by J. S. Law
“There’s something you need to know.” It was Marcus speaking. “One of our contacts at the NCA says that fingers have been arriving for a few months now. The NCA intercepted them and they’ve got seven or eight.”
“Intercepted them from where?” asked Taz.
“They were being sent to Danny’s house.”
Dan heard a scuffle, movement, and grunting.
“Pack it in!” shouted Marcus. “Jesus.”
“And you never thought to tell me?” shouted Taz.
“I only recently found out myself,” said Jimmy, breathless. “We got good contacts, but it takes time.”
“Are they his?” asked Taz. “Hamilton’s?”
Silence again.
“Yes,” said Marcus. “We think so, and so does the NCA. Who else’s could they be? Dan’s been speaking to him. Spoke to him last night before she came here, too,” said Marcus.
“What does he want?” The question came from Taz. “I warned you that we were out, Jimmy. Fuck, I was never in, but I warned you to leave my girls alone. I told you the consequences if you didn’t—”
“And I left them alone. Both of them. Even when your girl cost me money, took down a whole shipment and broke a supply line, I still stayed away from her.”
“She cost you pennies, Jimmy. We both know that what you were really after still got through, didn’t it?”
There was a pause.
“She came to me,” said Jimmy. “We needed to know she’d stopped sniffing around Tenacity, that’s why we’re watching her, but whoever set this up tonight put two of my best lads in the hospital. They must’ve known we were tailing her. It wasn’t us.”
There was a long silence and the sound of footsteps.
“There’s more,” said Jimmy. “One of our establishments was broken into yesterday. Two of our guests were taken. One you won’t know: a local rapist who’s been with us a long time. We don’t know where he is.”
Dan felt herself tense and a wave of nausea passed over her.
They could only mean Knight, who else could it be? And he was out, released and unaccounted for.
“And the one I will know?” asked Taz.
“The other guest of ours was a young man called Ryan Taylor, one of the Tenacity mules. Your girl’s been looking for him for months, thinking he’d help her find out about us.”
“You, Jimmy, not us. There’s no us. I don’t want to know anything about it,” said Taz.
“Well, you might, because his fucking head is currently in the fridge around the corner.”
Dan felt her breath catch as she heard the words.
“Underneath a sign that says LAST CHANCE. Dan was out cold when we got here, but it looked like she’d been dragged round and positioned so she’d see it when she came to.”
“Or so we’d see it,” said Jimmy. “Why else bring us here?”
“Dragged by whom?” asked Taz.
“We don’t know,” answered Marcus.
“This is a warning, pure and simple,” said Jimmy. “Outside of us three, there’s only one other person who knows about what happened, and he’s locked away.”
“So who did it, then?”
“He must have people helping him on the outside.”
“Then what does he want?” asked Taz again, his voice growing angrier.
“Who fucking knows what Hamilton wants?” said Jimmy. “He’s a sick bastard. Maybe he wants what he always wanted, to watch the world burn and see people die.”
“No. He did enough of that,” said Taz. “He’s deliberately brought this together. He’s had one of your places hit, letting you know that he knows where it is and how to do it. He’s taken people from you, at least that’s all you’re admitting to at the moment. He’s sent the fingers, and we all know that’s a reference to only one thing, and he’s aimed it squarely at Danny. He’s linking us all together, warning us, not her, he’s warning us all at once.”
“How do we sort this out now, tonight?” asked Jimmy.
“We have to put it back like we found it and call it in,” said Marcus. “Let the police come and sort it out. They’re looking for the big girl round the corner, so it’ll look like Danny got her and she’ll be a hero.”
“Okay,” said Taz. “If that’s what we have to do, then let’s do it. We need to talk again, though, we need to know what he wants, why he’s doing this now, after all this time. What can he possibly think he’ll gain from it?”
They were all silent, until Dan heard movement and Marcus spoke.
“I’ll get the blankets,” he said.
“No,” said Taz. “She’s my little girl. I’ll fix her.”
Danny felt her father approach, felt him lean in and lift her head as he removed the padding from beneath it.
“Don’t open your eyes. Don’t even stir,” he whispered, so quietly that Dan wasn’t sure at first that she’d heard it.
Her heart missed a beat.
“I’ll be waiting for you, okay? I’m going to call Roger as soon as I leave. I’ll be outside watching you until he gets here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.
“More than anything else in this world, I love you,” he whispered, and gently took the blanket from over her.
52
Saturday, February 7 (early hours)
“Danny?”
Roger edged open the door to Dan’s hospital room.
“Are you awake, Danny?”
Dan turned her head toward the door and saw him silhouetted against the dim lights in the corridor.
“I’m awake,” she said, surprised at how weak her voice sounded and how dry her throat felt.
John was hesitant in the doorway, stepping back out before he came through the door again, but backward.
There was some bumping, and Dan lifted her head to see what he was doing.
A moment later she realized that he wasn’t alone, that he’d brought someone in in a wheelchair. She saw a flash of blond hair and a tiny frame sitting in the chair.
“Sorry,” said Roger, “but this young lady was desperate to see you. I doubt we have long before the nurse tracks me down and kills me, but she really wanted to come and see you.”
Roger let the door close with a quiet bump and wheeled the chair closer.
Dan watched as the ghostly-white figure of Natasha Moore came into view.
It was dim, but not dark, as plenty of light was spilling in from the corridor through the glass panel in the door, which let Dan see a small, tired smile cross Natasha’s face as she neared the bed.
“Hey,” said Dan. “How are you feeling?”
Natasha’s eyes welled up and her mouth began to quiver.
Dan reached out, looking for Natasha’s right hand, the one that wasn’t heavily bandaged, and resting her hand atop it with a small squeeze.
“You’ll be okay,” said Dan, squeezing her hand again. “You’re strong and driven and you’re a survivor. You’ll be okay, I promise,” said Dan.
“Thank you,” said Natasha. “I just wanted to say thank you. I don’t remember much, but I remember you coming for me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t.”
Dan smiled.
“I remember you coming for me, too,” said Dan. “And I really don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t. So I think we’re even.”
Natasha smiled through her tears.
“Who came and got you from Cox’s house?” asked Dan. “Did you see them? Was it a man or a woman?”
“Danny,” said Roger, his tone gruff. “We’ll get to that later. Not now.”
Dan said nothing. She continued looking at Natasha, seeing the strength in the girl’s features and knowing she’d be willing to help.
“I never saw their face,” she said, “but I’d say it was a man, just because of the size and physical strength.”
“Stop it,” said Roger, not angry, but sounding like a parent frustrated at two arguing
teenagers.
“I’ll think hard,” said Natasha. “When you can, when I can, I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Dan squeezed her hand again.
“Thank you,” she said. “I met Jason.”
Natasha smiled at that and said, “He’s on his way. He’s going to pick me up when I’m allowed out and maybe stay with me for a few days.” Natasha paused. “Not together,” she added. “That ship’s sailed, but I think we can be friends. I don’t really have anyone else anyway, except Mark, and we can’t get hold of him yet.”
Dan looked up at Roger, who stared back at her, and she realized that Natasha hadn’t been told yet that the body of Mark Coker had been identified from the charred remains on Cox’s yacht.
“Well, he seems like someone who’d be a good friend, but if you need someone else to talk to about all this, call me.”
Natasha smiled, though it quickly turned into tears again.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
There was a knock at the door and it swung open.
A nurse walked in and stopped, hands on her hips.
“This young lady needs rest,” the nurse said, her accent foreign but hard to place.
“Sorry,” said Roger, sounding suitably chastised. He hung his head for emphasis.
The nurse stepped forward and took control of Natasha’s chair.
“Any more nonsense, sir, and you’ll be asked to leave. Understand? And that includes questions and all that.”
“I understand,” said Roger.
He glanced over at Dan and she was sure she saw him wink.
“I’ll see you soon,” said Dan as Natasha was wheeled out of the room and she was left alone with Roger.
“What other nonsense have you done tonight then?” she asked.
“I tried to get in to talk to Cox,” he said, “but the sphincter police wouldn’t let me. I just wanted to get a feel for how she was, but her parents were notified and are on their way, along with an uncle, I think, who’s some big-shot law type. So I reckon that chance has gone. I wonder at what some people will do to protect their kids, you know. They’ll mount a defense and try to keep her free, when they’ve no chance at all.”
“When are you going to tell Natasha that Mark Coker’s dead?”
Roger sighed and shook his head.
“Tomorrow, once we’ve informed the family. It’s not something I’m relishing, but Naval Personnel and Family Services will appoint a worker and that’ll help her deal with it. She’s been through enough. I don’t think I could tell her tonight, even if I was allowed to.”
Dan realized that there was no answer that seemed right, no way to break the news that would soften the blow.
Roger pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.
“Your dad’s on his way,” he said, his eyes flitting away from hers. “I called him and let him know.”
Dan watched him, surprised at how easily he was lying to her and yet how bad at it he was.
“He’ll be a while, then?”
“Down by midmorning, I think. It’s a good eight hours if the traffic’s okay.”
Dan nodded.
“Thanks. I’m really looking forward to speaking to him.”
Roger stood up.
“I better go,” he said.
He reached out and gently touched her brow, brushing her hair aside.
“You’re going to be released tomorrow. I spoke to the doctor. She just wanted you in to check for concussion, but she’s saying she’ll be happy for you to go after morning rounds. If your dad’s not here, then I’ll come and get you, okay?”
“Did we get an identification on the second body to come out of the armories?”
“The one who’d lost his head?” said Roger, immediately realizing it wasn’t the time or place for gallows humor. “No, not yet,” he said, his eyes flitting away as he lied.
“It’s Ryan Taylor,” said Dan. “His head was at the shop.”
Roger froze, and then looked a bit embarrassed.
“I didn’t think you knew that,” he said. “I was going to tell you tomorrow.”
“It wasn’t Cox who killed him,” said Dan, watching as Roger started to protest. “I’m telling you now, she killed Stephanie James, the young girl who was supposedly lost overboard from Defiance, she killed Mark Coker, and she would’ve killed Natasha, but she didn’t kill Taylor.”
Roger glanced back at the door as though worried the nurse would burst in and blame him for the topic of conversation.
“Danny,” he said, his voice low and almost begging. “His body was with her other victims, he’d been decapitated with one of her weapons, her prints are all over the knife and the shop, and his blood is all over her.”
Dan looked away from him.
“Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?” he said, patting her shoulder. “You rest up. It’s been a tough few months, and if you look too tired and beat up when Taz arrives, he might never move out of your house again.”
Roger laughed, but it sounded forced.
She watched him head for the door.
“It’s all linked into Tenacity, you know,” she said, watching him as he reached for the door, sensing that out of her line of sight he was closing his eyes in frustration, sighing and trying to summon patience.
He turned back.
“Just rest up, okay?”
“What’s your link between Cox and Taylor?” she asked. “There’s nothing, I’d have spotted it if there was. But I’ll tell you where the link is, it’s Tenacity and Jimmy Nash. I said to you repeatedly that it’d be too hard for a few guys to move that volume of narcotics without an established network behind them, and all the time there’s a known network with links that go all the way back into the Armed Forces, a network built exclusively from the Armed Forces.”
He waited, saying nothing, before he shook his head slightly.
“Jimmy Nash is a two-bit drug dealer and a thug,” Roger finally said. “It’s no more likely to be him than any of the other dealers around, if there’s a network at all, but even if we accept that, what’s the link between Taylor and Cox? Or Tenacity and Cox?”
“I don’t know yet,” said Dan.
“Just leave it, Danny,” he said, turning back to the door. “Live your life for a while, enjoy something, but leave this alone. Just for a few months. It’d be great to see you smile again one day soon, and you could if you’d stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
He walked out without saying another word, and Dan turned her head away from the light that shone in through the glass panel in the door.
She lay there, thinking, when she heard the door open again. At first she thought it was Roger returning, but as the figure stepped through and blocked the light, she felt a familiar presence.
“Hey, Danny,” said her dad, as he closed the door behind him.
“You were supposed to be eight hours away,” she said.
“I couldn’t wait any longer, I needed to know you were okay, and to see you.”
Dan looked toward him, at the huge silhouette he cast with the light behind him. She felt as if she might cry, and then as if she might fly into a rage, and then she just felt so tired she could barely keep her head turned toward him.
“What have you done, Dad?” she said, closing her eyes. “What the hell did you do?”
ALSO BY J. S. LAW
Tenacity
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. S. LAW served in the Royal Navy Submarine Service, rising through the ranks to become a senior nuclear engineer. The Fear Within is his second novel. He lives in Portsmouth, England. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Part Two
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Also by J. S . Law
About the Author
Copyright
THE FEAR WITHIN. Copyright © 2017 by James Law Author, Ltd. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.henryholt.com
