He nodded with a sheepish smile.
“That’a boy. Meanwhile, you can deal with her. Have you entertained the idea she might be with another man? Would explain an awful lot.”
“Nat? Never.”
Johan laughed. “Come on, matey! Have you forgotten all that life taught us? She’s a woman! Women can’t be trusted. She’s probably choking on some dude’s cock as we speak!”
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” said Simon.
“Me?” Johan said and raised an eyebrow. “I’m just helping out a friend. What would you do, Simon? Eh? What would you do if we found her after all this, shacked up with another man? Think about it…see it, mate…right there…”
Johan noticed his friend’s fists tighten, and that look, that wonderful look he’d missed all this time, flash across his face.
“I’d…”
“Yeah?”
Simon let out a great long breath. “Nothing. She wouldn’t do that. She’s different.”
“If she knows enough about us, brother, it doesn’t matter how different she is. Come on, let’s find those other jokers.”
They walked for a few seconds in silence, each with their hands deep inside their pockets and breath steaming before their faces.
“I think they went down here,” said Spence at the next turn.
Johan gazed in the direction Spence pointed. The street appeared the same as all the others. He frowned.
We might not find this bitch after all, he thought.
“Then let’s not hang around admiring all this beautiful scenery. It’s freezing.” Johan strode on.
Along the street, one of the streetlights flickered. It caused their shadows to blink in and out of existence under its beacon. Johan stopped and placed a hand above his eyes.
“I can’t see shit. You sure they came down here?”
Spence nodded. “Positive.”
“Well I don’t see them.”
Further down the street, under the rotten canopy of a shop front, a bulky figure stepped out onto the pavement. It raised an arm.
“That’s Kev. Come on.”
They ran down the street to meet him. Kev waited outside the derelict building with a huge grin. “You guys are not going to believe this,” he said.
“What?” demanded Simon. “Is it Nat? Is she in there?”
“Maybe.”
They all peered into the dark doorway.
Richie walked out, also sporting a wide smile. “Look what we have here…”
He held up a black handbag, the head of Jack from A Nightmare Before Christmas on the side. He dangled it on his finger with a strap.
“That’s hers!” said Simon and stepped forwards to take it.
“We know,” said Kev, sounding smug.
Johan narrowed his eyes. “How?”
“Because everything was still inside it,” said Richie. He lifted his other hand to reveal a purse in the same design as the bag. He flicked open the clasp with his thumb to show a bus pass in the clear plastic window. “Natalie Freese? Right, Simon?”
He tore the bag from Richie and sank to his knees.
“Simon. You need to calm down. Take a minute.”
Simon dug into the bag and pulled out various items of makeup and pieces of paper, which fluttered around on the pavement in the slight wind. Her telephone showed twenty-one missed calls.
“Rich, the purse. Toss it here.”
Richie gave the purse a small under arm throw. Johan caught it comfortably and held it wide.
“All the cards and money are still here. Know what that means?”
“She hasn’t been mugged,” said Spence. “That means she’s okay?”
“I don’t know,” said Johan. The rest of the purse held nothing out of the ordinary. He examined the photograph on the bus pass.
Even nicer in the flesh, he thought. At least you were even nicer. You might not have a face left anymore…
Simon dropped the bag to the floor and roared. He clasped his hands over his face.
“You two,” Johan snapped. “Get him on his feet.”
Kev and Richie both nodded and immediately grabbed Simon under each arm.
“We’re going in,” said Johan. “All of us. Pull yourself together, Simon.”
Simon stared back at him with glistening eyes. “Someone does have her. In there. In the dark. Don’t they, Johan?”
“If they do, they won’t have her much longer. Fellas, show me where you found the bag.”
They released Simon, who stayed standing, and turned to the shop doorway.
“There’s no light in there,” said Spence. “How are we gonna see?”
“No problem,” said Kev over his shoulder. “There’s light where we’re going.”
“Enough gabbing, ladies,” said Johan and pushed past them. His heart began to hammer the moment he stepped into the darkness. “Time to play hide and seek.”
14.
Jacob picked up a wooden table and flung it across the room. It exploded against a wall. The few rats gathered beneath squeaked and dashed for cover. Jacob tilted his head back and roared.
Nat clamped her hands over her ears. The sound seemed to swell her head.
“Jacob!” cried Max. He stood in front of the giant, his hands held up. “Calm!”
With another bellow, Jacob pushed his brother square in the chest. Max shot backwards and fell. He skidded in the shallow water.
“Why show her picture!”
Nat saw the trails of tears flowing down Jacob’s mottled skin. She remained in the damp armchair, not daring to attract the creature’s wrath.
Jenkins jumped around Max with small yelps of concern.
Jacob strode over.
“They walk above,” he cried and pointed a finger down at Max. “Murderers! They walk above and you not care!” He roared again. “You not care of hurting. You care only of girl.” He spat the words out, his deformed lips curling around each syllable.
“Jacob,” said Herman as he wheeled his pram out of the shadows. “This kind of behaviour is helping nobody. Calm down and talk about this rationally.”
Jacob frowned. Nat guessed he was processing the words. He slammed a fist against the wall.
“Me want them dead.”
“As do we all, brother. But we can’t go to the streets and kill everyone, can we? We have to be careful. We have to find out who did this and deal with them in secret.”
Why don’t you ask your brother Whistler who did it? Nat thought. He was there.
Jacob returned to jabbing a finger at Max, who still lay on the floor.
“You show her picture. You do nothing though!”
“We will do something,” Max said, and climbed to his feet. “But Herman is right. We have to think very carefully about how we go about this. Would you like us to make a mistake and bring people down here? You know what would happen.”
Jacob’s breath hissed from flared nostrils, but he stayed quiet.
Max stood and took a tentative step towards Jacob. He placed a hand on his chest and gazed up at him.
“We will do something. I promise you. I would strangle the life from the person responsible; who am I to deny my brothers their revenge?”
Jacob sobbed and laid a massive hand on Max’s shoulder, completely enveloping it.
“My brother.”
Max nodded. “My brother.”
Jenkins barked and wagged his tail.
“We can’t go on like this much longer, Herman,” said Max and turned from Jacob. “Tempers are frayed. Blood is needed.”
Nat shivered. It sounded strange to hear the normally timid Max talk of murder and vengeance.
Jacob collapsed with a crash. He sat on the floor and leaned back against the bars of the cell. He placed his head in his hands.
“Then what do you suggest?” said Herman. “We can’t do anything until we know the identity of the killer. How do we do that?”
Max closed his eyes. “Alcazar.”
“Alcazar?” Herman’s beady black eyes widened. “How the hell can that loon help?”
“He spends more time than me up top. He might have seen something.”
Herman laughed. “You mean one of his little birds might have seen something. You don’t honestly believe all that, do you?”
“You never know,” said Max. He approached the armchair. “Look at Nat. Before Jacob and Whistler brought her down here, you think she would have believed that we existed? But we do. Alcazar might be a little…strange, but he’s still part of this family. If he says the birds can talk to him, I say we take a chance. What other option do we have? Door to door enquiries?”
Herman shifted uncomfortably in the pram.
I could tell them, thought Nat. I’m sure Johan and his gang must have done it.
She looked over at the crying hulk near the cell and the deformed creature within the pram. Her cuts throbbed to remind her of the claws of the twins.
But what if I’m wrong? I didn’t actually see them do it. What if I’m wrong and they turn on me? Would Max allow that?
“Well if you’re going to go, then go now,” said Herman. “You know what an ordeal it is to get to him.”
“But at least its night,” said Max. He turned to Jacob. “You come too. I think it will do you good.”
Jacob looked across from the side of the chamber.
“Me touched with kindness,” he said.
“Stay then. Stay and mope around here all night, but I’m going to talk to Alcazar.”
“What of girl?”
Nat swallowed. The thought of being left alone with Herman and Jacob made her skin crawl.
Max scratched his cheek. “I suppose you’d better come too, Nat. Just to be safe.”
She quickly nodded.
“Then I come,” said Jacob. “You soft. You let girl go. People come.”
“Considering the job you’ve done to keep them in the cage,” said Herman, his bloody face contorting into a sneer, “I think we have nothing to lose.”
“Might get hungry on way,” said Jacob and flashed Nat a wink.
Oh God. Maybe I should stay here.
“What about the twins? And Whistler? Shouldn’t we find them first?”
“No, Herman,” said Max. “They could be anywhere. Especially the twins. They know these tunnels better than any of us. I don’t want to waste any time tracking them down. You can fill them in when they eventually get back.”
Herman nodded. “So just the three of you.” Jenkins barked. “And the mutt. Don’t linger though. The baby will need feeding come morning, and I’ll need some help. I know once Alcazar starts talking, it’s hard to stop his crazy rambling. You might be there all night.”
“Then I’ll bring him back with us,” said Max. “I know he doesn’t like coming down here, but won’t he be better off with his family? Under these circumstances?”
Herman seemed to consider this for a second and nodded.
“I suppose.”
You can tell this is a real family, thought Nat. None of them get along.
Jacob hooked a hand around a bar of the cage. He heaved himself up.
“We go now?”
“Yes,” said Max. “Nat, you feel up to this?”
She leaned forwards in the armchair.
“I…I don’t know. It’s all happening so fast.”
“You do understand that we can’t let you go yet. It’s for your own safety as well as ours.”
15.
Johan crouched and touched the top of the ladder. It poked out of the hole by his feet. He lifted his hand away and felt the moisture between his fingertips.
“You know where this leads, don’t you? I can hear water down there.” He stood up and leaned over to look directly down the shaft. Somewhere at the bottom a weak light danced across the brick. “Think it’s safe to go down?”
“I don’t care,” said Simon. “If she’s down there, that’s where I’m going.”
He tried to step forwards but staggered back. Kev had grabbed his shirt.
Johan gave the big man a nod of approval. “Let’s not be too hasty.”
He listened. The flow of water sounded slow and steady.
“Depends how deep it is. But if it’s not flowing too fast, we should be fine. And the bag was here?”
“Right next to the hole,” said Richie.
Simon tried to dive forwards again. Kev held on.
“Let go of me. Nat! Nat!”
Johan whirled round. “Shut him up. Now!”
Richie dived at Simon and clamped his hand over his mouth. Simon’s shouts became muffled moans.
“Keep him quiet,” Johan snapped and returned his attention back to the open manhole. “We can’t give ourselves away. Not yet.”
The sound of a struggle snatched his attention.
Simon jerked from side to side, freeing his mouth from Richie’s hand. Kev still held on tight.
“What do you mean?” said Simon. “What are you planning?”
“Cool off, will you? If someone has taken Nat and is keeping her down there, we have to sneak up and get the jump on them. You do want to make them pay, don’t you?”
Simon glowered at him, his gaze burning. “Damn right I do.”
“Then shut your mouth. Kev, let him go.”
Kev obliged straight away and stepped backwards. Simon stayed put.
“Good.” Johan turned his back on the boys and peered back down the hole. “Can you smell that? Smells like all the shit in the city is flowing at the bottom of this ladder.”
Kev, Richie and Spence chuckled. Johan turned and flashed them a toothy grin.
“This isn’t funny,” said Simon and darted forwards. He shot past Richie and arrived at the manhole.
The smile lingered on Johan’s face, and he locked eyes with Simon.
“Problem, mate?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Move,” said Simon.
Johan’s grin widened and he sidestepped away from the shaft. He made a dramatic bow, like an overly gracious butler. “After you, sir.”
Simon grabbed the ladder and turned, his feet descending into the shaft. Johan noticed his hands trembled. He climbed down. The clang of his feet striking the metal rungs echoed and seemed to fill the dark room.
“You just going to let him go?” asked Spence.
“He’ll wait,” said Johan, purposely loud. He knew Simon would be listening. “If it wasn’t for us, he’d still be running around the city like a headless chicken. We brought him here.” He smiled again. “We found them.”
“Them?” said Spence. “Don’t you mean her?”
Johan gave him a wink. “I know what I mean.”
With that, Johan descended. He took a tight hold of the slick rungs.
It’s took us most of the night. Last thing I want to do is fall and break my neck at this stage in the game.
The sound of flowing water grew louder, and the stench intensified beneath the floor. Johan’s feet slapped into several inches of water at the bottom. He groaned as icy sewage swept over his shoes and instantly soaked through.
He fought the urge to retch, picturing the filth and germs against his skin.
The dull light came from a hub on the wall, close to the ceiling. It looked like shit was smeared across the plastic cover. Johan imagined the light might be stronger if the thing was clean, but it could stay that way. Nausea bubbled up his throat, but he swallowed it down, trying not to think of the muck surrounding him. He wandered from the ladder; one of the others was on their way down.
“Simon?”
The poor light revealed the small area around the ladder, with mouldy brick, frothy and slowly drifting water and bits of crap that floated on the surface. Johan looked around the darkness.
“Simon? You better not have gone.”
“I’m here.” The water splashed. Simon stepped into the light, arms wrapped around his body. His breath steamed more than ever. “I’m cold.”
Johan n
odded. He was right. Being out of the wind hadn’t improved things. It felt like they stood in a freezer.
“Why would they bring her down here?”
“There’ll be a few of them, probably,” said Johan. “Who knows their thinking? There’s plenty of places above where they could hide out. Maybe they don’t have a fancy place like mine. Or your place, Simon. I miss your apartment.”
Another splash from behind. Richie walked away from the ladder, his long legs kicking up the foul water. “Fuck. Look at this! These jeans are ruined already.”
“Try and get a man’s pair this time,” said Johan. He didn’t smile. His heart had stepped up a gear once more, the foul stench made his breath come in shallow, frantic gasps. He swallowed again and gazed down the tunnel. Even in the low light, he saw how the tunnel ended in a circular hole. Darkness lay beyond. A glance along the other branch revealed the same.
“Whoa!” cried Kev, jumping from the last few rungs of the ladder. He caused an almighty splash, forming an expanding wave.
“Damn it, fuckhead!” said Richie. The water had soaked his jeans up to the knees.
“Like you said, they were ruined anyway,” said Johan. “Quit bitching.”
“This reminds me of that film, Alligator,” said Kev. “You ever seen that?”
“No, Kev. I haven’t,” said Johan, uninterested,
“It’s about this pet alligator that the kid’s dad flushes down the shitter. It grows to be twelve foot long or something, and everyone that goes down the sewers gets munched!”
“Thank you,” said Johan. “That’s very reassuring considering where we are.”
Kev grinned, his piggy face widening. “I know. That’s what reminded me.”
Spence stepped off the ladder. He clasped his nose between his fingers. “We’re really doing this?” he said, his voice sounding muted and nasally.
“You get used to it,” said Johan. He looked left and right a final time. “Simon? Which way do you think?”
Without waiting for another invitation, Simon dashed away. He headed to the left branch of the tunnel, leaving the small circle of light. Johan squinted, watching the vague, moving silhouette against the greater dark.
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