No Holds Barred (34 page)

At the big kitchen table, the children were eating their meal, chattering to Jenny's mum, who had once more stepped in to help.

On the sofa and chairs at the other end of the room sat Daniel and William, Jenny, Lou Danvers, Dek and Paul McCreesh. Taz lay asleep on the floor at Daniel's feet.

‘You Whelans make quite a team, don't you?' Danvers observed.

‘Drew was amazing!' Daniel said proudly. ‘God knows what would have happened if he hadn't done what he did. If we'd still been in the thick of it when the troops arrived, we could have had a really nasty hostage situation on our hands.'

‘I still don't think they should have let them go in the first place. If they knew they were guilty, it seems a huge risk to take,' Jenny said. After her initial euphoria at finding Harry and Drew unharmed, she had become increasingly subdued as the day had gone on. Not surprisingly, in Daniel's opinion. After all, it had been a hell of a day, and she had only just lost her husband.

‘They had to give them enough rope to hang themselves,' Dek told her. ‘It was a calculated risk. Chances were they would go straight to where they'd hidden the dogs and move them to somewhere safer, and, sure enough, that's what they did. Of course, what they didn't know was that the police had planted a tracer on their van.'

‘I wondered how you managed to mobilize such a response in such a short time,' Daniel said to Danvers. ‘I was well impressed. When I found out they were on their way all the time, I'm afraid you were relegated back down to the realms of us mortals.'

‘So, what will happen to the Great Ditton Mafia, now?' William asked. ‘Have we seen the last of them for a while?'

‘Hopefully the police have enough on them to put them away for a good few years this time,' Danvers said. ‘They didn't do themselves any favours this morning. As traumatic as it was for the boys – and I wouldn't have had it happen for anything – the Boyds managed to add kidnap and false imprisonment to their rap sheet in the space of half an hour or so. Add to that aggravated assault, and they should be looking at a lengthy custodial.'

‘With any luck we might be able to get them on arson, too,' McCreesh put in. ‘Forensics are working on that pick-up of the youngster's.'

‘What'll happen to the dogs – the pit bulls?' Jenny asked. ‘Harry wanted to know, and I had to tell him I wasn't sure. I suppose they'll be put to sleep, won't they?'

‘They are classed as evidence, at the moment,' Danvers said, ‘but yes, in the long term there's nothing else we can do. They're a banned breed in this country. They're fighting dogs. Through no fault of their own, I admit, but fighting dogs all the same.'

‘It's so unfair. They can't help what they are.' Jenny looked sad.

‘And what about our football hero?' McCreesh wanted to know. ‘What'll happen to him?'

‘I think his days of public adoration are well behind him,' Danvers stated. ‘At the very least I should hope he'll lose his job, and I imagine the various lucrative advertising deals he's got going will be cancelled. The companies involved will drop him like a hot coal; they won't be able to distance themselves quick enough. You know, that mobile phone has turned out to be something of a gold mine. Not only did it have a useful list of contacts on it that were pretty damning for Taylor and his family, but there were a good few incriminating photos, too, besides the one of Liam. Even the girl – Melody – was on there, holding on to a dog in the fighting pit.'

‘The end of your romantic dream, mate. I'm sorry,' Daniel said to Dek. ‘You must be gutted.'

Dek responded with a choice expletive.

‘Melody was a means to an end,' he said. ‘As I'm sure you are well aware.'

‘There was a picture of Gavin on the phone, too,' Jenny said flatly, ignoring the repartee. ‘Sergeant Paige told me earlier. She asked me if Gavin was involved in dog fighting. As if I would have stayed quiet if I'd thought he was. The whole idea of it sickens me!'

‘How dare they even suggest that?' McCreesh said angrily. ‘The man's only been dead a couple of days.'

‘But, you see, it turns out he
was
involved,' she said with tears in her eyes. ‘There was a picture on that phone and they faced Taylor with it. He told them the whole story. He said Gavin was at a dog fight the night he  . . . I mean, when he  . . . Did you know?' she demanded, rounding on Daniel.

‘I was beginning to suspect,' he admitted unhappily.

‘But you promised to tell me. You promised!' she said, tears flowing freely now.

At the table, her mother noticed the breakdown and distracted the children with an offer of ice cream.

‘I didn't know for sure,' Daniel said in his own defence. ‘And I hoped I was wrong. I didn't want to upset you while there was still a chance it wasn't true.'

‘So, do they know what happened to your husband?' Dek asked gently. ‘Did the Boyds have something to do with it? They never spoke about it when I was around.'

Jenny took a deep steadying breath.

‘They claim it was an accident.'

‘They
would
,' McCreesh said.

‘Well, the police think they might actually be telling the truth. It fits the forensic evidence they have. The Boyds say Gavin had gone with them to a fight, but, unbeknownst to them, the police had got wind of it and it was raided. The Boyds managed to get away, and they say Gavin jumped on the back of their pick-up truck. But it was a rough ride, and further down the track he fell off, which is how he got his head injuries. The police say that he did have traces of oil on his clothes that might well have come from the truck bed.'

‘But how did he end up here?' Daniel asked.

‘Paige's superior reckons they thought he'd died and were panicked into dumping him. I don't suppose we'll ever know for sure,' Jenny said wearily.

A knock at the door brought Taz to his feet and everyone else to attention.

‘Oh no. Please don't let that be them again,' Jenny begged. ‘I can't bear it!'

‘You stay there. I'll get it,' her mother said with a martial light in her eye. She opened the door and moments later those listening heard a deep voice asking for ‘Miss Jenny'.

‘It's Woodsmoke,' her mother reported, keeping the door half-closed.

‘Woodsmoke?'
Jenny repeated, looking mystified. ‘What on earth  . . . ?'

‘Shall I send him away?'

‘No, I'll come.'

At the door, she invited Woodsmoke to step inside, an offer he declined.

‘Reckon I won't stop,' he said. ‘The thing is, Gypsy's got pupses and I juss got to thinking about your liddle ones an' how they've had a rough time of it lately, and I wondered iffen they'd like a liddle pup when they's weaned.'

Whatever Jenny's thoughts might have been on the matter, Lucy and Harry had overheard the offer and the decision was taken out of her hands.

Jumping down from their chairs, they ran to the door and demanded to know when they could see the puppies.

‘Reckon not yet awhile,' Woodsmoke said, looking uncomfortable in the proximity of such eager intensity. ‘They's only liddle. Be a week or two afore they's fit fer visitors. I'll let ee know, soon enough.' With a nod of his wide-brimmed hat, he turned and melted into the darkness.

Jenny knew when she was beaten. Closing the door, she attempted to calm the children down, warning them that it was nearly their bedtime.

Drew was standing a little behind the others, unable to share fully in their excitement, when his mobile emitted a passable representation of a barn owl's call. He took it from his pocket and answered it, turning away to gain a little privacy.

A minute or two later he ended the call. ‘That was Mum,' he told Daniel, who had followed Jenny to the kitchen end of the room.

‘Oh, was it?' Daniel's heart sank. He had meant to have a word with the lad about how much it was prudent to tell her about recent events. ‘Did she not want to speak to me?'

‘No. She said to tell you she's staying in the Maldives for another week.'

‘She did, did she?' Typical of her to give Drew the job of passing on what she felt might be unwelcome news.

‘You don't mind, do you?' Drew asked anxiously.

‘Absolutely not,' Daniel assured him. ‘So, she didn't ask what you'd been doing, then?'

‘Yes, she did, but I just said riding and stuff,' Drew said blandly. ‘I told her it's been pretty quiet.'

Daniel shook his head and smiled a slow smile.

‘You, my lad, are a legend,' he said. ‘But I'd hate to think you got that devious streak from me.'

Monday morning in the drivers lounge was a strange affair. With Taylor missing from the rota, they would now have been two drivers down if Jenny hadn't contacted Dean Stevens and persuaded him to return to his job. Even though explanations had been made, he, Reg and Macca all looked slightly askance at Dek's alter ego, as if they couldn't believe he was the same person, which, Daniel supposed, he wasn't.

So far the investigation had found nothing to suggest that Terry MacAllister was involved with the Butcher Boys in any way, and with no evidence to the contrary, Daniel had to admit that his initial suspicions regarding Macca's participation in the midnight assault on himself were probably groundless.

Talking with Dek and Daniel late into the previous night, Jenny had decided to give the business a few months more, and although, in the short term, both Daniel and Dek agreed to stay on to keep the lorries on the road, she failed to persuade Daniel to accept a permanent position as supervisor.

‘I'm sorry. I can't. What about Mal Fletcher?' he had suggested. ‘He was with Gavin from the start. He knows the business.'

‘I suppose I could ask him,' she said reluctantly. ‘If you're sure you won't change your mind.'

Daniel had shaken his head. ‘You need continuity. Someone who'll stick with you for the long haul. I can't give you that assurance – I just don't know where my life is going at the moment.'

As Jenny outlined her plans for the future to the drivers gathered in the lounge on that Monday morning, Dek got up and slipped from the room.

‘So, it won't be easy and I'm relying on you to help me through this rough patch, but I believe that Summer Haulage has the potential to be a thriving business if we all pull together,' she finished. ‘Are there any questions?'

Dean cleared his throat. ‘Um  . . . I could really pull my weight if I was allowed to drive one of the bigger trucks,' he ventured hopefully.

‘And I think you should,' Jenny replied. ‘We need all the capacity we can get. I'll get on to the insurance company and see if I can negotiate a reasonable deal.'

Dean stammered his thanks, positively glowing with pride at the thought of his promotion.

At that moment, the door opened and Dek reappeared. All eyes glanced his way but without any special interest until he announced, ‘I've got someone here who's a bit keen to see you, Reg.'

‘Me?' Reg asked, puzzled.

A sharp yap answered the sound of his voice, and the veteran driver's expression changed to one of shocked disbelief.

‘Skip?'

Dek leaned down and moments later straightened up with the Jack Russell terrier held in his arms. The little dog's eyes sought and found his master, and he wriggled and whined in his efforts to be free.

Smiling broadly, Dek put the dog on the floor and, with a scrabbling of claws, Skip shot round the side of the sofa and made a beeline for Reg, leaping into his arms, covering his face with frantic licks and squeaking with excitement all the while.

Reg pushed his face against the dog's warm body, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

‘How?' he said wonderingly. ‘I mean – I saw his collar  . . . The blood  . . .'

‘I'm sorry we had to do that to you,' Dek said. ‘But it was necessary to prove myself to the Boyds, and I couldn't risk telling you the truth at that stage. Too much was resting on it.'

‘You bastard!' Reg said with quiet fury. ‘If you only knew  . . .'

‘I do know,' Dek assured him. ‘I have a dog myself and I longed to tell you the truth.'

‘Where has Skip been all this time?' Jenny asked. Her eyes were suspiciously bright, too.

‘Living the life of Riley at the home of one of the kennel maids at the local RSPCA,' Dek told her. ‘Apart from missing his dad, he certainly hasn't suffered.'

Reg didn't comment. Carrying Skip, he left the room, face buried in the little dog's fur.

Dek looked wistful and Daniel went to his side.

‘Let him go. He needs time but he'll get over it.'

‘I hope so. The thing is, Taylor had it in for that dog after it bit him, and if I hadn't taken it, he would have done it himself. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that if he had, the outcome would have been very different.'

‘Absolutely. When Reg realizes what you've actually done for him, he'll come round, I'm sure.'

Jenny joined them.

‘You didn't look particularly surprised,' she said to Daniel. ‘Have you known all along?'

‘Not at first,' Daniel admitted. ‘But since I found out about Dek and realized what a chance he took to save Taz, I knew he couldn't have harmed Reg's dog. The only thing I can't work out is how you squared it with Taylor,' he added to Dek. ‘Didn't he want to see the evidence?'

‘It was a tricky one, but I set it all up in advance with Lou's help. When I snatched Skip, I was supposed to hand him over to Taylor straight away, but obviously that wasn't going to happen, so we swapped him for another Jack Russell that had had to be put down at one of our rehoming centres. When I showed Boyd the body, I told him Skip must have had a weak heart. I knew he wouldn't know whether it was Skip or not, and it was a pretty good match, to be honest.'