Carnage

by Heather Atkinson

  “I’ve got you,” she said, reaching Jacob and wrapping an arm around his waist.

  He clung onto her, eyes wide with fear, almost pushing her under.

  “Calm down,” she said as she fought to remain above the surface.

  “He almost drowned when he was six,” said Dominic from the side. “Fell in the canal, daft little sod. If that dog walker hadn’t passed by when he did he would have died. If he had he wouldn’t be here now, getting in the way.”

  “You’re a fucking wanker, you know that?” she yelled at Dominic.

  “And you’re a loud mouthed little tart,” he yelled back. “Now get your arse back here before you both drown.”

  “Jacob,” gasped Leah when his thrashing nearly pushed her under again. “Please calm down, I can’t hold you.”

  He managed to calm himself down sufficiently so Leah could lead him to the opposite side of the pool away from Dominic and Duncan but they simply walked around the edge, following them. Jacob gratefully grasped onto the side, panting, eyes wide and full of terror.

  Dominic knelt before him, the knife still clasped in one hand. “You wanting out yet?”

  He nodded, shaking all over.

  “Come on then son,” he said, extending his hand.

  Jacob grabbed his hand and pulled him in, Dominic’s free arm frantically pin-wheeling before he toppled in with a splash.

  Leah swam to the shallow end while Jacob, clinging onto the wall, shuffled towards it, gasping with relief when his feet found the bottom and he could walk.

  “You little sod,” exclaimed Dominic, breaking the surface, spraying water out of his mouth. “You’ve bloody done it now. Don’t let them get away Duncan.”

  Duncan ran around to the shallow end to meet them, hauling Jacob out of the water, who lay on the side, dazed and trembling.

  “You going to stay in there all day little lady?” said Duncan when Leah remained in the water, making no effort to get out.

  She looked from him back to Dominic, who was slowly paddling towards her. He didn’t look to be a much better swimmer than his son, although he could keep his head above the water. Besides, she had to find her brothers and she couldn’t do that hiding in the pool. She smiled inwardly. Her Uncle Riley was on his way. They didn’t know that.

  She dragged herself out of the water, ignoring Duncan’s proffered hand.

  “Are you okay?” she said, peering down at Jacob with concern, who lay limp and spent on the floor.

  He nodded before forcing himself upright. “I’m sorry. If I wasn’t so weak and useless you could have run away.”

  “You’re not and we’re not out yet,” she whispered.

  Aaron and Ethan had been chased upstairs by the man following them and ducked into the latter’s bedroom. They hid behind the door, listening to him stumbling about in the dark.

  “You need to cry,” Ethan whispered to his brother.

  Aaron was offended by the notion. “I am not going to cry.”

  “You need to.”

  “Why?”

  “Start crying. He’ll come in here and I’ll hit him.”

  “With what?”

  “I’ll find something.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We have to do something. What about Leah?”

  Mention of his sister strengthened Aaron’s resolve. “Okay.”

  “Sit in the middle of the room.”

  Aaron obeyed and let up a loud wail.

  Ethan ducked behind the door, wielding a cricket bat his parents had bought him because he was playing it at school but he hated the sport, it was slow and boring. Hitting bad guys in the face was by far the best use for it.

  “There you are you little shit,” said the man, racing into the room. He hesitated. “Where’s your brother?”

  Ethan whacked him around the back of the head with the bat. “Right here.”

  To his astonishment the man dropped to his knees but he wasn’t knocked unconscious as he’d planned. It was a lot harder to knock someone out in real life than it was in the movies.

  Aaron leapt up, snatched up the keyboard and smashed it into his face and the man slumped to the floor, finally unconscious.

  “You broke my keyboard,” exclaimed Ethan.

  “Bonus. You’re really bad at playing it.”

  “I am not.”

  “Yeah you are.”

  “Never mind that now. Let’s find Leah.”

  Putting down the smashed keyboard, Aaron picked up Ethan’s baseball bat and with their weapons raised they quietly crept back downstairs, jumping backwards when Michelle and another strange man flew past them, frantically fighting. Michelle’s lower lip was bleeding, her eyes alight with rage as they tumbled into the lounge.

  Ethan swung the bat at the man’s head while Aaron used his weapon to trip him up and down he went. Michelle snatched Ethan’s bat off him, raised it in the air and brought it down on the back of the man’s head. His body jumped once before going still.

  “Are you okay?” said Ethan.

  She leaned on the bat, wiping away the blood from her lip with her free hand, breathing hard. “Yeah, fine. Where’s your sister and Jacob?”

  They both shrugged.

  Michelle handed the bat back to Ethan and retrieved a poker from the fireplace.

  “Stay behind me,” she told them.

  They obeyed, all three clutching their weapons, Michelle gesturing for the boys to duck into the kitchen at the sound of footsteps.

  CHAPTER 42

  They watched a line of figures tramp by them in the dark, Leah and Jacob at the front, both dripping water as they went. When another two figures appeared behind them Michelle raised the poker with a war cry, making them all jump.

  “Don’t move,” said a voice.

  Turning, Michelle was appalled to see another man she hadn’t even realised was there holding Aaron, a thick arm around his throat.

  “Let him go you cowardly shit,” she yelled at the man.

  “Drop the poker She-Ra. Now.”

  She sighed and let it drop with a clang.

  “You too little man,” he told Ethan.

  “Little man? You patronising dick.”

  Michelle couldn’t help but admire him, the boy had guts. Judging by how calm Aaron appeared, so did he. But with parents like theirs they were hardly likely to succumb to hysteria.

  “Aaron,” exclaimed Leah, dashing into the room with Jacob. She glared at the man holding him. “Let him go before I kick the living shit out of you,” she screamed.

  “Take it easy,” Michelle told her when his grip tightened on Aaron’s neck.

  Ethan tried not to smile when he saw his brother produce something from his pocket. As it was dark no one else had seen. He readied himself to act.

  Michelle did a double-take at the two men who followed Leah and Jacob into the room. “What are you pair doing here?”

  “They’re in on it Mum,” sighed Jacob. “They’re being paid to kidnap Leah and her brothers.”

  Michelle flexed and unflexed her meaty forearms. “You pair of clowns, I’ll kick your bloody arses for this.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Dominic, producing the knife. “This is our family’s big chance and you are not going to screw this up for us.” He frowned. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were out cleaning.”

  “Always were a thick bastard, weren’t you Dom?” she said. “I’m not a cleaner, I work for Battler and Bruiser.” Her shoulders slumped. “Just Bruiser now.”

  “Who?”

  “They own a private investigation firm in Torquay.”

  “You clean for a private investigation firm?”

  “No, I don’t clean you bloody donut. I’m an investigator.”

  “Pull the other one,” sniggered Duncan. “You couldn’t investigate a…a, err….” He trailed off when he was unable to come up with an end to that sentence.

  “It’s true,” said Leah. “She does work for them and you are
in soooo much trouble.”

  “God you’re annoying,” Duncan told her. “I don’t know what Jacob sees in you.”

  “Don’t talk to her like that,” retorted Jacob.

  The man holding Aaron - who was one of Clayton’s men - rolled his eyes when they all started to bicker. “Oy you shower of shite…argh,” he cried, stumbling backwards when there was a loud crack and the air around him lit up pink and purple.

  While the man was distracted by the firecracker, Ethan grabbed his brother’s hand and pulled him towards the large pantry. He shoved Aaron inside and turned and looked to his sister.

  “Get in,” she yelled at them.

  He nodded before yanking the key out of the lock of the big heavy wooden door, slamming it shut and locking it from the inside.

  “You thick bastard,” Dominic yelled at Clayton’s man. “You let them get away.”

  “Because they threw a bomb at me.”

  “It’s not a bomb, it’s a firecracker you stupid scouse git.”

  He went abruptly silent when the man drew a gun from inside his jacket and aimed it at his head. “Who are you calling stupid?”

  There was a tinkle of glass and blood burst from the man’s leg. He screamed, the gun falling from his hand. When Dominic made a move for the weapon Michelle intercepted him, furiously throwing her fists at him.

  Duncan panicked when he saw a dark figure glide into the room through the back door holding a pistol. Panicking, he lunged for Leah, intent on using her as a shield but she kicked out, catching him under the chin, snapping his head back. Jacob threw himself at him, knocking him to the floor. As Leah kicked the knife from his hand Jacob repeatedly pounded his fist into his face while releasing an anguished bellow of rage.

  “Uncle Riley,” said Leah, throwing herself at him.

  “Are you all okay?” he said.

  “We’re fine but they’re not,” she grinned, pointing at Dominic, who had been knocked out by a punch to the jaw from Michelle.

  “Alright, that’s enough,” said Riley, pulling Jacob off an unconscious Duncan, whose face was bloodied and swollen.

  He got to his feet and Leah threw her arms around him. “The boys,” she said, releasing him and rushing to the pantry door. “You can come out boys. Uncle Riley’s here.”

  “There are two more,” said Michelle. “One in the corridor leading to the pool and one in the lounge.”

  “And one in our bedroom,” said Ethan as he emerged from the pantry. “Me and Aaron knocked him out.” He sighed when his brother frowned at him. “Fine, you knocked him out but I’d done half the job for you.”

  Aaron smiled, pleased with the acknowledgement.

  “You little devils,” chuckled Riley. “I don’t know why I was worried.”

  They all jumped when the back door burst open, Riley whirling round with the gun but it was only Fletch who staggered inside, hauling Leo along with him.

  “Christ we’re sorry,” said Fletch. “They hit us with a gas canister, knocked us right out.”

  “That’s alright,” said Leah, hugging him. She was really fond of the pair of them, they reminded her of younger versions of Battler and Bruiser. “I’m just glad you’re both okay.”

  Fletch gave her a wink as he helped Leo into a chair. Leah bustled about the kitchen, producing the first aid kit and tending to their bumps and bruises from where they’d fallen, as well as the cuts to Jacob’s hands from pummelling his uncle.

  Michelle nodded Riley to one side. “So what do we do with this shower?”

  “We call the police of course,” he replied, smiling at her shocked expression. “Our family aren’t animals.”

  “Wish I could say the same about mine,” she said, kicking her husband, making him groan.

  “Relatives of yours?” said Riley.

  “My husband and brother, although I’m ashamed to say it.”

  “What?”

  “They were paid to kidnap me and the boys,” said Leah.

  “Have they ever done anything like this before?” said Riley.

  “Not on this scale,” said Michelle. “They’ve always been petty bully boys though.”

  “First things first, we need to get this lot rounded up.”

  They all looked at each other when they heard the sound of running from the front of the house.

  “Stay here,” Riley told his niece before he and Michelle tore through the house to find the front door standing open and a large figure vanishing into the garden.

  “Go on, run you big girl,” Michelle yelled after him before closing the door and locking it.

  The man Ethan and Aaron had knocked out wasn’t upstairs, so they surmised he was the one who’d escaped. They dragged the semi-conscious man Michelle had taken down into the kitchen and tied him up, along with Dominic and Duncan. The man Riley had shot was groaning on the floor.

  “You still calling the police?” said Michelle when Riley took out his phone.

  “It’s the only way,” he replied. He knew if his brother and sister-in-law had been at home they would have disposed of the intruders in a vastly different way but he was strictly legal.

  “Wait,” said Leah. “Call Ashley.”

  “DI Boyle?”

  “Yes. He knows the score.” She nodded at the gun he held.

  “I’m licensed to carry it but okay Leah,” he replied, knowing they were on thin ice. “We’ll play it your way. Do you have his personal number?”

  “It’s on the phone in Dad’s study.”

  Riley vanished to make the call so Leah turned her attention to Jacob, who was slumped in a chair at the kitchen table, looking miserable. When Leah pulled up a chair beside him and took his hands he looked up and smiled.

  “You okay?” she said.

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “I don’t know why I’m surprised to be honest. They always were a couple of dicks.”

  “Why are you both wet?” said Michelle.

  “Jacob’s dad pushed him in the swimming pool to stop me running,” said Leah.

  “He fucking what? He knows he’s terrified of water and he can’t swim.” She charged over to her husband, yanked him up by the front of his shirt with one hand and slammed her fist into his face.

  Leah hugged Jacob and he hung onto her.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what? I didn’t do much.”

  “Yes you did. You stood up to your family for me.”

  “Those arseholes are not my family.”

  “So you’ve never actually committed any crimes?”

  “Well, I have had a few fights but I’ve not done all the stuff I said I did. I did that to protect Duncan.”

  “The fat, useless waste of space,” snarled Michelle, turning her fury on her brother, Ethan and Aaron cheering her on.

  “When I was bragging to you at the burger bar it was all lies,” he said sheepishly. “I was a bit intimidated by your family.”

  “Why?”

  “That’s before I knew they were so nice.”

  “You were trying to compete?” she said, torn between amusement and adoration.

  “Yeah. Stupid, I know.”

  “You’re not stupid Jacob,” she said, taking his hands. “You’re awesome.” She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I love you.”

  He beamed at her. Other than his mum no one had ever said those words to him before. Except his sister but she’d meant them in a creepy, incestuous sort of way. “I love you too,” he said, his lips brushing her ear.

  “Leah loves Jacob,” said Aaron in a loud sing-song voice.

  She rounded on him. “Shut it.” But how could she be angry with him when only recently she’d been frightened for his life. Instead she pulled her brothers to her and hugged them. Despite their protests, they hugged her back.

  Riley returned. “Boyle’s on his way. I kept details vague so he wouldn’t bring the entire Devon and Cornwall police with him.” He looked down at the four injured men. “He’s in for a shock when
he gets here.”

  Ashley was greeted at the front door by Riley and strode through the house, coming to a surprised halt when he saw the four men trussed up on the floor.

  “What happened here?” he exclaimed.

  The boys were ushered upstairs to play under the watchful eyes of Fletch and Leo, who had recovered from being gassed.

  Riley left it to Leah, Jacob and Michelle to explain, given that he’d missed most of the action. He filled in the bit at the end when he’d charged in with the gun.

  “A gun?” cried Ashley, voice slightly higher-pitched than usual.

  “I’m licensed to carry one,” Riley coolly replied.

  “Oh well, that’s okay then Mr Bond,” he retorted. “How am I supposed to explain all this away?”

  “You’re not,” he replied. “Arrest the lot of them for attempted abduction of three minors as well as assault.”

  “And you want all this to go to court, do you?” said Ashley. “All this family’s business made public?”

  Leah looked to her uncle and shook her head.

  “What do you propose then?” said Riley.

  “Let them go.”

  “What?”

  “Let them go and let Ryan and Rachel sort them out when they get home.”

  At this statement Dominic and Duncan began to panic, impotently rolling about on the floor, unable to move because of their bonds while the two Liverpudlians took this statement much more stoically.

  “And what about the one with the gunshot wound?” said Riley. “Any hospital will call the police over such an injury.”

  He shrugged. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’m sure a man like that has someone who can take care of it for him.”

  The man frantically nodded, unable to believe that he wasn’t going to prison. Or die.

  Riley was shocked. He knew Ashley assisted Ryan and Rachel with their vigilante activities but he hadn’t expected him to be so blasé about such a serious situation. “So that’s it?” he said.

  “What do you suggest?” shrugged Ashley.

  Riley didn’t know. He was beginning to wish he hadn’t bothered calling him at all. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “Maybe we should call Ryan and Rachel?”

  “No,” said Leah. “They’ll only worry and be all distracted and that could be dangerous.”