‘What about Reuben?’ Caelan said.
Mulligan glanced in the direction of the upstairs office. ‘None of my business. They’re always arguing about something; they’ll sort it between them. Come on, I’m fancying a kebab.’
‘Do you think anyone’s really called the police?’ Ewan asked as they made their way towards the door.
Mulligan sniffed. ‘Not if they know what’s good for them. Or they’ve no idea what sort of place this is. Most people would just forget they were here tonight.’
‘The people you know might,’ said Ewan.
Mulligan pulled a face. ‘That hurts, it really does.’
As they reached the bar, the staff filed out from behind it and stood in a huddle. There were four of them, two male, two female, early twenties at the most. One of the men had cropped hair and a thick beard, the other sported carefully cultivated stubble and glasses with thick lenses. The women had both pulled their hair back into ponytails for work, one dark, one strawberry blonde. They looked uncomfortable.
‘Has Reuben… Is he still here?’ one of the men said. He glanced at his colleagues. ‘It’s just…’
‘We haven’t been paid,’ the woman nearest Caelan told them. ‘It’s not closing time, but everyone’s cleared out, so we don’t know whether to leave or tidy up, or…’ She shrugged. ‘And yeah. We need our money.’
Mulligan nudged her. ‘Don’t expect many tips tonight, princess.’
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Here’s one for you. Don’t call people that, you patronising prick.’
He laughed, delighted. ‘Aye, fair enough.’
‘So, is he still here?’ the man demanded.
‘Upstairs,’ Caelan told them.
‘You go, Megan,’ the blonde woman said. ‘He likes you.’
Megan screwed up her face. ‘Doesn’t mean I like him.’
‘Still. He’ll listen to you.’
With a glance towards Nash’s office, Megan shook her head. ‘I’m not going up there. He’ll be in a terrible mood.’
‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ Mulligan asked.
She looked down her nose at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Working in a place where there’s just been a knife fight?’
‘It was hardly a fight,’ the man with the glasses said. ‘Just Nathan losing it for a second. It happens.’
‘I can think of safer ways to earn minimum wage,’ Mulligan told them.
The four members of staff smirked at each other.
‘Minimum wage. Right,’ the bearded man said.
Mulligan looked at him. ‘You mean Reuben’s a little more generous? Pays you to keep your mouths shut, does he?’
More smirking.
‘No comment,’ said Megan.
Caelan exchanged a glance with Ewan.
‘We’re going home,’ she told Mulligan. ‘Are you staying?’
‘Home? You mean the house you’re staying in, which actually belongs to me?’ Mulligan looked at the bartenders, waiting for a reaction. None came. ‘I might as well. Looks like there’ll be no more action in here tonight.’
Megan stepped forward.
‘Do you know Reuben?’ she asked, her eyes on Caelan.
Caelan remembered what Harris had said about Reuben’s relationship with one of the bar staff. She scanned Megan’s face, but saw no sign of anger or jealousy. ‘I only met him tonight,’ she said. ‘Why?’
‘I saw you talking to him and Nathan when I was collecting glasses. Just thought you might be able to go and have a word if you were mates, see what he wants us to do.’
‘Sorry.’
Ewan nodded towards the stairs. ‘You can ask him yourself.’
There was an immediate rush to be back behind the bar when their boss arrived. The blonde woman opened the glasswasher and began to load it, while the two men collected empties and handed them to her. Megan disappeared through a door at the back of the bar, reappearing with a crate of bottles. She began to restock one of the fridges.
‘Are you scared of him, or trying to impress him?’ Mulligan asked in an undertone. Megan scowled.
‘Fuck off.’
Reuben looked relaxed, Caelan noted. He had removed his tie, untucked his shirt.
‘How’s it going, guys?’ he called as he strolled up to the bar. The bearded man nodded.
‘Yeah, fine.’
Reuben stood with his hands in his trouser pockets, watching them work. ‘Listen, do a basic clear-down and then go home, yeah? I’ll pay you until the end of your shift, but you don’t need to stay.’ He smiled. ‘I think we’ve all had enough tonight.’
‘We were just going ourselves, Reuben.’ Mulligan smoothed his hair. ‘See you around, pal.’
‘Where did Nathan go?’ Nash glanced around. ‘Not after Harris, I hope?’
‘Nah, I told him to make himself scarce,’ Mulligan said. ‘Thought the law might show up.’
Nash scowled. ‘Let them come. We’ve nothing to hide.’
‘Not now the building’s empty, anyway.’ Caelan flashed him a smile, and Nash frowned at her.
‘Like I said, let them come.’ He pulled his phone out of his pocket and stabbed at the screen. Holding it to his ear, he began to pace. ‘Nathan? Call me back when you get this. Immediately, you understand? We need to talk.’ He ended the call. ‘Where the fuck is he?’
He sounded more irritated than concerned. Mulligan checked his watch.
‘He’s been gone ten minutes. Could be a few miles away by now.’
Nash’s face darkened. ‘Why did you tell him to go? He needed to stay and calm down, not run away.’
‘You wanted him to wait around until the police got here? They’d send him down, you know that, with a knife involved.’
‘Police? They wouldn’t bother.’ Nash spoke with confidence, and Caelan wondered why. It wasn’t as though there were no witnesses to what had happened – there had been a couple of hundred people inside the club at least. Surely one of them would talk if questioned? They couldn’t all have been up to something dodgy.
‘No one will have seen anything, and Harris would hate police involvement as much as we would,’ Nash was saying. ‘Nathan knocked him on his arse. He won’t want people to know that.’
‘Loads of people saw Nathan go at him with the knife,’ Caelan said. ‘It only takes one of them to open their mouth.’
‘They won’t.’ Nash’s voice was cold, the threat clear. He meant no one would dare.
‘You don’t think it’ll be all over Facebook and Twitter by now?’
Nash rounded on her. ‘Harris had it coming. It was a fight, nothing that doesn’t happen in most clubs any night of the week. No, Nathan shouldn’t have pulled the knife, but Harris shouldn’t have provoked him. He knows what Nathan’s like.’
‘And what is he like?’ Caelan knew she was on dangerous ground, risking pushing Nash away for good, but she decided the woman she was pretending to be would want to know as much about the Nash brothers as she could if she was going to work with them.
‘As you’ve seen tonight, he’s got a temper. He won’t let anyone disrespect our family and he won’t be pushed around.’ Nash’s smile was cold, and Caelan could feel Mulligan shifting beside her.
‘Except by you?’ she couldn’t help saying. Nash surprised her by laughing.
‘Yeah, except by me. Like I told you upstairs he works for me, whatever he says.’
Mulligan cleared his throat. ‘Vic, if we’re going to find a taxi…’
Nash gave another chuckle. ‘I see you can’t wait to get out of here, Mulligan. What’s wrong, had enough of the coppers lately? I told you, they won’t come here.’
‘Can you blame me?’ Mulligan smiled weakly.
Heading for the door, Nash beckoned to them. ‘Let’s get you off the premises then.’
With a glance at each other, Caelan, Ewan and Mulligan trailed after him. Nash stood in front of the exit.
‘Could I have your phone number, Victoria
?’ He glanced at Ewan. ‘Purely for business purposes, of course.’
Caelan gave Ewan a look of her own. He stared at his feet, scowling, not wanting to say no, but obviously not happy either. Caelan pulled out the phone she’d been issued with.
‘Give me yours and I’ll send you a text,’ she told Nash. ‘Then you’ll have mine.’ She didn’t want him to realise she didn’t know the number. He dictated his own and moved away from the door.
‘If you see Nathan out there sulking, send him in, will you?’ he said as he turned away.
‘Arsehole,’ Mulligan muttered as he followed Caelan out, Ewan bringing up the rear again.
As she stepped into the alleyway, Caelan froze. Mulligan crashed into her back, Ewan stumbling into him. Mulligan swore.
‘What the hell are you—’
‘Shut up and stand still,’ Caelan told him. Mulligan peered around her.
‘Oh fuck,’ he said softly.
Nathan Nash was dead.
He lay on his back, his eyes staring up at the sky, but the blood around his head told its own story. Caelan’s stomach back-flipped and she closed her eyes for a second. This was a disaster. Had their presence here triggered it? She didn’t see how, especially after Nathan’s run-in with Harris, but it had to be considered. Was the perpetrator waiting outside? She glanced over her shoulder at Mulligan, trying to calm her thoughts and figure out the best course of action. She needed to keep him safe, but they also needed to remember who they were supposed to be. She couldn’t be seen to be protecting him.
Ewan stared at the body, his face working. ‘We need to call the police.’
‘No, we don’t,’ Mulligan told him. ‘We need to get out of here.’
Ewan grabbed his arms and held him. ‘You’re going nowhere.’
Mulligan squirmed. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve got a knife as well, big man?’
Caelan moved back towards the club. ‘Someone needs to tell Reuben.’ And Penrith, she thought.
‘Shouldn’t we phone the police first?’ Ewan said again.
Caelan lowered her voice. ‘I want to see Reuben’s reaction,’ she whispered.
Ewan’s face was stern. ‘I understand, but—’
‘Okay, you know who to ring. You’ll be kept on the phone otherwise. I’ll go in and tell Reuben. Don’t move, Mulligan,’ she told him.
‘Couldn’t if I wanted to.’ He tried to wrench away, but Ewan held firm.
‘Give me three minutes, then come inside,’ Caelan told Ewan. He nodded.
She took a breath and pushed back through the door. Inside, the bar staff were still busy. Reuben was sitting on a stool with a bottle of beer in his hand, scrolling on his phone. He turned as she walked towards him and smiled at her.
‘Couldn’t stay away?’ Then, seeing her expression, he said, ‘What?’
He was already on his feet when she reached him. The bar staff were watching while pretending to still be working. Reuben rounded on them. ‘Get out, now, all of you. Go home. Finish this tomorrow.’
‘They need to stay here for the time being,’ Caelan said quickly. ‘I need to speak to you privately.’
He tipped his head to the side, watching her. ‘They need to stay? Why? What’s going on?’
‘Just… You need to know something.’
Nash shrugged. ‘All right.’ He looked at his staff. ‘You lot, wait in the cellar for now.’
He watched them raise their eyebrows at each other, grab jackets and bags. ‘Now!’ he bellowed. They fled through the door at the back of the bar. Nash stepped closer to Caelan. ‘Tell me.’
She met his eyes. ‘It’s your brother.’
He grabbed her wrist. ‘Nathan? Where is he? Is he hurt?’
Caelan shook him off. ‘I’m so sorry, Reuben. We’ve just found his body. He’s dead.’
He stared at her, his eyes wild. ‘Dead? What are you talking about? He can’t be. You’re wrong, you must be.’
Ewan and Mulligan appeared, and Caelan shot Ewan a glance, hoping he would understand. He nodded, remained by the door, grabbed Mulligan’s shoulder to prevent him moving. Mulligan looked at Nash and didn’t protest.
‘I’m sorry,’ Caelan repeated. ‘Your brother’s dead, Reuben.’
‘But…’ Nash gave his head a violent shake. ‘I don’t believe you.’ He turned towards the door. ‘I want to see him.’ Caelan tried to grab him, but he broke away from her, charging towards the door. Ewan intercepted him, held him tight, Mulligan seizing his other side as Nash fought and kicked.
‘Let me go, you bastards,’ he screamed.
Caelan raised her voice. ‘We need to call the police, Reuben.’
He stopped struggling, raised his head, his eyes burning, his cheeks white. ‘No. No police.’
‘We’ve no choice. This isn’t something you can deal with yourself.’
The look he gave her was a mixture of fury and resolve. ‘Watch me,’ he said. ‘I know where Stefan Harris lives. I can finish this tonight.’ He made another attempt to wrench himself free, screaming threats and abuse when Ewan and Mulligan held on.
Caelan took out her phone. ‘I understand why you don’t want them here, poking around your business, but we have to call them. Nathan’s dead, and you need them to find the person who killed him.’
‘I know who fucking killed him,’ Nash spat. ‘Let me go and I’ll show you.’
‘You don’t know Harris was involved,’ Caelan told him.
‘Are you kidding me?’ He gave a high-pitched laugh. ‘Of course Harris did it. He hates us, even more so after Nathan kicked his arse tonight.’ He made another attempt to tear himself free. ‘Let me fucking go!’
‘Have you anything on the premises you wouldn’t want the police to find?’ Caelan said. He didn’t reply, and she raised her voice. ‘Reuben. Listen to me. Is this place clean?’
‘Clean as a fucking whistle,’ he snarled. ‘You think I’m stupid?’
‘Then I’m making the call. The longer we leave it, the worse it’s going to look. You’ll be the first person they suspect anyway.’
Nash laughed again. ‘Me? He was my brother. Why would I—’ His voice broke. ‘Let me see him.’
‘You need to let the police deal with it,’ Caelan said. ‘You’ve no choice, Reuben.’
‘Why are you so keen to call those bastards in?’ he demanded. ‘I thought you were a businesswoman. Why would you want them sniffing around?’
She sighed, making sure he heard her. ‘I don’t. None of us do, but we’re talking about murder here, Reuben. This isn’t petty theft or someone dealing on your patch. Your brother’s dead.’
‘So you say. How do I know you’re not lying?’
Caelan didn’t bother to answer him, and Nash let out a sound of frustration.
‘Why won’t you let me go out there? I need to see him for myself.’
‘You can’t go out there, Reuben. The police will need—’
‘Fuck what the police need,’ Nash screamed. He raised his foot, stamped on Mulligan’s toes, then flung out a fist, catching Ewan between the legs. Both men crumpled, and Nash broke free, sprinting for the door again. Furious, Caelan ran after him, but he was already outside when she reached him, cradling his brother’s body in his arms.
3.32 a.m.
The door opened without warning. Instantly Lucy was awake, scrambling away until her back hit the wall. A man stood there, filling the doorway. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around her body, making herself as small as possible as he stepped into the room and closed the door. Her heart hammered, her breathing fast and uncontrolled. Who the hell was he? Why was he here in the middle of the night? She could think of only one reason, and realised that lying down made her more vulnerable. As he turned to lock the door, moving quickly, she pushed herself to her feet.
‘Who are you?’ She heard hysteria in her voice and ran a hand across her mouth. ‘Leave me alone.’
He didn’t reply as he turned on the light. Lucy’s hands covered her e
yes, temporarily blinded after the hours she’d spent in darkness. She forced them down, blinking, ready to fight, but he hadn’t moved. He was watching her, looking amused.
‘Why are you here? What do you want?’ Wildly she looked around for a weapon.
He smiled as he moved towards her.
14
9 December
‘You know that between you, you completely buggered up the crime scene?’ Ian Penrith said. He was wedged behind the desk in his office, Caelan and Ewan standing in front of him. They had been transported to Acton police station along with Mulligan, Reuben Nash and the four members of staff. Caelan and Ewan had then secretly been brought to see Penrith after giving statements at Acton as Victoria Smith and Owen Davison. He’d allowed them to shower and change into the clean clothes his operatives always kept in lockers near his office.
He picked up a paper bag from his desk and removed a croissant, taking a huge bite. ‘You may as well sit down,’ he said without looking at them. ‘You’ve some explaining to do.’
Caelan sat, pulling out the chair beside her for Ewan. ‘Come on, Ian. We didn’t expect to trip over Nathan Nash when we left the club.’
‘Even so. Once you’d realised he was lying there, one of you should have stayed outside to preserve the scene.’ He pushed more croissant into his mouth.
‘Difficult to do that without compromising our cover,’ Caelan said. ‘Most civilians would run from a dead body, not stand guard over it.’
‘You could have improvised.’
He wasn’t going to let them off the hook easily, Caelan saw. He was being unfair, but he wouldn’t care.
‘I wanted to tell Reuben Nash his brother was dead. I wanted to see his reaction,’ she said.
Penrith grunted. ‘As you’ve told me. But you knew other officers were on their way. And once you’d gone back in, Reuben should never have been able to get to the body.’
Caelan saw Ewan shuffle in his seat, blushing. ‘That was my fault, sir,’ he said.
Swallowing the last of his croissant, Penrith screwed up the paper bag and lobbed it towards the door, where it bounced on the rim of the bin and then nestled inside. ‘I heard. Hit in the balls, I’m told.’ He shook his head sorrowfully. ‘Not good enough.’
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