One Night, page 16
Harry tilted his head to one side and examined her like a cat eyeing up a mouse it was toying with. He sighed. He was frustrated that she’d seen through his little charade but there was always another way. There was more to war than just deception after all.
“You always were a bright girl, Eve. Too clever for your own bloody good.”
He picked the phone up and put it back in his pocket.
“Here’s the deal. Your man is in Southend somewhere. I will find him, you know I will. Nothing happens in this town without me knowing about it. It might take a few hours but he’s been up all night screwing you so the poor sod must be knackered. So I’ll say it again, I will find him.” He punctuated the last four words with his fist, slamming it down onto the table with each one.
“And when I find him I will kill him. It won’t be quick. It won’t be easy. It will be slow and as painful as I can make it. By the time I’ve finished he will beg me to put a bullet in his brain.”
He sat back and smiled. “Of course it doesn’t have to be like that, Eve, my darling niece. All I really want is that bag. If I had that I’d let him go. Let him swan off to wherever the fuck he wants to go and live out the rest of his days in peace. That’s what I’d do if I had the bag.
“So what’s it going to be? Are you going to tell me where it is or are you going to wait here while I find him and drag him back so that you can watch him die? Your choice, Eve. Your choice.”
Chapter Thirty Eight
Joel had stayed sitting on the walkway for twenty minutes thinking. Harry's words had shaken him, hurt him.
He felt like Charlie Brown with that bloody American football, queuing up time and again to take a kick at it only to have it pulled away. Did he have something broken inside him? Some part of his makeup that his parents had either failed to pass onto him or had ripped away from him when he was abandoned? Not just a need to trust but an inability to pick people who were worthy of his faith in them.
He’d had his eyes open with Eve though, wide open after the shock of Danny turning on him, and he had really thought he could trust her. They had shared something, something that felt like the most precious thing on earth to him. Had it all been a lie? Just a game she was playing? He didn’t know what to think anymore. Well maybe there was one thing, he knew he didn’t trust Harry.
He’d heard of him. Harry’s reputation had spread as far as London, not that the two places were far apart. Harry was the self-styled king of Southend, the man who ran the town with an iron fist. Nothing went on there without his say so. If there was one person whose radar Joel hadn’t wanted to get onto when he arrived here it was Harry’s. But he’d managed it, managed to blunder into the man’s family for fuck’s sake.
Eve... he couldn’t shake the feeling she’d given him. The joy. Everything Harry had said to him made sense, except the lingering sense of her in his heart that told him the man had lied. There was that last word too, the last thing she had said to him after Harry’s men had found them. “Run”. Had she said it just to get rid of him or because she genuinely wanted him to escape? He had to know, he realised. Had to know for sure if he’d imagined the desire and affection he’d felt coming off her in waves.
He tried to put the emotion aside and think logically. Harry would be after two things, him and the bag. If he couldn’t have them both Joel was sure that the ageing villain would settle for the cash. And Eve knew exactly where it was.
Joel raised himself up again and peered over the railing at the amusement park. The guy he’d knocked out was gone now, either woken up himself and staggered off or dragged away by his mates. There was a car parked by the main gates, something big and shiny enough that it had to be Harry’s.
The lights were on in the cafe and he guessed that was where they’d gathered. What was Eve doing? Had she told them where the bag was as soon as he was out of earshot? Or was she keeping his trust? He realised then that he didn’t care about the money anymore, all he wanted to know, needed to know, was whether she’d given him up or not. He had to get to the bag and see if it was still there. He had to know.
He could see pretty much the whole park from where he was but the angle meant that he couldn’t see the mock western town surrounding the mine cart ride. The only way he could tell for sure if the bag was still there would be to get back down to it. It wasn’t a thought he relished but he could tell his heart wouldn’t rest until he knew for sure. Would he be able to get back into the park without them spotting him? Probably, he thought. You didn’t make a career as a safe cracker without being good at sneaking about in the dark.
Watching the park the whole time Joel stood and stretched. He’d been crouching for long enough that his muscles felt cramped and he didn’t want to do anything until his body was loosened up and ready. The last thing he needed was to have his muscles fail him if he had to run. He was dog tired after being up all night and needed to keep his wits about him. He knew that it was as important that his brain was ready for what was coming next as his body. He sucked in three deep breaths of the cold night air, felt it fill his lungs and start to oxygenate his brain. The fresh air helped drive the tiredness away and make him more alert. As his mind cleared he pushed his emotions down, forcing Eve from his thoughts. He had a clear goal now and he needed to focus on that. See if the bag had been taken and if it hadn't get it out of there as quickly as he could. Or should he wait a while? Not just grab the bag but see if she led them to it?
Either way, the most important thing was to get down there quickly and find a good vantage point to view the bag’s hiding place from. And the sooner he got there the better the chance that he'd beat Harry’s men to it.
He checked the park again, running his eyes over every part of it and the route he would have to take to get back to the tear in the fence. There was still no-one in sight. That meant it was time to go.
He ran quickly back along the walkway, his trainers landing lightly on the concrete and making hardly any sound. Running down the stairs he wondered if he was being an idiot, if he shouldn't just be running for the hills and thanking God that he'd made it this far alive. He knew he couldn't do that though. He had to know the truth about Eve. And besides without the money he had no future. As soon as he'd run from that house, the moment he had chosen to keep going and not taken the money where he was supposed to he'd sealed his fate. He was a marked man. Hunted. And he would be until the money was in the hands of the man who had backed the job. Joel knew that his only hope was to disappear and to do that effectively he needed the cash in that bag.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and ran on, eyes scanning left and right all the time, checking every point at which one of Harry's men might appear. Nothing. They must still all be inside the park. Inside with Eve. He hoped she was okay. He realised that he couldn't feel any anger towards her, his feelings were still too tender. Whatever she'd done he didn't wish her harm.
His feet carried him across the road to the beach. It felt good to be running again, his muscles warming up, the endorphins hitting his brain and lifting his mood. He'd get through this one way or another. Emotionally as well as physically.
The sand made little sighs as he ran across it, the grains slipping against each other under his feet. He'd never been to the beach as a kid, had always longed to when he saw it on TV. The sea had seemed so wonderfully open and free to a kid who was used to never having any privacy, who had a dozen other children shouting and banging around him all the time. He'd have loved to come here as a child; to the beach and the park. Now he was here it was twenty years too late and for all the wrong reasons.
He could see the split in the fence up ahead now, waiting for him. The gateway back into the park. It was the door that would take him back to Eve and the truth about her feelings for him but he knew it was also the way back into the lion's den. Harry's men were there in force now, and they wouldn't be as easily evaded as they had been before.
He reached the fence, and his fingers closing on the cold metal of the chain link. He imagined walking away, the future that path held for him. Always running from the men who now wanted revenge on him and never knowing whether Eve had betrayed him or not. That was no life, he'd rather be dead than live like that.
His fingers pulled the rip in the fence open again and he stepped back into the park.
Chapter Thirty Nine
Eve sat and stared at her uncle, his words ringing in her ears. She had no doubt that he could have Joel killed; she also didn't doubt that he would if he had reason to. Or even if he just felt like it.
As a kid she'd known there was something different about Harry, known because of the way he approached her. And the favours. He did things that he didn't want other adults to know about, she came to realise, and that set him apart from the rest of them.
It was only when she was a teenager, after her father died, that she realised there was more to it than that. More to Harry than just the slightly strange uncle who had secrets.
It started one day at school, at lunchtime. Started with a glare and a shout and a push. Dawn Marsden running up to her in the playground, her eyes full of loathing.
"Bitch. Fucking bitch." Eve didn't know how to react, she wondered at first if the older girl was even coming towards her. She looked around but there was no one else nearby and the people she could see were all staring at her. Then she turned back and Dawn was right there, both arms outstretched in front of her, shoving Eve backwards. Eve stumbled but managed to keep her balance, waving her arms to remain upright. Dawn stepped forward, almost on top of her. She raised her right hand, that look of hate still in her eyes. Eve stepped back just in time to dodge the blow. Dawn’s open hand passed in front of her face, close enough that her long nails raked across Eve's cheek leaving three light scratches in the flesh.
Eve struck back, pushing the bigger girl away from her. Dawn stumbled backwards, the anger still on her face was joined by surprise now. Bewildered, Eve turned and ran, back into the school buildings and to the safety of her classroom. She had no idea where Dawn's rage had come from.
As the end of the day drew near Eve grew increasingly nervous, partly because she thought that the older girl might attack her again, partly because she still didn't know why it had happened. It ended up being just as she had feared. No sooner was she out of the school gates then Dawn was behind her. As Eve walked down the street Dawn shoved her and kicked her calves, the rhythm and the strength of the blows gradually increasing. Eve turned and stared at her, “Why," she said. "Why are you doing this?"
"You know why," Dawn spat back. "Because of him. Your fucking uncle. Mr Big Bollocks." The name sounded funny in her mouth, like something she'd heard an adult say but didn't fully understand.
Eve had more than one uncle but she knew straight away which one Dawn meant. Harry. It could only be Harry. Why the hell was she mad at him though? "What's he done to you?"
"Not me," Dawn said. "Dad. Mum and Dad." Her face changed then and she suddenly looked five years younger. A scared little kid not the intimidating figure she'd been a moment before. Her mouth turned down and Eve thought she would cry but she didn't. Instead she turned and ran away.
Eve sprinted the rest of the way home, arriving flushed and upset. She ran straight up to her room, avoiding Mum and her worried look. As soon as the door was closed she started crying. Tears of confusion and fear. She still didn't understand what had happened, what Uncle Harry could have done to make Dawn attack her.
Later on over dinner she tried to get some clues from her mother, knowing she had to be subtle about it so as not to trigger a barrage of concerned questions. Up in her room she had been thinking about how to ask. She’d sat in front of her mirror pasting her mum’s foundation over the scratches to cover them up. She’d managed that act of concealment but hadn't really come up with a solution she was happy with so in the end she just blurted it out.
"What does Uncle Harry do, Mum?"
Her Mum, looked at her, that worried expression immediately on her face again.
"You shouldn't be asking questions like that,” she said.
"Why? I know what everyone else does. Everybody. But not him."
Her mother shook her head and carried on eating.
"Mum!" Eve said insistently after a minute.
The woman sighed and put her knife and fork down. "I suppose you're old enough," she said. "He's a crook, Eve. A gangster. There isn't a decent bone in his body. How he came from the same woman as your dad I'll never know."
"But what does he do?"
"I don't know and I don't want to know. It was getting mixed up with his business that killed your dad. I don't want any more talk of it."
On that she was firm, she went back to her meal, eating in silence.
Later on Eve phoned her friend Claire and told her what her mum had said.
"Didn't you know?" the other girl said. "I thought everyone knew."
She told Eve stories then, stories her older brother had told her. Stories about money lent and debts owed and legs broken. Harry did lots of things, dodgy things, Claire told her. But his main business was lending money to people who needed it and then getting them to pay him a lot more back.
"Is that what happened with Dawn? Her Dad borrowed money off Uncle Harry?"
"Yeah, and he couldn't pay it back. So..." Claire paused and Eve could hear the uncertainty in her silence.
"Tell me," she said. "Tell me, Claire. I need to know."
"So this is what my brother said. He said Harry made Dawn's Mum go on the game to pay him back. You know, let men fuck her for money. Let your uncle fuck her."
Eve felt sick, but so many things from the past made sense now. Her Mum and Dad arguing about Harry, the favours he asked her to do, the air of arrogance he carried with him like a stick he could beat people with.
Sitting with him in the cafe she felt that sickness again. She was suddenly appalled that she was even related to this man.
"Do you know how I found out what sort of man you are?"
Harry smiled. "Was it the profile they did on me in the Mail on Sunday?"
"A girl at school told me. She attacked me. Because her dad owed you money and you made her mum pay it back on her back. I was thirteen when it happened."
Harry spread his hands. "Look I'm sorry, Eve. I've never been involved in anything like that though. Never."
"Well that was what I heard."
"What was this? Fifteen years ago?"
"About that yes."
"What was the name?” She couldn’t tell if he was actually concerned or just interested.
Eve told her and Harry smiled.
“Oh I remember her, nice lady she was. I didn’t do anything like you said, I promise you that. Her old man owed me money, that’s true, what the two of them did to get the money to pay me back I don’t know. Pay me back they did though. It was a happy ending all round from what I recall. Long time ago of course but it’s all still up here. All my business is.” He tapped his temple.
“They don’t all end happily though do they, your little bits of business?”
“Some people need a little encouragement to pay me back what they owe, that’s true.”
Eve looked at him. She hadn’t spoken to him this much in years, not since her childhood. “Tell me about Dad.”
“What happened to my brother was a terrible tragedy.”
“I know. Tell me what happened though. All I know is he went with you to do something and then he was dead.”
Harry to a breath. “Someone owed me money. A lowlife, I should never have lent to him in the first place. I’m to blame for what happened in that respect. Your dad had hit some bad times so he was doing some work for me to earn enough to keep you and your mum. He came with me that night, to go and get what I was owed. The guy laid into your dad I tried to stop him, Eve, please believe me, but that scumbag got a lucky punch in, broke something in your dad’s brain. That was all it took for my brother to be taken away from me.” He had tears in his ears, Eve couldn’t tell if they were real or not.
“What happened to him? The man?” she said.
“After he’d done it he ran. Fucked off like the coward he was. That night my priority was getting your dad to the hospital, to save him. To try and save him.” He sighed. Paused. “Sorry, it’s hard remembering.”
“What happened, Harry?”
“The next week I found him and got my money back. And then I killed him.” He wiped his hand over his face and when he took it away the tears were gone and his smile was back. “This is all ancient history though. Let’s focus on the present, Eve, please. I need you, I really need you, to tell me where that bloody bag is.”
Chapter Forty
The first time Joel had stepped through that gap in the fence his heart had been light, giddy with the joy of having met Eve. Thrilled by the adventure they were on together. Now it sat heavily in his chest, cold and hard like a stone. Better that than feel anything though.
He could see the lights of the cafe in the distance. She must be in there, he thought, Eve. It was risky, he knew, probably stupidly so, but he felt like he needed to see her. Needed to see for himself how she was with Harry so that he could gauge the relationship between them.
He felt his priorities shifting. Getting to the bag was still important, both because of what it might tell him and because he needed the money inside it. But now that he was close to Eve again it felt less important, what mattered was seeing her again. She had a hold on him that made his stomach turn over on itself. She was the moon and his gut was the ocean getting pulled this way and that like the tide. He decided he’d see her and then go for the bag.
He paused in the darkness by the fence, eyes searching every inch of the park for any signs of Harry's men. His ears were alert too, straining to hear anything above the distant sound of traffic and the gentle crashing of the waves on the beach. There was nothing, just the white noise of a seaside town in the middle of the night.
