CHAPTER 2
Tommy breathed in the crisp Dublin air. It seemed so much fresher than Small Heath. The plans were in motion. They had reached Dublin in Frank's fishing boat. Tommy, Arthur, John and the other two men would be meeting Johnny Maguire and Seamus Lee at a remote house on the outskirts of Dublin. Maguire used it as a regular hideout when he needed to lay low. The horse and cart picked them up at 7pm under the cover of darkness, just as Tommy and Johnny had arranged. As much as Tommy loved horses, one of the first things he planned to buy with the takings from this heist was a car. No more jigging along on horseback unless it was a racehorse. The Shelby's were moving up in the world.
They were transported seamlessly to the remote house, where Johnny and Seamus were waiting. Arthur and John did their usual bravado. Tommy didn't care. He was the brains, his brothers were the brawn, and a bit of chest puffing helped to assert their dominance anyway.
The plans were discussed at length. They were just over twenty-four hours away from attempting something that would bring them great fortune, or a noose around the neck. They were going to rob a bank! None of the men present had attempted something as daring or risky as this before. Robbery wasn't Tommy's preferred method of making money, but since the brothers had been away at war the business had taken a real hit. Aunt Polly had done the best she could to keep it going. She hadn't done a bad job, but a substantial cash injection was needed if they were going to actually be able to execute the plans that Tommy had for expansion. He knew all too well that in this business, capital was important, and he had devised the perfect plan to make sure that after their Dublin trip, robbery would not have to be on their agenda as a means of making money again. This was the big one. The robbery to end all robberies.
Lindy said a prayer, she knew God was watching, protecting her as much as he could. The grotesque drunk never managed to have his wicked way with her. He'd gotten pretty close, but the bumbling fool had been so inebriated that after slobbering all over her he had been unable to unbuckle his belt. While trying to free his goods with one hand he had rolled around on top of her like a slime covered whale, until he rolled so far over, that he rolled off the bed and landed with an almighty thud on the wooden floorboards. He was so drunk that he didn't even attempt to get back up and try again. He just laid there in a semi-vegetative state. After a minute or so he had started snoring, and a stream of thick dribble began to tip its way over the edge of his mouth and down his cheek. Lindy had just stared at him in disbelief. What a lucky escape, and she hadn't even needed to take a chunk of disgusting, lard coloured flesh into her mouth with her rock solid teeth either. She might not even get a beating for this one, what a turn up for the books!
Madame Black had got her two heavy men to drag him back down the hallway and leave him outside around the corner. Lindy thought that Black was almost relieved that this one had passed with relatively little drama. It occurred to her for a split second, that the two women's roles were seemingly reversed. Actually, she was the one breaking Madame Black down, which gave her an incredible sense of hope and resolve. Her bothers must have found out where she was being held captive by now. They were probably already on a boat to Ireland, with half of the fucking East end in tow!
Whether her brothers were on their way to rescue her was becoming beside the point now. Lindy had had enough of waiting like a sitting duck in this hell hole. The uncertainty, amongst other things, of what was occurring beyond these dilapidated walls was absolute torture. It was time to devise a cunning plan and formulate an escape. She had to stay sharp. Perhaps attacking every cretin that tried to get near her was not the best course of action. It was time to get smart, time to play the game. As much as the thought of allowing any of the 'clients' to have their wicked way made her skin crawl, she was beginning to think that compliance might be the way forward. Compliance would surely mean no opium. No opium meant a sharp mind. A sharp mind meant the real Lindy. The skilful, clever, manipulative prowess that she had had to display so many times in her life was about to come out to play…