The Traitor. Kimberley Chambers

CHAPTER TEN

      Eddie sat down opposite Larry Peters, his brief. Larry had represented Ed’s father many times over the years and was an expert at swinging a jury.

      ‘So, have you thought about what I said?’ Larry asked.

      Ed nodded. ‘I had a chat with Raymondo. I needed his approval, Lal. Jess was his sister, after all. Anyway, he told me to go for it.’

      Larry smiled. He had been great friends with Eddie’s dad, Harry, and had been devastated when poor old H had been murdered. The police had never found the bastards who’d killed him and Larry was forever trying to uncover new information on the case. The Old Bill might have put Harry’s death on the back burner by now, but he most certainly hadn’t.

      Larry leaned forward and lowered his tone. ‘I went over all the paperwork again yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, Ed, this isn’t going to be easy, but I know that with the right judge and jury you can get acquitted of murder and instead be charged with manslaughter.’

      ‘What about my original statement, though? I admitted what I’d done when I woke up in hospital. I told the filth that I’d gone there to shoot Jed and I admitted I’d shot Jess by mistake.’

      Larry waved his hands in the air. He had a habit of doing this when he got overexcited about something. ‘Forget about that original statement. You were ill, in shock, drugged up on medication. You didn’t know what you were saying, that will be my argument. The positive thing, Ed, is that apart from that one admission, in every other interview you said, “No comment.” Now, we can’t get out of the fact that you went to Tilbury with a gun. But what we can say is that all you wanted to do was put the frighteners on Jed. You said in your statement that you didn’t know Jessica was there. My argument will be that Jed did a runner as soon as you got there. You wanted to scare the lad, so you sprayed bullets round the trailer. You had no idea that your wife was there, which is true, and you were heartbroken when Raymond turned up and you found out what you’d done, which is also true.’

      Even though none of it was funny, Ed gave a slight chuckle. ‘It sounds a bit far-fetched, Lal. I wouldn’t believe that bollocks if I was on the jury. Would you?’

      Larry waved his hands in the air once more. ‘Look, there isn’t going to be many people as cute as you and me on that jury. At least fifty per cent of the general public are a sixpence short of a shilling. What you need is a few middle-aged women that take a shine to you. Give them the eye and that killer smile of yours. Once they hear what a good husband and father you were, you’ll have them eating out the palm of your hand. We need to pray that we get some blokes on the jury who have daughters themselves. Many a man has gone apeshit because some awful chap has knocked up his teenage daughter and that would earn you the valuable sympathy vote.’

      Larry’s enthusiasm was contagious and Eddie found himself believing, for the first time, that he could get away with murder. ‘If I only get a guilty for manslaughter, how long do you think I’ll get?’

      Larry shrugged. ‘Six, eight, ten. It all depends on the judge. You’re bound to cop a separate lump for being in possession of a firearm. I’m no mind-reader, Ed, but at a guess, I reckon put the two charges together and you’re looking at a twelve to fourteen stretch. You’ll then do two thirds of that, providing you behave yourself, of course, and your time spent on remand will also be taken off.’

      Ed worked the figures out. ‘So, if I’m lucky, I could be looking at as little as a seven?’

      ‘If you’re lucky,’ Larry said bluntly.

      It was two o’clock the following afternoon when Jed finally arrived back home. He’d had a great night over in Tilbury. Sex, drugs and acid house – what more could a man want?

      Sammy, Julie, Sally and himself had been up all night shagging and dancing, but he’d managed to get his nut down for a couple of hours this morning.

      ‘All right, Jed? How’s your cousin?’ Frankie asked, rushing out of the trailer towards him.

      ‘Not too bad. He’s better than he was. They managed to save his leg,’ Jed lied, remembering his fable.

      Noticing how tired and deathly white her boyfriend looked, Frankie decided he needed some pampering. ‘Why don’t you jump in the shower and freshen up? I went to Tesco with your mum and dad earlier and I bought sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and a crusty loaf. I’ll cook you a nice breakfast, if you like.’

      Jed grabbed her arse and pulled her towards him. ‘Don’t burn it like the last one you cooked, will ya?’ he said, laughing.

      As Frankie hugged him, she could smell perfume on his shirt. She said nothing. It would be awful to make a scene when his cousin was so ill.

      Jed stripped off, left his clothes in a heap on the bedroom floor, then jumped into the shower.

      Frankie waited until she heard the water running, then crept into the bedroom. His shirt was staring her in the face. Unable to stop herself, she picked it up to inspect it. She held it to her nose and breathed in deeply. It was definitely a feminine scent and not aftershave. Jed only ever wore Kouros and it certainly wasn’t that. As Frankie looked closely, she could see signs of lipstick and possible foundation. Her heart turned over. Surely Jed wouldn’t be unfaithful to her. How could he have been up to no good when he’d been stuck at the hospital all night?

      Realising the water had stopped running, Frankie threw the shirt back onto the floor and dashed into the kitchen area to make a start on the breakfast.

      ‘You ain’t ate much. What’s a matter?’ Jed asked, as he finished his last mouthful. Frankie knew she had to say something. She wasn’t the type to stay schtum and brush things under the carpet. She needed peace of mind.

      ‘I need to ask you something, Jed, and please don’t lie to me.’

      ‘What?’ Jed asked, as he leaned across her and nicked the sausage off her plate.

      ‘I know you were at the hospital last night, but did you go out afterwards?’

      ‘Whaddya mean? I had a beer back at Sammy’s with my family. Spit it out, what’s the problem, Frankie?’ Jed said, acting annoyed.

      Frankie began to cry. ‘I was going to put your clothes in the washing machine, when I noticed your shirt smelt of women’s perfume. It’s covered in lipstick and make-up as well.’

      As bright as a spark, Jed had an answer within seconds. ‘You silly cow. I told you all my family were at the hospital last night, didn’t I? There was loads of me aunts and girl cousins there that I ain’t seen for years. Because Billy was in such a bad way, everybody was hugging one another and crying. The lipstick and whatever else you thought you saw or smelt obviously belongs to either an aunt, a cousin or both.’

      Frankie felt incredibly stupid as Jed took her into his arms. He’d been sitting at his sick cousin’s bedside all night and she felt awful for doubting him. ‘I’m sorry, Jed. I think because I feel so fat and ugly at the moment, I’m worried you’ll go off with someone else.’

      Jed smiled. The baby weight didn’t suit Frankie, but even though she looked far less attractive than when they’d first met, he still fancied her.

      Feeling himself harden, he unzipped his jeans and unleashed his penis. He put Frankie’s hand on it and spoke gently to her. ‘I love you Frankie, but you can’t go around accusing me of stuff I ain’t done. My cousin nearly died last night. Watching Billy suffer like that was awful, really awful.’

      Frankie sank to her knees. Jed loved her sucking him off and she had some serious grovelling to do. Jed held Frankie’s head and thrust himself as far as he could down the back of her throat. As she began to choke, he grinned. That’d teach her to fucking snoop.

      Joyce took the last of the sausage rolls off the baking tray and carefully arranged them on the silver platter. She had been cooking, baking and preparing all day and