Renegade Hearts (Rebels of Sandland Book 1)

by Nikki J Summers

  “He gets commissioned to make them. He’s making quite a name for himself.” Sean rubbed his chin in thought. “He’s too good for this place, but then you already know that.”

  I nodded, stunned once again into silence.

  “I’ve told him he needs to go into engineering or be out there designing cars for the big companies. Not stuck in here with me day in, day out. He’s got talent, my lad. Real talent.”

  He pointed to the back wall and I wandered over to find polaroids of other cars he’d made, pinned up on a corkboard.

  “These are amazing, Sean. You’re right, more people need to know about this.”

  I glanced down at his notes and drawings scattered across his makeshift desk; numbers and mathematical calculations that looked like hieroglyphics to me were written all over them. That’s when I noticed another polaroid sticking out from underneath the pile of papers. I slid it out and my breath caught in my chest. It was a picture of me, taken at the warehouse party a couple of weeks ago. That damn white dress stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the darkness. In the photo I was standing by the doors leading downstairs, where I’d run into Ryan and Brandon in the fight room. I’d had no idea Ryan had spotted me before then. In fact, I had no idea why he was taking pictures of me at all.

  I slid it back where I got it from and turned to face Sean, hoping he hadn’t seen it too. Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable being here, like I was intruding on something that I shouldn’t. Secrets I hadn’t earned. Lies I had yet to uncover.

  “He’s a good kid,” Sean added as if he’d read my mind and wanted to smooth things over for his wayward son. “I know of all people, he wouldn’t mind me sharing this with you, but he’s so private. Even I’m not allowed back here normally.”

  “I’m glad you showed me. I won’t say you did.” I smiled at him and his shoulders relaxed.

  “I’m glad he’s found you, Emily. I’ve noticed a difference in him these past few weeks. It’s like he’s got his spark back.”

  I knew I couldn’t take credit for that, but I didn’t want to burst Sean’s bubble. That spark he’d seen in his son came from the revenge he was out to get and the lifestyle he led. Not me.

  Sean carried on, oblivious. “He took it harder than any of them when his mum died. He’s the youngest of my lads, and yet, he’s always been the one to step up, the carer. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Sean shook his head as if he was shaking away bad thoughts and smiled at me, holding my keys out to me as he did.

  “Thanks, Sean.” I took the keys from him and then I don’t know why, but I hugged him. He probably thought I was a complete weirdo, but I couldn’t help myself. I liked Sean. He was what a real dad should be. He was light years away from my father, and in a way, I was jealous. Ryan might have gone through the heartbreak of losing a parent, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but he’d lucked out with Sean.

  “Come round for dinner one night,” he said, hugging me back and planting a fatherly kiss on the top of my head. “I’ll tell Connor to behave. We’d all like to get to know you better.”

  “Maybe.” I pulled away and sighed. I’d have liked to have had a father like Sean, and it made me sad to think I’d never have that. The closeness and ease of being so familiar. Unconditional love. I could’ve built a thousand cars and my father would never have looked at me with the pride that Sean did.

  “Tell Ryan I stopped by,” I added, feeling a little guilty. As much as I liked Sean, I knew by leaving that message it’d rile Ryan up, and I didn’t care. If anything, I wanted it to. Ruffling his feathers was becoming my new favourite pastime.

  Friday evening rolled around, and at about eight, my father came through the door. His driver carried his bags through and my dad went straight into the living room, calling out my mother’s name. Not mine. He wasn’t here to see me.

  I wandered over to the doorway and watched them hug and kiss. I don’t know why she didn’t just go to Westminster with him when he was working. She didn’t do that much when she stayed back here. Only shopping, hair appointments, coffee mornings, and getting on my back about sorting out my future.

  I gave them another few minutes alone together then sauntered in to cast my shadow on their idyllic little reunion. Dad came over to hug me, but I didn’t feel any warmth there. He was good at playing a part, putting on a show. It was his job.

  “Got any further with those university applications, Emily?” No, how are you? No, did you miss me? Because I missed you. I think he just wanted another soundbite for his campaign. Look, here’s my daughter, the future… Please insert whatever upstanding and highbrow profession you like here.

  “I’m still looking. I haven’t decided what I want to do yet. I do have a gap year to finalise things. There’s no rush.”

  “You know, I have ties to Oxford and Cambridge. I don’t know why you won’t let me use them. It’d make life so much easier.”

  Not for me it wouldn’t. I didn’t want to owe my future to one of my father’s associates. I’d do this all on my own.

  “And another thing, Emily…” He frowned at me like he was getting ready to read me the riot act. “I had a call from the breakdown company the other day. Something about responding to a call out and you not being there. Is that a thing now? Making prank calls about your car breaking down?”

  He wasn’t happy. His face was bright red, and he looked at me like I’d committed armed robbery or something. Thing was, I was as shocked as he was. Hadn’t Ryan done the necessary calls and paperwork or something?

  “I have absolutely no idea what you’re on about. My car was collected. It’s been fixed. No bloody prank calls were made.”

  “Language, Emily!” my mother scolded. “She’s right, though. Emily actually sorted it all out herself.” Mum said it like I’d organised some mammoth feat. It was a broken-down car for God’s sake.

  “Whatever. I’m not a kid. I don’t do prank calls. Give me some credit.”

  “It’s probably an oversight on their part,” Dad replied, not wanting to give any more time or effort to something which was obviously insignificant in his life. “You can’t get good staff these days.”

  I plonked myself down onto the sofa and let them wander off, caught up in their own little world. I wanted to ask my dad about the account Ryan had questioned me on, but now wasn’t the right time. I didn’t have to wait too long though. About two hours later, my dad was in his study going over his post and emails, so I let myself in and closed the door quietly behind me.

  “Something I can help you with?” he said, looking over his glasses at me. I felt like I was in the headmaster’s office. I wasn’t comfortable at all, but I was intrigued. I also wasn’t afraid to push myself forward and ask questions I wanted answers to.

  “I wanted to ask you about something.” My dad flicked his hand and motioned for me to sit down in the chair in front of his desk, but he carried on reading something on his computer screen like I wasn’t there. “I heard something and I… I thought you could tell me what it is.” I didn’t even know what I was asking about. So, I decided to jump in at the deep end. “What’s the Rotherham account?”

  My dad’s head jerked towards me and the fear in his eyes burned like flames from hell, and then, as if a switch had been flicked in his brain, he masked the fear with suspicion, throwing daggers of distrust my way.

  “Where did you hear that name?”

  I stuttered and shook my head. “I heard someone mention it.”

  “Who? Tell me? Where the fuck did you hear that name?” The fact my whiter-than-white father was swearing told me everything I needed to know. He was pissed.

  “Maybe one of your campaign managers or P.R. people mentioned it? I don’t know. What is it, Dad?”

  “It’s nothing. Nothing for you to be delving into.” He narrowed his gaze at me in an accusatory manner. “Have you been going through my things? Did you come in here while I was gone? I swear to God, if you’ve been meddling in things that don
’t concern you…”

  The guilt painted all over his face made me even more curious to find out what the hell was going on.

  “I haven’t been snooping, if that’s what you think.” I threw a look of disgust his way and pushed myself up out of the chair. “Forget I said anything.”

  I wouldn’t forget though. That name had got a reaction from him and I needed to know why. As I reached the door and opened it to leave he called out after me.

  “Stay out of business you know nothing about, Emily. And don’t ever say that name in this house again. Do you hear me?”

  I nodded, but inside I was primed and raring to go. There was a story there and I was gonna find out what it was.

  It was two in the morning, and my house was deadly silent. I creaked the door to my parents’ bedroom open and saw them both asleep. Without making a sound, I crept down to his office and when I got to the door I turned the handle, surprised to find it was unlocked. I went over to his desk and tried a few drawers, but they were all bolted shut. I headed over to his filing cabinets, but again they were closed, and I had no idea where the keys were. The only thing left was his computer. I fired it up and when it asked me for the password I typed in a combination of Danny’s name, mine and then finally my mother’s. Third time lucky. I should’ve known he’d chose my mother’s name for his password. How original.

  I opened a few folders, but nothing stood out to me and I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking for. So, I clicked on the search bar and typed in Rotherham. A folder came up straight away and inside were documents, spreadsheets and other information that pertained to some kind of bank account. It appeared to be a foreign account and I didn’t recognise any of the names that’d made deposits or withdrawals. But the amounts were big. Huge. The total on the whole account had more digits than I’d ever seen on a bank statement. Eight figures to be exact. How the hell did my father have access to that kind of money? Was it his money? It obviously wasn’t something he wanted anyone finding out about, especially me.

  I grabbed my phone out of my dressing gown pocket and took a few photos of the statements. I had a feeling this was going to be something I’d want to keep evidence of. Definitely something to look into further. Was this money laundering? Or was it something worse? Whatever it was, even the mention of the name had my father spooked. So I knew that could only be bad news for me and my family.

  Whatever this was, I knew it was just the tip of the iceberg.

  A week later we got the next invite telling us they had us covered, along with coordinates, which after typing them into the Sat Nav, led us to an old Victorian swimming baths. It was due for demolition the following month and signs were plastered all over the security fencing to tell us to stay out. Like that was going to stop anyone once they’d heard the boom of the bass coming from inside. The car park and surrounding area was strewn with cars and bikes, so we knew this wasn’t going to be another exclusive gathering like before. No. They were going all out tonight.

  There were no floodlights outside signalling Finn’s whereabouts like before. But the streetlights in this part of town weren’t too bad, so we didn’t have to take our lives into our hands picking our way through the debris to get to the building. Well, unless you countered in the fact that multiple signs told us the site was unsafe and displayed hazard warnings wherever we looked.

  “Do you think the building itself is safe for this?” Effy asked, looking around her like she expected someone to jump out at any moment.

  “It’ll be fine. They always put those warnings around disused places like this. They want to keep squatters out.” Liv pulled the fencing to the side to let us pass through, then I took over on the other side and held it open for her. Once I let go, the metal pinged back into place.

  “Squatters and stoners. How long do you think it’ll be before they shut this party down tonight?” I asked.

  Liv shrugged. “On a normal day, I’d say give it an hour. But tonight there’s a local derby across town. City and United. I think the police will be concentrating their resources that way, don’t you? These lads aren’t stupid. They know the best time to strike.”

  I felt that familiar tingle of excitement, hearing the music and shouts coming from inside. I also felt trepidation. My intrigue for these four boys was growing by the day, and yet, the closer I got each time I met them, the more confused I became. It was like trying to hold water in your hands or feel the flicker of the flames. You could see it, feel how it affected you, but you couldn’t ever truly understand it, because the minute you thought you had it figured out, it altered, moved, reconfigured, and everything you knew was turned upside down.

  I knew they’d be here tonight. It was their party, after all. I also knew they’d want to taunt me, ask me questions I had no answers to. Play with me like a tiger with its prey. If Danny were here, he’d have gone mad at me for engaging in their crazy cat and mouse games. But I liked the adventure. It was like a puzzle I had to unravel.

  We saw the same security guy on the door from the warehouse party and showed him our mobile phone messages, which doubled as our ticket to the other side. He stamped our hands and stepped back to let us through, taking our payment as we each passed by. The lobby area was rammed, packed full of people hanging around, singing, dancing, drinking, and smoking. The sweet smell of weed hit me and I grabbed Effy’s arm, pulling her closer to the music. Liv followed behind and when we got through the crowds and into the main dance area we all stood to the side to take a moment.

  There was a swimming pool, which would’ve been filled with bathers many years ago. Now, it was drained dry with porcelain tiles hanging off the sides and pot-holes on the floor. Not that it bothered anyone here. The pool was being used as the dance floor. How any of them would get out if there was an emergency was anyone’s guess. The deep end came way over their heads, but they didn’t seem to mind. The novelty of dancing in a swimming pool with no water was probably highly appealing to them. Quirky. The green algae that’d be staining their shoes and clothes didn’t quite do it for me though.

  Zak had his D.J. set on the side of the pool at the deep end. Strobe lights danced across the room, giving it a creepy, electric vibe. Zak was in his element, spaced out and focused solely on the tunes he was playing. I glanced around, but I couldn’t see any of the other boys. I recognised a few people from school, but no one really stood out.

  “Shall we dance?” Liv asked, walking over to the steps and lowering herself into the dance pit.

  “You coming, Em?” Effy tapped my elbow in question.

  “I wanna explore. This place is amazing and freakishly weird.” The gothic ceiling over the pool made it feel like we were in a vault. The black, wrought-iron arches towered over us and hinted at the grandeur or yesteryears. The finest architecture meets urban decay. I bet Finn was in his element tonight.

  “You gonna go rogue on us again?” Effy said smiling. “I’m joking. Go and explore. You know where to find us when you’re done.” She turned round and lowered herself into the pool-dance area next to Liv and gave me a little wave.

  I didn’t know how safe or stupid an idea it was to wander around here on my own, but I was never one to listen and I was starting to realise I didn’t like being told what to do either. Not anymore. Ryan Hardy, all those boys, had awoken something in me that I didn’t want to ignore. Curiosity killed the cat. Must be why they have nine lives.

  I pushed my way through the crowds and towards the stairs that led to what used to be the changing rooms. The musky damp mildew smell was also laced with sweat. It was so gross it made me miss the sickly sweet smell of the weed from the entrance, but I powered through. I could see a sea of bodies further down the tiled corridor and I knew exactly what they were here for. The adrenaline surged through me as I moved deeper into the throng of people. Zak had his congregation gathered upstairs. Finn was off somewhere creating magic, but here was where I’d find Brandon and Ryan. This was their domain. The seedy underworld o
f fighting.

  I managed to force my way into a room that was packed full of men and women, all ready to witness something mind-blowing. After what Chase had said about Ryan setting up the betting scams, I expected to find him in here, but I didn’t. Three guys I didn’t recognise were taking bets and money was being handed over left, right and centre. There were odds being called out, but it meant nothing to me. This room was dingy and musty, dark and depraved. It gave me feels right out of the Victorian England it’d been built in. Where morals were loose, men were corrupt and only the strongest survived.

  I noticed a few of the men glance my way, looking me up and down and spending a little too long on my chest. I’d worn tight skinny jeans and a tight cropped vest top, but my boobs weren’t that out there. I looked down, ready to adjust myself just in case and I saw a familiar muscular tattooed arm snake its way around my waist.

  “I can’t believe you came all the way down here to watch me fight. Are you my lucky charm?” Brandon breathed into my ear as he spoke in a low, and what was for him probably seductive manner. He ran his other arm around my middle and pulled me into him, burying his face into my hair and taking a deep breath.

  Being held against him like this I could truly appreciate how solid he was. He was like a machine; hard, tense and ready to go. But he didn’t give me butterflies like Ryan did. Having Brandon cocoon me like this just made me bristle with irritation. He had no right to put his hands on me and I wasn’t here to see him. Not in the way he thought, anyway. Sure, I wanted to see him fight. I was curious. But I wasn’t here to catch his attention. My senses were on red alert, waiting for someone else.

  I grabbed his hands to move them off me and he laughed.

  “Saving yourself for after? Do I get the prize when I win?”

  “What prize?” I snapped back and tried to turn my head to look at him, but he was so close I could barely move.