'Always suspected there was a right nasty side to him.' said Rob, moving his chair away slightly in mock fear.
'Don't listen to that old eejit, I only asked what would happen if I injured someone if I caught them breaking into the house.' said Allan
'They'd probably lock you up and throw away the key!' opined Rob, 'That's how it seems to work nowadays.'
'Aye, and you'll have to sell the house to pay the compensation your poor victim will be claiming! Probably with the full support of the civil liberties brigade.' added Jim
'That's pretty much the message I took from the meeting.' Allan admitted.
'Best thing that could happen, would be one of those neds getting a right good beating, might do something to put them of making some other poor sod's life a misery.' suggested Rob.
'They could do worse than start with that Benny Patterson.' said Jim.
'What's that lowlife been up to now?' asked Chalky
'You probably heard about that fifteen year old lass that was found dead of a drug overdose a few weeks ago, well it was Benny Patterson invited her and a pal to a party, gave them drink and drugs. One rumour is, they were raped, although nothings been said officially. Other folk think they were trying to get them involved in prostitution.'
'Surely not. Fifteen year-old lasses, you're joking!'
'That's what these guys do apparently, they get young girls hooked on drugs, or blackmail them, or whatever it takes, then put them on the street. That Benny Patterson is a bad 'un, When the lasses took ill, he up and left them, didn't call for help or anything, one of them died, the other was in hospital for a couple of days.'
Allan looked puzzled,
'Surely if you know all this, the police will know as well, and they will deal with him?'
'Everybody round our way knows, but nobody will talk because Patterson is friendly with Darren Hill. He's the one supplying the drugs, and he probably takes a cut from anything Benny makes as a pimp, so you squeal on Benny, you know you're going to have the Hill clan after you, and nobody wants to mess with them.'
They all knew what he meant. For as long as they could remember, Gerry Hill had ruled the Craigends area. One of the old style gangsters,Gerry was supposed to have retired, and he and his wife had gone to live near their daughter in Spain, while his sons claimed to be legitimate businessmen. But it was widely believed that George's property empire, and Sammy's car showrooms, taxi and delivery firms were merely fronts for more dubious activities. Even their sister Victoria, married to a Spanish man, and living on the Costa Del Sol, was thought to be involved behind the scenes, moving the family's money abroad, and investing in legitimate business in Europe and elsewhere.
Gerry's youngest son, George, had no children, something many agreed was a small but significant benefit to society. The eldest son, Sammy, was father to Darren, who was regarded as being every bit as nasty as his grandfather had been in his prime. Only the very brave or the very foolish would volunteer to give evidence against Darren Hill.
'Be nice to get a confession,' mused Chalky.
'Oh yeah, that's going to happen!'
'You never know Jim, stranger things have happened.'
'What, you go and confront Patterson or Darren Hill and they give you the full story?' asked Rob, adding, 'Here lads, I'm going to have some of what Chalky is drinking, I might feel brave enough to tell the wife what I really think of her new hairdo!'
'Come on Rob, nobody's that brave, Chalky is only talking about taking on some violent psychopaths, not your Elsie!'
'Same difference, surely.' quipped Allan.
Chalky laughed along with the rest of them, but persisted,
'You know what they say, “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing”, and that's what is happening here, nobody is willing to stand up to the Hill family.'
'There's a reason for that,' said Rob, 'if you try to take a stand against them, you'll wake in the hospital or find yourself in a prison cell! You just can't win against them.'
Chalky nodded sombrely along with the others, but there was a distance in his eyes as his mind drifted to thoughts of a teenage girl brutally robbed of her future.
Chapter 4
Five-thirty a.m. and Allan Ross reluctantly stirred and silenced the alarm on his side of the bed. He yawned and stretched and scratched before heading towards the bathroom, while on the other side of the bed, Julie slept on, oblivious.
After washing and dressing, Allan practically sleep-walked through his usual routine of toast and coffee for breakfast, making up sandwiches for his packed lunch and filling his flask. As he finished, and rinsed off the dishes, he heard Julie begin to move around upstairs. He would be on his way to work before Julie had the kids up and ready to go to school.
She appeared at the kitchen door, and stepped over to give him a quick peck on the cheek.
'Morning.'
'Morning, pet.'
'Were you planning anything for this evening?' she asked.
'Not at the moment,' he answered, 'Oh wait a minute, Chalky did ask if I would be free tonight, but I can put him off if you want, what did you have in mind?'
'Well, you know Emily, my friend from the gym?'
He thought for a moment then nodded,
'Vaguely, yeah, I've heard the name'
'She's been given a couple of vouchers for a pampering session up at The Bonnyton Hotel, you know, mudpacks, manicures, massage, sauna...... the thing is, her hubby isn't interested in going, reckons it's too girly for him, so she asked if I would like to go with her, keep her company. And it wouldn't cost anything, it's a freebie through her business.'
As he thought for a few seconds, she hurriedly added,
'Of course, if you wanted to come we could just pay for a room for ourselves, maybe you could have a round of golf or something while Emily and I were getting the luxury treatment. Unless you fancied a manicure or something like that for yourself, a chance to get in touch with your feminine side!'
He laughed,
'Thanks, but I think I'll give it a miss. You go ahead, enjoy yourselves. As I said, I may have something on with Chalky anyway.'
'Thanks, pet.'
He gathered his things, gave her a kiss before heading for the door.
'See you tonight, love you.'
'Yeah, see you, love you too.'
And he was gone.
Julie suddenly found her legs were shaking so much she had to sit down. She had never lied to him like this before. Yes, she had perhaps been a little economical with the truth sometimes, the little white lies about the price of shoes and suchlike that oiled the wheels of married life, but this was different. The consequences of being found out were potentially life changing.
Again, a wave of guilt washed over her, the doubts flying around inside her head, until she forced herself to push them away. The time spent with David would help her make up her mind about her future..... their future, if they had one together.
She got to her feet with a fresh sense of determination and went upstairs to shower before she wakened the kids.
Strangely, she hardly gave any thought to Allan's place in this new beginning, despite hardly having made a decision in the last twenty years that didn't involve him. Perhaps that was a sign she was already moving on.