He carried Tyson’s body to the freezer unit that had been installed to keep the feed for the horses. He was exhausted, and then walked outside to the container and spent the night on the folding bed.
The next morning, he woke up at seven. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Kevin, but it needed to get it done.
He dialled the number.
“Hello.”
Roger recognised his gruff voice.
“It’s Roger Maynard. Look, I’m sorry to tell you this but there’s been an accident. Tyson’s dead. He knocked me out and ran off last night and drowned in a swimming pool. My condolences.”
“This is a joke, right. You’re trying to wind me up. What’s your game?”
“I can assure you this is no joke. I’m not that sick. It was an acc–”
The line went dead.
Roger’s dad Vernon had spent the night at the Milton Motel and came down for breakfast, feeling a lot better.
He didn’t know where his son was and the phone calls he had made had gone unanswered.
He decided to call the only person he knew might be able to help.
He had always got on with Francis, Roger’s ex-wife. To an extent he had understood why she had gone off with someone else. Over the years, Roger had concentrated on building up his business, and his marriage had suffered as a result. He and his wife had often arranged to go over to the house for a family meal, only to find when they got there that Roger was stuck at work. They had been very hands-on grandparents. Roger was their only son, and therefore Julie had been their only granddaughter, and they had adored her. So Francis and Roger’s parents had built up a special bond over the years.
Vernon dialled her number.
“Francis, it’s Vernon. There’s been a spot of trouble. I’m staying at the Milton Motel. I don’t want to go over it on the phone. I wondered if you were free to come and visit me for a chat. It’s about Roger.”
“Of course. I’ve not a lot on today. Is Elsie with you?”
Vernon didn’t want to break the news over the phone that his wife had been killed. “No. Not at the moment.”
“I can tell something’s upset you. I’ve just got to drop something off at the post office and then I’ll be right over.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
THE COFFEE LOUNGE INCIDENT
As Francis got in her car and turned left out of her driveway, she didn’t pay any attention to the tatty old dark blue Vauxhall Corsa that started following her.
After stopping at the post office, she drove to the Milton Motel and parked at the front. The Corsa drove around the side and parked up. As she walked into reception, she was unaware of the eyes that didn’t let her out of their sight.
Builders had just finished the refurbishment of the front of the hotel. The reception area had been updated and an extension added for a new coffee lounge so that the old coffee lounge at the rear could be turned into a restaurant and conference facility.
Roger’s dad sat in the new coffee lounge near the entrance and looked out for Francis. As she arrived, he got up and went to greet her. She kissed him on the cheek, and they hugged. They then walked through to the corner table where Vernon had been sitting.
Vinny Watkins was Kevin’s cousin and had worked for him for the past eight years, between stints in prison, doing odd jobs and generally treated like a piece of crap. He had witnessed first-hand the brutality of Kevin and his two sons. But he was loyal. Kevin had taken him in when he’d had nowhere to live. Now he had a small caravan at the rear of the Two Oaks Caravan Park next to the O’Connor residence. It wasn’t much, but it was a roof over his head. Kevin didn’t pay him much unless it was a ‘special job’ where he needed him to keep his mouth shut about what he had witnessed. But other than a few quid for rollups and a few pints, he didn’t need much.
Once Vinny spotted Roger’s dad coming to greet the lady he had been tailing, Vinny walked back to his car and phoned Kevin.
“Kevin, I was watching the ex-wife’s house, like you told me. I’ve followed her to the Milton Motel. And she’s met up with the old man you had hidden at the farm. What do you want me to do?”
“Stay around and watch them. Call me if they leave.”
Nothing frightened Kevin O’Connor. Nothing that was, apart from his wife, Sadie.
He knew in his heart of hearts the news he had been given by Roger Maynard was true. Tyson was dead.
Now he had to tell his wife. It was never going to be a good time.
She wasn’t due to visit him in the hospital until the afternoon, but he needed to tell her now. Just in case Roger told her. If the news came from anyone else, it didn’t bear thinking about.
He dialled her number.
“Sadie. I’ve got some bad news. Prepare yourself for the absolute worst.”
“What are you on about?”
“That bastard Roger Maynard has killed him. Tyson’s dead. He drowned him in a swimming pool. Our son is dead.”
“Where is he, this fucking Roger Maynard?”
“I don’t know. But his father is at the Milton Motel with Roger’s ex-wife. Vinny’s there keeping an eye on them, but there’s no sign of Maynard. I guess he’s in hiding somewhere else. But we’ll get him. Believe me, we’ll get him.”
No one took any notice of the white Mercedes as it sped into the car park of the Milton Motel. At first glance, the driver looked like any typical woman in her mid-forties. She parked the car, got out.
