Stake Out... (Studs & Steel Book 5)

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

“Hey guys, listen up.”

  Colby and Harrison walked in, smug looks on their faces because they’d finally solved a massive part of the second case they’d ever been given. I was kind of pleased for the pair of them but at the same time, I couldn’t help the feeling that they never actually managed to do it on their own. We helped them out a whole lot and yet never seemed to get any of the credit. Maybe I was just being over sensitive.

  Denny high fived the pair of them, “Well done, guys.” He beamed at them. My heart melted. He was such a great guy – and much more generous than I was...

  We were taking the morning brief this morning, thankfully for the last time, since Harley had been on his honeymoon with Alfie and today they were flying back in.

  Since they’d been away, things had been quite eventful – it was sometimes like that – a few things coming together all at once. Between the four of us, we’d managed to put away a few more than first seemed to be involved in the stake-out we’d been put on, although Lenny Roblinski had jumped bail and was on the run again. Worryingly, Hendrix McCarthy had disappeared as well, which made me wonder if the two were together; well, wondering wasn’t really the right word. I was convinced he was with him – the safe house had been horribly close to where he lived. The gang were bound to have found Hendrix and taken him with him – he was Lenny’s insurance policy... and it was now a real concern. Daryl Roblinski was dead following a fight with his brother – and, according to one of our sources, the argument had been about Hendrix.

  Daryl apparently hadn’t been fully briefed on what the ‘shipment’ contained. He’d been as horrified as we were when he realised that Hendrix was going to be joining them and argued with Lenny about it. They fought and Lenny had lost it completely, battering him with a baseball bat. He’d died later in the hospital – so now Lenny was also wanted for murder. It wasn’t a surprise to any of us – he’d murdered before but we’d never had enough evidence to make it stick – well, we did now... And it was almost certain from the accounts we’d collected from their various acquaintances who were now a little more ready to talk since the empire seemed to be crumbling, that it had been Lenny who was behind pretty much everything since Callum had been killed. The problem we had was that we had nothing to link the two together. What the hell had Lenny got to do with Peyton? Who was the link?

  Peyton had been questioned over and over – as a witness of course – but he had absolutely no idea either.

  “Maybe it’s Brendan.” Colby murmured, “Maybe he’s the link...”

  I scratched my head, “Maybe.” I agreed, “But until the guy wakes up – if he wakes up – we’re screwed.”

  Harrison nodded, “I think we need to find Hendrix – he probably knows the most – you know he was a rent-boy for Lenny don’t you? Lenny was his pimp. He’s probably still controlling his every move.”

  I nodded, I did know that was the general consensus of opinion of people who frequented the bars and clubs that he did and from what we’d heard over the bugging devices, it certainly added up to the same thing, “So that’s definite?” I asked, “Someone actually talked?”

  Harrison grinned and nodded, “We talked to the right people, I guess – while you two holidayed in the peaks – we went searching out everyone in the community.”

  I nodded, grinning at him, “Good, old-fashioned police work. I’m impressed.”

  Colby and Harrison gave each other a high five. I grinned, “So, who did you speak to?”

  A kid called Mason Black. Nice guy – wanted to save Hendrix from his shitty life and refused to believe that he was dead.” At my questioning look he elaborated, “Hendrix said some weird stuff the last time they talked to each other, making Mason believe that he was going to attempt to take his own life – but when we went to investigate his disappearance, there was no sign of him – but the trail of blood definitely hinted at something more sinister. Someone had either removed the body – or had saved him – obviously the latter turned out to be the case.” I nodded. Obviously – since he was in the house with Lenny and Daryl – and looking like death warmed up. “So, anyway, Mason told us that he and Hendrix were in a relationship for a short time – Hendrix told him that it couldn’t go anywhere whilst ever he was under the control of his cousin and they broke up.”

  “So what does this have to do with Brendan?”

  “Brendan was always down at Studs – we all assumed he was there picking up guys – but that wasn’t the case at all – he was actually there keeping an eye on his son – Hendrix.”

  My jaw dropped. His son? “Brendan is Hendrix’s dad?” Fuck me! I really hadn’t seen that coming... “No way... How?”

  Denny smiled at me, “I’m sure we all know how, mate.” He said, “Maybe he hasn’t always identified as a gay man.”

  I nodded, “Yeah, course.” I felt my face heating up.

  Harrison nodded, “It is hard to believe, isn’t it – but yes, Hendrix and Callum’s mother had an affair with Brendan a long time ago when I guess he was still undecided about which team he batted for – the result of course being Hendrix.”

  I was still trying to process it all. “And the mother was killed, right?”

  Colby nodded, “Yeah, a while ago – when Hendrix was about twelve, she was killed in a car accident.”

  “Was it an accident?” Unlikely when that lot were involved...

  They both shrugged, “It was her husband’s cousin driving the car that hit hers...”

  “As in, Lenny?” My blood ran cold. He’d murdered his cousin’s wife?

  Harrison nodded grimly. “He was done for dangerous driving and manslaughter but he only got six years and was out within four. Henry McCarthy went into a bit of a decline once she’d gone and started drinking heavily. That was attributed to his early death and Callum, who was only coming up to seventeen was kind of left to try to bring up Hendrix by himself. The family were financially stable thanks to Henry’s business, but no one knew that Callum was up to his eyes in dodgy drug deals – or that he was taking as many of the drugs as he was selling. Poor Hendrix kind of slipped through the net of social services getting involved. Henry died of a massive heart attack while he was away working abroad and Callum lost the plot completely.”

  The poor kid. He could have had such a better life. “We need to find him.” I said, “Lenny’s crazy – he could have already murdered him – but while there’s a chance...”

  Denny nodded, “You’re right, mate.” He said, “We need to do a little more of that good old-fashioned police work that Harrison and Colby have been doing.”

  Lenny was a slippery customer. He was excellent at lurking in the shadows but we needed to find him – before he decided to strike again – and I was more than certain that we’d find Hendrix with him. What state we’d find him in was another thing entirely. I didn’t really want to think about that...

  We were fairly sure now that it was Lenny behind the bomb scares. The bomb scares themselves weren’t too much to be concerned about. We were always thorough when we went to check out the premises. The concern was that one day he would up his game and would try shooting Peyton, or one of his friends or relatives. Why he was so bothered about Peyton was a bit of a mystery. There’d been no love lost between Callum and Lenny, we were sure... So why?

  Peyton took the security of his family and his friends seriously and they now had security guards at Studs and Steel, Diamonds and Lace and his most recent venture, Riva, a tapas bar, which had a different band playing upstairs in the evenings. It was a low-key place and few people knew that Peyton owned it since it was completely different to anything he’d ever done before.

  Everyone settled down and I read over my notes – notes that Denny had painstakingly put together with me the night before – notes that hadn’t contained anything about Colby and Harrison’s findings, which were phenomenal.

  “Okay – we need police presence in the high street today – there’s been a massive increase in pick-pockets. Probab
ly due to the time of year – so can I have two volunteers for the beat today?” I looked up. Andrea Marney and her new partner, a young guy called Mark Johnson glanced at each other and nodded. Andrea smiled at me, “Me and Mark can do that, sir.” She said.

  I grinned. ‘Sir’ sounded very strange to my ears, “Thanks Marney.” I winked at her.

  Denny winked at me from the back of the room, distracting me for a second. I cleared my throat, “Colby.” I looked at Jason Colby, “I need you and Harrison to follow up a couple of leads for us today since you’re now between cases – there’s been sightings at the railway station of a group of youths causing a nuisance – can you firstly clear the area and then check the backgrounds of them – make sure they’re not involved in anything any more sinister.”

  He looked across at Harrison with his eyebrows raised. Harrison nodded, “Sure, thing, boss.” He said.

  I smiled. The rest of the brief was the usual sort of crap that we dealt with on a daily basis.

  Soon enough, all the rest of the staff filtered out of the office and it was just Denny and I.

  “So, what are we doing today?” he asked.

  I pulled a face, “Well, just as we’ve been doing for the last two weeks, we’ve gotta cover Harley’s duties.”

  Denny grinned, “Does that mean hanging around at restaurants and nightclubs, because dude – you know I can dance with you all night long.”

  I grinned, “I’d like to say that yes, it does – but as you know, it’s a little more involved than that – we do, however have to drop in at Studs tonight – just to check in with Rob that everything is okay.”

  He nodded, “Cool.”

  *

  I was glad that we’d be back on our own job tomorrow, although I couldn’t deny, I had quite enjoyed the last couple of weeks.

  We pulled up in the Studs and Steel car park. I looked across the top of the car at Denny. He looked so fucking gorgeous in his uniform. He grinned back at me, “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded, “Sure – after you.”

  Denny rolled his eyes and started walking just ahead of me, “This is just so you can check out my backside, isn’t it?” he asked with a laugh.

  “You know me far too well.” I chuckled.

  We showed our badges to Buzz on the door. He grinned and nodded, “Hi guys.” He said, “Go on through, “Rob’s helping out at the bar tonight since Seth’s got the night off.” He chuckled, “He says he’s gonna extend the bar right down the side of the club and get a team together – it’s only because he can’t work as fast as Seth does.”

  I chuckled. Seth really was incredible behind that bar. He rarely had any help and he managed it brilliantly. It was only noticeably busy when he wasn’t around.

  Rob looked up as we walked in. He looked a little harassed.

  Denny grinned, “Hey, Rob.” He said, “Need a hand?”

  He rolled his eyes, “Do I?” he asked, “I haven’t the faintest idea how Seth does it!”

  River appeared at that moment. “Move over old guy.” He said, bumping his hip against Rob’s, “I’ve got this covered.” He winked at me. I chuckled. I knew River was quite capable of running the bar in Seth’s absence because he’d been a barman at his local pub before he got his gig dancing here. I’d gotten chatting to him over the last few weeks of dropping by to keep up a police presence. It made the punters feel safer knowing we were around.

  Rob smiled at him, “Cheeky little bugger.” He said affectionately, “Can I leave you in charge, then?”

  River nodded, “Go and have your meeting,” he said, “Jodie’ll be along in a minute and he can help me.”

  Rob heaved a sigh of relief and led us across the dance floor to the back of the club where the office door was concealed in the mirrored wall.

  *

  Thankfully, the bomb scares had stopped during the last couple of weeks, but we were still taking the safety and security of Peyton’s empire seriously – and even though Rob now had the majority share of the place, it was still well known to belong to Peyton – he had the notoriety which had gone in his favour for a while before the gang decided to come after their boy for doing too good on the right side of the law... We chatted about a few other things – asked Rob if he could shed any light on the connection between Brendan, who was still showing little sign of waking up, and Lenny. He had absolutely no idea of course – and why would he? No one else did.

  We made our way back to the car and got in.

  “Ready to go home?” I smiled at Denny.

  He grinned back at me, “I’m always ready to go home with you, baby.” He murmured, “It’s my favourite time of day.”

  I smiled, “me too,” I said, “have I told you today that I love you?”

  He pretended to consider my question before grinning widely, “Yes, you have.” He said, “Nineteen times at least.”

  We both chuckled.

  We were just turning into the end of our street, since we’d decided to move in together, Denny and I had both sold our own places and had bought a lovely little house a little further out of the city and it took a while to get there from the Studs nightclub.

  My mobile phone started to ring, “Can you get that?”

  Denny reached for my phone, “It’s Harley.” He grinned at me, “Christ he only landed yesterday! He’s always on the job, that one.”

  I chuckled as he connected the call, “Hey, Harley – how was the honeymoon?”

  I waited for the inevitable banter that started when Denny and Harley were chatting but it never happened. Instead, Denny looked at me in utter horror. He put the phone on speaker-phone.

  “Denny? Oh, thank God I’ve gotten hold of you – are you with Blaine?”

  “Yeah, course I am,” Denny replied, flashing me a loving smile. “What’s up?”

  “Can you guys get yourselves over to the hospital, we’re needed – all of us.”

  Denny frowned. I looked back at him helplessly, “What?” I mouthed.

  He shrugged, “What’s going on, mate?” he asked.

  “Seth’s been hurt really badly. He’s badly burned. And, oh, God... Siobhan’s dead. Thankfully Will’s okay – can you guys call Peyton...?”

  Denny hung up the phone with shaking fingers. We stared at each other. Fuck. They were still out there, we were all still in danger...

  Turning the car around we headed for the hospital. Siobhan was dead. Seth was badly hurt – how badly we had no idea but the love of his life had gone... What the hell was he gonna do now?

  “I love you.” I blurted out to Denny.

  He reached across and took my hand in his, “I love you too, Blaine.” He said, smiling at me and making his crinkle up in the corners just as they always had, “Always have – and I always will.”

  Chapter 32 – Accident!

  Hendrix

  “Get in the car.”

  Hendrix gritted his teeth and got in. He wasn’t going to show his fear even if he was shitting himself. Lenny was a sick nutter and he knew that the likelihood of surviving this car ride was slim. He’d heard Lenny planning to take out some more of Peyton’s people and he had the awful feeling that he was going to same way...

  He pulled on his seatbelt. If there was any chance of living, he was going to take it. He needed to see Mason again, if only to tell him he loved him.

  “This reminds me a little of when I killed your mother.” Lenny said softly, a hint of danger in his voice.

  Hendrix’s heart went still. “That was an accident.” He whispered, although he’d long thought it might have been anything but.

  Memories of being told that his beloved mother had been killed in a freak car accident bombarded him. The pain that he’d shut down for so long, back with a breathtaking vengeance. He wanted to kill Lenny for all the pain and suffering he’d put him, his dad and his brother through – and for what?

  “Why did you do it?” he asked, “What had she ever done to you?”

  Lenny peered at
him as if he was surprised that he had to ask, “Because she cheated on my cousin.”

  “But he’d forgiven her – he treated me as his own – it had nothing to do with you.”

  “Brendan Holloway is your dad – not Henry. And once I find a way past the security guards at St Nicholas’s hospital – I’ll kill him too.”

  It wasn’t news to him that Brendan was actually his biological father. His parents had told him that he wasn’t his father’s real son when he was young. And he’d met Brendan in Studs and Steel and he’d told him that he was his real dad too. Lenny thought he knew everything, but he didn’t... “Why now?”

  He laughed manically, “Because then I’ll have gotten rid of all of the rot in the family and I can start again.”

  Fuck. He really was completely delusional...

  Lenny sped along the streets. He clearly knew where he was going and who he was looking for.

  Hendrix finally realised who he was going after when he saw the expensive four wheel drive vehicle pulling onto the road and start towards them from a side street. Peyton’s ex-girlfriend, Siobhan. What the fuck did he still have against Peyton? The guy had gotten out of the slums years ago when he was still a kid... “No Lenny!” he shouted. “She’s got a kid.” Oh, God, NO!

  He laughed, “Not for long.” He said, “Say goodbye to the world, little fella – I hope the next life is better to you.”

  He swerved across the road into the path of the car, skidding and slamming the passenger side of the car into driver’s side of the oncoming vehicle. Hendrix braced himself for the impact. The airbag exploded in his face, dazing him. He vaguely registered Lenny getting out – so that bastard was okay then. A vague thought went through his mind that maybe Lenny was like his favourite childhood character off the TV, Captain Scarlet... although Captain Scarlet was a good guy... the other one then, Captain Black...

  He tried to move his legs but they were trapped. Fuck. That was all he needed. He looked down and his heart stuttered in his chest. His legs looked in pretty fucking bad shape, “Oh, God,” he groaned, feeling suddenly nauseous at the sight of all that blood, “I’m totally fucked.”