Darkness Read online

  Darkness

  Dividing Line #10

  By Heather Atkinson

  Copyright Heather Atkinson January 2017

  Acknowledgement

  I’d just like to say thanks and lots of love to my husband Paul, my beautiful daughters Charlotte and Sophie, my lovely sister Suzy, my mum Stephanie and my dad Tony.

  Congratulations to competition winners Paula Lawrence and Catherine Callahan. Look out for their characters in this book. Paula and Catherine, I hope you like your fictional alter egos.

  Also thanks to Chrissie for allowing me to put her fabulous kitty Teddy into the Dividing Line series, who was the inspiration for the Law family pet.

  I hope you enjoy the further exploits of the Laws and Maguires.

  CHAPTER 1

  Travis - manager of the spa in the market town of Newton Abbot in Devon - raised his hand to the door, ready to knock before losing his nerve and lowering his hand.

  “Get on with it,” hissed a voice to his left.

  Travis jumped, sighing when he saw Kerry, the assistant manager, waving her arms at him.

  “Hurry up before everyone starts whinging about the cold,” she added.

  “You come and do it then,” he said.

  This statement caused Kerry to scurry back downstairs, leaving him all alone.

  Deciding it would be best to get it over with, Travis screwed up his courage and knocked.

  “What?” barked the voice on the other side.

  Travis took a deep breath and pushed open the door, swallowing hard when steel grey eyes locked on him.

  Ryan Law was hunched over his desk, a black cloud hanging over him. This sight was enough to make Travis completely forget what he was about to say.

  “Well?” said Ryan, voice ice cold, that single word rippling unease up Travis’s spine.

  Ryan had always been a good boss and, despite his fearsome reputation all the staff liked him and found him easy to get along with. However over the last two weeks he’d grown increasingly irritable, snapping everyone’s heads off for no reason and an angry Ryan Law was truly terrifying.

  “Errr, the boiler’s stopped working,” Travis finally said.

  “So why are you telling me? I’m not a plumber.”

  Travis hadn’t realised until that moment that a raised eyebrow could inspire fear but when Ryan’s dark brow arched he fought the urge to flee. “I don’t have the number for the plumber. I believe you have it.” He went silent, expecting Ryan to reply but when he didn’t he added, “in your desk.”

  Ryan sighed and yanked open the desk drawer, making Travis jump. He threw the book that held all the numbers of the local tradesmen on the top of the desk.

  Gingerly Travis picked it up, attempting to keep as much distance between him and Ryan as possible, the rage radiating off him was palpable. No one had any idea what had occurred to piss off their normally affable boss. Neither could they ask his wife and their other boss Rachel because she hadn’t been in for a while, appearing to be leaving all the work to her husband. The rest of the staff wanted Travis to have it out with Ryan, tell him they were getting sick of his bad moods and at first he’d been all bravado, until he’d been confronted by the man himself.

  “Was there something else?” said Ryan in his cold, cultured voice that indicated there better hadn’t be.

  “Errr…well…there was one thing,” began Travis, sweat popping out on his brow.

  Ryan’s grey eyes flashed. “What?”

  Jesus, thought Travis. Had he always been that big or had he grown? “Nothing.”

  “Good.” Ryan rolled his eyes when Travis just stood there, sweating. “You may leave.”

  “Thank you,” he gasped before practically running from the room.

  Ryan sighed and sank back in his chair. He knew he’d scared the crap out of Travis but he hadn’t meant to. All his anger and frustration was aimed at himself, no one else but he couldn’t prevent it from seeping through. Combined with his reputation it scared the shit out of people. Everyone was starting to look at him like they’d used to, before he and Rachel had managed to carve out reputations for themselves as decent, generous business people and now he’d undone all that hard work in a matter of days.

  He had thought coming here to catch up on some work would help take his mind off his woes but it hadn’t worked, which annoyed him.

  Deciding to call it a day, he gathered up his keys and phone, pulled on his leather jacket and locked up the office. It saddened him when his staff either gave him nervous smiles or avoided eye contact altogether.

  With a heavy heart he headed outside to his car and sat there for a few minutes, trying to decide where to go. When he glanced at the clock he saw it was almost five o’clock. There was no choice. He had to go home.

  Usually home was his favourite place to be but not lately. Over the past couple of weeks it had been cold and lonely and the worst thing was he had no idea why.

  As he walked into the house he was greeted by Teddy, a large ginger tom cat who he’d adopted or, to be more accurate, had adopted him.

  “Hello fella,” said Ryan, tickling him under the chin, Teddy furiously purring.

  With the boys getting older and more lairy, Leah turning into a surly teenager and Rachel cold-shouldering him for some unknown reason, the cat was the only affection he got.

  Leah appeared in the hallway, looking disappointed to see him. “Oh, hi Dad. I thought you were Brittney.”

  “Yes, because we look so much alike.”

  She rolled her eyes. “We’re going to the cinema to see the new zombie flick.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” he said, picking up Teddy and stroking him, causing the cat’s purring to go into overdrive.

  “Teddy got into my wardrobe,” she said. “Everything’s covered in ginger fur.”

  “That’ll teach you to leave your wardrobe door open. Still, your clothes could use brightening up.”

  Everything Leah now wore was black. His sweet little girl had been replaced by a goth in thick black eyeliner, black lipstick and black nail varnish. Ryan wouldn’t have minded, after all she was just expressing herself but Leah worshipped her Aunty Jules, his younger sister and she had modelled her wardrobe on hers. However Jules had toned down her own clothes since she’d got married and settled down. Still, he was grateful Leah wasn’t covered in tattoos and didn’t have knives strapped to her wrists.

  Leah’s phone beeped and she took it out of her pocket and started tapping at the screen with her black fingernails. He watched her disappear into the living room, frantically texting her friends. Ryan was proud of the woman she was becoming, she was strong, intelligent and good hearted, just like her mother but he missed the little girl who used to snuggle up with him on the couch to watch cartoons, who loved him to read her bedtime stories and liked it when he called her Cupcake. Leah wasn’t his biological daughter, she was Danny Maguire’s, Rachel’s first husband who had been murdered a few months after she was born, consequently he was the only father she’d ever known and they were very close.

  “Hi boys,” he said when they came charging out of the play room and down the hall.

  Ten year old Ethan chased eight year old Aaron with a plastic dinosaur, both yelling and shouting. They grinned at him before rushing into the living room, the sound of Leah bellowing at them to shut up following a moment later.

  From the kitchen came the sound of a drawer being opened and closed as Rachel prepared dinner. Ryan looked down at Teddy in his arms, who had flipped himself onto his back, paws in the air, eyes hazy with pleasure as Ryan tickled his tummy. “Come on Teddy, you’re my back-up.”

  The cat purred even louder as he carried him into the kitchen. Ryan hesitated in the doorway to watch Rachel as she cooked. She’d had
a day off work, consequently she wasn’t done up in her usual smart blouse and pencil skirt. Instead she wore a pair of blue jeans that clung delightfully to her peachy backside with a loose black t-shirt, her long dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail. She wore no make-up but she still was and always would be the most stunning woman he had ever seen. When she looked at him and smiled his heart still pounded.

  “Hi love. How was your day?” she said, stirring a pan.

  “Oh, the usual. The boiler went at the spa so I gave Travis the plumber’s number.” He decide to omit telling her about the part where he’d scared the shit out of their manager.

  “That’s the third time we’ve had trouble with that boiler. Maybe it’s time to get it replaced?”

  He shrugged. “Probably.”

  She smiled at Teddy, who was still languishing in Ryan’s arms. “I’ve got some nice fish for you.”

  Teddy leapt to the floor, weaving in and out of Rachel’s legs as she put his feeding bowl down for him, almost tripping her up twice. He gave her hand a grateful nuzzle before launching into the food with gusto.

  “Well I was forgotten quick enough,” said Ryan.

  When Rachel planted a gentle kiss on his lips Ryan seized the opportunity to wrap his arms around her waist and nuzzle her neck. “Missed you,” he said.

  He was delighted when she hugged him back. “Missed you too.”

  Lately Rachel had been giving him the cold shoulder and he couldn’t understand why. She was still full of affectionate kisses and cuddles but whenever things became more intimate she would push him away. Their sex life had very quickly gone from being extremely active to non-existent and he had no idea why. At first she’d said she was tired and he’d accepted that, after all their lives were very hectic and everyone was entitled to get run down once in a while. But now at night she turned her back on him rather than snuggle up, like she’d done for the entirety of their marriage. He hadn’t felt this afraid since they’d lost Thomas, their unborn son and his own inability to openly grieve had almost torn apart their marriage. Now it was Rachel’s refusal to open up that was coming between them. Whenever he asked her what was wrong she always pleaded tiredness and he was afraid of pushing the issue because he actually thought she might be having an affair. He wouldn’t have thought it possible but that was what all the evidence was pointing to - furtive phone calls and messages, getting to the post when it was pushed through the door before anyone else, disappearing with no explanation. He’d wracked his considerable brains and could come up with no other scenario that fit all the evidence and the prospect terrified him. Rachel was the centre of his world and he couldn’t imagine life without her, he couldn’t even bear to try.

  Despite his suspicions he felt no anger or resentment towards her, his feelings for her remained unchanged, so strong they could never be touched, no matter how much she hurt him. Neither would he ever lay a finger on her. But he was quite sure he might just kill whoever she was cheating on him with, that’s if she was cheating.

  Ryan attempted to divert his mind from these sickening thoughts, after all it was just conjecture, he had no proof. Maybe it was indeed paranoia because she did look tired, her eyes circled with dark shadows, making them appear even blacker than usual.

  “You don’t look too well,” he said.

  “Just tired,” she replied, rolling out her stock answer.

  “This has been going on for a while now. Maybe you should see a doctor?”

  “I don’t need a doctor, I just need some rest. I’m getting older Ryan, it’s only natural.”

  “You’re only thirty seven, a long way from being an old woman,” he smiled, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

  “But I’m no spring chicken either,” she replied with a wry smile.

  “You always will be to me, even when you’re old and wrinkled,” he said before kissing her.

  At first she responded to his kiss but when his lips moved to her neck, his hand sliding beneath her t-shirt up to her breasts she pulled away. “I’ve got to see to tea before it burns,” she said, extricating herself from him and rushing back to the stove.

  Ryan’s shoulders slumped.

  “Kids, tea’s ready,” she called, not giving him time to make a second attempt. Despite the presence of his wife bustling about the kitchen and the children running in making a lot of noise, Ryan had never felt so lonely. When Teddy rubbed his head against his legs, he was grateful.

  CHAPTER 2

  The big black windowless van had a distinctly sinister air as it rolled into the Montford Estate in Manchester, the residents eyeing it with suspicion and not a small amount of unease. Things hadn’t been easy for them recently and they hoped this wasn’t going to make their situation even worse. The Montford had once been one of the most dangerous, run-down estates in the whole of the north of England, until Ryan Law had risen to supremacy. Although a drug dealer and violent gangster himself, he had a heart and had scared off all the loansharks, thugs, abusers and - naturally - the other dealers, meaning the Montford had enjoyed almost thirty years of blissful peace. Ryan had risen to dominance at the tender age of fifteen following a single act of savage violence. However he had retired to Devon, away from the gangster lifestyle with his family a few years ago and now Jez, his younger brother, was in charge of the care of the Montford. However Jez had risen to dizzying new heights in his own right since his family had united with the only other criminal family in the north of England who could compete with them - the infamous Maguires. After years of fighting each other the two were now firm allies. But lately Jez had become so preoccupied with business that he’d forgotten all about the Montford, the estate where he and Ryan had been dragged up by their toxic prostitute mother. Now a young up-and-coming gang had taken the chance to seize control and cause merry hell for the residents. However this wasn’t just the usual simple-minded thuggery such as graffiti on walls and nicking cars. This gang were truly vicious and the estate had been plagued with burglaries, stabbings and rapes. One man who had dared stand up to the gang had even been murdered, stabbed to death in his own bathtub. The residents were living in fear, the older ones given a harsh reminder of what the Montford had been like before Ryan Law had come along. The police had made their presence felt but the Montford residents had an innate distrust of anyone in uniform, they’d had it ingrained in them since birth never to grass, consequently all the police’s enquiries had got them nowhere.

  A few of the braver residents gathered to watch while the others bolted inside their flats and locked their doors.

  “Should we go too Dad?” one bulky teenager asked his father, Dennis, who was equally tall and bulky. Ever since the Laws had abandoned the Montford to its fate Dennis had taken it upon himself to make his own little enquiries about the gang and had become someone those affected by their activities could turn to for advice and a shoulder to cry on. His heart had almost been broken by some of the stories he’d been told. In fact he’d become so angry he’d decided someone needed to do something about it and he hoped this was the result of his actions.

  “You can,” Dennis told his son. “I’m staying.”

  Dennis Junior - or DJ as everyone called him - took a deep breath and decided he was staying too.

  They watched as the back doors of the black van burst open. The last thing DJ was expecting to see was a woman with jaw length black hair and steel grey eyes jump out of the van with the litheness of a cat, clutching a baseball bat and sporting a big, eager grin. He was thrilled to realise this was Jules Driscoll, Jez and Ryan Law’s half-sister whose reputation was just as savage as her brothers’. DJ had heard all about her, her antics were part of the local folklore and he couldn’t quite believe she was standing just a few feet away from him.

  She was followed by a large and very strong-looking man with salt and pepper hair. DJ knew this was Grant, who was in charge of Mikey Maguire and Jez Law’s security. He was followed by a man with a craggy face and a grim express
ion. Mark Cameron was an ex-army sniper who acted as personal bodyguard to both Jez and Mikey. Last but certainly not least came Jez Law himself - dark haired and grey eyed just like his sister. DJ swallowed hard. He looked very pissed off.

  DJ proudly watched as his father fearlessly went to talk to Jez. He wasn’t sure he’d have the nerve, everyone knew Jez had killed many times and ordered the deaths of God only knew how many more. DJ was afraid for his dad but Jez appeared to listen to what he had to say, nodding seriously before calling for the other three to follow him. They disappeared up a set of stairs leading into the belly of the flats.

  “You called them, didn’t you?” DJ asked his dad as he returned to him.

  Dennis nodded. “Someone had to. Everyone else was too frightened of The Brotherhood or Jez himself.” The Rogue Brotherhood was the name the gang terrorising the estate had given themselves, but everyone shortened it to The Brotherhood for simplicity’s sake. Individual members of the gang were referred to as ‘Brothers’.

  DJ’s eyes widened. “Is he angry with you?”

  “Course not. He’s angry with himself for neglecting the estate but after today that’ll be put right.”

  “But there’s loads of Brothers and only four of them.”

  “This is the Laws we’re talking about. Four is all they need.”

  “But only two of them are actual Laws.” DJ didn’t share his dad’s optimism. If this all went tits up The Brothers would know his dad had grassed on them.

  “For Christ’s sake boy, stop being so negative. Do you want to jinx it?”

  “I hope you know what you’re playing at.”

  “Course I do,” he said confidently.

  Despite his words, DJ was quick to spot the sweat popping out on his dad’s brow.

  The first five Brothers that Jules, Jez, Mark and Grant encountered were lounging around in one of the gang member’s flats, smoking crack and congratulating themselves on wresting control of the estate from the Laws who, in their opinion, were old news and should make way for young blood. Little did they realise there was a lot more to what the Laws did than terrorising pensioners and families.