Dirty Dealings Read online

  His slap seemed to bring her back to reality. ‘It wasn’t my fault, Papa,’ she cried, holding on to him. Tony felt sick. He felt like crying himself. Scarlet was his baby and he hadn’t been there to protect her when she needed him.

  ‘All the builders left at five. He’s their boss and driver. You’re right, Jake, he’s the builder.’ Averting her eyes from the builder, she continued as best she could. ‘I left with them and then I realised I had left my mobile phone here and came back to get it.’ Her shaky voice managed to tell them the story.

  ‘How long after you left did you realise that you didn’t have your phone?’ Tony was pushing her. He needed to know every detail.

  ‘Couple of hours. I’m not really sure. I met up with Katie for something to eat and when I took my purse out I realised I didn’t have my mobile. Katie was going to come with me but she was meeting Christopher so I told her not to bother. Oh, God, Papa, I wish she had come.’ Again, Scarlet burst into tears and sobbed on Tony’s chest. His heart was breaking but he couldn’t think about that now. He needed his business head on.

  ‘It’s alright, Scarlet. Papa’s here. Tell me when you can.’ He wanted to hurry her in case anyone came, but he was trying his best to keep her calm.

  ‘I came through the back exit because I knew I must have left it up here and I couldn’t be bothered to open up the front shutters. When I came up he was already here. He was finishing tiling the wall over there.’ Scarlet pointed to the newly half-tiled wall.

  Confused by this and pushing her away slightly to see her face, Tony said, ‘Why did he come back to tile the wall, Scarlet? Scarlet, I want to know the truth, now, and I don’t care what it is. Did you come back to meet him? Had you planned to meet him and something went wrong? Did it all just get out of hand?’

  ‘No! No, it didn’t. If you don’t believe me, then the police won’t, will they?’ she screamed, and ran to Jake.

  ‘You heartless bastard, Tony. Can’t you see what she’s been through and you ask her that? Even if she had planned to meet him, no means no. Any woman in the world will tell you that. It doesn’t matter how far it goes. If you say no, then that is final. God, you fucking disgust me.’ Jake wrapped his arms around Scarlet and held her tightly as all the while he glared at Tony over her shoulder.

  ‘A stiff prick has no conscience, Jake. This one had no conscience at all and now he has no fucking brains, either. We have to get the full story of who knew he was here and so on if we’re going to sort this out. And it needs sorting ... fast.’

  ‘Go on, Scarlet, he’s right. No stone left unturned. We need to know the facts.’

  ‘He was surprised when I came back and was acting normal, telling me he had come back to finish the wall because the cabinets are coming Tuesday and he needed the wall finished and dry before they put them up. He said he was going away for a few days to visit his family or something. I’m not sure. The wall wouldn’t have been ready. Then he started talking dirty and when I told him to shut up, he started slapping me and pushed me to the floor. He started grabbing me and I couldn’t fight him off. I tried, Papa, I really did.’ Scarlet pleaded her innocence.

  Ignoring her outburst and yet more tears, Tony’s piercing gaze stared straight through her. ‘Carry on, Scarlet.’

  ‘I froze, Papa. Yes, me,’ she pointed at her chest to stress the point even more. ‘Yes, me! Scarlet who never backs away from a fight. Mad angry Scarlet froze, until I saw the nail gun they had been using to put the boards up. That’s when I reached out and pressed the trigger. I couldn’t let go, I was so frightened to stop. I just squeezed the trigger until it was empty.’ Scarlet fell forward on to Jake’s chest. She was exhausted.

  ‘You did the right thing. Now, let’s get this straight. He’s going away for three days. The floor is covered in plastic.’ Turning towards Jake, Tony grinned. ‘That has saved us a lot of cleaning up. Scarlet, are you sure no one knows he came back and only Katie knows that you did?’ Tony was mentally calculating what she was saying.

  ‘As much as I can be, Papa. I don’t know.’ Scarlet’s eyes widened. ‘Do you think I should go to the police, Papa? He was going to rape me, it was self-defence.’ She was confused and distraught.

  Tony and Jake burst out laughing. If nothing else it broke the tension. ‘Scarlet, love, you are entitled to use reasonable force to defend yourself, but this is a massacre. This is murder – at the very least, manslaughter, given the circumstances. But it is your word against a dead man’s. No, Scarlet, we do not go to the police.’

  ‘What are we going to do, then?’ she asked expectantly. They couldn’t just make him vanish into thin air.

  ‘Tony! Look what I see. Is that an angle grinder?’ A big grin spread across Jake’s face while he spoke.

  Looking up to where he was pointing, Tony burst out laughing. ‘I’ll give you this, Scarlet, you make life very easy. You need to leave now. Burn those clothes, they are covered in blood and DNA. Mark’s outside, he’ll take you home. Come to think of it, where is your car?’

  Looking down while waiting for her to answer Tony took in his bloodstained shirt and jacket. ‘Fucking hell, Jake, why does everyone bleed over my good silk shirts? Do you know how much they cost?’ Tony shook his head and sighed.

  ‘You’re a vain bastard, Tony. Even after all these years. Your daughter has nearly been raped. There is a dead man with nails in his head, and you’re worried about your bloody shirt. I love you, man, I really do.’ Jake couldn’t help laughing. It was a crazy situation they had found themselves in and that was the last straw.

  ‘My car’s parked near one of the skips around the back,’ Scarlet said.

  ‘Just one more thing, Scarlet.’ Tony pushed her back to look into her eyes. He felt almost embarrassed to ask. ‘Did he erm ... did he manage to …? Oh, God, you know what I mean.’ Feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment, he turned towards Jake.

  ‘No, Papa, he didn’t. He would have. Look, his trousers are open showing his intention!’ she shouted. Her tearful blue eyes met his and he nodded.

  That seemed to satisfy Tony and he walked over to look out of the windows into the black night sky.

  ‘Right, Jake, let’s get this sorted out. Is his van downstairs?’ Scarlet nodded. Puzzled and confused she looked on at the flippant way they were going to sort this out. It was impossible; although she had heard the stories about her father and Jake, she had never really believed them. It was almost disturbing that they were acting so calmly about this. Tony was her father. Loving, kind and funny. Not this cold businessman, weighing up the situation with Uncle Jake. Deep in thought, deciding what to do with a dead man. These men were cold and calculating. This was a side to her father she never knew existed.

  ‘I’m not leaving you. If you’re going to help me by getting rid of that bastard then I am going to help you do it.’ With her father by her side, Scarlet felt stronger. She knew she was in safe hands and these two men standing before her were professionals. It occurred to her this wasn’t the first time they had encountered a dead body.

  ‘No, Scarlet, go home. Get cleaned up and burn those clothes. Go on, love. Tonight has been bad enough. You have suffered enough. You don’t need to see this.’ Tony’s words were soft and comforting as he held her to him again.

  ‘Yes, I do, Papa. I am Scarlet Lambrianu. I’m staying with you. Just tell me what you want me to do.’ She stood her ground. If they could sort this out then she would help them. She was adamant she would see it through to the end, although she didn’t know what to expect.

  A grin spread across Tony’s face. ‘Yes, okay, but it’s not going to be pretty. If you have the stomach for it, then stay. What do you say, Jake?’

  Jake nodded. They could do with an extra pair of hands and she seemed to want to help finish this.

  Tony pointed his finger at her. ‘As long as you do as you’re told without question and if you feel sick, leave. Oh, and just one more thing, Scarlet,’ Tony said, as an afterthought, looking at
her properly. ‘Do your bloody buttons up, if you have any left. If not, put that jacket on properly. I never thought I’d tell a beautiful young woman to cover her tits, but I really don’t want to see yours!’

  For the first time that evening, Scarlet smiled. She hadn’t realised her blouse was still open wide. Her cheeks flushed slightly at her father seeing her nakedness. She pulled her blouse around her and tied the bottom in a knot to hold it together, then waited for her instructions.

  Rubbing his hands together, Tony now felt on firmer ground and more in charge of the situation. This, he could handle. His daughter being hurt and mauled by a rapist, he could not. ‘Jake, start up that saw and get undressed. Scarlet, I want you to take the tiles off that wall carefully, like they were never there. We need to cover our tracks. The other workmen know it wasn’t finished when they left. Let’s not cause suspicion.’ Walking over to the builder lying on the floor, Tony gave him an almighty kick. ‘There, I feel better now.’ Turning to see the puzzled look on Scarlet’s face as she watched Jake taking his shirt and trousers off, he raised his eyebrow and smiled. ‘No questions asked. do you hear me? What you are going to see is not going to be pretty. This is your last chance to leave, we need to get on with this fast.’ Scarlet nodded her head as Tony started undressing as well.

  She walked over and picked up a wall scraper, knelt in front of the tiled wall and promptly started levering the tiles off. She was glad of the distraction. Behind her she could hear the saw, it was deafening. She could hear her father and Jake puffing and panting and giving each other instructions. Although she was on her knees with her back to them, she couldn’t help glimpsing over her shoulder. She saw Jake and her father wearing only their boxer shorts on their knees at either side of the builder. The screeching noise of the saw deafened her, but she concentrated on what she was doing to block it out.

  Mark, Tony’s driver, came upstairs with another man. Scarlet didn’t know him and kept her back to him as they all spoke in muffled voices. She had removed the tiles and scraped off the adhesive, too. The wall was spotless, there wasn’t a mark on it. She went to get some of the heavy-duty rubbish bags and put the tiles into them. Mark came through the back and took some of the bags off her and walked back through to Tony and Jake.

  Avoiding eye contact as much as possible, she felt invisible as Mark and the other man walked up and down the stairs. ‘For God’s sake, Scarlet, I think that wall is clean, don’t you? Try and carry that rubbish bag of tiles down to the skip and bury it under some other bags. It’s all plaster and bricks, so no one will see the difference.’ Standing up and lifting the bag, Scarlet was surprised to see the dead builder had vanished. All that was left was the blood on the plastic flooring.

  ‘Darren, you take the builder’s van and get it crushed, okay?’ said Jake, who was as nonchalant about the situation as her father. ‘What about CCTV? We have just carried three large bags down those stairs and put them in the boot of the car.’

  Tony turned and looked at Scarlet.

  ‘They aren’t installed properly yet,’ she said. ‘They are only on the wall. The men are coming Wednesday. But there are the shops next door.’ She swallowed hard to hide her confused state. She couldn’t believe it. This was like a military operation.

  ‘Come on, Scarlet, let’s roll up this plastic flooring.’ Jake was smiling and cracking jokes. ‘Bloody good idea, this. Makes life really easy.’ It felt surreal, but bit by bit, the room was cleared. Once the plastic was rolled up carefully and a new batch, which was out the back, was laid, Tony and Jake started scattering dust and debris all over it to make it look worn.

  ‘Take a load of that plastic, Scarlet, and put it in the car before you get into it. Cover all the seats. Your work here is done. No arguments.’ Tony’s cold blue eyes stared directly into her own and she nodded. Taking the roll of plastic in her arms, she went downstairs.

  She opened the car door and, doing as she was told, threw the sheet of plastic over the front seats, smoothing it out. Then she did the same with the back. Following her to the car, Tony handed her a pair of rubber gloves. ‘Put these on and then wipe the door handle. Keep them on while you use the steering wheel. I need you to be clever, now, Scarlet, or all of this will have been for nothing.’ Tony’s voice was nothing more than a hushed whisper. ‘Go to the apartment at the club. Go in the back way, and make sure there is no one around. Your hair is matted and your clothes are covered in blood, so you can’t afford to be seen. No one will think it’s strange that you’re parked around there, you have done it a million times.’

  ‘My long coat is in the boot of the car. I’ll wear that. Thank you, Papa.’ Tears welled up in her eyes. Tony looked up at the sky. He could handle anything but his daughter’s distress. It broke his heart.

  ‘This night is never mentioned again, Scarlet. I’m not happy that you have witnessed all of this, but we needed another pair of hands. You done good, Scarlet, but remember one thing if your conscience pricks you. What would he have done with you when he had finished with you? I’d say odds on you would be in one of those body bags. When reality dawned in his sick brain he would know that I would want revenge.’

  That had never crossed her mind. Of course the builder knew who she was and who her father was. What would he have done with her? Dumped her in one of those skips? The very thought of it sent a chill down her spine. She could be dead now. Although the cold wind was blowing, it was nothing like the cold empty feeling she felt inside when she realised what could have been her fate.

  She started up the engine and was about to leave when Tony tapped on the car window. Grinning at her in his usual way, he said, ‘Go on, drive careful. I will meet you back at the apartment. Be lucky.’ Blowing her a kiss for good measure, he watched her drive away.

  He was freezing, standing in the yard dressed only in his boxer shorts and socks. Pushing his hair back from his face, he gave a big sigh and climbed the stairs.

  ‘You took your bloody time. Well, Tony. What do we do now? What is your plan B?’

  ‘You know that gentleman farmer that lives near Ralph Gold? Well, he has some very strange looking pigs, like nothing I have ever seen before. Wild boars or something, with big horns. Bloody horrible. He’s really proud of them because they are prize winners, but he also said they eat anything. And I mean anything.’

  ‘What? Pigs with horns? What the fuck is this, the Dark Ages? Why on earth would you want them near your house? They sound disgusting.’ Jake was horrified at the thought. ‘Still, you have a point, you sick bastard. Well, let’s see if they really do eat anything, shall we?’ They both burst out laughing and got dressed.

  ‘Fucking hell, I can’t believe it. It’s 2 a.m. and I am creeping around on farmland covered in horse shit and God knows what else. And it’s started to rain.’ Puffing and panting, Jake stopped. ‘God, he’s heavy. Couldn’t we have parked closer, Tony? This fat bastard’s torso weighs a ton. How come you only got the bags with his arms and legs?’

  ‘Jake, shut up. It’s not the first time it’s been feeding time at the zoo, is it? And how could Mark have parked closer? If the car had got stuck in this field, what were you going to do? Call out the AA to rescue us? You prat. Right, here it is.’ Putting down his own plastic bags, Tony took the other end of Jake’s. ‘One. Two. Three,’ he counted. Lifting the large plastic bag as high as they could they threw it over the fencing which contained the wild boars. Then they did the same with the others.

  Instantly they heard grunts and a stampede near the fence. They looked at each other and grimaced as rain poured down on them, but the noises coming from behind that sty were blood-curdling.

  ‘Time to go, Jake,’ said Tony. He traipsed his feet through the mud, raising his knees high as he walked, to stop him from sinking into the mud.

  ‘Hang on, Tony, my bloody shoe’s come off.’ Jake struggled to pick up his shoe from the mud, then caught up with him at the car.

  They could both see the look on Mark’s face as
the smell of manure hit him. ‘Put the bloody heater on and open the windows,’ said Tony; he was sickened by the smell.

  ‘My feet are covered in mud, my bloody shoe came off,’ Jake moaned, as he fell back on the seat. ‘I’m absolutely knackered. And you know what? That has put me off bacon sandwiches for life!’

  ‘Good. You’re getting fat, anyway. High five, Jakey boy. We haven’t lost our touch. They both burst out laughing as they raised their hands and slapped them together.

  CHAPTER 2

  MYSTERY UNCOVERED

  Drumming her hands on her chin and with a faraway look in her eyes, Julie pondered the options. ‘There is definitely something not right. I mean it, Fran. Diana goes out at night and doesn’t come back until the morning and it’s always the same time. Do you think she’s got a guy that works shifts?’ She couldn’t understand why her daughter kept disappearing and was being secretive about it.

  ‘Maybe she just has a boyfriend, Julie. After all, she’s a grown woman, you know. Maybe she just wants to keep it to herself for a while.’

  ‘What, and he does shift work, does he? It’s the same time she goes out at night and the same time that she is back in the morning. She thinks I haven’t noticed, but she comes in, runs up the stairs to get showered and then sleeps most of the day. Are you telling me, Francesca, that this guy is such a stud that he keeps her awake all night and she needs to sleep all day? There is definitely something amiss.’

  ‘What does Ralph say about this?’ Taking a sip of her coffee, Francesca waited. Julie had been mulling this over for days. It was driving her mad.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, Fran, Ralph wouldn’t know if his arse was on fire. Anyway, he doesn’t know what time she disappears. He’s never in, himself.’ Rolling her eyes at the ceiling Julie gave an overly dramatic sigh.