Although investigations had gone on into Barrow’s terrible fall, no one in the prison had seen anything. Of course they hadn’t, and the other guards hadn’t expected anyone to come forward and point the finger. The prisoner with the badly burnt face had been taken to the burn’s unit at the hospital, although his plight had been overshadowed by Barrow’s death. All enquiries had led nowhere, and the police had faced a stony silence. Everyone was busy saving their own skin. Barrow’s death had been signed off as a tragic accident and more strategic safety measures had been put into place.
Paul Pereira stood outside his cell on the balcony, grinning to himself. He inhaled his cigar and leaned on the railings in front of him, watching everyone milling around. So far his plan was going well, but he needed to make sure Alex’s death didn’t raise any questions in the same way Barrow’s had. His mind was in turmoil; perhaps he could make it look like an intruder or as though someone had tried to burgle this pub of his. Secretly he wanted Alex to know he had finally caught up with him and that he was behind his murder. He smiled. It was just a damn shame he wouldn’t be there in person to see it happen.
Going back into his cell, he shut the door and knelt down behind it. He had got one of his henchmen to chip out a brick from the wall. With a little force, the brick came loose to reveal Paul’s mobile phone that he had smuggled in. He used the prison’s public phones regularly for calls to dismiss any suspicions of him owning his own phone that he used for only his most important conversations.
‘Leon, it’s time to act. I need out of this hell hole. I’m an old man and I don’t intend dying in here. Make it look like an accident – a bungled robbery or something. Set the bloody place on fire if you have to, but kill Alex. I want to lie on my bed and imagine his tortured screams.’ Ending the call, Paul grinned. Revenge was nearly his.
All night long, Alex had tossed and turned. What if his suspicions were wrong and it was just some nosey bugger asking about him? He knew it wasn’t Percy’s Liverpudlian contacts because then Percy wouldn’t have mentioned it to him in the first place – that he was sure of.
He didn’t want to alarm his family unless he had to, but it was time he brought them all back to earth and reminded them why they were all here in the first place. During the early hours he had got up and checked the pub, making a mental note to buy some extra bolts for the back door.
Sitting at the kitchen table in darkness, Alex rehearsed how he would tell his family about his fears, and that they had to be on alert. He couldn’t remember how long he had been sitting there while nursing a cup of cold coffee, but one by one, yawning and bleary eyed, his children slowly wandered into the kitchen.
‘Oh my God Dad, you made me jump. How long have you been up?’ Deana jumped back with a start and wrapped her thick towelling robe around her tightly. ‘It’s a shame you didn’t put the bloody heating on, it’s freezing in here!’ she moaned and switched on the kettle, while turning on the radio.
Dante sat down at the table next. ‘Make me some toast Deana please, I’m starving and Mum’s in the shower.’
‘Make your own bloody toast, you lazy twat!’ Throwing the loaf of bread at him, Deana laughed and then noticed her dad seemed rooted to the spot, not saying anything as they bantered between them. ‘You okay Dad?’ she asked, knowing he wasn’t. It was pretty clear he had something on his mind.
Before he could answer, Maggie walked in with a towel wrapped around her wet hair and her robe on. ‘Blimey, didn’t anyone think to make me a cup of tea?’
‘Sit down,’ Alex commanded. ‘All of you sit down. I have something to say.’
Maggie, Deana and Dante cast furtive glances at each other, but knew by the look on Alex’s face that this was no laughing matter. The air seemed tense as they all sat at the kitchen table and Maggie made a pot of tea.
‘It seems someone has been asking about me. Not a regular in the pub. It could just be some nosey passerby; after all, anyone can come in here and ask questions, but I think we have been found. And so we need to be on our guard.’
Wide eyed, Maggie stared at him. ‘And just how long have you known this piece of information and kept it to yourself?’
‘Not long. I was going to tell you last night, but with one thing and another I left it. It was someone Percy didn’t know, which surprises me, because he knows everyone, asking questions about me and about how long I have lived here.’
Downheartedly, Deana looked down at the table and put her head in her hands. ‘So, what do we do now Dad? What are you saying, we pack up this morning and move on?’ she asked.
Raising her voice, Maggie looked at them all. ‘I’ll tell you what we do Deana. We tell the people who are bloody supposed to be protecting us – the police! It’s only a suspicion at this stage, isn’t it Alex? How do you know we’ve been found for definite?’
‘The only way to know for definite Maggie is when I have a bullet in the back of my head. Then, and only then, will we know for certain we’ve been found.’
Tears fell from Dante’s eyes. ‘Don’t say things like that, Dad.’ He sniffed.
‘The truth is always the hardest pill to swallow, Dante. That’s why I’m having this meeting with you all. We all need to be on our guard.’ Alex pushed his hair back with his hand, which immediately fell back into place over his face. ‘We’ve let things slide a little. And I include myself in that. I am not pointing blame.’ Alex’s usual cheerful voice was monotone and serious, showing no emotion. ‘If we tell the police Maggie, they will move us on today for sure. Is that what you want? This place is yours and you have made it a going concern. I’m not going to take that away from you, so that choice is yours and only you can make it.’
Looking around the table, Maggie saw her children’s worried faces. ‘For now, we say nothing. But, I agree, we have to be more vigilant. After all Alex, how much longer will we end up staying here?’
‘I take it you mean when the court case comes up? I really don’t know love. I haven’t looked that far ahead. Although…’ He faltered. ‘I do have fifty odd thousand stashed away in the cellar. If you need to get out of here quickly and I am not around, you have money. It belongs to all of us and it’s only to be used in an emergency, okay?’
Maggie sat back in her chair and folded her arms. ‘Well Mark really does pay good wages, doesn’t he?’ she snapped. ‘Anything else you’ve kept from us?’
‘Stop it!’ Deana shouted. ‘For God’s sake, let’s not argue with each other. There are people out there wanting to tear us to pieces, and we’re doing their job for them. Dad, it feels like you’ve already given up with all your talk about dying and a bullet in your head. And Mum, you want to tell the police, but you don’t want to leave here. How does that work then?’ Reaching over to her brother, she stroked his hand on the table. ‘We are Silvas. We don’t give up that easily.’ Feeling better once she had said her piece, Deana sat back and looked from Alex to Maggie.
A grin crossed Alex’s face and he reached out for hers and Dante’s hands. ‘Well, I guess that told us. I’m proud of you two. You’ve had a lot to cope with and you’ve done it without complaint. You’re right. We will see this through, but you now know that you have back-up. There is money. We keep alert and check in with each other. Believe me, whatever is going to happen, is going to happen soon. If we have been found, they are not going to wait.’
20 THE BARE FACTS
Once downstairs, Alex could hear the grumbling chef, Phil, barking orders at the other kitchen staff. Popping his head into the bar, he saw the cleaner singing away polishing the tables under Pauline’s evil watch, while she was eating a bacon sandwich. ‘How come she thinks she’s cleaning when every day she polishes those tables with the same old dirty duster? What bloody difference does it make?’ she said, nudging Alex in the ribs.
She had a point, thought Alex and looked towards Betty in her cleaning tabard. ‘Why does she wear a tabard with the local council logo Phyllis?’
‘She comes straight from the leisure centres and schools. Probably uses the same bloody duster. I’ve watched her and all she does is spray polish in the air when she hears Maggie coming downstairs.’ Phyllis continued taking a bite of her sandwich and slurping on her mug of tea, which was marked with a giant P on the front. Alex thought that was pretty pointless too, especially as the other barmaid was called Pauline! They were good staff though, and he had come to like them. Phyllis seemed to collect gossip before she arrived and he had to admit, he now looked forward to it.
Seeing the pub door open, he looked up and winced. The Zumba class! It was their mission to get rid of all their extra Christmas pounds before their summer holidays. ‘Aren’t you doing the Zumba class any more Phyllis?’
‘No, I’m bloody not. Paid every week and nearly had a heart attack while turning purple and never lost a pound.’
Biting his tongue, Alex smiled as Phyllis took another large bite of her bacon sandwich.
He shrugged. ‘Personally, I think exercise is overrated. I prefer a bacon sandwich.’ He needed to get out of there before they all turned up with their water bottles and specially bought tracksuit bottoms and tops. Women, he thought to himself, they were a mystery to him and always would be.
‘What are you laughing at?’ Maggie asked as she proceeded to come down the stairs. Her blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she had her water bottle in hand.
‘Nothing, just Phyllis keeping an eagle eye on Betty the cleaner. Nothing gets past her.’ As he heard the music and the Zumba instructor starting her warmup, he made himself scarce. ‘Deana!’ he shouted upstairs and seeing her head pop around the balcony, he beckoned her down. ‘Outside.’
Once they were alone, she looked at him quizzically. ‘What have I done now?’
‘Just checking that thing I gave you is well hidden, but accessible if you need it. Also there is something bigger stored in the hallway by the coat rack.’ Giving her a knowing look, they both knew what he meant.
Deana nodded. ‘All safe and sound Dad. Mum doesn’t go in my room any more now I’m a grown-up and entitled to my privacy.’
