Slow Burn (2010)

by Conrad Jones

  “No!” Bruce shook his head from side to side. “I sold a bit of smack in one of your pubs, and I paid dearly for the privilege. I know the score, you fuck up, you pay for it. I have made a real effort to stay out of your turf, Ash.”

  “Okay let`s say I believe you,” Ash said. “Who would fit your profile?”

  “I can think of a dozen of your rivals, any one of them could pull a stunt like this,” Bruce struggled to say what he really thought. Malik Shah and his henchmen were spectacularly unpopular. Most of their rivals wouldn’t think twice about killing Malik`s men or their families. “Have they asked for money?”

  “Not yet,” Ashwan frowned. “Why do you ask that?”

  “If they were amateurs then they would have asked for the money by now,” Bruce said shakily. “The chances are if they haven`t asked for money yet then it`s personal.”

  “The chances are it`s someone we`ve had issues with in the past, Bruce,” Malik said. “Someone we`ve hurt, like you.”

  “I`m a one man band.” Bruce was trying to think on his feet. The kidnap was baffling, but to think that he was a suspect didn`t make any sense. “I`m under no illusions what people think of me, I work alone because nobody trusts me, nobody likes me. I make a few quid here and there, selling smack and the odd shooter to junkies. This is way out of my league.”

  “Who`s league is it in, Bruce?”

  “Fucking hell, Ash, kidnap? What about the Richards family?”

  “What about them?”

  “You remember when they fell out big time with the Burgess Brothers?” Bruce was gibbering at a hundred miles an hour.

  “Yes I remember,” Malik screwed up his face as if he were getting annoyed. “What about it?”

  “Well, if you remember the Richards family blamed the Burgess Brothers for whacking one of their drug deals, right.” He nodded his head to reinforce his story. “One of their heavies was shot, and the drugs and the money were lifted, remember?”

  “Get to the point, Bruce,” Ashwan snarled.

  “The Burgess Brothers paid the Richards off, over half a million from what I heard!” Bruce thought this information was buying him some time.

  “Why, what happened?” Malik was curious. He heard the same story via the rumour mill, but he never found out why one of the families had backed down.

  “The Richards took old mother Burgess from outside the hairdressers in Page Moss, kidnapped her in broad daylight.”

  “Carry on,” Ash listened intently.

  “They held her in a unit, and they sent pictures of her in a coffin holding a wreath, cheeky bastards!” Bruce tried a smile. Malik looked to Ash while he mulled over the information. “The Richards were a smaller outfit, but the Burgess Brothers paid up, and they paid compensation for the drugs on top,” Bruce nodded emphatically as he finished his story. “No one would fuck with them ever again after that. It sent a message across the city that no one could ignore.”

  “I think you`re right, Bruce.” Malik stroked his chin as he spoke. He looked at Ash, but Ash couldn`t read his thoughts. “I think it`s way above your head.”

  “Thank god!” Bruce gasped. He smiled through swollen bloody lips. “I`ll help you find him, I promise I will.”

  “You are also right about the message, and we need to send one too. Kill him,” Malik said to the man with the drill. “Mess him up first, and then kill him.”

  The drill whined louder as it approached Bruce`s foot. Bruce twitched violently as the tungsten bit ripped through his skin, before tearing bone and cartilage and spraying blood in a wide arc. Bruce screamed and he bit down on his lip hard, but he couldn’t escape the pain.

  “I`m confused,” Ashwan said as they stepped clear of the blood splatter. Their suits were expensive to clean. “Why kill him?”

  “Tell them to cut him up and dump his body on the town hall steps. I want every scumbag in this city to know what happens when they fuck with us. We`ll send out a message that no one will ignore. I want his body on the front pages of every newspaper. Whoever has Mamood will think twice, and we hit the Richards gang tonight.”

  Ashwan took a last look at Bruce Mann. Both men were drilling and cutting, pulling and tearing and the screams were deafening. Ash almost felt pity for him but then the visions of his son restrained and terrified came to the forefront of his mind, and his pity vanished. The screaming echoed through the empty warehouse for nearly forty minutes before they were finally silenced.

  Chapter 24

  The Bernstein Family School Days

  Two weeks after Sarah`s inquest Nick waited for David Bernstein to finish rugby training. David was struggling to deal with the death of his baby sister, especially as he had to see Malik Shah every day. The coroner signed a verdict of suicide, much to the distaste of the Bernstein family and the police. Witnesses reported seeing Sarah getting into a black Capri, and it didn’t take the police long to connect the vehicle with Malik Shah and his cousin. The witnesses also said she climbed in of her own accord, she wasn’t forced in anyway. The police interrogated Malik and his cousin, and they confirmed that they`d picked her up after school. They admitted driving to a park, getting drunk and smoking cannabis, and having sex with her, but they were adamant that it was consensual sex. Malik`s cousin told the police that he had dropped her off at Runcorn train station about ten o`clock that night, and that was the last that they saw of her.

  Sarah died on impact with the river. Her body was travelling at over seventy miles an hour when she hit the water, although the water stopped her body dead, her internal organs carried on travelling, ripping free of their surrounding muscles and tissues, and causing death instantaneously. She drifted down the river for four days before her bloated body, spotted by a passing tanker at the Stanlow oil refinery, was pulled from the water. The polluted river had washed away any useful evidence from her body, and at first, the police were baffled. News bulletins appealed for witnesses, and a lorry driver reported seeing a young girl being sick over the safety rail on the Runcorn Bridge; his elevated position in the cab offered him a narrow field of vision of the pedestrian walk-way which ran parallel to the road platform.

  The police were open-minded as they investigated her death, never ruling out foul play, misadventure, or suicide. It was Sarah`s diary which swung the coroner in the end. He took her final entry as a gauge of her mental state of mind, and she said that she would rather be dead than be sent to Israel. She also said that she loved Malik, so it didn’t appear too odd that she had secretly met him, or that she had sex with both Malik, and his cousin. Her reputation for being promiscuous was already on record.

  Mr Bernstein refused to attend the inquest, driving a wedge between himself and his distraught wife. She blamed him for being too hard on Sarah, pushing her to jump from the bridge, and she would never forgive him for that. Mr Bernstein couldn’t listen to the reports that his pregnant daughter took drugs and had sex with two men in a car, after the trauma the family had already been through with the failed rape case, and Richard`s assault. It was too much for him to swallow. David Bernstein escorted his mother to the inquest, everyday for a week, until the final verdict was decreed. The details were sickening to him, and they began to eat away at him inside. Every night after the inquest, when his mother had gone to bed, he shared his feelings with his friend Nick, and his brother Richard, and the three agreed that Malik Shah was to blame for Sarah`s death. Mr Bernstein spent most of the week in his study, drunk on whisky, rarely coming out, and never sharing his wife`s bed. They never shared one again.

  David was fast approaching his final exams, so changing schools was not an option. His parents were so shattered and disorientated that they never once considered that David would see Malik Shah at school. The pain inside was eating him away, and the pressure was building to critical. Not only had he lost his beautiful sister, but also he had to watch his parents` marriage falling to pieces. Richard asked Nick to keep an eye on his older brother, knowing from past experience how Malik and
his gang settled disputes. He didn`t want his older brother doing something stupid, and becoming a target. He was tough, and so was Nick, but they were two teenage boys, and no match for an armed gang. Nick knew that David had rugby practice on a Tuesday, and so he waited by the playing fields for him to finish, so that they could walk home together.

  “Hey, Bernstein,” Nick called as he spotted David crossing the road. David smiled, pleased to see his big friend.

  “Hey, Nick,” David bumped fists with him. He laughed. Nick`s fists were huge, far too big for a teenage boy, more suited to a gorilla.

  “How was training?”

  “Shut up! What do you care about rugby practice?” David laughed. It was obvious that his clumsy friend was concerned about him, and while he appreciated that, he didn’t want their friendship changed by it all.

  “I was just asking, you freak!” Nick punched David`s arm, deadening it with his heavy blow.

  “Ahh, you big monkey! That hurt,” David kicked Nick in the shin in retaliation and then ran off out of reach. Nick jogged slowly after his friend, never having a hope of catching him. They laughed and joked as they ran toward the park, on their way home.

  Sefton Park is made up of wide grassy areas, wooded areas, and two boating lakes. A two-lane road, which is a kidney shape, surrounds it and footpaths crisscross it. They reached the perimeter of the park, crossed the road and walked through a wide car park that serviced the facilities. The sun was shining and David felt more relaxed as the smell of freshly cut grass became stronger, the closer they got to the park. The car park was full. Halfway across the parking lot Nick spotted the black Capri, that belonged to Saj Shah, Malik`s cousin. It was the last vehicle that Sarah had ever travelled in. His stomach tensed as he thought about the impact it would have on David, should he see it. David noticed that Nick`s expression had changed to one of concern, and he followed Nick`s gaze. David recognised the vehicle, and his face darkened with anger. The Capri was empty, and there was no one around. The temptation was too great. David Bernstein picked up a half brick and ran toward it.

  “David, don’t!” Nick hissed, not wanting to attract attention. He stretched out his long arms to grab him, but David shrugged him off and ran onwards.

  It was a futile attempt to stop him. David launched the brick with venom and it shattered the windscreen into a million pieces. Nick caught up with his friend and he pulled him roughly onto a footpath that led away from the car park into a wooded area. They ran for a short distance and then began walking as they cleared the trees, deciding that it was less conspicuous to walk than run.

  “Bloody hell! David. We need to get away from here.”

  David turned reluctantly, and they ran toward the path network.

  “That was fun,” Nick panted sarcastically as they put distance between them and the damaged Capri. He watched his friend`s face. There was no humour in his expression, just hate.

  A grassy slope stretched gently away to their right, ending where it met the edge of the largest lake in the park. In the centre of the lake was a mock pirate ship, complete with tall masts, crow`s nest and fake cannons. The lake attracted groups of youngsters and families with toddlers. The pirate ship appealed to the imagination of old and young, and it was a popular picnic site. There were a handful of people milling about near the water. To the left of them was a huge arboretum built in Victorian times from arched wood frames and huge glass panels. It was being refurbished and there were a dozen or so workers fetching and carrying rubbish. Discarded pipes, and timber struts, were tossed into two overflowing skips. David and Nick were catching their breath when a voice shouted at them from behind.

  “Hey!”

  David and Nick turned and looked over their shoulder. Saj Shah was sprinting through the wooded area, fifty yards behind them, and gaining fast. There were two others with him, following behind. Saj Shah was eighteen, two years older than Nick and David. He was also a bad egg, a dealer and all round bad boy with a reputation for violence.

  “Run,” Nick shouted. He began to sprint as fast as he could, but to his amazement, David had turned to face Saj as he neared. “Run, David!” Nick called again, trying to spur David into action.

  “Fuck them,” David growled. He readied himself to face his pursuer. The anger inside him had fuelled his bloodstream with adrenalin. The hatred inside him gave him strength. “I`m not running from these bastards.”

  Nick stopped running and turned back. He couldn`t leave his best friend to face three attackers alone, especially not Saj Shah. A loud clang drew his attention. A workman had flung some lead piping into the skip and it bounced off the metal and landed on the grass nearby. Nick looked at the pipe, and picked it up without thinking about it. The lead pipe would even things up a little.

  “You smashed my windscreen, you prick!” Saj stopped five yards from David. His face twisted with anger and spittle flew from his mouth as he shouted his words. “You`re fucking dead, Bernstein!”

  “I think you`ll find me a bit tougher than my little brother, or my little sister, you fucking coward,” David spoke clearly but there was a look in his eye that stopped Saj Shah and his colleagues in their tracks. David was a competent fighter, and he knew that he could hold his own against most other youths his size. Saj Shah was smaller than he was, older but not as athletic. David also knew that Saj, Malik and the rest of the gang were pack animals. They fought as a group, never one on one. They`d not beaten anyone of any significance singlehanded. “Come on, let`s see how hard you are against someone closer to your own age, Shah, you`re fucking scared aren`t you?”

  Saj hesitated. He laughed and shook his head in disbelief. David was correct, he was scared, especially when he saw Nick approaching with a two foot length of lead pipe in his hand. Nick was tall and well built, and he looked like he would be a handful. His exaggerated facial features made him look mean. Saj stood his ground and goaded David. “You`re nothing, Bernstein, Jewish scum, and your sister was a slut!”

  David closed the gap between them in flash, and his hand speed surprised Saj. A stinging left jab hit him square on the nose, making his eyes water, blurring his vision, and the coppery taste of his own warm blood filled the back of his throat. Saj wiped blood from his nose with his sleeve, and his eyes widened in shock. He threw a wild swinging punch at his younger opponent, but David ducked beneath it easily and hit him again in the ribs.

  David Bernstein could see the fear in Saj`s eyes, and he unleashed the anger that had been burning inside him for months. He hit Saj Shah four times in the face before his knees buckled beneath him. His front teeth smashed, and his top lip split apart like a squashed caterpillar. Saj put his hands over his face to protect himself, but the blows rained down on him in a relentless tirade. He fell flat on his back and curled up, battered and bloodied.

  “Get up, Saj,” David stepped back.

  “Fuck you,” Saj spat blood and got to his knees. He looked to his friends. They were poised waiting to join the fray at the earliest opportunity, but the presence of Nick carrying a lead pipe was a deterrent for now.

  “Come on, Saj, batter him,” one of his friends offered some encouragement, despite the fact David was totally overwhelming him.

  “Yes, do him, Saj.”

  “Yes, come on, Saj, what`s the problem?” David said. There was madness in his eyes now. One of the men that abused his beautiful sister, pretty little Sarah, was here in front of him, and he was bleeding. It felt good, but not nearly good enough.

  Saj tried to stand up. His legs were shaky, but he stood erect and spat toward David again. Blood and phlegm spattered on the path.

  “Come on, Saj, get up, or are you scared?”

  Saj put his fists up and moved hesitantly toward David. There was fear in his eyes, and David could sense it. He felt anger inside him like never before, pure rage. Saj moved within striking distance and David launched at him, fists flying. Three powerful punches landed in quick succession, cracking Saj`s jaw and shattering three teeth.
He fell back down onto the path heavily, landing in a sitting position, his head and face exposed.

  David Bernstein wasn’t ready to stop his attack, and he kicked Saj in the face. His eyes rolled back into his head and he hit the concrete path hard, cracking the back of his skull like an egg.

  “That`s for Sarah.” David spat the words as he kicked Saj in the side of the head. His skull was exposed. He kicked him again. “That`s for my brother.”

  Nick could tell that Saj was seriously injured, blood was pooling from the back of his skull, and more ran from his ears, but David was like a wild animal, and he stamped on the prone man`s ribcage. There was a loud snapping sound as his sternum cracked. Blood and phlegm squirted from Saj`s mouth. It was then that Saj`s associates jumped into the fray.

  David was punched in the side of the head, stunning him. He dropped his hands and a right hook landed on his jaw, cracking the bone and whipping his head sideways violently. A third blow smashed into his nose and his brain went into momentary shut down. He buckled and collapsed into a heap on the path. As David hit the floor, Nick swung the pipe and connected with the cheekbone of one attacker. His face imploded as if made from papier-mâché. A huge purple swelling formed in seconds and the man took a few steps sideways before falling onto the grass face first. His associate looked at the carnage around him, thought about fighting on, and then thought again. He bolted.