‘Not at all.’ He stepped back. ‘Come in.’
‘Thanks.’ She walked into the hall.
Anton closed the door and gave her a questioning look when he saw the worry in her eyes. ‘You okay?’
‘Not really,’ Chantelle said quietly. ‘I can’t find Leon. You haven’t seen him, have you?’
‘Not for a while, no,’ Anton told her. ‘When did he go out?’
‘Not long ago,’ Chantelle said, her concerns growing. ‘I went for a walk, and he was in his room when I left, but he was gone when I got back. I just hope he hasn’t gone looking for me.’ She exhaled shakily now, and bit her lip. Then, figuring that there was no point keeping Anton from his bed, she said, ‘I’d best go and look for him. Sorry for getting you up.’
‘It’s no problem,’ Anton assured her. Then, glancing at his watch, he said, ‘Look, give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll come with you. It’s too late for you to be walking around on your own.’
‘No, it’s all right.’ Chantelle shook her head. ‘Honestly, I’ll be fine.’
‘I insist,’ Anton said firmly, giving her a stern look to let her know that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Chantelle didn’t want to put him out, but she couldn’t deny that she would feel safer with him by her side in light of what had just happened with Rob. So, smiling gratefully, she said, ‘Okay, thanks.’
Anton had just turned to go to his room when her phone rang. She slid it out of her pocket and was relieved to see Bill’s name on the screen, and not Rob’s, as she had half expected.
‘Hi, Bill,’ she said wearily. ‘Look, I’m really sorry, but can I call you back in a bit? Only my brother’s gone missing, and I need to find him.’
‘Don’t worry about Leon, he’s quite safe,’ Rob said smoothly.
Chantelle was so shocked that she let out a little cry and almost dropped her phone. Anton heard it and turned back. ‘You all right?’ he mouthed.
She nodded quickly and, taking a deep breath, croaked, ‘How did you get Bill’s phone?’
‘You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,’ Rob said. ‘Now listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. I’ve got Leon, and if you ever want to see him again you’re going to have to come and get him.’
‘Where is he?’ Chantelle’s face had completely drained of colour by now. ‘What have you done to him?’
‘Nothing – yet,’ said Rob. ‘But if you don’t give me what I want, I’ll kill him.’
‘Don’t you dare touch him,’ Chantelle cried. ‘I’ve called the police. They’ll be here any minute.’
‘No, you haven’t,’ Rob said calmly. ‘Who do you think sent you those texts telling you not to? Anyway, enough of the small talk. I want that film, so be a good girl and fetch it to me, and I’ll think about letting little brother come home.’
‘What film?’ Chantelle asked, fear for Leon making her temporarily forget what had precipitated this nightmare.
‘Don’t play games with me!’ Rob yelled, losing patience. ‘You’ve got it on your fucking phone, and I want it. Now, you either do as you’re told, or I swear to God your brother and your boss won’t be the only ones who die tonight!’
‘Okay!’ Chantelle cried. ‘I’ll bring it. Where are you?’
‘Usual place, half an hour,’ Rob told her. ‘But I’ll be watching before I pick you up, to make sure you haven’t done anything stupid. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, and I won’t – I promise.’
When the phone went dead in her hand now, Chantelle turned and fumbled with the door lock.
‘Hey, wait up,’ Anton said, rushing to her. He had no clue who she’d been talking to just now, but it was clear from what she had said that the caller was connected to Leon having gone missing, and he wasn’t about to let her go running off into danger if she was being threatened.
‘I’ve got to go,’ Chantelle insisted, still trying to open the door.
‘Not until you tell me what’s going on,’ Anton said, holding her by the shoulders and looking down into her tear-filled eyes.
‘I can’t,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s too dangerous.’
Anton’s brow was deeply furrowed by now. ‘Is this something to do with that gang? ’Cos if it is, I’ll—’
‘It’s nothing to do with them,’ she blurted out. ‘It’s …’ She trailed off and shook her head, still struggling to take it in herself. ‘Look, all I can tell you is he’s got Leon and my boss, and he won’t let them go until I do as he says.’
‘Right, well, I’m definitely not letting you go until you fill me in properly,’ said Anton. ‘Whatever’s going down, it sounds like heavy shit, and you can’t deal with it on your own.’
Chantelle squeezed her eyes shut and bit down hard on her lip. He was right: this was too heavy for her to deal with. But Rob had Leon and Bill, and she couldn’t take the risk of calling the police because he’d said that he would kill them both if she did. Rob obviously knew that she was behind those pictures getting to his wife, but there had to be more to it than that because this was way too drastic to be just about the film.
‘Talk to me.’ Anton’s soft voice cut into her thoughts.
Chantelle gazed up at him. She could see that he was worried about her, and if she insisted on leaving he would probably only follow her, which would make everything ten times worse because Rob was bound to see him. So, hoping that he would understand why she had to do this alone, she told him the whole story, her cheeks flaring with shame when she reached the part about having started an affair with Rob behind his wife’s back.
‘That’s why I’ve got to go,’ she said when she’d finished. ‘So please just let me do this.’
‘No chance,’ Anton said fiercely. ‘There’s no way you’re meeting up with the dude on your own.’
‘You’re not listening,’ Chantelle said with desperation in her voice. ‘He’ll kill Leon and Bill if I don’t go to him. All I have to do is give him my phone and this will all be over.’
‘You don’t believe that any more than I do.’
‘Okay, fine!’ Chantelle flapped her hands in a gesture of exasperation. ‘So, what do you want me to do? Call the police?’
‘Absolutely not.’ Anton gave a derisive snort. ‘Those fuckers wouldn’t have a clue how to deal with this.’
‘Oh, but I suppose you would?’ Chantelle was getting angry now. He was trying to help, but he was just delaying her, and she couldn’t bear to think what might happen to Leon and Bill if she didn’t meet Rob in time.
‘Not on my own,’ said Anton.
He took her by the arm now, to make sure she didn’t do a runner while his back was turned, and led her into his bedroom. Then, after sitting her down on the bed, he picked his phone up off the bedside table and reached for his jeans, dialling Shotz’s number with one hand as he pulled his pants on with the other.
‘Yo, it’s me,’ he said when his friend answered after several rings. ‘Where you at, bro?’
‘Barney’s,’ Shotz told him, shouting over the loud drum ’n’ bass music that Anton could hear in the background. ‘Place is poppin’ with nuff g’yal dem. You shoulda come, bro.’
‘Nah, I’ve got work tomorrow,’ Anton reminded him.
‘So, wha’s up?’ Shotz asked.
‘Nothing,’ Anton lied. ‘Just thought you might have got home by now. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?’
He cut Shotz off now and brought up another number, then stared at it for several seconds before jabbing his thumb down on the call button.
‘Wha’pp’n, blud?’ Big T drawled when he answered.
‘I need a favour,’ Anton told him straight out. ‘And I need it fast.’
‘Oh yeah?’
Anton squeezed his eyes shut. There was going to be a huge price to pay for this, but what choice did he have?
‘I need wheels and backup.’
‘When?’ Big T asked without hesitation.
‘Now,’ said Anton. ‘I
’ll explain when you get here.’
29
‘Nice place,’ Big T said when he walked into Anton’s living room fifteen minutes later. Then, his gaze falling on Chantelle who was chewing her nails on one of the beanbags, he gave her a slow smile. ‘Hey, pretty lady, how you doin’?’
‘She’s scared shitless for her bro,’ Anton answered for her, sensing that she wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with an enormous stranger. ‘We haven’t got much time,’ he went on. Then, frowning when he noticed Jacko giving him a sly look, he said, ‘Yo, if you’ve got a problem being here, you can fuck off, bro.’
‘He ain’t got a problem,’ Big T drawled, lighting a fat spliff he’d just pulled out of his pocket. ‘You’re back where you belong, and if anyone got beef, they best be tekkin’ it up with me,’ he added, confirming Anton’s fear that the fee for helping him out was for Anton to come back into the crew. ‘Anyone got anything to say?’ he asked now, looking from one to the other of the four soldiers he’d brought along.
‘Nah, we’s all cool,’ a lad called Foxy said, grinning as he touched fists with Anton. ‘Good to have you back, bruv.’
After the others, Jacko included, had shown their respect for Anton, Big T said, ‘So, what’s the score?’
Anton briefly explained the situation, ending with, ‘She’s to meet the dude in ten minutes down by the Whalley, and he’s going to be watching out for five-o, so we can’t be seen.’
‘No problem,’ said Big T. Then, gazing down at Chantelle again, he said, ‘We got your back, darlin’, so don’t be frettin’ about your bro no more. Me and Ant go way back, and any friend of his is a friend of ours. This dude won’t know what ’it ’im by the time we done.’
‘I just don’t want Leon and Bill to get hurt,’ Chantelle croaked, already scared that it was all going to go horribly wrong.
‘They won’t,’ Anton assured her, squatting in front of her and pulling her into his arms. ‘Trust us,’ he whispered as he held her. ‘We’ve got this.’
He sounded so confident – Chantelle desperately wanted to believe him. ‘Okay.’ She nodded. ‘Just tell me what to do.’
Rob was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, but he stopped abruptly when he spotted a figure in the distance. He squinted out through the window and muttered, ‘About fucking time’ when he saw that it was Chantelle.
He had parked in a completely different place than the last time and knew that she couldn’t see him as he watched her cross the road and make her way to the corner where he’d said he would pick her up. There was a fair bit of traffic on the roads tonight, but he’d been sitting here for a while now and he hadn’t seen any police cars. Still, he stayed put now – just to be on the safe side.
Unaware that Rob was staring at her from his hiding place on the other side of the road, Chantelle was shivering from head to toe as she waited on the corner. Anton and his friends had promised that they would be nearby, but she couldn’t see them anywhere and she was terrified that they would miss Rob picking her up and lose her.
When ten minutes had passed she started to feel sick. Scared that Rob had somehow guessed that she’d told somebody and had decided not to come for her, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. But just as she was about to ring him, he suddenly pulled up alongside her.
‘Get in,’ he ordered, pushing open the passenger door.
Chantelle swallowed hard and cast a surreptitious glance back up the road. She still couldn’t see Anton’s friend’s Range Rover, but she had no choice but to go ahead and get into the car.
Rob locked the doors when she was in and quickly set off, his gaze flicking from the wing mirrors to the rear-view, on the alert for suspicious-looking vehicles that might be following.
Chantelle pressed herself up against the door and nervously twisted her hands together in her lap. Rob looked furious, and she was sure that he would probably beat her once they had reached wherever he was taking her. But that was okay, so long as he didn’t hurt Leon or Bill. She deserved it, they didn’t.
‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured as he drove out through Chorlton and headed towards Stretford.
‘Too late,’ Rob replied icily, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.
‘I only did it because you hurt me,’ she said quietly. ‘I saw you with that girl, and just wanted to get back at you.’
‘Don’t make me laugh.’ Rob gave a contemptuous snort. ‘You’ve been stringing me along for months, so don’t pretend it was some great love affair. Sleeping with suspects part of your job description, was it?’
‘No!’ Chantelle protested. ‘You were the only one. I’ve never slept with anyone else,’ she added, blushing fiercely even though he wasn’t looking at her.
Rob gave a humourless laugh. ‘Oh, that’s fucking classic, that is. So now you’re claiming you were a virgin?’
‘I was,’ Chantelle said truthfully. ‘I really loved you.’
‘Yeah, you loved me so much you thought you’d fuck me right over.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Oh, shut up, I’m sick of listening to you,’ Rob snapped. ‘Never noticed how whiny your voice is before, but it’s like fingernails on a fucking chalkboard.’
Chantelle fell silent and glanced surreptitiously in the wing mirror as Rob drove on. Her heart lurched when she saw a large vehicle some way behind, and she said a silent prayer to God to please let it be Anton and his friends.
‘Hurry up,’ Anton said, struggling to keep the car they were following in his sights as Trey nonchalantly allowed another car to cut in front of them.
‘Want me to get right up his arse and blow our cover?’ Big T asked, sticking to the speed he’d been doing all along.
Anton inhaled deeply and shook his head. ‘Nah. Sorry, just freaking out.’
‘Chill, bro.’ Big T passed over the spliff he’d been smoking.
Anton wasn’t in the mood for getting wrecked, but he needed something to calm him down or he was going to go crazy.
‘Yo, he’s indicating to go left,’ Jacko piped up from the back seat, where he was squashed up against the door behind Anton’s seat.
‘Me can see,’ Big T drawled. ‘Seckle down an’ let me concentrate.’
They drove on for a few more miles, keeping a fair distance between them and the car that was carrying Chantelle. But when the car suddenly swerved into an industrial estate Big T drove straight on.
‘Yo, what you doing?’ Anton demanded, staring at Big T in disbelief when the man turned onto a side road some way further down and turned the car around before cutting the lights. ‘We’re gonna lose them.’
‘There’s only one way in and out of that place,’ Big T told him unconcernedly. ‘He might’ve turned off to shake us, so we’ll sit here for a minute to make sure he don’t come back out. If he don’t, we’ll know where he is – seen?’
‘Seen.’ Anton nodded and blew out an agitated breath. He was already edgy, and it wasn’t helping that he could feel Jacko burning holes into the back of his head with dirty looks. The others were cool with him, but Jacko had taken against him big time after he left the crew and his hatred had obviously increased after Anton had faced him down outside Trey’s house that day. But the guy was going to have to suck it up quick style, because they would be seeing a lot of each other from here on in.
His heart sinking all over again at the thought that he’d effectively sold his soul to Trey, Anton gazed out through the windscreen and reminded himself of why he’d done it. Chantelle and Leon were in danger, and there was no one else to help them.
The industrial estate was deserted, and Chantelle’s fear increased as they drove past all the closed-up units. There were few street lights, and those which were actually working cast just a dim orange glow on the ground beneath them. There were no other cars in sight and she guessed that Anton’s friend must have lost them a while back. Without them she was as good as dead, and the realisation settled over her like a lead weight.
All
she could think about was Leon, and his future was flashing before her eyes in exactly the way that she’d heard a dying person’s life flashed before theirs. He acted tough but he was just a baby, and he would be totally lost without Chantelle to look after him. The authorities would probably contact their mum to let her know, but they would never give her custody of Leon once they found out that she had abandoned him. He would go from home to home from now until he was sixteen, and everyone knew that was a one-way street for kids like him. Angry and upset, he would be written off as a problem child – and that would inevitably turn him into one.
Chantelle snapped out of her dread thoughts when Rob suddenly pulled to a stop. She saw that they were outside a unit at the far end of the industrial estate and she shivered when he pressed a key fob and the gates began to slide back. Before they were halfway open, a bright light suddenly sliced through the darkness, and she was flooded with relief when she saw a vehicle in the distance heading their way.
‘You fucking bitch,’ Rob gasped, his mouth falling open when he too saw the lights.
Chantelle cried out in fear when he reached under his seat and pulled out a long knife. ‘No!’ she screamed, making a grab for it as he thrust it towards her. She screamed again as the knife sliced through the flesh of her hand and blood spurted out.
‘I should slit your fucking throat,’ Rob hissed, glaring at her. Then, glancing back at the car that was hurtling towards them, he realised it was too late and leapt out of the car.
30
Adam was in the office when he heard the commotion. Terrified that Perry’s boys had come looking for their boss when he checked the CCTV monitor and saw several men heading for the door, with Rob being dragged along behind, he grabbed his keys and ran to the back door. But his hands were shaking so badly that he dropped the keys on his first attempt, and by the time he’d picked them up and found the right one again the men were inside.
‘It wasn’t me,’ he yelped, dropping to his knees and covering his head with his arms when the door burst open behind him and two men rushed into the hallway. ‘It was Rob. He killed Perry and the girl! I told him not to, but I couldn’t stop him – you’ve got to believe me.’
Respect (Mandasue Heller) Page 30