The Formidable

55

"And you think we should trust him?" Benny asked Tommy. They were sat in the damp trap house Benny was squatting in. The windows didn't close properly, and the only light they had was a camper lamp sat in the middle of what used to be a living room. Graffiti adorned the walls, litter pushed to the side to make space for a blow up mattress and a dirty quilt.

"Kieran's a pussy, he wouldn't want to be on the losing side, he knows it would leave him exposed. If he is turning on Jase then they really are falling apart. He's got a tracker in Madison's phone and suggested we grab her and use her as bait. You know he'll come running the second he hears she's in danger," he replied. Benny chewed the inside of his cheek, unsure. He didn't know if he wanted Kieran on their side, even if he had turned on Jase, in his eyes, he was a waste of space and always had been.

"He can stick around while he's useful and then we get rid of him," he decided.

Tommy shifted uncomfortably. He had no qualms with getting rid of Jase or Madison, hell, he'd put a bullet in Sam if necessary, but Kieran had never wronged him in anyway. They'd been friends. It had always been Jase and Sam then Tommy and Kieran. But he was aware that a few eggs had to be cracked in the process and if Kieran had to be one of those eggs sacrificed for the bigger picture then he'd swallow it.

"Fine by me," he said.

*

Jase was at the club, sifting through papers and timesheets for the girls. He'd left it in Kieran's hands whilst everything went on around them, and he hadn't done a bad job staying on top of things. Reliable in most instances, that's how he saw Kieran. He used his brain.

There was nothing substantial to do and he spent a total of two hours in his office before heading back to Madison's apartment, where they were now staying. She didn't want to remain in the house, too many people knew about it for her liking and Jase's place was no longer an option, for obvious reasons. She was in the kitchen, making lunch for Mia when he walked in. Mia slid off the sofa and waddled over to him, holding her arms up.

"Hello my little angel, you okay?" he asked, abiding by her silent orders and perching her on his hip.

"I'm okay," she replied. "You okay?"

"I'm okay, thank you."

"The club okay?" Madison asked, stirring scrambled eggs in a frying pan with her back to him.

"Yeah, nothing interesting. Kieran's kept it all tidy where paperwork is concerned."

Madison nodded absently, tipping the eggs onto a plastic plate with sliced toast. "Can you put her in a chair please?" Jase pulled a stool out from the breakfast bar, plonking Mia in it and sitting in the one next to her to ensure she didn't throw herself off. Not that she had a habit of doing so and the stools had high enough backs to support her being comfortable, it was more for his comfort. Her food was left to cool on the counter and Madison made her some juice.

"What will happen with the club once all this is over?" she asked, blowing on the eggs and toast, knowing that if Mia waited too long she'd begin to fuss.

"I'll probably just keep the garage. I don't enjoy having the club. It's too much upkeep, I only accepted it to get Ramon to sling his hook." Madison hummed her acknowledgement and placed Mia's food in front of her. "Your car is ready by the way, if you wanted to get it at some point." Jase informed.

"I'll go get it at some point next week, there's too much going on right now to think about it and it's not like I'll be needing it. Did you call Marcus?" Marcus was a Detective Inspector. He had been close friends with Mickey and owed him a huge favour, now handed down to Madison. Jase nodded, it was the only other thing he'd done whilst at the club.