Jessie Keane - Black Widow

‘Jeanette,’ Annie called back over her shoulder, ‘when exactly did you last change her?’

‘Look, I’m not good with kids,’ said Jeanette, hustling into the kitchen behind her and glaring at Annie as if she was in the wrong. ‘I’ve never been good with them, okay? They’re messy at both ends and noisy in the middle. I didn’t ask to be playing bloody surrogate mummy to these two, so don’t give me any hassle, okay?’

‘Where’s Jimmy?’ asked Annie over little Mo’s screaming. Jimmy Junior had fastened himself firmly to her leg and seemed disinclined to let go.

‘As if I fucking know,’ snapped Jeanette.

‘Meaning?’ Annie snapped right back.

‘Meaning I ain’t seen him all week. Meaning he’s buggered off somewhere, Christ knows where, and left me in the shit, really in the shit, trying to cope with these two brats of his.’

Annie smoothed a hand over Jimmy Junior’s silky head. ‘Hey, Jim,’ she said.

He looked up at her.

‘Got someone for you to meet outside. Someone you’re going to really love.’

He was staring at her, smiling.

‘Your cousin Layla,’ said Annie.

Years later she would remember that moment, when she had told Jimmy Junior he had a cousin, and that he was going to love her. She would also remember the look on Jeanette’s face, the way the colour drained from it, the expression of guilty surprise.

‘She out?’ Jimmy Junior pointed with one chubby finger towards the door.

‘She’s outside, yeah. And she really, really wants to meet you.’

Annie picked up the baby from the cot, took Jimmy Junior’s hand and took them both to the door. Constantine’s man was there. He silently took the grizzling baby and the small boy from her, and went off down the path to the car.

Annie went back into the kitchen.

‘Hey, don’t get any ideas,’ said Jeanette, rallying bravely, trying to keep her voice level while her eyes, darting frantically and settling on nothing, gave her away. ‘I don’t want you getting all pally with those kids, Jimmy wouldn’t like it.’

‘Jimmy’s long gone, ain’t that sunk in yet?’ Annie stared at her. Shit, she really was dense. ‘No, I guess not. These kids are my family. They’re going back to their mother, right now.’

‘Hey, you can’t just walk in here and take them,’ said Jeanette hotly.

Annie stuck her hands in her pockets to keep them from throttling Jeanette.

‘I just did. You want to make something of it?’ she asked, pushing the anger down. Had to stay calm, rational, even though a killing rage was gripping her. This bitch , this treacherous little cow , was trying to face her down.

Jeanette looked at Annie’s face. She shrugged nervously.

‘Hey, I should care,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want the damned kids in the first place. But Jimmy’ll be back soon, and then there’ll be trouble.’

Now Annie almost felt sorry for her. Almost, but not quite. It was obvious that Jimmy had realized the whole thing was going tits-up. And he’d fucked off without even bothering to tell Jeanette the news.

‘Your family been in touch?’ Annie asked her.

‘What?’ Jeanette was pale now; she looked slightly sick.

‘You know, the family. Danny. Vita. Una. They been in touch with you recently?’

Jeanette shrugged, trying to play it cool. ‘Oh! Nah, I hardly ever see them. We’re not close.’

Annie nodded slowly, her eyes acute on Jeanette’s face.

‘Well, that’s good,’ she said at last. ‘Cos I think that Danny and Vita might not be in touch again for…oh…a very, very long time. I guess it must have been quite convenient, having Una right there on the spot to keep an eye on me.’

Jeanette said nothing. Her eyes on Annie’s were suddenly full of fear.

‘Did you do it for the money, Jeanette?’ asked Annie. ‘Every successful hit needs an insider, did you know that? I bet you did. And you were the insider on this one.’

‘Hey, wait-’

‘Yes, you were. You met Vita in Palma the day before the hit. Did a little girly shopping. Bought some shoes. Bounced a cheque. Had lunch. Oh yeah-and told her the perfect time to strike.’

‘I didn’t…how could…?’

‘How could I know about that? Friends in high places, Jeanette. And low ones too. And think about it. Why did they knock me out while it was all going down, but not you? Why would they do that?’

Jeanette was silent. Her eyes dropped away and she swallowed.

‘What, nothing to say?’ prompted Annie.

Jeanette’s eyes met Annie’s. Jeanette’s were sick with terror now.

‘None of it was my idea,’ she said.

Annie nodded.

‘Oh, good. That makes me feel a whole lot better about things. About…oh, about having my husband and his brother murdered. And my friends murdered. And my child snatched and mutilated. ’

Jeanette’s eyes were desperate now.

‘Look, it was nothing to do with me. Danny and Jimmy cooked up the whole idea; they roped in Phil to help, and Vee’s good with kids so she went along too. I didn’t want anything to do with it.’ Her eyes fastened again on Annie’s face. ‘What have you done with them?’ she asked, her voice trembling.

‘Me?’ Her eyes were cold as they rested on Jeanette. ‘I’ve done nothing, Jeanette. I’ve done nothing and I’ve seen nobody. Some friends got my child back for me. That’s all I know.’

Jeanette blinked and suddenly her eyes filled with tears. ‘What have you done with them?’ she shrieked.

Annie’s eyes remained on Jeanette. She saw the girl’s pain, and she relished it.

‘Yeah, it hurts, don’t it?’ she said softly. ‘It hurts to have people you love torn from you. I can see you appreciate that now, Jeanette. It’s just a fucking pity you didn’t think of that before you and Jimmy fucking Bond and your crooked family started in on all this.’

Jeanette was shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. ‘I don’t know anything,’ she insisted weakly.

‘Sure you don’t,’ said Annie. Her voice hardened. ‘You were the insider, Jeanette. You knew when was the best time to strike, and you told them. The day before it happened, you borrowed Rufio’s car and went into Palma on your own. You didn’t tell anyone you were going until after you were back. You were afraid I might want to go in with you, weren’t you? You didn’t want me tagging along, because you were going to meet up with your bloody sister and check that everything was in place for the hit the next day, tell them it was good to go. Isn’t that how it was?’

Jeanette shook her head wildly.

‘Good old Jeanette, always the innocent,’ said Annie with a sour smile. ‘And Jimmy was in on it too,’ said Annie. ‘My number one man, Jimmy. Max’s number one man. Only that wasn’t quite good enough for him, was it? He wanted to have it all.’

Jeanette’s face crumpled and suddenly she looked years older. ‘I thought we really had something good going, me and him…’

‘Oh? Like you had with Jonjo?’

‘I’m not sorry about Jonjo,’ she said, her expression fearful but surly. ‘He knocked me about. He was nasty to me.’

And Jimmy would have been just the same, given time , thought Annie.

‘A bullet through the brain’s a bit of an extreme punishment for that, wouldn’t you say?’ Annie looked at the woman in disgust. ‘Come off it, Jeanette. Jimmy’s no better than Jonjo, in fact he’s a fucking sight worse. Say what you like about Jonjo, but at least he was always loyal. But not Jimmy. Oh no. He wanted the Carter manor for himself. I suppose you all met in the pub for a pint and started talking, saying about how much money Max and Jonjo had made over the years, and maybe thinking that you didn’t have the fucking rent money, let alone money to spare for fancy villas in sunny Spain, and everyone got a touch resentful, is that how it started? And once it started, I suppose it was easy to see how everything could fall into place. Working as a team, you could all have what you craved. Danny and Vita and this Phil character could have money to burn. You could have money, plus Jimmy. And Jimmy could have money, and more important the manor could be his and his alone, once Max and Jonjo were history.’