72
'This is all your fault,' Lanark said, pointing the blade at Odette's bruised face as he stamped on the phone he had taken from Spenner's pocket while he lay unconscious on the floor. 'All you had to do was tell me what I wanted to know, and I would have simply taken that information and left you in peace,' he finished by kicking the shattered phone across the laminate flooring.
'I've told you before, I don't know what you're talking about,' she replied as her eyes flicked towards Spenner, his hands and legs tied, brown gaffer tape stretched over his mouth. When her eyes fell on the patch of sticky blood that had soaked into the white sheepskin rug she snapped her head away.
She was now tied to one of the kitchen chairs, her hands behind her back, the nylon rope burning the skin raw as she tried to loosen the ties.
Lanark shook his head, his eyes darkening with anger. 'You have history with Plymouth, you and that tosser Lasser…'
'We don't have history, we…'
'He's let you live more than once and that bastard never lets anyone live, so you can spare me the fucking bullshit,' he snarled.
Odette held the fierce retort behind her bloodied lips as he sat down opposite, the knife quivering in his hand, while she tried to come to terms with the fact that this was the same man she had shared a bed with.
'Now, I could have let this piece of piss go, I could have sent him on his way, but I decided to bring him in to join the party. So, unless you tell me where Plymouth is then he will start to suffer – badly – and you will be responsible.'
Odette felt the fear and shame twist inside her mind as Lanark rose swiftly from the chair and walked towards the slumped form of Spenner.
'Please, if you know anything about Plymouth then you'll know he never talks about his life, he…'
Lanark slammed his boot into Spenner's stomach with a sickening thud, Spenner jerked and groaned in agony.
'Not good enough, now you'd better start talking, or your friend here will really start to bleed.'
Odette tried to think, tried to see beyond the terror but all she could do was shake her head. 'Please, don't hurt him, if I knew anything then I would tell you, I swear to God, I…'
Crouching down, he slowly drew the blade across the back of Spenner's hand, parting the flesh, the blood spurting.
Odette saw Spenner's eyes snap open wide in agony, for the briefest of moments their eyes met, but then Odette twisted her head away, unable to cope with the pain she saw in his eyes, the guilt slamming through her mind.
Behind the gaffer tape, she heard the muffled scream as Spenner vented his agony.
73
They were sitting in the kitchen, cups of coffee steaming on the table in front of them.
Jackie had woken to the scent of spices floating in from the kitchen and eased herself away from Lasser, leaving him asleep on the sofa and finding Tasha tucking into a Rogan Josh.
'Have you left him asleep?' Tasha had asked as Jackie sat down.
'Mm, he's tired out.'
'Well, don't worry, the smell of curry will wake him up soon enough.'
Tasha had shared out the food and Jackie had eaten what she could before making the drinks.
'So, he's not told you his first name yet?' Tasha asked with a smile.
'He just said he likes to be called Lasser,' Jackie answered before taking a sip from the cup.
Tasha smiled knowingly. 'It's strange, but he's never liked his name, even as kids everyone used to just call him Lasser.'
'What was he like as a kid?'
Tasha rolled her eyes and then a thoughtful expression seeped onto her face. 'I could say he was a nightmare but that would be a lie,' she paused, 'the truth is I couldn't have asked for a better brother.'
Jackie smiled. 'I know the feeling.'
'You have a brother as well?'
Jackie nodded before pushing her plate to one side. 'His name's Dave and we've always got along, he's a good guy.'
Tasha tilted her head and sighed. 'Did he tell you we hadn't spoken for the best part of ten years?'
'To be honest no, whenever he talks about you he's always smiling.'
'Yeah, well, we're fine now and it was my fault really.'
'In what way?' Jackie found herself asking.
'Well, when we were kids, Nick always…'
'Nick?'
Tasha grinned. 'I know, the name's perfectly fine, I have no idea why he hates it so much, but don't let on I told you.'
Jackie slid a finger across her lips in a zip-like motion and listened as Tasha told her all about her brother and how he had always looked after her until she reached her teenage years and decided she no longer wanted her brother acting as her bodyguard.
'I pushed him away, and he never understood why. Truth is, I was just being a prize bitch, but you know what it's like, time passes, and it gets harder to say you're sorry?'
Jackie found herself nodding in understanding.
'I do know that he loves you to pieces, God knows he deserves some happiness in his life.'
Jackie felt her face heat up as Tasha smiled at her across the table.
'I know this will sound crass but he's the most loyal man you could ever want in your life.'
'I know.'
'But having this idiot chasing you will have shook him up, so I'm glad you're OK staying here for a bit.'
Jackie thought for a moment before answering. 'Like I said, I've lived on the canal for a while now, and normally you just get dog walkers in the winter months. In the summer it's different, you get lots of people walking down the towpath and…'
'I've been down there a lot myself on the bike, so I know what you mean,' Tasha explained.
Taking another sip from the cup, Jackie placed it back the table. 'I guess this weather makes me feel a little uneasy. The first time I saw the guy he just stood there, it was snowing hard and I just got this feeling that he was watching me.'
'So, when you saw him the second time you were already on high alert.'
'I suppose so.'
'Well, it seems you have good instincts, considering the weirdo set off running after you.'
Jackie sighed as she wrapped her hands around the mug. 'I normally like to give people the benefit of the doubt but sometimes you just have to be sensible and get the hell out of there.'
'Agreed,' Tasha said before wiping her fingers on a sheet of kitchen roll.
Jackie looked towards the French doors, the snow was falling again, swirling against the glass. 'Have you heard the forecast today?' she asked.
Tasha followed her gaze and sighed. 'Snow and more snow on the way.'
'Well, it's almost Christmas so I suppose we can't really complain.'
The two women looked at one another and then they were giggling, trying to keep the noise down as Lasser continued to snore on the sofa.
Dead to the world.
74
Reggie Bromley shifted nervously in his seat as the ten-ton truck crushed through the troughs of ice on the lane, the cab swaying left and right, the headlights jittering.
'Bastard,' he snarled as he thought about the transport manager sitting in his office, the heater on the wall pumping out the warmth, his feet on the desk, no doubt asleep while the drivers had to battle through the snow.
By rights, he should have made the decision to keep the trucks off the roads, especially on a night like this, but Freddie Jinmen was a spineless bastard.
'Look, guys, I know it's a bit tricky out there, and if it was up to me then I would tell you all to go to the canteen and play cards or darts,' he had smiled his weasel smile, trying his best to appear concerned. 'But the truth is, the manager will go ballistic if he arrives in the morning and finds you haven't even tried to get out to the farms. I know it's a cliché, but cows are still being milked and we have to try and make the collections.'
The wheels started to slide, and Reggie clamped his teeth together, hissing a prayer just as the truck suddenly righted itself.
'Fucking
ridiculous,' he wiped a hand across his sweating brow, wondering how he would ever get to Rams Farm in one piece.
Reaching the junction, he held his breath as he turned the wheel, the truck gradually responded, and he edged onto an even narrower lane. The big wheels continued to roll mere inches from the ditches that ran either side of the lane.
Once again, he cursed Jinmen, if anything went wrong then he would be well and truly fucked, there was nowhere to turn around and he suspected that if he stopped then the truck would not be moving again until the bloody snow melted.
The track started to twist and turn, he glanced in the wing mirror, he could see snow falling from the branches of the bushes as they scraped along the side of the tanker. Overhead, the moon continued to shine down, and Reggie sighed as he tried to concentrate on the strip of white. When the next turning on the left appeared, he clenched his arse cheeks and eased around it, his brow even more slick with sweat.
When the headlights fell on the car ahead – the nose buried in the bushes – he felt the anger twitch inside.
He pictured himself back in the office, giving Jinmen a mouthful of abuse for sending him out into a world that even the Ice Road Truckers would have balked at.
When he was twenty yards away, he feathered the brakes, reluctantly bringing the truck to a halt. The engine rumbled as he pulled the phone from his pocket and tapped at the screen before pushing the door open and carefully climbing from the cab. His boots sank ankle deep in the snow as the phoned trilled; shivering, he closed the door and started to walk towards the car.
'All right, Reggie, how's it going out there?' Jinmen asked, stifling a yawn.
'I'm fucked, just on one of the back lanes to the farm and someone's planted their car in the bushes and fucked off.'
'Jesus, is there another way around?' the night manager asked, suddenly sounding wide awake.
Reggie stopped and tilted his head to the star-filled sky. 'No, and I have no idea how I am going to get out of here.'
'Shit. Management are not going to be happy about this.'
'Well, why don't you get the lazy bastards out of bed and send them over here, perhaps we can push the car into the ditch and I can get on my way?'
'I'm glad you find it funny, because it will be me who gets the blame for…'
'Sending us all out when the local highways authorities have told everyone not to travel unless absolutely necessary?' Reggie interrupted as he started to walk forwards again, his chin on his chest to avoid the freezing air.
'But I had to try, you know I did,' Jinmen's voice came out as a petulant whine.
'All I know is that I am stuck in in the middle of nowhere, freezing my bollocks off and I'm going to have to try and reverse to turn around, that's if the truck will even move in this bloody snow.'
'OK, look, let me know when you're out of there and I can send you over to Standish to…'
'If I get out of here I'm coming straight back to the yard, there is no way I will be trying to hit another farm in this weather.'
'But…'
'And if you don't like it then you can…' Reggie snapped his mouth closed as he saw the woman in the passenger seat. 'Fuck me!' he gulped as he looked through the shattered window and saw the side of her head was a mess of red gore.
'Listen, I don't want to come over as a bastard, but if you don't head over to Standish then it will mean a reprimand,' Jinmen warned.
Reggie Bromley never heard the threat as he spun away and vomited into the pristine snow.
75
Bannister was dreaming with a smile on his face. For once the nightmares hadn't come calling. In the dream he was sitting in a field full of wild flowers, a picnic blanket spread on the ground, Suzanne by his side sipping from a glass of something cold and sparkling. The sun wavered in a sky of perfect cerulean blue, giving out warmth but no stifling heat, butterflies tumbled by, smoke from his cigarette trailed upwards, marring the otherwise perfect picture of flawlessness.
He could hear the bees droning amongst the wild flowers of red and yellow, gradually the sound increased in volume, turning from a pleasant background noise into an annoying buzz. The smile slipped from his face, replaced by the more familiar frown, in the dream he flapped his hands trying to chase the flying insects away.
Then he felt his shoulders start to shake, the buzzing growing more insistent.
'Alan, wake up, your phone's ringing.'
Squinting open his eyes, he blinked into the darkness, he could vaguely see Suzanne above him, smell the scent of apples in her hair.
'What's that noise?'
'It's your phone and I can't find it.'
Rubbing his eyes, he leaned over the side of the bed, his hand fumbling on the carpet. Locating his phone, he picked it up before pushing himself into a sitting position and tapping at the screen.
'What can I do for you, Carole?' he asked in a voice still thick with sleep.
Suzanne clicked on the bedside lamp and Bannister blinked against the soft, muted light.
Seconds later, she felt her husband tense by her side. 'What!?' he gasped in a voice full of disbelief.
Inwardly, Suzanne sighed, recognising the anger as he twisted and scrambled from the bed, his hair poking up in a tuft, his right hand gripping the phone tight.
Here we go again, she thought as she watched his face glow bright red with fury.
76
Lasser ploughed through the snow in the four by four, the wheels spitting up plumes of white as he sped along the country lane.
He had been fast asleep on the sofa when the phone had started to bleat.
Ten minutes later, he had kissed Jackie and gave his sister a hug before heading out, his winter jacket zipped up, a black bob cap pulled down over his ears.
Bannister had sounded furious on the phone as he explained about the dead woman found in the Jaguar less than half a mile from the Dean house. Lasser had absorbed the news slowly as he tried to shake the tiredness from his half-asleep mind, his feet planted on the floor as he cracked a wide yawn.
'Are you at the boat?' Bannister had asked.
'No, I'm at Tasha's and…'
'Good, you're the nearest and you have the four by four so get a move on,' the DCI had demanded before ending the call.
The wheels slipped momentarily before gripping again and he took a second to light a cigarette, sliding the window down to let out the fumes, freezing air slipped in through the gap, sucking out any semblance of heat from the car.
When he saw the flashing hazard lights in the distance, he eased back on the speed slightly, keeping an eye on the white truck that blocked off the lane.
Pulling up behind, he slid the window into place before flicking up the handbrake and climbing out, leaving the engine running he threw the cigarette away and eased down the side of the milk wagon, sinking over his boots in the snow piled at the side of the lane.
The Jaguar was around twenty yards in front, beyond that he could see a squad car parked up. Shaun Rourke was busy talking to the truck driver, the guy was standing head bowed, a huge cow's head chewing grass emblazoned on the back of his jacket. They stood well away from the Jaguar, the man hurriedly pulling on a cigarette as he talked.
When Shaun spotted him, he raised a hand and Lasser nodded in acknowledgment as he made his way towards the damaged car.
As soon as he saw the woman in the passenger seat he knew it was Carmen Dean, he could just make out her features through the blood as he stepped up to the broken window, her jeans were coated with blood, her hands limp by her side. The dashboard was still lit up, the keys in the ignition.
Lasser was just in the process of stepping back to take a breath of clean air when he saw two fingers on her right hand twitch.
'Shit!' he gasped, before glancing over his shoulder. 'Shaun, did you put a call in for an ambulance?' he shouted.
'An ambulance?' Rourke asked in confusion as he started to walk towards Lasser.
'Yes, a fucking ambulance?' Lasser dem
anded.
Rourke came to a halt, his pale face starting to turn red. 'I put the call in, boss, but they said they had no idea when they would be able to get here due to the weather.'
Lasser snatched the cap from his head and thrust it into his pocket. 'She's still alive,' he hissed and watched as the hint of colour drained from Shaun's face.
'Jesus, I…'
'We can't wait for an ambulance to arrive, we're going to have to move her and get her to A&E.'
Rourke nodded in understanding, his eyes full of nervous tension.
Taking a deep breath, Lasser turned back to the car and pulled the door open.
'Carmen, you're going to be OK,' he whispered as he leaned across her and unclipped the seat belt.
Seconds later, he lifted her out, her bloodied head resting against his chest staining the black jacket. Kicking the door closed he hurried back towards the truck, Shaun right behind as Reggie Bromley stepped back in shock seeing Lasser stride by with the bloodied woman in his arms. Battling through the thicker snow Lasser made his way down the side of the truck, cursing as the branches snagged at his jacket. Breaking free, he reached the Range Rover just as Shaun dashed past and opened the back door. Between them they managed to get her inside and Shaun settled with the woman wrapped in his arms. Jumping behind the wheel, Lasser engaged reverse and tapped the button down to release the handbrake.
The wheels instantly gripped and then they were travelling backwards at speed, Lasser flicked his eyes from one wing mirror to the other as he made small adjustments to keep them on the road.
When the narrow opening appeared to the left, he spun the wheel and backed down before shooting back out onto the road.
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