“Right, fine,” he sighed.
“Thank you. I’ll put her on.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“No,” he mumbled, thinking it would be better to get it over and done with.
“Thank you Mr MacBride. One moment please.”
A minute later a shy little voice said, “hello Brodie.”
“Hello Lauren. How are you?”
“Not good. You promised to visit me.”
“I know and I’m sorry hen, it’s just been so hectic here.”
“I know, I saw it on the news about your friend Cassandra. I hope she’s okay?” Lauren had a crush on Brodie and at first she’d hated Cass because she’d seen her as competition for his affections but after assuring her that wasn’t the case she’d come round to her.
“She’s shaken up but she’s tough, she’ll get over it.”
“He’s a horrible man and I hope he goes to prison for years.”
This made him warm to her a little more. “Hopefully he will. What can I do for you?”
“Nothing really. I just want to talk.”
“Okay. About what?”
“Just my days really and the treatment. You don’t mind?”
He settled himself down at the breakfast bar. “Not at all hen. You go right ahead.”
As she began to talk about very mundane things he felt himself start to unwind. How messed up was his life if he found talking to a murderer relaxing?
Lucas watched the big brute of a policeman with the bad hair exit Cass’s apartment building. Just as he’d thought she was still in there, his love. He would leave her be, for now, she was bound to be hurting. He would get the court case out of the way first and then he would win her round, there was still hope for them and he was unwilling to relinquish her. One day they would be together and she would never be able to run from him again.
“Ready?” called Oliver from the driver’s seat of the black Mercedes.
Lucas took one last look at Cass’s apartment building before jumping into the passenger seat and slamming the door shut.
“I was getting edgy sitting in a public place with what we’ve got in the boot,” said Oliver.
“Relax, no one’s going to stop us as long as you don’t do something stupid like drive over the speed limit.”
“As if I would.”
Oliver flinched when Lucas’s head snapped round to face him, eyes blazing. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I’ll be extra careful, promise,” he said, feeling his palms start to sweat.
“You’d better be,” said Lucas before turning to gaze out of the window. “The last thing we need is to be caught with a body in the boot. You packed him well?”
Oliver nodded, steering the car into the traffic. “He’ll be fine until we get you back to your special studio in London. I don’t understand this penchant you have for the homeless.”
“I find them interesting. Besides, no one misses them.”
“That brute Brodie did.”
“Yes, I rather underestimated him. He can pack a punch too,” said Lucas, all-too aware of his bruised, puffy face. There was a beat of silence before Lucas added, “it was a good idea of yours to throw his suspicions on you. He fell for it so easily.”
“It’s fortunate I’m good at a German accent,” he smiled.
“Shame it didn’t work though, not that it was your fault. I believe it was my damn parents who put him back onto me. I must pay them a visit soon to show them how grateful I am.”
As always, Oliver experienced a shudder at how cold Lucas could be sometimes but he still worshipped him, no matter what he did. “What about Cass?” he said. “Will she join your collection?”
“I do hope not. On reflection I was impetuous but I was just so hurt that she didn’t want to be with me anymore. When all this is over I’ll approach her again and hopefully convince her to change her mind.”
“And if you can’t?”
“I can’t lose her,” he said through gritted teeth. “I can’t.”
Oliver smiled to himself as they hit the motorway that would lead them out this godforsaken city. It would give him great pleasure to see that bitch’s dead face on a wall.
THE END
Thank you for reading my work, I really hoped you enjoyed it. If you did I have many other books available to download on Amazon Kindle, including the Dividing Line series, if you’re curious to read more about Mikey Maguire, Jez Law and the McVays.
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