Traitor in the House Read online

  Grace looked up to see the unmistakeable figure of DI Leigh Moss walking towards her. She weaved her way through the tables until she reached Grace. Removing her coat, she took a seat opposite. ‘Thanks,’ she said, indicating the untouched glass of Diet Coke on the table in front of her.

  ‘You’re welcome. I’m afraid there’s no shot of brandy in it though,’ Grace said with a smile. ‘I have to pick the kids up from their grandparents shortly.’

  ‘That’s fine. I have to get back to the station soon anyway.’

  ‘No rest for the wicked, eh?’

  Leigh half-smiled. ‘Something like that,’ she said before taking a sip of her drink.

  The two women sat in silence for a few moments.

  ‘Did you speak to the women at Number 69?’ Leigh eventually asked.

  ‘Yes. I didn’t get much information about Nerys though. It seems she was quite shy and kept to herself mostly. I assume you know all about her pimp, Baines?’

  Leigh nodded. ‘Oh yes. Benny Baines – nasty piece of work. He would have been high on my suspect list, except he’s in prison.’

  ‘Benny?’ Grace frowned. ‘I thought his name was Leo?’

  ‘He is, but we call him Benny because he always had one of those Benny hats glued to his head. We never knew why until we arrested him,’ she said with a smirk.

  ‘Scarring on his forehead, perhaps?’ Grace grinned back.

  ‘Yes. It just looks a mess from a distance, but up close…’

  ‘You can make out the word paedo?’

  Leigh laughed. ‘Exactly. Now, how would you even know about that?’ Grace was about to answer when Leigh help up her hand. ‘Actually, forget it. I don’t want to know. Did you find anything else out about Nerys?’

  ‘Only that she had a child.’

  ‘A child?’ Leigh asked with a frown. ‘There’s nothing in her medical records to indicate that.’

  ‘Well, that’s what I was told,’ Grace replied with a shrug. ‘Perhaps she lied?’

  ‘Do you know anything else about this child?’ Leigh asked, her brow furrowed.

  ‘A daughter. She’s about five and probably lives with her father. But that’s all I was told. Nerys apparently let it slip to one of the girls she was close to. But then she clammed up and wouldn’t say any more about her.’

  ‘Five? So Nerys would have been sixteen when she had her?’

  Grace nodded.

  Leigh frowned again and shook her head. ‘It doesn’t make sense. You can’t just have a child and there be no record of it.’

  ‘Maybe she lied? Or was confused? Or delusional? Who knows what that poor girl had been through?’

  Leigh rubbed her temple and closed her eyes.

  ‘Why does this information about a possible child have you so rattled?’ Grace asked.

  Leigh opened her eyes and stared at Grace. ‘It doesn’t. It’s just a surprise.’

  ‘Don’t bullshit me, Leigh. I can tell this has you spooked. What is it you’re not telling me?’

  ‘I really can’t say. I shouldn’t be talking to you about the pertinent details of the case.’‘I think it’s a bit late for that now, don’t you? If you want my help at least have the courtesy to

  be honest with me,’ Grace said.

  ‘It’s not that easy, Grace,’ Leigh said with a sigh. ‘I haven’t told you anything yet that couldn’t easily be gleaned from the media reports, but this information could be crucial to the investigation. And for that reason, it’s being kept from the public.’

  ‘I’m not exactly the public though, am I?’

  ‘You’re not police either though,’ Leigh reminded her.

  ‘Yet you still came to me for help. So, do you want it, or not?’ Grace snapped.

  Shaking her head in defeat, Leigh leaned forward. ‘This can’t go any further. Promise me.’

  ‘You already know I can keep a secret, Leigh,’ Grace replied pointedly.

  ‘I suppose so. Nerys had something secreted on her person when we found her. It was a child’s tooth.’

  Grace frowned. ‘A tooth?’

  ‘Yes. I know. Weird, isn’t it?’

  ‘Very,’ Grace replied. ‘Do you think it could have been her own child’s then? If she does have one, that is?’

  ‘Could be,’ Leigh replied with a shrug. ‘We don’t know whether it was something of significance to the killer or her. Either way, it must have meant something to her. She forced it into one of the welts on her wrist.’

  Grace felt a shudder run along the length of her spine as she thought about what poor Nerys must have endured. ‘Is there any way to identify who the tooth belongs to?’

  ‘Sadly not. Not using any scientific methods anyway. This will take good old-fashioned police work. Or someone who has a knack for getting information out of people,’ Leigh said, tilting her head and looking at Grace.

  ‘I have to admit I’m intrigued,’ Grace said. ‘The possibility that Nerys had a daughter there is no record of, and the tooth … they have my interest piqued, but you have a team of trained detectives to look into this. I’m not sure I can help you any further. I’m not even sure I want to.’

  ‘I’d ask you to reconsider but I understand, and I appreciate you speaking to the women at Number 69 for me. And if you hear anything else at all that you think might help, I’d really appreciate you letting me know.’

  ‘Okay,’ Grace said as she picked up her drink and took a sip. ‘So, how are things with you and that Sergeant now that you’re no longer working together?’

  Leigh rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t ask.’

  ‘Oh? Trouble in paradise?’

  ‘Well, it was never really paradise to start with. But…’

  ‘But?’

  ‘It was as close to a decent relationship that I’ll ever get. But things were different after what happened. Every time I looked at him, I just felt so much guilt. If he hadn’t been following my orders… If I hadn’t been so obsessed with bringing Alastair – and you – down, then it wouldn’t have happened, would it?’

  ‘Leigh, you can’t think like that. He’s a copper. He was doing his job. You lot put your lives on the line every day, don’t you? I’m sure he doesn’t blame you at all.’

  Leigh shook her head. ‘That’s just it. He doesn’t. He was so bloody nice about the whole thing that I could hardly stand to look at him. If he’d just been angry with me, or made my life a little less easy, or we could have had a huge argument, maybe I would feel a little better?’

  ‘So, are you two over then?’

  Leigh looked down at the table before she answered. ‘Yes,’ she said with a sigh. ‘If the guilt wasn’t bad enough, then it would only be a matter of time before he discovered that I had come to you to rescue him. He’d eventually have found out about our connection, and he would never look at me the same again. I don’t think I could handle that. And he deserves so much better.’

  ‘Isn’t that up to him to decide?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Maybe. But I’ve decided I’m not cut out for relationships. I’m better off on my own. It’s much less hassle that way, anyway.’

  ‘I get you. I used to think that,’ Grace said as she stared at the woman who was so much like her, but so very different.

  ‘What changed?’ Leigh asked.

  ‘Michael Carter,’ Grace said with a smile. ‘He was someone worth breaking all of my rules for. Maybe one day you’ll meet someone worth breaking all of yours for?’

  Leigh snorted and downed the last of her Diet Coke. ‘Thanks for the drink and the pep talk,’ she said as she flashed Grace a sarcastic smile.

  ‘Any time,’ she quipped back.

  ‘I do appreciate the information though,’ Leigh said seriously as she fastened up her coat. ‘Thanks again.’

  ‘No problem,’ Grace replied and then she watched Leigh walk out of the bar. Grace sat back in her seat and again inhaled the unmistakeable aroma of an old-fashioned pub. It was soothing to her. She felt a brief twinge of guilt
over Leigh’s relationship ending. The truth was that it was Grace who had arranged for DS Nick Bryce’s kidnapping a few months earlier. He’d been leverage in her plan to get Jake and Connor out of prison for murder. As it turned out, he was leverage that she hadn’t needed in the end, when she had persuaded Bradley Johnson to take the fall for his brother Billy’s murder instead. It was the least he could do for the family that he had continually, and royally, shafted. But although Grace felt a brief pang of guilt for the impact it had had on Leigh’s relationship, she wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. She would do anything to protect her family. She always had and she always would. It was one of the ways that she and Leigh were very different.

  Chapter Nine

  Grace sat on the small sofa next to Michael in their office in Sophia’s Kitchen. She leaned back against the soft leather and he put his arm around her shoulders. Sean sat on the chair behind the desk and turned to face the two of them.

  ‘Do you think there will be any comeback from last night then?’ Grace asked.

  ‘Maybe,’ Michael replied with a sigh. ‘I’ve just spoken to Luke and Danny and they’ve had trouble with Parnell before. Let’s hope last night was enough to warn them off.’

  ‘We certainly proved our point last night,’ Sean said. ‘But…’

  ‘But what?’ Grace asked.

  ‘But Parnell is a prize fuck-nugget,’ Sean said with a grin.

  ‘I’ve spoken to Luke and Danny about taking on some extra staff and increasing bodies at all our venues, especially here and The Blue Rooms. If Joey decides to rally whatever troops he has and wants to make a statement—’

  ‘You mean wants to sign his own death warrant?’ Sean interrupted with a frown.

  Michael nodded in agreement. ‘If he does, then he will target our highest-value and most high-profile venues. As well as that, they are the two places where us or the boys are most likely to be, and that would be the icing on the cake for him if he could get to any one of our family.’

  Grace shook her head. ‘He’d have to be crazy to try. Or completely stupid?’

  Sean leaned back in his chair and sighed. ‘Unfortunately, Grace, Joey Parnell is both of those things.’

  Michael rubbed a hand over his beard. ‘I think we’re missing something else.’

  ‘What?’ Grace asked.

  ‘I think someone else is backing Joey. Someone with a lot of clout given that he’s managed to get a foot in the door so quickly.’

  ‘But we know all of the people with clout in this business,’ Grace said. ‘Most of them work for us,’ she reminded him.

  ‘I know. Maybe it’s someone we don’t know? Someone from another area who wants to move in on the Liverpool security business and is using Joey to do it? I do know that he’s been building himself a small army of recruits, which mostly seems to consist of all the people we’ve ever pissed off, sacked or had a major falling-out with. How he’s managed to get some of them their SCA licences back I don’t know.’

  ‘Which adds weight to your theory that he’s got someone with some power to wield behind him,’ Grace said.

  ‘Hmm,’ Michael said, seemingly deep in thought.

  ‘Well if he’s hoovering up all of the dregs of society that you two have ever crossed, I’d suggest it’s not so much a small army as a fucking huge one.’ Sean said with a flash of his eyebrows.

  ‘If there is someone big behind him, do you think they’ll make a move on Jake and Connor’s business?’ Grace asked as she thought about the possible implications of yet another gangland war.

  Michael and Sean both shook their heads. ‘Parnell dabbled in a bit of dealing back in the day. He and his bouncers used to sell some tablets and a bit of coke on their doors, but he never really had the stomach or the brains to make a success of it, and I’m not sure that’s changed. Besides, I’ve not heard anything at all about any new players moving in. On that score at least, the business seems to be running smoothly,’ Michael said.

  ‘Good,’ Grace said with a sigh of relief. ‘At least that’s one less thing to worry about. We could do without another war.’

  Michael and Sean looked at each other.

  ‘What?’ Grace asked.

  ‘You realise a dispute over the doors will be just as bloody and brutal as any over drugs, don’t you?’

  ‘Of course I do. But at least the security business is legitimate. There are things we can do out in the open too.’

  ‘Such as?’ Michael asked.

  ‘We can use our contacts in the licensing commission. The police. The council. We have the best team of lawyers in the North West. There are lots of ways we can disrupt our competitors’ business legally too.’

  ‘The lady has a point,’ Sean agreed.

  ‘She always does,’ Michael said with a smile before kissing Grace on the forehead.

  Sean rolled his eyes and grinned.

  Michael stood up. ‘I’m going to go and order us some coffee and cake before we go over the plans for the new place. I’ve seen some of Grace’s ideas already, bro, and I think we’re going to need something to take the edge off when we see how much it’s going to cost us,’ he said with a grin as he patted Sean on the back.

  ‘Oi, you cheeky sod,’ Grace said.

  ‘God, I remember the days when a business meeting would be powered by whisky and cocaine, and now we’re taking the edge off with coffee and cake?’ Sean started to laugh as he shook his head.

  ‘Well, we’re too old for that now. And I’ve got two kids to pick up in a few hours,’ Michael said, and laughed too. ‘Besides, you could never handle your whisky, or your coke, if I recall?’

  Sean stuck his middle finger up in response and Michael disappeared out of the office.

  Grace laughed at the two of them. It wasn’t often the three of them got to sit down together for long any more. They had five restaurants and a wine bar together already as well as the new venture Grace was working on. In addition, Grace and Michael still oversaw the running of Cartel Securities and kept an eye on Jake and Connor’s businesses too. Sometimes it felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day. Grace sometimes wondered how much easier and less stressful life would be if she and Michael could just focus on the restaurants with Sean. It would have a positive impact on all of them as Sean often had to pick up the slack on some of the restaurant business that Grace and Michael just didn’t have the time for.

  Grace and Michael had plenty of people they could delegate to, but she found it hard to trust that someone was as capable of the task as they were, and as a result, she trusted very few. It ended up that she, Michael and Sean were left to do everything and she knew that something had to give soon. She sensed that something was about to change though. Grace had a good feeling about Luke Sullivan and Danny Alexander. They had proven themselves to be loyal, hardworking and a great fit for Cartel Securities. There was just something about them. Plenty of charm and charisma, which was handy when negotiating a business deal, but also when persuading a group of drunks or wannabe gangsters that they really had chosen the wrong firm to pick a fight with. Luke, in particular, used his head to sort out problems just as much as his fists and Grace really liked that about him. In fact, Danny and Luke reminded her a little of Michael and Sean when they were younger.

  She realised she was smiling to herself when Sean spoke.

  ‘You’re looking very pleased with yourself, Grace. What are you up to?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m just looking forward to showing you and Michael the plans for the new place. It’s going to be stunning,’ she said as she walked over to the desk and perched on the edge of it.

  ‘It’s nice to see you and Michael so happy,’ he said and she detected a hint of something in his voice.

  She placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘What’s going on with you?’

  He looked up at her. ‘Nothing. Why?’

  ‘Why on earth did you go with Michael and the lads last night?’

  ‘Because Parnell is a nasty cunt and I
thought my brother and my nephews might need some backup. Is that a problem?’ he said with a frown.

  Grace shook her head. ‘Not for me it’s not. In fact, it makes me feel better to know that you’ve got their backs. But you promised you’d left all of that behind. I don’t understand why you’re allowing yourself to get sucked back in again.’

  ‘Except when you need me?’ Sean snapped. ‘Then it’s okay?’

  Grace blinked at him. ‘That is completely unfair, Sean, and you know it. I have only asked for your help once and that is when your brother and my son were kidnapped and almost tortured to death,’ she snapped. ‘You decided to help us deal with Alastair McGrath all on your own.’

  He didn’t respond and continued to glare at her.

  ‘Unless you’re talking about the time when I was kidnapped? I didn’t exactly ask for your help then either,’ she said.

  His face softened then and he ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. ‘Of course I didn’t mean that, Grace.’

  ‘Then what did you mean?’

  He sat back against the chair and sighed. ‘Nothing. I’m just looking for someone to blame. It’s easier than admitting that I miss it all. I loved going out with the lads last night and getting stuck in. I miss working with Michael – and you. I hardly see you both anymore. I miss the old days,’ he said with a wry smile and shake of his head. ‘Maybe I’m having some kind of midlife crisis?’

  Grace smiled at him. ‘I know we haven’t been around as much as we used to be. But we’re working on that. As for the other stuff, are you crazy? Sophia will kill you if she finds out. You promised her you were done with all of that. For her and your girls’ sake,’ she reminded him.

  ‘I know. But the girls are older now. Sophia is working in Antonelli’s with Steph and she’s loving it. So, she’s less bothered about it than she used to be.’ Steph was Sean and Sophia’s oldest daughter and, having inherited both her mother and father’s flair for cooking, was an incredible chef. She devised and oversaw the menus in all of their restaurants, but Antonelli’s was her favourite and where she chose to base herself. Sophia had started working there a few months earlier too, now that their younger daughters, Nicola and Louise, were in high school.