Ruthless a Gripping and Gritty Crime Thriller

by Charlie Gallagher

  ‘Boss?’

  ‘That’s right. Boss. Now bring her over here.’

  Sam turned to Rosh. He was staring over at Aaron. She took in both men; they were locked in a stare. Rosh broke first.

  ‘Go and see the boss, Sam.’

  ‘No way, Rosh. What are you doing? You did this to Rhiannon. You don’t have to do what he tells you. Stop being a pussy!’

  ‘Go and see the boss. Please.’

  ‘Please?’ Aaron called out. ‘What the fuck is please, Rosh. We don’t ask when it comes to business. We make things happen. We’re masters of our own destiny, remember? Bring her the fuck over here!’

  Sam was facing Aaron. She heard movement behind her. She closed her eyes and grimaced. Sure enough she felt a sudden grip on her elbow. It pushed her forward.

  ‘Please don’t. Just take me home, Rosh. I promise you won’t see me again.’

  Sam stumbled a few steps forward. She was led round the outside of the pit. She cast a look in. She could see the blue material better now. It looked like a waterproof cover, like her uncle had used to cover his classic car. And she could see the drum of fluid was a plastic container with the top cut off leaving rough edges. The front read SULPHURIC ACID — HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE in sharp black lettering. There was a bright warning sign above it.

  ‘I’ll just go, Rosh. You won’t see me again, I promise. I didn’t say nothing to no one. I don’t even care what you do!’

  She stopped when she was close to Aaron. She could smell his body odour, he smelled of stale sweat.

  ‘What did you tell the cops?’ Aaron said.

  Sam kept her eyes shut. ‘I didn’t speak to no cops. I told you already. I got no reason to go speaking to cops.’

  ‘And you think you’re part of this gang? You think you’re working with us?’

  ‘Me and Rosh, we were just messing about.’

  ‘You’re nothing to us.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Take off your clothes.’

  ‘What?’ Sam thrust her eyes open. Aaron had stepped closer. He suddenly reached out and snatched at her top. He pulled it up over her bra. In his other hand he held a knife, it sliced the material on her bra in an instant revealing her breasts. He leered at her body. He reached out and roughly grabbed her breast, and twisted so that she screamed out in pain.

  ‘Aaron, this ain’t necessary.’ Rosh’s voice came from behind her.

  Aaron stepped towards her. He lifted the knife and thrust it over her shoulder. ‘I don’t need you telling me what is necessary. Down here, the people need to know who we are, what we are. This girl ain’t nothing to you right? Right?’

  ‘I said that already. But she didn’t talk to no cops.’

  ‘But she ain’t nothing to you. That’s a whole different thing.’

  ‘She’s got that.’

  ‘No, she hasn’t. We’re not making our mark down here. People are thinking we’re weak. They’re not paying their dues. They think they can divide us, take away our loyalty.’

  ‘Let me go,’ Sam begged.

  ‘You’re worthless. You mean nothing to him and you mean nothing to me. Take off your jeans.’

  ‘Please don’t.’

  Roughly Aaron reached out. Sam shut her eyes again. She could feel his hands in her waistband. She felt the button on her jeans pop and his hands pulling roughly at them. She felt Aaron step into her, his breath against her neck, his teeth on her nipples. And she heard the sound of receding footfalls behind her, the sound of someone walking away.

  Chapter 18

  Rhiannon had intended on staying in the town for a little longer, but after her conversation with Danny she suddenly felt a lot less comfortable among crowds. Instead, she had wandered until she had walked across the frontage of a cinema. It was the middle of the day, they were showing a film she had never heard of and the interior was just as she had hoped — dark and empty. She paid her money and took a seat. The feature was just background noise. She ate her way through a whole bag of chocolate peanuts and re-emerged two hours later with the sun noticeably lower in the sky. It was late afternoon, the bus stop was a short walk and again she was happy to see there were only a few other passengers on board. All were elderly and they gave her no attention at all.

  She used the time to think. She had made up her mind to call Theresa Hart, her social worker. Theresa had told her that she would have to stay at the home for another couple of weeks — a month at the most. But Rhiannon reckoned she could lay it on thick, tell Theresa she was getting herself involved with the drug scene — blame the environment. She would play on being vulnerable at the moment. She reckoned she could speed up her exit. Maybe they would even be able to move her to another emergency placement. Rhiannon knew how it worked; she knew how much emphasis they put on safeguarding and she just needed to say the right buzz words to get a much faster response. If she could move towns again and keep her new location to herself, maybe she could just disappear. She felt like that was what she needed right now.

  Rhiannon checked around her again. Still there was no one paying her any attention. She dialled Theresa’s number. It rang out and she left a message asking to be called back. She considered giving a bit more information, or even sounding a bit more breathy and panicked while leaving her message but she didn’t have the energy for dramatics. That would come later if she had to press her case.

  She got off at her usual stop and walked to her home. She pushed open the door and could immediately hear movement in the kitchen. Rose was fussing at the oven. She pushed it shut.

  ‘Rhiannon!’ Rose always seemed so genuinely happy to see her.

  ‘Hey, Rose.’

  ‘Are you okay, love?’

  ‘I’m okay.’ Rhiannon was tired and made no effort to hide it.

  ‘Are you sure? You seem a little preoccupied maybe?’

  ‘I’m just tired. I think it’s the stress, you know. I need to know what’s going on. I called Theresa to see if there was any update.’

  ‘Ah yes, you know I did the very same. I left her a message. I wanted to talk to her about schools. I wanted to see if we are going to get you in a local one — you know . . . if you’re going to be staying in the area. I think it would be good for you to mix with kids your age, to get back into something like that, with structure. But only when you’re ready, obviously!’ She gave an encouraging smile.

  ‘I hadn’t even thought about school to be honest.’

  Rose waved her away. ‘And why would you? It’s not a big concern for now. I’d like to try and get you back where you were. I know you said you liked it down there. But there’s no point if you’re going to be moving away, you know, to a different area . . . I’m sorry, I’m not helping am I?’

  ‘It’s not your fault. I called her to try and get the ball rolling. I like it here. I like being with you, Rose, but I need to get somewhere permanent. I need to start building a life again.’

  ‘Of course you do. What did Theresa say?’

  ‘No answer.’

  ‘Ah. I could have guessed. Well, why don’t you go and get freshened up. It’s lasagne for dinner. Maybe you could check on Sam while you’re up there, too. She came in and went straight to her bedroom. I couldn’t get a word out of her.’

  ‘Sam’s in? No problem. I’ll go and see if she’s okay.’

  Rhiannon could hear the shower running as she walked up the stairs. She put her phone and keys on the side in her bedroom. The television was on in the communal living room. She peered through and saw Anais side-on. She didn’t bother trying to engage. Sam’s bedroom door was slightly open and Rhiannon pushed her head around it to make sure she wasn’t in there with the shower running. She wasn’t. She walked to the bathroom door and stopped to listen. When Rhiannon was in the shower on her second day in the house Sam had let herself in and sat on the toilet for a full-blown conversation. Rhiannon couldn’t see that she would mind if she did the same. She wanted to talk to her about what Danny had said. She wanted
to see how much she knew.

  ‘Sam?’ Rhiannon just stuck her head round the door. The room was full of steam. She could tell from the sound of the water there was someone in the shower.

  ‘Sam!’ She tried again, this time a little louder. She peered through the mist. She couldn’t see any clothes on the floor. There was no evidence of anyone being there at all. She stepped through the door and pushed the shower curtain aside enough to see in. It took a second for her to find the figure curled up on the shower floor. Sam was fully clothed. She had her legs crossed at the shins, her arms wrapped around her knees, her head bent in. The water ran all over her and her hair lay flat over her face.

  ‘Sam . . . Jesus!’ Rhiannon leant in, her hand moving towards Sam. Sam’s head snapped back in reaction to it. She moved to look up and straight away Rhiannon could see the angry red mark across her face.

  Rhiannon twisted the taps off. The water still dripped in a quick rhythm. ‘What the hell happened? Sam?’ Rhiannon crouched over her. Sam moved so she was facing back down, her soaking hair falling over her eyes. Her head suddenly twitched as she broke down in a sob. Rhiannon leant forward and swept her up as best she could in a strong hug. The whole of her front was instantly soaked.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I got you caught up in all this, Rhiannon. You were right, you were right all along.’

  ‘What happened to you? What happened, Sam?’

  ‘You need to go. You need to go away from here. They think someone talked to the cops. They want to talk to you about it.’

  ‘Talked to the cops? What are you talking about? Who talked to the cops?’

  ‘I don’t know! The police got hold of someone from their gang. I don’t know who. Danny wasn’t there — maybe it was him?’

  ‘I saw Danny today. Lunchtime.’

  Sam lifted her head. ‘What did you talk about? Did you arrange to meet him or anything? Is he taking you out? You can’t believe these people, Rhiannon. Promise me you won’t go out with him!’

  ‘I won’t. It was nothing like that. He just wanted to tell me all about it, all about what they are. It was weird actually. What did they do to you?’

  ‘I can’t even say it. I can’t even say it, Rhiannon! I wouldn’t get undressed so he pulled my clothes off. I couldn’t do anything. He made me wipe it up with my own bra! Oh God . . .’

  ‘When! When was this Sam?’

  ‘Earlier. I just got back.’

  ‘At the bungalow?’

  ‘No. They’re not there. They’ve been spooked. They still have their stuff there, I think.’

  ‘Did they hurt you?’

  Sam managed a hurried nod.

  ‘In those clothes?’

  She nodded again. ‘Rosh has gone. Back home, I think. He fell out with the other one. But he didn’t stop it — he didn’t do anything. He just left!’

  ‘Okay Sam, you need to get out of those clothes. Let’s have a look at you, see where you’re hurt.’

  ‘Can you get rid of them?’

  ‘Get rid of them?’

  ‘My clothes. I can’t do anything. I couldn’t even touch them to take them off. Can you just get rid of them?’

  ‘Yeah, of course, yes. What about a bath? I think a bath makes more sense.’

  Another jerked nod. ‘Can you burn them?’ Sam’s voice was now a whisper.

  Rhiannon struggled to speak. Suddenly she was overcome with emotion herself. It was everything: guilt, sadness and rage. She swallowed hard. ‘Yeah, I’ll burn them. Don’t you worry. I’ll burn them all.’

  Chapter 19

  William woke confused, and with a sudden urge to pee. He felt cold, too, and his whole body was stiff as he tried to move.

  ‘William?’ The voice again, he had thought he was dreaming. The sun was low in the sky, almost dipping its toes in the sea. It shone directly in his face. He turned away, towards the voice. It was Rhiannon.

  ‘Hey,’ he said.

  ‘You okay?’

  William made it to a sit. His thigh throbbed with the movement, his back sore where he had passed out on the stone path. The same stone path where she had left him. His first instinct was to check the bottles of cider. They were both empty.

  ‘Yeah, of course. Except I literally hurt all over. I reckon my head’s the worst.’

  ‘I’m not surprised. Did you drink all that cider?’

  ‘Of course. Don’t ever say I’m not committed to my cause.’

  Rhiannon sat down next to him. She leant back against steel slats that had once been part of a fence and pulled her knees up to hug them. She narrowed her eyes to the sun.

  ‘You okay? You look upset?’ William said.

  ‘I went home. Sam was there. Those bastards did something to her. Something horrible.’

  ‘I can’t say I’m surprised. I did warn you.’

  ‘I know. I didn’t come here for told-you-so’s!’ Rhiannon snapped.

  ‘Why did you come here then?’ William snapped right back, his hand rose to his throbbing head.

  ‘Sorry. I don’t know what I came here for. They had a go at Sam because they think someone talked to the police about them. She reckons they might think it was me or you. I wanted you to know they might come looking.’

  William shook his head. ‘Nah, they will have done their research. Damon would have told them that I’ve never spoken to a copper in my life. They chose me for a reason.’

  ‘Which one is Damon?’

  ‘You won’t have met him. He’s a local druggie, the one I owe thanks to for the introductions.’

  ‘To Aaron?’

  ‘To all of this.’

  ‘And you said yes?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t. It was never going to matter what I said.’

  ‘So maybe you did speak to the police? They haven’t exactly treated you well. You might do it just to get back at them?’

  ‘I didn’t, Rhiannon, and it doesn’t work like that. I understand the rules better than most. I don’t speak to the police. I’m not the man I used to be, especially in a fight, so I’m not going to throw them out and they know my weakness for the drink. I’ve seen it happen to other people. It’s always sad cases that get cuckooed. I guess I’m the sad case now.’

  ‘Cuckooed?’

  ‘Yeah. I think the police made it up. These boys come down from the city, or wherever and they take over the nest of someone weaker than them. I guess you could say they pop out from there to deal their drugs, too.’

  ‘Every hour, on the hour.’

  ‘It looked like they were a lot more regular than that. They had some money coming in.’

  ‘Money. I suppose that’s what this is all about? They’re not making enough in the city so they come down here to make some more.’

  ‘From what I know about the gangs it’s not always just about the money. I mean, yeah, everything they do is motivated by cash, but you get a lot of politics. There’s a hierarchy like in any organisation. I see some come down here after they’ve messed up in the city — it’s like a punishment posting. Like any big business I suppose . . . you mess up, you risk losing your table at the head office.’

  William had to get to his feet; his bladder was near to bursting. He’d been building himself up for it and sure enough his thigh gave a couple of sharp pains that almost knocked him right back down again. It immediately started to ache. He was aware that Rhiannon was watching him closely.

  ‘You need to start looking after yourself better, William.’

  ‘So you keep saying. Sounds like you could do with taking your own advice. I need to pee. I don’t think I’ll make it far.’ William’s gaze lingered on Rhiannon. She still sat against the fence, she was almost at his feet and her attention was down on the ground. She snatched up suddenly to look at him.

  ‘Oh, here?’

  ‘Well, not here, but the bush over there.’ William walked a few paces to where the path fell away and merged with the steep cliff. A tall, slim gate blocked his path. Rhiannon had
n’t moved. He tugged his flies down.

  ‘Oh! Wait for me to get gone, I’ll move away a minute.’

  William was already urinating; he could hold it no longer. He heard her scuffle to move away. When he struggled back to his seating position Rhiannon was nowhere to be seen. The sun was now weakened by a little cloud cover, enough to watch comfortably. It was a warm orange, its edges distorted — his favourite type of sun.

  ‘You’re done then.’ Rhiannon returned with two cups marked with the McDonald’s brand. ‘I got you a coffee.’ She placed it beside William. She balanced two sugars on the plastic lid. ‘And a wipe,’ she added, blushing a little.

  ‘I would have preferred something a little stronger.’

  ‘I know that. You’re welcome.’

  ‘This will do, though. Thanks.’ William ignored the wipe. He stirred both sugars into the froth. ‘What do you do now then? Do you not think you’re safe at your new home?’

  ‘I don’t think they’ll come there. They’d be silly to.’

  ‘I agree with you. You don’t know the rules like I do. Whether they think you talked to the police or not, they would certainly be risking it if they turned up at your house. You should stay there. I know I said it before but I mean it.’

  ‘Maybe I should talk to the police. I can stay away from these people. I could talk to them and maybe help get them out of your house.’

  William fixed on Rhiannon. ‘You can’t do that! You’ll get my house raided. That might get rid of Aaron and his mates but the ones you see are only ever the tip of the iceberg. If you rat out one gang member you can suddenly find a whole world of pain come looking for you. I made that mistake once. Never again.’

  ‘I thought you said you never spoke to a copper in your life?’

  ‘I haven’t. Not squealing anyway. I got in a fight with a lad from a gang. It was a long time ago. Some scouse lad. That was over a girl.’ William couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘He was mugging her off, taking advantage of her and I wasn’t having none of it. It was a good fight, we were evenly matched and I came out on top. I thought that would be the end of it. Before I knew it I had the population of Liverpool stomping round the town demanding my blood. I had to get out of the town.’