Rotten to the Core (42 page)

Billy had thought long and hard about what he was going to do to Jay when he got
back
t
o the cottage
. He had played out countless clips a suitable punishment in his mind. What he had done to Jay
’
s father a few years back had been very apt and seemed to fit the crime, and that’s w
hat he needed to think of now:
a truly fitting punishment for Jay’s crimes.
Going in and blowing the cunt
’
s head off was just a bit quick and easy for Billy’s liking, Jay wouldn’t really be aware of what was going on, and he would be out of his misery the second the bullet tore through his brain. Sticking a knife in him would be pretty much the same, far too quick and easy, and after the initial deed was done not very satisfying. After everything that piece of shit had put Kate through he was going to really make him pay, with the only thing he had left, his worthless scummy life.

T
orture defin
i
t
e
ly seemed the best option
;
a slow painful death would be right up
Billy’s
street
,
but Ryan would
probably
have started dishing that out already. Never
one to sit
about, Ryan got bored easily; he had probably had hours of fun with Jay today already. Ryan was an evil bastard when you were on the wrong side of him, he had dished out punishments to many
people
over the years
,
and his reputation preceded him. He didn’t tolerate violence to women or children, and as friends go you couldn’t ask for better. Billy had known him since they were kids and trusted him implicitly; Ryan had never let him down.

Billy
had left Kate to rest at the flat; they had all spent a few hours having breakfast and all got through enough tea to fill a large swimming pool. She had seemed a bit better by the time he left her; more like herself. He had left he
r
soaking in a nice hot bath
,
and she had said that after that she just wanted to go to bed.
Billy
was so grateful that nothing
serious
had happened to her
; he was so
happy that she was home safe and sound.

             
Billy had dropped Paul off at his gaff before
driving
back to the cottage.
Paul had wanted to go with Billy to sort Jay out, but Billy insisted that he wanted to
do it
himself
,
once and for all, and besides the less people involved the better
;
he didn’t want this coming back on any of them, especially not Paul
:
the guy was a diamond.

Paul hadn’t said much to Kate while he had been
at her house, not in front of Billy, but his presence
spoke volumes, as it must have done
to
Kate. He cared
about her
.
Billy
had seen the way the bloke
looked
at her
:
Billy had never seen anything more obvious. Kate had been through a shitload this year and probably needed time on her own, but a good friend in Paul would not go amiss
,
Billy
was sure.

Pulling up
outside
the cottage, Billy
gave
a deep sigh
:
what was coming had to be done, but it never
got
easier.
But s
ometimes you start
ed
things and just ha
d
to see them through
, he muttered to himself
.

Looking out
through the curtains, Ryan smiled.

             
“
My
,
my, what a popular boy you are
,
Jay, looks like you’ve got yourself another visitor
.
”

Jay
, tied to a chair,
tried to
lift his head up
to see
. He could feel blood trickling down one side of his face, and he could taste it in his mouth. He couldn’t believe
that
Tanya had handed him over to these fucking animals after everything he had done for her. He realised that she had well and truly used him,
it was
hilarious when you th
ought
about it, he had gone through life using women like toys
,
as and when he had wanted, and the one time that he had let his guard down and trusted a woman, the devious bitch had all but fucking crucified him.

Ryan had pushed
Jay
to his limits with the pain, any
more burns or cuts and he would pass out again,
his
heart was pounding so loud
ly
he wondered if Ryan could hear it, so it was perfect timing to see Billy walking to the door. Even though
there
may be worst to come, he prayed for a
break
for just a few minutes from the pain inflicted on him.

Pulling out a cigarette, Ryan sat opposite Jay; inflicting pain was a tiring job.

Billy didn’t even look in Jay’s direction when he came in, he saw the state of the kitchen, and could smell that Jay had crapped himself. Ryan
,
as always
,
had taken it slowly and caused maximum injury without killing the bastard.

             
“I need you to help me get him in the boot
,
” Billy
said to Ryan. He
nodded towards Jay, but still didn’t fully look at him
:
he couldn’t, he was feeling so much rage
at
being in the same room as the horrible fucker.

             
“No worries
,
mate, how are we going to get rid of him?” Ryan was up for whatever Billy suggested
;
he enjoyed this part of it
:
he had a taste for blood today, especially
that of
someone as despicable as Jay.

             
“We
’
re not
,
” Billy answered bluntly
.

             
“What do you mean
,
we
’
re not
;
he fucking deserves this
,
Billy, he has it fucking coming, you can’t be thinking seriously of letting him go
?
” Ryan couldn’t believe it
;
Billy must be going fucking soft
.

             
“
No
,
Ryan, you heard me wrong
:
we
’
re not getting rid of him, I am. I just need you to help get him into the boot of my car
.
” Ryan understood
;
Billy needed to do this himself, it was his fight and he needed to finish it.

After they had placed a bound Jay in the boot of Billy’s motor, Billy told Ryan to get all his shit out of the cottage
:
the Ellis’s were on their way over. Unfortunately
,
the cottage was about to have a bit of its own misfortune
;
Jonny and Lee were going to start a fire and stick around to make sure the whole place went up, just
so
that nothing that had gone on here in the last week came back
to haunt
any of them.
Billy
thought that although
the place
probably
wouldn’t have been booked out in Tanya and Jay’s real names, but he didn’t want to take any chances on anyone looking for either of them, or him. Anyway
,
Billy figured a nice little insurance pay
-
out would much more to the owners liking than to come
back to find Jay
’
s shit and blood over the walls of their precious little cottage.

Getting into the motor, Billy wound the window down so he could feel the breeze as he drove. He turned up
the
stereo and started to feel upbeat, he was back in control. No-one would make a fool out of him
:
especially not Jay.

He drove for miles, into the middle of nowhere
;
it was funny because the little place he was heading for he had stumbled across by accident a few years ago. He had done a bit of business for someone and
had
been ripped off
;
h
e
and Ryan had taken care of them, in exactly the same place. At the time
,
he
had made
a comment to Ryan about the place being fucking
creepy
. It was an old industrial farmhouse that had been abandoned many moons ago
,
judging by the state of it
;
it had been so eerie that the whole place had spooked him out. It
had
felt
as though
they were the only people for miles, well
,
they actually had been, no one came out to th
o
se parts. Pulling up next to the old deserted building
now
, he switched the engine off.

The place hadn’t changed one bit, even at this time of the morning
it
was
scarily isolated.

Lifting up the lid of the boot, Billy
looked
in at the bloodied mess that was Jay, and smil
ed
at the fear in the eyes that stared back
.
Billy lent down past the flinching Jay and picked up the shovel
that was also in the car
.
             
“People are going to be talking about this for years
,
you know
,
Jay
.
”

Jay didn’t have the energy to lift his head
;
he hoped whatever Billy had planned would be over as quickly as possible, but he had a feeling that he was doing a bit of wishful thinking.

             
“People are going to be talking
,
Jay, about you, the little prick
who
tried to do one over on me and take my hard
-
earned cash
.
”
Billy
poked
Jay
hard in the ribs with the end of the shovel.

             
“They’re going to be talking a
bout you
,
the guy who
shagged my missus behind my back
.
”
Billy
brought the shovel down on
Jay’s
stomach
.
             
“
About you, the little cunt who thought
he
could kidnap my sister, and do you know what they will be saying about
me
?
Do you
?”
He bellowed
the words
,
furious
at the audacity of the scumbag in front of him
.

             
“
They’ll be saying when they hear about your rotting stinking corpse that no-one, but no-one, should fuck with
Billy:
he
won’t fucking stand for it. They
’
ll be talking about your death for ye
ars, mate. Which is just as well,
you’d be forgotten in an instant otherwise, a sorry fucker like yourself. No-one cares if you live or die
.
”

H
e b
r
ought the shovel down with more force,
hitting
Jay on the head.
There was
an almighty thump,
which
sounded worse than it was. Jay was out cold, and Billy set to work again
;
the next time Jay woke up, Billy wouldn’t be there, it would j
ust be Jay and his demons.