Shattered (Dividing Line #5) (2 page)

CHAPTER 2

Beth gripped her children’s hands tightly as they followed Mikey into the huge opulent suite in the hotel owned by Ryan and Rachel. They moved slowly, cautiously, afraid this was all some sort of trick and the danger would return.

“It’s okay kids, you’re safe here,” Mikey told them.

Alfie threw himself at his uncle, seeing him as their saviour. Beth sank onto the couch with Holly, Archie sitting beside her, afraid to move two feet from his mother’s side.

“I don’t know if you’ll want the boys in with you,” Mikey said to Beth. “They can have their own room or we can put a couple of camp beds in your room.”

“I want them with me,” she replied in a tired flat voice.

“Okay, no problem. Boys, we’ve got X-Boxes if you want to play?”

Usually such an offer would have them both leaping to their feet and cheering but neither of them spoke.

“I’ll put the telly on, shall I?” said Mikey. He wanted the boys occupied so he could speak to Beth about what happened at the warehouse. They still didn’t react but he put it on anyway, tuning it into a cartoon channel. Alfie was the first to sit down on the floor in front of the television before Archie joined him, no doubt wanting to take their minds off some pretty horrible memories. Holly, soothed by the sounds of normality, fell asleep and finally Mikey was free to talk to Beth.

“I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now but I need to know what happened,” he said as gently as he could. “Rachel hasn’t been well enough to tell us. Are you up to it?” When she didn’t respond he cleared his throat and continued. “We know you were taken to a house in Moss Side then Alex separated you from Rachel.” He decided not to tell her where Alex had taken her friend, afraid it would be too much. “Then you were reunited. What happened at the warehouse?”

Beth laid Holly back on the couch, who was so exhausted she didn’t even stir. Beth absently stroked her daughter’s hair, her expression vacant.

Mikey patiently waited, reigning in the impulse to shake her out of it. He watched with baited breath as Beth’s mouth opened and something inaudible fell from her lips. Then her mouth closed again and she buried her face in her hands. Mikey sat back, trying not to show his frustration.

Beth was assaulted by a series of horrific memories from the warehouse. She relived Nick’s execution and Rachel being beaten and repeatedly stabbed. Then she remembered how strong Rachel had been standing up to Alex, how she’d never given up. Even when she was lying on the floor bleeding out she had still been defiant and Beth took strength from her strength.

She inhaled a deep determined breath and forced herself to start talking. “Rachel nearly escaped, she made the car crash and ran for the gates but she came back because Alex threatened to kill me.” Tears formed in her eyes. “She came back for me and he did that to her.”

“What happened inside the warehouse Beth?” he said a little firmer, wanting to keep her on track.

“Alex said he was going to deal with me first. He brought Nick in. He’d been beaten up and he was bleeding.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, so the boys wouldn’t overhear. “It was Robbie who told Alex where we were hiding. We thought he was on our side, he helped us escape from Manchester in the first place but he handed us over to Alex because he hated Nick for killing their mum. It was all about revenge. Nick was devastated by the betrayal, Robbie meant the world to him but now Robbie’s dead too so he got what he deserved.”

“I didn’t see Robbie’s body in the warehouse, I think he got away.”

Beth shot to her feet, shaking with a rage Mikey had never seen in her before. Right then he knew she’d never be the same again.

“It’s okay, we’ll find him. Why don’t you sit down?” he said, taking her hand.

“I want him dead,” she hissed.

“He will be, I promise. What happened after Nick?”

She retook her seat, still trembling with anger. “Alex turned on Rachel. He kept telling her to admit that she cheated on Danny with Ryan.”

Mikey was curious. “What did she say?”

“That she didn’t, apart from one time at Martina’s Bar but that was when she and Danny split up, you know, after he got hooked on drugs.”

Mikey nodded, finally starting to see the light.

“She told him nothing else happened between them until a year after Danny’s death but he wouldn’t believe her, he was insane. He kept beating her and stabbing her to get her to admit it. She fought so hard, she was so brave but she couldn’t beat him.”

“He’s a coward.”

She nodded in agreement. “He nearly raped her,” she whispered, a tear sliding down her face.

“Alex did?” he said incredulously.

She nodded. “At the house in Moss Side. He dragged her upstairs…he was going to do it…until the boys stopped him.”

“The fucking sick bastard,” he said, feeling like he could throw up.

“That’s not all he did.” She grasped Mikey’s hand and looked at him with wide watery eyes. “He killed Martina.”

He stared at her, absolutely stunned. “How? She had a stroke.”

“Propofol. It’s a drug they use during surgery as a quick anaesthetic. Martina was on Valium, thanks to Alex, and when you combine it with Propofol it stops the body breathing. He bribed the pathologist not to do a toxicology test.”

“He killed his own mum,” he murmured.

“So did Nick.”

“He told you about that?”

“Yes. He thought I should know who I was getting involved with.”

“Alex forced him, he had no choice. He was a decent bloke.”

“I know.” Beth wanted to curl up into a ball and cry her heart out, she had to get the grief out before she lost her mind but there was something else Mikey needed to know first. “Alex told the Jordans that Rachel was still a leader in the family when she wasn’t. Nick said his mum would have left her alone if she’d been told the truth. Thomas’s death is on Alex.”

“Just when I think he can’t get any more depraved he does. Does Rachel know?”

“Yes. She went mental. She attacked Alex but no matter how hard she fought she couldn’t beat him. He kept hitting her and stabbing her and he was enjoying it. I can’t believe he’s the same man I married. What happened to him?”

“I wish I knew. I miss the old Alex too.”

“Was he always like this and he just hid it from us? Have I been married to a monster all these years?”

“No, I’m sure of it.”

“I used to love him so much, he was everything to me.”

“And he loved you too, he told me often enough. This new Alex is an impostor. The real Alex is gone and he’s never coming back.”

A knock on the door made Beth jump. “Who’s that?”

“Don’t worry, it’s just Declan and his brothers. I asked them to come over to keep an eye on you.”

Nevertheless Mikey’s hand rested on the butt of the gun tucked into his jacket pocket as he approached the door. He peered through the spy hole, relieved when he saw it was indeed his cousins. He opened the door and hastily ushered them inside before locking it behind them.

“How is she?” whispered Declan.

“How do you think? I need you to stay with her, I’ve got to get back to the hospital.”

When there was another knock at the door they all tensed. Mikey indicated for his cousins to get behind the door while he once again peered through the spy hole.

“It’s alright, it’s Riley.”

He opened the door and was greeted by the smell of smoke. “Get yourself in quick before someone sees you.”

Riley hurried in looking dirty, skin streaked with grime.

“I take it the warehouse is sorted?” said Mikey.

Riley nodded. “There were only a couple of coppers guarding the front entrance. It went up quickly, most of it was gone before the fire brigade even got there but the bodies had already been moved.”

“They won’t find anything of us on them. Thanks mate.”

“You’re welcome. I had a call from Ryan. He said I’m to stay here.”

“Sure. Your room’s the third door on the left. For God’s sake take a shower, you stink. There are spare clothes in the wardrobe.”

“Thanks.”

Riley walked into the living area and found Beth on the couch.

She looked up at him, eyes heavy with grief. “Hi Ryan.” She turned back to the television before her head snapped round again. “Sorry, Riley. I saw you at the warehouse. You’re Ryan’s half-brother?”

He nodded.

“Thanks for helping get us out of that hellhole. I’ll be eternally grateful to you, to all of you.”

“There’s no need.”

She gave him a nod before turning back to the television, although it was clear she wasn’t watching it.

Riley understood exactly what she was going through, that the person she loved had been killed right in front of her and he wanted to offer her words of support and comfort, knowing the agony that was eating away at her inside. In Beth he saw a kindred spirit, someone who understood that pain but he couldn’t find the words so he walked past her and into the bathroom. He shut the door and locked it behind him before sinking to the floor. Zoe’s death replayed itself before his eyes, her screams echoing in his head. He recalled the two Lucifer’s Shadow MC members lying on the floor of the warehouse, shot to death and satisfaction flooded him. Jasper White was involved in this. Finally his time had come.

Ryan had never seen his father-in-law so scruffy before. His thinning hair was all over the place, the collar of his shirt was stuck up and he was unshaven. Battler and Bruiser followed him into Rachel’s hospital room and all three were appalled by the state she was in.

“Rick,” said Ryan, getting to his feet.

But Rick’s attention was entirely focused on his daughter, who was fast asleep. Tears filled his horrified eyes. “What has that animal done to my little girl?”

“The surgeon said she’ll be okay,” Ryan told him.

“Battler said Alex stabbed her.”

“He did but nothing too deep.”

“Why is there a bandage around her neck?”
             

Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t even told Battler about this, thinking it wasn’t news that could be broken over the phone. “He cut her throat Rick.”

“He…he…” Rick trailed off, looking like his heart was breaking.

“It’s okay, he didn’t get the arteries, which is why she survived.”

“Oh Christ Ryan, I’m sorry,” said Battler. “I should have stayed closer, I shouldn’t have let her run off.”

“I don’t blame you,” replied Ryan, watching as his father-in-law collapsed into the chair by his daughter’s bedside.

“Tell me everything he did to her,” said Rick.

“We don’t have all the details yet, Rachel hasn’t been strong enough to tell us. Mikey’s gone to talk to Beth, she was there too.”

“I thought she’d run off with someone called Nick.”

“She did but Alex caught them. Nick was betrayed by his brother. Alex executed Nick in front of Beth.”

“That poor girl. How is she?”

“I haven’t seen her myself but apparently she’s very traumatised. The kids were there too.”

“They saw someone being killed?” he said, aghast.

“No, they were locked in another room but they heard everything, including Rachel being beaten.”

“This is horrific. I didn’t think even a Maguire was capable of such atrocities. I’m told the bastard is still alive.”

“He is. You should know they’ve put him in the room just across the hall,” said Ryan, gesturing to the window.

Rick stared at him blankly, as though he couldn’t process what he was being told. Slowly he got to his feet and peered through the window. Fortunately the blinds were still drawn. “Why have they put him there when they know he tried to kill her?”

“Because they think he tried to save her.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what I told them.”

Rick rounded on him. “How could you after what he did to her? What sort of husband are you?”

Ryan tried not to be offended, he knew Rick was upset but nevertheless the barb still stung. “I said it to protect her. There are very dangerous people involved in this who at the moment are on our side. That would soon change if I grassed to the police. They’d come after us all, including Rachel. This way we stay safe and we stay out of prison and Alex isn’t arrested, leaving me free to get rid of him once and for all. If you’ve any better suggestions about how to handle the situation I’d love to hear them.”

Rick held up his hands. “I’m sorry Ryan, you went after her and you saved her life.”

“Actually it was Beth who saved her. She was the one who shot Alex.”

Rachel started to stir, her eyes flickering.

“Rachel?” said Rick, leaning over his daughter.

“Dad?” she said, forcing her eyes open.

“It’s me baby girl, I’m here.”

“Dad,” she repeated, a tear sliding down her face.

Rick took her hand. “Don’t talk, just rest. You need to get back on your feet as soon as possible.”