Raven, page 20
‘I hope he comes out soon,’ Georgina said quietly. ‘I want this over with.’
‘Me too,’ he murmured. Of all the times he’d stood by her, this was the first time that Johnny had a niggling bad feeling. He tried to push it aside and told himself that he was being daft. Maybe he felt uneasy after seeing that Larry’s luck had run out. Or maybe it was because they were in an unfamiliar area. Perhaps he was just getting older and wiser. Whatever was unnerving him, he knew that he didn’t want to die in this sleepy town. But something was telling him that tragedy was close by.
20
Georgina had been pleased to see Greta ready and waiting up the road with her catapult poised ready to fire at Thomas Kelly. She’d known that the girl wouldn’t have let her down. She knew it wasn’t the best of plans, in fact a bit daft really, but it was all she could come up with in a short time. She made a mental note to remind herself to arrange a regular payment to Clara and the kids. No children deserved to grow up in the conditions that Greta and her brothers and sister were living in. Their home, their sunken eyes and skinny, undernourished little bodies had put her in mind of Molly and her sisters when they’d been kids. Molly’s family had lived in two rooms, just like Clara and her children. Molly had been deprived of a good meal for most of her childhood and had dressed in little more than rags.
Georgina had never told Molly, but her best friend was part of the reason that she fought so hard to make a better life for Alfie and Selina. She couldn’t abide the thought of them being dragged up in the way Molly had been. And it upset her to see Greta and the younger ones having to live in that way now. But not for much longer. Georgina would see to it that their lives were improved a little.
‘Its bleedin’ uncomfortable crouched down like this. It must be closing time so I hope Kelly makes an appearance soon.’
‘Shush, Johnny. No talking. Don’t say a word. And don’t look up.’
Georgina’s back ached and her left foot tingled with pins and needles. She gritted her teeth and hoped her foot didn’t go completely numb.
‘How much longer?’ Johnny whispered.
‘As long as it takes. Just shut it!’
Georgina’s ears pricked. She was sure that she heard Greta’s voice. She fought the urge to lift her head and held her breath instead.
‘You cheeky little shit!’ Kelly shouted.
This was it. Greta had fulfilled her part in Kelly’s downfall and now Georgina prayed that he’d jump into the car. Just as she’d hoped, she heard the door open. Seconds later, as Kelly plonked himself down in the driver’s seat, the passenger door also opened. Georgina waited until she heard both doors bang shut and then Kelly started the engine.
‘That was Clara’s girl. She needs a fucking good hiding, just like her mother. Wait ’til I get my hands on her,’ Kelly growled.
Georgina nodded to Johnny and in unison they both sat up, Georgina shoving her gun against the back of Kelly’s head, and Johnny doing the same to his passenger. ‘Don’t move or I’ll blow your fucking brains out,’ she ordered, her calm tone shrouding her internal panic.
‘What the fuck…?’ the fat passenger spat.
‘Shut it,’ Johnny barked and Georgina noticed that he drove the barrel of his gun harder against the man’s head.
‘Put your hands where we can see them,’ she commanded. ‘Both of you.’
The men slowly raised their arms. And then Kelly spoke. ‘I knew it. I fucking knew that you was in town. Nice to finally meet you, Georgina.’
‘It’s Miss Garrett to the likes of you,’ Johnny snarled.
She ignored Kelly and reached forward to frisk him and remove his gun. She felt safer with the man’s weapon in her hands, yet still held her own gun at his head.
Johnny did the same to the passenger, but when he didn’t find a gun, he demanded, ‘Where is it?’
‘I don’t have one.’
‘Knife?’
‘In my sock.’
‘Give it to me… slowly.’
The man did as he was told, then Kelly spoke again, and though being held at gunpoint, he showed no fear. ‘Have you enjoyed your trip from London?’ he asked.
‘Drive,’ Georgina snapped.
‘Where to?’
‘Just fucking drive or I’ll shoot you right here.’
‘Can I put my hands back on the steering wheel?’
‘DRIVE!’ she yelled. His sarcasm grated on her to the point of almost making her teeth ache.
The car lurched forward, but then the engine stalled. Kelly started it again and he licked his dry lips. Georgina smirked. It was a clear sign that he was more nervous than he was letting on.
Johnny gave the directions to the barn, which Kelly carefully followed without saying a word. The fat bloke was sweating. Though Georgina hardly took her eyes off Kelly, she could see perspiration beads on the fat bloke’s balding head. To be fair, it was hot in the car and she was sweating too. Her hand felt clammy and her pulse raced. She wouldn’t relax until she had Kelly secured.
When they arrived at the turning for the barn, Johnny told Kelly to follow the uneven road. The car bumped and jolted over the uneven ground, rattling Georgina’s bones. But she still held her gun firmly at Kelly’s head. Outside the barn. Georgina ordered Kelly to stop the car, and once he did, she snapped, ‘Right, put your hands up again.’ As he did as he was told, she told Johnny to get out first while she kept her gun aimed at both Kelly and his passenger. She hoped he wouldn’t try to escape because then she’d have to kill him quickly. She didn’t want that. Kelly needed to die slowly and in agony, just as David had.
Georgina and Johnny pushed the men towards the barn. Johnny heaved the doors open yet when Georgina walked in with her gun in the nape of Kelly’s neck, she couldn’t see any sign of Nobby and Eric. But then the twins emerged from behind an old cart, both of them also pointing their weapons at Kelly.
‘You got him,’ Nobby said, smiling broadly.
‘Yep. Strip them, sit them and tie them,’ Georgina answered.
‘Shall we gag ’em an’ all?’
‘No. I want to hear them bawling and begging for their lives.’
Nobby and Eric moved towards the fat man first. ‘You heard the lady,’ Nobby said. ‘Strip.’
The fat man didn’t protest and began to quickly remove his clothes. He stood in just his grubby underwear and socks, looking terrified.
‘Take everything off,’ Georgina ordered. She looked at the man with revulsion and wondered if he’d been one of the blokes who had punched Charlotte in the stomach, causing her to miscarry.
The man stepped out of his underwear and stumbled sideways as he pulled off his socks. Georgina avoided looking at his revolting body and told Nobby, ‘Tie him to the wheel of the cart.’
Once he was secured, she turned her attention back to Kelly. ‘Now you,’ she demanded.
Kelly held out his hands in an open gesture and asked disbelievingly, ‘You can’t be serious?’
‘Oh, believe me. I’m dead fucking serious. Take off your clothes or Nobby will cut them off and I can’t guarantee he won’t slice your flesh while he’s doing it.’
Kelly grinned, showing no sign of fear. ‘All right. If that’s what you want. I never had you down for a dirty cow, Georgina. But if you want to see what a real man looks like, then I’m happy to oblige.’
Georgina didn’t respond. She wouldn’t sink to Kelly’s level and play his games. Instead, she nodded at Nobby who stormed across from the cart and punched Kelly on the side of the head. Kelly’s trilby hat fell off as he staggered sideways, took several stumbling steps but remained on his feet.
Johnny moved forward and poked his finger in the man’s face. ‘I told you. It’s Miss Garrett. And don’t fucking speak to her unless you’re asked to,’ he snarled.
Kelly, looking a bit dazed, turned his head and glared at Georgina with contempt.
‘Now strip,’ Nobby spat.
He removed his jacket and folded it before placing it on the dirt floor beside him. Then his tie, braces and shirt followed and he folded those too. Kelly next took off his shoes and socks, along with his watch, which he put inside one of his shoes. With a sardonic smile, he then fixed his eyes on Georgina as his trousers fell around his ankles.
Her only reaction was too look at him disdainfully.
He shrugged, then folding the trousers neatly, he placed them on the pile of clothes. Fixing his eyes on Georgina again, he began to pull down his pants.
She decided to bait him and said, as she wiggled her little finger at him, ‘I bet you’ve got the tiniest dick.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Kelly drawled. Stark naked he stood with his chest puffed out and his hands on his hips. He was trying to be blasé but Georgina knew that he must be feeling humiliated.
Nobby went behind Kelly and grabbed his arms, pulling them tight behind his back and asked, ‘Where do you want him?’
Georgina knew exactly where she wanted him. She’d already done a quick recce of the barn and was fully aware of what tools and utensils were at her disposal. ‘Bang four pegs into the ground. Here will be perfect,’ she answered, pointing to a spot that was about six feet in front of the fat bloke. ‘Then spread-eagle him.’
Nobby and Eric wasted no time in hammering the wooden stakes into the ground. After tying rope around Kelly’s wrists and ankles and securing him to the stakes, they stood back and smiled admiringly at their work.
Ever so slowly, Georgina menacingly walked around the man, and then she leaned over his stretched-out body and spat in his face. Kelly tried to avoid her spittle by turning his head to the side but her phlegm dripped into his ear.
‘Oh, very ladylike,’ he said, with a scowl of disgust.
‘I don’t pretend to be a lady. Make no mistake, Kelly, you will die, but in agony. I’m going to hurt you badly, and your death will be a slow and unbearable one.’
‘Is that right?’ he asked, showing no fear.
It angered her and she shouted, ‘By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll be crying and screaming, begging for me to kill you.’
‘You’d best get on with it then.’
Nobby, his voice thick with hatred, growled down at Kelly. ‘You was told not to speak to Miss Garrett unless you’re told to,’ and with that he kicked Kelly’s head in the same spot as he’d previously punched him.
‘Not too hard,’ Georgina warned. ‘I want him conscious.’
Kelly’s head had sagged to one side so he was looking towards the barn door. ‘Turn his head so that he’s looking at the ugly bastard tied to the cart,’ Georgina told Nobby.
The man nodded and forced Kelly’s face towards the fat bloke. Kelly didn’t protest.
Georgina addressed the fat bloke, asking, ‘What’s your name?’
‘Titch,’ he quickly replied.
‘Well, Titch, you are surplus to my requirements.’
‘Eh?’
Georgina rolled her eyes. He didn’t look the brightest of tools in the box and probably didn’t understand words of more than two syllables, so she explained, ‘I mean, I don’t need you, but tell me, Titch, did you beat up my friend Charlotte and her husband?’
‘What? Who?’
‘Tell me the truth and I’ll ensure your death is an easy one. Lie to me and you’ll suffer.’
Titch swallowed hard as his panicked eyes flitted from Georgina and then to Johnny, Nobby and Eric. ‘Yeah – yeah, I did but it was on his orders,’ he answered and nodded his head towards Kelly.
Kelly closed his eyes and shook his head as he moaned, ‘You fucking turncoat.’
‘Sorry, Boss, but if I’m going to die, I want it to be quick.’
‘Shut up, you pathetic lump,’ Kelly seethed. ‘You should have taken it like a man and kept your trap shut.’
Georgina stepped between Kelly’s spread legs, pulled her foot back and kicked him hard in the balls with as much force as she could muster. Kelly screamed, a long, high-pitched wail that sounded like an injured animal.
‘I’ve been looking forward to doing that,’ she said, brushing her hands together. ‘Nothing is going to give me more joy than hearing you crying out in sheer bloody agony.’
Kelly was still groaning, his face crumpled in pain.
‘Right. Let’s deal with him first,’ Georgina said and pointed at Titch. ‘Nobby, get the scythe and cut open his stomach.’
‘Can I do it?’ Johnny asked.
Georgina looked at her right-hand man. They’d both seen Charlotte being stoic as she’d lost her unborn baby. And Georgina knew that it had upset Johnny. He was ever so fond of the girl and wanted revenge on the man who’d hurt her. ‘Yes, Johnny. This one is yours,’ she answered.
As Kelly lay grumbling on the ground, Johnny went to the barn wall and took down the old, rusty scythe. He marched determinedly towards Titch and then lifted the scythe over his head. With both hands on the handle, he brought it down across the man’s large stomach.
Titch screamed, a low and reverberating rumble, unlike Kelly’s squeal. But the skin stretched across his belly hardly broke. Deep red and purple bruises began to manifest instantly but there was no blood.
‘You said you’d make it quick,’ Titch moaned at Georgina.
‘I lied.’
Titch dropped his head to his chin and his shoulders began to jerk as he cried like a baby. For a fleeting second, and only a fleeting second, Georgina felt sorry for him. But then she quickly reminded herself of Charlotte’s heartbreak.
Johnny lifted the scythe over his head again, but Nobby stepped forward and stayed his hands. ‘Step aside, pretty boy. It’s gonna need a bit of muscle to get through that blubber. You’re better with a gun.’
With a nod, Johnny handed over the scythe, but Nobby threw it to one side and then surveyed the other tools on the wall. He walked up and down, looking at each one in turn.
‘Please, don’t do this,’ Titch cried. ‘Please, I don’t want to die… Please, I’m begging you.’
As Titch begged, Kelly’s whimpering had quietened down but Georgina could see the man was still in discomfort. She didn’t care. She wanted his suffering to last much longer. He was going to regret cutting out David’s heart and sending it to her in a box.
Nobby took a three-pronged pitchfork with thick tines off the wall and asked, ‘How about this?’
‘Hmm, to be honest,’ Georgina said, ‘I’d prefer that his stomach is sliced open rather than jabbed.’
‘Use this,’ Johnny offered and pulled a knife from his pocket that he’d taken from Titch earlier. He tested the blade. ‘It’s nice and sharp.’
‘Good thinking, Johnny,’ Georgina praised.
Nobby took the knife and leaned over Titch. ‘How do you feel about your own knife being used to slice you open?’
‘No, please, no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t so this,’ Titch implored.
Nobby, unaffected by Titch’s pleas, stabbed the knife into the side of his belly. Titch screamed in horror and pain, and continued screaming and crying as Nobby pulled the knife across his stomach in a sawing motion. Titch’s body jerked and shook uncontrollably but Nobby dragged the sharp blade from one side of his stomach to the other.
Georgina wasn’t squeamish but she couldn’t bring herself to look at the wound. She heard Johnny say, ‘Blimey, that took a long time to start bleeding.’
Titch’s screams had died down to sobbing. In between his sobs, he voice weak, he pleaded again. ‘I’m dying… Fuck… I’m sorry… Please, help me…’
‘Shut up,’ Nobby growled.
‘I can’t stand it. Just finish me off,’ he begged.
‘What do you think, Miss Garrett, shall I finish him off?’
Georgina gritted her teeth. She’d made a promise to Charlotte and she intended to keep it. ‘Pull his guts out,’ she ordered.
‘What? You’re telling me to pull out his intestines?’
‘You heard me.’
‘Come off it, Miss Garrett. I ain’t sticking me hand in there!’
‘I’ll do it,’ Johnny said, ‘after seeing the state that Charlotte was in, it’ll give me great pleasure.’
Georgina nodded and Johnny removed his coat and then turned up his shirt sleeves. He rolled his shoulders, sucked in three rapid breaths and then shoved his hand into the man’s gaping wound.
Titch cried out and thrust his head from side to side. ‘No… No… No…’ he screamed. ‘Kill me…’ Titch begged as tears streamed down his face. ‘Just kill me.’
Johnny retched as a slimy lump of pink and bloodied mess flopped from Titch’s stomach and onto his lap, spilling over to the dirty ground. Even Nobby had to avert his eyes at the revolting sight of the man’s insides.
Georgina stood over Kelly again, and when a scream of agony filled the barn, she said, ‘You’re going to suffer a lot more than that.’
Johnny, looking satisfied, picked up some old rags to wipe the blood from his hands.
‘Shut him up. He’s giving me a bloody headache,’ Georgina ordered.
Johnny didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger, putting a bullet in Titch’s head. The barn instantly fell silent and after taking a deep breath, she told the twins, ‘Sort him out. Cover him.’
The twins threw an old tarpaulin over Titch’s body.
‘What’s this? Are you too squeamish to look at your men’s handiwork,’ Thomas Kelly asked, somehow managing another of his supercilious smiles.
Johnny walked over to stand beside her and pulled a lighter from his pocket. He flicked it alight and held the flame to Kelly’s cheek. ‘I’d take great pleasure in setting your face on fire and then shoving it in Titch’s stomach to fill the hole where his guts are missing.’
Kelly’s cheek began to burn and turn crimson from the heat. The smell of singed hair reached Georgina’s nose. ‘No, Johnny, I want him to suffer more than that.’
With obvious reluctance, Johnny killed the flame. ‘Yeah, all right, but if the bastard doesn’t show you a bit of respect, I’ll light him up like a torch.’
She nodded. Thanks to Johnny, she had had fulfilled her promise to Charlotte and now, at last, she could turn her attention fully to Kelly.
