by P. R. Black
‘Get out! Get out of here!’ Vonny shrieked. Then, like a child, she covered her eyes. When she opened them, Chloe had just about disappeared on the path leading to the security gate and the driveway.
38
Two roads in or out. Can’t use those. How am I going to move it?
‘You think laterally, my man,’ Seth told himself, as he approached the stream. He had two holdalls, heavy and full, with the straps looped around either shoulder. ‘That’s what you do. Think outside the box.’
It had grown cold and dark quickly. Seth had seen lights on in the upper levels of the house; he was sure he saw Vonny pass, several times. The homely glow comforted him. Once, he was sure he heard voices somewhere in the woods, heading back towards the house, but these had quickly faded. His imagination, surely.
They come for me, they won’t be chatting when they do it, Seth reasoned. Whoever they might be.
Another phone call to his connection down at the studio had turned distinctly frosty. Simon had a note of panic in his voice when Seth broke the bad news – and Simon was a man who never panicked. ‘You’ve got to come up trumps, here, Seth. You can’t keep these boys waiting on hold, you know? You have to give me something to work with.’
‘I’ll level with you, Simon – I am a little bit worried that this thing’s attracting attention.’
‘What do you mean, attention – fuzzy attention?’
‘Not exactly. It’s hard to explain.’ The strain between them seemed to crackle in the very air. Seth felt and heard Simon’s vocal tremor harmonise with his own voice. I’d have asked for one more take on the vocals, he thought, ruefully.
‘Look, man, whatever issue you have here, you’ve got to sort it out by Thursday, all right? You’re spooking the horses.’
‘Thursday. I can do Thursday. No problems here.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Simon did not sound glad. ‘Don’t miss it, Seth. This isn’t amateur hour. You’ve got to do what you say. If you don’t, you’ll embarrass me in front of my friends. You’ll get a time and a place. And you have to be there. Stay tuned.’ He hung up.
Surely he couldn’t do Thursday, though. The minute he drove out of the estate, he’d either be stopped or followed.
‘What a mess,’ Seth said, into the lengthening shadows, casting the bare branches as claws. ‘God, what a mess.’
Huddling into his coat, and wondering if it might snow again, Seth went through his options. He couldn’t drag Vonny into it. Whatever part she’d played in the other night, she wanted nothing to do with the gear, and he owed her that, at least.
Get Fulton, the farmer, involved? He had some involvement, having provided the gun, but… the drugs were too big. Involve him in it, it made it more likely that he’d call the police, or something. Or rather his meddlesome wife would, no question.
Sneak out over the farmers’ fields? People walked through them all the time. At worst, he might get a bite in the bum off a springer spaniel, but he’d live. Play dumb with the other farmer, in the other direction. He snorted at the idea. Ludicrous. Might as well tunnel underneath… There had to be a way to sneak it out, though. Wasn’t there a road cutting through the farmland opposite? It was always worth a look… Seth flipped open his phone, fingers quivering. A snowflake landed on the flat surface of the phone screen, a perfect crystallisation, and promptly died. He looked up to see more and more flakes falling – one tickling the edge of his nose. The ground at his feet was bone dry. ‘And there we have it. The icing on the cake. Snow in time for Christmas.’ He laughed, bitterly.
Yes, in fact, there was a route through – he could walk over the field, drag the suitcases, fob off any awkward questions, maybe have a taxi or even Vonny’s car parked, waiting for him at the far end… Get it all the way to London, make the drop… It could be done…
But until then, Seth was left with ancient holdalls with millions of pounds’ worth of heroin. There was no question of burying it; all he had to do was find a place to stash it. Somewhere obscure, but not somewhere he’d be likely to forget about. Imagine losing enough gear to get you killed in your own forest… in fact, no, Seth, don’t imagine that at all.
Were they watching him now, in fact? It wasn’t a nice thing to consider. Maybe there was a drone, tracing his every move from above. Could they do that? If so, then at least they couldn’t follow him from above into the trees.
Seth laughed, with no mirth in it. It was ludicrous, but the fact remained… His every paranoia might be vindicated. He hoisted the bags onto his shoulders. It was a perversion of the feeling Seth got on the rare occasions he had the chance to hold a baby – the feeling of dread that something so fragile and delicate had been entrusted into his hands. Now, he felt like he was handling a bomb; a dead weight sagged against him, its mass collapsing in on itself, twin black holes.
Silly, he thought. Surveillance. Spies. Next it would be a frogman in the pond. A strangely stiff-necked woodpigeon that never flew anywhere but craned its neck to follow him. They couldn’t do it on his property, could they? There had to be some legal problem with that.
Then a white face appeared in front of him, with deep black eyes. There was a suggestion of mellow tapetum lucidum, then a flurried bating of white wings, like a set of long johns untwirling on a washing line.
As the barn owl swooped over the trees, a thunderbolt lit up the scene.
Stressed, stupefied, static, Seth could only blink for a moment or two.
‘That could be it. That could be it,’ he muttered to himself, once he realised what he had seen. An idea didn’t so much percolate as boil over. He dropped the bags and ran, stumbling over the hard-packed frozen path, already mottled with fresh snow.
‘Hey,’ he called out – whispering at first, then realising how ridiculous this was. He raised the volume but modulated the tone. ‘Hey, Crispin, was it? You there, mate?’
Of course, it might not be Crispin. It might be a police photographer, with a—
The lanky shadow dropped down from a tree. He waved at Seth, uncertainly.
‘Sorry, Seth,’ he said, ‘just getting a few shots while I can at night, before the snow comes in. Did you see it?’ The boy was nervous as ever, but his eyes shone. ‘That was the perfect take-off, an absolute cracker. She is absolutely huge! I think she got something, too.’
‘I need to talk to you about something,’ Seth said. ‘Well, it’s more of a business proposition.’
The boy looked up, biting his lip. He had been scanning the photos he’d taken on the DSLR camera, but he lowered it, and frowned slightly. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, you know how you know this woodland really well?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Well, how would you like to own your own path through these woods, all in your own name? I’d have the rights drawn up for you tomorrow if you like.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘I’d need you to do me a really, really big favour. But first, I want to pick your brains about something.’
*
Seth was close to jogging as he headed back to the house, with the snow coming down thick, landing on his jacket in pillowy clods. There was a route, now; there was a road map.
His phone buzzed when he approached the gate leading to the front lawn and the path towards the high glass house. Every light seemed to burn inside.
‘What’s up?’ he asked, tensely.
‘Get inside – now!’ It was Vonny, and her voice was on the edge of panic.
Seth felt a terrible sinking sensation in his guts. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You have to get inside! We need to lock the doors! They’re coming for us!’
39
Seth hadn’t taken his jacket off yet, and the shoulders were still pattered with fresh snow. He held his hands out, trying to placate Vonny, but his own fear was obvious in the tone of his voice. All it did was make her feel worse.
‘Slow down,’ he said. ‘Chloe? You mean that lass who goes everywhere wi
th her Doc Martens – that one? Punched someone at your mate Eddie’s wedding?’
Vonny could only point to the two wine glasses, one of which – on her side of the table – was still mostly full. ‘She showed up, out of the blue. I had no idea why – I didn’t think I’d even given her our new address. She plonked down a couple of bottles of wine, asked to be shown around. She asks to be taken on a walk round the forest. Before we’d gotten to the bottom of the gate, she starts asking about the car. Claimed she saw it online, then stalked us, then decided to show up.’
‘What? Doesn’t she live in Hastings, somewhere like that? She can’t just “pop round”?’
‘I know!’ There was a hysterical tone to Vonny’s response, a high note that cracked near the top. ‘I told you it was weird! I didn’t think there was anything wrong at first. Or if I did, I didn’t really pay any attention to it. I thought she was on the level.’
The horror grew in Seth’s face. ‘Please tell me you didn’t tell her anything.’
‘I didn’t have to! She fucking knew!’
‘How?’
‘They must have tracked her down… Whoever’s after the stuff. Searched her out online, social media… Christ, everyone’s traceable these days! They got to her. She didn’t say what they’d threatened her with, but out of the blue, she starts jabbering about drugs, then she lost her head and said we had to hand the stuff over.’
‘When? Did they give a time frame? Twenty-four hours? What?’
‘I don’t know! She freaked out and ran.’
Seth paced the floor, head in his hands, bare feet furrowing the carpeted area as if they were tracks in the snow. ‘Dear God. How did she know? Did you tell her anything? Anything at all?
‘No!’
‘Did you admit anything? Did you even agree with her?’
‘I said, no! She freaked out and took off. Dear God, they could have killed her. She could be wrapped in a carpet in a ditch by now!’
‘Forget about her – we’ve got our own stuff to worry about now. I’m sorry – but forget about her. It’s her problem now.’
‘How can I forget about her!’ Vonny sank to the floor, her hands creeping towards her own throat. ‘Who’s next? Your mum and dad? Mine? Jesus Christ, I can’t have that! Whatever they want, give it to them!’
‘I can’t.’ Seth’s jaw muscles bunched, and relaxed. ‘If I don’t deliver, my brother gets killed… then we get killed. The deals I’m making… These people aren’t very understanding if you pull the plug at the last minute.’
‘Then we’re dead!’ Vonny sobbed, still on her knees. ‘We’re dead! I can’t believe this happened to us! Why did this have to happen to us?’
He got down beside her; he tried to pull her towards him in an embrace, but she resisted. ‘Listen – we didn’t ask for any of this to happen.’
She shook her head. ‘You found the drugs. Without telling me. You saw them. You made a decision. You tried to play it cute. You tried to be the smart-arse. Mr fucking big. Listen to you! “The deals I’m making”. This is not a game! Two people are dead already, on top of the people who died here before we came along! This place is cursed. Cursed. We can’t live here now.’
Seth ignored all this. ‘Did Chloe give a phone number, or say anything about a contact, something like that?’
‘No… she just said they’re on their way. No details. Oh God, they’re probably here already.’
‘Right.’ Seth swallowed, and got to his feet. ‘First of all, we get everything locked down – then we get you safe. I’ll lead them off into the forest. In the meantime, you get the word out that we’ve got intruders.’
‘Why not just call the police now?’ Tears were rolling off her face. Her expression was ghastly, borrowed from an artwork. ‘End it – call the police right now.’
‘Because we killed two people the other night, that’s why! It’s got to be a last resort. There’s a way out of this. Trust me. Now – I locked the front door. I’m presuming the back door’s locked down tight… So now, we’ll sort out the balcony.’
‘Seth, please – just give up.’ Vonny got to her feet. ‘Forget about the drugs. Forget about the two guys from the other night. Just give ourselves up. You know it’s the right thing to do. Give up, or I’ll do it for you.’
Seth took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry. Too much is at stake. And we’ve come this far. We have to see this through. My plan is, as I said, to get you safe.’
She ran at him, but didn’t have the rage in her to strike him. She bunched her fists; they quivered in front of his face, two knotted dumplings. This might have been comic, but for the deadly seriousness, and her earth-tremor rage. ‘Get me safe? You don’t control anything, here! It’s down to you that we’re in this mess – your fault!’
Seth turned away from her. His voice was absurdly upbeat, as if he was reading out a surprisingly pleasant weather forecast. ‘First, we check these patio doors are locked…’ He tugged at one. Then he frowned, gazing out onto the balcony. Snow dotted the frame in lazy clumps; the furniture outside was already dusted with a good half an inch or so. Beyond the chair and table right in front of him, it was difficult to make out any other details. This was partly due to the slow-falling grey curtain, and partly due to the glare of the lights, shining on the window and showing only reflections.
Seth tried the door, then cupped his hands around his eyes, placing them against the glass, shutting out the light.
There was a face directly in front of him. It wasn’t a reflection.
‘What the fuck?’ He staggered back.
And then the lights went out.
40
The chair outside on the balcony was iron, an indulgence, expensive. It and its identical twin had been christened the iron thrones, even as they were ported upstairs by the delivery men. Seth had barked his shin against it when he first moved it onto the balcony. ‘Wouldn’t like to get that over my head,’ he had hissed through his teeth, as he rubbed his leg where it hurt.
Now, he staggered back as one of the iron thrones disintegrated the tall window. A cascade of glass, shards, hexagons, diamonds. Vonny felt the sparkling shower sting her scalp as she backed off, screaming.
A man kicked out two or three longer shards of glass with a ruthless, terrible efficiency. Vonny saw the soles of thick boots; he wore no comedy mask, but his face was contorted in quivering rage, above a pair of bunched shoulders like too much mortar slabbed on top of a brick wall. The big man moved in with a deceptively sinuous grace. He had a curved blade that Vonny recognised as a Gurkha kukri, with that weird angle to it that suggested lopped-off limbs and heads rather than scars and lacerations. ‘Nobody move!’ he screamed. The tip of the blade pointed towards Vonny. ‘You – up on your feet and get in the corner, by the wall!’
Numbly, she obeyed. Seth moved to close the gap between the intruder and Vonny. The man defiling her home was shorter than Seth but more powerfully built, with the muscle and the ball face of someone who took steroids. Corded sinew on his neck looked fit to explode from his flesh like a sci-fi creature; his pale blue eyes were glistening with an intransigent rage. He was quite the ugliest man Vonny had ever seen.
‘No,’ she screamed, raising her hand, disliking the angle Seth was travelling at, but far too late.
The intruder swiped at Seth, teeth compressed into an ugly crescent. It was close; the blow wasn’t meant to hit him, but it was near enough. Seth would have felt it on the tip of his nose. He checked his run, stopped and raised his hands. He stood between Vonny and the newcomer. ‘Take it easy,’ he said. ‘You don’t need that.’
‘I’ll give the fucking orders. Let’s get downstairs, into the kitchen. Now.’
Numbly, they obeyed. At knifepoint they were guided downstairs, where they wanted to cover their eyes from the brutal overhead lights. Then they were both stood at the far wall. The kitchen table and chairs were in the middle; the intruder backed away to the side, moving towards the door. ‘Simple question for yo
u two: where’s the stuff?’
‘What stuff?’ Seth said.
‘Enough of this,’ Vonny blurted out. ‘Enough!’
‘Shut up,’ Seth growled, anger spilling over.
‘We’ve had enough! Just leave us alone!’
‘I said, shut up!’ Seth darted forward and grabbed her by the shoulder.
‘Looks like the lady wants to say something,’ the newcomer said. His bottom lip trembled; his frame shook with adrenaline. ‘I think we should let her say what she wants, no? So get your hands off her, big man.’
Seth let her go; pain throbbed through her shoulders. That would leave a bruise, she realised. Other pain came to her; a set of prickles tingled across her scalp. She wondered if she was bleeding; she put a hand to her hair, but there was only a spot or two of red there.
‘The stuff is gone,’ Seth said. ‘You mean the stuff under the car? It’s gone.’
‘Where?’ the man with the blade said.
Seth swallowed. ‘Two guys came over. A few nights ago. They did the same shit you did. I took them to the stuff. They’ve gone with it.’
‘That a fact? What did they look like?’
‘I don’t know. They were clever enough to wear masks.’
‘And you were clever enough to stay in this house after it, big mouth. I don’t believe you. I think you know what happened to them. And you’ve still got the gear, here. Know how I know?’
Seth shrugged.
‘Don’t say anything stupid!’ Vonny hissed. ‘For God’s sake!’
‘I know,’ the intruder continued, ‘because their bikes were found round the back of your house. No one’s seen anything of them. Their phones are dead. No contact, nothing. No signs they were going to do a runner. One of them had a kid. I knew them like my own brothers. You think they’re going to dump us for some gear? When they were going to get paid anyway? It doesn’t make sense. Plus, word reaches my ears that someone’s looking to make a deal. Sounds very like the gear that belongs to us. So why don’t you tell us where it is? And while you’re at it, tell us what happened to the two guys who came here a few nights ago?’