Divided Loyalties Page 10

Martina shot to her feet, shaking and crying. “I want to see him. I want to see my boy.”

  “It’s alright Mum, I’ll take you,” soothed Alex, embracing her.

  “You’re in no fit state to drive,” said Mikey. “I’ll run you in. Can we leave Leah with the next door neighbour? She shouldn’t see Rachel yet, she’s too upset.”

  “I’ll ask her to come round,” said Beth. “She can watch Alfie too.” The woman next door had been a trusted friend of Martina’s for years with four kids of her own, so she was well-qualified.

  Alex just nodded, content to let someone else take over everything.

  “Jesus, I’m sorry,” said Ryan, looking stunned. “What can we do?”

  “Can you keep an eye on the businesses?” replied Alex.

  “Of course.”

  Ryan watched them go, desperate to see Rachel but that would have to wait. He must respect Alex’s wishes.

  Battler had never been scared before but he was now. Rachel’s reaction to Danny’s death was terrifying, gravitating from violent screaming fits to a quiet, almost catatonic state and he was well out of his depth. On top of that he was grieving too, he’d known Danny since he was a babe in arms.

  He was relieved when the family entered the room, Beth and Mikey shell-shocked, Martina clinging onto Alex desperately and sobbing. Rachel, who had gone silent, burst into tears.

  Martina released her son to embrace her, mindful of her injury.

  “Oh you poor girl,” wept Martina, stroking her hair. “How’s your shoulder?”

  Rachel didn’t appear to hear her question. “He died in my arms Martina. I tried to revive him but the wound was too severe, I couldn’t help him. He opened his eyes and looked at me then he died.”

  Alex slumped into a chair, his head in his hands. Beth moved to comfort him and he pulled her to him and clung onto her for dear life. Mikey stood by Rachel’s side, eyes glittering with unshed tears.

  “Who…did this?” gasped Martina.

  “I don’t know,” replied Rachel. “I didn’t even realise what had happened at first. There was a bang then pain in my shoulder. Danny…he was bleeding from the chest, he fell…” Unable to continue she dissolved into tears.

  “We’ll find who did this,” said Alex darkly. “We’ll find them and put a bullet in their fucking chest.”

  Beth flinched. She didn’t like this sort of talk, she preferred to pretend that Alex was just a businessman with no homicidal tendencies, she couldn’t deal with it like Rachel could.

  Rachel grasped Martina’s hands. “I want to see him, please. They made me leave him lying on the pavement…I didn’t want to leave him.”

  Martina managed to control her own grief long enough to help her traumatised daughter-in-law. “Of course you can see him, I’ll make damn sure of it, I promise you.”

  Rachel nodded, tears streaming down her face. “Oh God, what about Leah?”

  This was too much for Martina, whose control snapped and she disintegrated. Both women clung to each other as they screamed and wept. The others became so concerned they called in a doctor who sedated them both, taking Martina to the room next door to lie down.

  Beth left to collect Leah and Alfie from the neighbour’s. Alex, Mikey, Battler and Bruiser stayed behind, watching Rachel sleep.

  “The bullet hit Rachel first,” said Battler quietly, breaking the silence. “I saw the whole thing. The shot came from a roof somewhere on the opposite side of the road to the restaurant and down. It went in Rachel’s shoulder and through her into Danny.”

  “How can you be sure it didn’t hit Danny first?” said Mikey.

  “Because it didn’t come out his back.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying she was the intended target?”

  “Maybe.”

  “If that’s so, why did it hit her in the shoulder?” said Mikey. “Whoever did it might have been after Danny and just not cared that she was in the way.”

  “As the shot rang out Danny kissed Rachel and turned her slightly. I think he saved her life,” explained Battler.

  Alex sighed and closed his eyes. “No one tells Rachel that, she’ll only blame herself. Alright?”

  The three men nodded.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” said Mikey. “Why would someone want to kill Rachel?”

  “Perhaps they were after them both?” said Battler. “There was a second shot that just missed Rachel.”

  “Have you told the police this?”

  “Yeah, they collared me at the scene.”

  “Talk to our contacts, I want to be kept up to date with the police investigation,” said Alex. “I want this fucker before they get to him, understand? Bruiser, you stay here and guard Rachel. Don’t let anyone near her you don’t know and who isn’t staff.”

  Bruiser nodded in understanding and settled back into a chair for the duration. As Battler rose his jacket fell open to reveal his blood stained shirt and Alex winced.

  “It’s Rachel’s,” he explained, buttoning it up to hide the stain before leaving.

  “Someone should call Rachel’s parents,” said Mikey quietly. “Want me to do it?”

  “Please,” replied Alex.

  “Okay. Alex, I’m so sorry.”

  Alex swallowed hard, holding back his tears with every ounce of his considerable strength. “I know. Bruiser, could you give me a few minutes?”

  He nodded and followed Mikey out. Only when they’d all gone did he give way to his grief.

  Benton burst into Richard Spencer’s office to find him sat at his desk, swigging whisky.

  “Superintendent,” he beamed. “Please, join me for a celebratory drink.”

  “I don’t consider murder something to celebrate.”

  “But Danny Maguire’s dead.”

  “Yes I know, I attended the scene personally.”

  “I thought you’d be pleased.”

  Benton planted his hands on the desk and loomed over him. “Are you responsible?”

  “What?” frowned Richard.

  “Did you hire someone to take him out?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Benton looked doubtful. “You said you’d sort him out personally and a week later Danny Maguire’s dead. I’ll only ask you one more time and if you lie to me then I can’t protect you. Did you arrange to have him killed?”

  “I wish I had but no, I didn’t.”

  Benton regarded him suspiciously.

  “I didn’t, I promise.”

  “Alright, I believe you,” he sighed, straightening up and running his hands through his hair.

  “He’s involved with a lot of dangerous people. He must have pissed someone off.”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I heard Rachel was shot too but it didn’t say how badly injured she was.”

  “She’ll be fine, the bullet went through her shoulder.”

  “Oh bugger, it would have been nice to get rid of them both.”

  “You think it nice a little girl be left orphaned?”

  “Better that than grow up with parents like those two.”

  “There’s going to be a shit storm now. If it had been Rachel who’d died it would have been different but Danny’s death has left a power vacuum, which is when all the lower orders try their luck. They’ll try and take everything from the Maguires while their family’s in disarray. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan Law himself attempts it. Rachel would have been strong enough to put a stop to that, she was practically Danny’s second. Now there’s going to be a sodding bloodbath.”

  “What about Alex?”

  “He’s not his brother or his dad, he’s weaker than them. He might have it in him to put on a strong front and hold everything together until Rachel’s better but I’m not so sure. The one thing I do know is that the Maguires will be out for blood now. They will tear this city apart hunting Danny’s killer and they won’t give a shit who gets in their way.”

  “Good. Let the lot of them kill each other.”
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br />   “That’s not how it works. In cases like this innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Oh Jesus Richard, you’d better be telling me the truth because if you are behind this they will come after you. They may come after you anyway.”

  Richard turned pale with fear. “I wasn’t. Christ if you don’t believe me then they certainly won‘t.”

  “I suggest you hire some extra security because they might come calling. If I know Rachel Maguire the moment she’s back on her feet she’ll be on the rampage. You have been warned.”

  With that Benton stalked from the office, leaving a shaken Richard to refill his whisky glass with a trembling hand.

  When Rachel woke from an eight hour sleep she demanded to be taken to Danny. Alex was the one who wheeled her down to the morgue. She hated being in a wheelchair but was too weak to walk, her left arm held in a sling.

  “Want me to come in with you?” said Alex gently but reluctantly. He’d seen plenty of dead bodies in his time but he didn’t want to see his little brother’s.

  “No thanks. I want to be alone.”

  “Okay. I’ll wait right here.”

  The mortuary attendant held the door open and she wheeled herself inside. Her heart hammered in her chest as he respectfully folded back the sheet to reveal Danny’s face before discreetly withdrawing.

  A whimper escaped her lips, he hardly looked like her husband anymore. All that about corpses looking like they were just sleeping was bullshit. He was an empty shell, the man himself gone. She ran her fingers through his hair, which was still soft and thick. Closing her eyes she imagined they were at home in bed and he was sleeping. If she couldn’t sleep she’d often lie awake watching him and stroking his hair, it soothed her. After Terry and Jake attacked them and he almost died she appreciated every single second with him. When she opened her eyes from the sweet dream to the empty vessel lying on the mortuary slab she started to cry. Her eyes travelled to the sheet hiding his strong chest, which she loved to nuzzle into, knowing it was ravaged by the Y-shaped scar of the autopsy. They would have taken out his organs to weigh them, looked into the contents of his stomach and seen the remains of the pasta he’d demolished at lunch that wouldn’t have had time to digest, the same meal during which they’d planned their future together, the business they were going to build up, the baby they were going to have that would never be born.

  Grasping his cold lifeless hand she wept, wondering how she’d find the will to go on without him. She sat there for so long the mortuary attendant returned and stood there uncertainly.

  “I’m sorry Mrs Maguire but it’s time,” he eventually said.

  “Just a bit longer, please.”

  “I’m afraid there are others waiting to see him.”

  Rachel realised she was being selfish. Of course Martina would want to see him but she couldn’t find it in herself to leave him.

  “I can’t,” she croaked before bursting into loud sobs.

  The door opened and the mortuary attendant hastily covered Danny with a sheet, for which Alex was very grateful.

  “Come on Sweetheart, you need to get some rest. You can see him again at the funeral home. Promise,” Alex told her quietly.

  Rachel nodded and attempted to get her emotions under control. When she was ready Alex wheeled her back to her room. She was shaking as he helped her into bed and tucked the sheets around her.

  “Where’s Leah?” she said.

  “At ours with Beth. She can stay with us as long as you need.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you want to see her?”

  “Desperately but I need to get hold of myself first. I don’t want to frighten her.”

  “No problem. Let me know when you’re ready. I’ve got to get Mum. Bruiser will watch over you.”

  Rachel finally noticed her bodyguard sat in the chair by the window. She’d failed to spot him at first, which showed how off her game she was because Bruiser was impossible to miss. Her grief-stricken mind failed to comprehend why she needed a bodyguard so she just nodded, her eyes already closing with exhaustion. Both men were relieved when she drifted off, finding her grief deeply distressing.

  Rachel’s dreams were vivid and frightening. She was caught in an endless loop of the last moments of Danny’s life. He smiled and kissed her then there was the bang, the pain in her shoulder, the blood on his chest, over and over and over. Bang, pain, blood, bang, pain, blood.

  Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, panting and bathed in sweat.

  “The bullet hit me first,” she exclaimed. “I was the target.”

  “You can’t see her yet,” objected Mikey. “We’ve only just calmed her down, she’s in no fit state.”

  “This is a murder inquiry,” retorted Benton. “I can’t wait around forever.”

  “Danny’s death has knocked her sideways. I know you Benton, you’ll start interrogating her and spewing your usual bile and upset her all over again. I’m not having that.”

  “I’m not in the habit of upsetting the victims of shootings, even if that victim is Rachel Maguire,” he said indignantly. “But she might hold vital information and the longer it’s left before I speak to her the longer Danny’s killer has to cover his tracks. I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

  Mikey started to waver. “Alright, I’ll see if she’s ready to talk.”

  As Mikey went into Rachel’s room Benton rolled his eyes. It annoyed him how they all treated her like a bloody princess.

  Mikey returned a moment later. “She’s ready to see you.”

  “Thank you,” said Benton sharply.

  He walked into the room and stopped in his tracks, stunned by the state Rachel was in. The strong, collected woman he had sparred with so often had disappeared, replaced by a shaking tearful wreck. Her eyes, normally black with wrath when she looked at him, had lost all their fire and were so light they were almost brown.

  “Superintendent Benton, have you found who killed him?” she said hopefully.

  “Sorry Rachel,” he replied softly. “I just need to ask you a few questions, if you’re up to it?”

  She nodded, wringing her hands anxiously.

  He took the chair by the side of her bed. “Okay Rachel, you had lunch at the restaurant. What happened when you left?”

  “We walked outside. Our car was parked at the kerb.”

  “Was anyone else with you?”

  “Just Battler. He didn’t come into the restaurant with us, he waited outside with the car. Me and Danny stopped before we got in the car to talk then I heard a bang and felt pain in my shoulder. I couldn’t work out what had happened at first then when I saw the blood on Danny’s shirt, I knew we’d been shot.” She started to get agitated, not caring when her eyes filled with tears. “Danny fell and I tried to catch him but we went down together. There was a second bullet but Battler pulled us out of the way and it hit the pavement instead.”

  “Can you recall from which direction the bullet came?”

  “I…I’m not sure. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You’re doing really well Rachel.”

  “The next thing I knew the police were there and the paramedics were tending to Danny but they couldn’t bring him back.”

  Her chest heaved with sobs and Benton handed her a wad of tissues and patiently waited until she’d recovered herself.

  “I think I was the target,” she said.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “The bullet hit me first.” She looked up into his face. “But I see you’ve thought of that already.”

  “It’s a possibility. Or the shooter could have been after you both or perhaps he was simply cold enough to shoot through you to get to Danny. It doesn’t mean you were the target and judging by your husband’s position in the family it’s more likely he was the intended victim. Rachel, can you tell me if Danny had been threatened recently?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Oh wait, there was Richard Spencer.”

  Benton’s eyes narrowed. �
�The contractor Richard Spencer?”

  “Yes. He blamed us for the attack on his son, Bruce.”

  “Were you responsible?”

  “A lot of people were gunning for him after what he did to that girl Superintendent. It could have been anyone.”

  He noticed she didn’t deny it. “He threatened you?”

  “Yes. He came to The Wherry Tavern and basically said he’d make us pay for what had been done to his son.” She sat up straighter in her seat. “He’d have the money to hire someone to kill Danny. It’s him, isn’t it?”

  “We don’t know that yet. Danny dealt with a lot of people with access to guns. We must explore all avenues before leaping to conclusions. Was there anyone else with a grudge against Danny, anyone involved in the businesses?”

  “I don’t know, you’d have to ask Alex,” she said, too exhausted to talk any further. She couldn’t think of a single person with the guts to take Danny out. “I wish I could help but I really don’t know.”

  They were interrupted by Rachel’s doctor entering the room, who told Benton that he had to leave because he needed to examine his patient. Benton wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that Mikey had sent this guy in on purpose.

  “Alright, I’m leaving. Take care Rachel. Hope you get well soon.”

  “You don’t really mean that,” she said wryly.

  “Yes I do. Life would be boring without my nemesis,” he said with a small smile.

  He left and Rachel felt a little better for seeing him, surprisingly. He did seem to be serious about catching Danny’s killer. But she didn’t want him to catch them, she wanted to get hold of the bastard herself and inflict unimaginable pain on him before finishing him off personally. The thought was the only thing getting her through, forcing her to fight.

  When her parents arrived she dissolved into tears again. She reached out to them, praying they wouldn’t turn away from her. To her relief her mum sat on the bed and gently wrapped her in her arms.

  “I’m so sorry Sweetheart,” said Gillian, kissing the top of her head.

  “He’s dead Mum, Danny’s dead.”

  “I know. It’s awful.”

  Gillian glanced at Rick, unable to find it in herself to mourn Danny Maguire. They blamed him for dragging their daughter into a dangerous world and because of him she’d been shot. His one redeeming feature was that he’d given them their adored granddaughter.