The Queen Of Small Heath

Did Barney Kill Mosley?

Auroras POV

"Well, this is a big fucking mess." I say as I shove my way through the crowd rioting outside the hall. Once inside, I head down the corridor where I meet Tommy. "You do realise there was a side door, love." Tommy states. "I know." I shrug.

"You know what you have to do?" He asks me and I nod. "Yeah, I'll go check in with Aberama and then I'll go find Barney." I tell him. "Good, this is our one fucking chance. It can't go wrong." Tommy sighs and I place my hand on his arm. "I know. We've got this." I tell him. "Be safe. And under no fucking circumstances are you allowed to die." He warns me.

"It takes a lot to kill me, Tommy. You know that. You be safe too." I kiss him before I walk off to where Aberama is stationed, fiddling with my knife. "Abe." I say, pulling him to one side. "Lioness? You ain't meant to be down here." He frowns at me.

"Is everything in place? We can't afford to screw up." I say and he nods, giving me a thumbs up. "Yeah, very clear instructions. Crazy man up top is going to shoot a couple of inches away from your man." He replies. "Not my man. I'm going to go check on him. Tom will be on stage but Barney won't have received the signal yet." I tell him before going to walk off.

"Rory." He calls me and I turn around just as his arms wrap around me. "Be safe, please." He whispers and I nod, pulling back. "I knew you cared about me." I tease and he chuckles. "You know I do." He winks and I chuckle. "You be safe too." I tell him firmly and he tips his hat at me. "Yes ma'am." He replies.

I navigate my way through the private passage ways of the building until I enter a room with a ladder that leads to where Barney is. I haul myself onto the platform, then stride down a few more corridors, climbing through a window, landing a few feet from where I see Barney is stationed. I look out the small box window and see Tommy lifting his pocket watch.

I begin to countdown in my head but when I get to six, a man appears behind Barney and before I can stop him, his shoots him in the back of the head. "Shit." I mutter as I run down the corridor, and step up behind the man, slamming my elbow into his neck, making him pass out. I look down at Barney and make a quick decision and pick up his gun, aiming it at Mosley who is still speaking.

I looking down the scope and quickly fire the shot, landing a bullet into Mosley's head and everyone starts screaming. I quickly place the gun in Barneys hands, before grabbing the knocked out man and dragging him down the corridor where I was waiting. I flip my pocket knife out and slit his throat, making blood splatter over me.

I run back the way I came, quickly making my way to where Tommy and Johnny stood. "It worked. Tom, it fucking worked." Johnny grins as Tommy looks up at me and frowns. "What happened to you?" He asks concerned and I shake my head. "Um, just a little run in, is all." I tell him but he looks like he doesn't believe me.

"Tom, Barney is dead." I tell him as Johnny runs off to find Arthur and Mosley's men start to swarm the stage. "What? How?" He asks, pulling me further back. "Someone crept behind him and put a bullet in his brain. I killed the guy who did it." I tell him. "Did Barney kill Mosley?" He asks and I nod. "Yeah. The guy killed him after." I tell him just as Arthur and Johnny come running back.

"He did it. He fucking did it, Tom." Arthur exclaims before he looks around. "Where is he?" He asks. "He's dead." Me and Tommy reply. "How?" He asks stunned. "He couldn't handle it. Shot himself in the head." I quickly answer making Tommy look at me confused. "I didn't expect that." Johnny says. "No. Neither did I." Tommy says, looking at me.

"Guys, we need to get out of here. Police are starting to swarm." A Lee boy tells us and we all run out of the building, put the back exit. "We need to talk." Tommy whispers to me firmly and I sigh.

******

Tommys POV

"Sit." I tell Aurora as we enter my office at Shelby Company Limited. She sits down in front of my desk, as I shrug of my jacket before pouring a glass of whiskey. "Did you kill Mosley?" I ask her and she looks down, giving me her answer. "Baby, for fuck sake." I groan, downing the whiskey.

"I had no choice. Barney was dead before the countdown was finished and that bastard deserved it." She growls and I slam my hands down onto the table. "The whole point of Barney doing the killing was so that none of us got in trouble." I say and she looks up at me. "I know that. But they won't know it's me." She says confidently.

"How? How will they not know it's you?" I ask her. "Because they're still gonna think it was Barney. He shot Mosley and then killed himself because he couldn't handle it and didn't want to go back to the nuthouse." She says. "And what if they don't? What if they come after you?" I ask her.

"They won't." She sighs and I glare at her. "You don't know that, Aurora. I can't lose you!" I yell and she furrows her eyebrows at me. "So this isn't about me getting caught or the fact that I killed Mosley...it's about you not wanting to lose me, isn't it?" She asks and I look away.

"Oh my god, Tommy." She says standing up. "Can you blame me? You killed someone who is high up on the food chain. What happens if you go to prison? What about our boys?" I ask. "I'm not going to prison. They won't know it's me." She says.

"How? Come on, Ror. I can't lose you. I can't...I can't lose you." I say sadly as she walks over to me and takes my face in her hands. "You won't. Okay? You won't. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." She tells me firmly. "You don't know that." I tell her.

"No, I don't. But it's not gonna happen. Tommy, I'm the Queen of Small Heath. They can't touch me." She says confidently. "You're my life, you know that?" I tell her and she nods. "Yeah, I do because you're mine too." She says.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere. No way. You're mine. And no one is taking my Queen away from me." I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her into me. "Your Queen's going no where. Not now, not ever." She promises and I lean down and kiss her, deeply. "Never leave me." I whisper. "I'll never leave you." She whispers back.

******

Aurora's POV

Me, Isaiah and Arthur are standing around in Tommy hallway, waiting for him to finish his phone call. "Rory, you okay?" Arthur asks me, breaking me out of my daze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." I tell him and he nods.

A couple of minutes pass and Tommy emerges from his office, a switchblade in his hand. "What's he doing now? Gonna try and slit his throat?" Arthur asks. "No, off course he's not." I say as the three of us follow him outside where three body bags are laying on the drive way. I only know about Barney so who are the other two?

Tommy had cut the first one to reveal Barney before he cuts the other one to reveal Aberama, making all of gasp in shock. Tommys eyes meet mine before he moves to the last one, and slips his knife under the rope. Tommy shakes his head, looking up at me with tears in his eyes. I go to walk but he stands up and blocks my view. "Don't, baby." He tells me.

I push past him and freeze when I see Polly laying in the last body bag. "No." I whisper as tears start to stream down my cheeks. Polly has been like a second mum to me and to know she's not going to be around anymore breaks my heart. "Baby." Tommy says softly, wrapping his arms around me as I start to sob for Polly. "She's gone." I whisper in disbelief as I hear Arthur losing it, cursing loudly.