The Disenchanted Widow Read Online Free PDF Page A

Law—Hilton.”
    “For pity’s sake, Herkie Halstone !” She kicked a stone on the road. “See that? What is it?”
    “A stone, Ma.”
    “Yes. And your name is Hal stone . Got it? Now, tell me again.”
    “H-Hal-stone. Herkie Halstone.”
    “Good boy!”
    Herkie went over to a broken-down gate and began climbing it.
    “You watch yourself, Herkie Halstone! I’m gonna sunbathe here. Might as well get meself a tan.”
    She took a cushion from the car and positioned it on the warm bonnet. Removed her blouse to reveal a flesh-colored slip with a lacy scalloped neckline. Hung the blouse on the open car door.
    She settled herself on the bonnet and closed her eyes, offering her face up to the sun. She hoped the mishap with the car was just a blip on the radar of her plan. There was no way she was going back to Belfast. She’d suffered enough because of Packie, having beenspouse, skivvy, and regular punching bag for far too long. And now, because of his shenanigans, she had the Dentist to contend with—a psycho who was threatening to drill holes in her shins if she didn’t return the money Packie had made off with.
    There was only one problem: Bessie hadn’t got it. But would the Dentist believe that? Fat frigging chance of that…
    She knew, of course, what Packie and his two “associates” had done. They’d concocted a plan to embezzle the money from the bank job the three had just pulled for the Dentist. She’d overheard them discussing it.
    “Sure, of course the Dentist’ll know,” she’d heard Packie say. The three had drunk the best part of two bottles of whiskey, and consequently their voices were raised more than was good for them. “But we’ll have tae get our story straight, so we will. The Dentist’s a smart bastard. Any slipup an’ he’ll be on till us. Ye know what that means, don’t ye?”
    “The Nuttin’ Squad,” Donal Carmody had said, equally loudly.
    “Aye, the Nuttin’ Squad. And ye know what that bastard’s like with a Black & Decker.”
    “I do,” said Aidan Mahon, plumber by day and getaway driver by night. “Don’t I have a pair of metal knees to prove it? So what’s the plan then, Packie?”
    “The plan is that we were stopped by the UDR. And they found the money. But they let us go.”
    “ What? ”
    “Ye can’t be serious, Packie,” came the dismayed voice of Donal. “If we were stopped by the UDR we’d be in the clink now.”
    “We wouldn’t,” Packie said, “because the Ulster Defence Regiment is full of hoods, as you well know. What we’ll say is that they pocketed the cash themselves. That way, it won’t appear on a charge sheet, and no one but us will ever know it was recovered. So what d’ye say—split three ways or what?”
    “Begod, it’s a great plan altogether,” Aidan said. “Let’s split it now, Packie. No time like the present.”
    “No!” Packie had sounded vexed and a little concerned. “We don’t split it yet. In fact, we don’t so much as touch that money until all this has blowed over. I don’t want your Maisie and Lil goin’ mad and buyin’ out half o’ bloody Woolworths. It would draw attention to us. Nah, we have tae be one step ahead of that baldy fuck and them bastards in Special Branch.”
    “Aye, right enough,” said Aidan. “So what do we do?”
    “I’ll hold on to it,” Packie told him. “It’s safe here. I couldn’t do a runner with it even if I wanted to, ’cos I’d have you two as well as the Dentist on me tail. No, I’ve stashed it here in a safe place. Not even the missus would find it. We’ll meet back here this day week, same time, and divvy it up.”
    “Bloody brilliant!” Donal said. “Ye’re on, Packie.”
    “Right, now I’ll run you home, Aidan. Then I’ll go and break the bad news tae the oul’ baldy. See you next week, Donal.”
    “Ye’re on, Packie.”
    It hadn’t worked out that way, Bessie thought bitterly now. Packie never got to tell his concocted tale to the Dentist. That