The Trap (28 page)

‘Babe, I am in the middle of a double family engagement party. I can hardly not go back to the club, can I now? Plus, where do you think we are going to sleep tonight? I live upstairs at the bloody club, remember?’

Knowing that Vinny and Roy also lived at the club, Nancy was horrified. ‘But I thought we would sleep at a hotel?’

On the verge of losing his temper, Michael took a deep breath. ‘Just dry your eyes, Nancy, clean your face up a bit, and we’ll get this over with. There’s no time like the present and you’ll be fine once you’ve had a couple of drinks.’

Knowing she had little say in the matter, Nancy took the handkerchief off Michael, got her compact mirror out of her handbag, and began to wipe away the smudged mascara. She was dreading seeing Michael’s family again, especially Vinny, but now she had left home, what choice did she have? She and Michael were a couple now. They were going to be living together. So, the quicker she got the awkwardness with his family out of the way, then bonded with them, the better.

When Karen took her break from behind the bar, Vinny grimaced as his son threw himself at his mother and smothered her in kisses. Little Vinny had never been the most touchy-feely child, but with Karen he acted differently. Even his behaviour had improved since he had met her, and the thing that pissed Vinny off the most was that Karen actually seemed like a bloody good mum.

‘We need to start the fucking ball rolling,’ Vinny hissed in his pal’s ear.

Twenty-nine years old, Ahmed Zane was originally from Istanbul. Young Turkish lads were taught at an early age how to charm the birds from the trees, it was how they survived, and with his perfect physique and chiselled features, Ahmed had been more blessed than most. At the tender age of nineteen, Ahmed had met a rich English woman fifteen years his senior. He had married her within weeks of meeting her, moved to England, stayed with her for two years, then took off with half of her money. He was eligible to stay in the country for life now because he had been kind enough to provide her with his child.

Ahmed and Vinny had met approximately three years ago. Both hard-nosed businessmen, they had clicked immediately, and were now best buddies and partners in crime. Vinny was used to having a sidekick. He and Roy had been inseperable growing up and for many years afterwards, but that had all changed when Colleen had come on the scene. Their closeness had now dwindled and in the past year, Ahmed had all but taken Roy’s place in Vinny’s life.

With Vinny’s financial backing, Ahmed was now considered to be the drug lord of London. Once upon a time, Vinny had got his thrills through violence, but he had promised his mum when Little Vinny was born that he’d do his utmost to curb his awful temper.

Flooding the streets of London with heroin was a different kind of buzz to beating somebody to a pulp, but it still gave Vinny a natural high. So did the fact that it was all top secret. Nobody bar Ahmed knew that Vinny was involved, and the money he was raking in gave Vinny the biggest adrenaline rush of all. That beautiful brown powder had made both him and Ahmed incredibly rich almost overnight.

‘Daddy, Mummy says she is gonna take me to the zoo soon. Will you come too? I want to see the reptiles. Can we bring the snakes home with us?’ Little Vinny asked, snapping his father out of his trance.

Karen raised her eyebrows. Her son had an obsession with snakes, and she hated the bloody things. ‘I don’t think we can bring the snakes home with us, can we, Daddy?’ she asked, grinning at Vinny.

Playing along with the happy family façade, Vinny chuckled. ‘Yeah, I’ll come to the zoo as well.’

‘I’m gonna tell Nanny,’ Little Vinny said, skipping away happily.

‘Karen, I’d like you to meet my pal, Ahmed. I’ve been telling him what a good mum you are to Little Vinny and how we have managed to forget the past and build a happy relationship once again, and Ahmed has just come up with a fabulous idea.’

Karen allowed Ahmed to kiss her on both cheeks, then smiled when he complimented her on her beauty. ‘So, what is this idea then?’

‘Well, it seems daft you travelling up here from Dagenham most days, doesn’t it? Ahmed rents out properties, and he has a beauty not far from here in Beckton. I’ve seen it. It’s a luxurious three-bedroom flat, and I am willing to pay the rent on it, Karen. It will enable me, you, and our son to spend some quality time alone as a family. What do you think?’

Staring into Vinny’s piercing green eyes, Karen’s heart leapt. Even though he had been the perfect gentleman up until now, she was sure that he wanted to make another go of it with her. Little Vinny had brought them closer together than they had ever been in the past, and the chance to become a proper family was far too much for Karen to turn down. Her council flat in Dagenham was on the twenty-first floor of a tower block, so what the hell did she have to lose? ‘That sounds fab. When can I view it?’

Ahmed smiled at Karen’s enthusiasm. ‘I can show you tomorrow, then you can move in the following day, if you want? I am only renting this flat at a cheap price because Vinny is a pal of mine, and I know how much he thinks of you,’ he replied in a broken cockney accent.

Karen was ecstatic. ‘Thank you, Ahmed, and thank you, Vinny. I’d best get back to work now.’

When Karen darted back behind the bar, Vinny shook Ahmed’s hand. ‘Well played, pal.’

Ahmed chuckled. ‘English women are just so dumb.’

Queenie was amazed when Michael plonked a stunning-looking girl in the chair opposite her, then introduced her as his girlfriend who would be moving in with him. Queenie had lost count of the amount of girlfriends Michael had ploughed through, but none had ever tempted him to give up his bachelor lifestyle before.

‘Oh, Queen. Ain’t she a pretty thing? The face of an angel,’ Vivian gushed.

Queenie looked around the club, her heart beating rapidly. If Vinny was to spot Nancy, there would be murders and she would hate things to kick off in front of Colleen’s family. Roy would go apeshit if that were to happen. Knowing she had to play along and pretend that Vinny hadn’t spoken to her about the girl, Queenie forced a smile. ‘An absolute princess. So, where do you come from, darling? Are you local?’

Nancy squeezed her boyfriend’s hand to urge him to answer the question for her. She didn’t have a clue what she was meant to say.

‘Mum, Auntie Viv, there is something I need to tell you. Do you remember that couple who took over the café that used to belong to Old Jack? They weren’t there for long. Their names were Donald and Mary.’

‘Yep, I remember ’em. They had a little boy who witnessed the murder outside your old club,’ Vivian remarked.

Michael took a deep breath. ‘Well, Nancy is their daughter. Her parents have just found out about our relationship and chucked Nancy out. I need you to help me square things with Vinny, Mum. Nancy and I are very much in love and I want you to back me up. I think it’s probably best that we don’t tell him Nancy’s true identity until tomorrow though. I would hate to spoil Bren and Roy’s party. You know how hot-headed Vinny can be after a few Scotches, and I’d rather talk to him when he’s sober.’

Queenie’s nerves were suddenly shot to pieces. Vinny already knew what Nancy looked like, but Queenie could hardly tell Michael that his brother had been stalking him. Then there was Brenda. She and Nancy had once been friends, so surely Bren would recognize the girl as well?

‘Can I say something, Mrs Butler?’ Nancy asked timidly.

‘Call me Queenie, love, and yes, of course you can.’

‘I just wanted you to know how serious I am about your son. My parents didn’t exactly chuck me out. They offered me a choice. It was either them or Michael, and I chose Michael. He is the kindest, funniest, loveliest person that I have ever met and there was just no way I could give him up. I love him so much.’

Queenie felt her heart lurch in her chest when she saw the way Michael and Nancy looked at one another. They were clearly in love, and there was no way Queenie would allow Vinny to ruin his youngest brother’s happiness now by forcing Denise Thompson to make up wicked lies. That would be so very wrong.

Johnny Preston felt as cool as a cucumber. No longer was he shaking. He was absolutely brimming with confidence now. He had also moved away from the main road and was tucked nicely in between two cars that were parked nearer the club’s entrance. Annoyed with himself for having drunk his Scotch so quickly, Johnny glanced at his watch. He definitely had another hour or two to kill before the party in the club wrapped up. Desperate not to lose his bravado, Johnny decided to pop to another off licence. Surely it was better to be slightly merry than a bag of bloody nerves? Turning on the ignition, Johnny pulled away from the kerb right in front of a Rover 2000 that had to screech to a halt to avoid hitting him.

‘You absolute idiot! Did you not check your mirror? How I didn’t kill you I’ll never know,’ the driver yelled, leaping out of the car.

Realizing he was attracting unwanted attention from gawping passers-by, Johnny revved the bike’s engine and sped away.

Vinny had had his beady eyes on his father all evening, and was just about to march across to him and order him to tell Colleen’s parents what he had instructed him to, when Paul the doorman walked over to him. ‘There’s a girl in reception, boss. Says her name is Denise and she asked for you.’

Vinny grinned. He had always prided himself at having eyes in the back of his head. In his line of business, you needed to, and he had been well chuffed when he had seen Michael sneak Nancy Walker in earlier. If Denise hadn’t been popping in to break the news of her pregnancy, Vinny would have probably smacked Michael in the mouth and turfed his slag of a bird out immediately. ‘Go and have a chat with Karen while the bar is quiet, Ahmed. I have a bit of business to attend to,’ Vinny said, winking at his pal.

Ahmed grinned when his friend sauntered away. Vinny had told him earlier that Denise Thompson would be turning up to drop the baby bombshell. There were very few secrets between him and Vinny. They were more like brothers than friends, and seeing as Ahmed had already made Kenny Jackson disappear off the face of the earth on Vinny’s say-so, and was soon to work his evil magic on both Karen and Terry Smart, they already had a massive bond to keep them united for the rest of their colourful lives.

Up on the stage, Lenny was having a ball, and for the first time in his life, he truly felt like king of the castle. ‘And this song is going out especially for my mum and Auntie Queenie because I know that they both like it,’ he said confidently over the mike.

The song was Mary Hopkin’s ‘Those Were the Days’, and when his mum and aunt dashed onto the dancefloor, Michael was open-mouthed to see Denise Thompson marching his way with Vinny by her side. ‘I’m sorry, bruv, but she skipped past the doorman. Reckons she has something important to tell you,’ Vinny said.

Michael stood up. ‘Shall we talk outside? The music in here is very loud, Denise.’

‘No. Here’s fine. I thought you should know that I’m pregnant, Michael, and the baby’s yours,’ Denise blurted out, in the exact way that Vinny had instructed her to.

Hardly able to believe her ears, Nancy let out a racking sob, put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from retching, and ran from the club.

Having spotted the drama from the dancefloor, Queenie dashed towards Michael and dragged him away from his ex-girlfriend. ‘It’s all lies, son. You go and find Nancy and go straight back to mine. You can both sleep in Little Vinny’s bedroom. Go on. Don’t leave that lovely girl outside the club on her own,’ Queenie ordered.

Michael was perplexed. ‘But, how do you know Denise is lying?’

‘I just do. Now fucking go,’ Queenie shrieked.

Johnny Preston put his hand on his gun in anticipation of Vinny appearing as he watched the scene outside the club with interest. There was a girl crying, another one screaming abuse, and that old bat of an aunt had just come into view as well. The bloke present was Michael, Johnny surmised. He hadn’t seen the youngest Butler boy for many years, but it certainly wasn’t Roy or Vinny.

When he saw a police car slow down nearby, Johnny cursed his luck and immediately turned the ignition. He would have to go for a little ride, then come back once this silly argument had calmed down, as there was no way he was going to get caught with a gun in his possession. Feeling a bit edgy for the first time since he’d nearly got knocked off his bike earlier, Johnny decided to head to another off licence to help calm his nerves once more.

Back inside the club, Vinny was on a roll and had just approached his father to hand him an ultimatum. ‘There’s two hundred quid in there,’ Vinny said, stuffing an envelope into the pocket of Albie’s threadbare jacket. ‘Now, you’ve got ten minutes to do what I told you to, otherwise I shall leap on that stage, grab the mike and tell everybody what a nasty, lying, deceitful old cuntbag you are.’

Usually, Albie would do anything for fifty quid, let alone two hundred, but he had been watching his Roy tonight and he and Colleen seemed so ideally in love and well-suited that for once Albie was willing to put loyalty above money, or his own pride. ‘I can’t do it, Vinny, so do your very worst, boy,’ he mumbled, almost apologetically.

To say Vinny was furious by his father’s decision was an understatement. ‘You think I’m bluffing, you old bastard, don’t ya? Well, watch this, Daddy dearest.’

When his eldest son strutted towards the stage like a lion hunting its prey, Albie darted towards Roy. ‘I need to talk to you, son. It’s urgent,’ he begged.

Excusing himself from Colleen, Roy led his father aside. There was something about the look on the older man’s face that told Roy this was serious and when Albie began to gabble about Vinny’s plan to spoil his relationship, Roy shook his head in disbelief. ‘I know Vinny has never been that happy for me and Colleen, but he wouldn’t do something as bad as that to me, Dad. He’s my brother, for fuck’s sake. You have had a good drink. You sure you ain’t got muddled up?’

‘I swear to you, boy. Look at this. Vinny just gave it to me,’ Albie said, showing Roy the envelope with the money inside. ‘Ask Colleen’s parents if you don’t believe me. Your brother blackmailed me. He found out that I didn’t have cancer and said if I didn’t tell them that you were a womanizer, who had cheated on their daughter, and that you had broken my legs and put me in hospital, he was going to tell everyone I lied about my illness. I started to tell Colleen’s parents earlier, but I couldn’t go through with it. I panicked, but I swear I only lied about having cancer as I wanted to see my family again. I know none of yous kids would have agreed to see me unless you thought I was dying.’