Reckless Moments

by Debs60

A/U: Charles has always wanted to be in the army and Molly has always been fiercely loyal and independent. They have known each other since they were children but had very different upbringings and career direction, despite this their paths continue to cross through to adulthood. Will their differences pull them apart or were they always destined to be other half of each other?

10. Chapter 10

Reckless Moments

Chapter 10 – Putting it right

They all met at the Porta Cabin, Fred, Dave, Sam and Gary. Dave was going to phone Costa before they left, let him know if he had family in the area it might be worth keeping them away from the club. He had known Costa for many years, been introduced to him by Tony Wilkins back in the day. Tony and Costa's father had been friends and they often passed information or deals across to each other. When Tony moved to Spain and Costa's father died Dave, Fred and Sam saw no reason not to continue this relationship with Costa. It wasn't common knowledge but it had worked well for both families.

"Cos" started Dave "Just giving you the heads up on everything"

"How is your boy Dave" responded Costa as he sighed down the phone, he didn't know how he would feel if his Nicky or Toni were lying in a hospital bed like poor Jack. "It's a bad business Dave"

"No change yet but thanks for asking" and Dave felt that familiar churning of his stomach every time he thought about Jack, how helpless he felt and he would swop places in a flash if he could just be alright. "We are going over to that poxy club today, finish this" Costa drew deeply on his cigar nodding his head, he knew Dave wouldn't let this rest, couldn't let it rest. "Look" carried on Dave shaking the image of his unconscious son out of his head "We ain't never been into the guns, if we needed one we could come to you, a one off, strip it and dump it" he hesitated "Those guns are still at the club…"

"Are you still offering them to me Dave" and Dave laughed "Look mate if you have a list and we spot it before it all goes up in smoke we can bring it to you"

"Very generous Dave" laughed Cos "Do you wish some equipment for this raid on their club, is that why you are offering me this deal"

"Nah we have what we need" he sighed looking up at the ceiling of the porta cabin knowing they had what they needed up there "We don't have the contacts or distribution network for these sorts of deals"

"I'll think about it and have a word with my sons, see if they have a need"

"There is one other thing Cos" not ready to end the conversation yet "We've decided we are going to let the Casino go, the Italians have made us an offer in the past but we have refused, now we are ready" his voice hitched "My boy Jack had some ideas about expanding the yard, you know scrap metal and I think that is what we want to invest in, expand"

Costa laughed a deep throaty laugh of a smoker "Let me mull it over Dave, I may make you an offer on that Casino, it is in a good location, a good source for cleaning money and of course you would be welcome to use it from time to time as a laundry service"

"I think with the ideas that Jack had, we would have more than enough capacity to clean our own money but it is good to know we have friends who could help us when we needed it"

"As you did for me when I wanted our clean seized assets back from the boys in blue". Dave grinned at the memory of that audacious raid. The police had seized a very sizeable amount of Cos's freshly laundered money which had been held in evidence and was due for disposal now that the case had been heard, the van driver taking the fall, his family looked after as he kept shtum and didn't divulge who the money belonged to. Meticulously worked out and planned by Fred of course. He couldn't believe those Muppets that were always getting government contracts were the ones moving it. It was a piece of piss taking it off them, fancy transporting it on their train network. Even now they couldn't stop laughing at just how easy it had been, they hadn't even realised it was gone until they went to unload it and found they had a crate of newspapers. Here's to hoping they get the contract for transporting prisoners, he laughed as he wondered how many of them would get the opportunity to hop it as a result.

-OG-

Dave, Fred, Sam and Gary had loaded the boot of Dave's Merc and they were driving safely across to South London. Dave was driving and he stopped at every amber light regardless of the toots behind him, kept to the speed limit. A pull with a boot full of guns and what was in their holdall would mean all of them went down for a very long time. Fred was sat in the front with Dave and he looked across to him from time to time. Noted his concentration, he could almost see the cogs whirling, not entirely sure what he was going to do when he got there, but knew those Albanians weren't going to leave the place after what they had done to Jack and Molly. That was something that had played on Fred's mind a bit, if Jack hadn't been on the phone called for help what would have happened with Molly after they drugged her, if they had had more time would she have vanished. A little old at 20 for some of the pervs out there, but looked young. It didn't bare thinking about and he knew it was playing heavily on Dave's mind too, his little girl ending up on the black market. He wouldn't want to be in those blokes' shoes when Dave caught up with them and in this instance he wasn't going to stop him when he lost it.

They looked up at the dilapidated building in a rundown area, shops boarded up either side, it really did look seedy even from the outside and once they walked through the doors, the smell of stale booze, fags and sex hit them. It didn't even start to compare with any of their clubs or parlours. Sam looked around at the peeling paintwork, flickering lights and shook his head in disgust, crikey the girls that worked here certainly weren't looked after and he couldn't help but wonder what happened to some of those young girls that had started out here. It really was the pits and couldn't understand how a place like this was still open and hadn't been closed down ages ago.

-OG-

Victor, Artan and Derek were sitting at the bar laughing. Confident they had got away with it and they just needed to adjust the size of the crates and they could try again to get the guns out of the country to their contact.

"Dave will be distracted now, what with his son in a coma" started Derek

"What about that fuckin coward Andrew" growled Artan "What if he says anything"

"He won't, he's gone to stay with his parents in Bath and if he does come back we can tell him to keep it buttoned or he can join those bloody dogs at the bottom of the Thames" responded Derek completely unaware of where they were, he wasn't worried about Andrew, he saw the fear in his face and knew he wouldn't say anything, in fact he was pretty sure he wouldn't come back to London at all, which was good as it would leave everything to him with the Dawes out the way.

Fred felt rage when he heard this, whatever Andrew had or hadn't done this was still his nephew and he had watched him grow up, knew that his sister would be devastated if anything happened to him. He had given him that job at the Casino and it had been his responsibility to see that nothing happened to him. He had been completely unaware that this Judas was feeding him with poison.

Dave couldn't contain himself and lunged forward "Well, well, well if it ain't the three musketeers" he grinned pointing his gun towards them, Fred and Sam following his lead and placing a large holdall on the floor "Gary line up some chairs for them, we want them to be comfy don't we son" and Gary grinned at him opening the holdall and pulling on a pair of bright yellow marigolds before lining up three chairs in a row. Dave flicked his gun in a motion that the three men should sit, all of them paling at realising that Dave wasn't distracted and did indeed know exactly who was behind his sons shooting. Looking into his steely eyes they were going to have to do some serious grovelling to have any hope of getting out of this alive.

"I do hope you don't expect us all to be wearing those Gaz" laughed Sam as Gary went a little red "Sorry I thought we had more in the box of latex gloves, I'll have to get some more after this" he laughed back throwing the box towards Sam who took a pair before passing it on. The three men now seated started looking at each other wondering what was in store for them.

"Are we all sitting comfortably" asked Dave with a raised eyebrow starting to rummage through the holdall and removing a baseball bat. Taking out duct tape he passed it to Gary "Tape them to the chairs son, we don't want to leave to many marks do we"

All eyes watching him as he also removed a big bottle of clear liquid and Derek's eyes opened wide when he saw the syringes and needle. Dave grinned back manically "Yeah Derek, ket" and he shrugged "Ain't never used it on a human" he was still smiling "You know I've always liked a bet on the gee gee's" Derek gulped, his adam's apple bobbing up and down as he worked out what Dave was thinking "Not sure of the dose for a person, but you know don't you mate" his eyes hard and not leaving Derek's. Some mate he turned out to be. "Thought as you wanted to run heroin out of our dock, you might fancy a bit of that added to it, you know just to liven you up a bit"

It suddenly became crystal clear for Derek he wasn't getting out of this. They knew, all he could do now was make sure it was quick. He'd never been like Fred, Dave and Sam. He wasn't into that ridiculous code they lived by, self-preservation that was his code and even he could work out that he wasn't getting out of this and he couldn't bear the idea of torture, or being freaked out on drugs. He could lean on Dave, make him lose it "Well it's taken you long enough to suss it out ain't it"

"What"

"Well, all of you were meant to have got a tug for that job, leave me with the money" he grinned he could already see the cogs working in Dave's mind "You all went down and Tony would've listened to me, passed the business across to me when he realised just how much money I could have made him"

Fred looked at Dave, that wages job back in '81 where Dave came off that roof, they had always wondered about that and it looks like it had been Derek all along. He was the one that grassed them up, he was the one that took the missing money, which got Dave that longer sentence. He saw Dave pale, his eyes change, that blank expression he got when he was about to really blow and before he had a chance to do anything Dave had picked up the baseball bat and with an almost feral roar of uncontrolled rage lunged at Derek and hit him across the knees as hard as he could. Derek screamed with pain, his head flopping forward as he struggled to stay conscious with the agony he was feeling, he could already start to feel his knee swell, he was pretty sure one at least was broken, just from that one blow.

"Nearly every day for the last 17 years I have felt pain, every time it's cold or damp my fucking leg hurts" and he smashed the bat into his knees again "and that has all been down to you"

"Don't take it personal Dave" said Derek as he fought to stay conscious with the pain, he knew his knees where smashed, he could see from the swelling and the angle of his legs, even if he could get out of this he wouldn't be walking anywhere "I expected all of you to get a capture"

"What" exclaimed Sam his blue eyes turned to ice with rage, he remembered that night vividly, trying to get away. Fred and him hiding in the shadows, the police surrounding Dave, him screaming for an ambulance, giving them the opportunity to run in the confusion.

"Yeah but at least it was Dave" huffed Derek "Knew you two twats and Tony wouldn't notice the skim at the bookies or Casino" he laughed "got away with that till you got out Dave, knew you would work it out so closed the account in the Cayman and shifted the money"

Derek got what he wanted, he wasn't drugged, he wasn't tortured and it was quick. It was Fred that actually lost it and pulled the trigger as that night came back to the front of his memory. They had trusted him. The other two men now pulling against their bindings and starting to shout, finally realising that these weren't old men that they could take easily, that they would be weak because they didn't want to be involved in the really dark underbelly that was emerging in London, wanted to stick with the old ways. They weren't even going to keep Derek on once they had control of the docks. He would have gone on the missing list, just like everyone else who didn't fit in with their plans. They had misjudged them, as just middle aged men who did things the old way, if only they realised that the old way meant an eye for an eye and the shooting of Jack couldn't go unpunished, that Molly being young and not fully immersed in the business was considered a civilian and should have been left well alone. It never would have been them to make Derek disappear, his days were numbered the moment Dave, Fred and Sam realised he was a Judas.

"You started without me" came a deep gravelly voice behind the three men and Dave turned to see who it was. Grinning instantly in recognition at his old friend.

"Cos what you doing here" asked Dave also noting the young man standing next to him smiling and giving him a nod of acknowledgement

"Hello Tone" grinned Gary and waving to Cos' son while still standing behind the two terrified men. He had met him and his brother many times over the years at family get togethers, he and Jack had met them for a pint or two and they had even planned the odd job that was mutually beneficial. Victor opened his eyes wider, what were the fucking Greeks doing here, they were next on his hit list after the take-over of the east end, he was going to spread their wares over central and into north London. He just had to get that yard and those docks first, still not quite realising he wouldn't be talking his way out of this and his greed and lust for power was actually going to be his downfall.

"Some information was brought to my attention when talking to a distant cousin after our conversation this morning, something that was overheard" said Cos and Dave couldn't help but be reminded of Tony Wilkins as Cos brought out a cigar, cut off the tip and lit it, inhaling deeply sending out a cloud of sweet smelling tobacco. "We felt that as old friends we should come personally to tell you" his dark brown eyes looking almost black as they narrowed against the smoke and looking directly at Victor "we will take the small guns, the rest can be destroyed, they were not going to end up in a good place" and he looked across to Fred, who frowned, shaking his head in confusion, he wasn't sure what Cos was trying to tell them.

"These Albanians were sending those particular guns to Europe, they were destined for Kosovo, they are helping them against the Serbs, another blood bath" said Cos sadly, how that bloke Tito had kept that country together he would never know, they had been slaughtering each other ever since he had died.

"Shit" said Fred quietly, he couldn't think of anything else to say. He had spoken to William, his sister's husband few times, late at night over a bottle of whisky about his tours to the Balkans, how as part of NATO they were to keep the peace he talked of the ethnic cleansing by the different groups, thousands had been killed. All eyes turning back to Artan and Victor.

Artan smirked at Dave "I am just helping my people" when he got no reaction from Dave he continued still smiling at him "Molly and I were lovers, she will not want you to hurt me, she has a kind heart" Fred closed his eyes, that one statement just signed his death warrant.

-OG-

"Come on treacle keep moving" came another voice from behind them and they could hear multiple footsteps. They didn't need to keep eyes on Artan or Victor they weren't going anywhere. How many more people were going to turn up? Thought Dave, this was starting to turn into a quite a party, did everyone know their bleedin business.

They recognised Cos' other son Nicky who was holding a pistol to the head of a tall dark haired man with an olive complexion. Dave squinted in recognition "What the hell do you think you are doing here" he barked and held his hand up to Nicky and waved indicating he could lower the gun.

"Blimey Gaz" said the new addition who was just lowering his gun and grinning "You run out of gloves again, I can get you a pair out the van unless you are gonna do the washing up after" he laughed "Piss off Nicky" answered Gary who couldn't help but laugh at the wise crack as he looked at the marigolds half way up his arms.

"This is my nephew's friend, this is Elvis" said Fred giving an introduction to Cos and his two sons "He helped with Jack stopped the bleeding and got him to the hospital"

"So, what are you doing here" asked Cos blowing a cloud of smoke in his face, he had just had an endorsement from someone he trusted but that didn't mean he had earnt his respect yet. Elvis shrugged as he tried to stop himself from coughing "I knew they would lead me to the guns" nodding in the direction of Fred. Before he could continue Cos' son Toni returned from the cellar "Blimey Dad you should see what they've got stored down there, you could start a bleedin war"

"I think that was what they were intending" said Elvis before anyone else had a chance to speak

"So is there anything you want before this place goes up" said Dave his eyes cold as he looked across to Cos. Cos looked at Toni who shrugged "Few hand guns that might come in handy but most of it is out of our league, never seen anything like it Dad"

"You can't torch this place" screamed Victor "It's mine, I have a buyer for this and he will not be pleased, you can't take what is mine" He didn't mention that he hadn't actually paid for all the equipment down there yet. He was going to pay his supplier once he had been paid himself, he had had the deposit and the rest should have been put in his account once he confirmed the shipment was on its way. Thing is they were so confident that they would have control of the docks he had sent the message saying they were on the way. "I can cut you into the deal" he tried to plead

"And the fucking docks are mine but that didn't stop you did it, you wanker" shouted Dave as he used the butt of his gun to hit him on the side of the head. "You thought you could just waltz in and take what wasn't yours to take"

"Perhaps we should cut his hands off Dave" suggested Sam with a smirk on his face as he watched the look of horror appear on Victors face.

Cos intervened raising his hand "we have sent a message by being here that you have allies Dave should anyone try and start a turf war" he shrugged "burn it" Victor and Artan started struggling in their restraints and Dave grinned manically, good they were frightened, that should teach them a lesson even though it would be a short one.

Elvis coughed bringing all their attention back to him "It might be best to make it look like a gas explosion, put them in the cellar with the guns and ammunition, bring some of the booze up here, make sure it goes up like an inferno" he paused he couldn't believe he was suggesting all of this, it wasn't like he hadn't been involved in operations like this before, but not on home soil. "When it all goes up there won't be much in the way of forensics, if anything is left they will just think the gas and booze made the fire so intense"

"Do you know how to set this up then Elvis" asked Fred inquisitively and somewhat surprised, although they weren't strangers to this type of activity and could do it themselves. Elvis nodded. "I need to see what is down there first and I might need to make a phone call, but yeah I know how to make this look like an accident" Victor and Artan shouting now trying to attract attention, genuine fear permeating through them, that these people meant business, they had believed Derek when he said they were just old men and taking the yard and the docks would be easy then everything else would collapse once they were out the way.

-OG-

Elvis couldn't help but wonder if Charles really knew how deep into the underworld his Uncle trod, that they had already killed one man, were going to kill two more that his girlfriend and her brothers must know even if Charlie wasn't fully aware, one of the sons was actually here helping, this other family who had come to assist were the same, all of them completely un-phased. He had learnt a valuable lesson today, they may look like family men, but if they were crossed they were more than capable of seeking their own form of justice "Look for the boiler, it's bound to be an old one in a building like this, knock out the pilot light"

He followed Cos, Toni and Fred to the basement to have a look around himself, he thought that the men here today thought the Albanian cousins were just criminals like them that it was a few guns which they had buyers for and hopefully not destined for a London market. As he took in just how much was stored down in the cellar, there were automatic rifles, grenades and rounds of bullets for all manner of weapons, there was no way these were just chancers selling the odd hand gun to the local drug dealer, this was organised all right, with big buyers and big profits. Right in the heart of London. This was bigger than he had first suspected. Who knows how much they had already got out the country, but at least he could stop this consignment ever reaching its destination. He hoped that Dave and Fred would let him question Artan and Victor, there was more information he needed, details of supply chains and who they bought the guns from in the first place, where they were going, although it would appear this Greek man Cos had found that out. Kosovo, where Charlie was due to be sent.

"Christ" whistled Elvis as he opened another box to find land mines "We can't just blow this, there is too much with the grenades and landmines, with the booze and gas on top of that we could take out the whole bloody street" he shook his head and pulled out his phone "I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to call someone, clear some of this out first"

Toni stood in front of him blocking his path "Don't think you should be calling anyone" Elvis looked across to Fred for some support before he spoke "I have to, I'm special forces but not an explosives expert, but I do know this needs to be cleared properly and we need to know where all this came from" Fred came and stood next to Elvis "Will there be any comebacks if we let you do this" and Elvis shook his head, Toni stood aside and let him pass. "There better not be" and Elvis felt a brief shiver run down his back at the look Fred gave him. Elvis gave him one of his winning grins, the adrenalin of what they were about to do already kicking in.

Elvis walked back into the bar area and pulled out his phone and called Blue, who was working out of Whitehall these days. He would see what he thought, perhaps get the team over here. He was sure Blue would agree with him, that this was for Queen and Country, it would stop these at least from hurting anyone and maybe if they were really lucky get the whole supply chain put out of action. He was right as soon as Blue heard what had been found in the cellar he said he would send Spanner and Peanut over disable what they could and remove what they couldn't. Blue said they would be there in one of the undercover trucks in about an hour depending on traffic "That should give you plenty of time to question the two suspects Elvis" finished off Blue "Well that's if I can stop the local crime barons from killing them first" huffed Elvis with a small laugh "They're already threatening to cut their hands off"

"Those men are clearly not the top of the supply chain Elvis, whatever it takes to find out who is" said Blue dourly "I can't believe this is going on in the middle of London"

Elvis hung up on the call and sighed. Now he just had to convince the families that he wanted to question Victor and Artan, that they had to wait out until his team arrived, then there was the fact that he was the one unarmed and they were all carrying, he had already seen that they were more than capable of inflicting violence and using the guns. He only had to look at Derek to see that.

He was about to walk back down to the cellar when he realised that all the men were sitting in the bar with drinks, he was taken back a bit at the sight, all of them wearing latex gloves except for Gary who was still sporting his bright yellow marigolds. Anyone would think they were out for a quiet drink in some sleazy back street bar, not all carrying guns, having already shot one man and had two more trussed up in a cellar full of guns and explosives. The four older men with whisky and chatting, one of the old boys, Cos he thought Dave had called him still puffing on that bloody great cigar. The three younger men with pints at the bar laughing and joking. When they realised that Elvis had finished his call Gary called across to him "Want a pint while you're waiting mate" and Elvis shook his head

"We have to wait until my team arrive to sort out that stuff down there. I don't mind bringing down this building, but there is enough to take out the street" he couldn't help but smile looking at those yellow gloves "Don't think with what's going to be left of this building you will need to worry about finger prints mate"

The men sitting at the table heard the conversation and Cos said that they would leave, they didn't need to be here anymore, they had what they came for and there were enough people here to deal with those two trussed up fools. "I'll stay Dad" said Nicky "I'll keep Gary and his marigolds company" he burst out laughing as Gary had just raised his drink to his mouth, the sight of Gary's large boxers hands and arms stuffed into a pair of yellow gloves a sight to behold, and certainly didn't look like his mum when she did the washing up. Gary rolled his eyes at yet another piss take and having taken on board what Elvis said about nothing being left, removed them.

"I need to question them before all this goes off" Elvis spoke to Fred "Make sure that no one can take over, that we have the supply chain" Fred sighed and shook his head "You can question the twats all you want Elvis, but do you really believe that someone won't take over from where they've left off" he shrugged "You have more faith than me mate" Fred grabbed his elbow "and what makes you think they will talk to you" Elvis just grinned "Part of the training mate, interrogation" Fred's dark eyes bored into Elvis as he stared back equally as hard "Yeah I bet it is" and turned to walk away, he couldn't care less what Elvis did to them, either way as far as he was concerned they were finished, they wouldn't be leaving here.

-OG-

Gary and Nicky brought a small table to the cellar, untied Derek who wasn't going to be causing a problem. They all looked at Artan and Victor still tied with duct tape to their chairs. Dave pulled out his bottle of clear liquid along with a large syringe "Well boys" he grinned manically "payback for doping my daughter"

"No" shouted Elvis grabbing his arm "Wait for my team we need to get answers"

There was a lot of activity with Gary and Nicky moving boxes on the advice of Elvis, bottles of vodka were moved upstairs to the bar area. Fred, Sam and Dave checked the upper floor to make sure there were no girls living up there. After making sure that the building was empty and doing a final sweep of the empty buildings next door just to make sure no homeless person was dossing down there while Elvis set about getting what he wanted from a terrified Artan, he was the weakest link. His cousin screaming at him to keep quiet but in his nativity he thought he could buy his freedom if he told Elvis what he wanted to know.

"Anyone at home" called the deep gruff voice of Peanut and Elvis called out to him. "Hello mate" he grinned at Spanner and Peanut as they came down the steps to the cellar. Spanner raised an eyebrow as he looked around the room taking in his surroundings in one sweep, one man dead and two others that looked like they had been in the wars "Looks like you have it all under control Elvis" he grinned

Peanut and Spanner got to work, ammunition removed along with all but a couple of the grenades one of which was placed on the table in the cellar. The landmines also removed and guns checked to see if they were loaded. It took some time to go through everything and load it into the specialist truck they had brought with them, all they had taken would be sent for verification and analysis and when that had been done it would all be destroyed.

"How the hell did you stumble on all of this Elvis" asked Spanner, his Scottish drawl sounding particularly strong with the shock of finding such a stash of weapons in a busy part of London. Elvis looked out the corner of his eye towards Dave "let's just say I was surprised to see a couple of dogs shot in quite the manner they were, it clearly wasn't a handgun that did it"

"We've found places like this before" started Peanut "but this might possibly be one of the largest stashes we have found" shaking his head, "if this had gone off by accident, it doesn't bear thinking about, the damage it would have caused."

-OG-

Elvis huffed deep breaths as he stood outside the building, torn if he could do this, he would need to move fast once he did it. The three men were already dead in the cellar and this would cover it up, destroy all evidence and make sure that all the guns never saw the light of day and hurt any of his team or a civilian, that none of it would ever get to its destination. He was still stunned that there were landmines in all that gear, but he had got useful intel on how it had got into the country. It really had been a sophisticated operation. Today they were breaking part of that chain, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that a new link wouldn't be set up but it would at least stop them for a while.

He bounced up and down on his feet breathing deeply as he held on to the door handle of the club, he released it a crack, he already thought he got a faint whiff of gas from the cellar, they had put a table close to the door with a tumbler full of Sambuca, he lit the match and threw it into the glass and swiftly pulled the door shut. He was already part way across the street when the gas in the cellar exploded. Spanner, Peanut and he stood looking for a few moments and could see the flames starting to take hold, people were already coming out of shops and buildings to have a look. As the three men walked back to their truck and drove away they saw the building glowing in their rear view mirror and knew that the fire had taken hold. They had left some guns and a couple of grenades which would probably go off soon and hopefully bring the building down. If there were any forensics left after all that, it would come to Blue's department because of the weapons. Who owned the club and what was stored there making the case pretty much open and shut, that a gas leak had started the fire and the contents of the club making it worse.

-OG-

Andrew was in the lounge with his mother watching the 6 o'clock news on BBC. The main topic was the gas explosion and subsequent fire in a club in South London causing the building to collapse, buildings either side now considered at risk from collapse and dangerous. Several appliances had been sent and it had taken some time to bring the fire under control and traffic was being re-routed, roads were closed, and long delays in the area were expected. Further details would follow but as it was during the day they didn't think anyone had been inside or hurt no one had been found so far. He recognised the name of the road. That was the club Derek had taken him to, where he had met Artan and Victor and come up with that plan that could make them millions if they proved they could get that stock out, then they would get repeat orders and the money would really roll in.

"Blimey" said a shocked Beth her east end accent coming to the fore "It's like looking at the bombing during the blitz"

"You're not old enough Mum"

"I know but I remember seeing all the rubble in the streets, piled high it was for years"

"Mum" he started shuddering at what he was watching, that club was unrecognisable, it had completely collapsed "I know it's a bit late now but I think I made a mistake dropping out of Uni, would you mind if I came back here for a bit, see if I can get back in and do an Accountancy and Business Studies degree" Beth broke out into a huge grin, she had always worried about Andrew, he never seemed to have any direction and if she was honest with herself, thought he never really put much effort in, just thought everything he wanted should just come to him, she didn't know why he had that jealous streak they had always treated their boys the same but even as a small child he looked at things with envy. Andrew and Charles were very close in age, just like her and Fred, but he had always thought of Charles as a rival for affection and resented him. That had been her biggest disappointment that they never had the closeness that she and Fred always had. She had racked her brains for years trying to think if it was something she had done that made him that way. William had often told her there was nothing, and that not all siblings got on, just because she had been close to her brother didn't mean that Andrew and Charles would be the same.

"Nothing would make me and your father happier, if you wanted to get a career in something" she stroked his cheek as he looked across at her "It's never too late, you've always had the ability if you wanted"

"Thanks mum" he replied smiling at her, a genuine smile "The army was never for me, not like it was for Dad and Charles" he sighed "But I don't think living in London was right for me either" he gave a small shrug "just took me a while to realise."

Fred had phoned her to say that Jack had been shot, apparently, he had seen something he shouldn't at the docks, Dave and Belinda were distraught. All of a sudden her son had decided to come home, wanted to go back to University. She wasn't a fool, she knew the life her brother led, far more than she would ever let on to William or her sons, she knew he would have tried to advice and shield her son, but he had come home, didn't seem to want to go back, he would never be cut out for the life that her and Fred had led when their father had walked out, what Fred had to do to make sure there was food on the table for her and their Mum. Fred may have been younger than her by two years but he had always made sure they had what they needed when they were growing up. She had always known what her brother was and he had done it for her and their mother.

Her oldest friend's son was in the hospital in a coma and she couldn't imagine how Belinda must be feeling. She knew how much she loved her own sons, Andrew and Charles. "You can always talk to me Andrew" she ran her hand through his dark hair, "When you're ready, no matter what you will always be my son" With what had been on the news and his mums support and sympathy, it broke him. Made him realise what a fool he had been thinking he could live that life, his greed and jealousy making him think it would be easy, the casino and clubs gave him the glamourous life he thought he was looking for and deserved. Not once did it occur to him who could be hurt by his actions or that anyone would be hurt. He told her everything, while she was disappointed and felt incredibly angry at his disregard for family and her brother, he was still her eldest son and she would be there to help him through this. She would tell William he wanted to go back to University as a mature student finish his degree, all the rest would be between her and Andrew. Although she knew that Fred would already know of Andrew's role in this, he wouldn't say anything to her, he had always tried to shield her from the shadier sides of his life when they were growing up and he hadn't changed over the years, he would protect her from the knowledge the same as he had always done when they were growing up.

She held her son as he sobbed for the mistakes he had made and she cried too. She had him home and he was alive and her heart bled for Belinda and what she must be going through with Jack in a coma. Memories of their visits here, Jack with his winning smile and dimples. Belinda, how would she be able to face her again after this

-OG-

Elvis went to meet Blue, part of him was looking forward to this meeting, yes there had been an explosion in London, but with Spanner and Peanut helping it was controlled and the London Fire Brigade had dealt with it. No injuries and no loss of life, that had been his only worry about setting this up in London.

They were sat in Blue's office drinking coffee "Fred Smith, is Charles Uncle isn't he" and Elvis nodded "The Dawes are good friends of the family aren't they" and again Elvis nodded, there was no point in lying or trying to cover it up, Blue had everything at his disposal to find out anyway. "Does Charles know what his family are into" he couldn't believe what he had been hearing. They had all been at Sandhurst together and Charles had always seemed a bit straight laced to him, a father who had won medals and risen to the rank of Colonel in the army.

"Well if he didn't, he does now" answered Elvis truthfully

"So what information did you glean from these Albanians" sighed Blue "Who still haven't been found, but that is hardly surprising since the whole fucking building collapsed" leaning across his desk "was it really necessary to be quite so thorough in getting those guns out of circulation"

"With the fact that the Albanians shot Dawes son and drugged the daughter, they were dead men walking, this way we made sure that the guns weren't back in circulation and a new route used to get them into Europe" he shook his head "I knew as soon as I saw the way those dogs had been shot, they had more than just a hand gun"

"So you should have come straight here and reported it" huffed Blue although he could understand why he hadn't, he knew that Charles had been a good mate, was still a good mate, he probably would have done the same thing himself but he wasn't about to tell Elvis that, let him sweat a bit. "So come on then Elvis spill the whole sordid story"

"They bought the guns from the Russians, on tick from what I could gather"

"Well they are not going to be pleased they have lost their stock are they" retorted Blue

"That's why it had to be done like that Boss" argued Elvis "No come back on the Dawes, Smiths or Delaneys"

"Delaneys, who are they, are you telling me there is a possible Irish connection they've been previous clients to this set up" questioned Blue at the last name and Elvis shook his head, they had all spent time trying to stop the paramilitary groups "there is no evidence that the family or the Irish have any involvement, in fact Sam Delaney believe it or not has never set foot outside London"

"Well they've signed the Good Friday Agreement, so hopefully they will be decommissioning their weapons and we can at least be grateful for the ceasefire" he paused "was any of that stuff theirs" again Elvis shook his head when he had run the checks nothing had come up, nothing that matched their profile. They were still on high alert after Docklands, not to mention some of the other incidents that hadn't caused quite the destruction that the Docklands bombing had "Don't think they were ever part of this, it was always sending the guns out to Kosovo, Libya, middle east" shrugged Elvis "One of them kept going on about saving his people and all we wanted to do was train people to kill them"

"What a pillock"

-OG-

It was two weeks since Jack had been shot and Molly and Belinda were sitting across the bed from him. Chatting with the easy way they had always had.

"I've been having a think about those flowers you want to plant in the yard" she smiled at her daughter while her thumb stroked the back of her son's hand.

"Have you thought about forget me nots" she asked "you would only need a few, they spread like bloody weeds" she looked into the green eyes of her daughter and could see the sadness there, for her brother, for the beasts and for her relationship with Charles, which was still at odds, Molly being conflicted because of Andrew. "Pretty little blue flowers and quite fitting don't you think Moll" she persisted "Are you listening to me Moll" looking at her staring at Jack away with the fairies that girl these days.

All of a sudden there was lots of bleeping, Belinda could feel Jack moving under her hand. The door burst open and they were asked to leave, nurses and doctors leaning over Jack, they had no idea what was going on as the professional's bustled about over him. Belinda had never prayed in her entire life but offered an oath to take her and save her son. Make him alright.

It must have been an hour later that they were allowed back into Jacks room, some of the tubes had been removed and his colour seemed to be coming back. The machines weren't keeping him alive anymore, he was breathing himself and he was out of the coma, just sleeping now as the two women resumed their positions both either side of him and started talking again.

"We ain't having flowers down at the yard" came a quiet croaky voice and Belinda burst into tears as she hugged him and kissed him sobbing and laughing at the same time, that he had heard them while they had been there. "Jack you gave me such a fright" she cried as she leant over him.

"Give over Mum" he said weakly his eyes still not opening

-OG-

Christmas 1998 was a good one, Jack was finally home although still weak and would need to build himself up again. Charles had paid him several visits while he was in hospital and they had good chats, he had suggested he might want to look at some counselling to come to terms with the shooting. Good bloke Charles, he thought, thought the world of his sister, but no idea that there was no one he could go and talk with about what had happened, some things could never be spoken about outside the family and this was one of them.

His dad had told him everything that had happened and what they had done while he had been sleeping. He wasn't sure what he felt if he was being honest. Glad he was alive, obviously, but he needed to ponder on how he felt about Andrew and Derek and their involvement in what happened to him. Artan and his cousin Victor, well who gave a shit. He knew about the explosion and Derek had gone up with Artan and Victor, but that still left Andrew.

It was Christmas that solved his dilemma, it was a big Dawes get together and Christmas Day had the whole family together. Gary had even brought Jackie for Christmas dinner this year. Jack and Molly sniggering in the corner that he had finally got around to asking her out. Gary glared at both of them which just made them laugh more. Molly had got quite close to Jackie over the years, ever since her 18th when Mary had shagged her supposed boyfriend, not that she ever had to worry about that tosser again. They had gone out quite a bit together to see a show or a different club, and had formed quite a friendship, she had always known that she had the hots for her brother but finally he saw it for himself and asked her out. Jack and Molly were pleased for them, they were really good together, Jackie knew how to calm him when he started to lose it. Gary was like their Dad, the family was everything and he would go to the ends of the earth to protect them, which is why he sometimes lost it if he thought they were in danger, real or imagined.

Fred and Josie had invited Beth and William up to them this year and Andrew had decided to come. Charles was on duty in barracks but would have some free time over the holiday period, so it seemed sensible to have them stay in London with them.

They had a huge family Boxing Day bash. Tony and Doris had come over from Spain and were staying in their little flat. Dave and Fred couldn't help but comment on how old Tony was starting to look now. Sam came with Chloe and their little Sean, who wasn't so little now at fourteen. Fortunately Nan had agreed to keep an eye on nine year old Martin, who had pissed off his teachers during the summer holidays when he said he would look after the school rabbits and put them together in the same cage so they didn't get lonely. Brought home two and took back eight. Belinda was relating the story to Beth, who was howling with laughter "Sounds like he's gonna be just like your Molls, coming home with those bloody puppies" she was crying with laughter "Dave's face when he saw them"

"Yeah!" she laughed back "Not sure what the neighbours thought when he opened the hutch and saw we had six extra's, his bloody language" she shook her head "I still think Martin planned it so he could have his own rabbit"

Belinda had taken a leaf out of Dave's book when he had told her what he could about Jacks shooting. Fred and Beth were some of their oldest friends and Beth had been so good to her and the kids when Dave was inside she made the decision never to mention it, after all she didn't even know if Beth knew what had happened, she didn't think Fred would tell her. She was struggling a bit seeing Andrew there and she knew Dave was too but she didn't want to lose her best mate, she saw her far more than she ever saw Andrew. She also knew that her Molls was in love with Charles and would drop him like a hot brick if she and Dave kicked off about Andrew. But she was worried about Jack and how he felt about it all, he didn't say much, out of the three of them he was the one who was always so self-contained, the one that watched and thought things through. Calmed his brother when he was losing it and made a particular point of including his sister as the only girl.

-OG-

Andrew had gone to sit next to Jack, who still looked pale and had obviously lost a lot of weight while he had been in hospital. Jack looked at him out the corner of his eye, his heart picking up a beat as some of the memories and voices of that night came back to him. If he was honest though he was surprised Andrew was even coming over to talk with him. His being here was the elephant in the room, most knew what he had done but no one was mentioning it. Surely he must be feeling the knives in his back, perhaps he had finally found his backbone and was bluffing it out.

"I've gone back to University" said Andrew quietly but still not able to look at Jack in the eye, he was sorry about what had happened, wasn't sure if he should have come with his parents but his mum had told him he would have to meet Fred and the rest of the family at some point and it was best to get it out the way, the longer it went on the harder it would be to make that first move.

"Good for you" answered Jack in a quiet growl who couldn't help but feel resentment, Andrew was already back at uni picking up the pieces of his life while he had been laid up for months in bloody hospital

"I didn't realise that it would all turn out like that" and Andrew shuddered at the memory of the night "Derek told me that once your dad and Uncle Fred realised the money they could make they would be pleased with our initiative" he stammered "a new line of profitable income"

"You can't always believe what you're told" said Jack finally turning to look at Andrew, noting his eyes looked hollow, like he hadn't really slept in months, even he looked like he had lost weight and Andrew hadn't got the excuse of being shot and laid up in hospital like he had. Jack's blue eyes bored into his and he couldn't maintain the stare, the guilt and shame eating him up at how he had been so gullible to go against his Uncle Fred.

"We ain't gonna be bosom buddies, not for a long time" sighed Jack "You will have to prove yourself to the family again before we could ever trust you, my Dad ain't killed you because of Fred and I won't kill you because of my sister" and Andrews eyes opened wide the venom in Jacks voice clear to him, he certainly wasn't being forgiven

"I wasn't going to come back to London to ask to work with Uncle Fred again" he shrugged looking down at his clasped hands "One thing I did realise about all of this, I'm not cut out for this kind of life, I didn't realise it could be quite so.." he hesitated "violent"

"That's probably best" smiled Jack looking around the room to see if anyone was watching them "If you came back to the firm, Gary and I would be watching you really closely in future" he looked across the room to see Charles looking at Molly who was talking with Gary and Jackie. He knew that they had talked but Charles had been sent on manoeuvres separating them again and apart from a couple of dinner dates hadn't really got things back on track. He knew how much Molly cared about Charles and he was pretty sure those feelings were reciprocated judging by the way he was looking at her. He also knew his sister's big heart and would feel guilty that her relationship with Charles could bring Andrew into their lives, maybe more than was necessary, and she wouldn't want to hurt her brother by doing that. She would never make Charles choose between her and his brother, so she was making the decision for him and choosing Jack over Charles. She was trying to protect him from seeing Andrew, but Andrew would always turn up like a bad penny from time to time at family occasions like this. He didn't want her to give up something that made her happy and Charles did make her happy.

"The only reason I'm talking with you" and he smiled patting him on the back "Is because of your brother and my sister" Andrew's eyes wide as he looked around the room for himself "I remember you right from when we was little, now Charlie and Molly like each other and she is blanking him because of you and what you did" he gave a little wave to his sister who was looking across at them with a worried expression "He's an alright bloke and he makes my sister happy and I will do anything for my sister" his eyes narrowing and turning hard and Andrew got an insight to a side of Jack he had never seen before and it sent a shiver down his spine "Even pretend I like you"

"But I didn't do anything" whispered Andrew, "I made a mistake of getting involved with Derek and Victor"

"That's the whole point Andrew" replied Jack with a low growl and standing up "you didn't do nothing" the smile he gave Andrew didn't quite reach his eyes as he turned to go and join Molly, Gary and Jackie.