Past and Future, page 18
“Sounds like you have things under control. Any news on when Maria will be meeting with Steel yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“I’ve heard he’ll be out of the country longer than he had anticipated.”
“Well, that would explain why she hasn’t heard anything yet.”
“Remember to keep me updated,” he says.
“As soon as I know, you’ll hear from me.”
We end the call and I stare ahead. In turf wars, there are always two sides and anyone else caught up within it has to choose. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but at the moment, it is looking very likely. If it comes down to it, it’s between us and Steel, and I hope McGovern makes his choice wisely.
Yawning, I rub my face. There’s not enough coffee in my system yet, considering how little I slept last night. Lou drifted in and out of sleep but didn’t have any nightmares. We talked whenever she was awake, and when she was asleep, I spent the time just holding her in my arms. She looked so peaceful, as though she didn’t have a care in the world. All the stress and anxiety disappeared in those moments. She looked so young and almost happy.
I’m not convinced I’m happy with the girls working here in the afternoon. I know Joe is usually around, but he’s out doing an errand because I’m here. Something has me spooked today, for whatever reason, and I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the call from McGovern, but I don’t think so.
I stand, stretching my legs and then my shoulders, and walk over to the bar. I need some water. The front door creeps open and a delivery driver stands there with a large box. “Delivery for Miss DeLuca,” he says, stepping toward me and placing the box on the bar.
“I’ll take that,” I say, glancing back towards Maria and Lou who have stopped whatever they were doing to look over at me.
“If you could just sign here,” he says, pushing his electronic device in my hand. These stupid things. Signatures always look so bloody messy.
“Thank you,” I say, handing it back to him, and he leaves the building.
The box sits there, gaining my interest.
“What’s that?” Maria asks as she and Lou join me.
“A delivery for you.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything.” An eerie silence fills the air around us as Maria shrugs her shoulders. She looks to Lou, but she’s as clueless to the delivery as I am. It must be something she’s ordered and forgotten all about. Pregnant women and their hormones. I pick up the box and even I can feel the weight of it.
“Do you want me to open it?”
Maria nods. She walks around the bar and hands me over a knife, the one that is used to cut lemons and limes. I take the knife and carefully slide it underneath the dark tape. When I open the box, there’s another box inside. One that looks as though fresh food would be sent in it. Strange. I lift out the box, sliding the knife under the tape on the top and prising the lid open. Putting the knife down, I pull open the lid and step back, the stench knocking me almost off my feet. I turn and see Lou rubbing Maria’s back as she bends over with her hands over her mouth, trying to stop herself from being sick.
I need to look inside.
Stepping forward, I cover my mouth and nose and look inside. Two bloody feet and two bloody hands. I have no idea who the hell they belong to.
“Fuck!” I close the box quicker than I opened it and step away, pulling Lou and Maria back with me.
“Giovanni, what is it?” Lou asks, her eyes wide. I know she’s scared.
“Some poor bastard’s feet and hands.”
“No!” she gasps, and Maria cries.
I lead them to a table, ensuring they sit down. They’ve had a shock. Fuck, so have I. I go back to the table I was at, pick up my phone, and press call. It rings a few times before he answers it.
“Giovanni, I hope this is important. I don’t have time to talk,” Jack says, and I can hear a commotion of activity in the background, including a helicopter.
“It is. I’m at the club and have just taken a delivery for Maria.”
“What do you have?” he asks, and I think he may have the rest of the body.
“We have hands and feet.”
“Fuck!” He lets out a low sigh. “A body has just been pulled from the river Clyde. But you say only feet and hands.”
“Yes, why?”
“Because it’s missing a fucking head too.”
“Are you working this case?” I ask him, knowing what he had planned to do.
“I wasn’t going to. Craig is leading this one. My letter of resignation has been handed in.”
“I see. Will you tell him what we have here?”
“I’m not sure yet. How are Maria and Lou?” As he asks, I look at the time. We should be leaving soon to collect the girls.
“Maria is crying, but I need to go and get the kids soon and Joe isn’t back yet.”
“Okay. I’m on my way.”
What the hell is the connection? Steel, of course. This is his way of gently reminding us he is around and can do anything and get to anyone. But whose poor body has he mutilated in the process? Only time will tell.
I walk back towards Maria and Lou after ending the call. She’s full on sobbing while Lou comforts her.
“Maria, this will be okay. You need to calm down. Getting worked up will be no good for you or that baby growing inside you.” Lou’s voice is calm as she speaks. “I think we need to deal with this. Take matters into our own hands.”
“What do you mean?” Maria quizzes her through her tears.
“Well, I think we should send that parcel back to where we believe it came from. To Steel.”
“Lou…” Maria wipes her tears and sits up.
“Maria, this isn’t what any of us want, but we can’t let anyone think we’re weak. I don’t want to be involved in the drugs and the girls and whatever the fuck else went on, but we shouldn’t be scared of anyone. We shouldn’t have to live looking over our shoulders.”
“She has a point,” I add, backing up Lou.
“I know. That’s what has me uneasy.”
The club door opens and Joe enters, his eyes already scanning the room and his body tense. “What the fuck is that smell?” he asks, joining us at the table.
“A special delivery that has to be returned to its sender.”
“A body has been pulled from the Clyde.” He tells me the news I already know, but hadn’t yet shared.
“Do we know anything about who it is yet?”
“No, but I do know it’s missing body parts,” Joe tells us.
“We have the other parts,” I tell him. “Joe, can you take care of Maria? Jack is on his way. We need to go and pick up the girls.”
“Oh no,” Lou gasps. “We’ll be late.”
“No, we won’t. It’s me driving. Come on. Joe, can you parcel that box back up and I’ll give you Steel’s private address so that it can be returned.”
“Yes.”
Taking Lou’s hand in mine, we leave the club and get in my car.
“Giovanni, are we doing the right thing by sending it back?” she asks, and I can hear the nerves in her voice.
“Yes, but we will have to do something that shows him he can’t mess with us. Hopefully news of Jack’s resignation won’t travel through the underworld quickly and then we might be able to use that to our advantage.”
“Okay.”
“I promise you everything will be okay.”
This is one promise I plan on keeping.
Chapter Thirty-One
Lou
“What do you mean, Rebecca has been collected?” Beads of sweat run down my back. There’s a knot tightening in my stomach and my body trembles uncontrollably as I slowly take in what the teacher is saying to me. “She has to be here,” I shout, not caring who hears me. I look around the empty playground.
“When was she collected?” Giovanni asks, his voice calmer than mine. I step away from him, wanting to go and look for her, but where do I start?
“Only five minutes ago. It was a man who collected her, and she was more than happy to go with him. She gave me no indication that she shouldn’t.”
“But I was collecting her today as I always do.” I’m crying now because I’m scared. I’ve always collected her. Why would the teacher let her go with someone other than me? Giovanni puts his arm around me, pulling me to him, and I bury my head against his shoulder. “Where is Daisy?” I cry.
“Lou, take a deep breath. I need you to be calm,” Giovanni says, holding onto my shoulders as I attempt to run from him to the nursery.
“She was with the man waiting in the playground. That’s why I presumed it was okay for her to go with him.”
“Giovanni, please call Jack and ask him to find my daughters.”
He nods and makes the call. “Jack, we have another problem…No… It’s the girls. Someone has collected them from school. Okay…I’ll call Teresa now.”
“Why Teresa?” I ask. “Why not the police?”
“Just in case they are home,” he tells me.
“English with Teresa, please.”
He nods and waits on her to answer the phone. “Teresa, you haven’t arranged for the girls to be collected from school… No, Lou and I are here but a man has collected them…What about Steve?”
Relief and hope fills me as I listen to Giovanni’s half of the conversation. Steve has been with me most days to collect them, so the girls would go with him. But why would he come here without me? Especially when he knew Giovanni and I would be collecting them together.
“Well?” I plead with him for information as soon as he ends the call.
“Steve has been out since one p.m. and isn’t there. Teresa had been trying to get him because, well, it doesn’t matter right now why, but he’s not answered the calls. I’ll try him now and if he doesn’t answer we need to call the police.”
My heart sinks and my tears fall as I wait for the call to Steve to connect, but it doesn’t. The weight pulls me down, my legs giving way as I sink to the ground. “Where are my girls?” I cry out.
“Mrs Thomson, come on. We’ll go inside and inform the head teacher and make the calls we need to make,” the teacher says, her voice soft.
Giovanni helps me back to my feet and holds my body upright because I can’t even hold my own weight. He leads me inside the school building. I focus on nothing as we walk the corridors until we’re met with a very concerned head teacher when she takes in my appearance. The teacher tells her everything we know, and I swear the head teacher has already passed judgement on me as she casts her eyes over me disapprovingly with a slight shake of her head. She thinks she knows me.
Who the hell is she to judge?
I’ve come to collect my children from school and nursery and they’re not here. The school is at fault. My breathing quickens and panic sets in. Who has my children and what do they plan on doing with them? Closing my eyes, I see Frank Steel, and that’s the one person I hope doesn’t have my beautiful girls. My heart is racing so fast, it feels as though it may explode.
“Lou, I need you to take deep breaths.” Giovanni rubs my back as he tries to calm me down, but it’s not working. I take a deep breath, opening my eyes, and refocus on my surroundings and him. Looking at him, his face is ashen white, his shoulders tight with tension. I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out except an uncontrollable whimpering. I just want my girls in my arms where they belong. The teacher shows us into the office, and I take a seat while the head teacher calls the police. I hear everyone talking around me, but I have no clue what is being said.
Hopefully Jack will get here before other officers arrive. I trust Jack. He’s family and I know he’ll do everything in his power to bring them back safely to me.
I’m not sure how long I sit before there is a buzz of activity. Jack and Maria, along with several police officers.
“Lou.” I stand as Maria rushes toward me and wraps her arms around me, both of us crying. “We’ll find them. They’ll be safe in your arms soon enough.”
I want to believe her words, but something is lingering in the back of my head. My thoughts can’t drift there. I need to remain positive.
Jack and Giovanni give the officers detailed descriptions of what the girls are wearing, and the teacher adds that Rebecca’s shirt has red paint on it from painting. I bet she enjoyed painting; she loves drawing and colouring in. The officers ask me questions, but I’m still unable to speak, leaving Maria and Giovanni answering on my behalf.
Craig, Jack’s best friend and a detective, enters the room, and from the conversation between the two men, I understand that Craig will be leading this investigation. I hear Giovanni tell them that we have been unable to contact Steve and that he thinks he might have picked up the girls.
Craig takes Jack and Giovanni to the side away from the other officers and I’m fairly certain he’s asking if there is anything he should know. Both men sigh and nod before Jack speaks quietly for a few minutes. Craig throws his arms up shaking his head, quietly shouting at his best friend, if that’s at all possible.
“Come on,” Giovanni says. “It’s time to take you home.”
I stare at him blankly. “Not without my children,” I cry.
“Lou, we have to leave. At the moment, there’s nothing we can do here.” He thanks the teachers, what for I don’t know because I blame them. He takes my arm and Maria takes the other and we walk slowly through the school and outside into the warm air.
“Why them?” I cry, shrugging out of their hold.
“I don’t know,” Maria says, her voice a whisper.
But we all know why.
Because, at the end of the day, I’m a Fraser.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Giovanni
“Why the fuck isn’t he answering his goddamn phone? Where is he?” I shout across the kitchen as Jack paces back and forth, always looking outside into the garden where Joe is. He’s been out there for the last ten minutes on the phone and not once have his eyes drifted back to us. Joe is trying to find out whatever he can.
“I don’t know. I wish he would because we could at least rule him out of the investigation. Giovanni, do you think he has them?”
“I’m trying not to think about that. I hope he’s picked them up and just taken them for an ice cream, but there’s no reason for him to collect the girls on his own. He knew we were going to pick them up. I can’t help thinking the parcel Maria received, the rest of the body you found and the kids going missing are all connected. And…”
“And what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Steve’s loyalty…”
“I’ve always trusted him, but then again, Tony trusted Pete, and look how that turned out. I want to believe they will walk through that door soon. If anything happens to them, Lou won’t survive. You know as much as I do that she’s only kept going for them.”
“Try not to think about that. We need to remain positive.”
“What about Craig?” I ask, knowing Jack isn’t in charge of this case.
“He’ll do what I would do. He’s pissed I’ve kept the whole issue with Frank Steel from him, but he does understand why.”
“And what about you leaving the force?”
“He said he knew I would. All my life I thought I knew what I wanted until I met Maria.”
“She’s a very special person.”
“She is, and so is Lou.” I smile. He’s not telling me anything I don’t already know. I just hope that our life doesn’t derail, ending in disaster. “We should go through and check on her.”
“You go. I want to hear if Joe hears anything.”
He nods and leaves the kitchen to check on the ladies in the front room. Teresa is in there with Maria and Lou. Teresa was distraught when we arrived home; she loves those girls. She had been calling Steve to ask about one of the horses. We’re missing one, but I’ve not gone to the stables to check yet. The kids take priority over the horses.
Joe puts his phone in his pocket and walks back toward the house. “Well?” I ask as soon as he enters the kitchen.
“Okay, so it appears that your man Steve is or has been working for Steel.”
“That bastard! I’ll fucking kill him.”
“McGovern has been getting me information. Now, the girls aren’t in any harm.”
“What the hell do you mean they’re not in any harm?” I shout, unable to control my anger.
“Fucking listen to me, Giovanni. At this moment in time, the three of them are sitting in McDonalds. One of McGovern’s men has been keeping tabs on Steve.”
I rub my face. How the hell did it come to this? “What do we do?”
“I think Steve will be back here soon enough and will try to play down what happened.”
“Play it down. They’ll be picking up the pieces of his body by the time I’ve finished with him.”
“No, they won’t. Not yet. We need him.”
Surely I’m not hearing him right. “Joe…”
“We can use it to our advantage. Steve has no idea we know he’s working for Steel.”
“What if he doesn’t bring the girls back here? What if he takes them straight to Steel?”
“If and it’s a big if, then McGovern’s man will follow, and we will know where they are. Then we go and bring them home.” I hear his words and I’m now asking myself why. Why would Joe put himself at risk? The answer comes to me straight away. Because he’s loyal to my sister and the kids have grown on him too.
“I’m not so sure.”
“I can see that, but at the moment it’s all I’ve got until I know more. If we go racing to where he is, he’ll know.”
“What about everything else today?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind this is all connected. The body parts, I believe, were to frighten Maria and Lou. The timely appearance of the body in the Clyde. I can only presume Steel and Steve thought we’d all be too busy and forget the time and the children.”
“Which we did, I suppose.”
“True. The parcel was meant as a diversion and it worked to an extent.”
