The widows, p.10
The Widows, page 10
‘It’s a beautiful place away from the main roads and motorways. It’s a good place to drop something if it’s being moved. I’ve used it before.’
‘And is it close to Liverpool?’
‘It’s close enough, and far enough away. I’ll sort it.’
‘Good.’
‘I’ll make the plan, finalise it and then tell your contact where to meet tomorrow.’
‘Okay. We talk tomorrow.’ Vlad hung up.
Tommy opened the door of the villa and stepped inside the quietness. He went to the fridge and took out a beer, sinking it in a few gulps. Then he went into the living room where among the magazines was a piece of paper with the name of the hotel Ruby and her mates would be staying at in the Lake District. They were leaving tomorrow evening for Manchester, if he remembered. He sat back, then scrolled down his phone to find the guy he knew would be the key to his plan.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tommy had been awake half the night. It had taken him a long time to get hold of Jimmy Digby, because Jimmy didn’t take calls from anyone without them being vetted by the people who surrounded and protected him. Digby was one of the top tier of the Irish, who worked closely with Tommy and Terence and Billy, with them setting up deals together, pooling their money for bulk buying, and helping each other clean up the dirty cash. Digby was one of the Irish team’s biggest dealers.
It was usually Terence who travelled to Manchester to do business with him, but one time Tommy went, and the three of them had spent a couple of nights swanning around the city, where Digby was treated like royalty by the owners of the bars and restaurants who knew better than to treat him any other way. Digby was the big man who ran the show from his base in Salford, where he’d moved to from Dublin, slashing and murdering his way to the top. Now he was one of the most feared gangsters in the city and beyond. Those who had been stupid enough to take him on over the years vanished without a trace, buried in concrete graves deep in the countryside or turned into pig feed in the farm he owned on the outskirts of Knutsford in Cheshire. He used it a lot and always joked that it was the reason he never ate bacon or sausages.
Digby lorded over his empire but he never got his hands dirty, and he didn’t care how his minions did their jobs as long as they got shit done. He had made plenty of them rich enough over the years and the top guys in his crew drove around in fast cars and enjoyed the benefits of lush gaffes. But it only worked if they kept up the work and their mouths stayed shut, and they remembered that once you were in there, was no road out. Digby owned you, and that was it.
Eventually, Tommy’s mobile rang on the sofa and he picked it up.
‘Tommy, lad, how’s it hangin’?’
Tommy was glad to hear his voice.
‘Ah, Digby,’ he said. ‘Good to hear from you, man. I’m not too bad.’
‘So, what’s up? How’s that prick Terence, by the way? What’s he up to?’
Tommy had to keep this light and convincing.
‘Oh, his usual bollocks, Digby. He’s been away for a few days shacked up with some bird, I’m told. Haven’t heard from him.’ Tommy wasn’t ready to tell Digby his old friend had been murdered.
‘The usual shite from Terence,’ Digby said. ‘So, what can I do for you, Tommy?’
‘I’m looking to put some seriously good shit your way.’
‘The marching powder, is it?’
‘Yep, the best. Straight out of Columbia to a table near you.’
Digby chuckled.
‘How much, and how much?’ he asked. ‘What’s the deal?’
‘Twenty big ones for you if you can do the pick-up for me, and you can help yourself to two kilos. Totally pure. You can cut it any way you like.’
‘How much?’
‘It’s free to you.’
‘Ah, fuck off, T!’
‘It is. I just need you to do something for me.’
Tommy knew too well everything that Digby was. He could have done away with him years ago, put him out of the game, because though he might have been top dog in Manchester, he was small potatoes in Spain because Tommy and his mob were top of the heap there. Digby needed people like Tommy, Terence and Billy Dalton to keep his supply up, and he knew the bastard would bite his hand off for a batch of free coke.
When he finished talking to Digby and filling him in on the detail, they both said they would talk tomorrow night. Digby hung up, and Tommy sat staring at the mobile for a long moment, then he got up and went to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a large Jack Daniel’s. He went to the freezer and dropped two ice cubes into it, watching as they cracked when they hit the amber liquid.
Back in the living room he plonked himself on the sofa, swinging his feet onto the coffee table. He swirled the heavy crystal glass and took a good gulp of his drink, feeling the straight JD burn all the way down. He picked up his mobile and scrolled down till he saw Ruby’s number. His thumb hovered over the ring key for a few seconds as he pictured her face, the pure beauty of her, the rage in her dark eyes that had drawn him to her the first time he clapped eyes on her. He shook his head almost in disbelief at what she had done. How could she do that to someone she knew was the centre of his life and had been since they were kids? There was a darkness lurking below the surface of the woman he fell for. He’d always suspected it.
He pushed the key and heard it ringing a few times. He waited, and finally, she answered.
‘Ruby, sweetheart,’ he said, in his soft Irish voice, ‘I was beginning to think you’d run off and left me there.’ There was noise in the background as though they were in a bar. ‘You at a party without me?’
He listened and could picture Ruby smiling as she spoke.
‘Nah. Not fit for parties, Tommy, darlin’. We’re in the hotel bar, having a few drinks. It’s lovely. But we’re knackered after all the spas and healthy stuff the past couple of days. And the walking. We’ve walked our socks off.’
‘You enjoyed it then, with the girls?’
‘Been magic, Tommy. We’re going to Manchester tomorrow evening and staying overnight and doing some shopping. Won’t be long till we’re back. You missing me?’ she purred.
‘Oh, yeah,’ he said. ‘Every little bit of you.’ He paused as she chuckled. ‘By the way, don’t be ordering taxis or taking trains to Manchester, Ruby. I’ve got you a car to take you there in style. A top-of-the-range limo. Chauffeur-driven.’
‘What? Seriously? You’re kidding. Why did you do that, T?’
‘Just for the craic. After them few days with Cissy under pressure, it’ll be good to get into the luxury car and travel with a glass in your hand. By the way, how is Cissy?’
‘She’s good. She was shattered when we left, but she’s fine now. The few days away have done her the power of good.’
‘Grand.’ He waited for a few beats. ‘I still haven’t heard from fucking Terence yet. I’m getting well pissed off with him.’ He was hoping to draw her in.
‘He’ll turn up.’
‘He’ll get it in the neck when he does, swanning off like that and not answering his fucking phone.’
‘That’s Terence, pet. All the way.’
‘Right, I’ll let you get back. The limo will pick you up at six and you’ll be in the city in time for dinner. That all right?’
‘Brilliant. But you didn’t need to do that, Tommy.’
‘No bother at all,’ he said. ‘No more than you girls deserve.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ruby and Bella stood outside the hotel as an early evening mist settled over the blackness of the lake, the air damp and chilly beneath a pale grey sky.
‘It’s beautiful here,’ Bella said. ‘But the cold reminds me of why I live in Spain. I’d be sitting on my terrace at this time of day, soaking up the last of the rays.’
‘Do you think you’ll ever come back to live in the UK?’ Ruby asked, gazing past her friend at the landscape.
‘Not if I can help it,’ Bella said. ‘I mean, it’s good to come back from time to time, but I can’t imagine I’d ever want to live here again. We’re minted, the way we all live in Spain these days. I’ve done my time here, growing up in shitholes. I love my life over there.’ She paused. ‘But all of that will change if I can get my son back.’
Ruby could see the pain in her eyes, and she changed the subject.
‘Do you think you’ll be with Billy into your old age, like old Brits abroad, going to tea dances in the afternoon?’ She grinned.
‘Well, that’s something you never know, do you?’ Bella said. ‘I know what Billy’s like with his shenanigans and other women, though. To tell you the truth, I put up with it because I like my lifestyle. I’m not proud to say that because it makes me sound like a bit of a prostitute, but I suppose if you strip it down, I am. Maybe we all are.’ She shrugged and looked at Ruby. ‘But I’ll tell you what, Ruby, I do my bit of work for Billy and the gang – we all do. I deal with the books and stuff, the bars, and believe me, I’m prepared for the day he chucks me. I won’t be leaving with nothing, that’s for sure.’
They both looked away as a black limo emerged out of the tree-lined driveway and swept softly into the car park.
‘Where the hell is Cissy? We told her to meet us at six o’clock.’ Ruby looked to the hotel doorway. ‘She said she was right behind me.’
The hotel door opened and Cissy came trotting out in her jeans and white Nike trainers with a heavy jacket over her arm, and pulling along her lilac-coloured shell weekend case on wheels.
‘Just in time,’ she said, smiling at her friends.
Cissy looked relaxed and rested, Ruby thought. She still had the splint contraption on her hand and wrist, but she’d told them the pain in her ribs was subsiding. The few days away had done her a world of good.
The driver climbed out of the car and stepped towards them.
‘Hello, ladies,’ he said, glancing at all of them, a cheery smile on his suntanned, handsome face. ‘I’ll sort your cases.’
He picked up the bags and went around to the boot and put them in.
Bella made eyes at him as he opened the doors and whispered to Ruby, ‘That’s some tan the big guy’s got. He didn’t get it here, that’s for sure.’
‘Behave yourself, you!’ Ruby sniggered.
‘He’s all right, though, isn’t he?’
‘Okay, ladies, in you go,’ the driver said, tugging on the cuffs of his immaculate black suit and smoothing his purple silk tie. ‘I’ve got champagne on ice for you in there, as well as soft drinks and some nibbles. Just sit back and enjoy the journey.’
Ruby slung her small leather rucksack over her shoulder, and the girls clutched their designer tote bags as they thanked him and climbed into the limo, sinking into the luxurious leather seating.
‘This is bigger than my first flat,’ Ruby said. ‘You could live in here at a push.’ She put her rucksack on the floor at her feet.
‘That was good of Tommy, organising this for us,’ Bella said. ‘He’s all right, your Tommy.’
Ruby poured a glass of champagne, and a Coke for Bella, and handed them to the women as the car whispered out of the car park and onto the road, taking a couple of twists and turns until it went onto the main stretch that would lead to the motorway to Manchester. A few hundred yards down, the limo slowed as they approached a slip road.
‘I was going to take you the scenic route, ladies,’ the driver said. ‘If that’s all right with you. It’s only about fifteen minutes longer, but a lovely drive and we might even see a sunset if the mist lifts.’
‘Yeah, why not?’ Ruby said. ‘We’re in no hurry. And we don’t really get to see this side of the world very often.’
‘Great,’ he said. ‘Would you like some music?’
‘What’ve you got?’ Cissy said.
‘Whatever. I’ve got everything from the seventies to modern. How about this?’
They sipped from their glasses as the car filled with the deep, honeyed tones of Lou Rawls.
Bella and Ruby glanced at Cissy as her lips tightened a little and they knew what she was thinking.
Bella turned to the back of the driver’s head.
‘How about some ABBA?’ she said.
The song stopped and seconds later, the unmistakable sound of ABBA blared through the speakers.
‘That’s more like it,’ Bella said.
They sang and the mist cleared so that they caught a brief glimpse of the setting sun. Soon they could see nothing but the blackness outside as they settled back with their glasses, happy and content. The road ahead was pitch black, winding in parts, and in the distance they could see the shadows of a farm every now and then on the skyline, then what looked like a small bridge across a stream. Then, it happened.
At first all they were aware of was the limo being filled with light, which looked like it was coming from behind them and was maybe the headlights of someone trying to overtake. Before they could even turn to look around, they felt a sudden bump at the back of the car and they all jolted forward as none of them were wearing seat belts. Then the limo quickly picked up speed but the driver said nothing.
‘What the actual fuck?!’ Ruby looked at Bella and Cissy.
Then, again, they saw the lights from the car behind them and they felt another bigger bump, a harder jolt.
‘Fuck me, man!’ Ruby shouted towards the back of the driver’s head. ‘What the fuck’s going on?’
He didn’t reply, and her blood suddenly ran cold. She glanced from Bella to Cissy, their faces a mask of panic.
‘Driver!’ Ruby shouted. ‘What’s going on?’
Without answering, he sped up, then swiftly turned the car off the main road onto a tight country lane that was going downhill. Ruby pushed the button to bring down her window and stuck her head outside. She could see the lights of a big four-by-four behind them, suddenly turning onto the same road. The driver of the limo sped up, and the big jeep roared behind them, trying to bump them as the driver swerved and almost went into a ditch.
‘Oh, fuck!’ Cissy squealed. ‘Someone’s trying to get us. Jesus Christ! What’s happening?’
Ruby’s head was all over the place. And then, she felt the sudden realisation that whatever was happening, Tommy must be part of it. Her stomach dropped. Tommy. Surely to Christ not? Then she remembered his final words to her last night on the phone as she thanked him for sending a car: No more than you girls deserve, he’d said. Fuck! He’d found Terence’s body! Fuck!
The limo sped up and tried again to turn off the road. But suddenly it was out of control, and they were thrown around in the back of the car as it started down a field at speed. Before they knew it, they were in the air, slapped against the side of the car, then the back, then the roof, as it turned over once, twice. She could see the terror in Bella and Cissy’s faces. Ruby saw that the driver was slumped over the steering wheel, clearly unconscious. The car overturned again and abruptly came to a halt on its roof. They were plunged into total darkness. Ruby could hear water flowing. Was it coming from the car? Was it the fuel tank? No. They were in a river.
‘Bella! Cissy!’ she called out. ‘Are you all right?’
But there was no answer. Just the sound of the water flowing and some of it now coming in through the driver’s door, where he lay unmoving.
‘Bella! Cissy! Speak to me!’ Ruby tried to kneel up on all fours but pain shot through her ankle and her head and she felt blood as she touched her face. She crawled across and could see Cissy’s white trainers and her leg twisted.
‘Cissy! Cissy!’
There was no answer. She saw Cissy’s face, smeared with blood. She reached out to touch her.
‘Cissy! Are you okay? Speak to me!’
Cissy groaned. At least she was alive. Then, in the darkness, she reached over and felt Bella’s body lying next to her on the floor, face down.
‘Bella! Bella! Tell me you’re all right!’
She crawled over. Bella was unconscious, with blood coming out of her nose. She shook her, but she didn’t react. Ruby turned around, her eyes adjusting to everything having been strewn around her. She saw her rucksack and grabbed it from the floor, managing to reach in and find her mobile, and then pushing the light on. It was total carnage. She had to get them out of here. She pushed the mangled door open, the pain shooting up her leg. She could see they were in a river, or a stream. But she could see stones, so she knew it wasn’t deep. She forced the door open with her shoulder as hard as she could, glad she had the strength to do it, then she climbed out, feeling freezing water at her feet, ankle-deep. At least they weren’t going to drown. But she had to get them out of here and call 999. She pulled at the bodies of Bella and Cissy and managed to ease them out into the river and both of them flinched at the cold. Good, Ruby thought. They’re alive. They can feel. She dragged them to the grass verge and left them there.
Then she saw the boot of the car was open and that something was in the water. She saw a black cloth case that wasn’t any of theirs and she dragged it to the grass beside them, and pulled it open. Inside were white packages wrapped in cellophane, along with wads of cash. What the fuck?! This shit must have been going somewhere. It was a set-up. Tommy had set them up. Or maybe someone had heard that it was being moved, and tried to steal it from wherever it was destined.
Then suddenly she heard voices and looked over to Bella and Cissy. But the voices were not theirs, they were male voices. She could see silhouettes of them rushing across the field towards the car. It must be the people from the Land Rover that bumped them. She took out her gun from her rucksack and settled herself behind the car front and waited. They came towards her and went to the boot of the car.
‘There’s fuck-all here. Where’s the gear? They said it was in suitcases. But listen, mate. We’ve got to kill them anyway. Just do it and we can fuck off.’
One of the guys lifted his gun and aimed it at Bella. Ruby could barely see in the dark, but she had done this before in another life, another time, when her survival had depended on it. Just as the man was about to pull the trigger, a shot rang out. He dropped. Before the other guy had a chance to react, Ruby fired again and he fell face down. Then she got up and went across to them on shaky legs and shot both of them twice again in the chest. Their bodies jolted, then went still. She called 999.
