The Graft (56 page)

He was still watching her, and she could see the cynicism in his eyes, in the set of his mouth.

In his whole demeanour.

When he didn’t answer her she knew it was over. And the knowledge hurt her so much, she thought she might die from it.

 
Gino smiled at his mother and she smiled back. It had taken a while but they had come through it together, as Deborah was forever pointing out to him. He could smell the dinner cooking, frozen fishcakes and mashed potatoes. He felt an urge to be sick, but swallowed it down. Once he had eaten he could go out, and the first place he was going was to the big flats nearby.

The big flats were the tower blocks. He lived with his mother in a low-rise building, built before the Second World War when there had still been plenty of space and greenery around.

Gino was going to score a bit of gear for himself over there and chill out big-time. His girlfriend Abby was his blind, she was as up for the brown as him.

It was a perfect arrangement.

He liked the brown, liked how it made him feel, liked the fact he could get off the estate without having to get on a fucking bus. It was his world now, and Gino was grateful for it.

Jude might be gone, but her memory lived on.

He was proof of that.

 
Tammy lay by the indoor pool. She looked around her at the beautiful empty house and counted the days until she could get the boys from school and go to Spain. She sipped at her drink which was as strong as she needed it to be. She was still in seclusion after the murder of her husband and mother-in-law. Her friends had actually been good, rallying round her, even if it was only to find out what was going on.

Nick had been found face down in the footings of one of his buildings, beaten to death. No one had been arrested for the crime and she knew that no one ever would be. No one knew why it had happened.

Except Tammy, of course, and she wasn’t telling
anyone
.

What they guessed was their business, of course, but she had buried her dead in separate graves. In separate cemeteries even. It was the least she could do for Angela.

She wondered how much Hester knew, and how much she had guessed. But whatever it was she had not argued about any of the arrangements.

Nick was gone, and Tammy didn’t miss him at all. Why had she lived her life in his shadow for so long? It was pitiful really how much she had depended on him. Wanted him. Needed him.

All those wasted years and all the constant wondering where he was when all the time the man she thought she knew, believed she loved, was a hollow shell, not worthy of her love or anyone else’s.

Rudde was gone, hanged himself apparently, though no one seemed to know why. He had destroyed the photographs first, though, and made her see sense. Tammy had a lot to thank him for. Not that she would bother to go looking for him, of course.

And now here she was with more money than she knew what to do with and a sexy new slim figure, thanks to all the worry.

But it was all over, that was the main thing.

Finally, it was over.

The funny thing was, she was off men. Didn’t want anything to do with them these days. And after spending more time with her boys she had actually learned to enjoy them and their company.

If only she had found out years before what really mattered in life, how much happier she would have been. But she knew now, and was determined to make sure she never forgot her priorities again.

 
Willy Lomax was grinning widely. When Tyrell and the boys picked him up from the halfway house he had some good news for them all for once.

He had been allocated a flat.

He finally had a home of his own and this little family who had adopted him so readily would be his first visitors.

They were going bowling today and he was just grateful that they let him be a part of it all.

He was dying, and he knew it.

But he wasn’t dead yet!

As Tyrell said, you had to make the most of every day, and that was exactly what Willy was doing.

 
Justin smiled at the punter with every ounce of charm he possessed. He knew that was a considerable amount.

The man, a commuter in a crumpled black suit and a sweat-stained grey shirt, walked towards him with a sheepish grin. He was in his fifties, married to a social worker with a hectic hairdo and a constant sniff. Consequently he was up for a bit of fun and games. He had seen the boy earlier, and let his train go in case his assumption proved to be correct.

It was, and he was over the moon. They left the station together a few minutes later. The old rat house might be gone but a new one had opened up just as quickly around the corner.

Justin could find a rat house like other boys found cricket balls.

 
Tyrell watched the three boys as they bowled each other out. He watched everyone else as well now, something he had never done before. He looked around him all the time for men who were alone and watching the youngsters at play.

He felt a million years old now. Felt as if Methuselah was a babe in arms in comparison to him, now he knew so much about the world.

Jude was gone, her own victim, and Sonny had gone the same way. Tyrell had buried her, and had done her proud because he knew his mother expected that much from him. But he had seen her off without any kind of emotion whatever. He was past all that. He only cared about these three boys now. That was it until he had mended himself, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do that.

Louis said he just had to wait, be patient until it didn’t hurt so much any more, and Tyrell had a feeling he was probably right about that. One day he would be ready to be with someone again, but it would never be Sally, he knew that much. He wanted someone who was softer, didn’t want to own him and his life. Sally had made sure he had lost precious time with his eldest son. Well, he had been given a steep learning curve lately and he knew he had learned a lot from that.

But he also knew that in a way he had been lucky.

So many people didn’t see what was happening right under their noses, but he did now. In fact, he was a fucking expert. Maybe, just maybe, if he had known all this before he might have been able to look out properly for his Sonny Boy. But that was something he would never know for sure.

Terry Clarke came into the Princess bowling alley in Dagenham then, a very unlikely visitor, and Willy’s smile grew even wider. Terry had taken to this boy, even when he had found out about his illness. Now he met up with them once a week and they all had the time of their lives. Tyrell saw a side of Terry then he had never guessed at before. He also knew that Terry popped by to see Willy on a regular basis on his own even though it was never discussed.

Wonders would never cease.

Tyrell grinned happily at Willy and his sons, glad that he had this chance to be with them and enjoy them. Glad that if nothing else he had learned one thing. You couldn’t protect your kids properly until you understood exactly what you were supposed to be protecting them from.

Then, and only then, could you actually keep them safe.

What follows is
new and exclusive bonus material
- the author’s cut
 
 
TAMMY’S STORY
By
Martina Cole

Chapter One

Tammy could feel the man’s eyes on her and tried to glance at him from behind her mirrored sunglasses.

He looked familiar somehow. She was sure she knew him from somewhere, but where,
that
was the question.

It was hard for her, so many people knew her in Spain. Also, to make matters worse, she was never sure if a man was after her or her money.

And she had a lot of money,
serious
money.

By anyone’s standards she was an extremely rich woman.

Her dead husband’s reputation was still fixed in everyone’s mind, so she was known to have more than a few quid to play with. And play she did. Or at least had. But after getting her fingers burnt by a young hustler with broad shoulders and a slim wallet she was, finally, becoming more fussy. It was a year since the terrible events and even though she still felt the pain and the humiliation of it all, she was more than capable of fronting it out.

And front was all you had in the end, as far as she was concerned.

Nick still had his rep intact. She could thank his old mates for that even though they were responsible for his demise -
she
thanked them for that as well. But the loneliness was settling in again, the loneliness that had assailed her throughout her marriage was there once more, only this time she was determined to be more adult about how she assuaged it.

She ran the businesses without even having to think too much about anything. She had a shrewd business brain, and people were beginning to find that out. It was gratifying to know they respected her now for herself.

But it wasn’t enough to keep away the need for having someone there, someone to hold on to in the dead of night.

With Tammy it was the sex. Sex was what she craved and now the feelings were back with a vengeance. Probably because the children were back at school in England and she had no one to keep her company. The days flew by, but the nights, it was the long hot nights that really got to her. She would lie there wide awake and her mind would be once more on her body or, more precisely, someone else’s body on
top
of her body.

Now, this one wasn’t bad. She might give him a whirl if he had the nerve to talk to her.

She watched closely as he got up from his table, threw down a few euros and nonchalantly walked past her without a glance. She was peeved but also surprised that on closer inspection he seemed much older than she had at first thought. She watched him walk towards the harbour and then pushed him from her mind. She had other fish to fry - like the eighteen-year-old waiter from a bar not two minutes from this very spot.

So she relaxed in the glorious sunshine and finished her glass of wine slowly. After all, she had nothing else to do.

Or more to the point, no one else to do.

 
Nicholas Leary Junior was standing in front of his head-teacher’s desk. He was a big lad, and James Pargetter realised that he was in fact dealing with a clever young man, a
very
clever young man. His father’s death had given him a lot of leeway in the school and this was the upshot.

‘What do you need the money for, Nick?’ James made his voice aggressive even though the boy’s cold gaze was making him nervous. He could see why the younger lads had paid up without a fight.

Nick shrugged. His father’s son, he had no fear of authority unless it could actually affect him in some way. James Pargetter was not a threat to him or his lifestyle. He was a nonce, a fool. He was nothing.

‘Don’t know what you are talking about, sir.’ His voice now held the respect needed by Pargetter to believe he was in charge, that he was the adult in the conversation.

‘I am talking about extortion, Leary, that is what I am talking about.’

Nick smiled gently. ‘They were gifts, sir, nothing more, nothing less. Mr Black was mistaken. I know for a fact that you have had no complaints about me from any of the other boys in the school, so you have to understand why I am a bit rattled about all this. Wondering why I am even here?’

Pargetter, for the first time in years, felt the urge to slap a pupil, and slap him hard. ’And what were these so-called
gifts
for?’

Nick shrugged. ‘If I tell you, sir, can you assure me that only I shall be given any punishment necessary and no one else?’

James Pargetter nodded warily.

Nick sighed heavily before saying quietly, ‘It’s Harry Benton’s birthday in a few weeks and the money is for his party. I know we aren’t allowed to have parties on the premises so that’s why I couldn’t answer Mr Black’s questions.’

It was a reasonable excuse, a good excuse even. It made Nick look loyal, it made him look like a good egg and it made them all look like suspicious old women. But Pargetter knew it was also a bald-faced lie. He also knew there was nothing he could do about it. The boy was clever, he could not take that away from him.

‘I see.’ And he certainly did see, he saw that this boy was always one step ahead of the competition.

‘Sorry, sir.’

Nick even sounded contrite.

Pargetter stared at him for a long moment.

‘Can I go now, sir?’ the smile was back again more irritating than ever.

Pargetter nodded. He had no reason to keep him and they both knew that.

Nick left the room, slowly closing the door quietly behind him.

 
Laurie Metcalf had seen the blonde with the dark glasses. He had made a point of seeing her over the last few days but he knew that today was the first time she had noticed him. That fact had actually annoyed him. Women always noticed him, or at least they had once, many moons ago before he had reached the age of reckoning. The age where you needed money and prestige to pull the type of woman he was used to.

She was good looking for her age, and he knew he would never get the truth of that out of her. But then who was he to talk? He would never see fifty again himself. Like her, he knew he looked good. Unlike her, he had never had the sense to line his pockets, not properly anyway. He was in Spain now because it was where the last of his assets lay. He had a nice apartment overlooking the sea and it was worth a few quid. Ten times what he had paid for it. He also had a couple of places down in Calpe that he rented out. But it was a far cry from his glory days.

He had a bit of work to do and it involved the blonde with the firm tits and the needy smile. He had had worse jobs over the years.

He pushed the thoughts from his head and concentrated on the matter in hand. He had been asked to keep an eye on her by a mutual friend, so that is what he would do. She was a bit long in the tooth for him really but then, as his old mate had pointed out, beggars can’t be choosers.