The Devil Inside

by Heather Atkinson

  “Course Boss Lady.”

  “Good. Tonight we make our move. We’ll slaughter the bastards and take everything for ourselves.”

  “That’ll certainly put a big dint in Malachi’s operation,” said Cass.

  “And we’ll be halfway there to bringing him down,” said Brodie. He shoved his hand down the front of his trousers.

  “Oh Brodie,” breathed Toni. “Am I finally going to see your trouser python?”

  “What? No.” He opened up his hand to reveal a small black box.

  “Why on earth do you have that in your underwear?”

  “It’s a recording device. It recorded Cain admitting everything he and Malachi have done. I knew when they frisked me that they wouldn’t check down there.”

  Toni’s face was like granite. “I do hope you didn’t intend to record Caesar with that?”

  “No. I’ve taken to wearing it all the time since I was rescued from Malachi. We desperately need proof and I thought it would be a good way to get it.”

  “Well,” she purred, pressing her hands to his chest. “That means I get to search your crotch every time we talk, just in case you’ve secreted a listening device down there.”

  “No you bloody well won’t. I’m only wearing it while this shit with Malachi’s going down.”

  “How do I know that for sure? I’m very security conscious. I couldn’t rest until I knew every sweet inch of you was bug-free.”

  “Oh…hell,” he sighed.

  Toni looked to a glowering Cass. “Don’t worry Cassandra. It’s purely business, that’s all. I won’t enjoy myself in the slightest.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” she glowered back at her.

  Brodie was delighted when Caesar returned to the van, putting a halt to the horrible conversation. He took in his employer’s hands pressed against Brodie’s chest and smiled. “Glad to see you back to your normal self Boss Lady.”

  “No one is to hear of what happened to me at the hands of those freaks,” she said. “Do you understand Caesar?”

  “Course I understand. I won’t say a word to anyone. I told the clan you’ve been at a spa.”

  She relaxed. “Excellent. You never let me down,” she said gently, making Caesar’s eyes twinkle. Toni looked back at Brodie. “My people will take care of this van and that big jobby,” she added, pointing to the dead bat.

  “And I’ll take this recording to Pete.”

  “There’s incriminating evidence of myself and Caesar on there.”

  “Don’t worry Antoinette,” said Cass. “Those parts of the recording will be mysteriously erased.”

  “I appreciate that Cassandra. Keep me updated. Me and my people are on standby to help, whatever you need.”

  “Don’t do anything silly, will you Toni?” said Brodie. “I know you’re burning for revenge and believe me I understand that but we need to do this the right way if we’re going to destroy Malachi.”

  “I understand completely.”

  “I’m no’ so sure about that.”

  “It’s your suspicious mind.” She looked to Caesar. “Take me home. I need to feel silks and satins against my skin. I also require servicing. It’s been a few days.”

  Caesar looked like all his Christmases had come at once. He extended a hand to assist her down from the van.

  “Thank God they’ve gone,” said Brodie. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Brodie, Cass and Christian jumped down onto the gravel.

  Toni’s people had already cleared away the bat’s body and they were just getting into the van to take it away. Neither would ever be seen again.

  “What do we do with the guns?” said Christian.

  “Hide them in your clothes for now,” said Brodie. “Hopefully we’ll find somewhere to dump them. Anyone know where the hell we are by the way?”

  “No idea,” said Cass.

  They exited the industrial estate to find themselves on a main road. They stood looking up and down it as traffic trundled by.

  “We’re in Cowcaddens,” said Christian. “I had a girlfriend who lived around here.”

  “Have you shagged every woman in Glasgow?” Brodie asked him. “I bet there’s only Lulu left.”

  “What can I say? They love me around here.”

  “Aye, frequently it seems. So, if we’re in Cowcaddens that means we’re only a ten minute drive from the safe house. We can get a taxi but first we need to dump the guns.”

  Casually they wandered down the road until they came across a skip behind a corner shop. After checking that the area wasn’t covered by CCTV, they wiped their prints off the guns, wrapped them in some discarded newspaper and shoved them inside. After scrolling through Cain and Abel’s phones and saw they contained nothing of interest they dumped them too.

  “I feel better now the guns are gone,” said Cass as they resumed their stroll down the road.

  “Me too hen,” said Brodie. “Now we just need to find a taxi. And keep an eye out for any bats. Word will have got back to Malachi by now and he might have sent more of the colony out on the hunt.” He sighed when his phone rang. “I bet that’s Pete all worried.” He took out his phone and nodded. “Yep, I was right. Alright pal?” he said, putting the phone to his ear. Brodie rolled his eyes. “Can I bloody speak? Thank you. Is Donaldson there?”

  “No,” replied Pete. “He’s putting the wean to bed with Freya.”

  “Good.” He then proceeded to give him a brief round up of what had just happened, omitting the dead bat.

  There was a pause before Pete roared, “What?”

  “Alright, take it easy. I don’t want Donaldson finding out.”

  “Take it easy?” he spluttered. “You lied to me, your best pal.”

  “I had to. I couldn’t say I was meeting a McVay lieutenant in front of do-goody Donaldson.”

  “And look what happened because you didn’t tell us.”

  “It came out alright in the end. We got away unharmed.”

  “It could have so gone the other way and I wouldn’t have known what happened to you.”

  “Look, I’m sorry but I had no choice. I’ll make it up to you. I’ll pick up something tasty on my way back.”

  “I don’t want something tasty, I just want you all back safe, so get here pronto.”

  “On our way. But I will be bringing a wee treat. I recorded Cain admitting he tortured and killed people on Malachi’s orders. He also mentioned Mary Strachan’s murder.”

  “Seriously? Nice one pal. Maybe there is a bright side after all.”

  “Course there is.” Brodie hung up and looked to Cass. “We have to alter the recording before we go back to the safe house.”

  “But my laptop’s at the safe house,” she replied. “I have one at home but the church will be watching our house.”

  “It’s alright hen,” said Brodie. “I know someone who’ll help us. He won’t want to but he’ll have no choice.”

  CHAPTER 29

  “Hello Weasel,” grinned Brodie.

  “Oh God,” replied the skinny, rodent-looking man who’d answered the door.

  “I don’t think so,” said Brodie, shoulder-barging the door open when he attempted to close it in his face.

  The Weasel staggered backwards, wincing when his back banged against the wall.

  Brodie stalked inside with Cass and Christian.

  “It stinks in here,” said Christian, wrinkling his nose.

  “You still no’ got this shitehole cleaned up,” said Brodie, looking around the dim, manky flat.

  “It’s not my fault,” squeaked The Weasel. “It’s Elon’s,” he added, gesturing to a large fluffy white cat asleep on the rug before the fire. “He has bladder problems. Costs me a fortune.” A fond smile lit up his face. “He’s worth it though.”

  “Stop it, you’ll have me in tears.”

  “You two know each other then?” Cass asked Brodie.

  “Aye hen,” he replied. “This is the nasty wee ratbag who
hacked into the good Judge Murphy’s emails and then tried to blackmail her.” Brodie didn’t like to think about that case because that was right before Lucas Thorne had come into their lives. In fact it was making him feel positively hostile towards The Weasel, who had picked up on this and was cowering in the corner, as far from Brodie as he could get.

  “Oh, him,” said Cass, regarding the man with distaste. “I hate blackmailers.”

  “Right Weasel,” barked Brodie, making him jump. “Cass here needs to borrow your laptop.”

  “That’s it?” he said hopefully.

  “Aye. She’ll delete all trace of her work off it, so you can get any ideas of trying to find out what she did on it out of your head.”

  “Believe me, I don’t want to know. It’s over there,” he said, pointing to a state-of-the-art silver laptop sat on the table by the window.

  “That thing looks worth more than everything in this flat put together,” said Brodie while Cass sat down and switched on the computer.

  Brodie and Christian took the hard chairs at the table with Cass rather than the couch because of the dubious stains and the smell emanating from it.

  “You rake in a fortune from your dodgy hacking ways,” Brodie told The Weasel. “So why don’t you buy yourself a new carpet and a fresh suite? It would buck the place up no end.”

  “Because Elon would just piss all over it again.” He bent down to pet the cat, who began to purr. “He can’t help being incontinent, can you not sweetie? Besides, any sort of change upsets him.”

  Elon purred and rubbed his head against his owner’s hand before flopping back onto the rug.

  Brodie sat bolt upright in his seat. “Hacker.”

  “What’s that Bossman?” said Christian.

  “He’s a computer hacker,” he said, pointing at The Weasel. “A bloody good one too.”

  “You’re thinking about the computer in the Treasurer’s office at the compound?”

  “Aye I am.”

  Brodie and Christian grinned at each other before turning to look at The Weasel, who swallowed nervously.

  “Will you stop whinging?” said Brodie as The Weasel drove them to the safe house in his clapped out Honda. “I’m paying you good money.”

  “I’ve heard about Higher Light,” he replied. “I don’t want to piss them off. It’s no’ wise to annoy a cult.”

  “You won’t be anywhere near them and they’ll have no idea it was you, so relax.”

  “I can’t be long. Elon gets nervous when I’m away from him for any length of time.”

  “And he starts peeing on your furniture?”

  “Exactly.”

  “How long it takes depends on you. Just get on with the job with the minimum of whinging and the next thing you know you’ll be tucked up all cosy back home with your cat and a big wad of cash.”

  “Well, when you put it like that…”

  “Turn down here.”

  The Weasel’s eyes widened when they reached the safe house.

  “Nice,” he smiled, looking up at the house.

  The driveway was so full he only just managed to tuck his small car onto it, the back tyres almost resting on the pavement. “Nice place,” he said. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all?

  The door was flung open by an irate Pete. “About bloody time.” His eyes narrowed at The Weasel. “Why does he look familiar? Oh bloody hell, I remember. He’s a computer hacker.”

  “Keep your voice down,” hissed Brodie. “Do you want the whole street to know?”

  “Sorry pal. Get in quick then.”

  They walked inside and Pete closed the door behind them. “You’re all okay then?”

  “Aye we’re fine,” replied Brodie. “No harm done.”

  “No harm done? You were kidnapped.”

  “But we escaped.”

  “Kidnapped?” said The Weasel. “Not by Higher Light? It was, wasn’t it?” he pressed when no one replied. He lunged for the door. “That’s it, I’m out of here.”

  Brodie pulled him back by his t-shirt and held him firmly while he writhed in his grip. “You’re going nowhere pal. Now, you’re gonnae get on that laptop of yours and hack into Higher Light’s financial records.”

  “What?” exploded Pete. “Have you finally lost the fucking plot? I tell you to not doing anything illegal and now you’re wanting this creep to hack into Higher Light. What fucking planet are you on?”

  “Hack?” said a voice.

  “Oh great,” sighed Brodie when he saw Donaldson standing in the hallway. He looked to Pete. “See what your enormous gob’s done now?”

  “I overheard everything,” said Donaldson. “So don’t try to deny it. For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good idea.”

  Brodie blinked at him before looking to his friends. “Did I hear that right? Is the do-gooder wanting to do something illegal?”

  “The church is targeting my family. I’m willing to do anything to make that stop.” Donaldson looked to Pete. “What do you think about it Sir?”

  “I think it’s bloody insane. Any evidence obtained illegally will be inadmissible and we’ll all be flung into the jail.”

  “Jail?” squeaked The Weasel.

  “But it won’t have been obtained illegally,” said Brodie. “It was obtained by someone who lived in the compound and who had access to the Treasurer’s office.”

  “You mean…,” began Pete.

  “Steven.”

  “Will he be willing to lie about it?”

  “He wants all this to stop, so probably.”

  “I’m still not sure about this.” Pete looked to Donaldson. “You think it’s worth a go?”

  “I do. Let’s face it, we haven’t got anything else.”

  “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” said Brodie. “Christian, get The Weasel set up with the laptop in that wee office next to the dining room.”

  “Will do Boss. This way Weasel.”

  Only when they’d gone, the dining room door closing behind them, did Brodie speak. “We were abducted by Higher Light while we were out.”

  “What?” exclaimed Donaldson.

  Brodie explained what had happened, leaving out any mention of the McVays and the dead bat, making out they were kidnapped while leaving the pub after meeting a contact about another case.

  “You’re lucky to be alive,” said Donaldson when he’d finished.

  “Because we can handle ourselves. From the looks of it Malachi’s God complex has infected all his disciples.”

  They looked to the stairs as Freya came down them. “That’s Petie finally asleep. He always struggles to settle in a strange place.”

  “And they don’t get any stranger than this,” muttered Pete.

  She took in their grim expressions. “What’s going on?”

  “Brodie, Cass and Christian were abducted by the cult when they went out,” Donaldson told his wife.

  “Oh my God, are you all okay?”

  “Aye fine doll,” replied Brodie. “Just a wee bit bruised.”

  “I’m so glad you managed to get away.”

  “So are we. They were gonnae take us to Edinburgh, to their special place for inconvenient people…”

  “Never to be seen again,” ended Pete sadly. He grabbed Brodie and pulled him into a hug.

  “Jeezo, not again,” he sighed.

  He released Brodie and then hugged Cass.

  “Everyone keeps wanting to cuddle us lately,” commented Brodie.

  “You’re my family,” said Pete. “I’m just happy you’re safe.”

  Brodie considered how he’d felt when he’d thought Higher Light had got hold of Pete. “Aye, I get that pal. Come away into the lounge, all of you. There’s something you need to hear.”

  Steven, Elliott and Ross were in the lounge, a little merry from the alcohol, Gardner looking on disapprovingly.

  “Thank God you’re back,” said Gardner. “I’ve been trying to keep them off the booze but they won’t listen to me.”


  “Relax,” a tipsy Steven told him, waving his can of lager around. “Enjoy yourself. You’ve got to make the most of life.”

  “I quite agree but you’ve been through a trauma and trying to deaden the pain with alcohol won’t work.”

  Steven’s response was to blow a raspberry at him, making Ross laugh.

  “That’s enough from you lot,” Brodie told them. “Wee Petie upstairs has more maturity in his wee finger than the lot of you put together.”

  This chastisement quietened them down.

  “Where’s Mason?” said Cass.

  “Taking a shower,” replied Elliott.

  “Well he’s gonnae miss out on something exciting,” said Brodie as Cass set up the dictaphone on the coffee table. “Listen to this, all of you.”

  “Where’d you get that from?” said a puzzled Ross when the recording had finished. “Is it from a film or something?” He finished this statement with a small burp.

  Brodie stared at him in outrage. “Film? It’s us you fucking fanny. Me, Cass and Christian were just kidnapped by Higher Light.”

  “Jeezo, are you all okay?”

  “No, we’re in the compound as we speak being jagged with needles. Course we’re okay.”

  “Alright, I only asked,” he pouted.

  “The recording ends very abruptly,” said Donaldson.

  “The device got damaged in the rammy,” replied Brodie. Cass had had to erase the last part of the footage so no one would hear the conversation with Toni and Caesar.

  Donaldson’s look was sceptical but he didn’t comment.

  “The walloper on the tape admits everything,” said Pete.

  “Including Mary’s death,” said Brodie sadly. He was still hurting over that one.

  “That was Cain, one of Malachi’s attack dogs,” Cass explained for the benefit of the others. She looked to Pete. “Surely this is enough to at least get Cain and Malachi questioned and the compound searched?”

  “I’d say so,” said Pete, Donaldson nodding in agreement. “Although with his fancy lawyer it won’t be enough to get him lifted. But I could get a search team inside that compound.”

  “And when they go in they’ll find out all his dirty secrets,” said Brodie eagerly. “He won’t be able to hide what he really is anymore.”