Читать книгу Queens of Crime: 3-Book Thriller Collection - Kimberley Chambers, Jacqui Rose, Jacqui Rose - Страница 22

Queenie Butler absolutely loved Christmas. The festive season was all about family, and there was nothing she enjoyed more than having all her brood around her. She opened the oven door to check on the sausage rolls and mince pies. Most women that she knew did the bulk of their cooking on Christmas Eve, so all they had to concentrate on the following day was cooking their vegetables. Not Queenie though. She had been up since six pottering about in the kitchen as she wanted everything to be nice and fresh. Only the best for her family.

Queenie grinned as Vivian let herself in and Lenny bounded up to her. ‘Has Santa been yet, Auntie Queenie? Mummy said he was delivering my presents to your house this year because he knew I would be here.’

‘Yes, Santa’s been, but he told me to tell you that you’re not allowed to open your presents until Vinny and Roy arrive,’ Queenie said, giving her wonderful nephew a loving hug.

‘Vinny not here yet? I hope he still ain’t got the hump with us,’ Vivian said, referring to the altercation in the café the previous day.

Vinny had been none too pleased when he had driven his mum and aunt home. ‘Why did you have to go in there of all places and kick off? You know their little boy lied for me in the identification parade. Think before you act in future, for Christ’s sake,’ Vinny had bellowed.

Queenie sent Lenny upstairs to tell Brenda and Michael to get their skates on, then turned to her sister. ‘Vinny’ll be fine, Viv. Loves the bones of me and you, you know he does. I’m sure he had something else on his mind yesterday and that’s why he went on the turn. Them people in the café won’t kick up no fuss. Didn’t you see the petrified look on that Donald’s face when you started whacking him with your brolly?’

Vivian couldn’t control the fit of giggles that followed. ‘And what about when you punched him in the side of the head? That overbearing wife of his started squealing like a pig.’

Laughing hysterically, Queenie held her crotch with one hand to prevent herself wetting her knickers, clinging onto her sister’s arm with the other. ‘What are we like, eh Viv?’

‘Salts of the earth, Queenie. Salts of the earth, girl,’ Vivian roared.

Less than a mile down the road, the festive spirit in the Walker household was anything but jovial.

‘Well?’ Donald asked, when Christopher pulled the wrapping paper off the plastic policeman’s helmet.

Unable to stop himself, Christopher burst into uncontrollable tears. How could he ever wear that hat and join the police force now after he had told such an awful lie?

‘Whatever’s the matter, love?’ Mary asked, holding her sobbing son in her arms.

Christopher could hide the truth no longer. ‘I lied to the police. Vinny did kill that man. I saw him do it.’

Outraged by his son’s confession, Donald let out a few expletives, then clouted the boy around his ear. ‘How could you lie to the police, Christopher? Your mother and I brought you up to be honest. Disgusted with you, I am. Bloody appalled!’

When Nancy began to cry as well, Mary ordered her husband to calm himself. ‘Hitting Christopher is not the answer here, Donald. You need to take him down to the police station to sort this mess out once and for all.’

‘Why did you lie to us all, boy? Why?’ Donald bellowed, his face red with temper.

‘Vinny threatened to hurt you, Mum and Nancy if I told the truth. Please don’t tell the police, Dad. Vinny scares me so much,’ Christopher begged.

Donald paced up and down the room in a total frenzy.

‘It’s OK. It’s not your fault,’ Mary soothed, putting a comforting arm around her son.

‘Please can we go back to Stoke Newington, Mum? Me and Christopher hate living here,’ Nancy pleaded.

‘Let’s see what happens after your dad has spoken to the police, love,’ Mary croaked, in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.

Donald turned to his wife. ‘I am not going to the police. Our lives will be hell if Christopher now admits to what he saw. He will be tarnished as a liar for the rest of his life, and we will forever be looking over our shoulders for repercussions from the Butler family.’

‘Well, what do you suggest we do then, Donald? A man has died. We can’t just let his killer roam the streets,’ Mary pointed out.

‘Oh, yes we can. We have to for our own safety. I will not have my children’s lives put in danger, Mary. We must pack up our belongings and leave this café immediately. We can then put the property on the market, and start afresh in a much nicer area.’

‘But we can’t just do a moonlight flit, Donald. I love this café. You know I do.’

‘And I love my children and you, Mary, which is why we have to leave.’

‘I’m so sorry I lied to you, Dad,’ Christopher cried. He felt so guilty. Everything was his fault.

Donald crouched down and stared his son in the eyes. ‘You did what you thought was right to protect your family, son, and I’m sorry that I hit you. What you told us today, I want you to now forget about. Can you do that for me?’

Relieved that he wasn’t about to be carted off to the police station, Christopher managed a weak smile. ‘Yes, Dad.’

Donald stood up. ‘And that goes for all of us. What Christopher admitted to today, I never want to hear mentioned again. Do we all agree on that?’

When her mother nodded her head, Nancy did the same.

‘Right, that’s settled then. Now, let’s start packing. The quicker we get out of this hellhole, the better.’

Donald fitted as many of his family’s belongings into the boot of the car as he could, then darted back into the café. Being Christmas Day, the street was empty, and that had pleased him immensely.

‘Where are we going to live then, Dad?’ Christopher asked chirpily. The thought of never having to see Vinny Butler again was already a weight off his young shoulders.

‘We are going to stay with your Auntie Phyllis in Ilford for a couple of days, and once the Christmas period is over, I will find us a place of our own to live.’

When Donald ordered the children to get in the car, Mary looked at her husband in despair.

‘I know you’re upset, my darling, but we will open another café one day, I promise you that,’ Donald said, sadly.

Unable to stop herself, Mary turned around to take one last look at her broken dream. She then burst into a sea of tears.

Vivian wiped the last of the dishes with the tea towel, then patted her bloated stomach. ‘Bleedin’ handsome that turkey, weren’t it? Melted in me mouth, it did. You cooked that to a tee.’

Ignoring the compliment, Queenie whispered in her sister’s ear. ‘Something is wrong with my Vinny today. He ain’t himself, you know, and he left all his Christmas pudding. He always eats his pudding, Vivvy.’

‘Perhaps he was full up, Queenie. It was a big dinner you cooked. Vinny seems all right to me. He’s been laughing and joking with the kids all day,’ Vivian whispered back.

Queenie shook her head. Nobody knew her Vinny like she did and something was troubling him. ‘Come on, let’s go and put some music on in the lounge.’

The sing-a-long was still going strong two hours later. Michael had bought his mum a Gracie Fields album for Christmas and Queenie and Vivian were even doing the hand movements as they sang ‘Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye’ for the fourth time at the top of their voices.

‘Can we please have some rock and roll on now, Mum?’ Lenny asked impatiently, tugging on Vivian’s arm.

‘No. I want to play the Beatles,’ Brenda whinged.

‘Let Lenny put his rock and roll on first, Bren, then you can put your Beatles on straight after,’ Queenie ordered.

When the sound of Buddy Holly filled the lounge, Queenie proudly studied her boys. All three were incredibly handsome and looked so smart today. Vinny and Roy were always suited and booted, but even Michael was dressed up in his blue tonic suit and as he discussed a bit of business regarding the club with Roy, Queenie thought how grown-up he suddenly seemed.

Aware that Vinny wasn’t really listening to his brothers’ conversation, Queenie watched him light up his cigar. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders as he took his first puff and she wondered if it was to do with the man he had accidently stabbed to death.

Even though as a mother Queenie knew you should love all your children equally, she had always had a special bond with her Vinny. He was her first-born, so surely the way she felt about him was understandable?

‘You OK, Mum?’ Vinny asked, clocking his mother staring at him.

Queenie jumped out of the armchair and gestured to her eldest.

Vinny followed his mum upstairs and sat awkwardly on the edge of her bed. ‘You’re not missing Dad, are you?’ he asked her.

‘You having a bleedin’ laugh, or what? Best Christmas I’ve ever had without that drunken old drop-out sitting in the chair scratching his cobblers.’

Vinny chuckled.

‘What’s up, boy? You ain’t yourself today. Are you still annoyed with me and Vivvy for kicking up a stink in that café?’

‘Don’t be daft. I could never have the hump with you and Auntie Viv for long.’

‘Well, what is it then? Is it that man who died? You can’t blame yourself for that, Vinny. It was two against one, and you never meant to kill him. It was an accident, son.’

Vinny took a deep breath. He had to tell somebody his little secret, and there was nobody in the world better to confide in than his beloved mother. ‘I’ve got a girl pregnant, and she wants to keep the baby,’ he blurted out.

Queenie was momentarily stunned. Since that little slag Yvonne Summers had broken Vinny’s heart many years ago, she had never even known him to court again. ‘Who is she, boy? Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?’

Vinny put his head in his hands and propped his elbows on his knees. ‘She ain’t my girlfriend, Mum. She is a pretty girl who works at the club who I’ve had a couple of flings with.’

‘Well, why didn’t you put a thingy on the end of it?’ Queenie asked, accusingly.

‘I did, well, apart from the once. What am I gonna do, Mum? I’ve offered her big bucks to get rid of the kid, but she knocked the dosh back.’

Unable to stop herself, Queenie slapped her pride and joy around the face to bring him to his senses. ‘You will not kill my grandchild, Vinny. I will not allow that to happen.’

‘But, I don’t even like the girl, Mum. I ain’t getting lumbered with her for the rest of my life.’

‘Who is she? Is she a decent girl?

Feeling more embarrassed than ever before, Vinny shook his head. ‘No, she’s a stripper.’

Instead of scolding him for being stupid as her son expected her to, Queenie squeezed both of his hands and looked him in the eyes. ‘Buy the child off her, boy. Offer her what she wants to give birth to it, then I’ll bring it up for you.’

Vinny was astounded by his mother’s strange suggestion. ‘I can’t do that, Mum. I’m only twenty and I don’t want no ties.’

‘It won’t be your tie, it’ll be mine. You listen to me, Vinny, and you listen good and proper. You need something in your life to calm that temper of yours down. Being a father will save you from going to prison, I guarantee that. God works in mysterious ways, and this will prove to be your saviour, I just know it will. Look how good you are with kids. Lenny worships the ground you walk on, so imagine having a little Champ running around who is actually your own. You can’t murder your own child, boy. That baby will be my first grandchild and I would never forgive you if you took that away from me.’

Not wanting to admit to his mum that he had thought about bumping off Karen and the baby by drowning them in the Thames, Vinny suddenly felt a surge of guilt and had tears in his eyes.

‘Don’t get upset, boy. Everything will be all right, your mum will make sure of that,’ Queenie said, cradling him to her chest.

Vinny quickly pulled himself together. His mother was never wrong. Whatever advice she had ever given him in the past had always been proven as sound, so why should he doubt her wisdom this time round?

‘Well? What you gonna do?’ Queenie asked.

Vinny smiled at her. ‘I will sort out a deal with Karen and then we will bring up my baby together, Mum.’