Putting down her mug she stepped out onto the balcony, scanning the ground below. The car park was well lit, part of the security measures of this complex. She could see no one but that didn’t mean no one was there.
Forced to retreat back inside because of the cold, she closed the doors and locked them before yanking the curtains shut. She sank onto the couch and buried her face in her hands, wondering if she was really being watched or if this was all thanks to the trauma Marlow had left her with, which was more potent than she’d ever admitted to anyone, even Vance. The memory returned of his face looming over her, his eyes blazing with rage and a little madness as he repeatedly stabbed her in the stomach. She closed her eyes, slowly breathing in and out as she attempted to push away the memory.
Her eyes flew open when she heard the bedroom door open and Vance walked into the room pulling on his robe.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her.
“Nothing,” she said casually, picking up her mug of tea and taking a sip, wincing because it had gone cold.
“Oh yes there is,” he said, sitting beside her. “You’re all pale and tense.” He brushed her hair back off her face. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I got up to have a cup of tea. I was standing at the balcony doors and I thought someone was watching me.”
Vance flew to his feet and tore open the doors, shivering as the blast of cold air hit him.
“It’s no use,” she said. “No one’s there. It’s my imagination, I’m sure of it.”
He closed the doors and locked them before returning to her side. “Why are you so sure?”
“Because I was thinking of when Marlow was…stabbing me.”
“Oh sweetheart,” he said, wrapping her in his arms.
She nestled into him, enjoying his warmth. “You were right. I could do with speaking to a counsellor.”
“What’s made you change your mind?”
“If I am being stalked then whoever’s doing it can’t be everywhere I am. I feel like I’m being watched most of the time, meaning if someone is watching me they’re constantly following me. And what lunatic would stand out there in this weather at this time of night?”
“I’m still not willing to dismiss the idea. I want to be certain, so I’m still picking up that security equipment in the morning but I agree you do need to talk to someone about what happened. I haven’t told you this because I thought it might upset you but you’ve started talking in your sleep and you say Marlow’s name a lot.”
“I say his name?” she said, revolted with herself.
“Well, not exactly say. You’re sort of yelling and screaming and telling him to leave you alone.”
‘Christ,” she said, dragging her hands through her hair. “I do often have nightmares about what happened. What’s wrong with me? I thought I was stronger than this.”
“You are strong Faith but things get to everyone, no matter how tough they are. I reckon part of your problem is that you’re ashamed of your feelings but you shouldn’t be. You went through a terrible ordeal, it was incredibly traumatic and you’ve a right to be upset about it. Tomorrow we’re going to find a counsellor and you’ll tell them everything. I’ll come with you if you want or if you prefer you can go in on your own. Either way I’ll be there to support you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
Faith inhaled deeply as some of the weight she’d carried about lately felt to lift a little. He was right, she’d kept her feelings in, wanting to be strong for the family but if she stayed on this path it would end up destroying her, then what use would she be to anyone?
“Thanks Vance,” she said, grasping his hand. “I needed to hear that. I just don’t want to seem weak.”
“I would never think that. None of us would. What you’ve done for us all is amazing. Let us look after you for a change.”
She smiled and nestled into him, Marlow’s spectre fading before her eyes.
Vance was up and out early the next morning to go and pick up the security equipment, leaving Faith to have a lie in. She’d decided to take a few days off from work to rest on the instruction that Vance and Caleb run things between them, although she could imagine that Caleb would end up deferring to his older brother.
After breakfast she sat down with her laptop and researched counsellors, selecting a local woman who had great reviews. She arranged an appointment with her for the next day then curled up in front of the telly in her pyjamas to watch a film.
She dozed off on the couch and was woken by Vance clattering into the flat along with his brothers.
“Sorry, did we wake you?” he said, laden down with bags.
“It’s okay,” she yawned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “If I sleep too late I won’t sleep tonight.” She frowned when he dumped the bags on the floor. “Is all that the security equipment?”
“Yep.”
“Are you intending to spy on the whole town too?”
“It’s some top gear,” said an enthusiastic Kevin. “The guy Vance bought it from proper knew his stuff. He used to spy for the military.”
“You sure?” she replied. “People who really do that don’t tend to brag about it.”
“He had some stories to tell. It was really interesting wasn’t it?” he said, looking at Jason.
“Yeah,” he replied. “He’s been to Russia, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Surrey.”
“Surrey?” she frowned.
“Yeah. That wasn’t to do with his work but it was a great story about a one-armed prostitute.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she grimaced. “So, where are you going to put this lot?”
“Some are for inside the flat,” replied Vance. “Some are for outside and around the complex.”
“We can’t just go putting up cameras where we like. People will complain.”
“Fuck ‘em. Your safety comes first and a lot of these cameras are very small and discreet. No one will notice and anyone who does whinge will get paid off. There’s another camera for your car and a couple to put up at Mum’s and Caleb’s, so you’re covered wherever you go.”
“I wasn’t expecting so much. I just thought there’d be a couple of cameras here.”
“That won’t be enough to catch anyone following you.” He raised his eyebrow at her. “Any objections?”
She shook her head. “Nope. What?” she added when the brothers glanced at each other.
“We thought you’d kick up a fuss,” replied Caleb.
“Why? This can only benefit me.”
“We thought you’d say we were going over the top,” added Kevin.
“If it gives me peace of mind then I’m all for it.”
“Good,” said Vance. “Right lads, let’s get to work.”
“Can I help?” said Faith.
“No,” Caleb told her. “You’re going to sit there and chill out. You’re always running around looking after us. It’s our turn now.”
She beamed at them. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Does anyone want a cuppa?”
“I’ll do that,” said Jason, striding into the kitchen.
She smiled and snuggled back down into the couch, feeling loved and cared for.
Faith had decided she wanted to see the counsellor alone. Vance insisted on waiting outside in the car until they knew for certain that she wasn’t being followed.
The counsellor was a plump, curly haired woman called Betsy whose sweet smile and warmth immediately put her at her ease but Faith still found herself unable to discuss what had happened. The memory of the sound of the knife puncturing her flesh replayed in her head and she clammed up. After a little gentle coaxing from Betsy, Faith was able to talk about the few minutes before the attack but could go no further.
“I’m sorry,” said Faith, dragging her hands through her hair. “I just can’t.”
“It’s all right,” said Betsy. “We’ll go at your pace. I
t can take some people a bit of time to open up. The fact that you booked this appointment in the first place is a very good sign. It means you’re ready to face it.”
“I’m just so…” Faith trailed off and bit her lip, unable to admit that she was afraid.
Betsy didn’t push her when she remained silent. “Like I said, in your own time.” When it became clear Faith wasn’t going to say anything else, Betsy added, “Would you like to try again another time?”
“Yes please,” replied Faith, knowing if she didn’t then things would only get worse for her.
After booking an appointment for the following week, she headed outside and got in Vance’s car waiting at the kerb.
“How did it go?” he asked her.
“Oh, fine,” she replied, forcing a smile. “I like her, she’s really sweet.”
“Did you manage to, you know, open up?”
“A bit. She said I did really well. I’ve booked another appointment for next week.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “Good.” He started the engine. “Now I’m taking you out for lunch.”
“Sounds good,” she replied with a smile she didn’t feel.
She hated lying to Vance. In fact she couldn’t remember ever doing it before and it pained her but if she told him the truth he might press her to open up and she just couldn’t. The darkness had already settled in her heart, she could feel it and she wasn’t sure it would ever leave. It felt to be a part of her now.
The sense of being watched didn’t return that day for Faith and by the following afternoon when she still hadn’t experienced it again she was starting to think that it had been her imagination. But her brothers still wanted her to take precautions until they were absolutely certain.
She was still enjoying her time off from work when she received a call from Vance.
“Sorry Faith,” he said. “I know you’re on a break but you really need to come to Pulse. We’ve got a big problem.”
“On my way,” she replied with a weary sigh. She didn’t bother to ask what the problem was because they didn’t discuss things like that over the phone.
She found her brothers ensconced together in the office at the club. The looks on their faces made her stomach drop. Vance vacated the chair behind her desk so she could sit down.
“What’s happened now?” she said, taking her seat.
“The drugs have been nicked,” said Caleb.
“Not again,” she tutted. “Which run was it?”
“Not one single run,” said Vance. “All of them.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“Well, not quite all of them. Four hundred thousand pound’s worth to be precise.”
“Fuck,” she breathed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How the hell did this happen? We have security, people who are paid to guard the vault.”
Caleb placed his phone on the desk before her and pressed play. On the screen popped up an image of a small spotless room that contained nothing but stacks of waterproof containers. She watched as four people dressed all in black and wearing balaclavas kicked the crap out of the men they paid to guard the cocaine.
She frowned at the screen. “Are those stun guns?”
“Yes.”
“How are our men?” was her first question when the footage finished.
“They’ll be okay,” said Vance. “But they’ll be out of action for a while. Whoever broke in knew what they were doing. They didn’t want to permanently damage them but they wanted them to stay down.”
“Well, either our men are Oscar winning actors or they didn’t have a bloody clue the intruders were there until it was too late. How did they break in? That place is a fucking vault. The door is solid metal.”
“They cut the power, incapacitating the alarms and cameras, only they didn’t know about the two cameras we had installed that work independently of the rest of the system, which is why we’ve got this footage. They used a hydraulic door breacher to get in.”
“A what?”
“It exerts seven tons of force to open the door. They’re most commonly used by the emergency services and military personnel. I’m a bit behind the times in door breaching technology but I believe they can now be operated remotely from a few metres away. The big advantage with this method is that it’s totally silent.”
“How much would something like that cost?”
“Ten grand give or take. I don’t even know if you can buy them in this country. Naturally the police don’t want Joe Public getting their hands on a piece of kit like that.”
“You said most of the product was taken. How much is left?”
“Thirty five grand’s worth.”
“Why didn’t they take it all?”
Vance rewound the footage. “You see him,” he said, pointing to one of the men. “He seems to be the leader and he’s holding a stopwatch. They gave themselves a certain amount of time to grab as much as they could. They wanted to be in and out. They didn’t know when the next shift was coming to relieve our men because we constantly change the routine. It takes twenty seconds to drive from the top of the drive to the outside of the vault. They wanted to leave that amount of time to get out in case someone else came along.”
“Professionals,” she murmured. “These are aren’t daft kids.”
“Definitely professionals.”
“What I want to know,” said a scowling Jason. “Is how the bastards found the vault in the first place?”
“Me too,” spat Kevin, face puce with fury. “It’s out in the countryside in the middle of fucking nowhere. I say we round up every git who works for us and batter them until one of them admits they grassed.”
“Not a very good way to earn loyalty from our employees,” said Faith.
“Fuck loyalty. We’ve got a traitor and we need to find out who it is before they fuck us over again.”
“No one betrayed us Kev,” said Faith. “They found the location through me.”
They all gaped at her.
“What?” rasped Kevin.
“They followed me there. It seems I wasn’t imagining someone watching me.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence I’ve been feeling this way and then this happens. This is my fault. If I’d acted on it sooner we might have avoided this.”
“Kev could be right and we have a traitor,” said Caleb. “It could have been one of the men we hired to guard the place. Other than the five of us no one else knows the location, not even Abi and I’m damn sure it’s not one of us.”
“Too right it’s not,” yelled Kevin. “What are you trying to say?”
“That it’s not one of us, like I just said. Simmer down Kev.”
“Sorry,” he said, taking a deep, calming breath.
“We shouldn’t make assumptions either way,” said Vance. “We do need to question the people who work for us and look back over the footage recorded by the new security equipment we installed.”
“If someone is following us they’ll know we’re here right now,” said Faith.
The five of them all looked at each other, Caleb grabbing Kevin by the back of his jacket when he stormed for the door.
“Get off me,” he yelled, tearing himself free of his brother’s grip.
“Don’t run off and do something stupid,” Vance told him. “We need to discuss how we’re going to tackle this and don’t come out with something about twatting everyone in Blackpool until we find the right people.”
Kevin pouted and folded his arms across his chest but he remained silent, to all their relief.
“We need to keep this as quiet as we can,” said Faith. “If word spreads that we were done over we’ll be seen as weak and targeted again.”
“Are you going to tell the Maguires?” said Jason.
“I have to,” she sighed.
“They’re not going to be happy,” said Caleb.
“Definitely not but I’ve no choice. It’s not like it’
s a hundred quid’s worth we lost. Four hundred grand’s worth,” she murmured, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “And that’s only what the Maguires paid for it. The street value was much higher.”
“They’ll understand,” he said, not sounding very convinced. “That amount of cash is nothing to them.”
“We can but hope. This is a huge fuck up though and they’re going to want results, namely the culprit’s head on a plate.”
“Not a problem,” glowered Kevin. “Where should we start? It might take the sting out of it if we can show them we’re on it.”
“You’re right Kev. The fact that the people responsible are obviously professionals works in our favour. This isn’t down to some of the meathead gangs around here.”
“It could be an organised gang,” said Caleb. “Maybe one from out of town who heard about our family and want what we have.”
“We need to speak to our men who were guarding the vault,” said Faith. “They might have noticed or heard something that could give us a clue. We also need to speak to people in the know in the town who can be discreet. Caleb, talk to Lil. Vance, go back and speak to Kingsley and I’ll talk to the Fairweathers.”
“What about us?” said Jason, gesturing from himself to Kevin.
“You can find a new place to stash the product.”
“On it,” said Jason.
“And arrange a meeting with Tariq. He needs to know what’s happened.”
“What if he grassed?” said Kevin.
“It’s not him. He didn’t know the location of the vault and he had a very big payday wrapped up in that lot.”
“He’ll get an even bigger payday without us taking our cut.”
“And where would he distribute it? He doesn’t have any contacts outside Blackpool and if he did nick it and distribute it here we would be bound to notice.”
“Suppose,” he mumbled.
“Our relationship with Tariq is too profitable for him to mess up and he’s not stupid enough to ruin it with a one-off blag.”
“Where do you want to meet him?”
“Here in a couple of hours. I need to make an important call first.”
“Jules?” said Caleb.
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