Jack had to move fast. Blake had seen him coming, his bleeding hand ready to fend him off. In a moment of helplessness, Jack did something that would have looked ridiculous in a movie. Instead of lunging at Blake with the knife, he swept out his left hand and hurled the bowl of batter mixture directly at his target.
It went everywhere. Blake’s head and eyes were covered with the stuff. He was blinded. He released his grip on Calum, who dropped to the floor gasping for breath. Blake thrashed around, trying to clear his eyes. He was edging backwards, on the defensive now. Jack ran towards him clutching the knife, only to slide on the batter mixture, which was dripping on the floor. He tumbled down hard, landing next to Calum.
As Blake cleared one eye, he saw his opportunity. Jack was trying to get up, his hands slipping on the floor. Calum was struggling to breathe, he was in no state yet to put up a defence. Blake kicked Jack in the stomach, sending him right across the room, his head striking the side of the fryer as he landed. He felt the spit of hot fat. The pain was excruciating; he was completely winded, it was as if Blake was wearing concrete blocks on his feet.
Blake strode towards Jack, clearing his other eye. The batter mixture was dripping from his head. Jack knew that they wanted to take him alive. That was his one small advantage.
Blake was rushing towards Jack now. It was like being stampeded by a bull. Blake grasped his top and lifted him off the floor.
‘Enough!’ he screamed right into Jack’s face.
‘You stop now or that bloody wife of yours gets fucked up the arse before she dies. Okay? Now just settle—’
The slam of the frying pan just missed Jack’s face, but caught Blake directly on the side of his head. Still he didn’t relax his grip on Jack. Calum leapt onto Blake’s back, pounding his arm with the pan. Jack kneed him in the groin, narrowly missing the hot fat of the fryer as he reached out to steady himself.
‘Calum!’ he called, pointing towards the fryer. Calum got the message straightaway. He dropped the pan, and before Blake had time to turn around, they seized his arms and tipped him forward thrusting his head deep into the bubbling fat of the fryer.
‘Hold the bugger down!’ Calum screamed, as hot steam began to pour from the bubbling mess of Blake’s head.
Blake’s hands and legs were still thrashing wildly. Burning fat splashed over Calum and Jack, but they ignored the pain, holding him firmly until he stopped moving. They had to make sure this giant of a man was dead.
‘Okay?’ Jack asked, looking intensely into Calum’s eyes. There was a bloody, red mark around Calum’s neck where Blake had been clasping him. It was a wonder he hadn’t crushed his windpipe.
‘Okay,’ Calum nodded. They released their grip on Blake. His head slid out of the fat and his limp body fell to the ground. He was dead, his face a burned mess.
‘I fancied a fry-up for ma breakfast, but I think I’ll settle for cornflakes noo!’ said Calum.
Jack started to laugh uncontrollably.
As she watched Jack and Calum making their way over to the café, Lucy felt for Erica’s phone in her pocket. Would the signal be good enough now to let her contact the police? She had to try.
She keyed in 999.
The phone was ringing. She could hardly believe her luck.
‘Hello, emergency. Which service do you require?’
‘Police!’ Lucy whispered, keeping her voice low so as not to draw any unwelcome attention.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. Please would you repeat your answer – fire, police or ambulance?’
Lucy turned in the direction she’d been facing when the call had been picked up, the signal seemed to be stronger that way.
‘I need to speak to the police. It’s urgent.’
‘Putting you through now.’
Just for a second, Lucy thought the nightmare might be ending. A new operator picked up.
‘Hello, where are you calling from?’
‘Where are we?’ Lucy whispered to Erica. ‘Where do I send them?’
‘Shhh!’ Erica made an urgent gesture to Lucy to shut up. She pointed, then held up two fingers. ‘In front of the bins,’ she mouthed.
Lucy cursed to herself, two people were coming up to search the refuse area.
‘Hello, where are you calling from please?’
Lucy couldn’t risk a reply. All she could do was turn the speaker volume right down so that the operator would be able to listen without the sound of her voice putting them at risk. Would they be able to figure out where they were from the signal?
Lucy and Erica slipped behind the heavy bins, concealing themselves just in time. Two figures appeared and Lucy heard the crackle of a wireless device. They were using walkie-talkies. One of them was the woman – Rosa. She was with a man whose voice she hadn’t heard before. He was talking about the football match he’d been watching earlier that day. Rosa was radiating disinterest.
‘Shut the fuck up, Olaf,’ she hissed. ‘And keep your eyes peeled. That’s what you’re getting paid for, okay? Let’s deliver the package and get out of this godforsaken place.’
Lucy was terrified. They were hiding on the other side of the bins, concealed only by the brick enclosure. Would they hear the operator’s voice as she talked on the phone? Lucy’s finger hovered over the red button, but she couldn’t bring herself to terminate the call. While it was still active she had a lifeline. She placed the phone back in her pocket, it would stifle the speaker, at least. If anything happened, it might make it easier for the police to track their location.
Shit! They’d left the shotgun at the side of bins. Erica hadn’t taken it. She was empty-handed. Lucy pointed and Erica scrunched up her face. They were about to give the game away.
There was a scuffling noise to Lucy’s right. She couldn’t make out what it was.
‘Hey, Olaf, over here. It’s the big guy’s shotgun. They were here. Be careful, search these bins.’
How long until they found them? Seconds? A minute maybe? Lucy looked around for options. She could push the bin and make a run for it. She could leap over the brick enclosure, it would buy her a few seconds of cover. There were a couple of wine bottles left by the bin at her side. If she broke one, at least she’d have a weapon. But what about Erica? There were two of them to get out of there. The decision was made for her.
The noise that she’d heard was a rat. Startled by the sound of the bin lids being lifted, it had also realised that the game was up. It made for the safety of the wall, to its surprise found Lucy crouched there and leapt at her throat, thinking that she was an attacker. Lucy shrieked. It was a reflex. She couldn’t help herself.
Rosa grasped the handles of the heavy industrial bin and rammed it hard slamming Lucy’s body against the brick wall. As she drew back the bin to thrust it at the fugitive a second time, Lucy tore the rat away from her top and threw it at Rosa. Its long fleshy tail brushed her face as the rodent flew through the air directly at Rosa’s head.
There was a flash of light and a thundering bang. The rat disappeared in an explosion of flesh as its tail slapped Rosa’s face before dropping to the ground.
‘You fucking idiot!’ she screamed at Olaf, who had picked up Calum’s shotgun and hit it with two cartridges before it even struck its target.
‘I’ve always wanted to try one of these things,’ he replied, grinning stupidly.
This distraction was all that Lucy and Erica needed. As she stood up, Lucy felt a twang in her ankle. It had to hold, she was going to need all of her speed and stamina to get away.
‘Over the wall, Erica!’ she shouted, but Erica made the wrong call. She opted to go around the side of the bins.
She ran directly into Olaf, who dropped the shotgun and took a firm hold her neck before the weapon had even hit the ground. With the precision of a killer, he placed one hand on her chin, the other on the back of her head, and gave a sharp but firm twist. She crumpled and fell to the ground.
‘Better, idiot!’ Rosa smiled at him. ‘Now l
et’s get this bitch.’
Olaf took out his handgun.
‘Prick!’ said Rosa, as she brushed his gun to the side. ‘The boss needs her alive – for now, until we get Dawson. Then we can play with her.’
Olaf put his gun in its holster and began to run after Lucy, with Rosa close behind. As they pursued her down the incline, the operator, thinking the drama was over, began to speak, her voice coming from the phone in Lucy’s pocket.
‘Hello caller, are you able to give me your location? Hello caller?’
With the voices now gone, she closed the call, assuming it to be a prank.
Lucy ran. She had to get to the lorry. That’s where they’d said they’d meet. It was too late for Erica, she’d had moments to react, but a single wrong turn and she’d lost her life. Lucy was heading back towards the petrol station. She knew that Jack and Calum had gone to the café, but there was no movement over there. She had seen their pursuers spread out, searching the site in an attempt to flush them out.
She was tired and every limb craved rest, but she had to make this last run a run for her life. There were trees to her left. They were conifers, planted in neat rows, not like the mixed woodland they had run through earlier. She would use them as cover, run wide along the edge of the car park, then make a dash for the lorry when Jack emerged from the café with the key.
She veered off to the left, the decision made. She knew that Rosa and Olaf were not far behind her. The running was much easier here than when they’d been pushing their way through the undergrowth that had stifled the woods earlier on. The pine needles formed a soft bed and the consistency of the planting meant that she could cross rows of trees and quickly get out of the line of sight of her pursuers.
Low, spiky offshoots protruding from the trees whipped across her face. Her cheeks were streaked with blood. She didn’t care, she had to make that rendezvous at the lorry. The hill was sloping gently downward and Lucy knew that if she carried on she’d reach the verge alongside the car park.
She was breathing evenly and clearly now, her route was direct enough to get into a rhythm. For a moment she felt as if she could have been running on the open road along from their house, their place of sanctuary. How she craved that refuge right now, with Jack and Hamish. How could she have ever wished it away?
Lucy came to a stop, she’d reached her destination, a little further along than she had intended. Although she could hear Rosa and Olaf cracking twigs behind her, she had a decent head start. The car park was clear. The lorry was there, pointing forward, ready to drive straight out of that hellhole. All she needed now was that signal from Jack.
Jack picked up Blake’s gun and his walkie-talkie. Calum was clasping the other gun firmly in his hand.
‘There was a shot. Did yer hear it when we were fighting?’ Calum asked.
‘No – yes – probably. I heard something. I was too busy with our fried friend over there.’
‘Yes, it was ma shotgun. Not a handgun. I ken its sound. It must have been the women firing the shot. We’d better get to the lorry.’
The security light outside the back door was off, so at least they knew there was nobody lurking immediately outside.
‘Careful now,’ said Jack, as he put his head around the back door of the kitchen to check that the coast was clear. He stopped and looked back towards Calum.
‘How are we going to let Lucy know that we’re ready? We need a signal.’
‘Wait a moment,’ Calum said, moving back over towards the locker where he’d been forced to hide.
Within moments, the fire alarm was sounding.
‘Let’s get oot o’here,’ Calum said. ‘I saw it when that wee bastard was trying to strangle me. If we’re really lucky, it’ll be hard-wired into the nearest fire station. Dinnae get too excited though, there’s not a lot that’s hard-wired oot here.’
Calum and Jack headed out of the back door and towards the trees that surrounded the edges of the car park. Sometimes being in the middle of nowhere brings advantages. This would provide great cover for them. Besides, the alarm would draw their enemies like wasps to jam. It was a good distraction.
‘Okay, this is as close as we’re going to get without being seen. Get the lorry started, Calum. I’ll hide behind Mikey’s car and cover Lucy and the woman from the café, Erica.’
Jack tossed him the lorry keys and began to make his way across the car park.
It wasn’t a huge area, but with just the lorry, Mikey’s car, and the two vehicles left by their pursuers in it, it seemed like a wide-open expanse to Jack. There was very little cover if shooting started.
He scanned the perimeter for Lucy.
There was a commotion over at the café. He could see through the large windows that the fire alarm had had the desired effect.
Don’t get cocky, he said to himself. There are more of them out here and Lucy isn’t safe yet.
Then he saw her, but she’d already seen him making his way across the open space to Mikey’s car. Moments afterwards she spotted Calum heading for the lorry. They must have got the keys.
Jack waved at Lucy. She’d need to start running now, the armed gang that had gathered in the café wouldn’t stay there for long, they could spill out into the parking area at any moment.
Lucy got the message and began to run.
‘Hurry, Lucy!’
As Jack watched her, willing her to get to the lorry as fast as she could, he saw the men making their way to the front door of the café. He turned to look across the car park. Someone was running. At first he thought it was Erica, then realised it couldn’t be. Rosa. It was Rosa. Where was Erica? Was she dead too?
Jack left his hiding place by Mikey’s car and sprinted towards the lorry. Rosa would have to run like the wind to catch his wife. He could open the passenger door and get Lucy safely inside before she caught up.
Calum fired the engine into life, spurring him on to run faster. Jack put his left foot onto the metal step, opened the door and climbed up into the cab. It was bigger than he’d imagined. He’d never sat in a lorry before.
Calum revved the engine, itching to drive off. Across the car park, the men emerging from the café had seen what was going on and were readying their guns. Jack looked behind him. Lucy was still running, she was nearly there.
‘Jump up, take my hand, Luce!’
She’d done well, but Rosa was fit and fast. She was gaining on Lucy, they’d only just make it.
‘Start to drive. Slowly,’ Jack turned back to Calum, ‘really slow, don’t leave Lucy behind. When I’ve got her, floor this thing, alright?’
Lucy was almost at the lorry. There was a shot. The moment she turned she knew she should have kept running, but it was instinct. Her ankle gave way and she faltered. Another shot. She hadn’t been hit. Who were they firing at?
She knew Rosa would be gaining on her. Forget the ankle, forget the pain, if she didn’t move now they’d have her. She lunged forward, ignoring the stab of cramp that shot through her lower leg. She was there, the lorry had begun to move, Jack had his hand out. She grabbed it, Jack pulled her up towards the cab and for a moment she thought she’d made it.
But as Calum began to accelerate, Rosa jumped up at Lucy, hanging onto her like a limpet, fighting to get Jack to release her. Calum revved the engine, sensing that it was now or never. Jack would have to shake off Rosa, they had to keep moving.
As the lorry picked up speed, more shots rang out into the stillness of that horrible night. Lucy did all she could to punch Rosa away with her spare hand, hanging onto Jack for dear life.
‘Get her away, get her off me!’ she screamed, fighting for her life.
With his other hand Jack reached out for his gun, it had been placed on the shelf in front of the passenger seat. Every time Rosa pulled on Lucy to drag her off the step at the side of the lorry, the movement tugged Jack a little further away from the weapon.
Two shots. They were close. Jack didn’t know where they’d come from. They d
istracted Rosa too. She stopped clawing at Lucy long enough for Jack to grasp the gun and point it towards her. He tightened his finger on the trigger, hoping that the weapon would be ready to fire, while the lorry careered across the car park.
He squeezed the trigger as Rosa gave one almighty pull at Lucy. The two women tumbled to the ground, rolling along until they came to a stop. The lorry revved, then went hurtling towards the trees at great speed. Jack pulled himself back into the cab, dropping the weapon onto the tarmac below. Calum was slumped across the wheel, the back of his head blown away by a bullet.
The window of the lorry cab was shattered. As Calum’s foot slid off the accelerator, the lorry slowed to a halt, just short of the trees on the far side of the car park. In the large wing mirror Jack could see men running towards him, guns drawn. It was over. He didn’t care any more. He’d done a terrible thing. He could see her lying still in the car park, a short distance from Rosa, who was now standing up.
He’d meant that bullet for Rosa. He’d fired as the two woman fell hard to the floor, for all he knew he’d shot his wife. He’d failed. It looked like it was all over.
Part III
Deception
8
It was an unusual thing to observe, given the nature of what had just happened, but all Jack could think of for a moment was how quiet things could be in the middle of such mayhem. Not for the first time that night, he was in the centre of a nightmare that he couldn’t have even contemplated twenty-four hours beforehand. And there was absolute silence, only for a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity.
Calum’s bloodied body was slumped at his side, a spattering of bright red covering the curtain behind them. It had been instantaneous. One minute Calum was talking to him, the next he was dead. If death came to him that night, Jack hoped it would be as fast as it had been for the man who’d come to his rescue.
Dead of Night [Full Book] Page 9