Georgina’s eyes flicked open to the sound of someone tapping on the front room window. She pushed herself up wearily from the sofa and glanced at the clock to see she’d only had a couple of hours’ sleep. Pulling back the curtain, in the darkness, she saw Johnny outside with his arm over the shoulder of a woman. She gave him a quick thumbs up and mouthed, ‘Just a minute,’ before hurrying through to Charlotte’s bedroom.
‘Charlotte… Charlotte… Wake up,’ she said quietly as she shook the girl.
‘Eh, what, what?’
‘Johnny’s outside with a woman. Let them in.’
‘Eh? Johnny? Outside?’
‘Yes, hurry up. Something must be wrong,’ Georgina answered and threw Charlotte a dressing gown from the back of the door. ‘Come on, quick.’
She waited anxiously in the front room as Charlotte went to let Johnny in. When they came through, she could see the woman under Johnny’s arm was trembling and Johnny looked worried.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked.
‘You remember Gerty, Miss Garrett?’
When the woman looked up through her mascara-blackened tear-streaked face, Georgina recognised that Gerty had been one of her prostitutes at Livingstone Road.
‘Gerty,’ Charlotte exclaimed, surprised to see her.
‘She’s had a bit of a shock. Well, we both ’ave,’ Johnny said sombrely.
‘Charlotte, put the kettle on… and the wireless,’ Georgina said and told Gerty and Johnny to sit down. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked, addressing him.
He told Gerty to go and help Charlotte make the tea and to close the door behind her. Then once alone, he sat forward and lowered his voice.
‘You know that brewery company we turned over?’
‘Yes.’
‘It looks like we’ve pissed off someone pretty bad. When I got home, my place had been ransacked. I went round to Max’s and… he’s dead.’
‘Someone killed him?’
‘Yeah. Fucking ’orrible it was an’ all. He was a right mess, I hardly recognised him. Whoever did it gave him a right fucking beating. There was blood splattered up the walls and by the looks of it, I reckon they stamped on his head a few times.’
‘Jesus! Poor Max.’
‘Yeah, poor Max. I reckon they’ll be coming for me next. Good job I was in Wales with you.’
‘What about Ned and the Barker twins? Have you warned them?’
‘Yeah, me and Gerty went round to their houses. They’ll be here in a bit.’
‘How did Gerty get mixed up in this?’
‘She lives upstairs from Max. She heard a lot of shouting and screaming so sneaked downstairs. She couldn’t see nothing but heard them kicking the shit out of Max. You know what he was like… he didn’t feel pain. He would have kept coming at them until they killed him. Gerty hid under the stairs until they’d gone, then found Max with his brain oozing out his head. It’s shaken her right up, I couldn’t leave her.’
‘No, you’ve done the right thing, Johnny. But I’m worried about the blokes coming here when there’s a copper across the passageway.’
‘It’s all right, they know to be discreet. I knew having him so close would cause problems.’
‘It’ll be fine. Charlotte’s working on him. We’ve got more pressing matters to be worrying about. Who the hell have you pissed off?’
‘I dunno. I think it might be The Top.’
‘Bloody hell, Johnny, I hope not. We ain’t strong enough to go up against him. If it’s The Top, we can all say our goodbyes soon.’
‘I dunno, it might not be. But if it is, we’re fucked.’
Charlotte came back into the room with Gerty, and Georgina instructed her to keep an eye out the window for Ned and the Barker twins. She unconsciously rubbed her finger where her mother’s wedding ring had once been, deep in thought.
Twenty minutes later, Charlotte sneaked Ned and the Barkers into her flat. Despite being told to keep their voices down, they couldn’t hide their delight at seeing Georgina and she thought it a shame that the happiness of the reunion was marred by the murder of Max. And now they each had a possible death sentence hanging over their heads too.
Georgina went to Charlotte’s room and dressed. When she came back into the front room, she could feel the tension. All eyes set on her as if they were waiting for her to come up with an answer to the problem. But she didn’t know what to do. How could she when she had no idea who they were fighting?
‘Take me to him, Johnny,’ she said, her face stern.
‘Who?’
‘The Top, of course.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I said so, didn’t I? There’s no point in pussy-footing around. Take me to The Top and let’s get this sorted.’
She watched as Johnny, Ned and the Barker twins looked at one another then back to her. Johnny went to speak but she quickly jumped in.
‘Don’t question me. You came here because you haven’t got a fucking clue what to do. You’re scared, the lot of you. And I don’t blame you. You’ve brought this to my doorstep and now I’ll deal with it. Come on, let’s go.’
‘Now?’
‘Yes, Johnny, now,’ she answered and marched towards the door. ‘The rest of you, sit tight and stay out of sight. If we’re not back by lunchtime, run.’
She crept past PC Batten’s door and quietly closed the front door. She got into the car and Johnny sat beside her, his face pale and she could see the tautness in his jaw.
‘You can’t take a gun,’ he warned.
‘I know, more’s the pity. I’ll leave it in the car.’
The sun began to rise as they headed towards Lewisham. Georgina’s mind turned, thinking about how she’d approach The Top and what she’d say. That’s if she even got to see him. From what she’d been told, the man refused visitors.
Before she knew it, they were in Lewisham and Johnny pulled up outside a grand house. ‘We’re here,’ he said nervously.
‘You can wait in the car if you like,’ Georgina offered as she reluctantly placed her gun in the glove compartment.
‘No, I’ll come with you. This is my mess. It’s me they’re after, not you.’
Georgina didn’t think it was a good idea for Johnny to accompany her and wanted to protect him but if The Top and his gang were out to kill Johnny, they’d get him with or without her. He knocked on the large doors and a small hatch opened.
‘Ralph, it’s me, Johnny Dymond and I’m with Miss Garrett.’
Ralph didn’t respond but opened the door. When Georgina walked in, she was taken aback by the size of the stark, white hallway. They followed Ralph up the sweeping staircase where two men the size of tanks greeted them with coldness. Ralph went into a room and closed the door while Johnny was frisked. Then Georgina held her arms out at her sides as the other large man frisked her. His hands lingered too long over the edge of her breasts and she stepped back, glaring at him as he sneered at her.
Ralph returned and nodded to the men who escorted them into the room. At last, Georgina saw a friendly face she recognised and smiled at Slugs.
‘It’s a bit bloody early,’ he said as he walked towards her with his arm outstretched. ‘But good to see you none the less. We’ve been expecting you.’
‘Hello, Slugs,’ she replied as she shook his rough hand. She’d met him on a few occasions, one of David’s men who had visited the hospital when David had been injured in the bomb blast.
‘Take a seat, Miss Garrett. Would you like coffee?’
‘That would be very welcome, thank you.’
‘I’ll have one an’ all,’ Johnny said.
‘I ain’t waiting on you, you ugly git,’ Slugs replied with a chuckle and turned to another two men stood by the door. ‘Coffee, three cups.’
One of the men went outside and Slugs turned back to Georgina. ‘You did a cracking job of getting out of Holloway.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Look, I can guess why you’re here. I realise you ain’t been around for a few years and things have changed, but you made a big mistake robbing the proceeds from the beer farm. To be fair, I can understand you’d need the money but you should have looked into it first to see who you were dealing with. The Top was surprised that you fucked up.’
‘It weren’t Miss Garrett. She didn’t know nuffink about it,’ Johnny quickly said, the desperation apparent in his voice.
Slugs looked confused.
‘It was me, mate. I fucked up. But if I’d known it was The Top fronting it up, I wouldn’t have gone near it.’
Slugs chuckled again. ‘Oh, Johnny, mate, it ain’t The Top. He gets a load of barrels as a cut but it ain’t his operation.’
Georgina threw a glance at Johnny, who looked as perplexed as her.
Slugs continued, ‘It’s the Zammits. Those Maltese bastards have got the West End sown up with their tarts and now they’ve diversified into this. I hate the slimy gits but I wouldn’t want to upset them.’
‘The Zammits… fuck me, that’s all I need.’
‘Yeah, you and Miss Garrett. They ain’t gonna believe you did it on your own, mate.’
Georgina rose to her feet. ‘Fine. At least we know who we’re dealing with.’
Slugs jumped up too. ‘Wait, Miss Garrett. You can’t go steaming in there. You don’t know what they’re like and believe me, you don’t want to find out.’
‘Then what do you suggest? I can’t sit by and watch them take down my men one by one.’
‘Here,’ Slugs answered and walked over to a large desk with a leather inlay. He quickly jotted down something and handed it to Georgina. ‘Jacob Flowers is the man you want to see. He’s the Zammits’ accountant. He’ll negotiate on your behalf but he comes at a cost. He’s the only geezer the Zammits will entertain.’
‘What about The Top?’
‘What about him?’ Slugs asked.
‘He obviously has a rapport with the Zammits.’
‘Yeah, he does, but he’s already spoken to them and they won’t make a deal with him. The Zammits want your blood and your only chance is Jacob Flowers.’
‘Why has The Top already spoken to them on my behalf?’
‘I dunno, Miss Garrett. I suppose because you’re a bit of a legend and he admires that, you know, what with you being a woman an’ all that.’
‘Let me speak to him.’
‘Who? The Top?’
‘Yes.’
Slugs sucked in a long breath as he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Miss Garrett, but that won’t be possible.’
‘Why not?’
‘He don’t see no one. Not ever. I’m sure you’ve heard about his connections with the IRA. He can’t risk anyone being in a position where they’d be able to identify him. I hope you understand. So, anything you want to say to The Top will have to go through me.’
Georgina’s feelings had been correct. She’d guessed that she wouldn’t get access to The Top but she had a pressing question on her mind. She looked down at her boots and when she lifted her eyes, she blurted, ‘Was it The Top who killed David?’
Slugs, his eyes wide, turned away and he walked back towards the desk. She waited for an answer but nothing came. A short man with a thick mop of red hair came into the room, carrying a tray. Slugs indicated to him to leave the tray on the side and then the man scurried away.
Once the door closed again, Georgina continued. ‘Well, did he?’ she pressed, desperate to know the truth even though there was something inside her that wanted to run from it.
Slugs, now stood behind the desk, avoided her searching glare.
‘You must have known I’d want to find out what happened to him and Victor. Don’t bullshit me, Slugs. Did The Top kill David Maynard?’
Slugs swallowed hard and slowly nodded.
This wasn’t the response she’d wanted. It was hard to take in the fact that she was in the same house as the man who had killed David. It felt like she’d been punched in the stomach and her legs felt weak. She remembered this feeling when she’d seen Lash laid dead on the ground, a bullet in his chest.
‘And Victor?’ she asked shakily.
Slugs nodded again but still wouldn’t look her in the eye. Guilty conscience, she assumed. Slugs had worked for David but now worked for the man who had murdered him. He clearly had no integrity, which left her with no respect for him.
She licked her dry lips and tried to compose herself.
‘Get me out of here,’ she whispered to Johnny, hoping her legs wouldn’t give way until they were in the car.
Johnny leapt up and went to support her but she pushed him briskly away. She wouldn’t show weakness, not here. She marched towards the door without any further words to Slugs, Johnny trotting behind her. She just wanted to get out from being under the same roof as the man who had helped to destroy her life.
Once in the car, she handed Johnny the piece of paper that Slugs had given her. ‘Drive,’ she said, staring blankly ahead as she fought to hold back tears.
‘I’m sorry, Miss Garrett.’
‘I know. And so will The Top be when I’ve finished with him,’ she answered solemnly.