Jail Bird

all. Not me.’

‘Yeah? Because I’m sort of puzzled by something.’

‘Go on,’ said Lily, feeling hurt and confused by this sudden and unexpected attack. ‘Let’s have this out in the open.’

‘Si King and Freddy want to do you damage, so you say.’

‘I say it, Jack. Because it’s true.’

‘Then why didn’t they get to you while you were inside? Perfect alibi for them: you in stir and them out in the open. If they wanted your arse so badly.’

Lily slumped back in the passenger seat. He had a point. She knew he did.

She passed a weary hand over her face. ‘I don’t have the answer to that, Jack.’

‘No, neither do I, and that sort of bothers me. And what bothers me even more is that I might be helping you with some crazy sort of vendetta. What bothers me is what’s going to happen to those other poor cows who’ve crossed you.’

‘Jack…’ started Lily desperately.

‘No, listen. You told me you wanted revenge. Is this it, Lily?’ Now he was staring at her face as if looking for the truth there. ‘Is this all you, Lily? Julia scarred. Alice drowned. What are you doing here, picking them off one by one?’

Lily was silent, fuming. How could he think that?

Easily, she reasoned with herself. He didn’t really know her.

‘What, you got nothing to say?’ challenged Jack.

‘No,’ said Lily. ‘Just drive the damned car, will you? I think we’ve just about said it all.’

47

‘You cunt,’ said Freddy King, red-faced with rage.

‘There’s no harm done, Mr King,’ said Jase quickly, trying to get his arse out of the fire while he still could; talking rapidly, persuasively. ‘It was a near miss. Nick O’Rourke was with her, that’s true, but I missed. I missed them both. Next time, I’ll get the cow.’

‘You bloody fool,’ snapped Freddy. ‘You soft-headed…what the fuck you done now?’

They were up in the office above the club, and Freddy was going berserk. Jase was looking shame-faced at the carpet, feeling like seven different kinds of shit was raining down upon his head.

He knew he’d fucked up. Should have looked more carefully, should have got her when she left the house in the taxi rather than waiting until she came out of the restaurant, but he hadn’t been feeling well; actually he’d been feeling like shit, his head aching, his chest hurting. Jesus, he was going to have to let up on those fucking pills and he would, just as soon as he’d got the door back, just as soon as he’d got back in sweet with Si and Freddy.

But now, this. He’d screwed up. Knew he had to take a caning over it. So he stood there and took the abuse Freddy was heaping upon him and thought, Okay, get it out of your system, you arsehole, call me any fucking thing you like, and then simmer down and forget it.

Only Freddy didn’t seem to be simmering down. And, as for forgetting it, Jase didn’t think so.

‘Look, I’ve been straight with you, ain’t I?’ asked Jase desperately after the arse-kicking had gone on for what he felt was long enough.

‘Oh, that’s all bloody right then,’ said Freddy, thumping a meaty fist down on the desk. ‘That’s just sodding well fine. But see – I really hate to piss on your fireworks – you think Nick O’Rourke’s going to stand for this? Nah. He’s gonna be combing the streets to find the little git who had the nerve to try a stunt like that. And how long before he gets back to you, you stupid tosser, and then to me?’

‘There’s no way it can be traced back,’ said Jase quickly. ‘I torched it out in the middle of nowhere. There’s no way, I promise you.’

‘You promise me!’ Freddy stood up, came around the desk, and although Jase stood a head taller than him he grabbed him around the throat and in an instant had shoved him back over the desk.

Freddy’s leering crazy face was inches from Jase’s own as Freddy put all his considerable weight upon Jase’s chest. Jase didn’t move. Intimidation wasn’t about size, it was about attitude – and Christ did Freddy have that. Not as much as Si, but still, he had it. Jase could hardly breathe, but he didn’t moan on. Best not to. Best to just keep it buttoned and take this, get it over with. Wasn’t it?

But he hated being treated like this. He was the main man, or he had been until Si had kicked him into touch. It had all been going so good, then wallop! Back down the snake. On his arse.

‘Don’t you go giving out promises, you little shite,’ snarled Freddy, with his knee up on Jase’s chest.

Couldn’t breathe…

‘Your fucking promises ain’t worth that,’ Freddy snapped the fingers of one hand derisively in Jase’s face. Jase flinched. Felt the anger building. Treating him like this. Him. After he’d worked his bollocks off to get where he was today.

‘Mr King…’ Jase started, unsure of what he was going to say, only knowing that he couldn’t take this, it was too much. He’d thought he could handle it, do the crime, do the time, ain’t that what the bitch Lily had done? Kept her head down, taken her punishment? But he couldn’t do that. All right, he’d made mistakes. But that door downstairs was his door, and he wanted it back. He was losing cred among his mates on the streets, and now Freddy was kneeling on his chest and he couldn’t breathe…

Suddenly – violently – he flung Freddy off. He saw Freddy’s mad eyes widen in surprise and he liked that, his blood was up. He gave Freddy a hard smack across the jaw that sent him thudding back into the door.

Bliss.

For an instant, anyway. Then the red haze of rage fell away and sanity returned. Jase realized what he’d done. You didn’t take a poke at one of the King brothers and get away with it. Freddy straightened and put a hand to his jaw. His eyes were on Jase and they were murderous.

Jase had to think, and think fast.

‘What if I told Nick you ordered it done?’ he flung out just as Freddy was launching himself forward.

Freddy froze. ‘You what?’

Jase’s eyes took on a crazy light as true inspiration hit him. That was it. ‘Yeah,’ he said, bouncing on his toes, his knuckles smarting from the punch he’d doled out to Freddy

Jesus, he’d hit Freddy King, a sane part of his brain was hollering, but he wasn’t listening; the blood was singing in his ears and he felt as high as a kite because he had it, this was it, this was his way back in.

‘You get me my door back okay? Or when Nick O’Rourke comes looking, I tell him you asked me to do it. How’d you like that? After all, it’s the fucking truth. Ain’t it?’

Freddy was silent, his eyes fastened on Jase, one hand cupping his throbbing jaw. Then he dropped his hand. Nodded.

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘It’s the truth. Even if you did make a complete balls of it.’

‘I can put it right,’ said Jase, wanting to be helpful here. If Freddy was magnanimous enough to concede a point, then damn sure he could too. ‘No charge.’

‘No charge except the door, right?’ asked Freddy with a slight smile. Then he winced. ‘Jesus, kid, that’s a good right hand you got there. A real haymaker.’

‘I’m sorry I hit you, Mr King,’ said Jase. ‘Really I am.’

Freddy made a so what gesture and went back around the desk. He sat in the chair and looked up at Jase. ‘I like someone who can handle themselves. Someone who can dish it out as well as take it. Forget it.’

‘That’s very big of you, Mr King,’ said Jase. ‘Will you talk to Si? About the door? And we can work something out about Mrs King, no sweat. I’ll sort it. Best to do her inside the house, really. Make it look accidental. Nice and easy.’

‘Sure, sure,’ said Freddy. The door, the door. They were in the middle of a serious