Reckoning (20 page)

Battler released a deep rumble that they all assumed was a laugh. Even Bruiser was smiling. “If you ask me Italy’s too good for her,” said Battler. “You should have packed her off to the fucking arctic or Benidorm, somewhere really shitty.”

“I had no choice in the matter, it was where Malcolm was going, a decision he’s already probably regretting. Bruiser, how’s Daina?”

“Good,” he replied.

Ryan was surprised by this single word, Bruiser didn’t like to talk. “My, she must be a sorceress,” he smiled.

Bruiser just smiled and folded his arms across his chest.

“How are things in Manchester?” said Rachel.

“Not too good,” replied Ryan. “Mikey looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and I really think Jez didn’t want me to leave.”

“I can’t say I blame him,” she said. “You’re the man to have around in any emergency.”

“Why thank you, but it’s war, no doubt about it.”

“How can an Essex boy think he can take over the north?” scowled Battler. “Fucking cheek.”

“I quite agree,” said Ryan. “Some people have over-inflated opinions of themselves, but Jared’s smart. He’s enlisted some of the lower echelons of the Mancunian criminal hierarchy to attack the businesses. Someone even had the audacity to attack Dane’s operation. Naturally they are now regretting their foolish mistake. But Jared has a lot of support behind him. That’s what comes when two families have held sway for so long, everyone else gets restless then starts to resent them.”

Rachel’s eyes were bright with worry. “And what if Mikey and Jez can’t win this one? They’re so young, they’re still learning.”

“Rachel, they’re grown men who have done some pretty nasty things and who can be ruthless when they need to be. You’re still thinking of them as boys.”

“They are to me, especially Mikey. You know he’s like my little brother.”

“I haven’t forgotten but he can do this, I’ve every confidence in them both. I was seventeen when I first started fighting the Maguires.”

“You’re not like most men.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re…different, in a good way.”

Ryan glanced at Battler when he released a snigger.

“Sorry,” grinned Battler, holding up his hands.

“Do you think I’m different too?” said Ryan icily.

“Well, yeah,” he replied. “You’re like…well you’re….Christ Rach, what have you started here?”

But she wasn’t listening. “I really hope Mikey and Jez can handle this,” she said, anxiously chewing her lip.

“I’m sure they can,” replied Ryan.

“He’s right,” said Battler, wrapping his huge arm around her. “They know what they’re doing and Christ knows they’ve survived enough wars.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. You’ll see,” rumbled Bruiser.

All three of them stared at him in surprise.

CHAPTER 20

Hayden was struggling to control his temper. Amber was really starting to piss him off.

“Josh needs his blankie, he won’t sleep without it,” she insisted for the eighth time.

“Then why didn’t you pack it?” he barked.

Her pretty little cupid’s bow mouth pinched. “Don’t speak to me like that, my husband is your boss.”

Hayden huffed out a breath. Everyone said how nice and sweet Amber was but she just got on his tits. She really didn’t have a clue what was going on around her. “I’m well aware of that but I can’t take you home, Mikey’s given me strict instructions and I will not disobey them.”

“Josh needs his blankie,” she insisted, stamping her small foot.

“Fine, I’ll get it. I’ll leave one of my men to watch you,” he muttered, striding for the door.

“He needs his yellow duckie too,” she called after him.

Hayden just rolled his eyes, slamming the door shut behind him. They were in the middle of a serious fucking war and all that daft bint could think about were duckies and blankies.

As he drove back to Mikey’s house he knew he wasn’t really mad at Amber, he was mad at himself for getting tied up with Mikey and Jez in the first place. If he’d stayed working freelance he would have been tucked up at home, safe in the knowledge that it didn’t matter who won the war because a man like him could always find work. Now his life was in danger because he’d decided to take a regular wage.

“Well done, idiot,” he muttered to himself as he drove. That silly ginger cow didn’t even consider that she could get him killed by making him go back to the house. He slammed the car into gear. Christ he was pissed off.

Katia stared up at the house, which looked dark, but that meant nothing. They could be upstairs asleep or in the bath. There were any number of explanations.

Desperation made her careless. Her sons were in reach and any thought of caution went out the window, the gun tucked into the waistband of her jeans making her feel invincible. She’d never actually carried a gun before, although Alex had shown her how to use one and she marvelled at the way it bolstered her courage.

She picked up a rock from the garden and used it to smash one of the panes of glass in the back window. After banging out the jagged shards stuck in the frame she slid inside, landing on her hands and knees, fortunately missing the broken glass lying on the floor.

Katia leapt to her feet, heart thudding, drawing the gun but it seemed her entrance had disturbed no one. She made her way deeper into the house, the luxury surrounding her setting her teeth on edge. What right did that bastard have to live like this? He deserved nothing except a bullet in the head and a shallow grave.

Methodically she searched the downstairs rooms, but all of them were empty. That left upstairs and she hoped his wife and son were here. Her strong maternal instinct wouldn’t allow her to harm the child, although she was fine with using him as leverage but she was looking forward to inflicting lots of pain on his wife, just to let Mikey know the agony she’d been enduring since he’d stolen her babies.

Silently she ascended the stairs then checked the bedrooms one by one, stealth morphing into panic when she realised the house was empty.

“No,” she cried, kicking over a bin. Her rage and frustration overwhelmed her and the next thing she knew she was tearing apart the master bedroom, smashing valuable vases, throwing make-up and perfume across the expensive bedclothes, hurling an alarm clock into the free-standing mirror. “Where are my boys?” she screamed into the air.

Katia stared into one of the smashed shards of mirror, saw her angry blue eyes, blond hair all over the place, her teeth bared. Her shoulders shrugged with the violence of her breathing, heaving air in and out of her lungs, fuelling her rage.

From downstairs came the sound of a door opening. Katia drew the gun, tiptoed to the door and down the corridor, attempting to peer down the stairs to see who it was, praying it was Mikey or a member of his family, but all she could make out was a shadow. Katia’s heart sank. It wasn’t Mikey’s wife or his son, the shadow was far too large and Mikey himself was at the compound, hopefully being tortured by Jared. So who was it?

Hayden moved toys around in one of the downstairs rooms that Josh used as a playroom, searching for the bloody blankie and duckie. Jesus, what a life. Not so long ago he’d been in the army, commanding men in life and death situations. Now look at him. A babysitter with a gun. He managed to locate the duckie but not the sodding blankie. Tutting, he wandered through to the kitchen. Amber had said it might be in the tumble dryer, she couldn’t remember for certain, the dizzy cow. Still, it had been a revelation to him that a woman with a husband as wealthy as Mikey Maguire did her own washing, but she’d said she enjoyed it, which in Hayden’s opinion made her even more silly.

The grumbling monologue in Hayden’s head ceased when he felt glass crunch on the floor beneath his shoes. Looking up he noticed the broken window.

Without pause he drew his gun and spun around to see a wild-looking but gorgeous blond pointing the gun at him. Slowly he lowered his weapon, for the first time in his life feeling unnerved. Was he really seeing a person, or a spectre?

“You’re Katia,” he breathed.

She looked nervous but defiant as she kept her gun levelled at his chest. “I am and I want my babies back.”

“But…you’re supposed to be dead.”

“As you can see I’m not.” She drew in a deep breath before bawling at him, “where are my babies?”

“They’re not here.”

“I know that, I’ve just checked. Tell me where they are or I’ll shoot you.”

He saw the desperation in her eyes, the pain and anguish and he wanted to reunite her with her children, this was his chance to redeem himself but could he betray Mikey and Jez? If he did he could never stay in Manchester, they’d have him killed. But did it really matter? He didn’t have any family up here and the only friends he had were work colleagues and at least he’d be able to sleep at night again. “They’re at a house in Cheshire,” he blurted out.

“Where? Tell me,” she cried, hands shaking and tears blurring her eyes.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere, I’ll have to take you there.”

“You think I’m stupid? I’m not going to fall for your tricks.”

“It’s not a trick, I always believed those kids should be with their mum, I just didn’t realise you were still alive.”

“Were you the one who injected me with poison then stole them?”

“No. Honestly,” he added when her eyes blazed. “I could have shot you the second you walked through the door but I didn’t because I recognised you.”

“You thought I was a ghost?” she said, sharp eyes mocking.

Hayden had, just for a moment and he didn’t like it, he wasn’t prone to superstition. “If you want to get your boys back we need to leave now, before Mikey decides to move them.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“And I don’t trust you but I’m your only chance at getting your kids back. So you can either shoot me now and you’ll never find them, or we can go and I’ll take you right to them.”

She chewed her lip before saying, “alright, I’ll go with you but I’ll keep my gun on you the whole time.”

“So would I in your position.”

“All I want are my babies. I don’t care about anything else.” She looked at the large cuddly duck in his hand. “What is that?”

“Nothing,” he said, letting the duckie drop to the floor. “Come on.”

Katia stood back to allow him to pass first then followed, careful to keep the gun trained on him. He led her outside to his car and jumped into the driver’s seat.

“Come on, chop chop,” he said.

“What is chop chop?” she frowned.

“It means hurry up.”

She climbed into the passenger seat, giving Hayden a good view of her cleavage. He dragged his eyes off her and onto the windscreen, it only just striking him how attractive she was.

Shane sat in a chair in the main entrance of the hospital fiddling with his mobile phone, it was allowed in this part of the hospital, he’d already checked. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself by getting a telling off from the staff. Jez had placed himself by the vending machine at the opposite end of the reception area, on full display.

Shane spotted Jared’s men the second they came through the door, not just because one of them had been in on the attack on the Laws outside Estelle’s flat - the man’s face sporting numerous bruises and a pissed off expression - but because they were the only ones who came through the door and didn’t look up at the sign showing visitors the way to the various departments. Shane was proud of himself for that piece of detective work. His thumbs, so dexterous when it came to texting, typed out a quick message and sent it to Jez and Riley’s phones. From the corner of his eye he saw Jez take out his phone when it vibrated and glance at the screen. Shane was full of admiration for the man, he’d just received a message telling him two men were here to kill him and he hadn’t even flinched. There was a world of difference between Jez and the thugs who had come for him because that’s all they were, thugs. There were no real brains or courage behind those faces.

Shane’s phone vibrated in his hand. He opened up the text from Jez, which said
follow.
Looking up he saw Jez disappear through a door leading deeper into the hospital and the two thugs followed. Shane casually got up and sauntered after them.

Curtis and Kirk were brimming over with excitement, especially Kirk. He’d been battered in Nottingham and he was looking forward to some payback. They followed Jez through the hospital, who appeared to be completely unaware they were there. The best thing was he was going to lead them straight to his pregnant wife, who they would use to draw out Ryan and Rachel. The boss wanted them gone too before they could retaliate for what they were about to do to their family.

They panicked when they turned a corner and Jez had vanished.

“Shit, where did he go?” sad Curtis.

Shane, hanging back, rolled his eyes as he watched them dither. Finally they realised Jez had taken the staircase leading up to the next level and they hurried after him.

Shane sent another text before going to meet up with Declan.

Curtis and Kirk watched Jez enter a room at the far end of the corridor.

“It’s a bit quiet, isn’t it?” said Kirk, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Looks like the older part of the hospital,” replied Curtis. “It probably isn’t used as much as the newer part, which is perfect for us.”

Kirk grinned then winced as one of the bruises on his face throbbed, a bruise put there by Jez Law’s fist. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”

They crept down the corridor and peeked through the little window in the door to see Jez with his back to them, talking to a figure lying on the bed.

“Ready?” said Curtis.

Kirk nodded.

They both drew the knives they carried as they burst through the door and Jez turned to face them.

“Don’t fucking move,” said Curtis. He looked to Kirk, who released a groan and slid to the floor.

“What the fuck’s up with you?” he demanded, kicking his colleague in the leg. “Get up.”

“You’re a thick bastard,” sad Jez.

Curtis’s stomach dropped when he realised the figure on the bed was in fact composed of pillows arranged to look like a person. Glancing back through the window in the door he saw the room across the corridor was empty, filled with broken furniture and other junk. They’d been set up.

He just had time to glance over his shoulder to see a large figure lurking there who looked remarkably like Ryan Law. There was a pain in his head and he fell beside his friend, out cold.

Riley looked down at them impassively. “If this is the best Jared Slattery has to offer then I don’t think you need to worry.”

Jez hurried back to Cathy’s room, relieved to see Declan and Shane on her door.

“She’s fine,” assured Declan.

“Thanks,” he said with a shaky smile, patting both men on the shoulder, delighting Shane, who stood taller and prouder on sentry duty.

Jez took a moment to compose himself before walking into Cathy’s room, not wanting to upset her in her condition.

“They said the bleeding was to do with my blood type clashing with the baby’s,” she said. “Apparently my blood type’s negative and the baby’s is positive. They’ve given me an injection to stop it and said I can go home.”

“You sure you’re fit to leave?” he said. “I don’t want you going before you’re ready.”

“I’m absolutely fine. Come on, get me out of here before I have to eat any hospital food.”

“Just a sec Babe,” he said when she started to climb out of bed. “Maureen, can I speak to her in private please?”

She nodded. “I’ll be outside talking to that cute Irish boy,” she smiled mischievously before leaving the room.

Jez sat on the bed beside Cathy and took her hand. “I think you could do with a nice break after all this. How would you like a few days at Abercraig Castle where Mikey and Amber got married?”