Betrayed (34 page)

‘Rosie. Rosie. It’s us. Matt and Javier. Open the door. Are you all right?’

For a few seconds she didn’t recognise the voices or the names. She didn’t even know if she could sit up, such was
the searing pain. Then she touched the bandage on her arm and remembered. Through her sobs, she managed to answer.

‘Oh, God! The pain. I can’t cope. My arm. It’s on fire.’

‘Open the door.’ It was Javier.

She sat up and wiped the tears and sweat off her face with the sheet. Her arm throbbed to the bone. She wrapped her naked body in the sheet, and dragged herself to her feet. Every step, every movement sent an agonising throb through her. She carefully crossed the room and opened the door.

‘Christ, Rosie! We thought those bastards had come back to get you. We can hear you all down the corridor.’ Matt stood in his boxers, bleary-eyed.

Rosie burst into tears.

‘Oh God, Matt! I can’t cope with this pain. I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. It’s like the blowtorch is still full blast on my arm.’ She sniffed and turned away, trying to compose herself, as they came into the room. ‘Sorry, guys. I was having a nightmare.’ She shuffled across to the bed and sat down.

‘It’s the burn. You should have stayed in hospital overnight. The doctor told you. They could have given you something more for the pain. It’s a very bad burn. Through to the tissue. It will be like this for a few days.’

Rosie shook her head and sniffed.

‘Sorry. I’m such a wimp. I—’ Another stab of pain shot through her. ‘Oh shit! … It’s so painful! Can you not get
me something, Javier? Anything. Morphine. Heroin. I’ll take anything.’

Javier smiled and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair.

‘I can get you anything you like, Rosita. But you would be out of the game for the morning. And you don’t want that.’

Rosie shook her head. ‘I know. I’m just being a baby. But it’s so sore. I’m in agony.’

‘I told you. It’s a bad burn. You are going to suffer a lot for quite a few days. You must go to the hospital as soon as you get back to Glasgow.’

‘What about Adrian? I don’t hear him screaming in the night,’ Rosie said, feeling a little embarrassed now.

‘I think he has doubled up his painkillers. He was also drinking whisky with me and Garcia after you and Matt left. He’s probably passed out,’ Javier said.

Rosie nodded, looking at the floor. She swallowed hard as she recalled the dream.

‘I … I had a dream. That I was falling off the building. And … And then my moth—’ She sighed, glancing at Javier and Matt. ‘Never mind. It’s just a dream. I have them a lot.’ Her fingers touched the bandage. ‘Go back to bed. I’m sorry. I’ll be all right.’

‘You sure?’ Matt yawned, looking at his watch. ‘Christ! It’s four in the morning.’ He went towards the door.

Javier handed her a glass of water and another two painkillers. ‘You want me to stay, Rosie? Until you fall asleep?’
His eyes softened and she felt the tears come again. Sympathy always did this to her.

‘No. Thanks, Javier.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘I’ll be all right. I’ll go back to sleep now.’ She stood up, feeling shivery. ‘Got to be sharp in the morning.’

Javier’s eyes scanned her face.

‘Adrian told me you headbutted some guy called Psycho. What the hell possessed you?’

‘You know me. It was done before I had time to engage my brain. Couldn’t believe it myself, actually.’

Javier brushed the back of his hand against her swollen cheek.

‘You are one crazy woman, Rosita. When you ever going to stop all this?’

‘Who knows? It’s what I do. That’s all I can tell you.’

Rosie thought of TJ’s constant pleas to give up. She shook her head and bit back tears, wishing Javier would go. He was one of the few people who could see beyond her bravado.

He sighed. ‘Okay. Try to get some sleep.’ He kissed her cheek.

As he closed the door, Rosie eased herself onto the bed and lay on her back on the pillow staring at the ceiling, her arm throbbing. Tears spilled out of her eyes and trickled into her ears.

‘God help me, Mum,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t do this any more.’

*

Rosie woke up groggy, her arm pulsating in agony as she pulled herself out of bed and went into the bathroom. She stood naked for a moment, trying to work out how she was going to manage a shower without soaking the bandage. She stepped in, wincing in pain as she raised her burned arm above her head and tried to wash. She had passed out in the ambulance from shock and pain, and only came round when she got to hospital, the doctor standing over her. The burn had gone through to the tissue, he’d said. Adrian’s injuries were even worse, on both his arm and leg. The pain was bad enough, but she also had to shut out the image of hanging over the edge of the roof. Her dreams had been tormented before, so God knows what they’d be like now. Then her mind flipped into the prospect of the next few hours, and she felt a little nudge of adrenalin in her stomach. This was it. She couldn’t wait to see the look on McGregor’s face when it all happened.

She was halfway through her room-service breakfast when there was a knock at the door.

‘It’s me, Rosie. Are you up? Can I come in?’ It was Javier.

Rosie put down her coffee and padded to the door, still with the towel wrapped around her.

A big smile spread across his face as he looked her up and down, then kissed her on the lips. ‘You don’t have to be naked every time you see me, Rosita. But it helps.’

‘Jeez! So much cheeriness in the morning, Javier. How
many coffees have you had?’ She smiled. His energy was infectious.

‘Three. And seven cigarettes.’

‘So you’re just up, then?’ she joked.

He helped himself to a coffee and went out to the terrace and lit a cigarette.

‘Come here, Rosie. I have to tell you something.’

Rosie followed him out.

‘How is your arm? You feeling a little better?’

Rosie looked at him towering above her.

‘I get the distinct impression that I won’t be feeling better after what you’re about to tell me.’

‘Okay. Listen, I’ve just been with Juan for the last hour, and there is a bit of a problem.’

‘Shit, Javier. What kind of problem?’

‘Well. The guys from yesterday. You know the Flinty guy that Adrian shot and he went off the roof? Plus the other henchmen the Guardia arrested?’

‘Yeah. I’m hardly likely to forget any of them.’

‘Well. It has changed things a bit. The …’ He paused. ‘How you say … the goalposts have moved?’

‘Yes. That’s right, Javier. But you’re making me nervous. Get to the point.’

‘Well, Rosita. Before this happen yesterday, it was Garcia’s operation to nail the UVF people. That was the situation. The plan was to get them on the bus and make the raid as
they are about to leave Seville. It would be Guardia as the anti-terrorist squad looking for weapons.’

‘I know that. Get to the point.’

‘I’m getting there. Well. The thing is, nobody expected bodies to be flying off the roof and Guardia Civil being shot and injured. Two of them were injured, you know. One of them still in hospital. Now, because of the shooting and the dead body, the Policia Nacional are involved. By law we have to share our findings with them. And drug investigations and smuggling are their remit, so they have to be in charge of the operation from here.’

‘Go on.’

‘Well. The big boss, the Guardia Civil captain, has told Juan that everything must be very tight now and that it has to be a closed operation.’

Rosie felt a flush of rage. ‘What the hell do you mean a closed operation, Javier? There wouldn’t
be
any operation if it wasn’t for our information.’ She banged her good hand on the table. ‘Shit. I knew this would bloody happen. That little shit Garcia. Milking us dry and then ditching us.’

Javier’s eyes darkened in anger.

‘Rosie. Get off your fucking high horse. That little shit and his men saved your life yesterday. And Adrian’s. Plus, it is not his decision. Because of what happened yesterday, things have changed.’

Rosie immediately calmed.

‘Okay. Sorry. I do appreciate them saving our lives.’ She sighed, frustrated. ‘But you know what I mean. This is the crux of the operation now. We need the cooperation of the Guardia to be able to tell the story properly. What if McGregor gets wind of what happened yesterday and they all get away?’

‘They won’t. Not at all.’

‘How?’

‘The Guardia and the police will still get them. But it just means that you cannot be there. Or you cannot be seen to be there. I don’t know. We will work that out. We’ll try to think of something.’ He paused, drawing on his cigarette. ‘It also means that they won’t give us the footage from the handover with McGregor and Flinty yesterday.’

‘Shit, Javier! We need that.’

‘I know, I know. I talked to Garcia and he’s shitting his pants now because the captain is involved and he’s already asking him how come he wasn’t told enough detail in the first place. And now, with the Policia Nacional running the show, he can’t just go handing over evidence to the press, because that handover footage will be part of their evidence. He’d be in all sorts of trouble. Do you understand that?’

Rosie was silent for a moment. She could nearly hear McGuire screaming from here. He would flip his lid. She hadn’t even told him about the injury. But she could see that the operation they’d planned was now out of their
hands. He’d be phoning her any minute for an update. She switched off her mobile.

Jimmy was surprised to find his father so organised this early in the morning when he went to his bedroom. He was sipping tea on the balcony when he came into the room, his small travel bag packed and ready on the bed.

‘You must have been up bright and early, Da,’ Jimmy said as he stepped onto the balcony.

‘Aye, son. Couldn’t sleep last night.’

‘Me neither. The racket was mental. The boys were really partying big time.’

‘Aye. Good on them. These are great times for the ’Gers. Long may it last.’

Jimmy felt as though they were making small talk and he sat down, waiting for his father to speak.

‘So how did you get on yesterday? Did you see that Flinty bastard?’

‘Yeah,’ Jimmy said, ‘in the afternoon. Met with him and big Jake Cox. You know him, don’t you?’

‘Aye. He’s another arsehole. These bastards are not gangsters. They’re cardboard. They can’t fight. They’re only brave men when they’ve got muscle behind them. Belfast was right to get Flinty out of the game back home. He was out of control. The things he did to people with a blowtorch. Honest to Christ, son, you don’t want to know.’ He paused. ‘Course, he still gets his kickback from drugs. The UVF are
washing their money through that bar of his down on the Costa del Sol.’

Jimmy thought for a moment, then spoke. He was running out of people to trust. He’d been awake all night since Wendy told him about Flinty and Rosie and the incident earlier on. He was seriously worried that this was all a setup, and that Eddie would betray them all.

‘He’ll not be using a blowtorch on any more people, Da.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘He’s dead.’

‘What?’

‘Yeah. Dead. Yesterday. Nobody knows about it yet. Not even Eddie.’

‘So how do you know?’

‘I met Wendy yesterday.’ He then turned to his father. ‘I wanted to see her one last time. I had to talk to her. And she told me. She told me something about that reporter woman I told you about. Remember? Rosie Gilmour from the
Post
? Wendy said that she got attacked by Flinty with a blowtorch and then cops burst in and Flinty got shot on the roof of some car park or office, and fell off. Right off the roof. She didn’t know all the details, but she said he’s dead.’

‘Fuck’s sake! And nobody knows this? I mean Eddie or anything?’

‘No. Well he hasn’t said anything to me, and I can’t very well tell him. But I was with Eddie, Mitch and Flinty yesterday for the stuff we picked up. At one point Flinty went
away, but when we left, Jake Cox was still at the bar we were in. There was no mention of anything. No mention of the reporter or anything. So I don’t know.’

His father was quiet for a moment.

‘Well, Jimmy. You know what this means, don’t you?’

Jimmy looked at him without answering.

‘Something is going to happen with the cops. They’ll have our bus covered. Mark my words. Have you seen Eddie this morning?’

‘That’s what Wendy says. She says that reporter is working with the cops and they’ve got this all sewn up. Haven’t seen Eddie, no. But he phoned Mitch and said we’re to go to his room then we’ll all go down and get the bus.’ Jimmy looked at his watch. ‘In about five minutes.’

His father stood up and looked out across the city then back at Jimmy.

‘Well don’t be surprised if he says he’s not getting on the bus.’

‘But why? If he doesn’t know anything?’

‘He’ll have heard. He’ll just not have told you. There must have been other guys with Flinty. What about big Jake?’

‘Don’t know. Wendy says the other guys got arrested.’ He paused. ‘Psycho was one of them.’

‘Good enough for that mad bastard. I hope they lock him up forever. He’s a fucking waster, that one.’

His father lifted his bag off the bed. ‘So how did you leave it with Wendy?’

Jimmy shrugged. ‘She just went away. We had a talk. It was hard. But there’s no point, Da. It wouldn’t work between us.’

‘That’s not what you thought a few months ago. You were nuts about her.’

‘I know. But it’s different now. I’m up to my arse in all this.’ He paused. ‘And when I get back, there’s going to be some shit with the cops over this bank card.’ Jimmy’s stomach twisted at the thought. ‘Don’t know what’s going to happen.’

His father let out a long sigh.

‘Well. Let’s see what happens with this bus. But if Eddie tells you he’s not getting on it, then he can smell trouble. Where’s the coke? Who’s got that?’

‘Eddie has. In his room.’

‘Right.’

Jimmy looked at his watch. ‘I’d better get a move on. Eddie will be waiting for me.’

‘Be careful, Jimmy.’

Jimmy didn’t answer as he opened the door. He glanced back as he left the room, and his da was standing staring into space.