Betrayal

Kerry Kaya

Description

A gangland series by bestselling author Kerry Kaya!

Meet the Tempest family – and get ready for the storm.

Tracey Tempest adores her husband, Terry. But when on his 50th birthday, tragedy strikes, Tracey must face the terrifying prospect of a future without him. Desperate for answers and boiling with rage, Tracey wants revenge…

Together with her beloved sons, Ricky and Jamie, the Tempest family dig deeper into Terry’s past - who would want to kill him, and why?

But what they discover changes everything they knew about the man they loved and risks tearing their own family apart.

Can the Tempests weather the storm or will the past destroy them all?

**Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers and Martina Cole.

What people are saying about Kerry Kaya!**

'Crime writing at its best! Believable characters - a must read!' Bestselling author Gillian Godden

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Policier
• Vie de famille
• Parentalité et Éducation des Enfants
• Relations familiales
• Women Sleuths
• Hard-Boiled
• Amateur Sleuth
• Traditional
• Thrillers
• Street crime
• Violent crime
• General officer
• Murder
• General
• Crime
• Thriller
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 10 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781801629430
• Langue: English

Extrait

BETRAYAL


KERRY KAYA
For Callum
CONTENTS



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue


Acknowledgments

More from Kerry Kaya

About the Author

Peaky Readers

About Boldwood Books
1

Tracey Tempest had never been the type of woman to keep her opinions to herself, especially when it came to her mother-in-law Patricia. But seeing as she had a garden full of guests, today of all days she was begrudgingly prepared to make an exception, if for no other reason than to keep the peace. After all, the very last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene on her husband Terry’s birthday.
Brunette and petite, and with a penchant for wearing leopard print, Tracey was a beautiful woman. But as she moved around her immaculate fitted oak kitchen lifting tin foil away from plates of ham sandwiches, sausage rolls, and large bowls filled with salad, she gritted her teeth into a scowl.
‘Why don’t you get out from under my feet and go outside Pat?’ she urged her mother-in-law with a flick of her head towards the garden where Terry’s fiftieth surprise birthday party was already in full swing. ‘Terry will be here at any moment and I’ll be bringing the cake out soon,’ she said with a glance at her watch, ‘and you wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would you?’
Patricia turned up her nose as she eyed the single-tiered iced sponge cake with a measure of distaste. In the middle of the thick white icing two red candles bearing the numbers five and zero had been pushed haphazardly into the sponge.
‘Cake,’ she remarked in a loud shrill voice. ‘Is that what you bleeding well call it? I told you I would have baked the cake myself and believe me, it would have been a darn sight better than this monstrosity.’ She flicked a remnant piece of icing away from the gold-coloured cake board and on to the worktop. ‘But oh no, my baking wasn’t good enough for you, was it?’ She paused to catch her breath and squinted to look up at the clock on the wall, the alcohol she’d already sunk making it difficult for her to focus. ‘Besides, it’s a bit early, ain’t it? You’ve not even brought out the buffet yet.’
Tracey closed her eyes, then silently counted to ten before answering. In her mind, the sooner Terry put in an appearance and the cake could be served, the sooner one of her sons could drop their grandmother off home and the real party could begin. ‘Well go and spend some time with the guests then.’ She gestured impatiently in the direction of the many family and friends who were gathered in the garden. ‘What do you want to be cooped up inside with me for?’
For a few moments Patricia was thoughtful as she patted her peroxide blonde hair that she’d painstakingly back combed to within an inch of its life. ‘What time did you tell Kenny to get Terry here for?’ Her blue eyes twinkled as she asked the question. Kenny Kempton was not only her son’s childhood friend but he was also Terry’s business partner and it was no secret that Patricia had a soft spot for him.
Taking a second glance at her watch, Tracey took note of the time. She’d told Kenny to make sure he brought Terry home for two o’clock, and with just a few moments to spare, she still needed to finish setting up the buffet. ‘They’re due any minute, so why don’t you go outside and wait for them,’ Tracey said, ushering her mother-in-law out of the kitchen.
Patricia all but skipped out the back door, her slim body practically jigging from side to side with excitement as she tottered outside on impossibly high stilettos.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Tracey shook her head and resumed the task of tearing away sheets of tin foil from the finger buffet. Her mother-in-law’s cloying scent still filled the kitchen and, wrinkling her nose, she waved her arm in the air to help clear the stench.
‘Was Nan giving you grief again?’ As he strode into the kitchen, a hint of amusement could be heard in Ricky Tempest’s voice. The hostile relationship between his mother and grandmother was legendary on their estate and it was fair to say there was no love lost between the two women. To be more precise: they despised each other and had done so from the very first moment they had clapped eyes on one another.
Throwing the discarded sheets of tin foil into the bin, Tracey looked up at her eldest son and rolled her eyes. ‘As much as I love your father,’ she sighed, ‘if I’d have known back then that I would have to put up with his mother day in and day out, I would never have agreed to marry the man.’
Ricky chuckled out loud; for all her talk, he knew for a fact his mother adored his father and would be lost without him. His parents were not only a match made in heaven but also had the kind of marriage that he and his younger brother Jamie could only hope to one day emulate.
‘Do me a favour darling, as soon as the cake has been eaten take your nan home.’ She tapped the side of her head. ‘There is only so much I can take of her in one day without blowing a gasket and believe me, it’s taking every ounce of my strength not to wrap my hands around her throat and throttle the life out of her.’
‘Will do.’ Ricky chuckled even harder. Shifting his weight slightly, he cleared his throat and became serious. ‘I’m thinking of popping the question to Kayla.’
Tracey’s mouth dropped open. ‘What, here? Today?’ she asked.
Ricky shrugged, and as his three-year-old son Mason ran into the kitchen he was saved from answering.
‘Oh, go on, do it today.’ Tracey beamed up at her son. ‘We’ll make sure it’s one of the biggest celebrations this estate has ever seen! We’ll put on the works, a proper East End knees up, and as for your dad,’ she said with a laugh, ‘he can pay for the bloody lot; it’s about time the bugger came in useful for something,’ she said.
‘She hasn’t even said yes yet Mum,’ Ricky reminded his mother.
‘Oh, she’ll say yes, don’t you worry about that.’ Peering through the kitchen window, Tracey spotted her son’s girlfriend Kayla attempting to make small talk with Patricia and loved the woman even more for her effort. She of all people knew just how difficult it was to get a decent conversation out of her mother-in-law. ‘That girl loves the bleeding bones of you and it’s about time you made it official, made her a Tempest. She’s already one of the family and she’s got a good head on her shoulders too.’
‘We’ll see,’ Ricky answered as he scooped his son up into his arms before he could swipe one of the iced fairy cakes that his mother had set out on a cake stand just moments earlier.
‘Oh let him have one, there’s plenty to go around.’ Peeling away the paper casing, Tracey passed across one of the cakes and as her grandson took a large bite she gave him a playful wink.
‘Just remember to keep schtum about it for now Mum; I don’t want Kayla catching wind of it before I’ve even had the chance to get down on one knee and propose.’
Tracey chuckled and, leaning in towards her son, she pretended to pull a zip across her lips. ‘I’m the queen of keeping schtum, and believe me, if I can keep quiet about the skulduggery your father has been involved in over the years then I think I can keep a lid on this,’ she said.
With an impending wedding on the horizon, even Pat’s presence wasn’t enough to dampen Tracey’s mood and with another glance at her watch she wondered for the umpteenth time that afternoon if it was too early to bring out the birthday cake? And more to the point, where was her husband? She bit down on her lip. It was so typical of Terry; he’d be late for his own funeral, not that she entirely blamed him considering he had no idea about the party, but Kenny on the other hand, now he did know, and more than once she had specifically instructed him to make sure that he brought Terry home on time.



* * *
In quick succession, Kenny Kempton snorted two lines of cocaine from a compact disc. ‘This,’ he said with an approving nod, ‘is the fucking bollocks.’
Beside him in the passenger seat, Terry Tempest grinned. ‘I told you it’s the nuts and believe me, there’s plenty more where that came from.’ At six-foot-two in height, Terry was not only a handsome man with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a chiselled jawline, but he also had a muscular physique and menacing presence about him, all of which his two sons had inherited.
Licking his index finger, Kenny greedily gathered up the remnant traces of cocaine and rubbed them across his gums. Then, looking up at the rear-view mirror, he set about wiping away the excess white powder from around his nostrils before smoothing down his greying hair. Unlike Terry, he was a portly man and a good three inches shorter than his business partner. The only thing he and Terry shared in common was the fact that they could both hold their own. Even as children they had inflicted fear and intimidation amongst their classmates. They had ruled the playground in pretty much the same way as they ruled Dagenham, with brute force.
Up ahead of them, a white transit van turned into the breakers yard that Kenny and Terry owned. Kenny waited until the van had pulled up beside them before leaning across Terry, pulling open the glove box and taking out a loaded semi-automatic pistol.
‘What took you so long?’ he demanded as he stepped outside the car, his gruff voice loud and harsh.
Kenny’s son Shaun jumped out of the van, his plump cheeks flushed pink, and ran a hand through his blond hair, making it stand up on end. ‘Bianca,’ he spat. ‘Her and the rest of the Murphys are threatening to up the price; reckon they’re sick and tired of babysitting the merchandise.’
Kenny narrowed his eyes. Bianca, or ‘the bitch’ as he’d nicknamed her, was beginning to get right on his tits. And as for the rest of