Finally he started the engine and set off.
In the alley, Simon waited nervously. Despite the bright, busy bar next door, it was ominously dark; illuminated only by passing headlights from the nearby junction and the dim street lighting. He was pacing when Daniel arrive.
“Hey there buddy,” he greeted, in an exaggerated American accent, his good mood evident.
Simon watched him without responding.
Daniel walked closer, having left the bike around the corner. He had no use for it now. “I said hello-o-o-o!”
Simon swallowed. “What do you want, Daniel?”
“Whatever happened to Dan? There’s something I want you to see, my friend,” he smiled, throwing his arm around Simon’s shoulder. “We’ll walk: it’s a nice night.”
The alley was closer to Daniel’s apartment than it was to that of Mike’s friend. It would have taken the average person around seven minutes to walk. It took them considerably longer: Daniel clasped Simon’s shoulder tightly, slowing them both down.
“What do you want with her?” Simon asked, as they shuffled along the busy street.
Daniel pulled Simon closer with his arm. “You know I shagged her, don’t you? Or did you think she was going to change her mind and get back with you?”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, appearing to the world like any other young friends on holidays.
At the apartment door, Daniel scrambled for his key and unlocked the door quickly, stood aside and gestured that Simon should go first.
Simon obeyed, opening the door. He gasped as he stepped inside.
Chapter 25
Grace and Kirsty sat about eight feet apart, facing each other. Both of them were gagged and tightly bound to tall chairs. Kirsty was awake and struggling, while Grace’s head was dropping forward.
Simon rushed over to check her pulse. Daniel closed the door and strolled over to join them.
“I would have thought you’d rush to Kirsty first,” he said, brows knitted in confusion.
Simon looked back at him and pulled his hand away from Grace’s throat. “I was checking she was still alive.”
“A modern day hero! She’s sedated.”
Daniel walked past them to the breakfast bar and picked something up. He slapped Simon’s shoulder as he walked past. Closing in on Grace, he brushed her nose with the thing in his hand. Her head jerked back and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Just smelling salts, friend,” he explained. “Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do.” He leaned down and pulled the gag from Grace’s mouth. The pain made her groan. “Go take Kirsty’s gag off.”
Simon walked the few paces to where his ex-girlfriend sat, struggling to free herself from the chair. He reached forward and untied the knot at the back of her head, pulling it away.
“And the rest of it.”
Simon looked at Kirsty and saw that he had filled her mouth with more of the fabric. He pulled it out and placed two fingers in her mouth checking for more. He jumped back abruptly with a yelp.
“Don’t fucking touch me! I knew you were in on it,” she snarled.
Simon looked at her, astonished. “I’m not, I came here looking for you,” he said, throwing the slimy cloth on the ground.
“Now, now, we’re not here to fight,” Daniel lifted his t-shirt and pulled the gun from his chest. He winced as the strong tape pulled off hairs. “Here, you take this Simon,” he said, holding out his knife, blade-first.
“Why are you doing this?” Grace had been awake since Daniel had startled her back to consciousness, but had looked woozy and unsteady up to that point.
“Do you ever stop asking questions?” Daniel tutted. “Ask Simon why we’re here.”
Simon shrugged as they both looked to him for an answer. “I don’t know why we’re here.”
Daniel snorted. “Don’t know why we’re here? Don’t act the fool Simon.”
“I don’t Daniel, I really don’t.”
“Shut up! Both of you. What the hell is going on?” Grace interrupted the quietly menacing tone of their conversation.
“Simon, you know what? Let’s switch places. You’ll do them both.”
He walked over to Kirsty and grabbed her roughly from behind, squeezing the pistol against her temple. “Cut her throat or I’ll kill your little girlfriend.” He smiled. “Nostalgic this, eh?”
Simon’s mouth gaped open and closed like that of a fish. “No! I’m not doing it; you can’t do this to me again.”
“Again?” Grace looked up at him. “What are you talking about Simon?”
“That’s it, just shut up Grace,” Daniel loosed his grip of Kirsty to wave the gun at Grace. “Do you even see this?”
Kirsty jerked back violently, hitting Daniel in the chest with the metal chair back. He steadied the chair before it could topple over and clapped the butt of the pistol against the side of her face.
“I’ve got no reason to be nice to you anymore. Remember that,” he turned to Simon. “I want you to start with her fingers. I don’t care which one. Do it, or I will kill Kirsty.”
Simon shook his head violently, as Grace snapped her mouth shut and tightened her lips together, eyes closed.
“I’m not. I can’t.”
“I said I’d kill Kirsty. Your choice,” he lowered the gun until it was level with her thigh. “I’ll do it slowly.”
Simon closed his eyes and swallowed. Grace tried desperately to jerk away but she was weak and groggy, and couldn’t find a reserve of strength, despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
“Don’t do it Simon, please,” she screamed, as she felt Simon walk beside her. “No, don’t. You don’t have to do that. Don’t listen to him.” she felt his cold, clammy fingers weakly grip the index finger of her left hand. His pulse raced so quickly that her finger seemed to vibrate from the two out-of-synch pulses.
He paused and looked up at Daniel from where he was hunkered on the ground beside Grace.
In response, Daniel cracked the gun against Kirsty’s knee, making her yell out in pain. “Now, Simon. Or it’s a bullet next.”
“Simon, don’t,” Grace whispered. “Don’t do it. Please, please don’t.”
She could feel him behind her but his hand wasn’t moving any more. Was he reconsidering?
“Simon,” Daniel said, again.
Grace was aware of it before she felt it. The strange thing was that the pain lagged the knowledge by what felt like several seconds. It only struck her when she saw something fly through the air and hit Daniel. And Simon’s words.
“There. Happy now?”
It was her finger. She felt detached from the whole thing, as if she was a spectator. She could hear someone scream, and was faintly aware that it was coming from beside her. Only the physical sensation of the strain on her throat told her it was her who was screaming. He’d cut off her finger. Was it the whole finger? She felt around with her middle finger, and the floodgates of pain opened and engulfed her. She desperately wished back those few seconds of shocked numbness.
“Grace,” Kirsty hissed, seeing her friend lean forward, screaming with pain. “Grace! Get her some ice. Do something!”
The room was silent except for the sound of Grace’s blood curdling wails. Simon stood impassively, occasionally looking at the ceiling, as if they were all inconveniencing him. When Grace’s cries had finally calmed down to an insistent, throaty moan, he spoke again.
“Let’s move on, shall we?”He looked at Simon. “Let’s start with a toe.”
“No!” Kirsty twisted her head up, her eyes meeting his. “Stop it. If you want to get at Simon, hurt Simon. Not Grace. She’s done nothing to you. And neither have I.”
“Nice Kirsty, thanks for that.”
“Shut the fuck up Simon, you murdering little bastard. You’re the one who got us into this mess!”
“I didn’t, Kirsty, I–”
Daniel walked between them. “Quiet. The two of you.” He turned to Simon. “She’s
right, it is your fault. But you,” he turned around and looked at Kirsty, who stared back, eyes glimmering with hatred. “You. You’ve made quite the fool out of me, haven’t you? I’m not going to forget that in a hurry, I’ll–”
“What did Simon do to you?” Grace interrupted in a strained voice.
Daniel turned to her briefly. “Don’t try and cross-examine me! You’re stalling for time. And we don’t have forever. Simon. Now.”
Grace closed her eyes again, forcing herself to breathe. “One of the little ones,” she murmured.
Simon knelt down, resigned.
“Simon, why the fuck are you just doing what he tells you?” Kirsty demanded. “Stop! You’ve got a knife.”
Daniel tutted again. “To think, I almost believed you were different. He won’t do anything of the sort. Isn’t that right, Simon?”
Silence.
“Isn’t that right Simon?”
Simon kept his gaze on the floor and muttered inaudibly.
“Toe.”
Grace screamed as Simon’s clammy fingers came forward again and awkwardly clamped around her foot. She had balled both feet tightly, her toes squeezed painfully together. After he fumbled for several seconds, the room filling with oppressive silence, he had succeeded in pinching one of her toes from the others when the window shattered.
Simon dropped the knife as Daniel skipped sideways to the window. “Don’t move,” he called back.
Chapter 26
“I’m surprised at you, Neil, I really saw you settling down with her,” Mike said, as they walked along the bustling street.
“Yeah well, we’re all full of surprises.”
They veered into a throbbing bar and ordered two beers.
“What now?” Mike whispered.
Neil swigged from his bottle. “Now we wait.”
They sat in silence, watching the stage. The bar was off the main drag, and, while not a technically a strip club, it still featured a line-up of weary looking women, taking it in turns to gyrate around a spinning pole. It was more technical than sexual, and their bored expressions were mirrored in the faces of the growing crowd.
“Couldn’t you have picked somewhere a little better? You used to live here for christ’s sake.”
Neil looked at him and rolled his eyes, as his phone rang.
“Lennox.”
“He just received a call. I’m not sure if it’s the guy you’re after, but they’re meeting in an alley beside the Bulldog Bar, I’m sending you through a map and...”
“Don’t worry about it,” Lennox said. “I know where it is. When are they meeting?”
“Five minutes from now.”
Neil looked at Mike and jerked his head toward the door. “That was quick. How’d Simon sound?”
Neil downed the rest of his beer as he listened. “Thanks. Can you track his location in case we lose him?”
The line crackled. “Sorry mate, he’s either disabled GPS or he’s using a phone that doesn’t have the capability. Far as I can tell, the other fella was calling from a disposable mobile. Nothing on that either.”
Neil frowned and hung up.
“He got in touch already?”
Neil nodded. “Daniel called him. Can you rustle up Paul and Aaron? We’ve got to go now. They’re meeting at the Bulldog.”
“What, right now?” Mike raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, and we’ve got no way to track them so we can’t lose them.”
“Okay, hold on. They’ll recognise us if we get close enough to follow them.”
Neil punched the wall of the booth Mike was still sitting in. It was faux-wood – the only thing about the place that was in keeping with the bar’s supposed British olde worlde pub theme. “It’s our only option. By the time anyone else gets here they’ll have disappeared.”
“Okay, I get it, really I do,” he slapped Neil on the shoulder. “I’m assuming it’s okay to drop the pretence now?”
“It looks like he’s been too busy to have been keeping tabs on us.”
“Come on, let’s go. I’ll call Paul on the way.”
They hurried towards the bar Daniel had mentioned, trying to time their arrival correctly. It was vital that they got there in time, but they didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves by hanging around for too long. It was an unusual choice of meeting place: although the alley itself was dark and sinister, it was located off a bustling main street in a touristy area, where Neil and Mike were able to blend in with the crowd.
“Why do you reckon he chose it?” Mike asked when he had hung up the phone.
“I guess he was worried about an ambush. It’s busy here, but it means anyone looking for him is going to think twice before pulling a gun.”
Mike chewed his lip. “Or he’s overconfident.”
“Maybe,” Neil agreed. “It was certainly a bold move leaving that body in the fridge. And calling Simon like that. We didn’t have anything on him and he hands us an advantage like that?”
“Yeah, but we’d never have known if you hadn’t had your doubts about Simon. What made you distrust him? I just took him for a poor sap–”
Neil’s elbow slammed into his ribs. Across the street, they saw Simon leave the alley with a tall, dreadlocked man. The man threw his arm around his shoulder as they turned onto the busy street.
“Come on, let’s go,” Neil started once the two men had a slight headstart. “There’s your answer too.”
“The dreadlocked kid? Is that the guy from earlier who almost pronged Paul’s truck?”
“Yeah,” Neil answered, eyes glued to the two men further down the street. “I had my doubts about Simon, like I told you. I wasn’t sure this afternoon, but even to me the guy looked similar to Daniel, in spite of the hair. Simon never commented.”
“Maybe he didn’t notice? I didn’t.”
“Mmm,” Neil appeared not to register his response. “I’m going to cross over, you stay on this side. There’s no point in us being more visible than we need to be.”
“Okay, I’ll keep checking in with Paul. He’s taking a bike to try and avoid the traffic.”
Neil crossed briskly, ducking between the crawling traffic. He walked quickly at first, gaining ground on Daniel and Simon, who had started to pull away. He was mindful of the warren of tiny alleys and lanes that crisscrossed the area, but slowed down when he got within fifty feet of the two men.
Mike’s voice cracked in his ear. “Hang back.”
“Yeah, I am,” he whispered. “Just wanted to catch up.”
“Paul’s about five minutes away he says.”
“Okay, call me when he’s here.” Neil clicked the end call button on the headset. He watched as the two men turned suddenly. Had Daniel spotted them? He started to run and slowed down a few meters from the corner. He looked across the street, scanning for Mike. He had evidently done the same thing and was now standing at the corner on the opposite side of the street.
Neil was momentarily startled by the voice in his ear. “Go.”
He rounded the corner at an easy pace and saw them ahead, crossing the street. He crossed quickly and ducked into a convenience store. When he stepped out again, they were disappearing around a corner up ahead.
He ran forward and peered around the corner, astonished. There was another junction down the street. He recognised it from earlier.
Pressing a button on his earpiece, he walked back around the corner. “Mike,” he whispered. “We’re only a block from the street we were on earlier. Stay on the same street you were on and take the next right. It should bring you down there. I’ll meet you there.”
He walked unhurriedly, watching as Daniel and Simon crossed the street and kept going straight, towards Daniel’s apartment. When he reached the junction, he looked to his left and saw that Mike was making his way towards him. He nodded his head, straight, and kept going. He crossed the street in time to see them turn into a doorway and disappear inside one of the identikit apartment buildings. Whe
n he got closer, he saw that it was next door to the one they’d broken into that afternoon.
Shit, he thought. We’ll never find them in there.
Mike walked up behind him, with a questioning look on his face.
“We didn’t think of this. We can’t follow them inside!” Neil exclaimed.
Mike looked similarly concerned for a moment, before catching the attention of a Thai woman who was working at a small food stall outside the building. He smiled and approached her. Neil was amazed when she turned and dashed into the building.
“Your Thai’s improved that much since I left?” he asked, surprised.
Mike smiled. “It’s pretty basic still, but I have enough to make myself understood.”
They waited, and a few minutes later the woman came back and spoke to Mike. It was obvious that she was speaking slowly so that he would understand. When she finished, he took out his wallet and removed two thousand baht notes, handing them to her.
“She said they’re on the fourth floor. They turned right when they got out of the lift. I think that’s what she said. Let’s wait for Paul: this building’s narrower than the one next door, so we’re looking at what, six apartments on each floor?”
Moments later, Paul pulled up alongside them on the bike. Mike brought him up to date.
He nodded, assimilating the new information. “It looks like a pretty old building. Doubt it’s soundproofed. You guys go on; I’ll stay here until you work out which one they’re in. I haven’t had a chance to get any information on the layout, but with any luck, he’s got a window facing the street.”
Neil looked at him quizzically but didn’t say anything. Neither did Paul. Mike and Neil turned and hurried through the door. Inside, they looked around cautiously before entering the only lift. At the fourth floor, the lift marked their arrival by chiming loudly.
They stepped out and looked from side to side. The apartments were indeed clustered around one main corridor, in the centre of which was the lift. There were four doors to the left and three to the right. They turned and started down the corridor, silently bypassing the first door, which was within view of the lift.
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