She let out a long-suffering sigh, but at least she stopped asking questions.
The next morning I woke up first and lay there watching George sleep for a bit. She made little snoring noises and had her mouth open which was really quite cute. She also looked pale and there were bruises showing on one cheek. We’d had a good day together yesterday, quiet, useful even. She was fun to be with when she wasn’t asking questions. But I’d forgotten quite how young she was, only fifteen or something, and just now she looked even younger.
She really shouldn’t be here. I hadn’t fought as hard as I should have to make her leave, because I really liked having her around. I should have tried harder.
I decided to let her sleep a bit longer while I went and changed, then I’d make sure she had something decent to eat for breakfast and maybe have another go at persuading her to go home. And if she wouldn’t, I’d watch out for her. I just had to make sure she stayed safe for the next couple of days. How hard could that be?
Then I got back to my tent – and forgot all about her.
Someone had been here. Cami sneered at me for being so tidy but it sure as hell showed when someone had been in here who shouldn’t be. Not that they’d made much effort to hide what they’d been doing. My rucksack had been upended, the sleeping mat pushed aside. And the guitar was gone.
I looked all around the tiny space, like I couldn’t believe it had gone. Stacey’s guitar! Who would come to my tent and take the guitar? And why?
I backed out, jumped the low fencing in one stride and set off towards the line of vans. It had to be Dex. He certainly had something against me. Or Cami, trying to be even more aggravating than usual. Or Marcus, who’d always wanted the guitar, Cami was right about that.
Actually, I didn’t have a clue who it had been and when I reached the metal flooring which made the path between the vans I hesitated, not sure who to tackle first.
‘Finn?’ It was Marcus, appearing from inside his van with a couple of walkie talkies and an armful of lists. ‘What’s wrong?’
I’d calmed down just slightly by then. Enough to realise there was no point shooting my mouth off. ‘Is there somewhere we can talk?’
‘The bothy.’ He strode away and I hurried after him.
I waited until we were inside and no one could possible overhear us.
‘It’s my guitar. Stacey’s guitar. It’s missing.’
He looked stunned, which wasn’t what I’d expected. He actually went white. He and Cami both had that sallow look from their dad, but suddenly he looked ill, not just tired and harassed.
‘What do you mean, it’s missing?’
‘Someone took it from my tent.’ I was watching him carefully now. This meant something to him, something more than it meant to me.
‘Hell.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘Maybe it’s Cami, playing one of his little jokes. Let me, er, think about it, do some checking. Don’t say anything, okay?’
I paused, weighing it all up. I think I’d nearly got there when he said, again, ‘Don’t say anything.’
I felt a cold rush of anger. He might not have actually stolen it, but if I was right it was his fault Stacey’s guitar had gone.
‘I want it back,’ I said. ‘It’s mine. How dare you …?’
‘Leave it to me,’ said Marcus, sounding more like his normal arsehole self. ‘I’ll sort it, okay? Now bugger off.’
It certainly gave me a lot to think about. And not just how I’d feel if the guitar had gone missing for good. I’d thought Marcus wasn’t involved in this sort of stuff anymore. He certainly seemed keen enough for Cami to go straight. Looked like I was wrong. Not for the first fucking time.
Chapter Thirty-One
GEORGE
I woke to find Finn had disappeared. So much for keeping an eye on me. I tried not to mind. I should have been pleased to have a bit of time to myself.
I took a while making myself ready for the day, and then I decided to go and see where he was. Just out of politeness, of course.
I found him standing by his tent, hands fisted against his hips, looking absolutely furious.
‘What’s happened?’
He took a few deep breaths. ‘Nothing. Er, nothing. Sorry I left you. You okay? No one been looking for you?’
‘I haven’t seen anyone. Where’ve you been? What’s happened?’ He kept glancing in the direction of the campervans and the bothy.
His colour was coming back a little, although his expression was still strained. ‘It was nothing. Look, let’s get some water on for tea.’
I shook my head, frustrated. Why all the secrets? It definitely was not nothing.
Something made me bend to look inside the tent. ‘Shit. Your things have been messed about and …’ I bent further, frowning. Something was missing. ‘Your guitar has gone.’ That’s what it was. The guitar he refused to play but which was always there in pride of place at the back of the tent, like something precious, had disappeared.
‘Why are you so bloody nosy?’ he snapped. ‘Marcus knows about it, okay? Now, do you want a hot drink or not?’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ I said bitterly. ‘I’ll buy something from one of the stalls. If you can’t be bothered to talk to me, that’s fine.’ I swung around and stalked away, my temper not improved when I tripped over one of his guy ropes.
‘George …’
‘Just leave me alone!’
I kept on walking. He didn’t follow me. I think he maybe watched until I was safely inside my tent, but I didn’t check. I’d had enough of bloody secretive Finn MacPherson. I’d go and buy myself some breakfast and then do some studying. I didn’t need him hanging around me.
I was absolutely fine on my own.
Except that I wasn’t, really. I found I didn’t really want to go wandering around the festival site alone, which meant I couldn’t go to any of the food stalls. I sat in my tent, sipping the last of the water, and telling myself I’d start studying in a minute.
I would have started, eventually, but somehow I still hadn’t got round to it by the time Finn appeared. He handed me a mug of tea and a bacon sandwich.
‘Sorry I shouted,’ he said, which was the first time I’d ever heard him apologise. ‘Peace offering?’
I wanted to refuse, although my stomach was telling me otherwise. I glared at him, trying not to soften, pushing the food back towards him. He didn’t take it though, and I could never resist the smell of bacon.
It only took about three bites to finish it. I wiped my mouth with my hand and muttered an ungracious thank you.
‘Glad to be of service,’ he said, then added, before I could get any ideas about him not being an interfering busybody, ‘You want to go and phone your mum now? Remember you said you would.’
I sighed deeply. ‘I suppose so.’
For once luck was on my side. Yes! Mum was in the pool with my sisters so Steve answered her mobile. It was so much easier to pull the wool over his eyes. He wanted to call her to talk to me but I said I was in a hurry, gave him a brief, garbled story, sent lots of love to everyone, and ended the call in two minutes flat.
I crossed my fingers. With a bit of luck, I’d hear no more from Mum until they got home on Sunday, and by then it would be too late for her to interfere.
After that Finn and I settled down to studying once more, sitting on the stools outside his tent. I was so happy to have dealt with Mum I forgot to be angry with him about the not-answering-questions thing. It was peaceful, hardly anyone else was up at this time, and I found I was getting masses done. At this rate I’d end up keeping to my revision timetable! Maybe I’d even have time to do a bit of sketching.
Finn pretended to be working, but after a while I realised he wasn’t turning many pages. He kept his head down but from what I could see his expression was tense. Something was definitely wrong. But what?
After an hour or so Cami came to take Finn’s place, babysitting me.
‘Hear you lost
your gee-tar,’ said Cami helpfully. ‘Bit careless, huh?’
‘Fuck off,’ said Finn, pushing books back inside the tent. He seemed keen to get away. He said he was doing a shift on one of the gates, but I wasn’t convinced. I thought Marcus had excused all three of us from those. He was up to something.
He paused to glare at Cami. ‘I didn’t lose it. It was taken.’
‘Well, don’t look at me, I don’t play guitar. Nor does Marcus for that matter.’
‘I didn’t say it was Marcus,’ said Finn. ‘I just thought he should know.’
Cami smirked when he said that. ‘He doesn’t care if it was Stacey’s.’
Finn jerked at the sound of that name and his face, which had been paler than usual all morning, flushed. ‘Shut the …’
‘Not your momma’s only boy now, are you?’ He sang it like it was a quote from a song, though I didn’t recognise it.
‘Keep your mouth shut or I’ll make you.’ Finn’s pale eyes were blazing. He looked scary. I’d always thought of him as the peace-maker but now he looked as dangerous as anyone I’d seen.
Cami backed off. ‘Only teasing, mate.’
I wished I understood what they’d been talking about. It was like they communicated in code half the time. And I didn’t think much of Cami’s idea of a tease.
‘Is everything okay?’ I said stupidly. Finn glanced at me briefly.
‘Aye, everything’s bloody brilliant. I’d better go. Remember to be careful and stay with Cami.’ He vaulted the fence and disappeared. Great. No explanation, just more instructions to take care.
I asked Cami a straightforward question, one that had a chance of being answered. ‘Who’s Stacey?’
He sneered at me. ‘Don’t you know anything? She was Finn’s mum, of course. It was her guitar.’
Oh shit, I thought. No wonder Finn was so upset. No wonder he never played the thing. I didn’t know much about his relationship with his mother, except he’d loved her and he missed her like mad. And she’d been a dancer. And something of a musician, too, it seemed. I hoped he hadn’t just lost the only thing of hers he had left. No wonder he was mad at Cami for mentioning her name.
Now Finn was out of the way, Cami settled down on his stool and opened a can of coke. He was smoking as usual, which actually had the advantage of hiding some of the other smells that were getting more pungent every day – not just the toilets, but the over-flowing bins and some pretty rank unwashed bodies. And at least it smelt like he was only smoking tobacco, not something illegal.
Whilst he smoked I brooded over what had happened, in the last few minutes as well as the last few days.
‘Why do you stick up for Dex Barker?’ I said.
‘I don’t stick up for him,’ said Cami derisively.
‘Well, you’re friendly with him. You hang around with him.’ I took a deep breath. ‘You run errands for him.’
He narrowed his eyes at that, looking at me properly for the first time. ‘So?’ I noticed he didn’t deny it. ‘I don’t make anyone take drugs.’
‘But you profit from it!’
‘Jesus, keep your voice down. I don’t make that much.’ He dropped his cigarette end and ground it into the earth with his heel. For once I thought he looked a bit uncomfortable. Maybe I was getting through to him.
‘Stacey was your aunt. Don’t you care what happened to her? And what will happen to Becky if she can’t get clean?’
‘Beck’ll be all right now,’ he said, but he didn’t sound sure. ‘She’s in the right place. Stacey would’ve been fine if she’d stayed there.’
I felt as though someone had slapped me. Of course! Stacey too had been in the rehabilitation centre. Why hadn’t I realised before? This was how Finn knew Michelle, this was why he was so desperate for Becky to get away and stay away. Which Stacey obviously hadn’t managed to do.
Becky was so fragile. It could all go wrong for her, too. It would only take Dex to find her, or someone else to offer her one little hit …
That’s when I made my decision. My beautiful, fragile sister was in trouble, was struggling and suffering and who knew if she would ever get through this? If Dex Barker and his crowd didn’t leave her alone, I had a feeling her chances weren’t great.
So I had to stop Dex. I’d had that vague idea when I followed the man in the pale jacket, but it had come to nothing. I wasn’t going to let Dex Barker carry on regardless. It wasn’t just me he had attacked, it was Becky and God knows how many other girls and women. And then there were all the drug users he was destroying.
It all came to me in a flash. I was going to make sure the police got him. And to do that, I had to have evidence. And I was pretty sure, now, I knew where to find it. There was a stash somewhere up in the forest, probably near where that man with the pale jacket, Terry, had disappeared. If I could find that, and link it to Dex, he would be locked up for a very long time.
I needed to act quickly, before Finn reappeared. He would never let me go exploring. He’d just say it was nothing to do with me and tell me to stay out of it. Again.
‘I’ve got to go somewhere,’ I said, looking around to see who was in sight, who might spot where I was going.
‘Huh? What? Where?’ Cami looked confused.
‘I think I know what’s going on but I need to be sure. I’m going to check it out. Right, I’ll see you later.’
I headed down towards the river and found that Cami was at my side. ‘Can’t let you go off on your own,’ he said.
‘You won’t stop me,’ I said. I was on a high. ‘And don’t you dare say anything to Dex.’
‘Who said anything about stopping you? I’m coming along to watch.’
I didn’t have time to argue. We seemed to be in luck, no one was paying us any attention. I hurried along the riverside, across the wooden bridge and started up the narrow path into the forest.
Chapter Thirty-Two
FINN
I needed to phone Inspector Morrison and find out when they were going to act. I thought they would have made a move by now. There’d been way too much delay. If they’d done something right at the start of the festival it would have been so much better for Beck. Or they could have made a move when I’d told them where Dex was hiding the stuff. Now more than ever I wanted them to get Dex. I couldn’t help thinking he had something to do with the missing guitar, despite what Marcus said.
‘Things will happen soon,’ said Morrison when I finally got through to him. He sounded less affable and more abrupt than usual. ‘Yes, we know the festival ends tomorrow. Don’t do anything stupid on your own, okay?’
‘You’ll act today?’
‘I can’t confirm that.’
It sounded like a yes to me. ‘I’ll keep an eye on Dex, then. The last thing you need is him clearing off at this point.’ Okay, I know I’d tried to get Marcus to kick Dex out, but he was still here, and if anyone was going to get arrested for this I wanted it to be him.
‘Keep your eyes open if you must, but don’t get involved. Do you hear me?’
‘I hear you.’ I wasn’t stupid. The last thing I wanted to do was get involved.
But that didn’t mean I was going to let anything happen that shouldn’t. I wanted Dex Barker put away this time. For Beck as well as for my mum.
So I hung around the places I knew he was likely to be, keeping my distance, but making sure he didn’t scarper. If he did, I had Morrison’s number and I could call him again, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
It all seemed fine at first, Dex doing his normal thing shouting at people because he hadn’t explained what they should be doing in the first place.
And then he headed over to the bridge that led to the path and his hiding place. I drifted over that way, too, and was just in time to see him talking to someone on the other side. Dex came back but the other guy looked like he was going up the hill. What if they’d got wind of the police action? What if they were planning to move the stuff now, at the last minute?
&nb
sp; I couldn’t have that. I hung behind a sprawling family group, exactly the sort of people Dex wouldn’t go near. They were ageing hippies, with long hair and tie-dyed clothing and far too many children. But they seemed happy enough altogether like that. Lucky them.
As soon as Dex was out of sight, I sprinted across the bridge and headed up hill.
Everything would have been fine if I hadn’t been in such a hurry. I’m pretty good at moving quietly, but this time I needed to get close to this guy quickly so I could work out what he was doing. At first I thought I saw his pale jacket a couple of times through the trees. What a wanker, that was hardly camouflage. Then I lost sight of him, but I knew where he was going now, so I carried on, increasing my pace.
Then I tripped and fell, headlong. I thought at first it was just some bramble I hadn’t spotted in my hurry. But the kick in the head and someone wrenching my arm up high behind my back soon showed me what had really happened.
I’d fallen into the trap of pale-jacket, the idiot I’d been trailing. And now he had caught me.
How stupid could you get? Just because this guy was an associate of Dex and acted like a fool, it didn’t mean he actually was one.
I was cursing myself as I tried to kick out at him, but the guy was quick. And vicious. He punched me in the head and before I’d recovered from that he had tied something around my wrists, so tight I thought he was going to crush the bones.
Shit. This was not part of my plan.
The man sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve. ‘So you’re Finn, are you? Thought you’d get the guitar back, did you? I dinnae think so.’
He spat into the undergrowth while my mind whirred. I’d been worrying about the drugs. But Dex actually had the guitar? And they had hidden it near here. That could only mean one thing.
Life had just got a whole lot worse.
GEORGE
Cami and I climbed in silence. I must have got fitter over the last week or so because I wasn’t nearly so breathless as the first time I’d come up here. I was just determined to do what I’d come to do.
Music and Lies (George and Finn Book 1) Page 17
