Queens of Crime: 3-Book Thriller Collection. Kimberley Chambers

My old mum used to say, “If you lie down with dogs you catch fleas.” Well Nancy will be infested with those fleas for life now, and as much as it breaks my heart, we have to say goodbye and good riddance to her.’

      Johnny Preston was well aware of his hands physically shaking when he replaced the receiver on its cradle in the phonebox. He had just rung Graeme to update him on what was happening and how he felt it in his bones that tonight was the night.

      Spotting an off licence, Johnny headed towards it. His nerves were jangling and a half-bottle of Scotch should help to calm him down. Trying to shoot Vinny with trembling hands was a no-go. He would probably gun down somebody else by mistake.

      Ten minutes later, Johnny was parked in a secluded alleyway off the Mile End Road. He took the bottle of Scotch from the inside of his jacket, unscrewed the lid, and drank half of it in one gulp. Immediately feeling more calm and confident about the task in hand, Johnny decided to stop at another off licence on the way back to the club to purchase another bottle in case he needed it later. With a few Scotches inside him, Johnny felt as though he could conquer the world, and that’s exactly what he needed to pull this one off successfully.

      Glancing at his watch, Johnny re-started the bike’s engine. Hopefully, in the next few hours, Vinny Butler would exist only in memory.

      Back at the party, Colleen’s parents, Rosa and Eugene, were in total shock as they listened to what Albie Butler had to say about their future son-in-law. ‘Go find Colleen, Eugene. Bejesus, I can barely believe what I’ve just been told. No way is she marrying into this family now,’ Rosa said to her husband.

      ‘So, you’re telling us that Roy broke both your legs, plus some ribs, and put you in hospital for over a month?’ Eugene asked Albie. Before he took Rosa’s advice and forced Colleen to cancel her engagement, he needed to get his facts straight. Roy had seemed such a decent chap.

      ‘Yep. He has a violent temper, does my Roy. You should warn your Colleen never to upset him. He will definitely get violent with her if she does,’ Albie continued. The horrified expressions on Colleen’s parents’ faces were enough to make him feel dreadful, but then when he saw Vinny grinning at him from a distance, Albie knew that for once he would rather face the music himself than ruin Roy’s life. Albie tore his eyes away from his eldest son and stared at his tatty shoes.‘Ignore everything I just said. It isn’t true. It was Vinny that put me in hospital, not his brother. My Roy is a good boy and he will make your Colleen very happy,’ Albie said, walking away from an open-mouthed Rosa and Eugene.

      Knowing that he would rather admit his awful lie to Queenie himself and explain why he had said it in the first place, rather than let Vinny expose his secret, Albie went in search of his estranged wife. He hadn’t walked more than ten steps when Vinny collared him though. ‘That was a quick conversation. You better have told Rosa and Eugene everything I asked you to, otherwise you’re in shit street.’

      ‘I did start to tell them, boy, but then I saw you watching me and it put me off. I will have another bash again later,’ Albie replied, playing for time. He already knew what he was going to do. He was going to speak to his family one by one, and explain why he had pretended to be at death’s door. He would also warn Roy about Vinny’s cunning plan. He just hoped that Roy would show some gratitude in return by bunging him some money so he could leave the area. He wouldn’t be able to live locally after disobeying Vinny’s orders, that was for sure.

      Vinny sneered. ‘If you let me down, I swear I will jump on that stage, grab the mike, and tell everybody what a despicable lying old cunt you are. Oh, and then I will have to kill you, Dad. Now, do we understand each other?’

      Albie nodded sadly. He knew without a doubt that Vinny wasn’t bluffing. His first-born was toxic. In fact, he was more than that, Vinny was rotten right down to the core.

      CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

      Surprised by what a fantastic little DJ Lenny was turning out to be, Vivian grabbed her sister’s hand as she heard the opening chords to Joe Loss and his Orchestra’s ‘March of the Mods’.

      ‘Michael, Kevin, come on. You used to both be Mods,’ Queenie said, gesturing for her son and his friend to join her and Vivvy on the dancefloor.

      ‘Leave it out, Mum. This ain’t a proper Mod tune,’ Michael informed her.

      ‘So, what did you think of Colleen’s family?’ Vivian asked Queenie, when they had finished their little dance routine.

      ‘Seemed pleasant enough. Couldn’t really understand what they were saying though, could you?’

      Vivian shook her head. ‘Not a lover of the Irish, me. Don’t trust the bastards.’

      Queenie chuckled. Vivian didn’t like or trust anyone who came from north of Watford.

      ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. What does he want now?’ Vivian said, when she and Queenie walked back to their table to find Albie hovering nearby.

      ‘Can’t I have a dance and drink in peace without you bloody pestering me now?’ Queenie asked.

      ‘I need to speak to you alone, Queenie. It’s really important that I do.’

      ‘Well, she don’t fucking wanna talk to you, do you, Queenie? Now go away and leave us alone, Albie,’ Vivian ordered.

      When Albie slunk away like a scolded puppy, Queenie bit her lip to stop herself having a go at her sister. If Albie had something of importance to tell her, then she wanted to bloody well hear it. As much as Queenie loved Vivian, she was quite capable of fighting her own battles, and sometimes she wished that her sister would butt out and let her do the talking.

      Michael and Kevin were having a right good laugh. Vinny had invited half a dozen of Roy’s old school pals to the party. One of them had bought his sister with him and Kevin had just been winding her up by telling her because his father was black, he had been blessed with a gigantic-sized penis that white men could only dream of owning.

      ‘Michael, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but there’s a girl outside asking for you. She’s very upset and has a suitcase with her,’ said Paul, who worked on the door.

      Hoping it wasn’t one of his many ex-birds turning up on his doorstep, Michael darted out to reception and was amazed to see Nancy standing there. He hadn’t even realized she knew the actual address of the club. ‘What’s wrong, babe? Has your mum and dad found out?’ he asked, when Nancy threw herself into his arms.

      ‘Yeah. Somebody saw me in your car, so I told them the truth. They said I had to choose them or you, so I chose you and left home,’ Nancy wept.

      Aware that Paul and the other doorman Pete were both watching with interest, Michael ordered them to put Nancy’s case somewhere safe, then led his girlfriend outside.

      ‘You are OK with me turning up here, aren’t you? You don’t seem very pleased to see me,’ Nancy mumbled.

      ‘We’ll talk in the motor,’ Michael said, putting his arm around her and steering her towards where his car was parked. His mind was all over the place. He loved Nancy, he was sure of that, but now she had turned up with her suitcase in her hand, he felt slightly trapped already. What was he meant to say to his family? None of them even knew he was bloody dating her. And what the hell were Vinny and his mother going to say when they realized who she was?

      ‘You’re not going to make me go back home, are you?’ Nancy asked, when she got in the passenger side of the car.

      Michael tilted Nancy’s chin towards him. ‘Of course I’m not going to make you go back home. It’s just a bit awkward this has happened tonight, that’s all. I so wished I’d have already told my family about you. Gonna be a bit of a shock for them when I march in the club, and introduce you in a minute, isn’t it?’

      ‘I can’t meet your family tonight, Michael. I’m not even dressed for a party. You’ll have to tell them about me tomorrow, then I’ll meet them the day after or