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“Savage’s brother-in-law,” Fuller splutters. “He wanted ’im dead.”
“What? Archer wanted Ethan dead?” I’m mystified. I’m a bit vague on some of the details but I know for a fact Ethan has only one brother-in-law, Jed O’Neill. Neither do I see how Ethan and this piece of scum ever worked together. Fuller is thirty years older than Ethan for a start.
“He’s got Ethan mixed up with the old man,” Rome suggests. “Mad as a bucket of frogs, this one.”
Fuller’s head bobs furiously. “Archer paid me ter do it. Ter see ’im off, like.”
“Was that the contract? This Archer wanted Mr Savage killed and paid you to do it?”
“Aye. But ’e’d buggered off to that castle o’ his. Skulkin’ there, ’e was, where I couldn’t get at him. Archer wanted ’is money back so I ’ad ter get out of sight for a while. Couldn’t do no business ’cause ’e was lookin’ for me, an’ Savage took over my patch on the east side. Greedy bastard.”
Fuller is clearly confused and has lost track of time somehow. Skipped a generation. Maybe I should feel sorry for him, but that ship sailed when he went after Jenna.
“So, let me see if I’ve got this right. You blame Ethan for you losing your territory in Glasgow because he made himself difficult to kill?”
His mouth contorts in a parody of a smile. “Aye. That’s it.”
I get to my feet, shake my head in disbelief. The man’s clearly stark raving mad.
“Do you believe this?” Rome mutters from behind me.
I incline my head. In fact, I do. It’s the ravings of an idiot, but I do think Fuller believes his own narrative, his version of history.
“But where does Jenna fit into this?” I ask him, finally.
“She came to my place, askin’ for a loan. She said she could pay me back ’cause she ran the Hope and Anchor an’ it were a good little earner. I knew that was one o’ Savage’s places, so she must be one o’ his whores.”
More of his delusional logic.
“So, it was revenge, pure and simple? To hit back at Ethan? You couldn’t kill him so you had a go at someone you thought was connected to him instead?”
He nods. “Would ha’ worked, too, but Bulldozer was careless. Didn’t finish the job off afore he dumped her.”
I’ve heard enough. Every nerve and fibre in me screams at me to finish the job, to end him, here and now, as he deserves. But it’s become bigger than just me and Jenna. It now involves Ethan and his family. My boss will no doubt decide to execute this miserable piece of shit in due course, but he’ll want to talk to him first.
I grasp Fuller by the chin, dragging a shriek of pain from him as the broken ends of his jaw grate together.
“I’m going to do you a favour. You wanted to get to Ethan, I’m going to help you out by shipping you there. You can tell your tale to him. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hear from you.”
“N-no,” he babbles. “You can’t…”
“You think not?” I smile at him all the time I’m issuing my instructions. “Rome. Get a crate down here. Something nice and small. Stick him in it, nail the lid down, and ship it off to Caraksay. It’ll take a day or two to get there, maybe longer. But by the time he sees daylight again, he’ll be ready for a nice little chat before he dies.”
Fuller just gapes at me. At last, words fail him.
But I’m not entirely done here. I grasp his hand above the wrist, and without further ado, plunge it into the bucket of water. It’s cooled slightly since Rome set it down, but not so much to make a real difference. Fuller lets out a scream of agony while I hold him there for a count of ten.
“That’s for Jenna,” I inform him before I leave.
CHAPTER13
Jack
I takethe stairs more slowly than usual and tell myself it would be better to avoid Ruth for tonight. We can talk tomorrow.
Though what about, I really don’t know. I’m not about to tell her that her sister refuses to even see her, let alone acknowledge her. And as a result my boss wants to have her quietly murdered.No fuss, it’ll be done very humanely, but dead’s dead. It has to be done, surely you’ll understand…
I have a week to come up with a better idea. Answers on a postcard, please.
