Tainted Love: A gripping thriller with a shocking twist from the No 1 bestseller

‘First thing I’d do is to take her bra off and suck them big titties,’ Lee giggled.

Leaping off the chair, Daniel grabbed hold of his crotch making thrusting movements. ‘I’d ram this straight up her, I would. Dad fancies her an’ all, I think. I’ve clocked the way he looks at her.’

Lee shook his head repeatedly. ‘No way. Dad’s far too old for Katy. He still likes Bella. I honestly reckon Katy fancies me, ya know. Why else would she lean across the table like she did the other day? She even winked when she realized I’d seen her lils. That must mean something, eh?’

Daniel grabbed his brother in a playful headlock. ‘You’re making that up. I was sat at the table with ya, and I never saw her bazookas. If Katy fancies any of us, it’s me. She well wants me to put my Hampton in her mouth.’

Laughing, Lee tussled with his brother. ‘You wish. In ya dreams.’

Queenie Butler drank her sherry in one fell swoop. First the row with Viv, then Brenda getting seven bells knocked out of her. Today had been truly awful.

Not long after Tara and Tommy had arrived on her doorstep, the Old Bill had turned up. Brenda had been taken to hospital, was extremely drunk and also battered and bruised, they’d informed her.

Vinny had wanted to go straight to the hospital, then hunt down Brenda’s bloke, ‘Dagenham Dave’ as the family called him. Queenie had known the first moment she’d ever laid eyes on the man that he was a drunken loser, just like Albie. Unable to stomach Brenda when she had booze inside her, and desperate to avoid her beloved son acting on impulse and landing himself in trouble, Queenie had insisted they visit Brenda tomorrow. It had taken some doing, but she’d managed to persuade Vinny to stay at hers tonight. He was upstairs now, settling Tommy, Tara and Ava down.

Queenie mumbled plenty of blasphemes as she poured herself another drink. On the advice of a neighbour, she’d had that drunken old priest round last Christmas. Fat Beryl was Catholic and had sworn Father Patrick could get rid of all evil spirits.

Well, the exorcism the silly old Irish bum had performed hadn’t worked, had it? The Butlers were still cursed. Always had been and always fucking would be.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Enemy greeted his probation officer warmly. He’d learned how to play the system while banged up. Let the mugs think you were a reformed character and the world was your oyster.

‘I’ve got the keys. The lady at the council said it’s a decent-sized property. Near Dagenham fire station. Peverel House, to be precise.’

‘Is that one of them tower blocks?’

‘Yes, it is. Are you ready to view it?’

He grinned. Whatever the property was like, he’d snap the council’s hands off for it. He had a plan, and once he had his own gaff, that plan would be far easier to put into action. He could almost smell the Butlers’ blood.

Brenda was sitting up in bed, reading, when her mother and brother marched into the ward. She immediately threw her magazine down in annoyance. ‘What do yous two want?’

Queenie stared at her once attractive daughter. She had a cut on her head, a swollen lip, a black eye and looked fatter than ever. ‘What exactly happened, love? I didn’t know that bastard knocked you about. Why didn’t you tell us?’

‘Because Dave isn’t a bastard and he doesn’t knock me about. This was all my fault, Mum. I goaded him until he snapped.’

‘That’s no excuse for hitting a woman. The geezer’s scum,’ Vinny spat, conveniently forgetting that he’d had the mothers of both of his children murdered. Karen, Little Vinny’s mum, had popped her clogs thanks to a lethal dose of heroin being forced upon her. And Joanna, Ava’s mother, had been killed when her car was rammed off the road by a speeding truck. On both occasions Vinny had got away with it. He knew how to stay one step ahead of the Old Bill and had made damn sure he had decent alibis while others were paid to do his dirty work for him.

‘Don’t start, Vin. I hit Dave first, about ten times. I bet his face looks far worse than mine. Anyway, there’s no real harm done. The nurse reckons the doctor will let me go home soon.’

‘You ain’t going back to him, young lady. Petrified, Tara and Tommy were, poor little mites. You need to make a clean break. It’s about time you sorted your life out once and for all. You need to stop drinking, lose some bloody weight and smarten yourself up a bit,’ Queenie insisted.

‘Where are Tara and Tommy now?’ Brenda asked.

‘At mine. Little Vinny’s looking after ’em. Your brother is going to rent you a flat, so you can get away from Dave and start afresh.’

‘Since when have yous two ever been bothered about me? I’m thirty-two, not ten, and no way are you dictating to me where I can or cannot live. I love Dave and he loves me. All couples argue, that’s life. You and Dad never stopped fucking arguing, if I remember rightly.’

‘That’s why I chucked the old goat out. Can’t see the wood for the trees, you,’ Queenie hissed.

Brenda chuckled sarcastically. Ever since she was a teenager she’d had a difficult relationship with her family. Her mother especially, as she’d always favoured her precious boys over her. Even when she’d been young, Brenda had felt surplus to requirements, and that feeling had accompanied her into adulthood. It probably explained why her self-esteem was so low. ‘And there was me thinkingyou’d slung my dad out because he’d got Judy Preston up the spout. Silly me.’

Snarling, Queenie tugged Vinny’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go. She’s a waste of fucking space as well as an embarrassment to us. Let her go back to the tosspot and drink herself to death.’

‘Hold your horses, Mum.’ Vinny turned back to Brenda. ‘How do you think Tara and Tommy will turn out, living in your current set-up? I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, Bren, but I wanna help you sort yourself out. Call it an olive branch. If you’ve got a brain, you’ll take it.’

‘I must be brainless then as I would rather eat dogshit than accept any help from you. Now fuck off and leave me alone, the pair of ya.’

‘Come on,’ Queenie ordered, tugging her son’s arm again.

‘You are one dumb cunt, Brenda,’ Vinny said, shaking his head in despair.

‘I’m not as dumb as you think, big bruv. I know you must’ve got rid of Karen and Joanna. Bit of a coincidence both mothers of your kids are brown bread, don’t ya think? And I’m warning you now, if you lay one hand on my Dave, I will go to the police and tell them everything. And that includes Old Jack’s lad, Terry Smart, Kenny Jackson and every other poor bastard in Whitechapel that disappeared off the face of this earth, thanks to you.’

When Vinny lunged at his sister, Queenie slapped him hard around the face to bring him to his senses. ‘She ain’t worth it, boy. Come on, we’re going.’

‘Bye bye. Thanks for the visit,’ Brenda laughed.

Pushing Vinny towards the exit, Queenie turned towards Brenda and wagged her forefinger. ‘If I had one wish, it would be I’d never given birth to you. You’re dead in my eyes, girl. Dead!’

Madam Lydia’s ability to see into the future was scarily accurate, and Bella D’Angelo felt her spirits soar when her spiritual guide predicted she would one day actually marry the love of her life. Bella totally believed in Madam Lydia. So many things she’d predicted over the years had come true. Including Vinny bloody Butler.

‘Are you sure?’ Bella mumbled.

‘As sure as I can be, my love. The image is in the distance though, which suggests the wedding is too. In the forefront is this bad man. He is tall, dark and evil. But I feel you have a hold over him in some way and deep down he is scared of you. If you confront him, he will back away.’

‘Are you sure?’ Bella repeated.

Making a strange humming sound, Madam Lydia shut her eyes, then ten seconds later opened them again. ‘Yes, he is disappearing into the distance. But you need to be the stronger person to make this happen. You need to frighten him off.’

Bella D’Angelo smiled. She had every faith in Madam Lydia, and for the first time in months knew exactly what to do. She would confront Vinny Butler, and call his bluff.

Over in Barking, Daniel Butler had the devil in him. ‘Hurry up, you tortoise.’

‘Where we going?’ Lee asked, confused. They’d been in the middle of a game of pool when his brother had dragged him out of the cabin at the end of their garden.

‘I thought we’d have a laugh. I heard Dad talking on the phone earlier. Apparently, he bumped into dear Granddad Donald yesterday and the old git didn’t even ask how we were. He crossed over the road and blanked Dad.’

‘So what you gonna do?’

‘We are gonna go in the café and wind the old bastard up. I fucking hate him now.’

‘But Mary will probably be there, Dan, and she was always nice to us. Let’s not start no agg. Dad might ground us if we do.’

Daniel grinned. ‘Don’t matter, does it? We spend all our spare time playing on the machines and pool table anyway. And if Dad grounds us, it means Katy Big Tits will visit more to keep an eye on us.’

Laughing, Lee playfully punched his brother on the arm. ‘Katy Big Tits! That’s well funny.’

‘And so will winding up Donald be. Come on, let’s run.’

Queenie Butler was well and truly on her soapbox.In Queenie’s eyes, grasses were the epitome of all that was wrong with the world today. Absolute scum, and to say she was disgusted she’d given birth to one was an understatement.

‘Calm down, for Christ’s sake, Mum. You’ll give yourself a bleedin’ heart attack if you carry on like this. Don’t get me wrong, Bren was bang out of order, but you know what she’s like. All mouth and no action. She only said what she did to stop me giving Dave a good hiding. No way would she ever go to the Old Bill. She’s trying to blackmail me, that’s all.’

‘Blackmail! I’ll give her fucking blackmail if she ever darkens my doorstep again. Repulsed with her beyond words, I am.’

‘What’s up?’ Little Vinny asked.

Ignoring his son, Vinny followed his mother into the kitchen. ‘Give Auntie Viv a knock. You need her and she needs you. Life’s too short to fall out over silly arguments.’

‘Nope. Don’t want no more to do with her neither. And it wasn’t a silly argument. Totally out of order, Viv was. Unless she apologizes and truly means it, that’s us finished.’

Vinny led his son into the front room. ‘I want you to sneak out and knock at Auntie Viv’s. Tell her Brenda’s been beaten up and your nan’s in a right old state,’ he whispered.

Little Vinny did as he was told and was back within a minute.

‘Well?’

Little Vinny shook his head.

‘What did she say?’

‘Nan’s problems have sod-all to do with her any more.’

‘Didn’t she even ask about Bren?’

‘No. She only said what I told you, then slammed the door in my face.’

Donald Walker’s face paled when he saw his unruly grandson walk in. He’d completely washed his hands of Daniel since the fiasco he’d caused at the service in honour of Nancy. ‘Hold the fort a minute, Tina. I need to speak to Mary.’

Mary Walker was in the kitchen, flipping eggs. ‘I know that look, Donald. What have you done wrong?’

‘Daniel’s just walked in with Lee. I have nothing to say to either of them. You go out front, love, and I’ll take over the cooking.’

Mary sighed. She’d also washed her hands of Daniel after learning the truth surrounding Adam’s death. It was Daniel who’d been taunting the ticket inspector and it had been his idea to run across those bloody rail tracks. An innocent, lovely boy Adam had been and had he not been so easily led by his older brother, he’d still be alive now.

‘Go on then,’ Donald urged.

Treating her husband to a withering look, Mary marched behind the counter.

‘Hello, Nanny. How’s you and that wonderful granddaddy of mine?’ Daniel sarcastically asked.

Determined not to rise to the bait, Mary smiled. ‘We’re fine, thank you. Now what can I get you?’

‘Can I have a cheeseburger and chips please?’ Lee asked politely. Mary and Donald weren’t his real grandparents as he’d had a different mum to Daniel and Adam. His own mum had been killed in a car crash when he was young, and he’d lived with his dad ever since.

Annoyed by his brother’s genuine politeness, Daniel gave Lee’s ankle a sharp kick, then slouched across the counter, placing his chin on his hands. ‘I’ll have the same as Lee. I take it this is on the house, seeing as we’re family?’

‘Of course. Take a seat and I’ll bring your food over,’ Mary replied.

‘Nah. We’ll wait ’ere, eh, Lee? We wanna say hello to our beloved granddad, don’t we?’

‘Your granddad’s out the back, cooking. Now move, Daniel, as I’ve got other customers to serve,’ Mary ordered.

‘Nah. I would rather chat to you. Any news on Mum’s body? I thought the Old Bill might’ve found bits of her washed up on the beach by now,’ Daniel said, nudging Lee with his right knee.

Mary looked at her smirking first-born grandchild in horror. Nancy’s car had been found by the coastguard at the top of Beachy Head. She’d left suicide notes for them all, shortly after Adam had died. ‘Get out and don’t you ever come back. Go on! I never want to see you again,’ Mary screamed.

Donald ran out from the kitchen. ‘Do as your nan says – scarper,’ he yelled.

Unable to stop herself, Mary burst into tears. As much as she disliked the way Daniel had turned out, part of her would always love him. How could she not when Nancy had given birth to him?

‘Make me leave, you silly old cunt,’ Daniel goaded, staring his grandfather in the eyes.

Lee didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t overly keen on Donald, but he’d always been fond of Mary. She was a very kind lady.

Aware of the dozen or so customers looking at him, a thoroughly embarrassed Donald lifted the hatch and grabbed hold of Daniel. ‘Out now!’ he yelled, dragging the lad along by his left elbow.

‘Come on, Lee. Time to go. We only asked about me muvver and it’s obvious the sharks ate her. Either that or she run off and she’s still alive,’ Daniel joked.

Hand over mouth, Mary Walker stood frozen to the spot.

Apologizing to his customers for the fracas, Donald led his wife into the kitchen. ‘That boy is pure evil. Any reservations we had about our Christopher helping Nancy should be well and truly forgotten now.’

Mary nodded in agreement. ‘Nancy did the right thing. That boy has a screw loose, and Michael would’ve driven her insane. She’s better off without them.’

About to reply, Donald heard a shattering of glass and a loud scream. He immediately guessed the cause. A brick had been thrown through the window.

It was late afternoon by the time Vinny Butler finally made it to his club, having had a lousy morning. The gaff he owned was referred to as a ‘Private Member’s Gentleman’s Club’. It was anything but. The premises were classy all right, but it was basically a lap-dancing joint with bunny girls as waitresses that catered for a clientele made up of just about every pervert who’d ever entered the legal profession. Judges, lawyers, magistrates and even the Old Bill visited the club regularly, along with a few politicians and yuppies. Thanks to these ‘gentlemen’ members, the club had made Vinny Butler a very rich man.

‘Afternoon, boss,’ said Paul the doorman. ‘Jay Boy’s popped out for a bit. He won’t be long.’

‘And Little Vinny hasn’t turned up yet,’ added his colleague, Pete. ‘But it don’t matter, as we’re not that busy.’

Vinny Butler slapped his employees on the back, and explained he’d given Little Vinny the day off. He trusted Pete and Paul like family and treated them accordingly. Not only had they helped him dispose of the Turks last year, they’d worked for him since he and Roy had opened the Whitechapel club as teenagers.

‘We heard a bit of news, Vin. Denny McCann kicked the bucket yesterday. Apparently it was a heart attack,’ Paul informed his boss.

Vinny Butler raised his eyebrows. Denny McCann had once opened up a rival club and nicked a load of his customers. The bloke was only in his early fifties. ‘Oh well, good riddance to bad rubbish,’ Vinny said nonchalantly. ‘Right, I’m off to the office. Got some phone calls to make.’

‘Oh, that reminds me. A bird rung up earlier. Said it was urgent you contacted her, so I left her number on your desk,’ Pete explained.

‘What’s her name?’

‘Izzy.’

Momentarily lost for words, Vinny felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. She might be Bella to Michael, but she’d always be Izzy to him.

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