The widows, p.26
The Widows, page 26
Tommy sighed.
‘The other two are out of jail now, so I hear,’ he said. ‘Don’t know where they are, though. But they’ll turn up. And they’ll be sorry when they do.’
‘You think they’ll be with Ruby?’
He shrugged.
‘Who knows?’ Tommy sniffed. ‘Anyway, so tell me again how this came about. By the way, where is the bird?’
Digby gestured to the door.
‘There’s a flat upstairs. We kept her there overnight. She’s shitting herself, though. Crying for her little lad.’
Tommy’s face was deadpan.
‘She talked, though,’ he said. ‘That’s the main thing.’
He listened as Digby told him the story again of how the loan shark had been bragging about some bird he used to get a blow job from when she missed a payment, and how she suddenly came into money. Then on his last collection, a woman had a gun at his back.
‘That’s Ruby. It’s so like her. For all her tough bird shit, she’d be wanting to help the woman. No doubt about that.’ He paused. ‘Well, it’s going to cost her.’
‘What do you want to do with the bird now?’ Digby asked.
Tommy looked at him. ‘Well, we have to use her as bait to bring Ruby to us.’
‘You don’t think Ruby will twig that it’s a set-up?’
‘Of course she will. But she’ll still come. If this bird’s story is right, that she took Ruby in the night of the crash, then Ruby won’t desert her. That’s not her style.’
‘You think Ruby will just sacrifice herself like that, to get the bird free?’
Tommy folded his arms and considered his reply for a moment.
‘No,’ he said. ‘She’s not going to come in here with her hands up. She’ll put up a fight. Look, I don’t know who she’s been dealing with in recent years, but I know in the past she’s known some pretty big players. So she might be up for the fight. But I don’t give a fuck. This is one fight she won’t win.’
‘You want to talk to the bird?’ Digby got up and brought the bottle over to him, poured him another stiff drink and one for himself.
‘I do,’ Tommy said. ‘But we need a game plan on how we’re going to bring Ruby in.’
Tommy was behind Digby as he pushed open the door of the upstairs flat and they both went inside. In the centre of the room, a woman sat on a chair with her hands tied behind her back. Her face was flushed, and she looked up at the pair of them, her eyes distraught and pleading. Tommy looked at her coldly, then took a few steps closer to her and stood in front of her as she looked up at him, then her head sank down to her chest. He could see she was about to crumple. He waited.
‘So, you’re Ellie.’ He spoke softly, then reached out and placed his hand under her chin and gently lifted up her face. She narrowed her eyes and flinched as though waiting for a slap. Tommy turned to Digby, then to the burly minder who was standing across the room.
‘Has anyone been slapping her about, Digby?’
‘No,’ Digby said. So what if he had slapped her around, he thought. Who cared? ‘We didn’t do anything to her, did we?’ He raised his eyebrows at the minder conspiratorially.
‘No, boss,’ the minder agreed. ‘I think she fell down. She’s been no trouble really. Just crying all the time. She won’t eat nothing.’
Tommy suspected Digby was lying. He knew his old mate was no stranger to slapping people around – even women – if they didn’t tell him what he wanted to know. But he let it go.
‘Untie her hands,’ Tommy said to the minder.
The minder glanced at Digby, who nodded for him to do it. He came across and untied the rope around her wrists and once they were released, Ellie rubbed her shoulders and wrists, wincing in pain.
Tommy turned to Digby.
‘Is this place totally secure?’ he said. ‘I mean, the whole yard and stuff?’
‘Yep,’ Digby said. ‘Hundred per cent. We have guys on the outside and down the road a bit. Nobody gets in or out of here if their face doesn’t fit.’
Tommy nodded. ‘Good. Well, you don’t need to tie the woman up like that. If she’s not making a nuisance of herself, then leave her be. She’s not going to go anywhere.’
Digby nodded but didn’t answer. Tommy pulled over a chair so that he was right in front of Ellie, and sat down. She looked uncomfortable, her eyes fixed on the floor.
‘Ellie,’ he said softly. ‘Look at me.’
She raised her head and looked at him through green eyes that were red-rimmed from crying. Her lip trembled, then she started to cry.
‘Please,’ she croaked. ‘Please don’t hurt my son. I’ll do anything you want.’
Tommy let her cry, her sniffs and sobs filling the room. He wasn’t that much of a bastard that the sound of a woman crying like this didn’t get to him. But she was nothing to him but a means to an end. He waited until she composed herself, then he spoke.
‘Ellie,’ he said. ‘Now listen to me. Your little boy is fine, and he’s going to be okay. You’ll see him soon, I promise. But you’ve got to play your part in this difficult situation.’
His soft Irish voice seemed to calm her and she studied his face, swallowing hard.
‘Are you prepared to listen and do what you’re told?’
She paused for two beats, sniffed and nodded.
‘Good girl,’ he said. ‘Now, nobody’s blaming you for what you did – helping Ruby out that night. It shows you’re a decent woman, and you did what many people would do. So, nobody’s going to hurt you or your son for that. You understand?’
She nodded but said nothing. Tommy went on.
‘But Ruby . . .’ He took a deep breath then let it out slowly. ‘Ruby is not the woman she probably told you she was.’ He paused for effect. ‘Ruby is a killer.’ Again, he paused as their eyes locked. ‘I know her better than anybody, and I knew before I ever got involved with her that she was a killer. Yes, she has a big heart, which is why she helped you. She gave you some money, didn’t she?’
Ellie nodded, her lips tightening, but she didn’t reply.
Tommy’s breathing was slow, measured.
‘How much money did she give you?’ he asked.
Ellie glanced at the floor then around the room, and from the look on her face, Tommy knew she didn’t want to answer.
‘A lot,’ she said. ‘Fifty thousand pounds. Maybe more.’
Tommy glanced at Digby sitting on the couch, then back at Ellie.
‘Did she say where she got that money?’
Ellie nodded but said nothing. Tommy’s eyebrows went up, waiting for an answer.
‘She said it was in the car. There was a crash. Her friends were hurt. The money was in a holdall, and there were packages of cocaine too. She said she took the money and ran. That she had to. She said she did it to save her friends in case the drugs were found near them.’
Tommy nodded slowly, glancing at Digby.
‘And I suppose she told you someone tried to kill her, did she? That men were sent to kill her?’
Ellie nodded.
Tommy sighed, shaking his head slowly.
‘She’s a liar, Ellie.’ His voice was more stern now. ‘She’s a killer and a liar. The men were not sent to kill her that night,’ he lied. ‘They were there to look after the drugs and the money that were being taken to a dealer. She knew that, she was part of that deal. But she wanted to steal it, and she did.’ He paused. ‘That’s what she did that night. And she ran off, abandoning her friends, leaving them for dead, and found shelter in your barn. She didn’t tell you that, did she?’
Ellie listened, shaking her head. Tommy couldn’t tell from her expression if she believed him or not, but he hoped he was getting through.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘So, you are going to help bring Ruby back so she can face the things she’s done. She’s hurt people, she murdered my best friend in cold blood.’ Tommy paused, watching this register on Ellie’s face. ‘So as long as you do what you are told and help us, your little boy will be back in your arms, and everyone will be happy. Do you understand?’
She nodded but kept silent.
‘And,’ he said, ‘you wouldn’t want to double cross us in any way, would you? Because then you will never see your son again. Or your parents. You understand all that?’ It wasn’t really a question, but she nodded anyway.
‘What do you say, Ellie? Are going to help us get Ruby?’
‘Yes,’ she said.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
‘So, what does it say now, Bella?’ Ruby asked.
Bella studied the screen on Ruby’s mobile.
‘It’s not moved,’ she said. ‘It’s suddenly stopped. But the thing’s blinking on the map to tell us where it is.’ She held it up for Ruby to glance at while she was driving, then brought it in front of her again. ‘Oh. It’s gone dead. It’s saying the phone’s not contactable.’
‘Shit!’ Ruby said. ‘That could mean they’ve taken Ellie somewhere, searched her and found the phone on her.’
‘So, they’ll have rumbled who she called?’ Cissy asked from the back.
‘Well, they will if Ellie stored my name with the number,’ Ruby said, shaking her head.
‘Shit,’ Bella said. ‘You think she would do that?’
‘Possibly,’ Ruby said. ‘I think she might be a bit naive like that, and just kept the number, never thinking she would use it again.’ She turned to Bella again. ‘Is it still showing the location can’t be found? Phone switched off?’
‘Yeah,’ Bella said.
‘Okay,’ Ruby said. ‘I don’t think we want to be trawling up and down the area like this in case we risk getting rumbled. Let’s just book in somewhere for the night and we can keep an eye on the phone in case it shows they’ve moved her. If not, we can come back down here.’
After a night in the hotel, they were back on it in the morning. They’d followed the directions on the mobile to track Ellie’s whereabouts, and it had taken them through the centre of Manchester, then out of the city into Salford. As they were driving, Bella kept prompting them with what the map was showing – industrial estates, business parks, warehouses.
‘It makes sense,’ Ruby said. ‘The big shots don’t operate from the city centre where there are more cops on the ground. They’ll be running the show from places like this.’ She made a sweeping gesture with her hand across the windscreen, pointing to the landscape of the area. ‘Lot of lorries and stuff going in and out of these areas that are on legit business, so it’s a perfect camouflage.’
‘So, what now?’ Bella asked.
‘We’ll just drive to the exact spot on the phone map where the mobile went dead, and do a quick recce,’ Ruby said.
‘It looks like this is the road, and the building I see on the screen where the phone stopped.’ She paused to peer at the screen. ‘Geo Slaven Exports/Imports. Let’s just drive up and we can go past it.’
Ruby slowed down a little so she could take in the area and see what opportunities there were.
There were a few warehouses at the top of the road before a junction.
‘There it is,’ Cissy said. ‘Geo Slaven Export/Imports? See it?’
‘Yep,’ Bella said.
Ruby slowed down a bit more. There was a lorry turning in and she had to wait until it reversed, so it gave her a chance to quickly check out what the place looked like. She saw a yard, a two-storey building with lights on and what looked like a reception and an office, next to a wide-open warehouse with forklift trucks and a couple of guys working, loading up stuff and then taking it into the warehouse.
‘What’s on the pallets?’ Cissy asked.
‘Looks like bags of onions or something. Loads of them. Look at them all stacked outside,’ Bella said.
‘That’s a lot of onions,’ Cissy commented.
‘You can bet your arse it won’t all be onions,’ Ruby said.
Ruby stepped on the accelerator, and went along until she came to a junction and turned left, driving around the estate, looking for exits and entrances. Then she managed to find a way out at the top of one of the streets that led onto a main road that was signposted for Manchester.
‘Where’re we going?’ Bella asked.
‘Don’t know,’ Ruby said. ‘Away from here for the moment until we figure out what to do.’
‘We can’t just swing in there like the SAS,’ Bella said.
Ruby turned to her, almost smiling.
‘No,’ she said. ‘We’ll need help.’
‘Who’s going to help us?’ Cissy asked.
‘I have a friend down here. I haven’t talked to him in a long while. I did him a turn once, but I think it’s time to call in the favour.’
They drove out of the area and stopped at a roadside café on the outskirts of the city.
In the café they ordered coffee. Ruby took out her phone and scrolled through, then pushed a key. It took a long time to answer, then she heard the voice.
‘Jack. It’s Ruby.’
There was a long pause when she heard only breathing, but then he spoke.
‘Fuck me, Ruby!’ he said. ‘They said you were dead.’
‘Nah, Jack,’ Ruby replied. ‘Very much alive. Listen, I need your help.’
Another long silence.
‘Where are you?’
‘In a roadside greasy spoon at the edge of Salford. Near an industrial estate.’
‘I know it.’
‘Can you come?’
‘Are you kidnapped or something? Do I need to tool up?’
Ruby chuckled.
‘Not yet.’
‘Okay, I’ll be there in twenty. I’m in the city centre.’ He hung up.
‘Who’s that?’ Bella asked. ‘Batman?’
Ruby smiled.
‘An old friend,’ Ruby said. ‘I did some work with him a few years ago.’
‘Is he a player?’ Bella asked. ‘I mean, will he know the kind of guys we’re dealing with here?’
Ruby nodded as the waitress set down their coffees.
‘He knows them all,’ she said.
She watched as Bella and Cissy exchanged anxious glances.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ruby said. ‘If anyone can help, this guy will.’
They were silent, then Ruby’s mobile rang and shuddered on the table, startling everyone. She held it up so they could see the screen. No name or number. It just read private number. Ruby pressed the phone to her ear but didn’t speak. She listened.
‘Ruby, it’s Ellie.’
Ruby’s stomach turned over and she mouthed the name Ellie to the others. Cissy’s mouth dropped open.
‘Ellie, where are you?’ Ruby asked in a whisper.
Silence on the other side, and Ruby could hear the shuffling of feet and the sound of Ellie sniffing. When she spoke, her voice was tight.
‘Ruby. I . . . I’m not sure. But they said they were going to dump me somewhere.’
‘What?’ Ruby’s brow knitted. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘No. Just scared. I want to see my son.’
‘I know,’ Ruby said. She took a breath and pushed it out slowly. ‘Ellie, are they with you now? Let me speak to someone.’
There was silence on the other side, then a voice with an Irish accent. For a moment she had a feeling it might be Digby.
‘You can come and get her,’ he said.
‘Where? When?’ Ruby asked.
‘You’ll get a text message in a minute. Outside Manchester. You get there and she’ll be waiting.’
Ruby knew it was an ambush, and she needed back-up. She listened to the voice and thought it might be Jimmy Digby, the big Irish mate of Tommy’s. He ran the show across Manchester and beyond, and although she wouldn’t be able to tell by the brief conversation, her gut told her that if it was Jimmy Digby, then Tommy Mallon must be involved.
‘When?’ she asked. ‘I’m not in Manchester,’ she lied.
‘Then you’d better get here soon, or you’ll be too late.’
Ruby pictured the scene, how terrified and helpless Ellie would be.
‘You harm her, and every one of you are walking dead,’ Ruby said, feeling her throat tighten.
The sound of a chuckle. ‘Still ballsy as ever, Ruby. Watch for your message.’ The line went dead.
‘Jesus!’ Cissy said. ‘He sounds like a nasty bastard. You know who it is?’
‘I think it might be Jimmy Digby. You remember him? Thick as thieves with Tommy and Terence. He would always be at the big meets in Spain with the rest of the top players from all over the shop.’
‘I know who he is,’ Bella said. ‘Shit, Ruby! What have we got into?’
Ruby looked at her.
‘I can’t back out now, Bella, and throw Ellie to the wolves.’
‘I know.’ Bella nodded.
Ruby knew this was a trap and she needed help big time. The café door opened and she saw the figure walk in and square his big shoulders as he glanced around the room. Then his eyes rested on the table at the back of the café where she sat. He gave a slight nod and strode towards her. When he got to the table, Bella and Cissy looked up at the tall, good-looking man and glanced at each other, then at Ruby. He stood for a moment, then his eyes met Ruby’s and something like a smile played on his lips. Ruby stood up. He opened his arms and she stepped into his embrace.
‘Been too long, Ruby,’ he said.
Ruby said nothing, but held his hug for a long moment then stepped back. She glanced down at Bella and Cissy, who were wide-eyed. He pulled up a chair and sat down.
‘Jack,’ Ruby said, ‘this is Bella and Cissy. My best friends.’
He glanced at each of them.
‘How you doing, ladies?’
They both nodded but looked lost for words. Then Bella grinned and turned to Cissy.
‘Christ! It is Batman.’
Jack looked bemused, and Ruby smiled and shook her head.
‘So, where’s the fire?’ he asked.
‘Let’s get a coffee and I’ll tell you all about it.’
They sat sipping coffee as Ruby went through Ellie’s story, and what happened that night of the crash. Jack listened, his face impassive, glancing from time to time at Cissy and Bella, then at Ruby. She told them of the phone call a few minutes ago, and that she was waiting for a message. Eventually, he sat back, took a breath and let it out slowly.
