The Girl and The Gangster
Summary: After being turned down from every secretarial role in Birmingham, Alice becomes desperate. Unable to provide for her sick mother, herself and more importantly, her young child, she takes a chance on joining the Shelby Company ltd. But when she runs into a familiar face, her whole world comes crumbling down around her.
Chapter Twelve
She stood by the window; her dressing gown wrapped around her frame as she watched her two boys play football in the rain. They had to leave tonight and make their way to Ayr in anticipation for the Polish to come and inspect the shipments, and it made her worry about all the things that Danny could do to mess this operation up. She was happy enough to go by herself, but Michael insisted that he joined her; he was right not to trust his brother-in-law, but he only made things more hostile. Alice knocked on the window and waved for them to come back into the warm. She met them at the bottom of the stairs, a towel for each of them in her hands.
"He's going to catch his death out there, Michael." She scolded as he helped Johnny to dry himself.
"A bit of rain never hurt anyone, isn't that right, son?"
"That's right, dad." Johnny looked up at his mother's furrowed brow and wrapped his arms around her legs. "We were only playing football, mumma. That's it."
She smiled down at his angelic face and relaxed a little. "That's okay, go get some dry clothes on and pack your bag for nanny Pol's."
Michael watched her as she leaned against the bannister, her head ducking as soon as she heard Johnny close his bedroom door. He stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You look exhausted."
"I am, I can't sleep at night." She rested her head on his hand but didn't bring her eyes towards his face. "Between the nausea and the worry, it's hard to get a bit of shut eye."
"What's troubling you?"
"A lot of things."
"Well, I'm all ears." He left her side and leaned against the settee, his hands grasping onto the cushions.
"I think Danny's going to try to do something to ruin this deal."
"Tommy and I think that too, that's why I'm going. We need to keep a close eye on him." He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his soaked hair. "These Polish lads mean business; Danny knows that too… He's not stupid enough to mess this up. Danny'll have a noose belonging to him too if they don't get their guns."
She nodded, but Michael could see that something was still bothering her. When she tried to walk up the stairs, he got up from his spot and grabbed her hand, pulling her body back towards his.
"There's something else on your mind, I can tell."
"You wouldn't understand, you don't connect with your gypsy blood." She finally looked up at him, her lips pressed together; she was feeling very emotional.
"I might not understand as well as you do, but you can still talk to me about it."
After a moment of hesitation, she gave in and cracked. "I don't think my mother's spirit is happy, when I can sleep, I've been seeing her. She looks so furious with me."
"Why would she be furious with you?"
"Because I signed the house over to Danny. Her spirit lives there too. She's stuck with him."
"Poor woman." He was trying to make light of the situation, but his wife wasn't biting. "What can you do about it?"
"Get Danny out of the house."
"You know that, that won't happen, and I can guarantee you that Danny doesn't care about a restless spirit." He kissed her forehead and let her go.
"I know, that just makes things worse. This plan is going to be done soon, won't it?"
"A few months, January isn't that far away." He nodded towards the stairs and let out a breath. "Go get yourself dressed then we'll hit the road. Tommy's probably waiting by the clock."
Once Johnny was settled at Pol's, the young couple met Tommy outside his office and waited for Danny in tense silence. Michael had a feeling that Tommy wasn't as okay with their marriage as he pretended to be; he always liked knowing what was going on with the family at all times, but Alice was a wildcard and Tommy knew she had Michael wrapped around her little finger. He liked the girl, but not enough to be blindsided by her.
Tommy cleared his throat and glanced at Michael before laying his eyes on Alice; his cigarette hung loosely from his bottom lip as he said, "You're going in your brother's car, I need you to find out if he's got some plan to fuck up this whole deal." He placed a finger and thumb over his temples and applied pressure, hoping to relieve the headache that dulled his thinking. "Knowing Danny, he does."
"Are you sure that leaving Alice alone with him is a good idea?" Michael's eyes darted to his cousin. "They haven't exactly been… Familial."
"Well, he's hardly going to tell you, is he?" Tommy quipped.
"I'll find out if he's planning something. He won't hurt me, Michael," she gave him a comforting nod before looking at Tommy, "Danny will tell me if I can get a rise out of him, which is easily done."
He nodded in reply and looked towards the beaten-up car that came around the corner; it was Danny's car. "If this goes well, I'll give you your sister's address." Before either of them could say anything else, Tommy approached the car, throwing his cigarette on the wet road.
"I hope I didn't keep you all waiting," Danny smirked as he stuck his head out through the window, "we've a long drive ahead."
"No, we're early." Tommy replied as Danny's smirk faded. "Alice is going to go in your car, Michael's coming with me."
"Why's he coming? I thought we were all going to fit in the one car." He stared at his brother-in-law, knowing exactly how his glare was making him feel; furious.
"Michael's my accountant, the only one I trust with my money. An accountant will need to be there to talk money, Danny." He said as if he was stating the obvious.
"Right Alice, into the car." Danny rolled up the window quickly and watched his sister as she fixed Michael's blazer and whisper something in his ear. Growing impatient, he honked his horn at her, making her jump.
"Is there a need to be such an asshole?" she said as she climbed into the car.
"No, but it's fun."
They had been driving through the early hours of the morning and by the time the sun started to rise, they had made it to the Scottish border. The drive was in almost complete silence; Alice did appease him and answered the nonchalant questions he threw her way, but she had no idea how she was going to find out information. She was just going to be blunt and ask him outright, she couldn't see another way.
"You're not planning on messing this up for Tommy, are you?" she looked at him as he kept his eyes on the road. His face didn't twitch, not once.
"Why would you think that?"
"It's you, Danny. Can you blame me for being worried?"
"If you want to get technical, I'm part of the Shelby-Gray family now and you know the gypsy code."
"Like you care about family." She threw herself deeper into the uncomfortable car seat and rested her head against the window.
"What makes you think that I don't care about family? I care about you." When Alice scoffed at him, he turned his head towards her and raised a brow. "Of course, I care, you're my sister. I know I haven't been the best brother and I know I've caused a riff in this new life you've created for yourself and Johnny but that doesn't mean I don't love you." When her eyes met his, he looked away and tilted his head slightly. "How did you expect me to react when the first time I saw you again after a decade or so apart, you hold a gun to my head?"
"You showed up at my mother's grave!"
"It's father's grave too! I go once a month and yes, I heard about your mum and wanted to see you and Johnny; I mean he's four or five now and I had never saw him. I can't help it if the words that come out of my mouth that day made me sound like a prick."
"It wasn't just your words that day, it was the letters you sent and your want to be involved in this plan."
"Little sister, you have no idea what these Peakys are like. It was my way of trying to protect you."
She rolled her eyes then squeezed them shut. "I don't need you to protect me."
"You may think that, but we'll see." They fell into a lull of silence for a moment before Danny finally admitted, "And I don't have anything planned."
"Promise me, because it's not just going to be Tommy and Michael that the Polish will target; it'll be you and me… Johnny…" she took in gasp of air and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "And I'm pregnant, Danny. So, if they kill me, it's not just me."
He kept one hand on the steering wheel and placed the other on his chest. "Hand on my heart, I've nothing planned."
She glanced at him and nodded, she believed him; Danny wasn't a good person, but he wouldn't let children die. "I'm trusting you to keep this quiet, about me being pregnant. I've only told Michael."
"How far along are you?"
"A month, roughly. Could be more but I've known for a month."
"Congratulations. Get some sleep while you can, we'll be at Ayr in a few hours."
He watched Alice from the corner of his eye as she wrapped her coat around her body, curling up underneath it as she tried to get comfortable. He was feeling good; it was the first conversation they had like siblings and she was starting to trust him. Danny hated being hated by her, but he didn't know how else to act; their father left him with the gypsies instead of raising him with Alice, he didn't know how else to look out for someone that wasn't himself. If he could only get her to give him a chance, he would try to stop being a thorn in her side.
They were going to work out the nitty gritty details of this plan at the docks; it would give the Polish the perfect opportunity to see the merchandise that was agreed upon in a place that made Tommy and Danny feel confident. Alice left to set up a room with the documents and contracts as the men boarded the vessel loaded with the guns. Danny took control and showed Igor and Peter around his newly acquired ship with a sense of pride, but it wasn't long before Tommy reigned him back in.
"As you can see, the guns are ready to travel to New York once we get the all clear." Tommy started as he watched the two Polish men inspect the cargo. He couldn't tell if they were impressed or not, but they weren't showing any signs of putting a bullet in his head, so he was happy enough. "My associate, Michael Gray will be in the meeting to discuss how you're going to transfer the funds over to Shelby Company Limited."
"We don't use accountants." Peter said, peeling his eyes away from their guns. "Accountants can't be trusted…"
"…Ask too many questions." Igor elaborated as he stared Michael down with a raised brow.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to be asking you any questions, I'm just here to work out how we get paid." He replied as he placed his hands in his pockets.
"And what about you?" he looked at Danny and folded his arms across his chest. "Are you the tour guide?"
"No, I'm the one delivering your guns on my ship. I'm the one getting them into America without getting inspected because of my papers, so no… I'm not a tour guide." Danny said a little bitterly, copying Igor's stance.
Tommy looked over his shoulder at Danny, shaking his head slightly. "So, what do you think? Are you satisfied enough?"
Peter and Igor shared a blank look before nodding. "We'll discuss money and contracts inside over a drink."
"Great, let's get inside then." Tommy said as he rubbed his hands together, hoping that a bit of heat would return to them.
She kept her back against the wall as she listened to the group of men walking down the hallway, making small talk amongst themselves. Michael was the first to enter the room with Tommy and Danny behind him. He looked at her and shot her a wink and a raise of his brow as he took his seat at the table. Then she lay eyes on the Polish men that they were getting into business with and as their eyes widened at the sight of her, she felt an uneasiness shift in her gut.
"I hope you don't mind my secretary being here. Alice has hold of the contracts." Tommy said as he pulled his chair closer to the table.
"Not at all." Igor replied as he sat across from Tommy.
Peter's eyes followed Alice as she moved around the table, pouring drinks for everyone. "Gives us all something to look at."
Danny cracked his knuckles irritably and downed his drink quickly, snapping his fingers at Alice to pour him another. "So, what made you guys want to get into bed with the Peaky Blinders then?"
"Changretta was a son of a bitch that we all wanted rid of back on the East Coast; I guess you could say that we're showing our appreciation." Igor explained plainly.
Tommy clenched his fist under the table, desperately wishing that Danny would shut his mouth, but he realised that he liked the sound of his own voice and it would be difficult to silence him.
"Then, if they're Peakys, what do you call yourselves?"
"We've got many names, but 'Flatheads' has stuck. Heard of us?"
"Unfortunately, I've an old friend that left here to join you. Know a Paul Jarowski by any chance?"
"Danny," Tommy finally interrupted, drawing everyone's attention back to him, "we're here to talk business."
"Fine, I'll stop talking then." Danny sighed, his eyes drifting to his sister as she took her seat beside Tommy.
"Great, Alice will you read out the contract for our associates."
She cleared her throat and placed her hand on the back of her neck, keeping her eyes on the pages in front of her. "Shelby Company Limited will provide thirty machine guns and forty-six rifles, per the request of Paul Jarowski of the Flathead group in the East Coast. Upon the arrival of the guns, a sum of five thousand pounds will be paid to Shelby Company Limited and an additional three thousand pounds will be paid to Danny Finlay for the cost of using his dock and ships to deliver the goods and also for the security of having the goods remaining unchecked on both sides of the Atlantic."
"So far, so good?" Tommy asked as he watched Michael scribble the numbers down in his ledger.
Peter made a noise and agreed after a moment of consideration.
"Paul sent the two of you?" Danny looked at the two men and ran his fingers across his stubble.
"Your friend has moved up in the world Mr Finlay." Peter retorted with a smirk, glancing briefly in his direction before taking a pen out from his pocket. "Where do we sign?"
"My secretary will sign as witness first," Tommy watched her sign along one of the dotted lines before he took the contract from her and handed it over, "just sign below it."
"Now the only matter to discuss is how the five thousand pound will be paid to the Shelby Company." Michael said after taking a sip from his glass.
"It'll be paid cash, no paper trail. We have the money here, but it will be handed over to both parties once we get confirmation that the guns have been delivered."
"I will have to verify that all the money is accounted for before anything is passed over."
"Naturally."
"Then our business is done here." Tommy got up from the table and buttoned up his blazer.
"We'll be in touch Mr Shelby."
Once the Polish had left the building, Tommy leaned on the table, his hands holding him up as he stared down at the wood beneath him. He felt relief, things were still on track, but he could sense that something wasn't sitting well with Danny and he needed appeased.
"What was with all the questions?"
"Remember what I said to you about the Polish fella that mistook me for an IRA man? That was Paul. Whatever he's planning on doing with those guns will bite us all in the ass."
"The guns can't be traced back to us, can they?" Alice looked at Michael and then to Tommy. "Can they?"
"No, the guns that we're supplying them with are guns that were brought over by Changretta's gang. I'm not that thick." He stood up straight and locked eyes with Danny. "Is working with your old friend going to be a problem?"
Danny shook his head as he leaned back into his chair. "As long as we get our money, everything will be fine and dandy, Shelby."
"What do you mean by that?" Michael asked as he got up from his chair, slowly moving towards his wife.
"Paul wasn't always known as the most trustworthy person back in the day. Alice will tell you, when we get a gut instinct, we're usually right about it." He smiled when her head snapped towards him, her eyes squinted and twitching. "You felt it too, didn't you?"
She tensed up under Michael's hands as they landed on her shoulders. Michael already knew her answer because he could feel the heat of her skin through her dress. She had her doubts, and if she did, he couldn't ignore it.
"We need a back up plan, Tommy." He said as he looked to his cousin.
"We'll discuss this when we get back to Birmingham. Monday morning, so keep your diary free." He ran his hand along his face, fearing that Danny was actually talking a bit of sense for a change. Tommy wasn't going to allow himself to be blindsided, he needed to Polish watched closely. "Let's get home, shall we?"
A:N Will this deal between the Peakys and the Flatheads work out? Can Danny be trusted? Next chapter Alice will finally meet her sister and Tommy will find out more information about the Flatheads. I wanted to use a real life gang from the same time that this story is set in and put my own spin on history. I hope it pays off! Thank you for reading this story and thanks for all the support!