The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  I stood at the gates, the huge black metal framework looming over me disturbingly, the two realistic viper heads protruding from each corner were sculpted to appear threatening and macabre. I smirked to myself at that detail.

  I was surprised they’d left me there so long to say I was brandishing a gun in each hand and a face that would solidify water.

  I quirked an eyebrow at the camera above one of the pillars and sighed heavily to let them know I was now bored with their game. The wind had picked up a little and I shivered as it beat against my face and swept inside my unzipped jacket. I didn’t have much time left before Mason would be on my tail so I held up my hand to the camera and started counting down from five, each finger folding inwards until there were none left remaining.

  I rolled my eyes and shrugged before I turned then stepped back towards my jeep and opened the back door. The stoned teenage boy fell onto the pavement with a heavy thud. I shook my head sadly as I closed the door and gripped his hair, dragging him along the ground until I reached the gates once more.

  I let him drop back down in a crumpled heap and tutted at the camera before I crouched down beside him and rested the muzzle of my gun against his temple.

  As predicted, the gates swung open and I nodded a thanks, accompanying it with a self-assured wink. If these bastards sensed any kind of fear they would eat me alive. But I didn’t feel fear. The rage inside me was too potent and swallowed any dread.

  I continued to drag the boy behind me, his head bouncing along the gravel on the driveway, small grunts arising from him every so often as I firmly strolled towards the dark house.

  The porch lights flickered on, blinding me for a second before one of the double doors opened and a huge dark skinned guy stepped out. “Mrs Fox,” he greeted unemotionally. “Mr Steed asks if you would mind leaving your weapons at the door.”

  I scoffed, “Of course I mind, but I don’t have a choice.”

  “I’m afraid not,” he smirked.

  “Then don’t ask, command.”

  I could see him try to hide his smile as he watched me place my guns on the sideboard just inside the front door but he nodded politely when I held out my arms for him to search me.

  “I do wish all our visitors were as cooperative.” A cheerful voice sounded from the end of the hallway.

  I slowly lifted my eyes to see Steed slowly walking towards me. I was surprised at how young he looked, maybe in his early thirties. He was tall, way over six foot, his black hair was cut short but spiky and his body was well built but still trim. His bright blue eyes glinted in amusement when he watched my eyes slowly peruse him.

  “Well, if I didn’t know you were a married woman, I’d have thought you were checking me out.”

  I ran my tongue along my teeth and pursed my lips, “Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I can’t admire the male form, Mr Steed.”

  “Oh please, call me Dane.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  He frowned as my whole body stiffened. “My name, Mrs Fox. I’d much prefer you to call me Dane, after all, all my other friends do.”

  “Then don’t feel insulted when I call you arsehole.”

  He clicked his tongue then tutted, “Aww, now that is a shame. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better, maybe fuck, you know how it goes, Ava.”

  His face twisted into a cruel smile as his eyes trickled over every inch of me. “But where are my manners? I should at least offer you a drink before we get naked, huh?”

  I laughed at his front. “But Mr Steed, if you are aware of who I am, then you must also be aware that I don’t fuck anyone except my husband.”

  He shrugged before turning to the guy who opened the door. “Phillip, could you fetch our guest something to drink. Maybe slip a little something into it just to loosen her up a bit.”

  “I think maybe we should talk before I have the chance to loosen up.”

  “As you wish,” he gestured his arm towards a door below the huge staircase. “Oh and Phillip,” he looked down at his son slumped against the front door, “Do something about that stupid piece of shit will you.”

  “Please, Ava. Take a seat.” Steed offered as we entered his office.

  I was shocked to see he had such perfect manners as he pulled out a chair for me and tucked it under me when I sat. “So,” he continued. “Forgive me if I’m a little suspicious Ava, but your entrance was not what I’d call civil.”

  “No, Mr Steed, But then again I didn’t come here to be civil.”

  He frowned at me before he stood and walked over to his drinks cabinet. He held up a bottle of expensive whisky, “It’s a sealed bottle, Ava.” He laughed as he made a show of unscrewing the new lid then pouring us both a glass.

  “And what did you come here for?” He eventually asked when he sat in a plush chair behind his desk after handing me my drink.

  I shook my head and laughed at him, “I think you know what happened today.”

  He nodded once and lowered his eyes to the floor, “Yes, and believe me, no one is more sorry than I, Ava. Greg was a great guy, one of the good ones.”

  I smiled gratefully and nodded, “He was, but he was also my family, Mr Steed.”

  “Ava,” he sighed as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. “I’m really not sure what you want?”

  I leant back in my seat and crossed my legs, brushing at a piece of dirt across my knee. “What I want is simple. I want an army, Mr Steed.” He quirked an eyebrow at me when I smirked. “And you’re going to provide me with one.”

  Chapter Eight

  Mason

  “FUCKING FIND HER!” I roared at Elijah through the phone. “I don’t care what it takes.”

  “Mason, I’m doing all I can. I’m trying to track the signal on her mobile but it’s currently switched off. I have two men going through the city traffic circuit trying to locate her route and car. I have personally rang all my contacts but so far . . .”

  “Don’t,” I ran my hand through my hair and clenched my teeth in frustration. “I don’t want to hear you say nothing. Just keep . . . please, Elijah, just find her.”

  “Mason?”

  I turned to find Layla and Katie watching me from the open front doorway.

  Fuck!

  “Take her home, Lay. I don’t want her here.”

  Katie blinked at me but I couldn’t deal with it now, I couldn’t allow her to see this part of me, the rage and fury I’d hidden from her for so long.

  I glanced at Sam as he re-entered the room after trying all his connections but he shook his head, “Nothing.”

  “FUCK!”

  Concentrating on my breathing, I attempted to calm down the storm inside me. The tornado that was ripping at my skin and burning to get out was becoming uncontrollable and I begged with everything inside me that I was able to contain it.

  “Mase, calm down.”

  “Layla, not now. Please, take Katie home.” I turned to look at her, trying to get her to see what I was morphing into but she just stared at me sadly. “Lay, please. I’m not doing a great job of holding on and believe me, Katie does not need to see her dad like that. Understand?”

  She nodded as her small pink lips pursed. “But right now, she needs her dad. She’s also lost someone, Mase. Her brother’s in hospital attached to numerous fucking monitors, her mother has disappeared and right now, right—fucking—now, she needs her dad.”

  She lifted an eyebrow at me when I glared at her but she stood her ground, her face as stiff as her posture. Layla was many things, but scared of me wasn’t one of them.

  “It’s fine.” Katie sighed before she turned and slammed the front door.

  “For Fuck’s sake. I can’t deal with this now!”

  “When do you ever deal with things?” Lay shook her head angrily but her cheerless eyes showed all of her disappointment. “One day Mase, maybe your family will come first.”

  My fist blew through Courtney’s living room wall when Lay
la closed the front door behind her. “Jesus Christ. What the hell does everyone want from me?”

  I stared around the room and frowned, “Where the fuck is Liam?”

  Sam sighed then sank into one of the chairs by the fire. His age had seemed to sneak up on him since the last time I’d seen him. Although we all visited regularly, Sam had always seemed unchanged, his shortly shaven head never appeared to display any greyness, his rough face was always covered with stubble but now his eyes bore laughter lines and his straight forehead carried a few creases.

  He smiled as he picked up a pair of glasses from the small side table. “You remember when he had first started to wear these,” he said as he ran his thumb over the arms then across the lenses. “We had all taken the piss out of him, called him Harry Potter.”

  “I remember” I chuckled as I sat in the opposite chair.

  “I want these bastards to pay, Mase.” He lifted his face until he was staring almost through me, his mind focusing on his heartache rather than me.

  “They will.”

  He nodded. “When did it all become so hard?” I rolled my lips as pain seared me when Sam’s eyes filled up. “I can’t even begin to imagine what Courtney’s going through, or Harry. If it was me, it kills me to think what Marcy would do.”

  I nodded in acknowledgement. There was nothing I could do to alleviate everyone’s pain and it crippled me. They, each member of my circle, had always looked to me to lead and make sure things were dealt with appropriately but this time I was powerless to take away their misery.

  “Is it stupid that I already miss him?” He asked as his face screwed up and a tear slid free.

  “Sam . . .”

  “Ahh, damn.” He laughed to disguise his embarrassment as he stood up. He didn’t say anymore, just squeezed my shoulder then disappeared through the front door.

  I rubbed at my temples, my brain was banging against my skull with all the tension. I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Where the hell was she?

  My wife was in so much fucking shit when she got home. No way would I tolerate this from her. I knew she was grieving but fuck, the woman needed to learn some fucking discipline.

  Chapter Nine

  Ava

  THIS ONE WOULDN’T be so easy. My heart was beating furiously against my chest. “Chill out love,” Steed whispered in my ear as we stood in the dark hallway.

  The whole house had a sinister feel to it, much like something from a horror movie. Scantily clad girls were staring at us as they moved from room to room. Men pumped on crack leered at me, their eyes roaming over me as their tongues ran across their lips hungrily. Yet strangely, there was not a thing out of place or even a speck of dust to be seen.

  “Like I said, keep that lovely mouth of yours closed. You have a funny way of saying things that are on your mind.” He smirked at me as he lifted a brow, “And Barlow won’t be as relaxed about it as I am.”

  “Okay,” I hissed at him. “I get it, shut the fuck up Ava.”

  “I rest my case.”

  I shuddered when a large man, as tall as he was wide, slid out of a door beside us. His eyes were almost white, reminding me of an albino. His pale face was weirdly unblemished, giving him a plastic appearance. His lips curled at me, revealing yellow teeth and blackened fillings but it was the coldness in his expression that made the blood freeze in my veins.

  “Well, well. Ava fucking Fox.” He stepped in front of me, his face half an inch from mine. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to stop the cringe as his rancid breath disintegrated the hairs in my nostrils.

  “Mr Barlow. Thank you for seeing me.”

  He squinted as he stepped even closer, his lips hovering over mine as he ran a finger along my bare arm. The line of disgusted goose bumps he left behind screamed almost painfully when my skin shrank away from his touch. “Mmm,” he murmured as he dipped the tip of his nose into the soft flesh behind my ear. “You smell edible.”

  Oh fuck.

  Steed shook his head stealthily at me, warning me to keep cool when my fingers curled inwards preparing my fists for a fight.

  “So” Barlow asked, his voice a flat tone, no emotion at all radiating from him. “What can you do for me, Ms Fox?”

  “We . . .” Steed started but I cut in quickly.

  “Mr Barlow, I would like to negotiate a . . . sale.”

  His lips twitched as my boldness amused him. “A sale?”

  “Yes, I need enough firearms and ammo to take out Neil Oswald.”

  His eyebrows shot into his hairline before he let out a huge belly laugh, his stomach heaving with each thunderous boom. “You . . . you want to take out Oswald? And what makes you think you are even capable of that, with or without my goods?”

  I smiled slowly at him and stood firmly, “Because I have nothing to lose going against him.”

  He frowned at me. “Sugar, everyone always has something to lose. I won’t bullshit you, I’ve heard about you, a lot of people have but I don’t think you or even your fuck of a husband could even take on Oswald.”

  I shrugged at him. “Please don’t take offence at my bluntness, Mr Barlow.”

  Steed groaned beside me, causing Barlow to smirk and shake his head. “No, she’s direct, Steed. I like that.”

  He was a surprise, I’d give him that. His reputation as being a sick bastard and a merciless cruel man, I knew was very much to be the truth, but he also stood out as a business man, a person only in this circle for his own profit.

  “If I don’t succeed in taking down Oswald, it makes no difference to you. However, just let’s say for a minute that I do manage it, it could very well mean you just upped your tax bracket.”

  I knew the guy didn’t pay tax and it was just a figure of speech but I didn’t miss the greediness flicker in his eyes. “And just how do you figure that out, Ms Fox?”

  I held his gaze and smiled, “Because Mr Barlow. You provide me with what I need and I can guarantee you, the Fox family will take a step away from the arms business and let you take precedence over it.”

  I watched the knowledge soak into his brain as his eyes glistened furiously. “Complete precedency?”

  I nodded, “You have my word, Mr Barlow.”

  He sighed heavily and pursed his lips as if contemplating my offer but I knew he wouldn’t knock back an opportunity like I’d offered him.

  He held out his hand to shake, “Then consider yourself armed well enough to take out Asia, Ms Fox.”

  Chapter Ten

  Mason

  I CLOSED COURTNEY’S bedroom door, leaving Marcy and Liv with her. I was angry at Ava for not being there for her best friend. Courtney needed her and I knew without a doubt that if Courtney abandoned Ava at a time like this, Ava would be pretty distraught about it.

  Nate smiled at me as I walked into the room. I nodded when he held up a bottle. “She’ll be back, Mason.”

  I scoffed at him, “You sure about that, Nate? If she’s gone gung ho and taken on Oswald by herself, it won’t just be Greg’s funeral we’re attending.”

  He sighed as he sat down beside me on the sofa. “And how are you coping?” he suddenly asked.

  I blinked as I stared at the floor before bringing the glass to my lips and devouring the entire contents. I couldn’t word exactly how I was feeling. My emotions were all over the damn place, yet I knew he needed something from me. “I’m okay if Ava’s okay.”

  He nodded in understanding. “And you?” I asked as I turned to him.

  “Like someone stabbed me in the heart,” he answered simply. “It feels like there’s a piece of me missing, not any physical piece but something inside me that made me whole.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Liv said it all earlier.”

  I turned to him and swallowed at the sorrow he displayed. This was hard on all of us but as the oldest in our group, I knew Nate felt partly responsible. “What was that?” I asked as I refilled our glasses.

  He smiled then closed his eyes. “When
one in our family dies, we all die with him.”

  It was so simple but so heart-breaking that I ground my teeth together to stop the guilt and the pain from eating me alive.

  I covered my mouth with my hand and blew out the heavy breath. “It’s not your fault, Mason.”

  I laughed bitterly as I looked at him with honesty. “Yes, it is. All this pain we’re all feeling. It is entirely my fault.”

  “No, you can’t say that. Greg knew how this family worked, and he accepted that one day it may cost him his life. Don’t feel guilt for giving him a life . . . and love Mason. We all take that on, we all know and consent to its details. And so did Greg.”

  I nodded as I slid my fingers into my jacket pocket and once more touched the item I couldn’t bear to give to Courtney. It was cruel. It felt wrong to break her anymore, yet it also felt wrong to keep it from her. Maybe there was something in it that could give her comfort, maybe her husband’s words were what she needed, yet I still couldn’t bring myself to give it to her.

  “I just wish Ava would . . .”

  The front door opened and I swear I passed out for a second when Ava strolled into the house as calm as fuck. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to strangle her or kiss her fucking perfect lips.

  Her eyes snapped towards me and I knew from the look in them that she was aware of my wrath that was bubbling away beneath the surface.

  “Baby,” she greeted coolly. “I want you to meet Dane Steed.”

  I lifted an eyebrow at the fucking egotistical scrote stood way too close to my wife but then lifted another as a person I would never have expected to see within a mile of me walked in through the door behind them.

  “Oh and Frank Barlow,” Ava added when Barlow gave her a sweet smile.

  “What—the—fuck–is–going—on?”

  Ava snapped her teeth over the tip of her tongue, a habit she had when she was trying to supress her anger. “Don’t be rude, Mason. My friends offered to help.”

  “Friends? Help?” I scoffed at her, “Help with what exactly?”

  Her body stiffened when I stepped towards her. “Don’t be awkward, Mason. Not right now, wait until we’re alone for that. You usually do.”