Fighting Chance

by Shaun Baines

  Panwar's body was half wrapped in plastic on the jetty. The sheeting had come from a new mattress in Daniel's quest for a better sleep. It was a ready-made shroud, emblazoned with the logo of a dozing cat and the phrase 'Sweet Dreams.'

  Lily was missing and Daniel hadn't mounted any kind of search. Bronson hadn't appeared and without him, Daniel was impotent. In lieu of a plan, Panwar took priority and although Daniel was concentrating on his task, his thoughts were with Lily.

  Their path to happiness had been blocked by many obstacles, tripping them up at every step. In his heart, he knew they could never be together, but it didn't stop him from hoping. His dreams were often peppered by her image. No matter how far he went or in which dark direction, her face lighted his way home.

  Daniel returned to his labours, securing a belt around her ex-boyfriend's ankles and a rope around his waist. He dragged the body to the edge of the jetty. He felt no sympathy for Panwar. He was a mole and a rat, working against the Daytons from the inside. He'd been sent to gather information and seek out weaknesses. There was no way around it. Panwar's death had made Daniel's life easier.

  He twitched at the sound of footsteps and dropped Panwar's body with a thud.

  Lily stood behind him, her face drawn and tired. "What have you done?"

  Daniel wrung his hands as the boat knocked gently on the wooden jetty. Moving toward her, he tripped over the body. He regained his balance, but Lily backed away, shaking her head.

  "You killed him," she said.

  "No, we found him like that."

  Lily's brow crinkled. "We?"

  Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, stretching the skin of her face taut, but it didn't hide the lines around her eyes. They were new, thought Daniel. Etched by recent experience. Wherever she'd been, it'd changed her, marked her with the same stain he carried. Even in the gathering night, Daniel saw a transformation in her. Rounded shoulders. Chewed fingernails. Dry lips. She'd reappeared as he'd hoped she might and half of him was relieved. The other half wondered who she was.

  "Who's 'we'?" Lily asked again.

  She searched the garden. As she did, the door to Five Oaks squeaked open and Eisha bolted outside, running down to the lake.

  "I found the bricks you wanted, Daddy," she said, holding them up high. "They were in the wine cellar like you said, but I didn't go into the torture place. Promise."

  Daniel clutched his hands to his stomach. "It's not what you think," he said to Lily.

  Suddenly realising Lily was there, Eisha rushed to her, but was forced back by Lily's stern hand.

  "Did the bad man hurt you?" Eisha asked.

  "I'm fine," Lily answered.

  Daniel looked up at the false ring of her words. "What happened?"

  Lily rolled her shoulders. "What do you think happened?"

  She walked towards the body. Daniel quickly wrapped the sheeting over Panwar's head. The lipstick had proven difficult to remove and Panwar still looked like The Joker. Something told him Lily would fail to appreciate it.

  The wind tugged at Lily's clothes as she inspected the body. "You and I are a series of moments, Daniel. There are moments when I love you and moments when I hate you."

  Daniel adjusted his shirt. "I can guess which one this is."

  Spinning on the spot, she stabbed him in the chest with a finger. "Don't you dare laugh at me. After everything I've been through."

  He winced at the fury in her eyes and watched it die to sadness. Sweat prickled the back of his neck.

  The jetty creaked under their weight. Rustling came from nearby shrubs where predators sought their prey.

  "I should have gone home," Lily said. "I should have packed my bags and left, but you drag me back. You're a habit I can't quit."

  Placing his hands on her shoulders, he was surprised when she didn't shake them off. "Tell me what happened," he said.

  Lily bit down on a trembling lip. Her words came slowly.

  "Because of you, I was kidnapped, but I escaped," she said. "I learned your brother is a bigger swine than I could ever have imagined and I killed a man, Daniel. That's what happened."

  And then Lily gave him the details, interspersed between sobs. Her shoulders quivered and her feet danced beneath her. When she finished her story, Lily bowed her head.

  Daniel closed his eyes. Another innocent had been corrupted. Another soul blessed by the Daytons.

  The plastic swathed over Panwar's body fluttered in the wind, catching Lily's eye. "He never loved me. Scott didn't, either. The only man who loves me is you."

  "Is it that bad?" Daniel's arms fell to his sides and he thrust his chest forward like a soldier awaiting orders.

  The moonlight glanced off Lily's watch and she covered it, trapping the glow in her hand. "I came back for Eisha," she said. "She's not safe here. No-one is. Now I see what you're capable of, I wish I'd done it sooner."

  Eisha made no protest and she was pulled up the slope by Lily. There was something in his daughter's face giving Daniel pause. She was scared, but not of leaving. It was the same look she'd had in The Room; a fear of discovery, of revealing her inner self.

  "I was right about the Daytons," Lily said. "You'd do anything to get what you want."

  The plastic shroud came away from Panwar's smiling face, his white teeth gleamed in the dark.

  "You think I killed your boyfriend so we could be together?" Daniel asked. "He was shot by the guy who came to the house. He had a gun."

  He was losing them in the darkness and Daniel stumbled forward.

  "You're a liar," Lily said from the driveway. "The gun didn't work. You're the only one who could have murdered Panwar."

  The grass was treacherous underfoot. He attempted to follow, scrambling up the embankment. He heard their feet crunching on the gravel, but Lily and Eisha were missing. Daniel might have gone after them, but he stood listening to their fading footsteps, nursing a sudden pain in his chest.

  Lily shouted from the edge of Five Oaks. "Monica is having her baby. If you want to find Scott, that's where he'll be. He's done terrible things, Daniel. To me and to you."

  Daniel wasn't the only one who could have murdered Panwar. If he went to his bedside cabinet, his gun would be where it always was, replaced by a small hand, but minus a bullet. Lily was walking hand in hand with her boyfriend's killer and she didn't even know it. Daniel should have been shocked, but too much had happened to them all. His daughter was a killer. Lily was a killer. And so was he.

  In his attempts to protect his family, he had delivered them to danger, but they were stronger because of it. They were able to fend for themselves. It was a lesson his father had worked hard to teach him. Daniel was passing that knowledge on.

  The outside world didn't understand. On his streets, where danger was as commonplace as the paving stones, it was the greatest gift he could give them. Daniel finally understood what his father had wanted all along.

  But that didn't mean he would be following in his father's footsteps.

  Returning to Panwar's corpse, he shoved the bricks Eisha had found into the plastic sheeting. The tiny lake island was barely visible in the dark. The shallow graves were all but full and Panwar was destined for the lake.

  He tossed the body into his boat while Lily's words repeated in his head.

  "He's done terrible things," she'd said.

  To Daniel, it sounded like permission.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  The following morning, Daniel crept through the car park of Queen Anne's Hospital in Newcastle, ducking behind cars, shielding himself from worried patients. He ignored the main building and headed to a private wing called Tinwood Hall, named after an eighteenth-century architect and noted philanderer. If a wealthy mother expected a complicated birth, Tinwood was the place to be, especially when those complications were illegitimacy. Every Dayton was born there, except Daniel. His first visit was at the birth of Eisha.

  Tinwood Hall was constructed with mirrored glass, reflecting the fir trees
that surrounded it. Green stained timber protected the brickwork. It was camouflage, concealing its secretive workings from the public, but its entrance was a revolving door, constantly turning.

  Daniel circled the car park looking for another way in. At the back of the building was an open fire exit. Next to it was a hospital porter, scrolling through his mobile phone, a cigarette drooping from his mouth. Daniel readied his fist when the porter spat his cigarette to the ground and went back inside, leaving the door open. Daniel shadowed him in.

  The fire exit led to a white tiled corridor and he was met with the smell of bleach. The floors sparkled with cleanliness and the tiles looked new. He hurried along, keeping his head low until he found Tinwood's reception area. Avoiding the enquiring looks of the staff, he took a seat, hiding behind a copy of yesterday's Evening Chronicle.

  He was alone. Any expectant fathers were either attending to business in the birthing suites or attending to business elsewhere. The fresh-faced nurses drifted from room to room, their arms loaded with scented towels. Two doctors lingered by a water cooler while the receptionist rearranged flowers in a vase.

  There were four birthing suites and Daniel watched the doors to all of them, but even when they were opened by a passing nurse, it was difficult to see inside. He put the newspaper to one side and took a walk.

  Each suite had a wide window. Roman blinds covered the first two, protecting the privacy of the occupants inside. Strolling to the next window, the blinds were open, but the room was empty, except for a nurse changing soiled sheets. Coming to the last room, his view was blocked again. Daniel huffed until he noticed a gap in the blinds.

  Scott stood with his back to him, his shoulder blades jutting against his shirt. Monica lay on the bed, nestled in pillows. Her face was flushed and sweaty, her eyes half closed and blackened from her fight with Lily. She said something and Scott turned to her. In his arms was a baby, swaddled in white. His brother's contentment looked radioactive. It glowed from him, warming the room in a poisonous heat wave.

  Swallowing his jealousy, Daniel tapped on the window.

  The occupants of the room froze. Scott peered through the gap in the blinds, his smile faltering, but only briefly. Daniel moved away, standing in front of the door as it opened.

  "It's a boy," his brother said, holding the baby to his chest. "We're calling him Wren."

  And Daniel punched Scott in the face.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Flying backwards, the baby slipped from Scott's grasp. Awake and wailing, it somersaulted through the air. Scott reached out, snatching Wren mid-flight, tucking him into his chest before landing with a roll. Monica screamed, leaping from her bed.

  "Is he hurt?" she asked.

  Scott undid the swaddling and checked for damage, his pale cheeks tinting red. "He's fine. He's fine." He gasped with relief and offered the baby to Monica, who carried him to the furthest corner, kissing away his tears.

  The suite was large, befitting of the wealthy, but too small to contain both Daniel and Scott. By the bed was a grey oxygen cylinder with a green top. There was a CPR unit mounted on the wall. The waist-high cupboards were fronted with chrome. Daniel saw his ghostly reflection in the screen of a heart monitor as his pulse raced.

  Scott stood, his face creased in fury. His hands were like hungry pincers searching for a weapon. Grabbing the nearest thing on offer, he hurled a kidney-shaped dish at Daniel and charged, his head like a battering ram. They bowled into the door with a crash. The wind squeezed out of Daniel's lungs and Scott stamped on his foot, crushing his toes.

  Yelling in pain, Daniel locked his arms around his brother and threw him into the window, surprised at how insubstantial his brother had become. The blinds clattered to the floor, but the glass held, splintering into the shape of a lightning strike. Scott crumpled to the floor, but he jumped up, his fists raised.

  "Stop it," Monica shouted, climbing onto the bed. "Think of my baby."

  Daniel jabbed with his right and skipped left, kneeing Scott in his thigh. The blow made no impression and Scott seized Daniel's leg, holding him off balance. Snarling, he drove Daniel into the cupboards.

  The sharp chrome edge bit into Daniel's lower back. Pain rippled up his spine. He fell, pulling open a drawer and showering himself with medical instruments.

  Scott snatched one from the floor, unwrapping the paper casing to reveal a stainless steel scalpel. He grinned, displaying it to Daniel, making sure it glinted in the light. Daniel found a pair of surgical scissors lying on his chest. Grabbing them, he clambered upright and held them aloft, standing poised for a duel.

  "I know where the cocaine is," Scott said.

  "Who told you?" Daniel asked.

  "No-one. We've ruled everywhere out, except Five Oaks."

  "It's a big place. The cameras were supposed to lead you right to it?"

  They orbited each other, their eyes locked.

  "Angel is a smart girl," Scott said. "It was all her idea, but what she didn't know was that I got there first. Sent my own man in."

  Daniel tightened his grip on the scissors. "But it all went tits up, didn't it? Lily is safe."

  "Never send a boy to do a man's job, eh? And who knew Lily had it in her?" Scott sliced the scalpel through the air.

  Daniel didn't flinch. He waited to make his move.

  "I came here to end all the terrible things you've done," he said.

  Scott walked to the bed, keeping his scalpel levelled at Daniel. He laid a comforting hand on Monica's shoulder and Wren waved a chubby arm.

  "But you won't," Scott said. "I have my family and my new baby boy. I'll have the cocaine and once it's sold, I'll have money to start again. It's the dawn of a new era. What you left to rot, I'll build back up."

  "You're right about it being a new era." Daniel opened his hand and dropped his weapon to the floor. Part of him wanted to disappear, to let Scott have what he wanted. Who was Daniel to the Daytons anyway? An imposter; a cog that spun the wrong way. But that was the square inch of him that wasn't a Dayton. He'd spent too much time in their company not to share their blood. Their connection wasn't genetic, but he belonged in their world and he intended on turning it upside down.

  "Did you tell the Maguires you'd split the cocaine with them?" Daniel asked.

  Scott looked at the discarded scissors on the tiled floor and considered the scalpel in his hand. "I don't need them now. Besides, Angel has her hands full."

  "With what?"

  "By now, I suspect it will be Bronson's innards. She's a very troubled girl."

  The image of his friend shielding Eisha from Daniel's homemade bomb shoved its way into his mind. He blinked, dismissing it, only to open his eyes and see it again.

  "Bronson betrayed me," Daniel said. "He's not part of this."

  "We both know that isn't true." The white mask of his brother cracked into a smile. "I promised to serve Bronson up if they gave me the resources I needed. I didn't care who killed him as long as it was painful."

  Daniel frowned, an uneasy feeling in his stomach. "Bronson spared your life. You should be out on moonlit walks together."

  The air turned cold. Scott's eyes were icy, alive with hate. This was the Scott Daniel knew. Not the doting father. Not the homeless wreck sleeping under hedges. It was the boy forged in the fires of the lake, beating a brother on his father's say-so.

  "He didn't betray you," Scott said, twisting the scalpel in his hand. "He betrayed me. I was held prisoner in The Devil's Playground, forced to inject smack to keep me placid. For months, I endured it while the world went on without me. Monica came to my rescue. Broke me out with bolt cutters and grit. We killed Clive Hawk for being my jailer, but it was Bronson I was after."

  "Bronson held you captive?" The floor moved under Daniel's feet and his legs tensed to keep himself steady.

  "He was protecting you," Scott said. "You talk a good game. All that 'I'm going to kill my family' nonsense, but you crave your family. It might not be the one you were b
orn with, but you feel its importance. Bronson knew that. He knew the guilt would kill you long before my body grew cold."

  Daniel struggled to swallow. He hated that his brother was right. Daniel and the Daytons were locked together in a ceaseless dance. With each step forward and each foot back, they shadowed one another. There was no avoiding it. They were part of a whole, but forever was too exhausting for Daniel. There had to be a point when he left the floor.

  "It's just like Bronson to shoulder your burdens for you," Scott said.

  Daniel's heart sank. "I didn't know."

  "Why would you?" Scott said, sniffing his nose to the air. "Loyalty flows upward. Not down."

  "Where is Bronson now?" Daniel asked.

  "It's too late. He'll be in red ribbons by now." Scott walked toward him, scalpel in hand. "It's over, Daniel. You lost."

  Daniel backed into a cupboard. His hand snaked behind him. "Back in the office at Five Oaks, you spun me your lie about living on the streets. You covered your face. You hid. You turned away, but I know you, brother. Every twitch, flinch and deflection. I'm the human lie detector, remember? Do you think I couldn't tell when you're lying?"

  The confidence drained from Scott's face and his grin soured. He glanced at Monica for reassurance, but she was preoccupied with Wren, wrapping and unwrapping his swaddling.

  "I didn't understand why you were lying," Daniel continued, "so I had to keep you on the hook. I had to lure you out and there was only one way to do it. Tell you what you wanted to hear."

  Scott scratched at the skin of his forearms, as if his track marks were alive.

  Daniel's fingers searched his back pocket. "I told you that I still had the cocaine, but I don't. I really did blow it up in the van."

  The laughter escaping Scott was dry and harsh, more like the call of a crow. "That's idiotic. I don't believe you."

  "I grew up being told I was an idiot. Are you surprised when I act that way?"

  Daniel readied himself, watching the frown on Scott's face deepen as realisation crept in.

  "Even you wouldn't be that stupid," Scott said.