Top Dog Page 14

  Walking fast, Moray followed the porters toward the Intensive Care Unit. “I’m his cousin,” Moray lied once again, to the nurse walking beside Danny’s bed.

  “Wait here, please. I’ll tell the staff you’re here, once they have him settled.”

  Moray watched, helplessly, as they wheeled Danny inside the ward. He needed to contact Maxine, he decided. He would deal with the consequences of his decision, once his mate was awake.

  * * *

  George Christos beckoned his nephew over to him. “Well?” he asked.

  Sitting down at the table beside his uncle, Adam shook his head. “It’s getting harder and harder to get her to talk.”

  “Keep at it. She must know more than she is letting on.”

  “I really don’t think she does. She said there was some trouble, but when I asked what it was, she didn’t have a clue what was going on.”

  George looked his nephew over. He was a good looking boy, who had no problems attracting the ladies, which was the main reason why he’d used him to extract information from this woman. “You need to try harder. Do whatever you have to do, to make her talk.”

  Adam felt his heart sink. This wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He couldn’t bear the thought of weeks or months even, stuck with Hayley. “I was thinking maybe just one more meeting, and if she doesn’t give me anything useful, then I should cut ties with her.”

  George held up his hand to quiet Adam down, as his brother, Alexandros, leaned forward to speak privately in his ear. Nodding his head, George smiled and he returned his attention back to his nephew. He’d just heard the most wonderful news. Freddie Smith’s number two had been successfully gunned down. “Yes, yes, you do what you feel is best, Adam.”

  Surprised, Adam gave a wide smile, feeling somewhat happier. “Thank you, uncle.”

  “Come,” George said, placing his arm around his nephew’s shoulders. “Let’s wait for your cousin’s to return, and then we will celebrate the good news.”

  * * *

  “You can see him now.”

  Moray followed the nurse through the ward. When he reached Danny’s bedside, he shook his head, sadly. His closest friend was covered in tubes and drips, and surrounded by lifesaving equipment. He glanced up at the beeping machines. He had no idea what the beeps meant, or what any of the equipment was used for. The only thing he knew for certain, was that if he was being totally honest, they scared the life out of him.

  “How is he?”

  Sophie Nolan smiled. “He’s doing okay. Hopefully, we should be able to bring him around in the next few hours.”

  Moray nodded his head. He waited for the nurse to leave the bedside, then rifled through the grey plastic patient’s property bag, containing the belongings Danny had been brought into the hospital with. He needed Danny’s mobile phone. He had to get a hold of Maxine, and fast.

  With the phone grasped in his fist, he left the ward. Once outside, he scrolled through Danny’s contact list, pressing dial when he found Maxine’s phone number. He quickly explained who he was, and then told her about the situation with Danny. In utter disbelief, he listened in shock, as Maxine refused to come to the hospital.

  “He’s in a bad way,” he said, interrupting her several times, hoping she would change her mind.

  When he realised Maxine wasn’t going to budge on the matter, he switched off the call. He couldn’t believe it. No matter what had gone on between them, Danny was still her husband and the father of her child. He walked back to the ward and slipped Danny’s phone back inside the plastic bag. He then sat on the edge of the chair beside the bed, his eyes nervously darting toward the beeping machines.

  “You can talk to him if you want to,” Sophie said gently.

  Moray looked up at her in disbelief. He then glanced toward Danny. He was confused. His friend wasn’t even awake.

  “He can still hear,” she smiled.

  Nodding his head, Moray waited for the nurse to leave Danny’s bedside. “All right, mate?” he began. He could feel his cheeks blush and he looked around him, to check that no one else was within earshot. He was feeling more than a little bit foolish, and didn’t want anyone else to hear the words he was about to say. “I promise you, I’m gonna find out who did this, and as soon as you’re better, mate, we’ll sort them out, together. So, you just do what you have to do to get out of here.”

  He didn’t know if Danny could really hear him or not, but he certainly felt better for pledging his allegiance to catch whoever it was responsible for the shooting.

  * * *

  Big Tone was enjoying an ice cold beer. He was sat with Mick Johnson, and between them, they were putting the world to rights. Finally, they came to the subject of why they were really sitting in The Bull Public House, in Romford.

  “Freddie’s a loose cannon,” Mick stated.

  Big Tone nodded his head. He already knew this. “Why do you think me and the lads walked out on him?”

  “He’s gonna get one or more of those kids killed.”

  “A lot more went on in the firm, than you, or any of the others, knew about.”

  Taking a sip from his pint, Mick raised his eyebrows, waiting for Big Tone to continue.

  “He ordered Danny’s death. Terry Stevens and Lloydy were meant to have taken him out, only the kid was gunned down in the restaurant, before they had the chance to carry it through.”

  Mick blew out his cheeks. To say he was stunned, was an understatement. He’d had no idea things were so bad. “Fucking hell, mate. What the fuck is going on? I take it Danny found out, or at least he knows now.”

  Big Tone nodded his head. “Apparently, he’d sussed it out straight away. To be honest, there is so much bad blood between them, this is only going to end up going one way. It’ll be a case of the best man wins, and I know who I’ve got my money on.”

  “I told Freddie last night, he needs to get a grip on himself. Something’s not right up here,” Mick said, pointing to his temple. “It’s the coke, mate. It’s fucking him up. I’m sure it is. To be honest, I’m done with him. He’s becoming too reckless for my liking, and as for those kids, they haven’t got a clue what they’re walking into.”

  “Do you remember when all of this trouble first started? We were at the meet with the Greeks, and Danny kept asking why Freddie had these kids on the payroll. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Big Tone asked, raising his eyebrows.

  Silently, Mick nodded his head. Just lately, he’d begun asking himself the exact same thing. Why was Freddie surrounding himself with kids? “They’re impressionable, mate. They hear Freddie’s name, and want to jump on the bandwagon. What they don’t realise, is that this isn’t a game. One of them will end up getting hurt or killed. Let’s face it, in this game, you’re not guaranteed a long life. If we manage to reach old age, then we’ve been more than lucky. Either that, or we haven’t stepped on the wrong toes.”

  “True. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.”

  “Exactly,” Mick answered. “That’s what these kids don’t understand.” He took a sip of his lager and quickly swallowed it down. “So, you’re working with Danny now?”

  “It’s got to be a lot safer than working for Freddie.”

  Mick shook his head. “I don’t know about that, mate. We’ve both seen the real Danny McKay, haven’t we? And let’s face it, it isn’t pretty.”

  Big Tone couldn’t help, but agree. “I’ll be keeping me head down, mate. I don’t intend to get on his bad side. Why don’t you think about getting in contact with him, and see if he’ll take you on?”

  Mick thought about it for a moment. “I may do, mate. Either that, or I’ll just retire. I’m getting on in age now, and wouldn’t mind spending a bit more time with my grandkids.”

  Big Tone laughed. “There’s still some life in you, mate.”

  “Tell that to my knees,” Mick grinned. “But yeah, I will think about it.”

  They continued supping their pints, each of them quiet with thei
r own thoughts. The last few months had been a roller coaster. Surely, things couldn’t get any worse.

  * * *

  A slither of guilt ran through Maxine, for refusing to go and see her husband. She looked up at their wedding photo on the wall. That day had been one of the happiest days of her life. The other, being when she gave birth to little Danny. The truth was, she was scared that she would fall to pieces, if she saw him.

  Deep down, she did still love him. How could she not? He’d given her their son. But she had to get tough now. Enough was enough, and she couldn’t go on living with the constant knot of worry, each time he went out, or received a telephone call. She didn’t trust him anymore, and there was nothing either of them could do about that.

  She didn’t know what to do for the best. Should she go to the hospital or not? Maybe she should telephone them and see how he is. She was so confused. She’d put on a brave face for so long, when it came to her husband, she really didn’t know what to feel anymore. The only thing she knew for certain, was that for her own sanity, she couldn’t live with him a day longer.

  She chewed on her fingernail as she thought it through. She would wait and see how things go, she decided. He couldn’t be that bad. It was more than likely just a rouse to get her to go and talk to him about little Danny. If he was that seriously injured, surely the hospital would have phoned her themselves.

  * * *

  After leaving the hospital, Moray drove back to the club. He wanted to call a meeting with his men. He wondered, briefly, if any of them had noticed anything unusual in the last couple of days. Although, he was pretty certain he or Danny would’ve been informed, if they had. He glanced down at his watch. He would call the men in an hour early tonight, including the three men Danny had recruited.

  He still had a feeling Freddie’s men were involved. It was too much of a coincidence that they should turn up, and hours later, Danny was gunned down. He would suss them out later on, at the meeting, he decided. That was, if they even turned up. So help them, if he found out they had played a part in any of this, because if they had, he would tear them apart, with his own bare hands.

  Moray turned into the car park. He spotted more than a few cars he recognised, already parked up. Word had more than likely got out about the shooting, and he knew they would be eager to find out the facts. He climbed out of his car, locked up, then walked inside the club.

  “What’s happened, boss? How’s Danny doing?”

  Moray was met with a barrage of questions. “Let me get everyone here first, and then I’ll explain everything,” he said, walking toward his office.

  * * *

  DCI Ronnie Dellow was sat behind his desk, at Dagenham Police Station. There had been no breakthroughs in the case, whatsoever. As of yet, he didn’t even have a positive ID. He’d personally looked through every single missing person’s file he could get his hands on, hoping it would relate to his murder victim. Each lead had led to a dead end. They were still no nearer to finding out who he was.

  Someone, somewhere, must be missing this man, he thought to himself, as he absentmindedly tapped his Biro pen on the desk.

  “It’s confirmed. The case will be on the six o’clock news.”

  Ronnie looked up. “Let’s hope we get something, then. Have you chased up forensics?”

  Josie Morgan sat down at her desk. “Just about to do it now,” she replied, picking up the phone.

  Ronnie turned back to his computer screen. He had to be missing something. He looked across at the mountain of paperwork surrounding him, then to the yellow Post-It notes he’d stuck randomly around the screen. According to many of the colleagues he worked with, his desk was a cluttered mess. Ronnie liked to think of it as organised chaos. Somewhere, amongst this lot, there was a clue. He just had to sift through and find it.

  He glanced up at the clock on the wall. Just an hour to go, and then the case would be broadcast on the local news. He only hoped it would bring him a lead. He was hedging his bets on once they found out who their victim was, then everything else would slot into place.

  * * *

  Moray stood in front of his men. He still couldn’t get his head around this turn of events. They were gathered around the bar area, and he could see disbelief, coupled with anger, in their expressions. Danny wasn’t just their boss, he was one of their own, and like a family, they looked out for one another.

  “So what happened, boss?” Callum asked.

  “Someone shot him, and from what I can gather, he was in his car at traffic lights. At least that’s where he was found, anyway. For all we know, he could have been shot earlier, and then collapsed at the lights.”

  “Is he gonna make it?” It was the one question on all of their minds.

  Moray sighed. “I don’t know yet. They said he’s critical and he’s lost a lot of blood. We know he’s strong, though, and if anyone can pull through this, then it will be him. They said they would start waking him up soon, so until then, it’s a waiting game.”

  “So he must have been followed then?”

  Moray turned back to look at Callum and shrugged his shoulders. “To be honest, I really don’t know, but I don’t think it was random. Someone either knew he would be there, or had to have followed him. Or,” he said, looking across to Big Tone, Lloydy and Terry Stevens, “it was someone he knew. How else did they get so close to him?”

  All eyes went to the three men, and Big Tone shifted his weight, feeling uncomfortable. The shooting had nothing to do with them.

  “What do you know about this?” Callum asked the men, his tone accusing.

  Big Tone shrugged his shoulders. “The same as you. Fuck all.”

  Moray watched their reactions carefully. He still didn’t trust them.

  “It’s a bit strange, though. You three come along, out of fucking nowhere, and all of a sudden, he’s been shot.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Big Tone asked. “If you’re accusing us, then come out and actually say it.”

  “That’s right. I am accusing you,” Callum said, as he stared hard toward the men. In his opinion, this was no random attack. Danny wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have let some hood rat get the better of him like this. Whoever was responsible, knew Danny, and also knew what they were doing.

  Big Tone bristled. “Listen here,” he said, stabbing his finger in Callum’s direction. “You know fuck all about any of this, and we know fuck all about what happened, because we weren’t there. We wouldn’t have come to Danny, putting our lives on the line, if we planned all along to kill him. Where’s the logic in that?”

  Callum shrugged his shoulders. “Well, what I do know is, you three turn up out of nowhere, and now our boss has been gunned down. Seems a bit strange to me, that’s all I’m saying. I think Moray’s right. We should be looking closer to home.”

  “We’ve done fuck all wrong,” Terry said, his voice rising. Just like Big Tone, he didn’t like how the conversation was turning toward them.

  “Got alibis, have you?”

  “Who are you, a fucking copper?”

  Moray held up his hand to quiet the situation down, before it escalated. Tempers were beginning to flare. “Until Danny wakes up, we won’t know the full story, but until then, we need to try and find out what happened. Someone will be talking about this. Most of you gossip more than women do anyway, so it goes without saying. Someone will talk, and unless someone claims responsibility, that’s going to be our best chance of finding out whoever did this.”

  Reluctantly, the men agreed. Moray then dismissed them, before turning toward Big Tone. “I want to talk to the three of you in my office.”

  They followed Moray, and waited for him to close the office door, before speaking.

  “We don’t know anything about this.”

  Moray shook his head. “First of all, let’s get something straight. I’m not happy about the three of you being here. I didn’t employ you. That was Danny’s call, and I’ve swallowed the situation, solely
for that reason. But let me tell you now, if I find out any of you had a hand in this, I will personally tear the three of you apart.”

  Lloydy looked Moray in the eye. “We didn’t do this.”

  “Okay, for the time being, I’ll have to take your word on that. So who else, other than Freddie, would have a reason to do this?”

  Big Tone sighed. How long did they have? “Danny had upset more than one person over the years.”

  “Well, come on? You three worked with Danny for a lot of years. So who are the big players? Who could’ve held a grudge against him?”

  “Well, Freddie has had a lot of problems with the Greeks. It was Danny who personally arranged the meetings, so they would know him.” Big Tone looked across to Terry and Lloydy. “Who else has Danny had to deal with?” he asked them.

  “Ron Page. You remember him, that bloke from North London. He had a problem with Freddie. Something or other that went back years. Things got pretty heated between him and Danny.”

  Big Tone shook his head. “He’s in the scrubs.”

  “Dougie Chambers?”

  “Mad Dougie, from Newcastle? I thought he died last year,” Moray stated.

  Big Tone shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, and to be honest, we could be here all night. Let’s face it, Danny isn’t scared to have a pop at anyone, but of late, the Greeks were causing the biggest problems.”

  “Okay.” Moray nodded his head, as he thought over their words. “Well, keep your ears to the ground, and make sure you give me the nod personally, if you hear anything.”

  The three men nodded their heads. “So, where do you want us tonight? Danny said it would be on the doors.”