by Ian Woodhead
Sending Andy to check out the shop was probably a complete waste of time, and the chances of that blundering idiot actually finding anything was slim to none. In fact, it did surprise Gavin that the sergeant had even listened to him. That bastard gave him more grief than all the others put together. That reminded him, the constables on duty tonight were supposed to be patrolling the town centre. He couldn’t recall any of them passing him.
“Gloria, do you know if the boys have left the station?
“Of course they have,” she replied, without looking up. “They hurried out while you were in the toilet.”
He stared at the woman, not believing that she’d had the guts to tell him such a bare-faced lie. Even after a month of this bullshit, it still pissed him off at how easily they all covered up for each other. He glanced over at the station door and just knew that those two coppers had not left this building. He knew exactly where the buggers were hiding. They’d be playing brag in the locker room. The woman did everything for those boys, and they returned the favour by treating Gloria like shit. Her husband was the worst of the lot.
The woman then jerked her eyes towards the open window. “Hey, can you smell that?”
He took a tentative sniff and wrinkled his nose. Oh, hell, that was just disgusting. What the bloody hell was it? The stink reminded him of meat burning on a barbeque. “Yeah, I can smell it.”
She rushed passed Gavin and started to close the window. “Oh, Andy’s back, that’s his car turning into the carpark.”
The car’s headlights shone through the windows. He shouldn’t be back already. There was no way that the sergeant could have got to the shop and returned in such a short space of time. He leaned across his desk and switched on the fan, hoping that it would help to disperse that revolting smell.
The locker room door slammed open, and the two missing constables and the duty officer ambled into the room. Gavin looked up at Gloria and watched her face turn a delicate shade of red. She didn’t like being caught out. It was good to see that at least one of them in the station still had a small amount of scruples. Unlike those three who’d just entered. He heard them laughing and discussing just how much cash was owed to whom. Their disdain for his authority was disgraceful. Again, he wished he were back at his old station. There really was no point in giving them a dressing down, he could shout and scream until he was blue in the face; it did nothing but raise his blood pressure and stress him out.
The first man through the door was a young blond man called Shaun. His parents lived in one of the many farms that dotted the outskirts of Brutality. By looking at him, anyone could be excused for thinking his parents fastened equipment to the lad and used him to plough the fields. The lad was huge, and he easily made two of Gavin. He was even bigger than Andy.
The pair behind Shaun both looked across at Gavin. They saw his glare and treated their superior officer to a glare of their own. He wanted to run over there and twat the pair of them. Genie and Howard were both in their mid-fifties, and if he’d had his way, he would have retired them by now. Come to think of it, if he had his way, Gavin would have had them both thrown out of the force. They weren’t fit to wear that uniform.
Howard turned to his companion, and he whispered something. They both giggled like a set of school kids. Genie removed his helmet, ran his thin fingers through his salt and pepper coloured hair, and smacked his companion on the shoulder with it.
“No, I’m not asking him,” Genie said, looking at Gavin.
Shaun stopped in mid-stride and shivered and groaned. Gavin watched a rope of saliva drop from the lad’s mouth and drip to the floor.
“Are you okay, son?”
Howard just laughed. “Don’t trying to pull the sickie routine, you big ape, just because you lost your fucking wages.”
Gloria rushed past Gavin. “Shaun, what’s wrong?”
The big man slowly raised his head at the sound of the woman’s concerned voice. Gavin slowly moved out of his chair, keeping his eyes on Shaun. That big, dopey looking, slightly grouchy expression had vanished. The feral look of hate and lust that replaced it caused Gavin’s heart rate to double in speed.
“I’ve always fancied a piece of your arse, Gloria,” Shaun said.
Gavin leapt across the desk and ran into the youth. His sudden action caught Shaun off balance, and the lad fell back into the other two. The lad unleashed an animal roar; he shook his companions off him and charged Gavin. The DI found himself falling against the side of his desk. He heard the front door crashing open and the foul stench of burning meat filled the station.
Gloria screamed out her husband’s name. Gavin never thought he’d be happy to see his Sergeant.
“Andy!” she screamed. “There’s something wrong with Shaun!”
Gavin got to his feet, ignoring the pain shooting through his side. Shaun was too big for one man, and Andy wouldn’t have a hope restraining him without help. Gavin lifted his head, and his eyes darted to the sergeant, hoping he was okay. He just gaped at the scene before him. All of the officers were stood around Gloria’s desk. They’d pushed everything off and hoisted the woman onto the surface. Two of them held her head down while Shaun was trying to pull her legs apart. Her husband stood with his back to Gavin, but it was obvious what he was up to. Andy was slowly unbuckling his belt.
Training kicked in, Gavin shook the nausea away, pulled out his police baton, and cracked Andy in the back of the head. He should have just whipped out his legs from under the man, and it would have achieved the same effect. Shaun turned around, still holding Gloria’s legs. He tried to head-butt the DI, and when the man jerked his head out of his reach, the huge man growled. He let go of Gloria’s legs and ran at Gavin; he tried to evade him but the desk got in his way.
A pair of huge hands encircled his neck and started to slowly squeeze. Gavin gazed into the insane face and knew that he was running out of life. Everything started to go grey, and in a panic he swung the baton into the side of the man. Shaun grunted but didn’t release him. He hit him again, but he knew it was a futile gesture; it was like hitting a branch against a tree trunk.
“Get off him!”
The pressure lessened, he saw the woman hanging onto Shaun’s arm and screaming at him to get off. His response was to grunt again, and then boot the woman in the thigh as if she was no more bothersome than a poodle humping his leg. Gavin smashed the baton against the man’s waist, but Shaun didn’t even bother to respond. Gavin’s strength was almost gone, and Shaun probably didn’t even feel it.
Gavin’s world suddenly exploded. The pressure around his neck dropped off, and he felt something heavy falling in front of him. He opened his eyes and gaped at the headless corpse lying in front of him. The smell of cordite and hot blood competed with the stench of burnt meat.
Rubbing his neck, Gavin stepped over the body of Shaun, trying not to step in any of the black and scarlet wet gore splattered across the polished wood tiles. He gently took the automatic pistol out of Gloria’s trembling hand before pushing the woman towards the station entrance. He looked at the gun and then at Gloria.
“I took it out of Shaun’s holster. He didn’t even notice. That bastard was going to rape me. They all were.”
She said that without showing a single drop of emotion. Gavin needed to get the woman out of here; the poor sod was running on adrenalin.
The two officers who’d been holding her head both grabbed the edge of the desk and got back on their feet, they both sported bloodied noses. He saw the woman’s red-stained knuckles and grinned. This lady knew how to look after herself.
“She’s mine.”
Andy leaned against the vending machine pointing an automatic pistol straight at Gavin’s head. Oh fuck, he obviously didn’t hit the bastard hard enough. The man then groaned and coughed, dropping his gun arm and grabbing the side of the metal cabinet to stop himself from hitting the floor. Gavin turned around saw the open locker room door and ran for it before Andy’s head cleared enough fo
r him to realize that they were escaping.
Gavin took one last look at Shaun and then pushed Gloria into the locker room. That fucker had loaded his weapon with hollow-points. He’d found a Tupperware box full of the things last week whilst searching the house of a well-known burglar. The bowl had gone missing two days later. Well, that was one mystery cleared up.
They weren’t safe in here, no way out either. Shit, he should have risked it and run for the door. He looked at the trembling woman next to him who was preoccupied with picking small lumps of grey jellied matter out of her hair. No, he did the right thing, if he’d have been alone he would have risked it, but he couldn’t, not with Gloria with him. She was a civilian, and he had to protect her.
Gavin put his hands against the woman’s shoulders and moved her away from the door. One blast from Andy’s cannon, and that door would be in splinters. He figured that the sergeant would have loaded his own gun up with hollow points as well. Gloria’s muttering and sobs were making it hard to listen to what the three remaining officers were saying. He placed his finger against his lips. It was the only way he could think of to convey his wishes. Gavin couldn’t yet talk; he found it hard enough to swallow. Gloria ignored him and continued to mutter. He saw no other choice and slapped the woman’s cheek. Gavin regretted it immediately; everyone knew that Andy beat her, but what else could he have done? Gavin grabbed her shoulders, ignoring her flinching, and placed her back where she first stood.
“Shout for Andy,” he croaked.
Gloria shook her head, so Gavin raised his hand, feeling a part of his honour wither and die when the woman flinched and began to sob.
“Do it.”
“Andy!” Gloria screamed.
Gavin quickly placed her against the wall and watched the door handle turn. When the door opened a crack, he grabbed the edge and wrenched it open. Andy fell into the room, and Gavin rabbit punched the man and ploughed his boot into Andy’s hand. The pistol skated across the floor and disappeared under the lockers. He grabbed Gloria’s hand, raised his own pistol, and ran into the main office. When he saw the two other officers preparing to jump on him, he fired the pistol into the ceiling and pulled Gloria towards the entrance.
Chapter Six
Dave risked a swift look over his shoulder, fully aware the thundering boot steps were right behind the pair of them. He couldn't keep up this pace, he felt like his heart was about to fucking explode. Dave swung his arm forward and managed to snag Amber's wrist. “Wait on, please, for Christ's sake!” He pulled her back and pressed both of their bodies behind a concrete pillar, hoping none of the others had noticed.
“We can't stop now!” she hissed.
Dave took a second to get his bearings. He almost cracked a smile when he saw where they were. “Who's stopping? Come on, you, in here.”
“You are joking, right? Come on, it's a dead end!”
“Trust me,” he replied, pulling her into a narrow alley between the town's only bank and a pharmacy. It seemed like a lifetime ago since they were stood at the bank's ATM just around the corner. It felt even longer since he was last in this alley. Dave pushed those thoughts away and focussed on the present, just praying that none of those drugged up freaks were paying attention to his disappearing act. Their boot steps were getting louder.
He pulled Amber further into the gloom, wanting to flatten his back against this damp wall and hope they'd all run past them. He dare not take that risk, though, not with the way his luck was running. Even in the dull light, he saw Amber's terrified face. She must think he had lost his mind pulling her into here. Listen to him, putting himself down yet again. If he only attracted bad luck, then why was this gorgeous young girl hanging on to him for dear life?
Oh fuck, he couldn't let anything to happen to Amber.
Dave hissed in surprise when she squeezed his hand even tighter.
“What have you stopped for? Oh God, please don't tell me that it is a dead end!”
Dave shook his head. “It isn’t, I promise.” He looked at the huge iron gate at the end of the passageway, remembering stumbling into this place a few weeks ago. He and Phil had been staggering back towards the main junction when he suddenly decided that if he didn’t piss right there and then, his bladder would explode. Phil had smacked him around the back of his head, pushed Dave into here, and told him not to be long. As he had relieved himself, he noticed just how rusty the padlock was and figured that a few good kicks would have destroyed it. Dave had made a mental note of the place, thinking that it would be a decent place to bed down if he had ever been locked out of his house.
As he ran over to the gate, he silently thanked the God of beer that despite his advanced inebriated state, Dave had made the correct assessment. He didn’t think it would take more than a couple of boots. “Soon find out,” he hissed. Dave slammed his boot hard against the padlock, wincing as the violent noise echoed around the alley. He looked in disbelief, moaning. His kick hadn’t even loosened it.
“Don’t stop, kick the bloody thing again!”
Dave nodded and raised his leg. He stopped when Amber let out a terrified squeak. He whipped his head around and saw a small figure silhouetted at the end of the passageway.
“It’s just a little girl,” Amber whispered. “Maybe she can’t see us. It is fucking dark down here.”
He guessed that the girl was only about seven or eight. Dave wondered how Amber would react if he suggested charging through the passageway, knocking the kid out of the way, and taking Amber somewhere safe. He saw no other solution. Dave could hardly start kicking the padlock again, not with her stood there. He wanted to scream with frustration. Why the fuck did he take her down here? He should have lost them in the outskirts of town.
He heard the little girl draw in breath and realized the bitch knew they were down here. When she did start to scream out, her high pitched bellows set his teeth on edge. Amber raced towards the girl. He thought that she was going to do what he intended and slap the brat. She skidded to a halt halfway up the passageway, bent over, and picked up something from the ground. Dave watched her run back, wishing that she had slapped the brat; her noise was giving him a headache.
“Move out of the way,” she hissed, pushing Dave against the wall.
Amber had picked up half a brick. Oh, for crying out loud, he had seen that on the floor. Why had he not grabbed it? The girl lifted the brick up and smashed it into the padlock. Even from where he stood, Dave saw the lock give a little.
He couldn’t stand her noise any longer. Dave spun around and raced along the passageway, hearing Amber smashing the brick into the padlock again. He reached the little girl and pushed her out into the road. She stopped making that dreadful noise, but he saw that it was too late. A small group of men had already stopped.
Dave ran back through the alley, groaning at the sight of Amber hitting that padlock; she was having about as much success as he had. He glanced behind him and groaned again when he saw two large men stood at the front of the passage. They slowly grinned before walking towards them. They both held broken bottles in their hands. Amber smashed the brick into the lock one more time and screamed in triumph when the padlock flew off in two pieces.
The two men growled. They must have thought they had the pair trapped. They broke into a sprint. Amber pushed open the gate, turned, grabbed Dave, and shoved him through before following him and shutting the gate.
“A lock, oh, thank you!” she cried.
As she slammed the bolt home, one of the men thrust his thick arm through one of the gaps in the gate and wrapped his fingers around Amber’s hair. She screamed out in agony as the man tried to pull her hair through the gap. Dave growled and pried the brick out of Amber’s fingers and slammed it into the fist of the man who was attempting to pull back the bolt.
Dave gained great satisfaction in hearing the bones in the man’s fingers crunch, and he grinned like a madman when the bastard screamed out in agony. He watched the man release the bolt and Amber’
s hair before staggering back into the crowd of other townsfolk just behind him. He pulled the sobbing girl away from the gate. “Put your back against the wall,” he whispered. Dave flattened his own back against the rough stone and waited. Within a few seconds, another set of fingers pushed through the gap. Dave waited until those fingers were over the bolt before he smashed the brick into those as well.
“You dirty little bastard!” growled a voice.
He presumed that it belonged to the man now holding a mangled hand.
“I’m going to rip you apart for that.”
The voice was still cursing him but was now retreating. Dave breathed out, not realising that he’d been holding it. Dave worked up the courage to pull his eyes from that bolt to see where they had ended up. He could hear no more voices or footsteps coming from the passageway, and he just hoped that they had gotten the message and had gone looking for any poor fuckers who weren’t armed with half a brick.
They stood at the edge of a disused concrete yard. Judging by the state of the place, he imagined that they were the first humans to have set foot in this yard for a long time. This was now the domain of the local wildlife. Dave took a tentative sniff and found that the faint aroma of cooking meat had gone, but another equally unpleasant smell had taken its place, it was the stench of decay.
There were dozens of piles of ripped open black bin bags scattered across the yard, and that revolting aroma was emanating from some of those bags. He sighed, and thought this must be one of those forgotten places where some of the restaurants dumped their left over food.
“What do we do now?” Amber jerked her head from side to side, her gaze landing on the tall walls surrounding them. “We’re trapped, aren’t we?”
He stroked the side of her cheek. “We’re not trapped, Amber,” he said, hoping his gentle words would help soothe her anxiety. “You’re looking in the wrong place. Can’t you see that?” he said, pointing to a low wall stretching from one building to another. “The yard isn’t fully enclosed.”