Mickey's Way Read online

  As he looked between two parked cars he saw Melanie, she was just standing there like a statue too frightened to move. Visibly shaking, she looked pale and dirty. Immediately, he rushed over and picked her up. Throwing her arms around his neck she sobbed hysterically.

  Once back inside the office, he asked if she was hurt. Shaking her head, she clung onto him so tight he could feel her tiny heart pounding.

  Tony interrupted and told him to take her home to her mum, he would meet him tomorrow. Mickey just nodded his head, unable to answer because he was crying. Taking his car keys out of his pocket, he threw them at Den. Thirty minutes later they were pulling into Den’s driveway.

  Mary looked out through the curtains as she heard the car and called out “Maria, they’re back and one of the girls is with them!”

  Maria rushed to the front door, opening it just as Den was putting his key in the lock. Melanie sobbed as her mum took her from Mickey. Carrying her through to the lounge, she sat down on the sofa and just hugged the sobbing child. Mickey sat next to them.

  Den was comforting Mary, she was also crying and shaking. He was trying to keep things as calm as possible for everyone’s sake.

  “Pull yourself together love,” said Den as he squeezed her hand “go and make some tea and something hot to eat, Melanie’s probably hungry and Mickey hasn’t eaten all day.”

  Through her tears she told him it was the same for Maria, she had tried to get her to eat, but she wouldn’t.

  It was five minutes before Maria and Melanie had calmed down enough to talk. Then her mum asked if she was hurt anywhere. Mickey piped in; she was just cold, hungry and dirty. They could smell urine from where she had wet herself; her cloths were wet and dirty. Maria stroked her head and said they could have a nice hot bath upstairs. Melanie nodded. Mickey told them he’d get Madeline back the following day. Maria looked tearful as she nodded.

  He carried Melanie upstairs, holding her while her mum ran the bath because she wouldn’t let him put her down. Then he waited for Maria to get into the water, before he undressed Melanie and passed her to her. Her mum gently washed her hair while he tried to ask her questions about where she had been taken, but she started crying, she was clearly traumatised. Maria gently stroked her hair and tearfully said daddy didn’t want to upset her, but they were worried about her sister. Maria asked her if Madeline was ok. Melanie nodded. Both her parents began to cry from the sheer relief of knowing that her sister was alive.

  They stayed in the bath for almost forty minutes.

  “Shall we go downstairs princess,” said Mickey “Nanny has done us something to eat, are you hungry?”

  She nodded as he wrapped her in a large bath towel while he waited for Maria to dry and dress, then he carried Melanie downstairs. On entering the kitchen, Maria asked his mum if she had anything that Melanie could wear. Pausing for a moment she remembered buying the twins some lovely pyjamas and matching dressing gowns, which she had put away for Christmas. She went upstairs to get them.

  A few minutes later, Melanie was dressed in her new bed wear, sitting on her mum’s lap at her nans table, eating scrambled eggs on toast. She was obviously hungry by the way she was eating. Mickey was also hungry, but despite Maria not having eaten since the previous day, it was obvious that she was having difficulty swallowing.

  Reaching his hand over the table, he squeezed hers and encouraged her to try and eat a little.

  As she turned to answer him, her eyes filled with tears, how could she eat when Madeline was alone and hungry? Then to everyone’s surprise, Melanie said, “The nice man gave us a sausage roll.”

  Everyone stopped eating and Mickey asked, “What nice man sweetheart?”

  “The nice man with the prickly hair Daddy.”

  He looked confused, but her mum knew exactly what she meant. A couple of weeks earlier when she was out shopping with the girls, they had seen a group of teenagers in the precinct, they were punk types with short spiky hair. Madeline had actually asked one of them if his hair was prickly. Thankfully he hadn’t taken offence; he’d actually bent down for her to feel it and laughed when she said it was prickly.

  Mickey quickly asked Melanie if the nice man was one of the men they’d seen when they went shopping with mummy. She shook her head. He asked if she knew the nice man’s name. Again she shook her head and began to cry. Maria could feel her trembling and told him that was enough. Maybe they should get a doctor to look at her? Mickey nodded, he would call Doc Daniels in the morning; but now she needed sleep. When Maria asked if she’d like to go to bed, immediately she shook her head and gripped her mum’s arm. Mary could see the fear on the child’s face so she interrupted and said when Mickey was a little boy; he never wanted to go to bed, so her and his dad used to make him a bed on the sofa. Then when they went up to bed, they would carry him upstairs with them. Maybe Melanie would like a bed on the sofa. Melanie nodded and asked if she could sleep in her mummy and daddy’s bed? Her dad smiled and calling her sweetheart said of course she could.

  Within a few minutes of Mary making her a temporary bed on the sofa, she was fast asleep.

  The two women stayed in the lounge with her while Mickey went into the kitchen with his dad to talk about the things she had said. Den felt confident that by that time tomorrow, they’d have Madeline back.

  Melanie slept between her parents that night, she was very restless and she kept talking in her sleep, although little of what she said made any sense, except for the name Madeline. Her mum never slept at all, she just held her and despite her telling Mickey to try and get some rest, like her he was unable to sleep.

  The next morning everyone was up by six. They all noticed that Melanie seemed a little calmer. As they ate breakfast she kept asking her mum when her sister was coming home.

  “Soon baby, Daddy’s going to get her today.”

  Noticing that the little girl seemed comfortable, Mickey saw the conversation as the ideal opportunity to broach the subject of the kidnappers again. Gently taking her hand, he asked if she could remember anything about where she had been taken to. No sooner had he asked when she stopped eating her breakfast and began to cry.

  “No more questions Mickey,” said Maria “it’s too upsetting for her.”

  “Sorry princess, we’ll talk about it later when your sister comes home. Now try and eat your breakfast.”

  Gripping his hand she just looked at him and nodded, she was obviously still in a state of shock.

  Maria hardly touched her food again, despite Mary saying she must try to eat something. Forcing a smile, she promised she would once they got Madeline back. She just couldn’t face food, although it was very tasty, she just couldn’t swallow. It was just after ten that morning when Mickey and his dad said they were going out. Maria looked shocked and asked where.

  “I’ve got to arrange to get Tony’s money back to him.”

  Although she smiled and nodded, she knew that he was probably telling the truth about seeing Tony, but paying back the money would not be the reason why. She never questioned him, she just begged him to be careful.

  Kissing her goodbye, he said when he returned he’d have Madeline with him. Her eyes brimmed with tears; whatever he had to do, he just had to bring her baby home.

  From the car he called Tony on his mobile to ask if they could meet with him at Dixie’s in an hour. Tony said he would be there. After ending the call he called Doc Daniels and asked him if he could pop in and have a look at Maria and Melanie. The Doc asked what the problem was. Without giving him any real details, he told him a brief account of what had happened. The Doc said he would call in that afternoon. Mickey was quick to say that discretion was paramount. Doc knew that. Mickey explained they were staying at his dad’s house.

  CHAPTER 6

  Madeline had been left alone with the woman. When the men left they had told her they would be back in a couple of hours. Madeline didn’t like being alone with her, she felt afraid. The woman begrudgingly threw a couple of bisc
uits at her and seemed to resent it that Madeline had remained polite, despite her dire situation. The one thing that Madeline really hated was that the woman chain smoked and there was no fresh air in the room. She tried not to give her eye contact because she knew that without the men there; the woman would be nasty to her. It wasn’t long before the woman tried to goad her again.

  “So you didn’t know that your real dad was Jimmy Dixon then?”

  The frightened child just shook her head. Although she really wanted to say, that Mickey was her real dad, but she was afraid that the woman would hurt her if they argued.

  “I expect you think your dad’s a good bloke, don’t you brat?”

  Again Madeline just nodded.

  “Well he’s not, he’s hurt lots of people, but I don’t suppose he’s told you about that, has he?”

  The frightened child shook her head as she tried hard not to cry.

  The woman lit another fag and blew the smoke directly at her, making her cough. The woman laughed

  “Not so fucking brave when you’re on your own are you brat?”

  That was all it took for Madeline to retaliate, “My Dad is nice, so is my Mum and they will come for me; then you’ll be sorry!”

  The woman laughed out loud. Madeline felt intimidated

  “Shall I tell you something about your mum; she was a fucking whore when she met your dad. I mean your real dad Jimmy!”

  Madeline had no idea what a whore was, but she knew from the woman’s face and from the way she had said it that it was something horrible. Regardless of her fear; she wasn’t going to allow this horrible woman to say nasty things about her lovely mum.

  “My Mum’s not a whore, but you are!”

  Springing to her feet the woman slapped her hard round the face and then kicked her.

  “Don’t call me a whore! You fucking toffee nosed little bitch or I’ll make you eat your fucking words!”

  Madeline was petrified, she had never been hit. Her mum and dad were always gentle with her. Shaking hysterically and sobbing; she could taste blood in her mouth.

  “Didn’t expect that, did you brat?”

  Unable to answer from fear, Madeline curled up small and pulled the blanket over her. She didn’t speak again, even though the woman had kept goading her, by saying nasty things about her parents, as well as saying things like, they might not let her go. Even worse, was when she said they might decide to sell her on to some dirty old man, who likes to fuck little girls? Madeline was terrified, although she didn’t understand the concept of what had been said, she knew enough to understand that it was something bad.

  A couple of hours later when the men returned, she finally felt safe. The nicer man noticed the blood on her mouth and asked the woman what she had done.

  “She got fucking lippy, so I gave her a slap that was all.”

  Looking over at Madeline, he asked if she was alright. Still afraid of the woman, she just nodded her head. Smiling, he said she’d soon be home with her family. Desperately she wanted to believe him, but her fear made her think that the woman wouldn’t let her go.

  She watched as the man took something from his pocket. It was a packet of chocolate buttons, passing them to her, he smiled. Madeline thanked him and smiled back, she hoped that he wouldn’t leave her alone with the woman again.

  Just a few miles away, Mickey sat with his dad and Tony at the club. The cleaners were just finishing up, he waited until they left then said after Madeline was back home, he would need to sort things out. He was worried about taking his family back to their house.

  “Maria likes Shaun,” said Tony “she feels safe with him, how about if he came and stayed for a week or two.”

  Mickey nodded, he’d thought the same, but Shaun had the pub to run. His hope was Tony would suggest someone else. Nodding Tony asked when he was likely to return to his house.

  Once he’d paid the cash and Madeline was back, he’d like to return home the following day. His hope being the sooner things went back to normal, the better it would be for the girls.

  The others agreed. His dad said he and Mary would be happy to come and stay for a while. He knew Mary would be happy, she loved spending time with Maria and the kids. Mickey thanked him, he knew Maria would love it if they stayed and the more people she had around her and the twins, the better.

  “I know you’ve taken a back seat with the business Mickey,” said Tony “but as far as everyone is concerned you’re still part of our crew. What I’m saying is, everyone is at your disposal and were going to find the bastards that did this. Whatever you need, just ask.”

  “I really appreciate it Tony, but they’re your crew now, apart from Billy and Kevin, everyone else is on your payroll. I wouldn’t take liberties you know that, but if I need some back up, I know I can rely on you.”

  “I might pay them, but there isn’t one that I could think of that isn’t still loyal to you. To them you’re still the boss, or though I do get respect and like you say, they’re good boys.”

  During the afternoon, Mickey called Maria to ask how Melanie was doing. He wasn’t surprised when she told him; Melanie hadn’t let her out of her sight, even going with her to the toilet. The Doc had given her a health check, physically she was fine, but she may need some counselling. Once Madeline was back they could look into counselling for both girls. As she talked about the twins, he could hear her voice beginning to quiver; she was obviously close to tears. In the hope of taking her mind off Madeline, he told her to go and have a cup of tea with his mum. Hoping to lift her spirits, he said he’d be back with Madeline soon and everything was going to be fine. Before ending the call, they both said they loved each other.

  As the time approached five, Mickey felt nervous and sick. It had been exactly the same the previous day when he had waited for the call. It was just after quarter past five when the office phone rang. Nervously he answered it. Expecting it to be one of the lads, because the call he was waiting for wasn’t expected for another forty five minutes, he was surprised when he heard the kidnapper’s voice.

  “Listen carefully, if you want to see your kid again. Drive to the Thames; go under the bridge, do the same as yesterday. Place the money bag in the boat and then drive away. When we have the money I’ll call and tell you where the kid is. If we see anyone with you, or following you, the kid dies!”

  Mickey tried to say something, but the line went dead. Looking at his watch he would have to leave right away in order to reach the river quickly because the traffic would be manic.

  Taking the holdall from the safe, he left.

  Just as before the boat was under the bridge. It was a small remote controlled boat about two feet long and twelve inches wide made from fibre glass.

  Carefully he placed the holdall securely inside then walked back towards his car. As he walked, he heard what sounded like a small engine coming from the river, he turned to look, it was the boat being remotely controlled. Continuing to his car, he didn’t look round again.

  He had only been back at the club thirty minutes when his mobile rang, it was Maria. Sounding hysterical she was rambling something about Madeline, but due to her rapid speech and the fact that she was crying, he couldn’t understand what she was saying. Panic stricken; he shouted down the phone for her to calm down and talk slowly. His heart was racing as she said, “Madeline’s here! She’s here, she’s here Mickey, come back now she’s home!”

  The stress of the past two days had finally caught up with him; the realisation that both his girls were safe was just too much, he broke down in tears.

  Tony and Den looked concerned until he blurted out that Madeline was back home with Maria. Even Den had tears in his eyes. Tony told them to go; he would contact the boys and tell them the good news. He asked Mickey to let him know when they’d be back at their house and he’d send one of the lads round.

  Mickey stood up and hugging him thanked him for everything, he’d been great. Tony could feel him shaking, in all the years he had know
n him, never had he seen him like that.

  “Anytime Mickey, now get home to your family.”

  Walking to the car, Mickey asked his dad to drive, he was shaking so much he didn’t think he could. The drive back seemed to take forever. Finally, they were pulling up on the driveway. Mary waved out of the window with Melanie. Mickey jumped out before his dad had even parked the car. Rushing into the house he called out to Maria.

  “We’re up here,” she called from the bathroom.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, within seconds he entered the bathroom.

  “Daddy I’m back!” said Madeline with a beaming smile.

  He tried to smile, but burst into tears as he kissed her and replied, “I know baby and it’s so good to have you back!”

  Just as she had done with Melanie, her mum was bathing with her. Smiling at him, Maria asked him to shut the door, she didn’t want Den seeing her naked.

  After closing the door, he knelt down beside the bath. Holding Madeline’s hand, he said he loved her so much and he’d really missed her. He was just so happy she was back. Before she could answer him, he started to cry as did Maria. Then to their surprise, Madeline told them not to cry because it would upset Melanie if she heard them.

  Shaking his head in amazement, after all she had been through she was comforting them and worrying about her sister.

  When Mickey wrapped her in the towel, she freed her arms and hugged him.

  “I was brave like you said Daddy; I knew you would pay for me.”

  Holding her tight the tears streamed down his face as he replied, “I know princess, you were very brave. Now let’s get dressed and go and find granddad, he’s dying to see you.”

  She nodded her head as he carried her through to the bedroom and dried her on the bed while Maria dried and got dressed. Like her sister, he put her in the pyjamas his mum had bought before carrying her downstairs.

  Den walked over and kissed her. Mary had made eggs. Just like Melanie when she’d returned, Madeline ate quickly because she was hungry. Everyone noticed how Melanie seemed to cheer up, especially as the girls held hands during the meal, she was even talking more. Madeline’s behaviour appeared to be the complete opposite to her sister; she was talking and behaving as though it had been a great adventure, instead of the nightmare ordeal that was the reality.