Fractured (Dividing Line #4) (21 page)

“I knew Riley when he was a teenager and he never wanted that life. His dad offered it to him and he turned it down, which is why Stuart took me under his wing instead. Riley is like Rachel, neither of them want anything to do with that life.” He turned his glare on Mikey. “How could you even ask her that?”

“I had to, I don’t know if she’s changed her mind in the meantime.”

“Don’t be so fucking stupid. You know her almost as well as I do. You ever look at her like she’s threatening your position again and I will put you down.”

“Hey, I’m not the enemy here,” he retorted, getting angry.

“Aren’t you?”

“No.”

Ryan’s grey eyes were flinty as he glared at Mikey, who glared right back.

“Stop it, this is just what Alex wants, us lot tearing each other apart. We’ve got to work together if we’re going to survive,” said Jez.

“You’re right,” sighed Mikey. “I’m sorry Ryan, I shouldn’t have said that to Rachel but I’m on edge.”

“Me too,” said Ryan. “I want you both to know that I don’t give a shit who takes the throne when Alex is gone because mark my words, I am going to kill him. All I care about is protecting my family. You two can squabble over it when this is done. Understood?”

“Understood,” they repeated in unison.

“Are you really going to let Riley in on this?” said Mikey.

“I don’t want him involved but he might leave me no choice.”

“He’s so like you it’s creepy.”

“I know.”

Jez folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

“Don’t spit your dummy out,” Ryan told him. “This doesn’t change anything between us.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“No. Stop acting like a child. We grew up together. No one can ever come between that and I wouldn’t let them anyway. Give Riley a chance, he’s a good guy.”

“Alright, I’ll try, but he’s got to earn my trust.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

Jez gave his older brother a reluctant smile, which Ryan returned.

“Now children,” began Ryan. “What have you been doing to find Alex Maguire?”

“Before we get into that, there’s something else you should know,” said Mikey. “Alex has got the Lucifer’s Shadow MC on his side. We want you to talk to Dane Black about getting his crew on ours.”

Mikey and Jez both took a step back when Ryan glared at them with murder in his eyes.

CHAPTER 23

When Rachel arrived at the hotel accompanied by Battler, Bruiser and Riley only her dad was awake, drinking tea and gazing out of the window, looking troubled.

“Alright Dad?” she smiled.

“No Rachel, I’m not. My daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren almost died last night. Now we’re holed up in a hotel and police are guarding the door.” He looked past her to Battler and Bruiser. “And judging by their presence I’m guessing this is something to do with the Maguires?”

Rachel nodded. “Where are Mum and the kids?”

“Asleep in the next room so feel free to tell me everything.”

“You’re better off not knowing Dad.”

He slammed the cup down, shaking with anger. “Oh no, you’re not fobbing me off again. I accepted the lies and half truths you’ve given me in the past because I didn’t want to know. Burying my head in the sand was probably not the best thing to do but your old life scared me. I thought you’d left it all behind but here it comes again, trying to kill those I love the most. Have you been lying to us all this time? Are you still involved with those gangsters?”

“No Dad, we’re not. Me and Ryan gave it all up, we’re legitimate, I swear. This isn’t business, it’s personal.”

“Then who tried to kill you?”

“Alex.”

He appeared stunned. “Alex Maguire?”

“Yes.”

“Why would he do that? You’re so close.”

“Not anymore. Something’s happened to him, he’s turned against everyone who loves him, even Mikey. He’s out of control. He’s always had a dark side but Danny and Martina could keep him in check. Now they’re both gone there’s nothing to stop him doing what he wants.”

“And what does he want?”

“To punish everyone he thinks has disrespected him. Beth has taken the kids and run off with Nick Jordan, one of his associates. He thinks we’ve been sheltering them.”

“I can’t believe she’d leave him, they love each other.”

“They used to but he’s changed. Beth won’t tell me outright but he’s been eroding her confidence, telling her she’s fat.. You should see her Dad, she looks like a skeleton, he’s made her anorexic with his bullying.”

“We think he’s been hitting her too,” interjected Battler.

“Oh God,” sighed Rachel, sinking onto the couch and running her hands through her hair.

“She didn’t tell you?” said Battler.

Rachel shook her head. “No.”

“I’m sorry, I assumed she had. Alex is having an affair too but we’re not sure who with. Beth was smart running before she became an inconvenience to him.”

Rachel looked at her dad. “Riley thinks the house was set on fire on purpose to try and flush Beth out. Alex might not have intended for it to get out of control as quickly as it did, it’s an old house, it went up so fast. Was an old house,” she ended miserably.

“And you knew nothing about Beth and this Nick? You promise?” said Rick.

“I promise, she told me nothing. When we went to Manchester for Martina’s funeral I had a word with her because I was worried about how much weight she’d lost. She told me she’d been ill but was recovering and Alex was still the same loving husband. That was it.”

“So Alex should leave you alone now if he’s after Beth?”

“We think he could still come back for them, he could use Rachel and the kids to draw Beth out of hiding, it’s the sort of thing he’d do,” said Battler.

“So what’s your plan Battler? Are you going to protect my daughter?”

“Yes. We’re taking her and the kids away. We want you to come too.”

“Me and Gill are in danger now?”

“We’re not sure but we don’t want to take the chance.”

“This is a complete and utter nightmare. I thought all this was over.”

“So did I,” said Rachel. “We were so happy.”

Rick looked to the three men. “Would you mind waiting outside? I want to speak to my daughter in private.”

All three nodded and quietly filed out of the room.

Rick stared hard at Rachel. “I want to know why you moved up here.”

“I told you, we wanted a fresh start.”

“No, something happened that scared you so much you ran up here. I’ve thought about asking you so many times and backed out because I was afraid of what I’d hear but I’m not shying away from it anymore. Nothing scares my girl but I heard it in your voice over the phone, you were terrified. What happened?”

Rachel knew there was no getting out of it. She had no choice but to tell him.

“Alex asked me to meet with Jan Jordan.”

“Jordan, a relation of this Nick that Beth’s run off with?”

She nodded. “She was his mum.”

“Was?”

“I’m getting there. The Jordans were threatening the Maguires. They’d come up from Essex wanting to take over Manchester.”

“More gangsters?”

“Yes. Alex told them no but they refused to go. They said the only way they were leaving without bloodshed was if Jan met with me. So I agreed.”

“Why on earth did you do that?”

“Alex said he needed my help, he was trying to avoid a war.”

“Were you pregnant at the time?”

She nodded.

“How could Ryan let you do that?”

“He didn’t, he was furious but you know me, the more someone tells me no the more I dig my heels in. He did everything he could to stop me but I wouldn’t listen because I wanted to help Alex. I thought we were friends.”

“Of all the stupid idiotic things to do Rachel.”

“I know,” she said, a tear sliding down her face. “I’m sorry.”

“You sat there in the hospital and blatantly lied to us, you told us it was an accident.”

“We didn’t lie, we thought it was an accident at the time. It happened two months after I met with the Jordans, we thought they were long gone. We had no reason to connect it with them.”

“I see,” he said, calming down a little. “So how did you find out?”

“They kidnapped me.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“Please keep your voice down, I don’t want Mum hearing this.”

“She won’t want to hear it either, trust me. I’m starting to regret asking myself.”

“Ryan almost died to save me. Jan Jordan said she wanted to exchange me for Alex, but it was a lie. She wanted to kill me too. Of course Alex refused to come so Ryan walked into that house full of Jordans to save me. Jan had a lot of nephews and two sons and he fought so hard but there were too many of them and he was almost beaten to death. The Maguires charged in and saved us. It was then I found out that the Jordans had been responsible for driving that van into me. Nick Jordan’s a good man,” she said, trying not think about him shooting his own mother. “He went out of his way to protect me from the rest of his family, who were animals. I almost lost Ryan that day Dad, he nearly died because of my mistake, because I trusted Alex and wanted to help him and all along he hated us.”

“Why?”

“Do you remember years ago when I was married to Danny…”

“I shudder to recall.”

“…there was a time when we briefly split up?”

“After his disgusting behaviour made you have a miscarriage then he attacked you?” he frowned.

“Yes. Well, after we split up there was a moment between me and Ryan.”

“What sort of moment?”

She tried not to blush. “I’m not going into details but it happened in Martina’s Bar and someone saw us and told Alex. That’s our theory anyway. He thinks I betrayed his brother and made a mockery of the Maguire name.”

“That’s ridiculous. I couldn’t stand him myself but I know you loved Danny.”

“I did and I wouldn’t have cheated on him.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Ryan are made for each other. If Danny hadn’t died you two still would have got together one day.”

Her automatic reaction was to deny it then she considered how she felt about Ryan and nodded. “Actually you’re probably right. I can’t imagine my life without him.” Tears rolled down her face. “He almost died to protect me because of Alex Maguire.”

Rick had never been able to tolerate his daughter crying, no matter how bad she’d been so he pulled her to him. “I’m so grateful to that man for getting you out of your old life and bringing you down here and I love him even more for being willing to sacrifice himself for you like that. We’ll all go away and let the Maguires tear each other to pieces. Hopefully they’ll wipe each other out and we can come home and get on with our lives in peace.”

“Ryan’s not coming with us.”

His face fell. “Why not?”

“He wants to stay here and make sure Alex is…removed.”

“He’s going to kill him?” he whispered.

Rachel just nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Can’t say I blame him, that’s what I want to do to Alex myself but he can’t, he needs to be with you and the kids.”

“He doesn’t trust anyone else to do it.”

“It won’t be the first time he’s killed?” he said, lowering his voice again.

“No.”

“I’ve always known it, I lived on the Montford for years after all.”

“He’s not that Ryan anymore, he’s my Ryan.”

“He is that my girl and he’ll do anything to protect you but I still wish he was coming with us.”

“Me too. What if I never see him again?” she said, descending into sobs.

Rick rocked her in his arms. “How do you get yourself into these messes?” he said, but his voice was gentle, not admonishing.

“I don’t know, I never intended to get involved with that life but it sucks you in so fast. I always thought I was fighting for my family, doing my best to protect them when all along I was only putting them in danger. Danny’s death made me realise that. It was bad enough when I lost him but if I lost Ryan…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, the prospect was too horrifying.

“That won’t happen, he’ll let nothing stand between you and him.” She nestled into him deeper, softly crying. He kissed the top of her head. “It’s alright my girl, everything will be alright, you’ll see.”

Nick drove up to the cottage with a big grin. He’d picked up some toys for the kids that he knew they’d love and a beautiful diamond necklace for Beth. He wanted to spoil her rotten after the shabby way Alex had treated her.

From the outside everything seemed normal. The lights were still burning and the house appeared secure. He hopped out of the car and locked it up before strolling up to the front door and pushing it open. It was the absolute silence that told him something was wrong. With three kids in the house there was always some sort of noise; the boys laughing and joking, the television blaring, Holly grizzling, but now there was nothing.

Sheer panic made him throw caution to the wind and he rushed inside, yelling Beth’s name. One of the Sugar brothers - he wasn’t sure which one - came at him from the right and Nick swung his fist, punching him in the chest, throwing him off balance. He followed this up with a kick to the stomach and a fist in the face and the man fell. There was a yell from behind him and big arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. Nick threw back his head and felt it connect with something hard. There was a cry of pain and he found himself released. Looking down he saw it was another of the younger Sugar brothers and Nick stamped on his crotch for good measure, making him scream with pain.

“Hold it,” said a cool calm voice.

Col Sugar appeared in the kitchen doorway, a gun in his hand.

“Where are they?” Nick yelled at him, half-afraid of the answer.

“Where they should be. With Alex. If you don’t want Beth to end up with a bullet in the back of the head you’ll come with us.”

Nick sighed and hung his head. They’d been so close.

“Are we ready to go?” said an eager Gill. She’d chosen to treat all this as an adventure, although she knew there was a very dark reason for the sudden departure. However, unlike her husband, she thought burying her head in the sand was a very sensible precaution and to Rachel’s relief she wasn’t asking any questions. The boys were perky too at the prospect of a holiday but Leah knew something was wrong.

“Why isn’t Dad coming?”

“He’s got work to do here,” replied Rachel. She’d showered and changed into black pencil skirt, sleeveless white shirt and high heels and felt almost like her old self again.

“What work?” persisted Leah.

“It’s to do with the businesses. He’ll meet us out there.”

“I want to see him before we go.”

“Leah, there’s no time.”

“I’m not going without seeing Dad,” she said firmly. Rachel caught the look in her eye and knew she wouldn’t be swayed. Leah took after her in many ways.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Riley, will you stay here with my parents and the kids? Battler and Bruiser can take us back to the hospital.”

“I’m not sure…,” began Riley.

“We’ll be fine,” said Battler, “but we have to go now.”