Payback Time 10 ( Trust Nobody)

Paul sat outside the intensive care room, he wasn’t allowed in due to Kathy’s serious condition. He looked up and saw Ross walking towards him.

“It’s okay Paul, the baby’s fine, he’s at my house with the missus, how’s she doing?”

Paul put his head in his hands and took a deep breath, he sat up.

“Not good, they say the next couple of hours are crucial, the cunts raped her then beat her with a fucking baseball bat, left it at the flat, can you believe that, a fucking baseball bat.”

Ross sat down beside him.

“Paul, we both know what this is about, Terry’s brother done and within four hours Kathy’s in intensive care, that’s no coincidence, we should leave it now, wipe our mouths and move on.”

Paul stood up, grabbed his chair and launched it down the corridor. His temper had erupted.

“Leave it, move on? Are you out of your fucking mind, my Kathy’s in there fighting for her life cos of Murphy and that Irish cunt and you want me to let it go, fuck off this is just the start!”

He walked off towards the coffee machine. Ross went after him.

“Paul, just think about it, take some time, stay with Kathy, make sure she’s okay, then decide, that’s all I’m saying.”

Paul pushed the buttons on the machine, nothing happened, then he kicked it, nothing happened. His fist smashed into the glass front over and over again until it smashed. Ross decided it was better just to watch rather than get involved. Paul turned round to face Ross, his hand was a mess.

“Okay, I’ll stay here for a while; you contact Cornwell, set up a meet for tonight somewhere safe, just the three of us. I’ll call Tom Marks.”

Ross turned to leave, as he walked towards the lifts he shouted back at Paul.

“Do yourself a favour, get that hand looked at while you’re waiting.”

Ross took the lift down to the ground floor and walked out of the main entrance. There were just two public telephones outside. They were both being used. He grabbed a guy by his shoulders and pulled him out of the booth.

“Sorry mate, emergency”

He dialled a number.

“DCI Cornwell, how can I help?”
“I have some information for you, call me back”

Cornwell recognised Ross’s voice, he took down the number he was given, left his office and ran to the nearest public call box. He rang the number.

“It’s me, what’s happening?”

“She’s in a bad way, next couple of hours are crucial, I’ve persuaded Paul to stay with her for now, but he wants a meet, tonight, how about Asda car park in Limehouse at seven, by the re-cycling bins?”

“Okay, you know this is all because of Murphy’s brother don’t you, what the fuck was he thinking of? I’ll do my best to keep everyone out of it Ross, but fuck me it won’t be easy.”

“Listen, go to 46 Bambridge Street in Poplar, you’ll find a scag head there, he’s got Murphy’s brothers watch, wallet and rings, that should take the heat away from the firm.”

“This scag head, is he dangerous?”

“Not any more, you don’t need back up, just a hearse.”

Ross hung up.

Upstairs on the fourth floor, Paul Fletcher was calling Tom Marks.

“Sorry to hear about Kathy, anything I can do?”

Paul ignored the comment.

“Did you speak to Murphy’s brief?”

“Yeh, just got off the phone to him, Murphy’s being looked after by Frank McGinley, apparently McGinley wants it settled without any bloodshed.”

“That’s what I want as well Tom, Murphy’s brother was nothing to do with me but I can understand that it doesn’t look good and I’m willing to accept that Kathy was just the subject of a vicious attack, so call him again and set up a meet for tomorrow, just the three of us. Me, Murphy and McGinley, somewhere neutral”

Paul hung up. Looked at his hand and smiled. Ross was right, he needed to get it looked at, he was a fucking useless shot with his left hand.

Terry Murphy was in his suite at the Radisson Hotel in Canary Wharf, Frank’s son Malachi was with him. It was just after three o’clock in the afternoon.

“I’m so sorry for your loss Mister Murphy, your brother’s body has been taken to the morgue at East Ham, I,ve just heard that the Police have also found the body of a young man, a known drug offender with a history of violent crime, he had your brother’s watch and wallet on him.”

Terry Murphy didn’t say a word. He loved his younger brother more than anything in the world, now he was gone, killed for no reason, this fight was nothing to do with him. He sat quietly staring out of the sixth floor window that overlooked the Thames and the O2 centre. Malachi was sitting on a sofa behind him.

“I should go and see him.”

“Not possible Mister Murphy, Dad wants you to stay here, it’s still too dangerous out there, but Dad’s working on something right now, then we can all go home.”

“I don’t care what the Police say, we all know it was Fletcher, I’m gonna take my time but I swear I am gonna kill him, slowly, I want him to look in my eyes and know it was me, I want to be the last person on this earth that he sees, I want it to be painful as well, I want him to know pain, just like I did when he shot me and left me for dead.”

Malachi nodded.

“All in good time Mister Murphy, Dad will sort everything out and then you can go see your brother.”

Malachi stood up and poured Terry a large scotch.

“Here, drink this, drop of the hard stuff to calm the nerves.”

Terry took the drink and drank it down in one. He poured himself another.

Malachi’s mobile rang. The conversation was short. Just ten words.

“I’ll do it early tomorrow, get him there for six.”

Malachi looked over at Terry and smiled.

“Good news Mister Murphy, a meeting has been set up, we have to leave early in the morning.”

Terry Murphy took a deep breath and smiled. He was completely unaware of the beating that Kathy Martin had taken.