Wardsley shook his head, exasperated. “If anyone finds out about this…”
“No one will,” said Dalton. “And admit it – you want to see Frankie punished as well. Not just him but every arrogant little yob like him. We’ve been in the force almost ten years each, John, and in that time how many scumbags have we seen walk free, laughing all the way? Wouldn’t you like them all to know that sometimes the victims bite back?”
Andrew watched anxiously as Wardsley thought about things for a moment. It was clear the officer was struggling with something internally, but it was also clear that he trusted his partner. Finally, Wardsley lowered his shoulders and stepped aside. He nodded at Andrew. “I don’t know how you’re going to find him, but he’s been known to hang around with a local drug dealer, Damien Banks. 14 Middleton Mews.”
Andrew thanked them and hurried past, sprinting down his path. He stopped and turned back before disappearing completely, halted by the sound of Officer Dalton’s voice.
“Penelope’s dead. We got word that she died twenty minutes ago. The hospital has been trying to contact you. I’m sorry.”
Andrew said nothing; didn’t turn around, or even move. Instead, he glared forward into the rain-soaked night with nothing but murder on his mind. “I’ll see you both in the morning,” he said to the officers, then disappeared into the darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Davie waited anxiously in the rain for Frankie to get off the phone. His brother was clutching the mobile to his face so tightly that it threatened to crack his skull. Davie didn’t know who was on the other end of the call, or even what was being said, but he could tell one thing for certain: it was bad news.
“No fucking way!” Frankie screamed into the phone. “How the hell did this happen?” After several more minutes of shouting and cursing, Frankie ended the call and put the phone back in his jeans pocket. He then proceeded to stand there, without saying anything, for several minutes, staring at an invisible spot in the sky. His twitch was acting up, and his whole face seemed like it was breakdancing.
“What is it?” Davie asked. “What’s happened?”
Frankie lowered his gaze slowly until it focused on his brother. “Jordan’s dead.”
Davie could not have cared less about the twins, but the shock of hearing something so unexpected hit Davie in his stomach like a lead-filled boxing glove. The news took his breath away. There was no way Jordan could be dead.
I only saw him last night.
Frankie elaborated. “That fucker bowled up to him at the hospital and gutted him like a pig.”
Davie felt hot. A fire in his stomach radiated throughout his entire body. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You mean Andrew did this?”
Frankie nodded angrily. “Dom heard a nurse give a description to the police. It was definitely him.”
Davie still couldn’t force the information into his mind. Andrew committing murder was insane. “What was Jordan doing at the hospital, anyway? He should have known Andrew would be there with his family.”
“He was getting his face checked out. Dom said Jordan almost fainted this morning because it was so infected. He had no choice but to go the hospital.”
“Is Dom still at the hospital now? What about Andrew?”
“Dom’s out looking for the piece of shit as we speak. He’ll kill him as soon he finds him. Works out well for us, actually.”
Davie couldn’t believe how calm his brother was being. Jordan had been his friend since first school, they went back years. “What do you mean it works out well for us?”
Frankie shrugged as if the answer were obvious. “Because Andrew needs dealing with. If Dom gets to him first, we don’t have to worry about him coming after us.”
“You think that will happen? You think Andrew is planning to do the same to us as he did to Dom?”
“Seems likely,” said Frankie. “The reason Jordan was alone when he got stabbed was because his brother had gone to look for Andrew’s family – to see if they were still alive and whether or not we were facing a murder charge.”
“And are we?”
“Yes and no. The girl’s okay apparently, but the old dear snuffed it about the same time that Jordan did. Messed up, if you think about it.”
You don’t have to think about it to see that the whole thing is messed up, Frankie. I could have told you that from the start.
“So you see,” said Frankie, wiping a hand across his face t clear the rain away, “if Dom gets to Andrew first he’s doing us all a favour. The police are after his ass, his wife is dead, and he has nothing else left to lose by coming after us.”
“He still has a daughter,” said Davie, holding on to the fact that they had not taken absolutely everything from the man. They had left him one thing to hold on to: Rebecca.
“Yeah he does, doesn’t he?” Frankie nodded to himself as if thinking. “Good thinking, little bro. We still have something to use against him if we need to. We can still hurt the daughter.”
“Fuck sake, man!” Davie felt like beating the shit out of his brother right then. If only he could, he most likely would have. “Have you not done enough damage? I can’t believe you’re still thinking about hurting people. People’s lives are not toys for your amusement.”
“Chill the fuck out!”
Davie shoved Frankie hard in the chest. “No, you chill the fuck out! I’m out of here. You can go right to hell, for all I care.”
Davie turned away from his brother and started walking.
“You get back here right now!” Frankie shouted after him. “We need to stick together, with that psycho on the loose, you hear me?”
Davie turned around, marched back towards his brother. “You don’t get it, do you, Frankie? The only psychopath here is you. You belong in jail, man. They should never have let you out”
Frankie pulled out the gun from his waistband and pointed it in Davie’s face.
“Seriously?” Davie shook his head sighed. “You’re pointing that thing at me? You’re going to shoot your own brother now? Is that what gangsters do, is it?”
Frankie’s face twitched and the movement seemed to tremor all the way down to his arm holding the revolver unsteadily. In fact his entire body was shaking.
“Just do it!” Davie ordered him. “I don’t give a fuck anymore. I’m tired of this shit.”
Frankie’s face contorted, the veins in his neck bulging like worms beneath his skin. Davie had never seen his brother like this – so close to freaking out. After a few tense seconds, where Davie actually begun to wonder whether his brother would shoot, Frankie chose to lower the weapon. Tears glistened in his eyes, but he did not speak.
Davie had nothing to say either. He started to walk away again.
Frankie shouted after him then. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Davie. You’re my little brother.”
Davie kept on walking. “Don’t worry about it, you gave me a gun. If I’m in danger I’ll take a leaf out of your book and start killing people.”
“Where are you going?”
Davie thought about it. Then said, “Home.”
Frankie rushed after him, footsteps beating at the wet pavement. “That’s the first place Andrew will look for us.”
Davie turned back around and shrugged. “Then I’ll have to deal with the consequences of that. It’s not as though we didn’t cause trouble at his house, is it? We deserve whatever we get.”
“Why the hell you care so much about this guy?”
“Because if I didn’t care, then I would be just the same as you, and I never want that. Never.” Davie could tell he had hurt Frankie with his words – the silence told him so – but he didn’t care; didn’t care at all.
“Do what the fuck you want!” said Frankie. “But if I go down, I’m taking you with me – and you wouldn’t last ten minutes inside.”
Davie laughed. “I think that’s actually something to be proud of. I’m glad I’m not cut out for prison – means I’m
still a human being and not an animal.”
For the first time in his life, Davie turned his back on his big brother and walked away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Andrew didn’t know what he was going to do, but he’d lost none of his conviction that he would do something. For all he knew, he could be heading straight to a house full of druggies who were carrying knives even nastier than the one he currently had hidden on his person. But there was no option of turning back, his mind was made up.
The house in front of him was large, posh even, certainly not what Andrew had been expecting. Wardsley had told him that a drug dealer lived here.
I guess crime really does pay.
Before he had chance to reach the end of the path, the front door opened. A shirtless young man stood in the opening.
“The hell are you?” the lad demanded.
Andrew stopped a few feet away on the path. “I’m looking for Frankie.”
“Join the club.”
Andrew didn’t understand. “Do you know where I can find him?”
The lad, who Andrew surmised must be Damien, stepped out onto the pavement to meet him. “You’re the guy that has a beef with him, aren’t you?”
Andrew raised his arm slightly, ready to grab the knife stuffed into his waistband at the slightest hint of a threat. “I guess you could say that.”
Damien grinned. “Well, I hope you fuck him up! He has it coming.”
Andrew was still confused. “Huh?”
“Frankie jacked some of my shit earlier. He ain’t a friend of mine no more.”
Andrew attempted a smile. It seemed appropriate at that moment to show friendliness. The enemy of mine enemy is my friend. “T-that’s…good to hear. So do you know where I can find him?”
Damien shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t, mate. If I knew, I would tell you. What he done to your family is screwed up. They okay?”
“My wife is dead.” Andrew would allow no emotion to his voice as he spoke. He could not afford to be weak right now. He had to stay focused.
Damien shook his head and seemed genuinely angry. “Wish I could tell you it was the first person he’d killed, but...Well, let’s just say the guy has a goddamn screw loose! When I met him inside he was already beginning to lose it. By the time they let him out he was as crazy as they come.”
Andrew sensed an opportunity to get answers. The guy was genuinely on his side and seemed to know a lot about Frankie. “Is that why he did this to me? Because he’s crazy?”
“Probably. Knowing Frankie, though, it could just be because he don’t like your face…” Damien’s words trailed off and a realisation seemed to dawn on his face. “You know something… now that I’m looking at you…”
“What?” said Andrew. “Do I look like someone?”
Damien huffed and shook his head. “Damn, no wonder the guy hates you.”
Andrew sensed that Damien was about to say more, but then someone appeared in the doorway behind him. Anger welled up inside of him as he realised who it was. “Michelle!”
Michelle stared out at Andrew, her badly-bruised jaw agape at the sight of him. Then she turned nasty, running for Andrew at full speed. She screamed, “You killed Jordan, you bastard.”
Andrew sidestepped and shoved her as she passed, sending her went flying into the grass on her hands and knees.
“I assume you two have met, then?” Damien quipped from the doorway.
Andrew turned to him. “Could say that. You going to get involved?”
“Hell no! She made her own bed.” Damien started to close the door, but he stopped and halfway to give Andrew some advice. “Hey, man, watch yourself with Frankie, okay? The stuff he jacked from me? It was a pair of shooters.”
“Guns?” Andrew attempted to clarify, but Damien had already closed the door and turned off the hallway light.
“You fucker!” Michelle cursed more obscenities at him as she clambered to her feet. She was half-naked and muddy, covered only by a pair of linen shorts and a strappy top. It didn’t seem to bother her though and she launched another attack at Andrew. He struck her in the ribs as she came at him, swatting her aside like a fly. She fell back to the ground, sucking in air.
“How’s that feel, you evil bitch? You stuck a blade in my ribs so you still have a ways to go before you know about pain.”
He kicked her hard; striking her ribs in the same exact spot he had just punched her. In the glow of the outside lights, Andrew watched Michelle’s cheeks turn bright purple as she struggled to get a single breath into her failing lungs.
“Hurts, doesn’t it? Now imagine if I put you through this for hours, or made you watch while I tortured your family.” He kicked her again, this time in her rump. He felt his foot impact with the pointed tip of her tailbone and she squealed in agony.
“I’m sorry,” she screamed at him, managing to find her breath. “Just leave me alone…please.”
Andrew looked down at the pathetic, mud-covered girl and felt no remorse. She was as twisted and evil as Frankie. In fact, she had perhaps delighted in the torture more than any of the others. She had been their malicious little cheerleader.
“Seriously?” he asked her. “You’re going to beg me? Did I not beg you? Did you listen when I pleaded?”
Michelle shook her head. Tears smudged her makeup; just like Pen’s had smudged hers when they tortured her. Andrew struck out again, kicking her face as hard as he could and enjoying the crunch of teeth cracking in her jaw. She hit the dirt, unconscious.
It’s not enough though. She deserves to die.
As much as grief and hatred encased his soul, Andrew didn’t possess the ability to beat a young girl to death – regardless of how much she might deserve it. He had not fallen that far yet. There were other things he could do though. Time was running out and he had no leads on where to find Frankie. Perhaps Michelle could help with that.
I’m sure there are ways of making her talk.
Andrew knocked on Damien’s door and waited for it to open again. When it did, he nodded to the lad and said, “I need to borrow something.”
***
It only took minutes to carry Michelle into a nearby wood. Luckily, Damien’s street was upmarket and lined with small outcroppings of woodland. It was frightening that nobody had noticed Andrew abducting the girl, but it wasn’t something he was going to complain about now.
Andrew knelt beside Michelle as she lay propped up against a gnarled oak tree. She was an unconscious mess and, while she’d been sleeping, Andrew had used the scissors he borrowed from Damien to completely remove her hair. He wanted to humiliate her the same way she and her friends had humiliated Pen. It still wasn’t sufficient punishment for what she’d done, but Andrew hoped it was enough to teach her a lesson that would last her whole life.
He slapped her cheeks to wake her, harder than he needed to because the act itself was satisfying. After half a dozen blows, it finally worked. Michelle’s eyelids fluttered, her eyeballs rolled forwards from the back of her head. She looked almost content for a moment, like she was coming out of a pleasant dream, but when her consciousness returned to reality and she saw that Andrew was leaning over her, she panicked.
“Help me! Please, somebody!”
Andrew slapped her face again, harder than he had done to wake her. Instantly the screaming stopped. “Shut up, girl! I won’t hurt you if you tell me what I want.”
Michelle’s eyes were round and white like a frightened animal. Her words came out hurried. “Tell you what?”
Andrew leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching. “Where is Frankie?”
“I…I don’t know.”
Andrew pulled the knife from his belt and held it to her face, pressing it beneath her left eye. “Don’t make me ask you again.”
“Please…please…I really don’t know. Damien said Frankie left his place a few hours ago, before I even got there. Frankie doesn’t know I came to see Damien.”
Andrew huffed. “You
really are a piece of work, aren’t you?”
“Please don’t tell him.”
Andrew couldn’t believe it. The girl’s level of self-involvement was astounding. “Do you think I give a damn about your love life? You can screw half of Worcestershire for all I care. I just want Frankie. Besides, I don’t think he’d like you now that you’ve cut your hair so short.”
Michelle slapped both hands to her head and squealed when she felt nothing except scalp and random thickets of hair. Before she had time to lose herself to hysteria and self-pity, Andrew slapped her again.
“Tell me where Frankie is, or you’ll lose more than just your hair.”
“I-I don’t know where he is!” Michelle was pleading now and, regrettably, Andrew was inclined to believe her. He was confident that he’d rattled her sufficiently that she wouldn’t dare lie to him – she didn’t have the courage.
She can’t help me. She doesn’t know.
Andrew removed the blade from beneath her eye, dragging it downwards so that it bit at her flesh. He ignored her flinches of pain and asked his next question. “Okay. Just tell me where you think he would go. Home, maybe?”
Michelle laughed. “That’s the last place you’ll find him. He’s never there if he can help it. I know where you can find Dom, though.”
Andrew took a breath in and held it. He hadn’t thought about the rest of Frankie’s crew, but they were due just as much punishment as he was. Andrew had already dealt with Jordan, so why not pay his brother a visit, too? At the very least, there was a good chance that Dom could lead him closer to Frankie.
“Okay,” said Andrew. “Tell me where to find Dom.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Davie stood at his front door, not wanting to go in. The thought of facing his mother after the previous night’s events was more than he could handle. There would be a lecture about staying out at all hours waiting for him. It was the very least of what he deserved, but his soul felt so brittle right now that the slightest knock could shatter him like a pane of glass. He needed sleep and nothing else.
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