Fool's Gold

Gillian Godden

Description

No risk. No reward.

A new life…

With their wretched life in Liverpool behind them, Julie and Ralph Gold head to London for their next big break. Julie’s had enough of slumming it, she's ready to quit their life of crime and go legit.

The same old game…

But it seems their reputation has beaten them to it, and the underworld is already bubbling with news of the their arrival. And as much as Julie tries to go straight, the more people underestimate them and treat them like fools. And there is only so much Julie can take…

One last trick.

So when they are offered one final big job, Julie knows they should say no. It’s risky and could cost them everything they have. But it could also be their last chance to make it big.

And when fools rush in, the Golds take the spoils.

Read what happens next for Julie and Ralph Gold in another thrilling gangland story by Gillian Godden.

Sujets

• Policier & Thriller
• Policier
• Thriller
• Mashups
• Psychological
• Women Sleuths
• Siblings
• Thrillers
• Women
• Coming of Age
• Suspenso
• Gran Londres
• Street crime
• Psychological thriller
• Domestic
• Sibling
• General officer
• Woman
• Psychology
• Organized crime
• Greater London
• The Women
• City Life
• General
• Crime
• Family Life
• Suspense
• Grand Londres
• Fiction
• London

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 14 octobre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781802800586
• Langue: English

Extrait

Fool’s Gold


Gillian Godden
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

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30


Acknowledgments

More from Gillian Godden

About the Author

About Boldwood Books
1
Reflection

Isn’t it strange how your life can change just as quickly as flicking a switch? One moment in time can change your whole future. Sometimes for the good or the bad – you really don’t know until you follow the path put in front of you. Looking out of the window as the train sped past trees and houses, a feeling of foreboding gripped Julie. Suddenly she felt sick. What was she doing? Especially with a man she hardly knew. An ex-con with fingers in more pies than a baker. Thinking about her life and the difficulties in it, Julie felt she didn’t have many regrets. There was no point. A lot of her lifestyle was her own doing, but she’d never been given a chance to be anything else. Was this the crossroads to a brighter future or just another mistake in her life? It had already been filled with sadness and dead ends. In addition, she had done her fair share of evil deeds to survive and realised she had rarely done anything for herself. It had always been for the good of someone else. Was this her chance to make something good for herself?
A few days ago, in her bedsit in Liverpool, it had all seemed so feasible. Making love and spending time with Ralph Gold seemed like the only thing in the world that mattered. No sooner had he proposed than he turned on his heel, made his excuses about business and left. He had told her to sort things out in Liverpool and join him as soon as possible in London.
The sound of a baby crying broke into her thoughts and, turning around, she could see a young woman embarrassed and apologising to the people around her. The more the baby cried as she held it to her shoulder and patted its back to soothe it, the more she apologised.
It seemed everyone had turned towards the woman, making the situation even worse. The elderly couple opposite Julie were tutting and looking annoyed as they tried to read their paper. Instantly, she thought of her small nephew, Josh. How she wished she could hear him cry like that.
Julie had had to leave him behind at the hospital with only her old neighbour Gertie to visit him and the nurses to watch over him in his incubator full of wires and tubes to help him breathe. He had another chest infection. No one had expected him to survive. However, he had proved to be a fighter against all the odds and, whatever problems he would face in the future, Julie just knew the little boy would show the same spirit he had demonstrated since birth.
It was a foregone conclusion that he would have some form of mental health problems. Josh had been born a heroin addict due to her own sister Frankie’s addiction, although no one would know to what extent he had been affected until he was older.
Although she had agreed to meet Ralph in London, she sorely wished she had not. She had not thought it through properly. As the train stopped at each station, she felt the sudden impulse to get off and leave this promise of a bright future behind her. After all, promises were like piecrusts. They were meant to be broken.
For Christ’s sake, Julie , she mentally scolded herself, you look desperate and foolish and you always swore you would never let any man make a fool of you. Looking up at the elderly couple facing her and the strange stares they gave her and each other, Julie realised she must have been thinking aloud. She felt she was going crazy, and now she was talking to herself in public!
Craning her neck to look over at the woman again, it saddened her. Frankie, her sister, should be sitting like that, holding her baby to her bosom and nursing it. Instead, she had lived an awful life surrounded by drugs and prostitution and, after giving birth to Josh, she had died. It all seemed so long ago and yet it was just a matter of a few months.
Josh would now be in Julie’s care. She would look after him the way she had tried her best to look after Frankie. Neither of them had anyone else. Julie’s mother was still alive, but currently serving a prison sentence for murder so was in no position to look after a baby.
‘Do you want a cup of tea from the buffet bar or something?’ she shouted across the other passengers’ heads. Pleased to see the woman half smile as she looked up at her, Julie smiled back reassuringly. There was no point in asking; that poor woman was in dire need of a cup of something. Preferably laced with gin. ‘Don’t worry about this lot, love, they have obviously just arrived from Mars and never heard a baby cry before. God help their own kids!’
Ignoring the other passengers’ stares, Julie got up and stumbled her way through the aisle of the train to the buffet carriage. Ordering two cups of tea and a chocolate bar, she opened her purse and saw that she only had twenty pounds in it. Ralph had given her the money for the train ticket and, stupidly, for the first time in her life, blinded by excitement, she had forgotten to ask for more. More to the point, he had not offered any more.
She had given Gertie a few pounds towards her bus fare to go and see Josh, and had bought a new top to look her best for when Ralph met her at the station. The money in her purse was all she had left in the world. Maybe, she mused. Although she knew Ralph was a man of his word, she was nervous. Prostitution was a past life. She had done what she had needed to, to survive. But now she had found a good, honest man and he deserved the best. Doubting herself, Julie knew they were worlds apart, but she was determined to make him proud of her and not regret his decision. He deserved the best and that was what she would give him, putting her seedy past behind her. This was a fresh start with a man she loved and who loved her. Who could ask for anything else?
Disappointment and doubts hung in the air like a cloud over her peroxide-blonde hair. Ralph had only been out of prison a few days when he had come to visit her and had proposed, but now she wondered if he had really meant it. Had it just been freedom talking? All his plans just pent-up desires he been thinking about in his cell? She could always go back to prostitution, she decided while waiting for the woman behind the counter to stop talking to her colleague and eventually pour the tea.
It was an honest trade and never went out of fashion. But just thinking about going back to that life made Julie feel like crying. Her hands felt sweaty as the train moved closer and closer to London. Had this all been some stupid pipe dream? Businessmen didn’t marry women like herself. They were mistresses and someone to use when you felt the urge. For the first time in years, she felt frightened and worried. She hated weakness. She’d learnt from experience that showing your weaknesses gave other people control over you. She had always been the strong one and looked after everyone else. Now she wished she had someone to look after her. There was no one to turn to for help. Maybe that was why she wanted to believe Ralph Gold and all of his promises of their future together. She was tired of the life she was living and realised she was going nowhere fast. Moreover, there was little Josh. She would make damned sure whatever happened that he would always know where the next meal was coming from. She would pet and spoil him and make his childhood memorable for all the right reasons.
Picking up the two cardboard cups of tea, the jewelled fingers on her hand sparkled. Ralph had given the rings to her when he had proposed. Well, that was another option. If they were real, she would have something to pawn. They looked genuine enough but now she was not so sure. With her mind racing in all directions with every negative thought bouncing around in her head, she tried reasoning with herself. She liked Ralph Gold and she had trusted and believed his plans for their future. He was a quiet man who noticed everything but said nothing. He was a closed book. Even his facial expressions didn’t portray what he was thinking. For all of his money, he showed little bravado. He was a thinker and, surely, a man like that would not make rash proposals to women. The overly hot tea nearly burnt her mouth as she took a sip. It had not helped that the train had jolted and she had taken a bigger sip of the hot liquid than intended.
‘For God’s sake, do British Rail try and kill all of their customers? Put some bloody cold water in these, will you, and be grateful I’m not suing you.’
‘You can always put your complaint in writing.’
‘Well, maybe I will, you snotty cow, standing there gossiping with your mate. I wonder what British Rail would think about you ignoring your customers!’ Snapping and glaring at the woman behind the counter, she waited until the woman poured some cold water into the cups and steadied herself as she walked back to her seat. She wanted to lash out at someone. Anyone. She knew she had made a fool of herself believing Ralph. Anyway, it served that snotty cow right.
She took a cup over to the woman with the baby, who by now seemed to be getting quieter in the care of its mother’s soothing voice and with the motion of the train settling it. ‘Here take this, and this. Sorry, there is no brandy in it.’ Looking down at the baby and handing over the chocolate bar to the woman, Julie smiled as the grateful, tired woman held her free hand out for the cup.
‘How much do I owe you, erm…?’ the flustered woman with the baby asked Julie while trying to reach for her bag.
Julie sh