'Heaven and hell suppose two distinct species of men, the good and the bad. But the greatest part of mankind float betwixt vice and virtue.' - David Hume
The cool air didn't make Sean Maguire shiver as he stood waiting for the watch hit a minute before the requested time of his arrival. He had sixty seconds to compose himself and look like the monster so many thought him to be, to show anything less than cool composure in front of the twins would be seen as weakness. Sean was not weak, gentle yes at times, but not weak.
If he could see his reflection at this precise moment he would see his eyes that were so piercing blue turn into a steely grey, his face would somehow lose some of the soft gentle look it carried naturally and become similar to that of a wax figure. If he spoke out loud, his voice would be a shade deeper and his accent slightly more pronounced that earlier in the evening - it was as if Sean had become another person as his shoulders went back and high, he carried himself with even more of a presence that made him achieve even more height that his 6'1 standing.
Sean Maguire had become the monster. The man who had according to many rumours killed anyone who had looked at him or the brothers he cared deeply for, the wrong way. The rumours were greatly exaggerated of course, Sean had never killed anyone... maybe beaten a man or three to the point were they may have wished they were dead but not actually committed murder, and Sean really hoped he never would find himself in the situation where he did.
The sixty seconds were up and Sean made his way into the club called the 'Double R' the place was empty except for a group of men in similar outfits to my own, and the twins. Ronnie and Reggie had made the place their own and it oozed expense and quality without being gaudy.
"Sean, right on time. Now you know what you have to do, we don't want any problems you get in and get out, tomorrow morning we'll be meeting at Valance Road to discuss anything else."
Reggie was staring at Sean, waiting to see a reaction but received none. Sean reassured himself silently that Valance Road was just a house, a house he had eaten bread and jam at when he was four. Not many people knew that a tiny Sean had almost been adopted in the Kray family home and the twins into the Maguire'. They even went on holiday together, Sean' eyes had been wide as saucers when Violet Kray had come knocking to see if the little boy would like to join them in Kent for hop picking, Sean recalled the time with cheer - he'd been about six at that point and idolised the twins. Even back then, the twins had a presence about them that made people move out of their way but they were also so quiet. The one thing they never did though was turn their back on Sean - he was as welcome to the home as a member of the family.
Until his Dad ruined everything.
"Sean? Your mind elsewhere? I suggest you get thinking straight - this is important. No mess ups."
Ronnie of course. A man who had his mind locked firmly on a job when it was going down.
The men who were involved in the job made their way into the waiting van carrying the symbol of a courier company known to work with Heathrow Airport. This was new to Sean, he'd been involved in some dodgy dealing and had served some time in jail but this, this was serious business. He couldn't help but notice the weaponry the men were carrying. Sean maintained the calm exterior but his heart was pounding, sending a silent prayer that no innocent person was hurt as a result of their actions tonight.
He made his way into the dark van, feeling calmer than he had for a while. For he was to be alone for a while. Driving away from the club, and making his way out to Heathrow Sean thought of what lay ahead.
The men in the other van were going to be at the airport as freight handlers and it helped that they had two men on the inside. The twins it seemed, had men everywhere when needed, Sean believed the rumours that they had police from many areas of London in their pocket were true. Yet, he was also very aware that there were many people who would happily end the reign of terror the twins could, would and were creating over the city. Even the Maltese were quiet, and that was unheard of.
* * *
Sean watched the van park and two men in Airport uniform make their way in through an unguarded gate. He watched them talk to two men who had what appeared to be clipboards filled with paper.
The lists of what was in the freight containers.
Sean knew that if people could get access to the containers they could be greeted with expensive Persian rugs, clothes from the London designers and suits from Saville Row that were to be sent to other areas of the country, various electrical goods, expensive cuts of meat (though Sean wondered why people would even dream of storing that there) and if they were really lucky there would be gold. Now, if they got the gold or rugs, they were going to make the twins happy. Mind you, there was always a market for everything if you knew where to look and who to speak to - something that the twins knew all about. Sean knew there were very few people who said no to the twins, and lived to tell the tale.
'This is going all too well' Sean thought to himself as he watched the other two men who had been waiting quietly in the van to make their appearance. They were dressed like Sean in dark clothes, but their was a clear difference, these men had their faces covered and moved with stealth. They were the ones that were to move the goods. He feared that the sceptic in him was alive and well but quietly started the van and moved to the designated spot about a mile away from the airport.
The dark and the silence played havoc with Sean' concentration as he waited for the van lights to appear in his mirror. Twenty minutes went by, thirty... forty and then an hour.
Sean knew that they would be loading the van up at the side of the building were the airport had failed to install lights before escaping away through the 'gate' that had been installed especially for the van to make it's way out of the airport. In fact what was to happen was one on the men on the inside had jammed the chicken wire gate so that as soon as the van hit it, it would fall away only to be safely returned to where it had once stood. No one would be any the wiser as to how they had got in and out so quietly and without raising suspicion.
* * *
Sixty four minutes and twenty three seconds since he has last looked at the time, Sean saw the van appear, there were calls in the quiet air for him to get the engine running which of course he did. He watched as the other van was lit on fire and the petrol tank explode turning the van into a massive ball of flames. There would be little or no chance of the van being linked back to anyone as a result of their actions.
Driving off into the night, Sean was aware although he kept it quiet that there was a vehicle following them, for a while he presumed co-incidence this close to the airport there were often vans on the road at night, delivering and collecting items and people ready for the early morning flights. This however, was definitely not one of those vans.
He knew with a sinking feeling, that we were being followed by members of the constabulary. Sean gradually increased my speed, we were so close to the meet point but he would have to go past it and return after shaking them off. He'd had hoped he wouldn't have to prove the fact that he knew how to drive so well tonight but things were against us, he could and would not let anyone be caught tonight. Sean had to prove to the twins that he could do this. Swinging the van down a quiet and dark road Sean yelled for the four men to get out of the van and to run only three did, the forth said he would stay with him and help him if needs be, hide the van somewhere.
Sean nodded.
Truth was, the eldest Maguire would have preferred to have done this alone but also knew that some help in knowing where he could hide the van was also needed if he couldn't escape the police. Making their way back onto the main road there was no sign of the van that had been following them, but that didn't mean it wasn't nearby. Sean knew that the police, if sure they had the right van, building etcetera would not just walk away.
Eighty two minutes since leaving that road side, Sean was still driving and facing a nightmare. Ahead of him was a police car, the man whose vehicle it was, was standing on the roadside and there were several others there. The man to his left, Tommy he was called if Sean remembered right told him to slow down and threw the passenger side door open. Sean watched as Tommy dropped down onto the road, slammed the door behind him, and ran towards the police yelling something that Sean couldn't make out. Sean had tried everything to stop the man from getting out the van, but it was near on impossible to hold back a man filled with determination and sheer pig-headed stupidity and drive. Instead watching the man Sean voiced his thoughts out loud, almost wishing the man could hear him.
"Bloody stupid bastard, what the Hell is wrong with you - some hero complex that will get you killed?"
Sean began to reverse the van to turn it around seeing that the police had shooters out, as did Tommy. This was not going to end well for the young man attempting to be a hero. The police were known for carrying guns but everyone knew they were for show really, shooting a man or even a woman God forbid, was something that they tried to avoid at all costs.
Sean didn't want to leave the man, even though he had a bit of a mouth and was a hot head - one thing he knew and had been told to him ever since he had become the big brother rather than the only child is to look after and protect others in your care. Well, it seemed this Tommy, so very much like Danny is his temperament was in his car.
The van did a 180 on the road and Sean threw open the driver' door to grab Tommy out of harms way. It would take all his driving skill to concentrate on the road ahead and lift the man upwards but he would do it. That's when he saw it.
Tommy took a shot at the police, Christ knows why, fear and that hot head he guessed.
There was only going to be one way this was going to go now, the police had no choice but to retaliate. Which they did. Gun shots rang out and Sean felt his chest explode in pain, God damn it, why had he played the hero for a stranger. A stranger who was now inside the van as he sped away.
He got the van back to the lock up about a half a mile away from the Double R and left Tommy there, ensuring the young man that he was fine. The van was locked up and Sean began the long walk to his car that he had left parked a road away from the club, his shirt was soaked in blood and he was feeling weaker than he had in a long time. He had no choice but to keep going though, he had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
* * *
The drive back to his quiet road seemed to take forever, every time he had to change gear, breathe even he felt the pain of the gunshot. It was a small price to pay, Sean knew, as everyone was safe and the goods were locked away but damn he was in pain and his vision was blurring. He knew deep down that he needed help.
The car was parked about four maybe five houses away from the Maguire house, and Sean threw open the door and attempted to get out. He made it half way out before he sank to the ground. The blood loss was too great and he passed out on the cold wet floor.
* * *
Louisa Ann Kelly was making her way back home from a dance, having left her friends in the next street she knew that she was near home and felt safe. This was the street that the Maguires lived in after all, and no one messed with anyone that even vaguely knew the three boys.
Her mind wandered to the eldest of the three, Sean. They'd met at several dances in the last few months at some of the local dance halls and Louisa had felt her heart race when he'd spoken to her. The man had the softest voice, and to Louisa, he could have told her the weather and she would have been captivated.
There had been the time it had rained so hard and she'd forgotten her umbrella, facing the prospect of getting soaked she had sheltered against a wall until the car belonging to the man she had come to, if she was honest, adore had stopped and he'd offered her a lift home. She's spent the whole evening smiling for no reason over that. Her Mother had commented that she looked like her brain was away with the fairies, it hadn't. It had been dreaming about the man who lived a few doors down the street, with darkest hair and piercing blue eyes that looked so beautiful when he had looked at her.
Sean Maguire and Louisa Ann Kelly shared a secret though. No one knew and no one would ever know. Louisa had a job she adored, no factory work for her, no she worked in a little book shop in 'book alley' by the theatres in the City. She had seen Sean pass there a few times before he eventually came in, looking about him with unease, the fact that he loved to read was a new thing to her and she loved the man for it. He had spoken to her albeit briefly about how he loved the classics especially Dickens but was slowly opening his eyes to poetry though he had admitted the poetry of such greats as Coleridge and Blake left him a little confused but he wasn't going to let the words of the dead beat him.
As she lifted her head and returned herself to the here and now Louisa felt her blood run cold. Sean' car was parked at a strange angle and the driver side door was open. There on the rain soaked ground was the man himself, now Louisa may have not known a lot about the man she had more than a school girl crush on, but one thing that was known to all was that Sean had a thing about not driving his car if he was out drinking all night. He was laughed at it, because he wasn't a good enough driver to handle a few whiskeys in the Feathers before returned to Ma Maguire, but he had never done it and Louisa imagined up until the very second she saw him lying there, that he never would.
Louisa ran.
Sean was not drunk, he was hurt and barely conscious. Acting purely on instinct, she managed to haul him to his feet and into the quiet house, unlike Ma Maguire, her parents didn't wait for her to come home. Louisa knew in her deepest darkest moments that they had wanted a son, and her birth had been seen as a great disappointment.
She managed to get him onto the couch, ignoring the rambling that was coming from him, quickly looking him over she saw the blood was coming from his chest. Taking a deep breath more over the thought of seeing the man' flesh and not the reason for the blood she examined his lower chest - a bullet hole was clear in his side.
"What have you been doing Sean Maguire to get like this? What mess are you in?"
His reply was a deep guttural moan that made Louisa jump back in shock. She knew she had to get Ma Maguire and quickly, running out onto the street she saw a man leaning against the wall. He was a new face around here but she knew he'd know the Maguire household, everyone in the area did.
"Do you know the Maguires? Three doors up?"
The man nodded and knocked out his cigarette quickly, making his way over to Louisa.
"I do miss. Why?"
"Go there now. Tell them that Louisa Kelly needs to see Ma now"
She was lucky, he didn't ask any more questions and was seen running up the street to the house. Louisa ran back into Sean and knelt at his side cleaning away the blood with one hand and holding his own with the other.
"Sean, it's Louisa... you probably can't even hear me but I need you to hang on, someone has gone for you Ma. She'll make it all right Sean, please you can't leave me. I barely know you but I so want to. I know it's not the done thing for a lady to make her intentions clear so I'm doing it whilst you can't hear me. I dream of being your girl Sean Maguire, not for the image of being with you but because of you - you beneath the expensive suits and flash car. I want to know the reader, the man who wants to do more with his life. I want to see the man you are capable of being Sean, so please please fight back from the darkness."
Ma Maguire appeared in the small room, her face as white as the sheets she had drying on her line. Louisa moved back from the man on her sofa to let the worried Mother forward, it was her place after all to be beside Sean, not Louisa'.
"I've cleaned the wound as best I can Mrs Maguire but he needs a doctor. I'd go but I can't leave the house in case Ma comes down and finds Sean here. You know how Ma is, ideas above her station and unlike me, my Ma has a mouth that could sink ships. God forgive me for saying so."
When Mrs Maguire smiled at Louisa through her tears, she was convinced she was seeing things.
"Louisa, thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am for this. That man, Ethan, that you sent to me has gone for a doctor but we need to get Sean home now. I've got the boys with me but I need you to keep the doors open for us."
Louisa looked to the sofa and the man lying there, and was greeted with the bluest eyes she had ever seen, she knew it was because his skin was so pale but they look like Sapphires and she was caught in their gaze. Sean gave her the softest of smiles as he whispered his thanks.
He was trying to get to his feet when the younger Maguire brothers came into the room quietly and lifted him to his feet. Both Danny and Mickey kissed the side of Louisa' face and whispered their thanks causing her to blush but it was when Sean insisted that they stop at the back door and he dipped his head down and kissed her cheek that she went red, her hand going to her cheek.
Ma Maguire saw the look on Louisa Kelly' face - the girl was in love with her blue eyed boy, and for the poor girl, knowing her Mother, she would be in for a mountain of trouble if she was discovered. Ma swore there and then not to stand in the way of the young couple if Sean felt the same way, after all, she owed Louisa her son' life tonight.
* * *
The doctor was waiting for them when they returned his face showing no emotion as he worked quickly to remove the bullet and sew the wound after Sean had knocked back half his own weight in the most expensive sherry they had in the house. Ma hadn't blinked an eye lid at this which showed her concern - normally it was reserved only for the Padre when he visited.
Mickey and Danny carried an unconscious Sean to his small bedroom and settled him for the night, promising their Mother that they would stay by his side throughout the few hours once they had moved the car back to where it belonged. They didn't need anyone to get curious about what had happened.
Sean had caught an infection from one of the workers at the market no more, no less.
* * *
It was several hours before sleep took hold of the remaining members of the Maguire family only to be woken by the phone going in the hallway.
Ma Maguire made her way to it, and was greeted with a request to speak to Sean. He in turn on hearing his Mother call out for him saying it was the telephone, made his way slowly down the stairs, wincing at every step.
"Sean, it's Reg. We'll be around at four."
Sean froze as the words sunk in.
"Ma will be pleased to see you both, it's been a long time since she saw you..."
"Oh, it's not just Ron and I, Ma is coming too. So. Four."
The phone went dead and Sean stood staring at the receiver as the dial tone became louder and louder...
The twins were coming to the house, with Violet Kray. Sean had to tell his Mother and he knew the house would be suddenly full of women, his Mother would insist the place wasn't a sight for his visitors despite whatever he said.
Taking a deep breath he kissed his Mother who was staring at him expectantly.
"The twins... they're coming here at four. Today Ma, and they're bringing Violet with them."
As expected, Ma went white and yelled for Danny to run to Patience and Temperance. That she needed all the help she could get.
There was a quiet knock on the door, Sean somewhat confused made his way there, no one in the street knocked like that, in such a quiet, nervous manner. He was greeted with a beautiful sight, Louisa Kelly.
His breath caught in his throat as he remembered what she had said to him as he has lain bleeding in her front room. The truth was, Sean Maguire felt the same way about Louisa and now, she was here in his house asking him how he was.
For the first time, in a long time, Sean Maguire was speechless but he knew one thing, he was going to ask Louisa out and after a few dates - ask her to be his girl. Her interfering Mother be damned, he liked Mr Kelly, had all the time in the world for the man, but the wife was impossible and had insulted his Ma, Sean never forgave anyone who dared do that.
There was one thing about Sean, when he wanted something - he got it, and Sean Maguire wanted Louisa Kelly.