Shafted Read online

  ‘Don’t ask me,’ Molly said tartly. ‘All I know is it’s supposed to be bad. So I’d get packing if I was you, ’cos there’s no way you’re staying here if he gets banged up.’ Giving Gaynor a last dirty look, she yanked the door open and marched out.

  Gaynor exhaled loudly. Molly was too rude for her own good, and if Dex didn’t do something about her she was going to get on the wrong side of the wrong person one of these days.

  But that was their problem, not hers. Gaynor had more important things to think about right now – like trying to round up Dex’s money. And that was going to take ages, because she’d have to go round to all of his mates to pick up the bits and pieces he’d stashed with them, then work her way through his book collecting the debts he was owed. And, knowing his skanky debtors, it wasn’t going to be easy to get them to cough up if they’d heard that he was off the scene. But she had to try, or Dex would blame her for letting them take the piss.

  It annoyed Gaynor that Dex had landed this on her, especially when he hadn’t even bothered to ring her to let her know what was happening. He could find the time to ring his precious bloody mother, though, and that really pissed her off, because he was always putting his family before her. Still, it was nothing less than she’d come to expect of him lately.

  What she hadn’t expected was for him to demand that she get all his money together. It must mean that they had something heavy on him, and it worried her that she had no idea what it was, or even if she might somehow be implicated in it because she lived with him. But she doubted his family would enlighten her, because his mother seemed to hate her as much as his daughter did. And his brothers weren’t much better, although at least they just ignored her for the most part – which was fine by her because she didn’t particularly like them, anyway.

  Truth be told, she didn’t like Dex much, either, at the moment. He’d been so sweet when she met him, always taking her out and paying her compliments. But that had soon stopped when she moved in with him. From charmer to bad-tempered pig in one fell swoop, and if she complained he thought nothing of giving her a slap. So now she kept her mouth shut and got on with doing his cleaning while he took off for days at a time, doing God knew what with God knew who. And she didn’t even have anyone to talk to when he was gone, because his family hated her and her own family and friends had turned their backs on her because they hated Dex.

  But not liking Dex and not loving him were very different beasts, and her heart always overruled her head when she thought about leaving. So she stayed, praying for the day when the real Dex would reappear. And now that he’d gone and got himself banged up, she saw a glimmer of a chance that, with time to sit and think instead of always running, he might just re-evaluate his life and stop taking her for granted.

  And it wouldn’t hurt him to be away from his interfering mother for a while, either. He’d been more distant than ever since he’d been staying with her, and Gaynor was sure that the old bitch had been slagging her off. She wouldn’t have minded if she’d actually done something to warrant it, but it seemed that just being another woman in his life was enough.

  But there was time enough to worry about them and their stupid jealousy when she’d sorted Dex’s money out. So, taking a quick shower, Gaynor got dressed and made her way out to make her first pick-up. But she wouldn’t be taking the money to Nora’s when she got it – and Molly could kick off as much as she liked, because if Dex had wanted them to have access to it he’d have told them where it was.

  Patrick went home a couple of hours later with two open-ended tickets to Amsterdam. He’d called in at Keith Hall’s office on the way back, to find out what was happening and make the cunt change his mind about the timing of his holiday. But he’d been too late, because Keith had already gone, and Dex’s case had been passed over to a woman.

  Patrick wasn’t impressed by the thought of having a bird for a solicitor, but Kay Morgan soothed his nerves a little when she took him into her office and told him that she was well aware of Keith’s ‘special relationship’ with the Lewises and would endeavour to maintain it in his absence. She talked poncy but there was something ballsy about her, and Patrick came away with a grudging respect for her. He still wasn’t convinced that she’d get their Dex bailed when he went to court tomorrow for his preliminary hearing, but she was the only chance he had, so all they could do was cross their fingers and pray that she pulled it off like she seemed to think she could.

  Sitting at the kitchen table now, with his mother and his older brother Jimmy, Patrick was chewing his nails to the quick, waiting for Kay to call. She’d set off for her first meet with Dex after talking to Patrick, and had promised to call them as soon as she was clear, to bring them up to speed and pass on any messages. All Patrick wanted to know was whether he needed to disappear now, or wait to hear if Dex had got bail tomorrow.

  Their only other option was to intercept the vehicle transporting Dex to the court and spring him. But that would be major risky, and the police would no doubt be planning on stepping up their security in anticipation of them doing just that, so it wasn’t really feasible in any case.

  At least the house was clean, so they didn’t have to worry about Nora getting caught up in anything if it went pear-shaped. And Molly had been sent back to her mother’s to keep her out of the way, while Molly’s little cousin Lyla had gone to stay with one of Nora’s nieces. With their Jason keeping an eye on Gaynor in case she tried to pull a fast one with the money that she’d refused to hand over, they were as sorted as they could be, so they just had to wait now and see what happened next.

  And that was torturous – especially for Patrick, who felt like an animal trapped in a cage while the hunters moved in silently from the shadows.

  Everyone jumped when a heavy knocking came at the front door.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ Jimmy said, waving his mother to stay put.

  ‘It’ll probably be Hilda,’ she said, reaching for yet another cigarette. ‘She said she might be popping in, and I forgot to tell her not to.’

  ‘Tell her to piss off if it is,’ Patrick called after Jimmy who was already making his way to the door. ‘I can’t be doing with her today.’

  Nora tutted softly. She didn’t particularly want to see anyone right now, either, but she couldn’t half do with having her tea leaves read – just to set her mind at ease.

  It wasn’t Hilda, it was Dex’s ex-wife Jane.

  ‘What do you want?’ Nora grunted when she saw her.

  ‘A cup of tea would be nice,’ Jane said, giving her ex-mother-in-law a sarcastic smile. ‘If you can manage it.’

  Grumbling under her breath about uninvited visitors always pushing themselves on her when they were least welcome, Nora got up and filled the kettle.

  Sitting down, Jane took a cigarette out of her bag and lit it, saying, ‘How’s it going, lads?’

  Still chewing his nails, Patrick shrugged. He didn’t like Jane any more than he liked Gaynor. But then, he didn’t particularly dislike them, either. Truth be told, he felt nothing for either of them – other than a bit of dick interest, because they were both good-looking and sexy: Jane fair, like Molly, with the same big tits and sassy attitude; Gaynor dark-haired and quiet, with smaller tits and longer legs. He’d have given either of them a seeing-to if Dex weren’t around, but Dex would kill him without blinking if he as much as looked at one of his women. Maybe if Dex went down for a long stretch . . .

  ‘What do you want, Jane?’ Jimmy asked her coolly, having no such interest in her. She was nothing but his brother’s skanky ex, as far as he was concerned, and he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.

  ‘Just visiting my family,’ she replied nonchalantly, as if she didn’t know that she was about as welcome as a vulture at a plane crash. ‘Thought you’d want to know how Molly was getting on now she’s back home where she belongs.’

  ‘She’s only been gone a week,’ Nora snapped, bringing the teapot and four clean cups to the table and ba
nging them down.

  ‘Yeah, and she’s already eaten all the bloody food I had in,’ Jane said, flicking her ash into the overflowing ashtray. Licking her fingertip when some of the ash landed on the table top, she picked it up and deposited it with the rest, saying, ‘So I need some money.’

  ‘You what?’ Nora gasped disbelievingly. ‘She’s your kid.’

  ‘And Dex’s,’ Jane reminded her tartly. ‘And I don’t see why I should be out of pocket just ’cos he’s had enough of playing happy families with her.’

  Incensed, Nora shoved her sleeves roughly up her arms and jabbed a finger down on the table. ‘Now you just listen here, madam. We’ve had that girl for the better part of a year, and we ain’t had one single bloody penny off you, so don’t come here with your hand out expecting us to subsidise you, ’cos you’re not on.’

  Sitting forward, Jane calmly poured herself a cup of tea. Stirring sugar into it, she said, ‘If you want me to keep her, you’ll have to help me out, that’s all I’m saying. The benefits don’t cover nothing these days, and I can’t afford a greedy teenager. Especially not one like her, who seems to think she deserves hundred-quid trainers every other week. I don’t know what you lot have been filling her head with, but she’s not the kid I used to know, I can tell you that for nowt. I’ve never met a more spoiled brat in me life.’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe if you’d been a better mother we wouldn’t have had to give her stuff to make up for what she never got off you,’ Nora retorted.

  ‘Dex tell you I was a bad mother, did he?’ Jane asked calmly, smiling with her lips while her eyes blazed with anger. ‘That his version of why he took her off me, was it? Not that he put me in hospital and had to take her or she’d have been on her own?’

  Gazing back at her, Nora shook her head. ‘You’re a piece of work, you are, Jane. You know full well why he did that, and you had no one but yourself to blame, so don’t come it with the poor little victim routine.’

  ‘So I shagged his mate.’ Jane shrugged. ‘Big deal. It wasn’t like he wasn’t doing it with every other bird in Manchester.’

  ‘He’s a man,’ Nora reminded her, as if that made all the difference.

  ‘Yeah, and I was his woman.’

  ‘Not enough of one, obviously, or he wouldn’t have had to get it from them other lasses.’

  Sitting back now, Jane narrowed her eyes. ‘You call me a piece of work, Nora, but you’re ten times worse. It’s no wonder your Dex turned out the way he did with you filling his thick head with poison.’

  ‘And it’s no wonder your Molly’s turning into a slut, with you showing her how it’s done!’ Nora spat back.

  ‘Don’t you call my daughter a slut.’

  ‘Well, you keep your dirty gob shut about my son, then!’

  ‘Shut it, the pair of you,’ Jimmy barked, slamming his hand down on the table.

  Reaching out to steady the teapot, Nora pursed her lips.

  Looking at Jane now, Jimmy said, ‘Sling your hook, Jane, you’re getting nowt off us.’

  ‘Fine,’ Jane replied coldly. ‘Well, I’ll just send her back then, ’cos I can’t keep her on fresh air.’

  Getting up now, Jimmy came around the table and leaned down so that his face was just inches away from hers. ‘Don’t play games with me, you slag. She’s your responsibility, so get your arse home and be the mother you’re supposed to be.’

  Drawing her head back, Jane glared up at him defiantly. ‘Don’t you threaten me, Jimmy Lewis, or I’ll scream my head off, and all them coppers will come bursting in and—’

  ‘Coppers?’ Patrick squawked. ‘What coppers?’

  ‘Them what’s sitting in the van at the top of the road,’ Jane told him, still glaring at Jimmy.

  Jumping up, Patrick rushed out of the room and ran up the stairs to look out of the bedroom window.

  ‘What are they doing?’ Nora asked Jane when he’d gone. ‘Are they watching this house or someone else’s?’

  Shrugging, Jane said,‘How do I know? They were just sitting there when I drove past. I didn’t stop to ask them who they were after. But knowing this lot round here, it could be anyone, couldn’t it? Anyway, they’ve already got Dex, so what you worrying for?’

  When Patrick came back just then, Jimmy gave a questioning jerk of his chin. ‘They still there?’

  ‘No,’ Patrick muttered, going to the back window and closing the curtains. ‘I don’t like it. Why would they be sitting there one minute, then take off as soon as she clocks them? And they haven’t gone to anyone else’s gaff, so they must have been watching us. I’ve got to get out of here.’

  ‘We’ve to wait for that solicitor to call and let us know what’s happening,’ Nora reminded him. ‘Anyway, they might not have been watching us. They could have just been checking out a car, or anything. Just sit down and chill out. We’ll know soon enough.’

  ‘I can’t chill out,’ Patrick snapped, pacing the floor now. ‘They could be coming after me.’

  ‘The solicitor would know if they were and she’d have told us,’ Nora said, more to convince herself that everything was all right than to convince him.

  ‘You can wait if you want, but I’m off,’ Patrick said, reaching into his pocket to check that the tickets and passports were still there. ‘I’ll stop round at Mooky’s, so ring us on me mobile soon as you hear anything. And if they keep our Dex, I’ll leave his ticket there.’

  ‘Wait,’ Jimmy said sharply when he headed for the door. ‘If they were watching us, they’ll have backed off ’cos she saw them, but they won’t have gone far. And they’ll be watching the back as well as the front in case you do a runner.’

  ‘So what am I supposed to do?’ Patrick yelled. ‘Just sit here and wait for them to bust us for fucking murder?’

  ‘Murder?’ Nora squawked. ‘No one mentioned fucking murder to me!’

  Chuckling softly, Jane shook her head. ‘Oh, come on now, Nora, don’t tell me you don’t know what your lads get up to behind your back. Why do you think I was so glad Dex got sent down that time? I love the bones of the bastard, but when he starts threatening to kill me – and I know he’s capable of it – I’d have been an idiot not to be glad he was nicked.’

  ‘You shut it, you!’ Nora yelled at her, wondering why she was still here.

  ‘If you insist,’ Jane said, folding her arms. ‘But I was about to suggest a way for your Pat to get out of here without the coppers seeing him.’

  That got everyone’s attention.

  Swallowing hard because it stuck in her craw that she might have to be nice to Jane if this suggestion involved her smuggling Patrick out in her car, or something, Nora said, ‘How?’

  Smiling slyly, Jane reached up and pulled the wig off her head. ‘He can wear this.’

  ‘What the fuck are you wearing that for?’ Nora said, looking at it like it was about to bite her. ‘It’s exactly the same as your own.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Jane said, shrugging nonchalantly. ‘I always wear it when I can’t be arsed washing my hair. And no one’s ever sussed it, so why not?’

  Jimmy gave a rare laugh. ‘You know what, I think it might work.’ Turning to Patrick now, still grinning, he said, ‘Shove it on, our kid, and let’s see if you can pull it off.’

  ‘You can put my clothes on as well,’ Jane said, standing up now and slipping her pink faux-fur jacket off.‘Some of them coppers clocked me when I passed them, so they’ll think you’re me if they see you in this. You’ll have to leave me skirt unzipped ’cos you’re too much of a fat bastard to fit into it. And you’ll have a bit of a problem getting your feet into my stillys, ’cos I’m only a six.’

  ‘Fuck off!’ Patrick snorted, tossing the wig onto the table. ‘I’m no fucking tranny.’

  ‘You are if you want to get out of here before they come for you,’ Nora said in a no-nonsense tone. Looking at Jane now, she nodded. ‘Thanks, love. You’ve done us a big favour here.’

  ‘That’s what family’s for,’ Jane said,
already stepping out of her skirt, unconcerned that Patrick and Jimmy were getting an eyeful of her sexy knickers. Dex hadn’t cared about all the men ogling her when she’d been lap dancing, so why would he care about his brothers ogling her now?

  Looking thoroughly sulky, Patrick took off his jeans and slipped the skirt on. Reaching for Jane’s blouse when she pulled it off, he dipped his gaze, trying not to stare at her nipples which were clearly visible through the silky sheerness of her bra.

  The stilettos were far too tight, but Nora had an idea and bustled up to Molly’s room. The girls these days liked the toes of their shoes to be wider than the pointed jobbies their mothers preferred, and Molly had about a million pairs to choose from. Picking out a pair of open-toed slip-on’s with a middling heel now, she carried them back down and told Patrick to try them.

  ‘They fucking hurt,’ he complained when he’d wedged his feet into them.

  ‘At least you got into them, so shut it,’ Nora scolded unsympathetically. ‘Now shove the jacket on, and let’s have a look at you.’

  Laughing loudly, Jimmy said, ‘Fucking hell, man, you’ve got hairy legs for a bird. Don’t you think you’d best give ’em a shave?’

  ‘Just shove some tights on,’ Jane suggested, taking her make-up out of her handbag and laying it out on the table. ‘But let me do this first.’ Pulling a chair out, she pushed Patrick down onto it. ‘I’ll put some foundation on to cover your spots, and I’ve got some bright red lippy that should suit you. No one will ever guess you’re a bloke when I’ve finished with you.’

  Breathing hard as Jane stood in front of him painting his face, Patrick gritted his teeth to keep the hard-on at bay. Dex had paid for her to have a boob-job before it all blew up between them, and they were jutting out at him like twin beacons of pleasure. He could smell her perfume, too, and it was bloody nice. Why the hell their Dex was bothering with boring Gaynor when he could be shafting this one, he didn’t know. But, then, Dex did still shaft her when he felt like it – he just didn’t let Nora know about it, because she’d only give him earache about diseases.