No Mercy: The brand new novel from the Queen of Crime, Page 3

  It had taken a while to get her into his life properly. But he had persevered and proved to her that this wasn’t just about the sex for him. Though he wasn’t complaining, of course – the sex was pretty good – but Gabriel genuinely loved her, and even though she was older and far more successful than him, he didn’t mind, because he would have her on any terms. He knew marriage would never be on the cards – she’d made it clear to him from the start she never wanted that aggravation again. But Gabriel wasn’t going anywhere.

  ‘Before I get dressed and get the car, tell me what the fuck has happened, Di!’

  She tugged once more on the joint before she answered him.

  ‘It seems, Gabe, that someone has seen fit to murder Jimmy and Christos Fernandez. Two lovely young lads who have no clout whatsoever in my business dealings.’

  Gabriel looked at her shocked face, taking in the enormity of what she had said.

  ‘Listen, Di, this can’t have anything to do with you, darling. They must have done something on the outside. I mean they were fucking harmless. Without you behind them, they wouldn’t have stood a chance in the real world.’

  Diana didn’t reply. She had her own thoughts on what had taken place, but she wasn’t going to share them with anyone – even Gabe – until she knew more. That was one of her strengths: she never ever let anyone else know what she was thinking. She certainly wasn’t going to break the habit of a lifetime now.

  ‘Get dressed, Gabe, I need to be somewhere.’

  She got out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown, and as she walked into her dressing room she could feel Gabriel’s eyes burning into her back. Like she cared right now. He was a great fuck and she loved him, but where her work was concerned he wasn’t a part of it, no matter how much he might want to be. One thing she had learned the hard way was to never let anyone think they had a say in her life and especially her business. That was wholly her domain.

  She had always liked the Fernandez lads; she couldn’t understand why they had been singled out for such harsh treatment. But she would find out. And, when she did, God help whoever was responsible.

  Chapter Six

  Diana looked at the two dead bodies and closed her eyes in distress. There was so much blood in and around the car.

  She noticed that their money bag and drugs had been removed before the police arrived. But that was what she paid her lot for.

  The young policemen stayed at a decent distance away from her, and the plain-clothes, DI Carter, was already giving the OK for the forensic team to go in. She turned to him and smiled her gratitude.

  He opened his arms wide and said grimly, ‘Look, Di, this was a hit. It’s going to cause fucking murders. You need to sort this quick sharp, darling.’

  She rolled her eyes dramatically and said sarcastically, ‘Oh, you fucking think? Is that a professional opinion or something you picked up reading the Sun?’

  DI Carter took a deep breath, aware that he was being observed by his workforce – who already didn’t have the greatest respect for him. ‘Come on, Di, play fair, for crying out loud,’ he whispered angrily.

  Diana looked again at the two dead men in the car before turning back to Carter as she said seriously, ‘You are right. This does look like a professional hit. But why? Who would come after this pair of ice creams? They are just grunts. Lovely lads, but they don’t have any clout. They delivered and they picked up, they weren’t important enough to be targeted.’

  Carter nodded his agreement. ‘So you have to ask yourself, who could these lads have annoyed? Or, more to the point, who could be sending you a message?’

  Diana didn’t answer him. She couldn’t take her eyes off the two young lads whose heads were blown away but who were so low down on her radar she couldn’t imagine who would even dream of doing something so heinous and for what gain.

  ‘It has to be something else they were involved in. There was nothing they were doing for me that could warrant this kind of reaction. They were nothing, just basic drones. They had to be doing a Dolly on the side.’ She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. ‘I’ll go with you to tell their mum as she is a mate. Fucking hell, they had the easiest job in the Smoke. How did this happen?’

  DI Carter didn’t reply. He liked Diana Davis – he always had – but she needed to have a good long look around her. Because if this wasn’t an outside job then it had come from within. Like her, he couldn’t see why these two young guys had been targeted. She paid enough to make sure they carried out their jobs without aggravation, even though they were well down on the food chain.

  This had to be a professional hit, and that was always a worry, not just for the police but for everyone concerned. This was not a little contretemps, this was a well-planned murder of two young men.

  No matter what Diana wanted to believe, DI Carter couldn’t shake the suspicion that this was the start of something big. So he told her as much, because he respected her and because he wanted a heads-up himself when it all went fucking Pete Tong.

  Chapter Seven

  Rosina Fernandez was devastated. She looked first at the policemen on her doorstep and then when she saw Diana she knew immediately what had happened.

  She crumpled to the floor in utter distress. She was a small woman with thick dark hair and large brown eyes. Her sons had looked like her, but they had inherited their father’s height and his physique. She had four sons and two daughters altogether and she had brought them up alone after her husband had disappeared one day and never returned. She had accepted her lot, as she had always accepted whatever life had thrown at her.

  Diana watched as her friend was lifted up and laid on to her sofa, and then she waited as one of the policemen explained to her the circumstances of her sons’ deaths. She watched Rosina pull herself together, swallowing down her hurt and her anger. She was clearly not going to say a word until she knew exactly what her sons were being accused of.

  Rosina knew the benefit of keeping quiet until you knew the score. She wouldn’t risk incriminating her sons. She would fight for them and their reputations, dead or alive. She had other sons to think of too, and she knew the score as well as anyone.

  Diana watched as the other policeman poured out a couple of large Scotches. She gave one to her friend as she said firmly, ‘You can all fuck off now.’

  She waited until they had cleared the room, then, taking her friend’s hand, she said sincerely, ‘I’m so sorry, Rosina, but I don’t think this has anything to do with me or their job.’

  Rosina swallowed the whisky down in a gulp. She nodded her agreement.

  ‘They weren’t doing anything for me that could warrant this kind of problem. I have to ask you, Rose, were they caught up in any other work that I didn’t know about? Maybe with their older brothers?’ Diana guessed she was wasting her time, but she had to ask. ‘Or any outside agency?’

  She looked into her friend’s face for something that might tell her that this woman knew more than she was letting on. Normally Rosina was straighter than an arrow, she couldn’t lie if her life depended on it. Unless it was for her sons, of course, then she would lie like a professional.

  ‘Come on, Rose, this is important, you need to tell me anything that you might think was even a bit suspect.’ There was the hint of a threat in Diana’s tone.

  But Rosina shook her head in anguish. ‘Really, Diana, they loved working for you. They wouldn’t dream of working for anyone else. And the older boys are still working for Marcus Green. I swear that they never spoke to me about a different job.’

  ‘Are you sure they weren’t doing a Dolly? Honestly, at this time, why would I even care, darling? Like you, I just want to know what happened.’

  Rosina shook her head again in despair. ‘There was nothing that I can remember, Diana, and they loved you. You’ve always been my good friend, and they knew that.’

  She finally broke down and started to cry. Diana held her tightly as she sobbed. She whispered kind words and hugged her friend close, a
ll the time wondering who was trying to fuck with her head, and planning what she would do to them when she found out.

  She stayed until Rosina’s family were all around her and then she left.

  She was on a mission now.

  Chapter Eight

  Gabriel smiled at Diana as she got into her car.

  ‘Fucking hell, you still here, Gabe?’

  ‘Of course I’m still here, darling. You think I wouldn’t wait for you, see you’re all right?’

  Diana arched a brow at him.

  ‘Look, Gabe, I really don’t need a fucking minder. I have more than enough men working for me. I appreciate your zealousness but I have never needed looking after, and that isn’t going to change any time soon, darling.’

  Gabriel looked at her as if he had never seen her before. Her tone of voice and her attitude was something he knew she could unleash on other people but rarely on him.

  Diana saw the effect her words were having on Gabriel. He had been in her life for over two years and for the first time he was angry.

  Gabriel nodded eventually. He was holding back his fury and his hurt; he had to get out of there as soon as possible before he retaliated. If he didn’t go, he would fucking lose it with her and that is exactly what she wanted. She wanted someone to take out her frustration with tonight’s events on. He knew her better than she knew herself.

  ‘Do you know what, Di? You go for it. I’m going home.’ He got out of the car and then, bending down, he looked in the window at her and he said quietly, ‘I’m warning you, lady, one day you will push me away and I will finally take the hint. You need someone beside you tonight. It’s not a weakness, Di. But what do you do? You treat me like one of your workers. Well, fuck you.’

  He walked away from her, and she watched him go. He was wrong. She didn’t need anyone and that suited her. It always had. She didn’t care about him going, it was exactly what she wanted. She had to remind him that he wasn’t important to her in any way.

  But, deep down, she knew it wasn’t true.

  Chapter Nine

  Diana was in Barking Police Station, drinking brandy with a policeman she had been dealing with for years. He was a Filth who was known as a friend of the criminal fraternity and who could be relied on to liaise in certain circumstances. He was also a personal friend of Diana’s – though they didn’t advertise that fact, naturally.

  Derek Jones was an old warrior who had been around in the sixties as a PC, and he had earned his reputation as a good guy while he simultaneously climbed the ladder in the force. His success came from knowing everyone’s secrets, and he was not averse to trading them for a price. Never for money though – only for the common good. He would trade one scam to find out about another, bigger scam. He didn’t always use the information he garnered – he was far too shrewd for that – but he did barter it.

  He was liked and respected, a perfect go-between, especially for the people higher up the food chain who valued not only his expertise but also his sense of fair play. He had been the reason there had not been a turf war for a long time.

  Derek looked at Diana and said honestly, ‘I haven’t heard a dicky bird, Di. That’s the truth of it. Neither have any of my lads. They would have mentioned it.’

  Diana nodded; she had expected this. But she was well aware that Derek would likely be in the know sooner rather than later, so she said as much.

  ‘Well, Del Boy, I’m just reminding you that if and when you do hear, I hope I will be the first to know.’

  He rolled his eyes theatrically. ‘Well, what do you think, Di, eh?’

  She finished her brandy. ‘I know, Del, but this is a fucking melon scratcher all right. I can’t imagine who would want to out that pair. They are of no interest to anyone other than their mother.’

  Derek Jones shrugged. ‘It’s a different world now, Di. There’s no decency any more, we are dealing with complete fucking lunatics. It’s the new generation, they want everything overnight.’

  Diana didn’t answer him. He was as out of the game as she was.

  And that was not a place she wanted to be.

  Chapter Ten

  Silas Warner was worried, and he wasn’t a man who worried without cause. He was well aware he was going to get a visit, and he wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. He had made a big Rick, and he wasn’t sure how he could walk away from it.

  He had known deep in his guts that he should never have agreed to deal with the Coleman brothers. They were on the way up, but they were unpredictable little fuckers. And, now that he had heard the bad news about the shooting in Ilford, he was getting anxious.

  Christos and Jimmy had been introduced by him as a new avenue to sell drugs – no more and no less – he just thought he was opening up a new way for them to sell their product. That he had been given a sweetener had just seemed a fair exchange at the time. He couldn’t have foreseen what might happen – he wasn’t Doris fucking Stokes.

  Now he was at panic stations because he would have to tell Diana and she did not suffer fools gladly. But he had genuinely believed that he was doing what he was paid to do.

  He had tried to open up a new revenue stream that would benefit everyone concerned – true, mainly for him and his sons. Only they were now worried for their lives.

  Diana wasn’t exactly an easy woman, even when she wasn’t pushed. She made a vicious man look like a pussycat when she was affronted.

  What had possessed him? He wondered if he had a death wish.

  He wiped his hand across his big moon face and knew that he would have a hard time convincing Diana that there had not been an ulterior motive.

  He ran to the toilet again; his bowels were looser than a trophy wife’s credit card. He had fucked up big time. His only hope was to confess. Diana Davis would appreciate hearing the truth from him directly. She was a lot of things, but she was fair. No one would argue about that.

  He took a deep breath and picked up the phone. She would much rather meet him on neutral ground, especially if she was about to off him. If only he could help his boys.

  All he could do was hope that he could talk her round in some way.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘Mum, listen to me, will you, for once? Let me put my ear to the ground and see what I can come up with, yeah?’

  Diana looked at her son, who she loved with all her heart, but who was about as useful as the fucking Old Bill that she was paying a fortune to at this particular moment in time. She stopped herself from saying that though. She had to let Angus think that she did actually listen to him and – more importantly – that she genuinely was interested in his opinions, however off the wall they might turn out to be.

  ‘Look, son, if you can find out anything I will be only too pleased, believe me.’

  Angus was thrilled to hear that answer; she was finally giving him a chance. Until he proved himself, he knew she wouldn’t take him seriously, and that was something he needed to do as soon as possible.

  He was determined to sort this out before she did. He wasn’t completely sure how to bring that miracle about.

  But he had an idea.

  Chapter Twelve

  Angus was extremely irritated because, as far as he was concerned, anyone on the Davis payroll should automatically agree with him. That came with the territory.

  Royston Rogers was not best pleased. He worked with Angus, and he liked him, but he wasn’t happy about doing anything that Diana wasn’t in on. He might not be feminist of the year, but he knew who paid his fucking wages. Plus he respected her; she was a Face in her own right. It didn’t sit right with him to go behind her back, no matter how innocuous this fucking upstart might try to make it out.

  Royston Rogers, nicknamed Trigger, was caught between two fences. At the end of the day he worked with Angus and, as much as he could be annoyed by him, he knew that he meant well. He was young, he was impulsive but he was loyal. There was no getting away from the fact that young Angus would defend him to the death.
Roy felt the urge to do exactly the same for him but he didn’t want to put himself in the line of fire for no good reason. Angus wanted to meet up with that muppet Warner! He was about as trustworthy as he was honest.

  It stood to reason that he was involved somehow, and that could not be a good thing – especially as he was a known consort of the Coleman brothers. But he kept his own counsel and followed Angus out to the motor.

  Roy had annoyed him enough as it was.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Davie and Peter Coleman were laughing as they walked out of the back of their cousin’s betting shop in East Ham.

  Davie Coleman was known as a bit of a wag, and was generally seen as a comedian by his peers. He was also the more ruthless of the brothers and the quicker to take offence. He had a natural arrogance that set people’s teeth on edge, especially when he was taking the piss out of them. Both the brothers were on the up, but it was the general consensus that Davie was the one in charge, and that suited Davie Coleman down to the ground. Peter was bigger and heavier, but he wasn’t exactly sharp as a tack. The relationship worked well for them, and they were both happy with their stations in life.

  As they went to their BMW, neither saw the two men with the sawn-off shotguns stepping out of the shadows of the small car park and aiming them at their chests.

  It was Davie who caught sight of them first, and he opened his mouth to speak. But before he could utter a word, he was felled alongside his brother. Lying on the ground he watched in shocked amazement as the two men in balaclavas calmly walked away, without a second glance.