Читать книгу Backstabber - Kimberley Chambers - Страница 16

CHAPTER EIGHT

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It was ten p.m. when Michael and Albie Butler arrived at the hospital in Bethnal Green. Little Vinny had rung up in a terrible state, and aware that Vinny had left the hospital, Michael had insisted his nephew needed some family around him.

‘They won’t tell us anything,’ Little Vinny bellowed, eyes bulging with a look of sheer terror.

Gary Allen glared at Michael and Albie, mumbling, ‘I’m going to find Meg and Millie,’ before stomping off. Unlike his wife, who’d been quite at ease with Sammi-Lou’s relationship with Little Vinny from the very beginning, Gary had always seen the danger signs. He was a self-made millionaire through pure hard graft, and a family of notorious gangsters did not impress Gary in the least. Especially one that seemed to have a personal bond with the Grim Reaper.

‘You sit with your granddad and I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on,’ Michael said.

‘Gary hates me now. He’s blaming me for what happened. I only went to Auntie Viv’s funeral, so how is all this my fault?’ Little Vinny told Albie. ‘Dad’s the one to blame, if anybody. It was him they came to shoot. Why did they have to turn the gun on Ollie and Sammi? Why would anybody do that to an innocent woman and child?’

Albie had no answers, all he could do was put an arm around his distressed grandson’s shoulders. Little Vinny had lived with him when his father had gone to prison, and they’d been extremely close ever since. It was an awful feeling to lose a son; Albie could remember Roy’s death as though it were yesterday, and all he could do was say a silent prayer that Sammi-Lou would pull through. With Sammi by his side, Little Vinny would cope with the loss of Oliver in time, but without her Albie feared for his grandson’s future. Sammi was the strong one in their relationship. It was she who had turned Little Vinny into the good man he was today.

‘Gary upset Meg and she stormed out. He was really nasty to her, said some proper shitty stuff. Aimed at me being a Butler it was. He was insinuating that our family is rotten to the fucking core. I’ve always been a good dad and husband, haven’t I? The man’s a cunt, Granddad.’

‘Don’t be taking no notice of Gary, boy. It’s grief and worry making him say such stuff. Michael will have a chat with him – put him straight, so to speak. What happened with your father? Did you two have words?’

‘He’s a cunt an’ all. All him and Nan are bothered about is themselves, so I told ’em where to go. They make me sick. How dare they discuss fucking revenge when I’ve just lost my son and I don’t even know if my wife’s gonna pull through?’

Albie shook his head in disgust. Queenie and Vinny never failed to disappoint him.

‘Where’s Calum?’ Little Vinny asked.

‘Round your nan’s with your father. We dropped Ava off there before coming here. In a right state of shock, she is, bless her. She sends her love to you and Sammi.’

‘Sammi’s gonna need more than love. The first doctor we spoke to said her heart had stopped for a few minutes. Then the Indian quack said it was longer, and hinted if she wakes up she might be brain-dead. What am I gonna do, Granddad? I love her so bloody much.’

‘I know you do, lad. She’s a fighter is Sammi. Let’s hope she—’

Albie never got to finish his words of comfort. The doctor appeared at that moment and the look on his face spoke volumes.

‘I’m so sorry. We did our utmost, but Sammi-Lou didn’t make it, I’m afraid.’

Little Vinny picked up the chair and threw it down the corridor. ‘Nooooo. Not my Sammi-Lou. This ain’t happening. It can’t be. Sammi, Sammi,’ he screamed.

Georgie and Harry O’Hara were in an extremely upbeat mood. Neither child had liked Stuart. He was far less of a pushover than their mother, and they were delighted he was now out of the picture.

‘She’s wailing again. Hark at her. Sounds like that Jack Russell I used to torture,’ Harry chuckled. He, more so than Georgie, was getting a real buzz out of his mother’s pain. It served her right.

‘I think we should say something to her. We can pretend to be sad, can’t we?’ Georgie suggested. She and Harry had been earwigging earlier when their granddad and Uncle Gary had delivered the shocking blow to their mother. She’d screamed like a nutter, then locked herself in her bedroom and had not stopped making weird noises since.

‘I ain’t saying nothing to her. And why should you? The bitch took us away from our family. Now she knows how it feels to be apart from someone you care about. Poor old Stuie. I wonder how badly he suffered before snuffing it?’

‘Oh, don’t say that, Harry. He did buy us loads of stuff. I’m gonna knock on Mum’s door and tell her we’re sorry for her loss.’

‘Go on then, crawler. And while you’re at it, ask the slag when we can go and visit Calum next.’

Michael Butler glared at the unfeeling police officer. ‘The lad’s in no fit state to talk to you mob. Would you wanna chat if you’d just lost a son and your wife?’ he hissed.

‘No. But I will need to take a statement from him soon. How about tomorrow?’

‘How about you go catch the killers instead of pestering us? I’ve already told you everything that happened. I ain’t telling you again,’ Michael snarled.

Little Vinny pinched himself on the arm to check he was actually awake. He felt so numb, he doubted he was capable of stringing a couple of words together, let alone a full sentence. His mind kept replaying the first time he’d laid eyes on Sammi-Lou. He might have only been a teenager back then, but he’d known immediately that one day he would marry her. People question whether love at first sight exists, but he and Sammi were living proof that it did. Or they were up until this morning. Now his beautiful wife was dead, and he was about to say his goodbyes to her. Surreal didn’t even scratch the surface.

‘One of the nurses will be with you in a minute,’ the doctor told Little Vinny.

‘Do you want me to go in with you? Or would you rather be alone?’ Michael asked his nephew.

‘Alone. I want to be alone – with my wife,’ Little Vinny replied. Even his voice didn’t feel like it belonged to him. It sounded flat and dead, which was exactly how he felt inside.

‘I’ll make up the spare bed. You can stay at mine for as long as you like. With Calum, of course,’ Albie said. He really did not know what else to say. On a day like today, there were simply no words.

‘I’ll go home.’

‘Me and Granddad’ll come and stay with you then,’ Michael stated. Little Vinny was understandably shell-shocked and no way was Michael leaving him all by himself.

‘Nah. You go back to Barking. I need my own space.’

Michael and Albie shared a worried glance. Both were thinking the same thing. Little Vinny had endured problems with drink and drugs in the past. Would this send him spiralling out of control again?

‘Mummy! Mummy, please open the door. I want a cuddle,’ Brett Mitchell wept. He had loved Stuart and seen him as the dad he’d never had. They’d played lots of games together, had fun days out, and Stuart had bought him toys and games. Now he was gone for good and Brett knew his life was about to get a whole lot worse. His mum would be sad all the time, and Harry would pick on him even more.

‘Move out the way, Brett,’ Eddie ordered. ‘Frankie, unlock the door, darlin’,’ he bellowed. After hours of constant wailing, it had all gone worryingly quiet inside the bedroom.

‘Do as Dad says, Sis. I know you’re upset and want to be alone, but Brett needs his mummy,’ Joey added. Being twins, he and Frankie had always been exceptionally close. His heart went out to his sister, it really did. Even though his own relationship was rocky at the moment, he’d still managed to find and hold on to love. With Stuart, Frankie thought she’d finally found love too.

Unable to stop himself, Harry O’Hara burst out laughing. ‘Brett needs his mummy,’ he mimicked.

Georgie giggled. ‘Shhh. They’ll hear you.’

‘Go shut that pair up, Gary. If I go in there, I’ll strangle both of ’em,’ Eddie ordered his son.

Georgie and Harry insisted on sharing a bedroom, and as Gary flung the door open, Harry scowled at him. ‘You’re meant to knock first. Says so on the sign outside. Georgie might’ve been getting changed. Hoping to see her titties, was ya, you perv?’

Seeing red, Gary raised his right hand and whacked the cheeky little shit around the head. He didn’t feel like an uncle to these kids. They were vermin, just like their father had been.

Harry O’Hara was stunned as he fell to the carpet.

‘Leave him alone, you bastard. Touch him again and I’ll beat the granny out of ya,’ Georgie O’Hara screamed as she flew at Gary, scratching at his face like a wildcat.

Gary held both of Georgie’s wrists and glared at Harry. ‘We could hear you, taking the piss. Your mum’s fiancé has just been murdered. Have you no fucking heart?’

‘We’ve lost our family an’ all, you know,’ Harry spat.

Letting go of Georgie, Gary Mitchell wagged his forefinger at both kids. ‘I’d watch my back if I were you two. Me and your granddad are on to ya, big time.’

When Gary slammed their bedroom door, Harry O’Hara stuck both middle fingers in the air. ‘Go fuck your grandmother,’ he mumbled. In the travelling community, that was the worst insult there was.

Little Vinny stared at his wife’s pretty face. It didn’t have a mark on it. Sammi looked as though she was sleeping and would wake up any second. She truly was beautiful, even in death.

Sammi’s body was covered over, but unable to stop himself, Little Vinny lifted up the cover to hold her hand. It was still warm. ‘I love you, babe. I’ll always love you. Forever soulmates, eh?’

As he continued to pour his heart out to Sammi-Lou as though she could hear him, tears flooded down Little Vinny’s cheeks. ‘I won’t let you down, I won’t fall to pieces, I promise you that. It’s your job to take care of Ollie now, and mine to look out for Calum and Regan. I’m going to get in touch with Regan’s social worker tomorrow, fight tooth and nail to get him an early release. That’s what you would’ve wanted, eh? And Calum’s gonna need his brother now he hasn’t got you or Ollie, isn’t he?’

For a split second, Little Vinny could have sworn he felt Sammi-Lou’s hand slightly squeeze his, but he guessed that was only wishful thinking. ‘I want you to tell our Ollie how much I love him, babe. I can’t go and see him, not with his face like that; I’d rather remember him how he looked this morning. Smart and handsome in his suit and tie. Tell him he will always be my number one son, no matter what.’

Little Vinny carried on chatting to his deceased wife until a nurse opened the door and informed him the Allens wanted to see Sammi-Lou. He stood up and kissed Sammi tenderly on the forehead. ‘Goodbye, princess. Wait for me in heaven.’

Little Vinny’s final memory of visiting his dead wife would be of Meg Allen as she was taken inside the room. ‘My baby. My beautiful little girl. Sammi-Lou. Sammi-Lou. You can’t leave me. Wake up,’ Meg screamed.

Shuddering, Little Vinny ran towards the hospital exit.

‘You’ve got thirty seconds to open this door, Frankie, before I break it down,’ Eddie Mitchell threatened.

‘Go downstairs a minute, Brett. Mum’ll be down in a tick,’ Gary said, ruffling his nephew’s hair. Unlike the other two horrors, Brett was a lovely little boy. So much so, it was hard to believe Jed O’Hara’s sperm was involved in his creation.

‘You don’t reckon she’s done something stupid, do you?’ Gary whispered, as soon as Brett was out of earshot.

‘Only one way to find out,’ Eddie said, taking a step back then aiming his right foot at the door.

The door finally splintered at the third attempt and Joey was first to burst into the room. ‘She’s not here.’

Eddie peered out of the open window. Frankie had obviously made her escape via the garage roof, but there was no sign of her. ‘What the fuck am I paying these so-called security men for, eh? Gary, you stay here and look after Brett. Joey, me and you will find your sister.’

Ten minutes later, Joey Mitchell found his sister in the summer house. She was sitting on the floor, her knees huddled to her chest, shivering. ‘Dad, Dad! I’ve found her,’ Joey yelled, before taking his jacket off and putting it around Frankie’s shoulders.

‘What you doing out here? You had us worried sick. You could’ve broken your neck jumping off that garage roof,’ Eddie Mitchell told her.

‘I wish I had. I don’t want to live any more. I’ve had enough. First Mum, now Stuart. He didn’t even want to go to that fucking funeral you know. Said he didn’t know the dead woman. Why did you have to drag him there? Were you not content with just killing my mum? Did you want me to lose my fiancé as well?’

Tears pricking his eyes, Eddie crouched to his haunches. The day he’d accidentally killed Jessica had been the worst of his life, but today was right up there with those dark days when his father and his son Ricky had been brutally murdered, that was for sure. ‘I loved him too, Frankie. Stu was like a son to me, you know he was.’

‘But he was more than that to me, wasn’t he? Stuart was my future, my everything. And now he’s gone, thanks to you. You’re gonna have to take care of Georgie and Harry for me now. I can’t manage. Harry’s evil, just like Jed was. You should’ve heard what he said about Stuart earlier. He was laughing, I heard him. That’s why I had to get out the house. I couldn’t take any more. I just want to curl up and die. That’s why I brought these in here with me,’ Frankie screamed, waving a packet of tablets in the air.

Joey snatched hold of the packet in panic. ‘How many have you taken, Frankie?’

‘None! I forgot to bring a drink. But if I had, I would have swallowed every single fucking one of ’em. Other than Brett, I have nothing to live for now. Nothing whatsoever.’

Queenie Butler switched the bedroom light on. ‘You hungry, Calum? You need to eat something. I’ve got burgers, sausages, bacon. Can cook you whatever you fancy.’

‘Not hungry. I just wanna sleep,’ came the muffled reply. Calum had been under the quilt for hours and had no intention of getting up. All he could think about was his mum and Oliver. Not being able to see, talk, laugh or even argue with them again seemed so unreal. Their deaths hadn’t sunk in, and Calum doubted they ever would. He’d stared at his nan in a state of disbelief when she’d informed him: ‘Your mum’s gone to heaven to look after your brother, boy. Your dad, me, and the rest of the family will take care of you and Regan from now on. A promise that is, an’ all. You’ll want for nothing; I’ll make sure of that.’

‘Na-night then, love. If you wake up later and need anything, just give me a shout. Even if you just wanna chat, OK?’

Calum didn’t bother answering. How could his great-gran even say ‘You’ll want for nothing’ when his mum and brother had been shot to smithereens right in front of him?

‘How is he? Silly question, I know,’ Vinny asked solemnly, his arm draped around Ava’s shoulders. His daughter was usually as strong as an ox, but today had knocked the stuffing out of her. It had all of them. Everybody seemed to be running on autopilot, but Ava in particular was acting weird. She was clingy, childlike almost, and it reminded Vinny of days gone by when she’d been a little girl. Not the stroppy teenager she was most days now.

‘Still under the quilt. I dunno what else to say to him. I’m not the greatest with words at times such as these. Suffered too many tragedies in the past, that’s bloody why. Will you talk to him, Vin?’

‘I dunno what to say to him either. Molly, Auntie Viv, Roy, Champ, Adam … You just run out of words in the end, don’t ya?’ He purposely left his sister Brenda out of his list of deaths because he hadn’t really liked her that much. When Queenie offered no reply but continued to look at him expectantly, he turned to his daughter. ‘Go chat to Calum for us please, Ava? You’re much better at saying the right things than me and your nan are.’

Imagining how dreadful Calum must be feeling, Ava reluctantly made her way upstairs.

‘I feel so ill, Vin. Must’ve aged ten years recently. And there was me thinking moving home would change my luck. Cursed, this family is, I’m telling ya. Him up above hates us. I wouldn’t mind if we were bad people, but we have hearts of gold. Do anybody a good turn if we can. Why us?’

‘None of it makes any sense, Mum. Why wait all these years then decide to turn up waving guns on today of all days? I will start making enquiries tomorrow and when I find out who’s responsible, I’ll personally hack their limbs off while they’re still alive.’

Queenie’s eyes welled up. ‘But say they find you first? If anything happens to you, it’ll be the end of me. I couldn’t live without you, Vin. I love you too much.’

Vinny held his mother in his arms trying to soothe her fears. In truth, he was a very worried man. If the Turks were capable of the chaos they’d caused at the wake, then he’d better watch his back very carefully indeed.

‘No way is Ava going to work at your club with those loonies on the loose. I won’t allow it,’ Queenie insisted.

‘I know. I’ll talk to Ava tomorrow. I don’t want you going out alone either. Not until I’ve sorted this mess.’

For all the conviction in his voice, Vinny had no idea how he was going to sort this particular mess. Turks were like travellers: a closed community who stuck together like glue, so finding out who’d pulled such a stroke was not going to be easy. But money talked and, like all communities, the Turks were bound to have one or two backstabbing traitors living amongst them.

‘Now go give Little Vinny a ring,’ urged Queenie. ‘What that lad must be going through doesn’t bear thinking about. My first great-grandchild dead, and poor Sammi-Lou. I feel numb, truly can’t get my head around it. The look on Big Stan’s face as they shot him will haunt me for the rest of my days. We said we was gonna give Vivvy a send-off that the East End would remember and talk about for years to come, but we didn’t mean like this.’

Backstabber

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