Shattered (Dividing Line #5) (37 page)

Ryan circled his writhing nemesis, enjoying his fear and pain, chest heaving with exertion, fists bruised and bloodied.

Once he’d tired of watching his struggles Ryan crouched beside Alex and pulled the large knife he’d saved just for this purpose.

“You reap what you sow Alex. This is for Rachel,” said Ryan before dragging the blade across his throat, pushing down hard, ensuring he cut through both arteries. Alex’s warm blood sprayed across the front of his t-shirt, the droplets hitting his face.

As Rachel watched Alex die she thought of him proudly standing as best man at her wedding to Danny, tenderly cradling Leah in his arms at the christening, holding her tightly as she cried her eyes out after Danny was murdered, helping her hunt down his killer, telling her he’d support her in whatever she chose to do when she was a widow.

When his eyes settled on her they held something of the man she used to know. Blood spurted through the fingers of the hand he pressed to the gaping wound in a futile attempt to stem the flow. His mouth opened and closed, pleading in his eyes.

“Rach,” he managed to gurgle.

She knelt by his side and took his hand, which he grasped onto tightly, fear of death overruling his hatred. He choked as his lifeblood pumped out of him, pooling on the dirty concrete floor. It wasn’t quick like in the movies, this was a long, drawn-out death. His skin turned ashen white and his eyes, which were fixated on her, grew heavy, a horrible choking gurgle emanating from the back of his throat. Finally he gave one last awful death rattle, his eyes slid shut and he went still, his hand falling away from hers.

It was over.

“Are you okay?” Ryan said quietly.

She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, feeling Alex’s warm sticky blood transfer itself onto her clothes but she didn’t care. Her husband had slayed the monster and she loved him even more for it. Ryan held onto her tightly, showering her face with kisses.

She looked up at him and smiled, wiping the blood from his face with her fingertips. “Can we go home now?”

“Not quite,” he replied as the others ran into the room.

CHAPTER 37

Ryan and Rachel straightened up, looking like something out of a slasher movie.

“Way-hay, the king’s fucking dead,” smiled Frankie. He strutted up to the body and kicked at it with the toe of his shoe. “Now I can take my trophy.”

Frankie picked up the knife Ryan had dropped, knelt beside Alex and lined the blade up across his cut neck.

“No,” said Rachel. “You’re not taking his head.”

Frankie looked back at her over his shoulder, surprise and outrage written all over his face. “How no? The job’s already half done anyway,” he said, gesturing to the gaping wound in Alex’s neck.

“I’m asking you Frankie to show respect to Frank, Martina and Danny by not taking his head. Take another part of him, just not his head, please.” She couldn’t bear to watch him being decapitated.

Frankie weighed up his options, forgoing his prize to gain the goodwill of his new business partners. “Alright Sweetheart, how about a hand?”

“That’s fine. Thank you Frankie.”

He nodded and she looked away as he started to hack at the limb, the dull squelching sound stomach-churning. Jamesie produced a box and Frankie placed the appendage inside, glee in his eyes. Jamesie put the lid back on and stood with the box tucked under his arm, the large hand clearly visible, which looked bizarre.

Rachel moved to stand beside Ryan, feeling sick to her stomach and very melancholy. The room stank of death and she desperately wanted to wash Alex’s blood away.

“So, here are the new king and queen of Manchester,” said Frankie, gesturing at Ryan and Rachel. “That’s if you’re still going to take the throne?” His voice and eyes were heavy with warning. If they didn’t they were dead.

They glanced at each other, reading the look in each other’s eyes perfectly. Ryan’s heart sank. This wasn’t what he wanted for her.

When they both looked back at Frankie and nodded, he grinned and clapped his hands together. “Fucking fantastic.”

There was a moment of mute shock as Ryan and Rachel raised their guns and aimed them at Frankie and his men.

“What the fuck is this?” demanded Frankie.

“You should have teamed up with Mikey instead. We’re not letting anything or anyone drag us back into this life,” said Ryan.

Rachel didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger because once again she was fighting for her family’s future, for their very lives.

The gunfire was deafening.

Two of her bullets ploughed into Frankie, knocking him backwards. The others went wide but she wasn’t worried because Battler and Bruiser reacted like lightening. They raised the big shotguns and took out Paul, the shot at such close range ripping his body apart. Ryan finished off Jamesie before unloading the rest of the clip into Frankie, but to their astonishment, Frankie refused to stay down. With his smart suit ripped and bloodied, he dragged himself back to his feet and took out his hatchet.

“Traitors. You fucking traitors,” he screamed, blood dribbling from his lips, pointing the weapon at Ryan then Rachel in turn. He looked like something out of a nightmare as his wounds leaked blood and his eyes bulged.

“We kept telling you it wasn’t what we wanted Frankie,” said Ryan, “but you didn’t listen. As usual you tried to get your own way but not this time. You brought this on yourself.”

“No, this can’t happen. I can’t die in fucking England,” Frankie screamed.

He raised the hatchet, a roar of rage tearing from his throat and - to their astonishment - he actually charged them. They all raised their guns and fired, his body jumping and jerking as the bullets ploughed into him, by some miracle managing to keep the hatchet in the air. He looked at them one by one with a fiery hate, took two shuffling steps forward then released a groan and toppled backwards. The hatchet fell from his hand and hit the ground with a loud clang. Just for good measure Riley pumped three more bullets into him as he lay dead on the ground, mouth still wide open in a war cry.

“Can’t say I’m sad he’s gone. He was a pain in the arse,” said Riley, coolly pocketing the gun.

“Oh Jesus Christ, what have you done?” exclaimed Mikey, unable to believe what he was seeing. “Now we’re going to have Glasgow after our blood.”

“No we won’t because you will tell them the man who killed Frankie McVay is dead himself,” said Ryan.

“You mean, pin it on Alex?”

“Yes.”

“But this still happened on our patch.”

“And in retaliation you killed the person responsible. You have far too lucrative a deal with Glasgow for Frankie’s successor to want to ruin it. They might even be grateful for the path being cleared for them. Frankie was not well-liked.”

As they debated Frankie’s death Rachel couldn’t help but stare at his body. She admired the fact that he’d gone down fighting, not in the least bit afraid. It was inevitable a man like Frankie McVay died by the sword.

Mikey, reassured by Ryan that they wouldn’t be slaughtered by a vicious gang of vengeful Glaswegians, bent down and picked up the hatchet. “I think I’ll take my own trophy.”

“Good man,” smiled Ryan.

Mikey’s clean-up crew arrived, led by Declan and his brothers.

“Take it away and get rid of it,” Mikey told them, pointing at Alex’s body. He was glad he sounded cold and detached because inside he hated seeing his cousin like this. He hadn’t wanted it to come to this.

“Put him in Frank’s grave,” Rachel told them as they started to wrap up their old boss in plastic. “That’s what he’d want.”

“Don’t you think you’re giving him more than he deserves?” said Jez.

“I’m thinking of Alex, I’m thinking of family who aren’t here to make their wishes known.”

The men looked questioningly at Mikey.

“Do as she says,” he told them.

She looked to Ryan. “Now can we go home?”

He nodded and took her hand. “Let’s go get our babies back.”

The thought of returning to Devon and their children made her want to cry with happiness but she wouldn’t because she was Rachel Law. She would save her tears for when she was alone with her husband, the one person in the world she gave her whole self too.

Rachel squinted as they walked outside into the daylight. Never before had she appreciated the beauty of the countryside around her as she did then. It was like emerging into another world, moving from a dark pit of death into light and freedom. Alex and Frankie were gone. Now they could go home and live out the rest of their lives in peace.

Rachel had heard enough gunshots in her time so she didn’t understand why she didn’t recognise the sound at first. Ryan was pitched onto his back and before she could ascertain what was going on Battler had pushed her behind the shelter of the car.

There were shouts around them and while the men ran off in pursuit of something she hunched over Ryan, shaking him. “Wake up, wake up Ryan,” she cried.

But his eyes remained closed.

When she saw the ragged hole in his t-shirt, suddenly it hit her. He’d been shot, just like Danny. The past started replaying itself before her eyes. She was going to lose another husband in the same horrible way. But this time it was Ryan.

“Not again, no please God not again,” she said, tears already running down her face. “Ryan.” She screamed his name out loud, the sound almost drowning out the retort of gunshots in the distance. “Don’t you dare fucking die on me.”

His eyes slowly opened and he released a groan. “I’m not dying.” He raised his t-shirt to reveal the bullet-proof vest beneath, the bullet embedded in the Kevlar.

Rachel was so relieved she laughed out loud and hugged him tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered over and over into his chest, tears still coursing down her face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

She helped him sit up and pull off the vest, just to make sure the skin hadn’t been broken but the only injury was a large purple bruise.

“That stung,” he said jovially.

“It’s not funny,” she rebuked, hitting him on the arm. “I thought you were a goner.”

He flashed her his devastating smile. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

As she clung onto him Ryan reached out to shake Battler’s hand, who had once again put himself in the line of fire to save her.

Mikey, Jez and Riley jogged back, breathing hard.

“You’re alright,” said a relieved Jez, still trying to catch his breath after the chase.

“I’m lucky I was wearing Kevlar. Who was it?”

“See for yourself,” replied Mikey.

The three of them got to their feet and found Col on his knees, clearly in pain, blood staining his shirtfront. He was held by Declan and Charlie. Kian cradled the gun they’d taken from him.

“Oh God, this is my fault. I shot him but I didn’t check he was dead,” gasped Rachel, appalled with herself. Because of her carelessness Ryan could have been killed.

Mikey held a gun out to Ryan. “Do you want the honour?”

“No, I’m tired of killing. You do it. You’re king of this city now.”

Mikey walked up to Col and aimed the gun at the centre of his forehead. “I just want you to know before you die that Andy led us to you. Maybe your brothers weren’t worth dying for after all?”

Col stared back at him defiantly and spat on the ground at his feet. Mikey pulled the trigger and he fell sideways. Rachel thought it was a fitting end for a man who had executed Laila with equal coldness.

“Get yourselves off, we’ll sort this mess out,” Mikey told them.

Rachel hugged him, deciding to keep her fears for his future to herself. This was the path he’d chosen, despite how he’d seen it destroy so many people he loved. She wouldn’t change his mind so she would support him instead. It pleased her that he still felt the same when she hugged him, despite how much he’d changed recently. Then she hugged Jez. “Stay safe and please you two, work together. Learn from this.”

Mikey and Jez turned to each other and shook hands. “We will. The truce between the Maguires and Laws still stands. It always will,” said Jez.

“If you get into trouble again, don’t call us,” said Ryan.

“We won’t,” replied Mikey and they both grinned.

“Come and see us when everything’s quietened down, bring your families,” said Rachel.

“Really?” replied Mikey, pleased.

“Yes really. We’re not hiding away anymore. It doesn’t work anyway.”

“We will, thanks.”

“Don’t forget, that invite is extended to you two as well,” Rachel told Battler and Bruiser. “If you don’t come I’ll be up here wanting to know why.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there,” said Battler.

She smiled and hugged them both.

Ryan shook hands with Dane. “Thank you so much.”

“No, thank you. My path’s free and clear now. It was good working with you again.” He turned to Rachel. “Its been a pleasure Mrs Law.”

“I could say the same Mr Black.”

“Let me know if you’re interested in those leashes,” he replied with a wink.

“What leashes?” said Mikey. Then he realised. “Oh.”

Wanting to change the subject, Ryan looked to Riley. “What are you going to do now?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve still got a couple of month’s leave.”

“Why don’t you come abroad with us, see the kids?” suggested Ryan and Rachel nodded.

“I won’t be in the way?”

“Course not, you’re family.”

“Yeah thanks. I will,” he replied, delighted.

“Let’s go then. I can’t wait to get away from this place,” said Rachel.

“I just need to collect something first.”

They watched curiously as Riley walked to the crumpled Land Rover, the body still stuck beneath its wheels and opened the boot.

“I take it that’s Jasper White?” said Rachel when he dragged a struggling ferret-faced man out of the back.

“It is,” replied Ryan.

Battler popped the boot of the Range Rover they’d driven up here in so Riley could dump the man inside then slammed it shut. Riley climbed into the back with Ryan and Rachel while Battler and Bruiser got into the front. Only they knew where Gill, Rick and the children were so they would have to escort them out there. Rachel was going to invite them to stay on with the family for a while. They could all use a holiday.

“Where are we going?” she asked them.

“The Caribbean,” replied Battler.

“Perfect,” smiled Rachel, thinking a couple of weeks of sun, sea and rest was just the ticket.

As they drove off, leaving Mikey’s clean-up crew to sort out the carnage, Rachel wondered just how different life would be from now on because after recent events she knew it was changed forever. Both her and Ryan were different inside.

“Venom said she’s your sister,” she told Ryan.

They both looked to Riley, who shrugged. “Not from our side she’s not. She was probably bullshitting.”

“Well I was about to hit her with a plank of wood,” said Rachel. “At first I thought she was just trying to stop me but I got the feeling she was telling the truth. She got away, I’m sorry.”