Barking Boy Read online

  “My brother has a son.” Tommy spoke to know one in particular, merely trying to take in the fact that Gary was a father, and he himself, was an uncle.

  Dean coughed. He spat out a mouthful of blood onto a black and cream, swirling patterned rug that he’d paid a small fortune for, before wiping his hand across his lips. The rug was the least of his problems. He’d bet his life on having more than one broken rib, and a broken knee cap, if he wasn’t mistaken. He was only thankful to still be alive, and that it hadn’t been a shotgun used. That was usually the weapon of choice for men like them. “Yes a boy, Cameron.” He closed his eyes, the exertion of speaking wearing him out.

  Tommy got to his feet. The fight had left him now; the urge to kill was gone. He looked around him. Dean Johnson’s blood splatter covered almost every surface. The room resembled a blood bath. He breathed heavily, pointing the bat toward the older man. “You go back to Spain, and you stay there. I don’t want to see you anywhere near me or mine again. Am I making myself understood?”

  Slowly, Dean nodded his head, thoroughly understanding the threat. In order to save his own life, he had unwittingly given away his only weakness, Cameron. After this, he had no intention of getting in Tommy Carter’s way ever again, and his thoughts briefly went to Mark Hopper. The fact that he’d originally planned to question Carter over Hopper’s disappearance was gone from his mind, and the knowledge that little Cameron needed his grandad was enough to ensure it stayed that way. “I swear to you on my grandson’s life, I will not come near you or yours ever again. This feud of ours, it ends now, today.”

  They stared across the room at each other, with both mutual hatred and a new-found respect. Satisfied, Tommy gave a nod of his head. He walked from the house and breathed in a lungful of fresh air. He could still smell the unmistakable scent of blood, and looked down at his stained hands, further proof to just how close he had come to killing the man. It was over, there would be no comebacks where the gold was concerned. With a backwards glance toward the house, Tommy walked across the mowed lawn. He pulled up the hood of his jacket, and scaled over the fence into the night.

  Within days, Dean Johnson had left England. “A car crash,” he told the worried air stewardess, in a way of explaining away his bruised and battered face, as he boarded the flight back to Spain. He sat beside the window, still struggling to breathe through his nose. The pounding inside his head was tremendous, and he quickly swallowed down some painkillers before the plane took off. He closed his eyes, as the plane began to power down the runway. He’d already decided that he would give Bethany the same explanation. To be perfectly honest, he doubted she would even care. More than anything, he needed to save face. No one could ever know the truth. No one must ever know that Tommy Carter, or the Barking Boy, as he was commonly known amongst the criminal fraternity, had got one over him.

  With relative ease and more hands on deck, the gold had easily been retrieved from its hiding place. Danny McKay shook his head. “You are one slippery bastard, Carter. I would have never have thought of looking here for it.”

  Tommy had shrugged his shoulders. In actual fact, he was glad to be shot of it. The gold had caused him nothing but grief. If he hadn’t of known better, or had been a superstitious man, he would have claimed the haul to be cursed.

  They’d waved goodbye to the gold at Tilbury docks, estimating it would take Tommy’s friend just a few days to reach Spain.

  Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, Danny walked toward his car. “I’ll see you over in Spain in a couple of days.” They’d decided between them it was safer and a lot less suspect to travel separately.

  Tommy nodded his head. “Yeah, see you there, mate.” He watched, as Danny drove away, then smiled across at Jimmy. “I can’t bloody wait to just get away for a few days, bruv.” He pulled his jacket collar up around his neck, in a bid to keep out the bitter wind that blew around them. “It’ll be nice just to feel the sun on my back.”

  Jimmy smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this? I mean, me buying the bar with Aiden? You know it’s gonna mean me spending weeks away at a time.”

  “Course I am. You’re your own man, you have to do what’s right for you. Besides, I think I’ve dragged you around with me for long enough, haven’t I?” He gave a wide grin, proving he had no hard feelings toward his brother. “It just means Gary, Sonny, and Mitchel will have to step up to the plate. Well, Sonny and Mitchel anyway. Gary’s a lost cause.”

  Both brothers grinned at Tommy’s words regarding Gary. “She ruined him, you know that, don’t you? He’s not right up here.” Tommy pointed to his head, his tone serious.

  “Yeah, she did,” Jimmy smiled sadly, recalling how their younger brother had been before Bethany Johnson had entered his life. “We can’t change what’s done though, so no point dwelling on it.”

  “Yep, you’re right.” Tommy stared into the distance. “Come on, let’s head back. It’s bloody freezing, and like a pair of fucking lemons, we’re stood on the docks.

  To say Janet was stressed out would be an understatement. She counted out the passports in her hand for the third time in the past ten minutes alone, before placing them inside her flight bag.

  “They’re all there.” Stacey began to laugh.

  “What if one’s missing?” Janet pulled the bundle out of her flight bag once again.

  “I’ve just watched you count them at least twice, and they are definitely all there.”

  “Have you got your passports?”

  Stacey nodded her head. “Right here.” She patted her handbag.

  Janet couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh, I’m so excited, Stace.” She linked her arm through her daughter-in-law’s. “Who’d have thought it, eh? My Jimmy, owning a bar in Spain? And do you wanna know what one of the first things I’m going to do, when we get there, is? I’m going to have the largest glass of sangria you’ve ever seen.” She gave a giggle. “I’ve never even tried it before. I hope I bleeding well like it.”

  “I know, it’s so exciting, and I’m pleased for him. He deserves this.” She paused, checking that Tommy wasn’t within earshot.” And what do you think of Aiden?” She nodded her head toward the man in question, a cheeky smile was plastered across her face.

  “Oh, he’s a handsome devil, isn’t he? My Jimmy’s got good taste.”

  Stacey nodded her head smiling. “Shame he bats for the other team.”

  “Stace!” Janet cried, her mouth falling open in shock.

  Stacey laughed out loud. “I’m only joking. You know I only have eyes for my Tommy.”

  “I know you do, darling.” Janet hugged her daughter-in-law to her.

  The beep of a car horn outside the house threw Janet into further panic. “It’s here! Come on everyone, the minibus is here.”

  “Right, have we got everything?” Stacey gathered her children together, while the men carried the suitcases out to the minibus.

  “Yes, that’s everything, come on.” Tommy ushered his mum and Stacey out of the house. This was to be the first family holiday abroad they had all been on together. And the fact that he and Jimmy would be mixing both pleasure with business, remained at the forefront of his mind. He was under no illusions that this trip to Spain was all about the gold, and ensuring it was melted down with minimal risk to themselves.

  The family walked out of the house, leaving Tommy to lock the front door behind him. He took note of Gary just ahead of him, and pulled on his brother’s arm. “Gal.”

  Turning around, Gary did nothing to hide his irritation. “What?” he spat out the word.

  Tommy swallowed deeply, the knowledge of his brother’s son lay heavy on his mind. Ever since Dean Johnson had blurted out that Gary had a child, Tommy had felt nothing but turmoil inside of him. He just didn’t know what to do for the best, and hadn’t even told Jimmy about this turn of events. The dilemma he faced was all to do with Gary’s state of mind. Should he tell him he had a son, or was it best left unsaid?

 
; “Well, what do you want?”

  Tommy could see the hatred in Gary’s eyes. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to tell him about Cameron, not when they were actually going to Spain, and would be putting themselves in the same country as the Johnsons. He shook his head. It could wait. After all, Gary had already waited three years. Another couple of weeks of waiting wouldn’t hurt. Once they were safely back in England, he would tell his brother everything there was to know. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Can I go now?” Gary sighed, tapping his foot impatiently.

  “Yeah.” With a heavy heart, Tommy watched as his brother rolled his eyes, before walking away from him. He gave the house one final glance, then locked the front door.

  “Come on!” Janet called out. “We don’t want to miss the flight.”

  Walking down the path toward the minibus, a huge grin spread across Tommy’s face. What with the fortune they would make from the gold, not to mention his other businesses, and now this little holiday to Spain, life really couldn’t get any better than it already was. Hadn’t he always said it to anyone who would listen? The Carters were going places, and with him in charge, he was more than certain that this was only the start for them.

  * * *

  The End