“Good move, scum bag.” The masked man threw the grey haired man across the concrete and he landed with a thud and a groan. Then he turned abruptly. He faced Jess. He pointed straight at her.
“You.”
Jess stayed silent, hoping that staying silent would somehow make her invisible. Clearly, stealth had not been her ally.
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
The vigilante ducked and picked up the notes.
“You tracked the thief here. You know the situation. Take this money and return it to Burger King.”
“Hey, do I look like the sidekick type?” said Jess, trying to break the ice, trying for informality. But the vigilante stood still and stared. His voice became stern.
“Take it back to Burger King.”
Jess didn’t like being told what to do. “No. You do it.”
The man shook his head.
“Dan? Is that you in there?”
The vigilante fixed his dark eyes on Jess. He blinked at her, like she was stupid. Then his head tilted to one side and straightened again, as if he was curious about her. Suddenly, Jess felt very stupid. She felt embarrassed. And totally sunk. What the hell was she doing, anyway?
“It’s okay. I’ll take the money. What about him?”
“His goose is cooked. He won’t get out of here. But I will.”
The man stopped talking and moved like lightning. He broken into a run and at the end of the car bays sprinted towards the doors towards the lifts and the stairs. Jess watched him go. She stood and looked to the right at the parking man in his little glass box, all safe and sound, his head pressed to the phone, his eyes on Jess. She looked at the grey haired thief as he lay on the concrete.
“Thirty pounds? Really?” As the sirens wailed close, Jess shook her head and walked towards the lifts. In staking everything on finding superhero Dan, she had wasted time, and made herself feel like the weakest link of all time. Maybe Dan was still lost in the wilderness. Wherever he was, didn’t matter now. She had to put everything she had back into helping Eva. Right or wrong, Eva needed Jess fighting for her. Maybe she could still talk Eva down from this crazy case. But somehow Jess still couldn’t shake the idea that the one best able to talk Eva out of this, was Dan. She didn’t need Dan to be a superhero. They just needed Dan as he was, foolish, stupid, arrogant and a little messed up. He had to be somewhere in this town. Even if he was in the depths of madness Dan could still save Eva from hers.
Eight
Eva had barely slept at all. She’d kept her eyes on the lines of light under the door for most of the night. There were no locks on the bedroom doors, and she guessed she would have to fend off Maggie at least once. Or maybe the strong, dark skinned Gerrard would make a move on her. Disturbingly, that thought lingered a little too long in her mind. Eva decided it had to be the wine. In the darkest, most anxious hours of the night Eva got the fear that maybe Maggie and Kendra would try and take her together. It didn’t happen. So by five am Eva was tired and nothing remotely sexual, evil or sinister had occurred. She was being paranoid. But in a situation like this paranoia was a way of life. At seven thirty everyone in the country house was awake and sitting around the fold-out table in the brown sitting-room. Eva peered at the remaining wine bottles across her breakfast plate. Eva looked at the faces around the table. There were lines and dark marks under small eyes. Evidently, none of them had slept well apart from Maggie, who was already fully made up and dressed to the nines in a dress frock. They ate together in a silence punctured by bullets of conversation which arrived in bursts every few minutes. Their knives and forks clattered on the plates much louder than they should have done.
Gerrard wasn’t as great a cook as he promised. The scrambled eggs were creamy but grey in colour, resembling brain matter from a cheap horror flick and the sausages were burned black on some sides and raw pink on others. Eva noticed that Kendra kept looking at her with mean eyes. She looked like a moody soldier more than ever this morning. Her looks were filled with mockery, but Eva wasn’t biting. But something definitely was wrong with Gerrard. He kept leaving his plate to walk to the window and peer out across the lawn. Then he left the room altogether and came back a solid minute later. He ate a few forkfuls of sausage and ketchup before repeating the process of leaving the room and returning again.
“I know this breakfast isn’t great, but when the cook’s having trouble eating it you know it’s bad,” said Eva.
Maggie laughed and laid her fork down. Kendra didn’t even break a smile. She looked across her plate and leaned forward at Eva.
“No one needs your input. Or your jokes. Just eat your food and be quiet, then we’ll all be happy.”
“Wrong, Kendra, I’m here for my input. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Maggie.”
“I have taken it up with Maggie.”
“She needs to know, Kendra.”
The blonde frowned and shook her head. Maggie ignored the protest.
“Gerrard received a call early this morning from one of our people. We had a tip off that Brian’s lot probably know where we are.”
“What? How the hell could he find that out?”
“We don’t know. But over at Fenbrook Manor they’re suddenly talking about Wakering.”
Fenbrook Manor, the McMansion near Roe Park. Brian Gillespie’s red brick palace.
“You’re the detective, genius. That’s your department.” said Kendra.
“And you’re all sitting here eating these terrible sausages? We’re sitting here like nothing could ever happen.”
“Nothing will happen,” Gerrard walked in. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt which clung to his torso. Without meaning to, Eva noticed the man’s solid toned physique. He had a pack of cigarettes tucked into the rolled up sleeve of his tee, like all good posers in the movies used to do back when smoking was cool. It displayed more toned bicep. Eva looked up from his muscles to a hard edged face with pale blue eyes. “Nothing at all is going to happen, but if it does, I’ll tell you what you’re to do. Until then, sit tight, and eat your breakfast. Tell me, have you never burned a meal before?”
“Maybe I have. But I’ve never managed to burn sausages quite like this.”
The man scowled and speared a sausage on his fork. The blackness of the burned skin seemed to taunt him, and Eva watched him stuff it in his mouth before anyone could comment. Maggie smiled and put a hand to her lips but the laugh still came through. In this strange pressure cooker, it turned out that Maggie was the least evil and twisted of a bad bunch. Even so, Eva knew she had to keep her barriers up at all times. The woman was lethal. There was something else to worry about beyond Maggie. Something about Gerrard’s manoeuvres, the way he left the table by himself, it bothered Eva. She glanced at him, and he turned to catch her eye, but Eva had already looked away.
“How would they know?” said Eva, pushing her plate away.
“What do you mean?” said Gerrard.
“Come on. You know exactly what I mean,” said Eva. “You must have discussed this.”
“I’m listening,” said Maggie. Gerrard appeared to be listening. He stared at Eva now and waited. Kendra feigned indifference.
“Speak up,” said Gerrard.
“I’m an investigator. My main starting point comes from brainstorming all the angles on a case and looking at the way things join up. Then I look at the gaps between things. I look for the gaps and then try to discover the thing that is hidden from view, what I’m not seeing. I need your help so I can get to work on this.”
Maggie looked at Gerrard and then gave Kendra the same hard stare.
“She’s costing me money, so don’t waste it. Help her.”
“I thought she was costing your old man the money.”
“I said help her.”
Kendra flounced in her chair and sighed.
“How do you think the leak happened Gerrard? You got any ideas?”
The man shrugged.
“I don’t know. We could hav
e been seen on the way in. Maybe Gillespie has friends over this way, some little scrote who wants to get in his good books. There are plenty of those kind of cockroaches around. Maybe this cockroach was hoping for a reward.”
“More ideas like that. Come on, you’ve got the insider knowledge which I don’t. I’m playing catch up.”
“Which is exactly why we don’t need you. You’re a distraction from the real danger. That’s my opinion,” said Gerrard with a shrug.
“You can stop having an opinion, now, cousin. Listen to her and help the girl,” said Maggie.
“Okay. Okay. Maybe Brian already knew about this as a safe house. Maggie, has anyone used this place before? I thought it was clean?” said Gerrard. Maggie shook her head and her long dark hair followed suit.
“No. The old bat who lives here is my contact. A friend of my friend, nothing to do with Brian.”
“Maybe your friend or her friend isn’t as loyal as you think,” said Eva.
“No. You’re barking up the wrong tree, Eva,” said Maggie. “Try again.”
“This is a waste of time,” said Gerrard, and shoved his plate away.
“My questions put you off your breakfast, is that it?” said Eva.
“You’re something, you really are,” said Gerrard.
“What else have we got to do, eh? At least if I figure this out then we can work out a way out of this. We may end up one step ahead of the opposition. Just run with me here.”
The man pulled his cigarette pack down from his arm tapped the box and pulled a cigarette free. Eva hadn’t seen anyone try and make smoking look cool for at least fifteen years, but Gerrard still managed to pull it off. He didn’t ask anyone for permission, he just lit it. The original tough guy. Eva had seen it all before. But at least this one looked the part.
“Any other ideas?”
“Maybe they’ve tailed us here the whole time, and now they’ve got us contained they think they can take their time. Man, that would be the worst of all. It’d turn into a bloodbath if they did that.”
“Or they could starve us out. Medieval style,” said Eva.
“No one is going to starve,” barked Kendra. “Do we really need to hear any more of this?”
“Yes. We need to hear your ideas. You’re military. So give us the low down.”
“How do I know? I’m Maggie’s bodyguard.”
The word was followed by a second of silence.
“Which means I pay attention to the risks immediately around her, and I check the perimeters. So far so good.”
“But you’re a fighter, aren’t you? How would you deal with this? And how do you think the enemy got hold of our whereabouts.”
“Gerrard had some good ideas. Maybe it was one of them.”
“Could be, Kendra. They were his guesses. What are yours?”
“Okay. For what it’s worth, I go with the local intel idea. Gillespie will have grasses everywhere. I don’t buy the idea of us being followed. I would have seen a tail on us 99.9% of the time. I’m telling you, we weren’t tailed.”
“Okay. Gerrard’s ideas are pretty good. But they aren’t the whole story.”
“Here it comes. Miss Columbo here has got the case solved. Tell us how it is, Miss,” said Gerrard in a cloud of smoke.
“It’s a theory I have.” Eva turned and looked at Maggie. “There was a leak. And the leak came from one of us.”
Silence followed and another cloud of smoke slowly wafted through the air.
“Maybe it was you, then, detective,” said Gerrard.
Maggie shook her head. “No, it’s not her. Not in a million years. Not after what Brian did to her.”
“Then who?”
Eva made a thin smile and said nothing. She looked at Kendra and Gerrard in turn, Eva’s eyes said nothing. They were pretty and placid as ever, and her mouth stayed even so no emotion, no suggestion would be revealed. But inside she was analysing each of them with everything she had.
“Don’t you dare go accusing me of anything!” Said Gerrard loudly, when Eva’s eyes fell on him. He stood up so abruptly that his chair fell back and clunked onto the floor. “I’ve worked with Maggie for years. She’s family. There’s no way in the world I’d hurt her. As for you, what have you done? You cast aspersions. You ingratiate yourself with Maggie, but you don’t offer any practical help. You just create doubt and questions. Is that all you’re good for, woman?”
“I’m an investigator. I ask questions. That’s how I get answers.”
“You’re nothing here, believe me. You’re ballast. Expensive ballast at that. A sandbag wouldn’t have cost a hundredth of the time you’re wasting with your blather.”
“Thanks for your feedback, Gerrard.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’m here to help Maggie stay alive, and stay alive myself. Who cares about anything else?”
“I’m here for more than that Gerrard. I’m here to turn this situation on its head. I’m here to help her get free.”
Kendra slapped the table top and leaned across. “You’re all talk, lady. We’re here to keep Maggie safe, and we’ll do it. When the chips are down, what can you do?”
Eva bluffed with her cool pale green eyes and her straight smile. “Maggie knows. Maybe you should ask her.” Eva stood up and walked away, thinking about the little gun in her handbag, which she’d left in her little bedroom. She walked slow, hoping she wouldn’t get stabbed in the back. She was relieved when she made it to the stairs, and then she heard them arguing. She didn’t like any of them. But so far she didn’t like Gerrard most of all. Kendra was cold as ice, but she was defending her patch. Gerrard was a looker, but he was nasty, and Eva was sure he was capable of anything. The man was bitchy, mouthy and vicious. Eva made a decision. He was the source of the problem. Gerrard was the leak, and he needed to be removed from the gang before he could cause any more damage. After he was gone, Eva would reassess then she would work on a plan to set Maggie free…
Right now, all the information Eva had told her was that one of these people was the leak. And if that was so, they were totally and utterly exposed to the enemy. The gunfire could come from anywhere, at any time, from any direction. Eva tried her best to look calm, and at the same time wished she had a gun in her hand so she had a chance of getting out alive. Now she would do whatever she had to. Her senses were so on edge, so frayed, she yearned for a drink to relax them. The strain pulsed through her, and made her temples hurt. She noticed her hands were trembling, so she hid them out of sight. She needed those shredded nerves right now. This was not just business. This was survival.
Nine
Gerrard was putting on his jacket, packing his tobacco. He made a big hullabaloo of checking his pistol and aiming it at an imaginary foe, like all the tough guys did before a battle in the movies. Dan would have known the make and model of gun Gerrard was holding, how efficient it was, and how capable a gunman Gerrard was just by looking at him. But Eva didn’t have a clue. By moving around with all the theatrics Gerrard was making a clear statement. He was getting ready to go out, and as far as Eva knew, he hadn’t yet consulted anyone or asked. They had mostly been holed up in the brown sitting room for the few hours since breakfast. Kendra was seated close by Maggie, like a faithful guard dog, while Maggie tapped her tablet. She read quietly, more like a middle-aged woman on holiday instead of a glamorous gangster’s moll. The one time Eva managed to catch a glance of what Maggie was reading, it turned out to be fashion from some foreign fashion designer Eva had never heard of. Fashion was a foreign language to Eva anyway. It made sense. Maggie was all about the power dressing from dawn until dusk, and maybe then some more. When Eva glanced at the tablet screen Kendra caught Eva sniffing around behind them, turned and growled at her. Yes, believe it or not, the woman growled. Three hours after breakfast, and Jess had still not checked in with Eva. The girl was keeping a worryingly low profile. She had texted no more than twice and her calls were almost zero. If Eva got out of this safely, Jess was due seve
ral rockets at once. Gerrard pulled on his boots. Gerrard was getting ready, but so was Eva. Where Gerrard was making a fuss, Eva was getting ready silently, planning her tactics. But first she needed to wait for Gerrard to play his hand.
Gerrard put on his round John Lennon shades. As far as Eva knew only Gerrard wore John Lennon shades in late 2014, and then he topped it off by adding a padded jacket, rolling up his sleeves to expose his forearms. Finally he added a baseball cap. The look was premiership footballer going for incognito, but Gerrard looked like a guy from the lower leagues. As for Incognito… Exactly who else dressed like that in a village like Wakering?
“We need some supplies, and then I’ll check around the village for suspicious traffic, lurkers and everything. The round trip, I’ll be back within fifteen minutes. Is that okay with you?”
Maggie laid her tablet down and looked up. Eva saw the screen now. It was covered in more fashion images, but this time of lingerie. The woman’s appetite was insatiable. Maggie nodded at her cousin.
“That okay with you?” he asked of Kendra.
“We’ll be fine. Don’t just watch for motorbikes, be smart. Remember to look out for cars as well as bikes. He may have ditched the bikes.”
“I’m no amateur and I’m not as dumb as I look,” said Gerrard, making himself sound distinctly amateur and more than a little dumb.
“You need anything ‘detective’?” Gerrard spoke to Eva with derision in his voice.
“Not from you, no.”
“Suits me, doll. See you in fifteen.”
Gerrard slammed the door and Eva went to the window. She watched the big man walk briskly along the long garden path, his head turning left and right with an animalistic aspect. She watched him all the way to the gate, and Eva made a semi-dramatic turn to face Kendra and Maggie. She tried not to be too hammy.
“I don’t like him,” said Eva.
“Well now, there’s a surprise,” said Maggie, laughing.
“I’m being serious. He’s dangerous. He poses me some concerns. Do you want some peace of mind?”
Better the Devil Page 6
