would look like responsible journalists keen to do the right thing.

‘So,’ Julie said, glancing out of the wide window at the fading light. ‘We need to get moving soon. It’s getting dark. I want to be into the hotel as soon as possible and on this flight out first thing in the morning. Nobody is looking for us – well, that we know of. Now that all the major players have been bumped off, we’ve got a clear run . . . I think.’

‘What about the diamonds?’ Rosie asked, glancing from one to the other.

Julie looked at Nikki.

‘I’ve got them. I took the case.’