by Alex Kane
Getting back up, Jez glanced around the grounds. There was no one around, not a single soul. Without finishing his thoughts, Jez gripped the guy by the ankles and pulled him towards the wall. Then he stopped, held his breath. There was someone coming. Footsteps, stumbling. Looking at the doorway, he saw Marty and Stevo standing there. Swaying a little, they glanced down at the body at Jez’s feet and then at each other. Jez could tell they were off their faces.
‘What the fuck did you do?’ Stevo asked, his eyes wide and his jaw tense.
‘Bastard tried to jump me and I sorted him out,’ Jez lied. It came out of his mouth so fluently because he knew he had to protect his friend and his future. ‘So, you two going to help me with this or what?’
Marty hesitated, but Stevo was by Jez’s side in a second, the coke in his system clearly making him feel more macho than he was. Looking up at Marty, it was obvious to Jez that he hadn’t taken as much, or the drugs weren’t having the same effect as they were on Stevo.
‘Marty, if you’re not going to muck in then fuck off.’
Marty didn’t respond; instead, he moved closer and eyed the body at their feet.
‘Not a fucking word to anyone. Just get him wrapped up in that old carpet and into that bin. Let me worry about the rest.’
The three of them did the job as quickly as they could before Jez told them to go back to their apartment, get cleaned up and ready for their flight home the next day. He’d expected an argument from them, but they said nothing and followed his instructions. Marty and Stevo weren’t people Jez classed as true friends. With Billy it was different. They’d been friends since they were five years old, so of course Jez was going to sort this out for him.
That’s what friends did for each other.
Chapter Five
‘Mate, are you fucking mental? You near enough mutilated that guy back there.’
Jez paced the floor, back and forth, his hands on his head as he looked at his best friend. The best friend who had never in his entire life put a foot wrong with the law until now.
‘He was fucking winding me up, Jez. He’d been at it all night, knocking into me, spilling his pint all over me. And you didn’t see the way he was looking at me from the other side of the bar. It was like he wanted to start something with me, wanted to get me fucking angry.’ Billy sat with his head in his hands. He hadn’t looked at Jez since they’d got back to the apartment.
‘Well you gave him what he wanted then, didn’t you? Jesus Christ, Billy, do you know what you’ve done?’
‘What am I going to do, Jez? I can’t go to prison. Not here. They’ll throw away the key.’
Jez stopped pacing and let his hands fall to his side. Billy was his brother in every way bar blood, had been there his whole life. Billy’s mum had taken Jez in when his own mum died, leaving him without family at the age of fourteen. Even before those days, when they were younger, they’d stuck by each other through everything. Popular at school, with their mates and the girls, Jez and Billy never let anything or anyone come between them. If Jez got into a fight at school, Billy backed him up. If Billy was caught with a bottle of booze, Jez said it was his. And those were just the early days.
Jez couldn’t leave Billy to deal with this on his own. Not when his family had done so much for him, not when they had a bond stronger than any other.
‘Leave it with me, Billy. I’ll sort it.’
‘How? How can you sort it? We don’t even know if the guy’s dead.’
Jez could see tears in Billy’s eyes. He was terrified. Jez wanted to tell Billy that in actual fact, he did know that the guy was dead and that he’d already put into play the first part of getting rid of as much evidence of what happened as he could. However, Billy didn’t need to know that Marty and Stevo were involved, just as they didn’t need to know that it was Billy who’d killed the guy and not Jez. This was Jez’s thing; this was what he did best. Sorting things out. He’d certainly sorted things out back in Glasgow before they’d flown out to Spain. There was one less person back at the scheme who would be looking for them all when the holiday was over and Jez wasn’t there to fight their battles. Just by keeping that to himself, he was already protecting Billy.
‘I said I’ll sort it. Just trust me on this one, alright?’
* * *
The place was quiet and the bar had been shut up for the night. The season was only just starting, so the resort wasn’t as busy as it would be come mid-summer. The boss had gone home, as had the rest of the staff. The cleaners weren’t due in until nine in the morning. This would be the only chance Jez would get to fix Billy’s mess, or at least try.
He went to the back entrance of the bar and stared at the ground. No blood stains, no signs of a struggle. Jez had cleaned up well.
He went through to his boss’s office. He had been in there a few times, but wasn’t usually allowed inside unless the boss was present. Jez had really shown Rafa what he was capable of in the short space of time he’d worked there. Rafa had told Jez that he liked his work ethic and could see that he would go far in the business. Jez had really felt Rafa’s trust, hence why he’d been shown around the office. It was almost as though he was second in command to Rafa and Jez was happy with that.
Jez knew where everything was; spare keys to the storage cupboard for the cleaners, keys to the stock room. But those weren’t the things he needed. He needed access to the CCTV from earlier that night. Luckily for Billy, and unluckily for the guy who’d been winding him up, the attack had taken place outside the back entrance. From what Jez could tell, no one else had witnessed what had happened. But that didn’t mean that Billy was in the clear.
Jez sat down at his boss’s desk and switched on the computer. The tower beneath the desk came to life, the sound unnaturally loud in the silence. The screen lit up and he clicked on the CCTV link from the file on the desktop, opened up the recordings from the last twenty-four hours and hit the forward button. Stopping around the time at which Billy had arrived, he sat back on the seat and watched as Billy took his seat at the bar. He’d been there for hours, taking in the last night of the holiday and spending time with Jez.
Jez sat forward, his face close to the screen as he studied for evidence of an altercation. Billy had been talking to someone at the other end of the bar, but the camera hadn’t picked it up. Jez opened up the file for the other camera at the opposite side of the bar, and to his surprise and insanely good luck, he found the lens was cracked on that particular camera. It hadn’t even been switched on that night.
‘Thank fuck for that,’ Jez whispered.
He continued to study the footage from the working camera and hit the forward button. There was a lot of Billy drinking, chatting to Jez as he stood behind the bar, serving Billy and a few other punters. Then Billy turned, got to his feet and moved in the direction in which the other guy was sitting. But what had happened there wasn’t in view of the camera. Then he watched as Billy left the bar and the other guy followed him.
He sighed loudly. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Jez knew Billy better than he knew himself. Billy and drink weren’t a good mix. He was an angry drunk when he went over the score. When Jez was there, he was always able to bring Billy back round. But Jez hadn’t been there to stop things before they went too far. He was usually the good, quiet one of the pair. Not this time.
Jez flipped to the CCTV which captured the exterior surroundings of the bar. His stomach flipped. The entire attack was caught on the camera outside. Jez watched as Billy and this guy got into an argument, a scuffle. The guy was goading him, but of course there was no audio to go with the footage, so Jez had no idea what was being said. At one stage it looked like Billy was going to walk away, leave the guy to argue with himself. But then the guy suddenly threw a punch in Billy’s direction, his knuckles skimming Billy’s jawline. Then there was a switch and even from the screen, Jez saw the change in Billy’s expression. It was almost as though Billy was thrilled tha
t the guy had taken a swipe at him, like he was waiting for a fight.
Suddenly, Billy was on top of the guy, fists hammering down on his face, his chest. The guy rolled up into a ball and Billy got to his feet. Jez shook his head as he watched.
He watched as Billy kicked, feet pounding into the guy’s back, his ribs and his head. It was then that Jez saw himself appear on camera, pulling Billy away and shaking him.
The situation wasn’t a worry for Jez. He was used to a certain level of violence because it was how he’d got by all these years. More shocking than the stranger’s death was the fact that it was Billy who’d done the job.
Jez pulled the USB stick out of his pocket, inserted it into the USB port and transferred the files over, before permanently deleting them from the system. There was no way he was going to allow Billy’s life to end up down the shitter because of what he’d done. He was a good guy at heart, with a good future ahead of him. Equally, Jez wasn’t going to let his opportunities in Spain be ruined because his mate couldn’t just walk away from a bad situation. All four of them would never have to worry about this.
He safely removed the USB and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans, before locking the bar back up and heading outside. He would keep the footage on that stick in a safe place. It would do Billy good to be reminded of his behaviour if he ever tried anything like this again. It would be for his own benefit if Jez had to sit him down and show him what he was capable of under the influence. There wasn’t much Jez could do to stop Billy hitting the self-destruct button again, but perhaps keeping the memory stick with the whole nightmare recorded might help.
The sun wasn’t due up for another hour, but the bin lorry would be due on its rounds in the next few minutes. Jez lit a cigarette and made his way across the road towards the beach, before sitting on one of the sun loungers. He smoked in silence, listening to the waves as they washed up on the sand. Then in the distance, he saw the orange flashing light from the lorry as it approached, stopping every few meters to collect the bins from the kerbside. It didn’t take long before the lorry stopped outside his bar.
Jez watched as the bin was attached to the machine at the back. The lads operating it weren’t even watching, they were too busy chatting.
The carpet, along with the body and the rest of the rubbish from that night and the previous were inside being crushed as Jez took the last draw of his cigarette.
The orange flashing lights made off in the distance and Jez watched them go. He got to his feet, extinguished his cigarette on the edge of the lounger, tucked it into his back pocket and took a deep breath.
What a way to start his new life in Spain, he thought. Three weeks in and one murder down.
Chapter Six
Roxanne McPhail lay on the sun lounger next to her best friend Charlene. The sun beat down on their sun-kissed skin. Roxanne sighed as she sipped on her Sex on the Beach cocktail and listened to the club music as it pumped from the speaker at the opposite side of the pool. It had been two months since she’d landed in Spain. Two months of feeling free from the shitty life she’d had back in Glasgow. She and Charlene had fled the scheme in which they’d been brought up – or should she say dragged up? – and promised that they’d never return.
At just nineteen, she was living the dream. They had jobs in a strip bar on the main drag of the resort and so far they were making good money. That meant they could party as much as they wanted when they weren’t working and not have to worry about running out of money. This was what Roxanne was born for, living free.
‘My cocktail is too strong,’ Charlene said, screwing up her face and placing the glass on the table between them.
Roxanne raised a brow. ‘You’re such a lightweight. You’re from the hardest scheme in Glasgow and you think that’s too strong? I vividly remember you drinking a quarter bottle straight down the woods one night when we were fourteen just to impress that idiot from Edinburgh who was visiting his cousin. What was his name again?’
Charlene laughed loudly, adjusting the strap of her bikini. ‘Oh god, remember that? I fancied him so much. What was his name again? Chud or something like that?’ Charlene paused for a moment. ‘I don’t think I ever found out what his real name was actually. My dad went ape-shit on me for rolling through the door blind drunk that night. He asked me to open a can for him and I opened it with a fucking tin opener. That’s how he knew I’d been drinking. I spewed all over the sofa and he slapped me sober.’
Roxanne was belly-laughing now. ‘He was probably annoyed that his daughter was more hammered than him.’
‘Aye, scheme life was fun when you didn’t understand it but as we got older it was just shit. So glad we got away from that place. Now look at us, sipping cocktails in the sunshine before we have to take our clothes off in a sweaty club.’
‘Don’t pretend you don’t enjoy it, Charlene. It’s brilliant, the money’s amazing and it’s better than what we had back home.’
Charlene nodded and got to her feet. ‘I’m off for a swim. You fancy one before work?’
Roxanne shook her head. ‘No, I’ve got some stuff to do before we start tonight. I’ll catch up with you at the flat later. Unless you’re spending the night with your man?’
Charlene smiled and Roxanne noticed how she blushed. ‘No, he’s working tonight. Although I might be able to catch up with him afterwards.’
‘Look at you, you’re like a soppy teenager,’ Roxanne teased.
‘I am a soppy teenager,’ Charlene laughed. ‘Why wouldn’t I be? I’m living in the sun with my best friend and I’ve found the man of my dreams. You know, I really think he’s going to pop the question. He’s been talking about us in the future tense, where we’d live, how many kids we’d have…’
Roxanne smiled. ‘Is that right? Well, you don’t hang about, do you?’
‘When you’re in love, why bother waiting?’ Charlene smiled widely.
‘So, am I ever going to get to meet this guy?’
Charlene nodded. ‘Eventually. He’s just so busy that your paths haven’t crossed yet. But I promise I’ll arrange it soon.’
Roxanne felt guilty about asking when she was going to meet Charlene’s boyfriend when she hadn’t even told her that she was seeing someone herself. But it was early days, even though she’d never felt like this about anyone in her life. Not that there was a lot of choice where they were from.
Roxanne watched her friend walk towards the pool before diving in. They’d always talked about coming to Spain together and making a life for themselves. She couldn’t believe that they were living that reality. It had been an idea for longer than she cared to remember. Now they were both seeing people, Charlene talking about marriage and the future. It was the best feeling.
Feeling emotional, Roxanne swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, gathered up her things and headed out of the complex. Taking her mobile out of her bag, she saw a text from him and her stomach flipped. He had such a strong, physical effect on her.
As she headed for the café where she was meeting him, Roxanne could see him standing outside, his back to the place, facing out to the beach. He was on his phone, but as soon as he caught her eye, he ended the call. His smile was infectious and she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth rising in response.
‘Hey gorgeous,’ he said, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek.
‘Hi.’ Roxanne replied.
A young entrepreneur who owned one small bar just off the strip, Jez was forever talking about how he was going to be the island’s biggest businessman. He was a little taller than she was. His dark hair and chiselled chin gave him an Italian look. But he was all Scot and had been living on the island a while longer than she had, and she had been seeing him almost since she’d arrived.
‘So, how’s things?’ Jez asked as he sat down next to Roxanne.
‘Yeah, good. How’s things going with the bar? All okay?’
Jez smiled. ‘Yeah, business is booming so can’t complain cons
idering I’ve not been here long and already own one of the bars on the main strip.’
Roxanne hadn’t asked how that had happened, how he’d come to be a business owner in the party scene having only lived on the island a short time. She wasn’t stupid, she knew where Jez came from just by the sound of his Glasgow accent – a scheme much like her own where sources of income for people like them weren’t always legal. It didn’t matter how far you went, sometimes those habits followed you.
‘So, you missing Glasgow yet?’ he asked.
Roxanne shook her head. He hadn’t told her much about his past, or where he’d come from. And she hadn’t asked because she didn’t exactly have a great story to tell herself.
‘Shite, isn’t it?’ He laughed. ‘I hated the place, but your voice makes me hate it less. You remind me of the good times I had there.’
Roxanne smiled, still unwilling to tell him about her shitty excuse for a life back there. She chose to change the subject.
‘So, I wanted to introduce you to my friend. The one I moved here with. She’s seeing someone too so maybe we could all get together. Make a night of it?’
Jez wrapped an arm around her and kissed her gently. ‘Babe, it’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just busy, that’s all.’
‘So that’s a straight out no then?’
‘Not a no, just not right now. Look, I’ve only just taken over the bar I was working for. I can’t exactly just drop that to meet a mate of yours, can I?’
Roxanne shook her head. He had a point. Maybe she and Charlene could go to the bar and they could all meet together while he was working? It was a thought that she chose not to share with him. He’d only say no. Instead, she’d plan it as a surprise. Tell Charlene to bring her man along.
