Weekend in Weighton Final Amazon version 12-12-12 (31 page)

I looked at him and hesitated. My plan had run aground. With my phone slimed out, there was no way to contact Kate. I didn’t know if or when she might come. I could play for time, but I sensed the brothers were already onto me, wising up faster than a convention of wise guys.

Sometimes it’s best to do what’s least expected. The truth will out.

I shrugged. ‘Bits of it.’

‘Please, Eddie,’ said Robert, ‘you must tell us.’

‘I will, but it’s not what you’d call good news.’ I pulled a face and switched my gaze between them.

Kip squared up to me. ‘If you are lying, I will kill you.’

‘Well, it’s funny you should mention that.’

Robert put an arm between his brother and me. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The woman at the house, the one Kip attacked that day–’

‘He still lies,’ interjected Kip.

Robert gripped my sleeve. ‘Go on.’

‘It wasn’t Helen Porson.’ I breathed deeply and put on a grim face. ‘It was your mother.’

‘No.’ Robert’s arm fell away, and his face folded inwards like a punctured inflatable.

I tried to console him by resting my hand on his shoulder, but from my blind side, Kip punched me in the stomach and I rocked backwards with the impact. A sharp pain did a crazy dance between my hips, and I moaned. Why had I become everyone’s favourite punch bag?

‘All lies,’ hissed Kip.

I took a long breath, shaking my head vehemently.

‘How can this be?’ asked Robert.

‘I’ll get to it,’ I said, looking between them, ‘but I ain’t taking any more cheap shots from the Nitro Kid.’

Robert pulled his brother back. ‘We will listen,’ he said.

I needed two more long breaths before I could begin. ‘Your mother had an accident soon after she got back from Africa – it left her with brain damage. She couldn’t hear or speak, and she had no memory. She lived in a nursing home and was only at the house that day to meet you. That’s who Kip found. That’s why she wouldn’t speak to you. She couldn’t.’

‘No,’ said Robert, tears filling his eyes. ‘Please, no.’ He shook his head in denial, but I could sense him trying to work it through, matching the testimony he’d just heard to events in his memory. ‘She was alive when we left,’ he said finally, his voice close to a whisper. ‘I know it.’

Robert put his head in his hands and started to weep. Kip just glared at me in brooding silence. As I disengaged from Kip’s stare, something caught my eye over Robert’s shoulder, triggering another tummy tingle. Not the Diffy kind. A black Range Rover had turned into the square from Barton Street and now burbled towards the Town Hall. Its number plate had an ominous familiarity: definitely the Jimmy kind.

Nothing stayed simple in Weighton for very long. Another game changer had just cruised into town. This called for what is known in Management Speak as an evolving strategy.

I put my hand back on Robert’s shoulder and gave it a pat. ‘I do have some good news.’

He looked up but didn’t speak.

‘Tell us,’ said Kip.

‘The guys you saw when you left that day–’

‘Yes?’

‘They went into the house after you left.’ I gave them the “wind-on” sign, but the puzzled looks remained.

‘What are you saying?’

‘If she was alive when you left, it means they must have killed her.’

‘But why?’ asked Robert.

‘Mistaken identity. Helen Porson owed them money. Big money.’

‘So they killed my mother?’

‘Technically, yes, but they thought it was Helen Porson. They didn’t know she had a twin sister. No one did.’

Jimmy’s car was heading towards our end of the square. He would see us any second. When he did, things would get interesting. I planned to make the introductions and leave, hastily.

Kip studied my face. ‘Where can we find these men?’

I took a deliberate and pronounced step to the side so Cartwright’s crew would catch my movement, then looked directly at their car. Evening sun glare caught the windscreen, but beyond that I saw Mickey’s jaw slide. The Range Rover powered forward the last twenty yards and then ploughed to an immediate halt, its wheels locking.

‘Well?’ continued Kip.

I gave him a smile. ‘That’s the miracle I’ve been working on, and it’s arrived right on time.’ With a sweep of my hand I waved a proverbial wand in the direction of Jimmy’s car. ‘The men you seek are right over there.’

All the world’s a stage, and everyone gets an entrance. With perfect timing, Keith, Mickey and Tommy clambered out of the car in a commotion of opening and closing doors. Jimmy followed, smartening his tie knot, then sprucing his suit pants as he marched over. His eye was already twitching, and he looked rattled. Tommy squelched alongside him, still in drip-dry mode. Mickey and Keith fanned out to take a flank each.

The Nkongos turned to look at the approaching “wild bunch”, and Kip’s head gave a slight jitter as he recognised them. I moved to stand behind and slightly to the left of the brothers.

‘We meet again,’ Jimmy said to me.

‘That restraining order can’t come soon enough.’

Jimmy made no effort to smile. He tipped his palm at the Nkongos. ‘What have we here?’

‘This is Robert and Kip, the boys I told you about earlier.’

Kip shot a look at his brother, but Robert kept his stare on Jimmy.

‘I remember,’ said Jimmy. He looked directly at Robert. ‘Trying to trace your mum, right?’

Robert nodded calmly.

‘I have every good wish for your endeavours. In fact, I may be able to help. I know a lot of people in this town. Come see me. I’ll do what I can.’ Jimmy indulged them with a broad smile. ‘In the meantime,’ he went on, gesturing at me, ‘I have some business with this young man. So if you don’t mind leaving us ...’ He folded his arms with a hint of intimidation.

In response, Kip stepped forward and gave Jimmy the scary stare routine. With his attention unmoved from the Kingpin, Kip pointed his finger at me. ‘He is saying you killed her.’

‘Implied,’ I corrected.

Jimmy laughed. ‘I don’t know how well you know this dipshit, but you can tell when he’s lying because his mouth opens. Hence the reason I need an unfriendly word.’

I stuck a thumb into my chest and looked at Kip. ‘You don’t have to believe anything I say. Just remember what happened that day. She was alive when you left. You’re sure of that. They went in straight afterwards. Next thing we know, there’s a dead body.’ The slight breeze made me realise I still stunk of fish. I didn’t prolong the sniff. ‘I think we’re all agreed on the facts.’

My eyes flicked between the rival factions, trying to work out who was craziest. Tommy pummelled his fist continuously into his palm and glared at me, refusing to look anywhere else. I wondered if the shooter was still working after his river dip.

‘Which one of you killed her?’ Kip’s icy question was addressed to all of Cartwright’s ragtag crew.

Jimmy, Tommy, Keith, and Mickey hardened their expressions but stayed quiet.

‘You already know which one did it,’ said Kip, eyeing me. ‘Don’t you?’

I shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t say I
know
. That’s not the right word. But if I was speculating, what can I tell you? The big guy with the wet-look? He’s got form.’

In a blur, Kip shot his hand to his boot and took out a knife. He flicked open the blade and pointed it at Tommy. ‘It was you?’

Tommy grinned.

‘No, Kip. Don’t,’ pleaded Robert.

Jimmy raised and lowered his hands. ‘Easy, boys, no need for any rough stuff.’

It wasn’t a good time to be thinking it, but Jimmy and irony were like long-lost cousins. I immobilised my face to avoid a reaction. Tommy stepped forward and dutifully placed himself between Jimmy and Kip. He took out his gun and let it rest in his hand.

I saw hesitation flicker over Kip’s face.

‘It’s been in the river,’ I told him. ‘It won’t fire.’

With that, Tommy swung the gun at me.

I stepped back. ‘Probably.’

Tommy grinned and released the safety catch.

I glanced up at the nearest CCTV unit. ‘Smile, Tom. You’re on YouTube.’

Jimmy followed my line of sight and then glanced at Tommy. ‘Put it away.’

Tommy pretended not to hear. He just stood there, switching the gun from hand to hand, clenching his teeth.

‘Do it now, Tom.’

Tommy had defied Jimmy on the bridge. I couldn’t risk him going rogue again.

‘Jimmy,’ I said, ‘I hate to break up the party, but it’s a set-up. Plod are watching every second of this, they’re positioned all over the square, just waiting for the right moment.’

‘Sure. Like I wouldn’t know.’

‘They’ve got sound, too, Jimmy. I think you’ve just given them their moment.’

Jimmy pointed at me. ‘Grab him, Tom.’

‘Any second now. Believe me, it’ll be crawling with cops.’

I made a beckoning wave at the camera, and Tommy took a step forward. Kip barred his way, making a figure eight motion with his knife. I backed up to the step behind me. Just then a phone began to ring.
My Way
blared from Jimmy’s suit.

‘There’s your heads up, Jimmy.’

‘Shut it! Sort him, Tom. Now!’

Tommy skirted around Kip, keeping his gun hand steady, and Keith tracked behind Tommy. Kip turned at the same time, making an exaggerated movement with the knife. His eyes seethed with intent; the kid was clearly in the slashing zone.

A blue van swung into the square, its engine straining. This was my moment. For quite what, I didn’t know, but I had to do something. Something no one expected. Something to prove everybody wrong. Something, finally, to make my dad proud. I took a deep breath and relaxed, trying to escape the limitations of space and time. And like tracer fire for an imaginary magic bullet, the angles miraculously lined up before me.

‘Here they are,’ I shouted, pointing behind Jimmy’s head.

A rough gear change from the van boomed around the square, the timing and sound just as I’d hoped. It was the starting gun I needed. As everyone turned their heads, I used the height from the first step to launch a jump kick at Kip. My left foot struck him between the shoulder blades, and the rebound push off his back allowed me to slam a hook kick into Keith’s face, knocking him over. From the force of my kick, Kip lurched forward into Tommy’s side. I heard the gun go off and a yelp from Tommy. I landed and swung around, taking in the scene. Keith was sat on the paving, nursing a cut above his eye, Kip lay dazed on the ground, and Tommy had curled on his side, a blade stuck in his abdomen. Blood pulsed from the wound.

I started to back away. Robert, Jimmy, and Mickey stood their ground and looked on.

‘You can run, Eddie,’ Cartwright growled, ‘but you can’t hide. Not in my town.’

‘I’ll find another,’ I said with a shrug. ‘This one’s fucked anyway.’ I tipped my head at the fallen giant. ‘Give Tommy my love. Sure he’ll be fine in a few days. Watch he don’t get a chill.’