“It’s clear,” he said. “But it’s not nice.”
“Why? Is anyone there?”
“Casey is. Sort of.”
I stepped past him and into the cluttered living room where we’d met with Adi. It was much the same as it had been then, except that Casey was sitting on the sofa where Adi had been. Actually, it was more reclining than sitting. He was slumped back, with his legs stretched out and his arms draped loosely down by his sides. He was wearing a red T-shirt with white sleeves, and for a moment I thought he’d put on an Arsenal strip.
But then I saw that he was staring sightlessly into nowhere, and I saw the holes in his chest, and realized that the red was blood.
“Casey?” I asked, pointlessly. I walked over to him, thinking I should take his pulse or something, but it was clearly a waste of time. There were at least three entry marks that I could see, grouped tightly round his heart, and blood had soaked into the fabric underneath him and spread beyond his body. Which suggested that the holes went all the way through.
“Don’t touch anything,” Sam warned me. “This is a crime scene. We don’t want to mess it up. We’d better get outside.”
“Yes.” I stepped back. “No. Not yet. We need to find Adi.”
“OK. Let’s go carefully.”
We checked the ground floor first. From the looks of it, Adi and Casey had been camping out in rooms at the back – there were two camp beds set up with sleeping bags. We found the door to the backyard – the van was parked there, but no one was in it.
The first floor looked as though it hadn’t been used in years. The roof was starting to leak in places, plaster had come down from the ceiling in several rooms, and mould was growing on the walls and the old bits of furniture still left in place. A lot of the rooms were empty, though – probably cleared for renovation work that had never happened.
There was no sign of Adi.
We went back out into the sunshine, back to the car, where I sat on the bonnet and rested my head in my hands. Too much happening, too quickly. Too much death. This wasn’t my world.
“Where is he? And who did this?” I asked the obvious questions.
“I should think that whoever killed Casey has taken Adi as well.” Sam had put the gun away, but he was keeping his hand very close to it, and from the way he was constantly looking around, he was still on alert.
“Yes, but who? I would have said Lonza, but even if he survived that explosion…”
“I doubt that,” Sam put in.
“So do I, and even if he did, he’d be in no condition to come looking for payback. Some of his men, though. Handy Jack? Though he was right next to Lonza when it went off.”
Sam shook his head. “Not him, then. Perhaps the other bloke – the one with the pockmarked face. He was moving around when we left. And shooting. I don’t think the ones I hit with the bat will be doing much of anything for a while.”
“There might have been others. Perhaps not in the house.”
“Yes, perhaps. But it still doesn’t explain how they found this place so fast. Adi and Casey had kept a very low profile – and Casey was professional. He wouldn’t have stayed here if he thought there was a chance it had been compromised.”
“I don’t know, Sam.” I rubbed my forehead, closed my eyes. It had been an exhausting day. “Could it have been your mysterious friends?”
“No. Not like this, anyway. If they wanted Adi and Casey out of the way – and after that explosion, they might well – they’d have been much more discreet about it, and they wouldn’t have left a mess.”
“Discreet? What does that mean?” I asked suspiciously.
“Well, they could just have had them arrested. More than enough grounds. But in any case, I doubt if they could have done this. I didn’t tell them about Adi or where Adi was. They might well find out, but not this fast.”
“Somebody else, then.”
“A new player in the game?” Sam suggested.
“Yes. Perhaps. After all, there’s a lot of money involved here. If someone else is involved I bet they’re after the same thing as Lonza – getting control of the sports centre. Which is why they’ve taken Adi.”
“He should be all right then. For now at least.”
“For now. But we’ve got to find him, Sam.”
“I don’t know how we can, though. We don’t have the resources. Time to phone a friend, I think. Or text them.”
Sam took out his burner and started pressing buttons.
“Wait a minute,” I said, and he stopped, giving me an expectant look. “Perhaps it’s time to make this official? Go to the police? The normal police, that is. We’ve got a body to show them this time – and your friends are a bit of an unknown quantity. We don’t know when they might respond.”
Sam frowned and scratched his chin. “You do have a point. But the thing is, I’ve already brought them in on this. We can’t just say, ‘Thanks, but we’ve changed our minds.’ They’re involved, whatever. Not keeping them informed would be a bad move. Might make them think we’re playing games with them – and these sorts of people don’t like playing games!”
I put my hands on my head, closed my eyes. I was so out of my depth here.
“I could tell them what happened and ask them if we should call the police?” Sam suggested.
“Right,” I agreed. “Do that. No – tell them that we’re going to call the police. In five minutes. That gives them time to respond if they want to.”
Sam opened his mouth as if to say something more, then just shrugged, nodded, and went back to tapping at the keypad.
I switched my phone on again, wondering if Sandy had called. Or even Adi perhaps? There were several missed calls, but they were all from Declan. And some texts. I opened the first one.
“Call me! Urgent!” I didn’t know what his idea of urgent was, but I doubted it counted for much compared to my day.
“Well, that’s done,” Sam said. “I’ve given them the address and told them about Casey.”
His phone buzzed.
“That was quick.” He checked the screen, then showed it to me.
“MATTER IN HAND. DO NOT CALL POLICE. GO HOME. YOU WILL BE CONTACTED IF NECESSARY.”
“Well, we got a reaction at least,” I commented.
“Mention of dead bodies often does that. So do we go home?”
I hesitated. “I suppose that would be the sensible thing to do.”
“Only – I’ve been thinking. Would Adi go to Karen?”
I shrugged. “Perhaps. If he had nowhere else to go. Or he might be hiding out at the Castle.”
Sam nodded. “Yes, maybe. But what I was thinking, Dad, was that if someone had taken him, someone who wanted to put pressure on him, then…”
His voice trailed off, as if reluctant to make the connection, but I could see where he was going.
“Oh no,” I whispered. “These people – they’d do that, wouldn’t they? Threaten Karen. Or Adrienne – she’s still living at home.”
Sam nodded. “Perhaps we’d better go there first, then.”
“Right. And let’s hope your friends are on the ball.”
We got back into the car, and Sam used the side track to help turn round in the narrow lane. He put his foot down as he headed back towards the green.
“Go right at the bottom,” I told him. “Up to the top of the hill, then right again. It’s signposted from there.”
My phone buzzed again. “Declan, I’ll talk to you when I’m ready,” I said pointlessly, then checked the text message anyway, and my blood froze.
“Graham – Adi’s been here and he’s NOT A FAKE! What’s going on? CALL ME NOW!”
“What is it, Dad?”
I flashed the screen at him. He gave it a glance as he tore round the green and onto the road out.
“Well, now things are just getting weirder,” he said. “Why would he go to Declan’s?”
“I’ll find out.”
I fumbled with the buttons until I had
Declan’s number, and called. He answered it at once.
“Graham! ’Bout time – where the heck have you been?”
“Busy. Long story, but very busy. What’s this about Adi?”
“You said he was a fake! Well, I don’t know what you’ve been drinking or smoking, boyo, but he’s been here and I can tell you for certain he’s one hundred per cent the genuine Adi!”
“I know. There was a fake, but yes, there’s a real one around as well!”
“You knew?” Declan sounded halfway between fury and tears. “Why didn’t you say something, then? Why didn’t you tell me, Graham?”
“I’ve only just found out myself. Well, not long ago. Where is he now?”
“Adi? He’s gone to the sports centre, I think. He took my keys anyway. And here’s the thing, Graham: he told me he’s closing it down. Has closed it. Effective immediately. I’m not to go back, no one’s allowed up there. Except you. He told me to call you, and tell you to meet him there, soon as. You and Sam, he said.”
“Did he now? Well, I’m on my way to see him anyway, and we’ll have some words. Find out what’s going on.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Graham. He’s not alone. There’s a couple of hard-looking lads with him, so there is, and they mean business.”
The phone was on speaker, so Sam could hear. We exchanged glances. “What did these hard lads look like, Dec?”
“Well, there was a big one, bald with a little goatee beard. Silly little thing, but no one’s likely to tell him that. Then there was another one, with some sort of marks all over his face. He didn’t say much, but the way he looked at me wasn’t nice. Might have been one out in the car as well.”
“OK, Declan. Just hang tight. I’ll go and talk to him, find out what’s going on. I’m sure we can sort this.”
I hung up and looked at Sam. “Pockface.”
He nodded. “I didn’t see a big bald guy with a beard. Could have been somewhere else at the time, I suppose.”
“Yes. If we assume that Jack, Lonza and the two you batted are out of the picture, then there might only be those two and perhaps one other, the driver.”
“Or there might be others that we don’t know about. And we’d better expect them to be armed.”
“Right.”
“But you’re still going there. In spite of that text.”
I thought about it. Of course, it didn’t make any sense. But…
“It’s Adi, Sam. He might be in trouble. I can’t just let him disappear again. Not without talking to him. Or at least trying to.”
What I couldn’t say, what I couldn’t put into words, was what Adi had meant to me for so many years; how deeply my life had been wrapped up with his. How much I’d invested in him. My friend. My best friend ever. I hadn’t even realized how much that mattered.
Not until he’d walked away from me. I couldn’t let him do it again.
“Right then.” Sam wasn’t going to try and talk me out of it, I realized.
“You’re not going, though,” I added. “It doesn’t make sense for both of us to just walk in there. Someone needs to stay clear, be ready to call in the cavalry if things go really bad.”
“If?”
I glanced across at him and realized that I’d never seen him looking so grim. It changed him completely, the relaxed and cheerful young man I’d gotten to know was suddenly a much darker and somehow older person.
“Dad, the last time we went into a house we found a dead body and the time before that a bomb went off. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but there is a bit of a pattern developing here. This isn’t about if things go bad; it’s just about how bad things are going to get.”
“All the more reason for you to keep at a distance. And keep in touch with those friends of yours. Perhaps you can persuade them to do more than send texts.”
“I had hoped for something more,” Sam admitted. “But, to be fair, I’m an unknown source. They’re probably still checking up on me.”
“They need to get a move on.”
The traffic built up as we headed back into town. There was a lane closed on one of the main approach roads, thanks to a couple of cars that had had a bit of a bump. Time ticked on while we crawled past the scene. Finally we were able to get onto the Queensway and the pace picked up. All the same, it was getting late by the time we pulled up in a street not far from the sports centre – 7 p.m. by the dashboard clock. Still a lot of daylight left, but I suddenly realized I was starving. I couldn’t remember when I’d last eaten. I could have done with a cup of tea at least.
Later, I promised myself.
“I’ll call you before I go in,” I said to Sam. “Then I’ll leave the phone on. You should be able to hear everything.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And of course they won’t suspect a thing, unless they saw the same film you got the idea from.”
“Oh, I’m not going to hide it. I want them to know someone’s listening in. But if we get cut off, find a panic button and hit it hard.”
He gave me an approving look. “Good thinking, Dad. But you do realize that if things go pear-shaped, I won’t be close enough to help?”
“You won’t be close enough to get caught up in it, that’s the point. And, as long as they know that, then things won’t kick off.”
“You hope.”
“I’m just going to talk, that’s all. Do you have any better ideas?”
He shook his head. “No. But I’m going to contact my friends again and see if they’ve got their act together yet. And if you’re not out again in half an hour from now” – he indicated the clock – “I’m going to call the police anyway and get them here in a hurry.”
“How will you manage that?”
“I’ll report gunshots. If need be, I’ll make sure that there are gunshots.” He tapped his pocket significantly. “They’ll come, don’t worry.”
“Right. Thanks.”
I got out of the car and looked back in at him. “I knew you’d have been changed by all that travelling, Sam. I didn’t have a clue how much.”
“Yeah. It surprises me as well,” he said, with that familiar grin back in place. “Clock’s ticking, Dad, and you’ve got a bit of a walk!”
I nodded, and started off down the street.
It wasn’t as far as Sam had suggested. Just down the street and I was in sight of the playing fields. Turn right, a short distance down the boundary road, and I was at the gates.
I phoned Sam. “I’m here. Just going in.”
“Right.”
It was one of those glorious, golden summer evenings, with the heat just starting to go out of the sun so that I could feel the stored warmth from the day beating up at me from the paving. Behind me, the houses had doors and windows open to catch the breeze, while kids played in the gardens.
Some were going up and down the street on bikes and scooters. Not as many playing out as I remembered from when we were kids, but then we didn’t have gardens.
The playing fields were deserted, though. There used to be something going on all the time; if not an organized match then at least some lads having a kick about. But there wasn’t as much as a dog walker patrolling the perimeter.
When I got closer I could see why. The gates were locked, and a notice had been printed out, stuck in a plastic sleeve, and taped to the frame.
SPORTS CENTRE CLOSED
NO ACCESS
TRESPASSERS ‘WILL’ BE PROSECUTED
“Adi,” I said to myself, “you never did learn how to use quotation marks.”
I went to the pedestrian gate at the side. It was also locked, with a padlock fitted through a sliding bar. It was supposed to stop the bar moving, but it had always had a fault. Reaching through and wiggling it around a little I was able to take the whole bar off, leaving it dangling from the padlock and the gate swinging open.
Declan had never got round to having that fixed properly. Probably because he rarely bothered to lock the gates anyway. He always want
ed it to be open and available for use at any time.
I walked down the road towards the car park and the buildings. On my left I could see the ugly scar of the Delford Mills Project, with the yellow dots of construction machinery scattered around. Not moving now, but ready to get back into action next morning, working to finally erase the eyesore and bring some prosperity back to the area.
Money was coming in, and so were the sharks, eager to get a share of it. This whole thing with the sports centre was just the start of the feeding frenzy, I realized.
I could see the office windows. Someone was looking out, watching me approach. Then the blinds were brought down. So it’s to be a private meeting, I thought to myself.
As I neared the door it swung open and someone stepped out. The big bald man that Declan had described. He hadn’t mentioned the black suit, with the jacket hanging open just enough to show a gun butt. Perhaps the jacket had been kept buttoned up when Dec had seen it. But he was right about the goatee – it did look ridiculous.
“Place is closed. Can’t you read?” he growled. American accent. I’d wondered if they’d hired local muscle to replace their imported goons, but it seemed they’d had some spares.
“Graham Deeson. I’m here to see Adi Varney.”
“Let him in, Carlo,” said someone inside. It sounded like Pockface.
The big man stepped aside, frowning. Not at me, particularly – I got the impression that he just met the whole world with a frown.
Inside, Pockface was leaning against a wall, facing me. He had some plasters on his forehead and hands, but otherwise seemed unharmed.
Adi was sitting behind Declan’s desk, looking at me with a strange expression. It was as though he didn’t know whether to be sad or happy.
“I told you he’d come,” he said to Pockface. “It’s the newshound instinct, I guess. He wants to get another Adi Varney story. Just like the old days, eh, Graham? But where’s Sam?”
“Sam couldn’t be with us in person. But he’s listening in.” My phone was in my hand. I held it up, half turned so that Pockface could see it as well. “Say ‘hi’, everyone.”
Nobody said “hi”. Adi narrowed his eyes and glared, but Pockface just gave a little smile and a nod.
Local Legend Page 18