Last Betrayal

By Ruth Lowry

From the author of You Only Love Twice.

Last Betrayal is about Johnny Connors; it begins in Ireland during his troubled teenage years. His family aren’t the usual run of the mill, his mother is a repressed God-fearing soul and his father a senior member of the IRA.

A terrible tragedy takes place just before his fifteenth birthday and he has no alternative but to flee from Ireland and certain damnation. He finds the courage to get to Belfast and stow away on a ship bound for Liverpool where he encounters Dylan Walsh; he takes pity on Johnny and helps him to start a new life. By the time Johnny is seventeen he has settled in to a new life in Merseyside, all be it with some shady individuals and dubious dealings. Ireland has become nothing more than a murky memory.

To his surprise he finds unequivocal love with a beautiful girl whilst managing the gentlemen’s drinking club that his boss Michael Murphy owns. Woefully nothing ever seems to go right for Johnny and his state of happiness is short lived when she is snatched away from him in a savage attack. Johnny is demented with anger and the ramifications of the aftermath of the tragedy once again leave him running away, this time to the lure of London.

Johnny’s good looks and Irish charm soon make him popular with the ladies and he becomes hugely respected by his peers as he settles in to a new career in the west end of London. He also believes he’s made a best friend for life only to realise some years later that his close friend has betrayed him in the most appalling way; however Johnny Connors will have his revenge even if his quest for it takes him to... Rome.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Dec 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035822102

Ruth Lowry

Ruth Lowry lives in Kent with her husband, Sean, and Teddy the dog. She has two sons, a daughter and four beautiful grandchildren. Ruth was in the beauty industry for over 30 years, but now spends most of her time writing, which has become her passion. Last Betrayal is her third book; her imagination clearly has no bounds. She likes socialising and enjoys a cold glass of fizz to help with the inspiration of bringing the characters she writes about to life.

Book preview

About the Author

Ruth Lowry lives in Kent with her husband, Sean, and Teddy the dog. She has two sons, a daughter and four beautiful grandchildren. Ruth was in the beauty industry for over 30 years, but now spends most of her time writing, which has become her passion.

Last Betrayal is her third book; her imagination clearly has no bounds. She likes socialising and enjoys a cold glass of fizz to help with the inspiration of bringing the characters she writes about to life.

Dedication

To my amazing family and special friends who continue to inspire me with their love and strength.

Copyright Information ©

Ruth Lowry 2023

The right of Ruth Lowry to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035822096 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035822102 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my husband, Sean, for his patience and support.

Part One

Prologue

Jonjo Ryan Connors, more commonly known as Johnny to his friends, family and even the odd enemy, was born in 1933 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, to parents Ryan and Kathleen Connors; the eldest of their four children and, perhaps, the most complicated. The Connors’ home was unconventional to say the least for many reasons, especially as far as the children were concerned.

Johnny’s father was a senior member of the IR, so was very seldom at home, and when he was at home, the only topic he enjoyed talking about was his very strong political views. He took very little interest in his children, expecting his wife to deal with all of their requirements. Ryan didn’t have time for their nonsense because there was nearly always some sort of meeting going on in their home; he and the other members sat around the large oak table in the front parlour while his poor mother ran around like a lackey for his powerful father making them large pots of tea and plates of sandwiches to satisfy the ever-growing army of followers that would regularly frequent their home. Quite often, there would be rowdy nights; his father would become most animated making fists in the air while drinking glass after glass of Irish whiskey shouting about the bloody monarchy and the idiots that ran the government. All in all, Johnny and his siblings were very much left to their own devices, their mother was nothing short of a martyr to her husband and lived to serve his every command thus leaving the older children to run wild, especially young Johnny. They weren’t neglected, as in abused physically, although their father was no stranger to the thick leather belt he often threatened to tan their backsides with. The Connors children were most certainly starved of love and attention.

***

Kathleen Connors was a god-fearing woman, and spent many hours at church praying…For what exactly; nobody knew but it was her solace, her special place that she went to habitually in order to escape from the house, her husband and her wayward family.

Kathleen’s father had been a farmer and her mother, a Sunday school teacher…Simple folk just as she was. Then suddenly and quite astonishingly, Ryan Connors had come along just like a hero from one of her romantic novels and swept her off her feet when she was only sixteen years old. They’d met at the monthly village dance that she’d been allowed to attend with her friend Molly Reagan.

Ryan had paid her an awful lot of attention that night which she hadn’t been used to. She’d always considered herself to be a plain Jane because she had fine straight mousey hair and a freckly complexion. Although she did have eyes of the very deepest blue that were framed with long fair lashes that gave her just enough prettiness to be noticed. She hadn’t been allowed to wear makeup; her father had been dead against women trying to draw attention to themselves, narcissism was not a trait he tolerated.

Ryan Connors had danced with her the entire night; the village dance had never been so much fun. He’d made her feel so very special and she hadn’t understood why he only seemed to have been interested in her? Whatever his reasoning, she’d instantly fallen in love with the tall black-haired man, with the twinkly brown eyes; the very second he’d engulfed her in his strong muscular arms, she’d known there would never be another man in her life. Kathleen had been so grateful for being chosen by him when he could’ve had the pick of any girl he fancied, being thankful to him for saving her from the sheltered life she’d led would never be enough for him; he made sure she paid for his kindness to her in the latter years.

They’d had only a very short courtship before he’d asked her father for her hand in marriage. Her parents had been totally against the marriage, but Ryan didn’t let that stop his pursuit of her. Regardless of her parent’s opinions of him, the young couple subsequently married without their consent; consequently, her father never forgave either of them for their betrayal. Ryan took his young bride to live with him in Acton County, Armagh where the majority of his large family lived; he’d promised Kathleen that she wouldn’t be alone while he was out of the house working long hours. That hadn’t been the case at all and she’d been very much left by herself, but to a degree, the choice to be alone was by her own definition. She was far too shy for the raucous Connors clan; she’d never fitted in with their wild nights of drinking and dancing.

All of their tiny unkempt cottages were within a stone’s throw from one another, and they all knew each other’s business; Kathleen was neither used to that intimacy nor craved it.

The relationship she shared with her own parents after marrying Ryan without their blessings had become fractured; her mother had only visited them once, shortly after Johnny was born; she’d stayed for just a few days to help her daughter out with the new baby but she was like a fish out of water in the poor surroundings. She’d told Kathleen to pack her bags and to come home with the baby; she predicted that she’d never be happy with Ryan Connors and that she’d made a huge mistake by marrying him. Her mother had seen for herself that he was out until all hours of the night drinking and spouting politics to whomever would listen, leaving her poor down-trodden daughter to cope all on her own. Ryan’s political views had always been a deep concern for Kathleen’s father; they could surely only lead to trouble her mother had warned her on more than one occasion in her monthly letters. Nevertheless, Kathleen had been blindsided by her love for the big handsome man that had given her the freedom she’d dreamt of her entire life, and he’d given her a beautiful son, so she’d refused point blank to go back home with her mother.

She didn’t see either of her parents ever again which would haunt her for the rest of her days, as her mother’s parting words for Kathleen…her only child had been hostile and angry. Sadly, just eighteen months later, Kathleen had received a letter from her Aunty Mary with the news that both her parents had been tragically killed in a fire at their small farm back in Cullyhanna. She hadn’t attended the funeral as she’d been a few days away from giving birth to her second child. Ryan had told her to stop wasting her tears as she was better off without them and that they had been terrible parents as they hadn’t cared for her one iota anyway. He’d reassured her that all she ever needed was him and their children and he’d delivered that information with no compassion whatsoever.

And so, her life became one of consensual slavery, caring for him alone and providing him with children year after year. Her love for him dwindled hugely over the course of time and she realised her mother had been absolutely right all along, but it was too late for Kathleen now, only God was her one true saviour, it was he whom she worshipped.

***

Ryan Connors had been a young man who was extremely proud of his country and at the tender age of just twenty not long after he’d met and married Kathleen, his political views became incredibly strong, to the point where his politics was far more important to him than Kathleen or his ever-growing family. Ryan had become a member of the IRA by the time he was twenty-one, he loved being part of an organisation that was dedicated to Irish republication, why shouldn’t Ireland be independent and republic, free from British rule? They were his very strong beliefs and nobody was going to tell him otherwise. The political party of his choice grew in strength and Ryan began to receive respect from senior members of the organisation all due to his tireless campaigning in their fight against the British military and monarchy.

He frequently held meetings for the growing army at his home and sometimes, he’d organise larger venues, in pubs initially and then in halls as more interest grew for the party. Ryan Connors was a happy man, a very powerful man for one still so young. Irish politics was something he was so passionate about and in his eyes, if anyone could give his beloved Ireland freedom, it was him and the IRA that he supported with his whole being. He couldn’t have given a toss either about whom he’d have to hurt to get it. His parents and siblings were so proud of Ryan because of his determination to give them all a better life, they simply adored him; Kathleen continued to be a good wife to him; she cooked, cleaned and tended to the family as best she could, always ready to serve her lord and master; she continued to keep herself to herself…and Ryan very much liked it that way.

Chapter 1

Johnny

Johnny Connors was a very popular boy amongst his peers, mostly because he was a daredevil, never refusing one single challenge that was administered by the other lads, which went from stealing sweets and cigarettes from the local shop or scrumping apples from the farmers orchards. He showed no fear, it didn’t bother him that if caught, the punishment came with a hefty fine for the guardian of the child. Johnny was clever enough to escape capture, he daren’t have been caught because his father would’ve beaten him with his thick leather belt until the skin on his backside was broken.

The thieving had put him in good stead with his friends, giving him quite a reputation as the hard boy who was scared of nothing and no one. He was respected largely because of his father whom most people feared in the community. Johnny had inherited his father’s temperament; he too had a drive and wanted to do something important with his life, although joining the IRA was not in his life plan. He was a very handsome lad and everyone commented on how much he looked like his father and by the time, he was fourteen and old enough to leave school, the girls were swooning all over him. He reassembled a young Cary Grant, whose film The Bachelor and the Bobby-soxer had just been shown at the cinema, not that he had seen it, as his father would never have allowed him or his siblings to watch that bloody drivel as he often described those types of films. However, Aileen Kelly who was Johnny’s sweetheart had seen it when she’d visited her aunt in Derry, and had said it was more than fantastic and described Johnny as a dead ringer for the actor, with his striking black hair and chocolaty brown eyes; Johnny was tall as well, already six foot in height and he still had plenty of years to continue to grow even taller.

Johnny and Aileen had secretly been seeing each other for quite some time and had started to go a little further than heavy petting behind the hay loft at Aileen’s parent’s farm house. They hadn’t meant it to happen; they had just gotten carried away one romantic balmy night, Johnny had told her she looked beautiful in the silvery shadows from the night sky, she loved his compliments, he had a way of making her feel like she was a movie star. They enjoyed kissing one another immensely, but that night, they just couldn’t stop themselves from going all the way.

Johnny couldn’t believe his ears when a few months in to their secret affair Aileen revealed she was pregnant and petrified that if her parents found out, they’d kill her or worse still send her to the sisters of mercy that she’d heard terrifying stories about. A few years ago, her cousin Roisin had stupidly slept with her boyfriend and as a result of her naivety, she’d become pregnant. She was sent to a home for disgraced girls that was managed by nuns. Roisin wasn’t allowed to return home, not even after the child was born as she had to stay in the dreadful place working in the laundry room, washing, drying and ironing all day to pay for her sins. Her own parents had agreed that it was good penance for her, so great was the shame that their daughter had brought to their door; and the baby she had given birth to was given away to a family that had travelled all the way from America to adopt the baby which they took back with them to the other side of the world, as she was deemed too evil to bring up a baby especially without a father in tow. Poor Roisin hadn’t even been permitted to say goodbye to her son; he was taken in the middle of the night without her knowledge, it was such a cruel turn of events.

Aileen had cried uncontrollably after telling Johnny the whole sorry story about her poor cousin and the dreadful news of her own pregnancy, her beautiful blue eyes were blood shot from continuously crying due to their awful dilemma. Johnny was shocked and had no answers for her, they were just kids and he had no idea how to solve their catastrophic problem. She begged him relentlessly to help her, so in the end, he had no choice but to find out if any of his pals knew anything about abortions, they’d told him they’d heard tales about older women in and around the town that would perform the illegal task for a price, but that’s all they knew having never been in that situation themselves. Jesus only knew where he’d get the money from even if he did find someone to perform the horrible job, but he’d have to get it from somewhere even if he had to steal it in order to help poor Aileen. A few of his pals had congratulated him for finding a girl who had actually done the deed with him and they’d wanted to know all the details, but he’d been in no mood to make their state of affairs juicy gossip. The lads were no use to him as they didn’t know of anyone that could help him with such a sinful thing…Why would they at their tender age?

Johnny was at a loss as to what to do but comforted and consoled Aileen the best way he could by urging her not to worry, he promised her that he wouldn’t let her down and that he’d think of something.

A week later after leaving school for the final time, not that he’d ever been in regular attendance, Johnny found work at the very farm that he’d stolen many an apple from in the past: at least it was something tending to the farmer’s precious fruits and crops. However, no amount of money he earned was going to solve the problem he and Aileen had, she didn’t even know how far along in the pregnancy she was, although Johnny had thought her tummy was looking a little swollen and if he was noticing, it wouldn’t be long before her mother did. An idea kept floating around in Johnny’s brain, what if they were to run away? And when the child was born, they could leave it on someone’s doorstep or outside the guards station or even outside a hospital. It was there only option if she were to be saved from the sisters of mercy that had sounded so terrifyingly cruel. Johnny couldn’t bear the thought of that awful place for Aileen, not when it was as much him to blame as it was her. They would be judged by God, he knew that, but most importantly of all, their families would never forgive them, and there would certainly be harsh consequences…For both of them.

Johnny explained his idea to Aileen that very evening; of course she’d been petrified and expressed through her tears that she’d be better off dead. Johnny reassured her that it could work and that they’d both be free to carry on with their lives even if it would have to be in another place far away from their families, at least nobody would know their shame and the baby would be taken care of by someone and they could start their lives again. They discovered that between them, they had six shillings which was no way near enough money for what Johnny had planned; they’d have to wait for his wages to be paid to him the following day before they could go anywhere. At least they’d have enough to get on a bus somewhere, although the lord alone knew where too, but he’d figure that out later. He kissed the tip of her cute button nose and brushed her shiny black hair away from her face, explaining to her as gently as he was able to, that they must do this and that she was to meet him in their usual place behind the hayloft after work the following day. All that he required from her was to bundle a few of her belongings together in to a bag without her mother noticing and he’d do the same, he told her he’d have his pound by then so that was better than nothing. It was then that she told him she’d managed to steal a sixpence from her father’s savings jar; she felt so ashamed to admit to being a thief along with everything else. He smiled at her and promised with his whole heart that it would all turn out alright. She agreed to the plan apprehensively, scared of what the future held for both of them. Aileen was beside herself with worry but despite her nerves and fear, she’d do as Johnny had instructed.

Johnny ran to the hayloft the next evening after he’d finished his long day at work, carrying only a small canvas rucksack with a few essentials in it and his precious pound and six shillings shoved firmly in his pocket, he hoped she was ready for the off, the sooner they left, the better…

He whispered her name in to the chilly night air so as not to alert her father, who sometimes did a late evening check on his chickens, but there was no response from her, so he whispered her name a little louder but still there was no reply. What was she playing at? He thought but was beginning to think she’d gotten cold feet, then he caught a glimpse of her tartan blanket and realised she was laying on it…sleeping. Jesus he thought, this was no time for napping, they had to go and immediately.

He edged a little closer to her and as he did so he noticed to his horror the sticky red blood all over her arms and her dress was no longer the pretty pale lemon one she kept for Sunday best but drenched in blood. He gasped and thought he might be sick, it was a sight he’d never forget, it would be etched in his mind forever because it was evident that she was dead. It was then that he saw the glint of the sharp blade lying beside her, he guessed she had likely taken it from her father’s cut throat razor and had used it to slash both of her wrists. He dropped to his knees and wept…silly stupid, Aileen, he would’ve looked after her, hadn’t he’d promised her that, why or why had she done this terrible thing? His thoughts were all over the place. Then the realisation hit him like a truck slamming in to his skull. Too many of his pals knew of their predicament, he didn’t want to leave her but the consequence of this was too dangerous for him to deal with. If his father or Aileen’s didn’t kill him, he would most certainly end up in gaol.

Without another thought, he kissed her on